The Bot Brief

"There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come."      - Victor Hugo

Bots in the News:

Both the Bot Index and the S & P 500 enjoyed some good employment news and several advances by the Trump Administration. The bots gained 1.35% in the holiday shortened trading session, while the S & P 500 jumped 1.72%. In viewing the chart below, the robotic issues and the broad market are seemingly in lockstep over the past month or so.

The best performer within the Bot Index was Joby Aviation, who has experienced back-to-back double-digit returns. The stock gained 11.75%. This week Jim Cramer reinforced his positive view on the company with the comment, “I’m going to do a twofer because I’m in the mood for the $9, $10 stocks. Archer and Joby, what can I say? I’m not going to fight them. Boeing has a flying car. Why can’t they?”

Keep an eye on Azenta Corp.’s shares. They jumped 8% over the four days of trading after having a 10-fold increase in volume on the Friday before this week’s activity.

AeroVironment relinquished its crown as the best performer to date with an 11.45% slide. The decline was almost inevitable given the extent of the prior week’s gigantic increase. The drone manufacturer rose nearly 47% in the previous week.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association (now A3 Automation), Member IEEE.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists, and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any company that may from time to time be featured in the brief and its commentaries, analysis, opinions, and research represent the subjective view of Balcones Investment Research, LLC. Due to the complex and rapidly changing nature of the subject matter, the company makes no assurances as to the absolute accuracy of materials presented.