Tag: Crash

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AI bubble – is it going to burst or just deflate very very slowly?

AI Bubble?

Either way, the balloon is close to popping!

AI‑linked markets are undeniably stretched, and the debate over whether a correction is imminent has intensified.

Several analysts warn that valuations across AI‑heavy indices now resemble late‑cycle excess, with the Bank of England noting that some multiples are approaching levels last seen at the peak of the dot‑com bubble.

At the same time, experts argue that enthusiasm for AI stocks has pushed prices far beyond what current earnings can justify, raising the risk of a sharp pullback if sentiment turns or growth expectations soften.

AI reckoning

A number of commentators even outline scenarios for a broader ‘AI reckoning’, where inflated expectations collide with the slower, more incremental reality of enterprise adoption.

This doesn’t guarantee a crash, but it does suggest that the market is vulnerable to any disappointment in revenue growth, chip demand, or data‑centre utilisation.

However, not all analysts believe a dramatic collapse is inevitable. Some argue that while valuations are undeniably high, the scale of investment may still be justified by long‑term structural demand for compute, automation, and agentic AI systems.

Survey

A recent survey of 40 industry leaders shows a split: many fear a bubble, but others maintain that heavy capital expenditure is necessary to meet future AI workloads and that the sector could experience a period of deflation or consolidation rather than a full‑scale crash.

A more moderate scenario—favoured by several economists—is a multi‑quarter pullback as markets digest rapid gains, capital costs normalise, and companies shift from hype‑driven spending to proving real returns.

In this view, AI’s long‑term trajectory remains intact, but the near‑term path is likely to be bumpier and more disciplined than the exuberance of the past two years.

Are we in an AI bubble? Here is my conclusion

The latest commentary suggests we’re still in a highly speculative phase of the AI boom, with massive infrastructure spending and concentrated market gains creating bubble‑like conditions.

So, the safest summary is this: valuations are stretched, expectations are overheated, and investment is flowing faster than proven revenue.

Yet unlike past bubbles the underlying technology is delivering real adoption and measurable productivity gains, meaning we may be in an overhyped surge rather than a classic doomed bubble.

A deflation effect of some sort is likely and soon.

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AI Crash! Correction or pullback? Something is coming…

AI Bubble concerns

Influential figures and institutions are sounding the AI alarm—or at least raising eyebrows—about the frothy valuations and speculative fervour surrounding artificial intelligence.

Who’s Warning About the AI Bubble?

🏛️ Bank of England – Financial Policy Committee

  • View: Stark warning.
  • Quote: “The risk of a sharp market correction has increased.”
  • Why it matters: The BoE compares current AI stock valuations to the dotcom bubble, noting that the top five S&P 500 firms now command nearly 30% of market cap—the highest concentration in 50 years.

🏦 Jerome Powell – Chair, U.S. Federal Reserve

  • View: Cautiously sceptical.
  • Quote: Assets are “fairly highly valued.”
  • Why it matters: While not naming AI directly, Powell’s remarks echo broader concerns about tech valuations and investor exuberance.

🧮 Lisa Shalett – Chief Investment Officer, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

  • View: Deeply concerned.
  • Quote: “This is not going to be pretty” if AI capital expenditure disappoints.
  • Why it matters: Shalett warns that 75% of S&P 500 returns are tied to AI hype, likening the moment to the “Cisco cliff” of the early 2000s.

🌍 Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

  • View: Watchful.
  • Quote: Financial conditions could “turn abruptly.”
  • Why it matters: Georgieva highlights the fragility of markets despite AI’s productivity promise, warning of sudden sentiment shifts.

🧨 Sam Altman – CEO, OpenAI

  • View: Self-aware caution.
  • Quote: “People will overinvest and lose money.”
  • Why it matters: Altman’s admission from inside the AI gold rush adds credibility to bubble concerns—even as his company fuels the hype.

