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Weekly Update for the week ending August 7, 2026

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The AI Revolution: Understanding the Technology Behind the Investment Boom

Artificial intelligence (AI) may seem like software running in the cloud, but behind every AI-generated response is a vast physical infrastructure. From Nvidia’s powerful AI chips to advanced memory, high-speed networking, massive data centres, and enormous amounts of electricity, today’s AI systems depend on some of the most sophisticated technology ever built.

In Part 3 of The AI Revolution: Understanding the Technology Behind the Investment Boom, we explore the infrastructure that makes AI possible and explain why companies across multiple industries—not just technology firms—are benefiting from the AI revolution.

Weekly Update for the week ending July 31, 2026

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The AI Revolution: Understanding the Technology Behind the Investment Boom?

Artificial intelligence (AI) may seem almost magical, but behind every AI-generated response is a complex learning process. After exploring what AI is in Part 1 of The AI Revolution: Understanding the Technology Behind the Investment Boom, we now look at how AI actually learns.

In Part 2, we explain what training data is, how AI models are created, why building them requires enormous computing power, and the difference between training an AI model and using one. Understanding this process helps explain why companies are investing billions of dollars in the technology and infrastructure behind the AI revolution.

Weekly Update for the week ending July 17, 2026

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Why Interest Rates Impact Some Stocks More Than Others
After better-than-expected inflation reports helped push markets higher, technology stocks led the charge while more defensive sectors lagged. The difference comes down to a key investing concept: some stocks are far more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations than others.

In this week’s update, I explain why growth stocks like Nvidia often react differently than dividend-paying companies like utilities, and how Fed policy influences investor behaviour.

Weekly Update for the week ending July 3, 2026

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AI Spending: When Hype Meets Reality

AI stocks have been back in focus, but not for the reasons that drove their earlier surge. After pushing to fresh highs, parts of the sector have started to cool as investors take a closer look at what’s actually fuelling the rally beneath the surface. The story is shifting from pure excitement around artificial intelligence to something more grounded – the rising cost of building it.

What was once framed as a software-driven revolution is increasingly looking like an infrastructure buildout, with massive spending going into chips, data centres, networking, and energy systems. That shift is starting to raise new questions about funding, profitability, and how long this level of investment can realistically continue without more pressure on balance sheets.

This week I discuss what’s driving the latest move in AI-linked stocks, why spending has become the central theme, and how that ripple effect is starting to show up across the broader market.

Weekly Update for the week ending June 26, 2026

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Canada’s Missing SPR

Last week we looked at America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and why it matters for oil prices, inflation, and financial markets. This week, we turn to Canada – where no such reserve exists. Instead of a government-controlled buffer that can be released during supply shocks, Canada relies on a very different system shaped by domestic production, commercial inventories, and private market forces. The result is an approach to energy security that looks quite different from what many investors might expect, with important implications for how supply disruptions are absorbed.

Weekly Update for the week ending June 19, 2026

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America’s Emergency Oil Tank

The ceasefire between Israel and Iran reduced the immediate threat to global oil supplies, but it also underscored a quieter issue. After years of emergency releases, including during the recent US-Iran conflict, America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) now sits at its lowest level in more than 40 years. While most investors rarely think about the SPR, its size can influence oil prices, inflation expectations, and the market’s ability to weather future supply shocks.