Latest news with #Catalysts
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How bitcoin miners are powering the AI boom
Some bitcoin (BTC-USD) miners are pivoting to artificial intelligence (AI) as the rapidly evolving tech's data center and power demands expand. BitFarms (BITF) CEO Ben Gagnon joins Catalysts with Madison Mills and Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick to dive into the phenomenon. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Well, high performance computing plays a critical role in the world of artificial intelligence, providing the computational power needed to train, deploy, and scale intelligence systems quick and efficiently. The video's results bring into focus the power demands needed to support AI. Joining us to discuss about Ben Gannon. He's Bitfarm's CEO. Bitfarms is a Bitcoin mining company that is expanding existing data centre infrastructure to support HPC and AI. Workloads to meet the growing energy demands of the industry. Ben, it's always great to speak with you. We were just talking on set about how we kind of need to see the proof in the pudding when it comes to AIROI, and you are a great person to talk to about this. How and where are you seeing the investment in AI playing out in terms of high performance computing and infrastructure going forward? It's a great question. You know, for a company like us who've really been focused on building data centres for the last few years that were powering Bitcoin, uh, I think the important thing to focus on is what does these uh new business fras mean for your multiple and your evaluation? And as a Bitcoin miner, most companies in our space usually trade around a 3 to 5 times multiple, but data centre companies trade around a 20 to a 30 times multiple. So because of those contracted revenues, because of that certainty over the long period of time, you're able to unlock a lot of value for shareholders and so on, I think for the investors who are looking around at HBC and AI and trying to figure out where are the opportunities after Nvidia has had such a huge run up over the last 10 plus years. You know, where else are you going to get those those opportunities, and the reality is that as Navidia continues to sell more GPUs and as these GPUs consume more and more power, it's really the infrastructure which is going to be the bottleneck and the really key element here that's going to enable all these companies to benefit from AI. And to the question of which companies benefit from AI one thing we've been circling this morning is the idea of digital assets benefiting and cryptocurrency players benefiting as well. How are you seeing that relationship developing going forward? Oh, it's completely changed the industry almost overnight, you know, 12 months ago there were very few companies that were looking away from pivoting from Bitcoin mining and crypto into HBC and AI, but the math is really, really compelling. And when you look around at the data centre companies that exist today, there's kind of two buckets. You have the traditional data centre companies who have really been focused on building large portfolios of small sites, and then you've got the Bitcoin miners who were focused on building small portfolios of large sites. And when you look at what the data centre needs are for not only for today but for the future, you know, the reality is there's no data centre that's built today that's going to power the GPUs of tomorrow. And so the scale that Bitcoin miners have gives a very, very fast pathway and a very more cost effective approach towards building that new infrastructure a lot faster. And Ben, my co-host for the hour, Steve Salznick has a question for you as well. Hi Ben. The, the, you know, the thing that strikes me here is Nvidia, call it 34 years ago, was really the all-in company during the first sort of, I'm sorry, Bitcoin run in the first crypto run. It's almost like the, the industry's following Nvidia just a little bit late. Am I wrong in thinking that's, you know, that that that analogy is, is, is correct or incorrect, that it's sort of, you know, Nvidia, Nvidia sets the path and, and, and the, and the people who use their chips, uh, into extensively follow along. Well, Nvidia is, is really setting the pace here in terms of the technological development of these chips, um, but you know, computing is something that's growing at an exponential rate for the last 80 years since it was invented, you know, with Alan Turing and the Enigma machine in World War II. Um, you know, with Bitcoin mining, you know, we've had the very, very fast growth rate over the last 16 years and so there's a lot of things that are taking place right now where, um, the math is just really, really changing at such a point. Such a fast pace that you need to be agile, you need to be able to adapt. You need to be able to change your approach to the changing market demands because, you know, HPC and AI before Chat GPT was really for most people, a theoretical thing, um, but when Chat GPT came out and you had a consumer facing application, it became very real and very tangible for people, and that seemed to spark a gold rush, but, uh, I think from where I'm standing and from the customers' conversations that we're having. You know, the demand is is just