The Bot Brief

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

Victor Hugo

In the News:

With some improving news on the inflation front and reasonable consumer reports, which spilled over on some of the retailer stocks, both the S & P 500 and the Bot Index produced positive returns for investors last week. Following seven consecutive weeks of negative posts from both indexes, the strength of last week provided some solace to market bulls. The broad market gained 6.58% while the Bot Index jumped almost 5%.

Only two stocks of the Bot Index were in negative territory from the previous week and they were down less than 50 basis points. Accuray Inc. sank another 46 basis points and OMRON Corp. fell 17 basis points.

On the positive side of the equation, the Bots had five companies that were in double digit territory by week’s end. Tesla led the pack with a 14.42% gain, while AeroVironment jumped

13.54% continuing its path of having been a recent stellar performer. Following 7 weeks of down records, one of the blue chips of the technology industry – NVIDIA - turned in a respectable 12.68% increase. Oceaneering International and Azenta completed the double-digit club with 11.34% and 11.71% gains respectively.

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The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists, and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any companies 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 material presented.