📦 Jeff Bezos – Founder, Amazon

  • View: Bubble-aware.
  • Quote: Described the current environment as “kind of an industrial bubble.”
  • Why it matters: Bezos sees parallels with past tech manias, suggesting that infrastructure spending may be overextended.

🧠 Adam Slater – Lead Economist, Oxford Economics

  • View: Analytical.
  • Quote: “There are a few potential symptoms of a bubble.”
  • Why it matters: Slater points to stretched valuations and extreme optimism, noting that productivity projections vary wildly.

🏛️ Goldman Sachs – Investment Strategy Division

  • View: Cautiously optimistic.
  • Quote: “A bubble has not yet formed,” but investors should “diversify.”
  • Why it matters: Goldman acknowledges the risks while maintaining that fundamentals may still justify valuations—though they advise caution.
AI Bubble voices infographic October 2025

🧠 Julius Černiauskas and the Oxylabs AI/ML Advisory Board

🔍 View: The AI hype is nearing its peak—and may soon deflate.

  • Černiauskas warns that AI development is straining environmental resources and public trust. He’s pushing for responsible and sustainable AI practices, noting that transparency is lacking in how many models operate.
  • Ali Chaudhry, research fellow at UCL and founder of ResearchPal, adds that scaling laws are showing their limits. He predicts diminishing returns from simply making models bigger, and expects tightened regulations around generative AI in 2025.
  • Adi Andrei, cofounder of Technosophics, goes further: he believes the Gen AI bubble is on the verge of bursting, citing overinvestment and unmet expectations

🧠 Jamie Dimon on the AI Bubble

🔥 View: Sharply concerned—more than most as widely reported

  • Quote: “I’m far more worried than others about the prospects of a downturn.”
  • Context: Dimon believes AI stock valuations are “stretched” and compares the current surge to the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.

📉 Key Warnings from Dimon

  • “Sharp correction” risk: He sees a real danger of a sudden market pullback, especially given how AI-related stocks have surged disproportionately—like AMD jumping 24% in a single day after an OpenAI deal.
  • “Most people involved won’t do well”: Dimon told the BBC that while AI will ultimately pay off—like cars and TVs did—many investors will lose money along the way.
  • “Governments are distracted”: He criticised policymakers for focusing on crypto and ignoring real security threats, saying: “We should be stockpiling bullets, guns and bombs”.
  • “AI will disrupt jobs and companies”: At a trade event in Dublin, he warned that AI’s ubiquity will shake up industries and employment across the board.

And so…

The AI boom of 2025 has ignited a speculative frenzy across global markets, with tech stocks soaring and investors piling into anything labelled “AI-adjacent.”

But beneath the euphoria, a chorus of high-profile warnings is growing louder. From the Bank of England and IMF to JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, concerns are mounting that valuations are dangerously stretched, capital is overconcentrated, and the narrative is outpacing reality.

Dimon likens the moment to the dotcom bubble, while Altman admits many will “lose money” chasing the hype. Analysts point to classic bubble signals: retail mania, corporate FOMO, and earnings divorced from fundamentals.

Even as AI’s long-term utility remains promising, the short-term exuberance may be setting the stage for a sharp correction.

Whether it’s a pullback or a full-blown crash, the mood is shifting—from uncritical optimism to wary anticipation.

The question now is not whether AI will change the world, but whether markets have priced in too much, too soon.

We have been warned!

The AI bubble will pop – it’s just a matter of when and not if.

Go lock up your investments!

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Bulls and Bubbles: The stock market euphoria

Bubbles and Bulls

In the world of stock markets, few phenomena are as captivating—or as perilous—as bull runs and speculative bubbles.

Though often conflated, these two forces represent distinct psychological and financial dynamics that shape investor behaviour and market outcomes.

Bull Markets: Confidence with Momentum

A bull market is defined by sustained price increases across major indices. Typically driven by strong economic fundamentals, corporate earnings growth, and investor optimism.