infinite, and we really have barely even begun to scratch the surface of what's possible here with these new chips and this new kind of computing. And I hear you that you're seeing that demand be infinite, but one of the key questions for investors is whether that demand is going to be infinite for Nvidia. If we do see soft earnings results from Nvidia this evening, how does that impact your business and your confidence in that demand picture for AI? Well, the bottleneck on growth for Compute has always been power outside of the silicone shortage of 2021. So chips are available, they're always going to be available, and Nvidia develops at such a fast pace that you know there's a new generation of chips roughly every 12 months. But at the back end you always need to have the power to plug in those chips and operate them so that you can actually. value out of them and you can generate that return on your investment in the GPUs. So from our side, we haven't seen any reduction in demand even when the Deepse news came out a couple of months ago, there was no reduction in demand. There was no slowing down of these infrastructure buildouts because they're something that may be taking 2 to 5 years to build out one of these large data centre campuses, and you really can't get distracted by a headline that's going to put you back. Ben, really appreciate you joining us and giving us that context. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How investors can prepare for a year of volatility ahead
US markets (^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^DJI) are under pressure in Friday's trading session as trade tensions with China return. Andrew Fincher, VLP financial adviser, joins Catalysts to explain why risk tolerance and a diversified plan are key to managing market uncertainty. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Markets are under pressure about 90 minutes into the trading day as investors react to renewed trade tensions between the US and China. The S&P 500 heading lower on the last day of what could be its best May performance since 1990. So how should investors build a portfolio that can withstand the good and the bad amid the trade war. I want to bring in Andrew Fincher, financial advisor at BLP, for this week's FA Corner sponsored by Invesco. Great to have you this morning, Andrew. I just mentioned the volatility of the market following the addition of these tariffs, but the S&P 500 is up 4% from April 2nd, when the reciprocal tariffs were announced by the president. If investors have sort of broadly started to price in a post-tariff reality, how does that impact what you tell clients about whether or not to continue to position in a way that prevents, protects them from any tariff uncertainty? Sure. Well, first and foremost, Madison, thank you for having me on. And I think when we have these conversations, the first place you have to start with is risk, right? So, our job as advisors is to first meet the clients where they're at. So every client has their own appetite for risk. So our goal is to explore that with the client and understand their emotions before we can even get into guiding them on how to navigate that uncertainty. You know, at the end of the day, it always goes back to that planning component, right? Like we can talk about the markets and all the different pieces of it, but investing is a tool. It's a means to accomplish those goals. So understanding how a diversified approach fits into that plan allows us to sort of frame the discussion before we can get into the details of particular sectors or what that looks like overall. And talk to me about what you're advising clients on when it comes to specific sectors. I know you mentioned in your notes over to us that the elevated PE ratio for Nvidia is still a risk to you. How does that impact how you talk to clients about tech, for example? Sure. So, tech is a very important factor when it comes to large-cap growth and just a general diversified portfolio. So, you know, when we look at Nvidia, for instance, you know, when we talk about potential expansion moving forward, you know, Nvidia passing their earnings expectations, that shows that there could be some expansion there. But at the same side, you look at it, and PEs are elevated, so that could persist some volatility. So when you're looking at it, you know, we can talk about whether, you know, we see a positive projection or there could be continued volatility, but having that diversified approach so that you don't have to worry about specific sectors, it allows you to be able to navigate that, right? So you talk about tariffs, that's a big conversation now. You know, with these frameworks for the UK and China deals, and then, you know, Japan buying into US long-term debt, that could open up the door for the Fed to maybe lower rates, but at the same time, if litigation goes through on that, it could increase some of the risks for inflation, in which case maybe you would see some positives on like large-cap value where you could see, you know, energy and financials perform well in those environments or maybe floating rate on the bond side. So it really just depends having that approach so that depending on whatever the market looks like, you're positioned to be able to take distributions