As of Friday...Despite SVB's Collapse...UPDATE

As of Friday, all of the following remains true. This despite the heralded collapse of SVB bank, the headline hog on Friday. Not that the collapse is nothing. Sure it's big, indeed the 2nd biggest bank failure of all. And markets responded in dramatic fashion. But overall, they still remain their various trading ranges. 

Next week we may see something occur with more impact. For now, though, all the drama remains within the bounds of recent ranges. With that...

Last time we recognized the much ado about nothing going on in pretty much all markets, noting that it's been a lot of marking time. There's been little to change that dynamic. For far the first quarter - now only a few weeks from completion - hasn't given or taken very much

Wait, isn't the NASDAQ up at least? Sure. But it was took the hardest smack down in '22; so a bounce of some sort of boing is simply how things typically go. Give and take - Take and give. Nothing goes straight up or straight down without some correction.

Considering that, we'll stick with markets having not given or taken very much.

(Besides, the whole practice of pegging year-end, quarter-end, month-end, week-end, etc. is really mostly arbitrary, when you think about it.

All I know is the only money to be made these days comes from either short-term treasuries or high-paying savings accounts. Fortunately, I've got some of my money (and client money) sitting in these. A bit of a counter-weight, to be sure. But it's also been refreshing to see interest accrued in a savings account - something none of us has seen for a long, long time.

Will this all change this quarter, or maybe next quarter? Well, it'd be rare for things to go nowhere for too long. So the likely answer is "Yes." But who really knows. We've still got a meddling Fed, looking to interest rates and markets supposedly in our best interest. Of course, we know better. The manipulation pretty much benefits banks first, then - because they focus so intently on it - Wall Street.

(And if you're thinking "Conspiracy Theory" you've been asleep these past few decades.)

Now, with all this, here's the worst thing you can do:

Spend a lot of time watching (listening to) your screen, whether it's market prices, miscellaneous financial data, financial media, or any other source of financial "information" - maybe like those AI thingees that folks seem to have taken a yen to (financial pun intended).

Interesting how these have sprung up at just this moment in history, isn't it? Indeed, I know some intelligent, decent folks who've taken to using ChatGBT or Bing. (I think they're different, right?) They get all sorts of "answers" to a whole host of inquiries that apparently assist them in making smart decisions. And this includes the management of their financial assets, as well as their overall financial planning decisions. 

Heck, the inevitable "AI will soon replace your _______(financial advisor, investment manager, estate planner, etc.)" pops up now in both general media, as well as professional sources we look at. Reminds me of the flood of doomsday (for real human financial advisors) articles that invaded my inbox when Robo-advisors were first introduced. They've hung in there, but have by no means destroyed the financial planning or investment advisory industry. 

So will this AI mushroom be the killer that Robo-advisors were going to be? Who knows.

But one big difference between the Robos and the AIs is that AI thingees apply not simply to financial matters but to everything. Indeed, they may soon replace all other sources of information and advice accessed online. Just go to ChatGBT or Bing and you get anything and everything your imagination could possibly need or desire. Right?

That's one difference. And while it's a big one, there's another that might be worth considering. It's the whole discussion about what exactly AI is, and who exactly it really benefits.

The what-it-is discussion that's caught my eye has been the distinction between "intelligence" and consciousness or, perhaps more accurately self-consciousness. Look it up. It's kind of fascinating. We'll set that aside for now.

That leaves the "Who benefits?" conversation. Are we - us normal folks - really going to get a net benefit from connecting with these AI thingees at the end of the day? For this, you might check out some comments by Charles Hugh Smith. This guy's been around a while and when I take the trouble to read his blog it's usually pretty interesting stuff, at the very least thoughtful, even worth chewing on. He's posted his thoughts about this "Who benefits?" aspect of AI. It's worth reading. (You can find it HERE.)

If you find his comments food for thought, you could do worse than checking some of his other posts. 

For now, though, it's sayonara until next time. I've got a whole host of interesting and enriching activities to engage in that have nothing to do with finance or markets or the economy. 

I hope you do too.

3/13 UPDATE: The weekend brought the government creatures out of the woodpile with their assurances, including a full guarantee of all funds(!) in both SVB and (now) Signature Bank. But unless actual market action changes significantly all the above remains in place.