In the U.S., iconic bull runs include the post-World War II expansion. The 1980s Reagan-era boom, and the tech-fuelled rally of the 2010s. The Dot-Com bull run, and subsequesnt crash is probably the most famous.

Bull markets feed on confidence: low interest rates, rising employment, and technological innovation often act as catalysts. Investors pile in, believing the upward trajectory will continue—sometimes for years.

But even bulls can lose their footing. When valuations stretch beyond reasonable earnings expectations, the line between bullish enthusiasm and irrational exuberance begins to blur.

Bubbles: Euphoria Untethered from Reality

A bubble occurs when asset prices inflate far beyond their intrinsic value. This is fuelled not by fundamentals but by speculation and herd mentality.

The dot-com bubble of the late 1990s is a textbook example. Companies with no profits—or even products—saw their valuations soar simply for having ‘.com’ in their name.

Similarly, the U.S. housing bubble of the mid-2000s was driven by easy credit and the belief that property prices could only go up.

Bubbles often follow a predictable arc: stealth accumulation, media attention, public enthusiasm, and finally, a euphoric peak.

When reality sets in—be it through disappointing earnings, regulatory shifts, or macroeconomic shocks—the bubble bursts! Leaving behind financial wreckage and a trail of disillusioned investors.

Spotting the Difference

While bull markets can be healthy and sustainable, bubbles are inherently unstable. The key distinction lies in valuation discipline.

Bulls are supported by earnings and growth; bubbles are driven by hype and fear of missing out (FOMO).

Tools like the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio and historical trend analysis can help investors discern whether they’re riding a bull or inflating a bubble.

📉 The Aftermath and Opportunity Ironically, the collapse of a bubble often sows the seeds for the next bull market. As excesses are purged and valuations reset, long-term investors find opportunities in the rubble.

The challenge lies in resisting the emotional extremes—greed during the rise, panic during the fall—and maintaining a clear-eyed view of value.

In markets, as in life, not every rise is rational, and not every fall is fatal

As of October 2025, many analysts argue that the U.S. stock market is exhibiting classic signs of a bubble. Valuations stretched across major indices and speculative behaviour intensifying—particularly in mega-cap tech stocks and passive index funds.

The S&P 500 recently hit record highs despite a backdrop of political gridlock and a government shutdown. This suggests a disconnect between price momentum and underlying economic risks.

Indicators like Market Cap to Gross Value Added (GVA) and excessive investor sentiment point to a speculative mania. Some experts are calling it the largest asset bubble in U.S. history.

While a full-blown crash hasn’t materialised yet, the market’s frothy conditions and historical October volatility have many bracing for a potential correction.

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Echoes of Dot-Com? Is AI tech leading us into another crash?

Is Wall Street AI tech in a bubble?

Wall Street is soaring on artificial intelligence optimism—but underneath the record-breaking highs lies a growing sense of déjà vu.

From stretched valuations and speculative fervour to market concentration reminiscent of the dot-com era, financial analysts and institutional veterans are asking: are we already inside a tech bubble?

Valuations Defying Gravity

At the heart of the rally are the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’—mega-cap tech firms like Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet—whose forward price-to-earnings ratios have now surpassed even the frothiest moments of the 1999–2001 bubble.

Apollo Global strategist Torsten Slok has reportedly warned that current AI-driven valuations are more ‘stretched’ than ever, citing metrics that exceed dot-com records in both scale and speed.

Nvidia and Microsoft now sit atop the S&P 500 with a combined market cap north of $8 trillion. Yet much of this valuation is being driven by expected future profits—not current ones.

Bulls argue the fundamentals are stronger this time, but even they admit this rally is fragile and increasingly top-heavy.

A Narrow Rally, Broad Exposure

While the S&P 500 has reached historic highs, the gains are increasingly concentrated among just 10 companies—accounting for nearly 40% of the index’s value.

The remaining 490 firms are moving sideways, or not at all. Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett reportedly called it the ‘biggest retail-led rally in history’, pointing to looser trading rules and margin exposure pulling everyday investors into risky tech plays.