or maybe rebalance if you need. And my guest host, Lou, has a question for you, Andrew. Hey, Andrew. I don't envy your position because I know sometimes you're a financial advisor and other times you're a mental health counselor. I'm curious what it's been more of in this recent bout of volatility compared to the past, per se, maybe leading up to the presidential election or through COVID. Are you counseling and trying to keep people on course more, or are you seeing more optimism and opportunistic types of conversations about, hey, I want to buy this dip? Yeah, I think it's a lot of where people stand. So, you know, when we look at it as a whole, some people are very concerned. And so that's where the coaching aspect comes in to understand where is their risk at. If they don't need to take more risk, you know, we could look at statistically and say, okay, you should be in a higher equity percentage, you know, just for different risks, but if the client can withstand, maybe a 5% return, you know, maybe we'll lower it a little bit. But the real key approach here is understanding where the client is coming at to say, hey, maybe we have some opportunities to rebalance here, like we did in May, or sorry, April and March. Some opportunities there to buy those dips. But at the same time, you know, trying to position it to to really understand where they're coming from and then build off of that. Andrew, really appreciate you joining us this morning for this week's FA Corner sponsored by Invesco. Thank you so much.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gap Inc. CEO says turnaround is on track despite tariff woes
Gap Inc. (GAP) stock is sinking despite reporting better-than-expected first quarter earnings results as tariff concerns weigh on the retailer's outlook. Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson sits down with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi to break down the quarter and explain how the company is navigating trade headwinds. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How economic health impacts the pet care market: Rover CEO
Rover CEO Aaron Easterly joins Catalysts with Madison Mills and S&P Global Ratings global chief economist Paul Gruenwald to discuss the pet care marketplace company's transition from publicly traded to going private under Blackstone (BX), the impact of inflation and tariffs, and more. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Pet care platform Rover expanding its international footprint, bringing the marketplace to two new countries and acquiring a European-based dog sitting and walking platform. The company planning to invest $15 million over the next five years for further expansion. Joining us now, we've got Aaron Easterly, he is Rover's CEO. Aaron, great to speak with you. I know that Blackstone had taken the company private in a $2.3 billion deal back in 2024. Walk us through how that has impacted your growth story since and how that's impacting your ability to expand in these areas internationally. Yeah, overall, it's been a net positive. Um, one of the nice things about Blackstone is they're a pretty long-term oriented investor. Um, so when that transaction closed, we took a look at a lot of investments we were excited about that may have been a little bit more difficult to execute in a public company setting, um, and decided to go ahead with them. Um, so further expansion in Europe is one example of that. And talk to me about more broadly how you think about public versus private, having experienced both. What are some of the shifts that you've noticed as you've gone private and why did that make sense for Rover? Yeah, you know, I'd say that we are always a company that's been mission first. We want to make it possible for everyone to experience the unconditional love of a pet. The logistics of pet care is one of the barriers to more people having pets. And so that's always our primary focus. There are pros and cons of being public, there are pros and cons of being private. Um, so we're always very situational around what makes sense for the next stage of the company, um, and being able to be a little bit more longer term oriented in some of our investments, um, that take a little bit of time to develop, uh, made being private a nice thing at this point in time. And I should mention that for our audience, you can look up private company data including the likes of Rover on the Yahoo Finance platform under our private markets page. But I do want to bring in Paul Gruenwald, my guest host. He has a question for you. Hey, Aaron, it's Paul. I've never asked a pet care question before, I'm an economist, so forgive this. But Maddie and I were just chatting before. You know, we're talking about an economic slowdown and we're talking about consumers having like a, you know, uh, a discretionary bucket or a necessity bucket. So, where do you think the pet care, you know, your business fits in? Is it something that people do on a kind of discretionary basis or is this becoming more of a necessity as we kind of look through the the economic cycle? Yeah. Um, if you look at pet parents, um, historically the view has been that pet parents view it as a necessity. Right. About 72% of pet parents, if you ask them, do they view themselves as a pet owner or