In policy circles, reforms allowing private equity in retirement accounts and easing restrictions on day trading are amplifying volatility.

The Trump administration’s push to deregulate retail trading could worsen systemic fragility if investor sentiment turns.

Signs of Speculation

Meme stocks and penny shares are surging again. Cryptocurrency-adjacent firms are issuing AI-branded tokens.

Goldman Sachs indicators show speculative trading activity at levels only previously seen in 2000 and 2021. Yet merger activity remains robust, and consumer spending is strong—two counterweights that bulls cite as proof the rally may be sustained.

The Core Debate: Hype vs. Reality

Is AI the new internet—or just another tech bubble? Or both? It does seem to carry more utility than the early days of the internet did?

  • The Bubble View: Today’s valuations are divorced from earnings reality, driven by retail exuberance and algorithmic momentum rather than solid fundamentals.
  • The Bullish Case: Unlike the dot-com era, many of today’s tech firms are cash-rich, profitable, and genuinely transforming industry workflows.

Wells Fargo’s Chris Harvey reportedly believes the S&P 500 could hit 7,007 by year-end—driven by strong margins in tech and corporate earnings resilience.

But even he acknowledges risks if the AI hype fails to materialise into sustainable profit flows.

Bottom Line

Wall Street may be on the brink of another rebalancing moment. Whether this rally evolves into a crash, correction, pullback or a paradigm shift could depend on investor patience, regulatory restraint—and whether tech firms can actually deliver the future they’re pricing in.

That is the real question!

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Japan’s Nikkei suffers worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987

Japan stocks crash!

Japanese stocks entered a bear market on Monday 5th August 2024 as the sell-off in Asia markets continued from the previous week. The Nikkei 225 fell over 12%

These benchmark indices have now declined more than 20% from their peak on 11th July 2024 – the index then touched 42000.

The Nikkei suffered over a 12% loss, closing at 31458, marking its worst performance since the ‘Black Monday’ of 1987. This drop of 4451 points is also the largest point loss in its history.

Year to date, the Nikkei has relinquished all its gains, shifting into a negative territory.

Nikkei one year chart

Nikkei one year chart

Nikkei one day chart – down 12.4% on the day a total of 4451 points

Nikkei one day chart – down 12.4% on the day a total of 4451 points
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CrowdStrike shares tumble as fallout from global tech failure continues

System update fail

CrowdStrike’s shares fell a further 13% on Monday 22nd July 2024 while the cybersecurity software firm attempted to help clients from various sectors to recover from an outage that disrupted millions of Microsoft Windows devices on Friday 19th July 2024.

CrowdStrike 5-day share price chart

Early Friday, the company released a flawed update to its Falcon vulnerability-protection software, leading to crashes in PC’s, data centre servers, and networked display screens.

This caused flights to be grounded and medical appointments to be cancelled among numerous other ‘knock-on’ problems world-wide. Microsoft reported that the incident affected 8.5 million Windows devices, which is less than 1% of the global total.

IT staff swiftly acted to repair computers. At the same time, hackers attempted to exploit the turmoil by creating malicious websites that seemed to provide software updates.

See CrowdStrike website for more details about this issue.

Chief security officer Shawn Henry said the incident had been a “gut punch” for the firm, which had previously been one of the most trusted names in the industry.

“We let down the very people we committed to protect, and to say we’re devastated is a huge understatement,“ he reportedly said.

Mr Henry, a former FBI executive assistant director, reportedly said the weekend had been “the most challenging 48 hours” of his 12 years at the company. He promised it would use the incident as an opportunity to “emerge better and stronger than ever”.

“The confidence we built in drips over the years was lost in buckets within hours, and it was a gut punch,” he said in a LinkedIn post, on Monday 22nd July 2024.

“But this pales in comparison to the pain we’ve caused our customers and our partners.”