specifically a parent, they will say parent. Um, so it's more akin to a parent-child bond than, uh, piece of property. Um, and with that, uh, the pets tend to be the last thing or spending on pets tend to be the last thing people cut in tough times. That being said, we did see not a reversal that trend, but a little bit of a moderation that trend over the past couple years. For the younger generations, um, inflation outpaced, um, their income growth. So you actually had a slight shrinking, uh, of real income for that group. And for the first time in maybe 20 years, we saw some amount of pet parents be a little bit more modest on, uh, how extravagant they were going with their pet food and treats and toys, um, and things like that. Uh, but overall, pet parents, uh, prioritize their pets in a lot of cases about themselves. Yes. Great to know. Thanks. Yeah, it is great to know and it's also interesting, Aaron, too, one thing we've been talking about is whether pet parents might also be coming pet babysitters for others amid an economic slowdown. Can you talk to me about whether or not you're seeing an increase in gig economy work on the platform amid a moment of economic uncertainty? We, uh, straddle the line between, uh, passion project and gig work. Um, so most of the people that are on Rover are doing Rover as side income. So in that sense, it is kind of like a gig. Um, but they're also doing it because they specifically love pets. Um, and so in that sense, you get people that choose to do this for reasons unrelated to their hourly earnings potential. Um, it's a a preference, um, in addition to a job. Um, we have seen an increase in the number of sitters applying to be on the platform. Um, you know, if anything, we have to moderate that a little bit to make sure that the demand ramps in pace with the supply. Uh, but we've been very happy with our supply dynamics and the amount of people that are excited to be on the Rover platform. And and talk to me, too, about a stat that you all have. You did a Rover true cost of pet Parenthood report indicating that 52% of pet owners are concerned that tariffs will increase pet costs. Just curious what that signals to you about the way that tariffs are impacting some of the consumer sentiment of people who are using your platform. Yeah, I'm in general, the inflation in the pet economy for the past several years has actually outpaced inflation in the rest of the economy, uh, particularly on the service side, particularly on the veterinary side. Um, and for several years, there's also really high on the pet food side, but that's moderated this year. Um, so pet parents are looking at these dynamics and saying, wow, there may be a 10% increase in the cost of having a cat this year, a 7% increase in the cost of owning a dog this year. You know, what are some ways that I can be a little bit more frugal while still prioritizing my pets? Um, but when you add in these other things like tariffs, um, yeah, there is definitely some concern that that's going to, uh, push them over the edge so to speak in terms of the cost that they're going to have to eat. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump may 'bear down' to fight 'TACO' trade, strategist worries
Investors who have been buying the dip have seen gains in 2025, with the strategy seeing the highest return in more than 30 years. Some are calling the recent dip-buying activity the "Trump always chickens out" — or "TACO" — trade, referring to buying dips fueled by news of Trump's policy changes, then selling the rebound when the president backs off. When asked about the "TACO" trade, Trump denied that he is "chickening out," calling it "negotiation." Kayne Anderson Rudnick's chief market strategist and portfolio manager, Julie Biel, tells Catalysts host Madison Mills that she is "worried" that Trump may "bear down" on tariffs and fuel further uncertainty. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. And and to your point on uncertainty versus certainty, we have the new Taco trade headlines coming in, the idea that Trump always chickens out when it comes to tariffs. How much faith should investors have in that idea driving their investments? Well, it's concerning, right? Because unfortunately we told him, we told Donald Trump that that we have this Taco trade, and so I worry a little bit that that actually makes him bear down a little bit more and decide to be more, you know, more, uh, gripping on some of these tariff trades. And so I have a little bit of a concern that that creates actually more uncertainty. But, you know, for the most part, that's worked quite well for a lot of investors. They've been able to take advantage of that. And I think that that actually connects to a lot of, you know, former trades where it was, you know, buying the dip. A lot of people don't want to be caught out on these big moves upwards. And so I think you'll continue to see volatility around that, because there's so much still uncertainty. And the thing is is that the policy changes, they change so quickly and they change immediately, right? They take, they take effect almost immediately. So we continue to kind of see the level of uncertainty as being an overhang for probably the rest of the year at least. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