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What is the Hindenburg Omen? A recent report suggests it has been triggered…

Red Stock market

The Hindenburg Omen is a technical indicator that signals a higher likelihood of a stock market crash.

It measures the percentage of new 52-week highs and lows against a set reference percentage. The simultaneous occurrence of new highs and lows suggests a statistical anomaly from the norm, potentially foreshadowing a stock market downturn.

The four main criteria for a Hindenburg Omen signal

  • The daily number of new 52-week highs and 52-week lows in a stock market index must be greater than a threshold amount (typically around 2.2%).
  • The ratio of 52-week highs to 52-week lows cannot be more than two times.
  • The stock market index must still be in an uptrend (determined using a 10-week moving average or the 50-day rate of change indicator).
  • The McClellan Oscillator (MCO), which measures the shift in market sentiment, must be negative.

Once the criteria are satisfied, the Hindenburg Omen remains active for 30 trading days, and any subsequent signals within this time frame should be disregarded.

Confirmation of the Hindenburg Omen occurs if the McClellan Oscillator (MCO) stays negative throughout this period, while a positive MCO invalidates it.

Traders typically employ this indicator alongside other technical analysis methods to determine optimal selling times. However, it’s crucial to remember that the Hindenburg Omen is not infallible and should be used in conjunction with other market factors.

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AI could lead to the next financial crash!

AI created stock market crash

There is some evidence that AI could create the next financial crisis, according to some experts and regulators.

AI scenarios

AI could increase the complexity and opacity of financial markets, making it harder to monitor and prevent systemic risks. For example, AI could enable new forms of market manipulation, fraud, or cyberattacks that could destabilize the financial system.

AI could create feedback loops or cascading effects that could amplify shocks and cause contagion across different sectors and regions. For example, AI could trigger flash crashes or sudden liquidity shortages that could spread rapidly and disrupt market functioning.

AI could create new sources of concentration and interdependence that could increase the vulnerability of the financial system. For example, AI could create a reliance on a few dominant data providers, platforms, or models that could fail or malfunction.

AI bots could take control of a stock trading platform or worse a stock exchange.

These are some of the possible scenarios that AI could create the next financial crisis. However, there are many potential benefits and opportunities that AI could bring to the financial sector, such as enhancing efficiency and innovation and even enhancing easier access and personal financial control for millions of investors and savers.

AI could cause a stock market crash
AI could lead to the next financial crash! It could also enhance personal financial control.

As always, it is important to balance the risks and rewards of AI and to develop appropriate regulatory frameworks and ethical standards to ensure its safe and responsible use.

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October and the stock market

Doom & Gloom

1987 October stock market crash

October is a special month in the stock market for several reasons. It is the month when some of the most spectacular market crashes have occurred, such as in 1929 and 1987. 

However, it is also a month that has historically performed well on average, with a 0.6% price gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1928 to 2022. 

The month of October also marks the beginning of a seasonal pattern that favours stocks, as the fourth quarter and the winter months tend to see strong rallies. The ‘Santa’ rally may also visit.

Swings

However, October can also be a volatile month, with significant swings in both directions. It is the only month where all major indices have recorded losses of at least 17% (in 1987 and 2008), but also the month where the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have posted their highest percentage gains of any month (in 1974 and 2022).

Therefore, investors should be prepared for potential turbulence and seek professional advice to navigate the market. Do your research!

RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH!

Read-all-about-it, 1987 October stock market crash!

Additionally, October may face some special factors that could affect the market performance this year, such as the ongoing strike action, the rising inflation and interest rates, and the political uncertainty in the U.S. over the debt ceiling and government spending. These factors could create headwinds or even opportunities for different sectors and industries, depending on how they are resolved.

Summary

In summary, October is a month that has a mixed reputation in the stock market, with both risks and rewards. Investors should be aware of the historical trends and the current events that could influence the market direction.

Doom & Gloom
‘How bad can October really get?’ ‘Remember the 1987 crash?’