April 12: This Week's Thematic Reads
If you missed out on this week's signals, we've got you covered
Artificial Intelligence
The latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI finds that organizations are beginning to take steps that drive bottom-line impact—for example, redesigning workflows as they deploy gen AI and putting senior leaders in critical roles, such as overseeing AI governance... Companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue are changing more quickly than smaller organizations. Overall, the use of AI—that is, gen AI as well as analytical AI—continues to build momentum: More than three-quarters of respondents now say that their organizations use AI in at least one business function. The use of gen AI in particular is rapidly increasing. Read more here
Amazon, in an effort to infuse generative artificial intelligence across a wider swath of its e-commerce universe, recently began testing a shopping assistant and a health-focused chatbot with a subset of users… The shopping tool, called Interests AI, prompts users to describe an interest “using your own words,” and then it generates a curated selection of products. The feature lets consumers browse for products using more conversational language and is separate from the main search bar on Amazon’s website. Read more here
More than three-quarters of the AI software cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use is designed to support radiology practice, says Curtis Langlotz, a radiology professor at Stanford University and president of the Radiological Society of North America’s board of directors. “Radiology is leading the way in the development and implementation of AI in clinical practice,” he adds. But AI isn’t reducing the need for human input. Read more here
Bank of America is allocating $4 billion — or nearly a third of its overall technology budget for this year — toward new initiatives including AI, according to a Tuesday (April 8) news release. The investment comes as the financial services giant sees the fruits of using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning since 2018, when it launched an AI-powered virtual assistant called Erica to help consumers with financial matters — four years before ChatGPT became a household name. Read more here
AI has moved beyond basic automation to systems capable of making decisions, learning from data and acting autonomously. Five payments executives share their best practices with PYMNTS, noting that as agentic AI tools advance faster than ever, success will depend on how effectively companies integrate these systems into existing infrastructure and experiment with new, customer-centric solutions. Read more here
Cash-Strapped Consumer
Grocery shoppers are likely to feel the impact of the Trump administration’s sweeping new tariffs before April is over. And the first place they’ll feel it is in parts of the store where the inventory has to move fast. In the produce aisle, food analysts said Thursday, expect small price increases on everyday purchases like bananas from Guatemala and grapes from Peru, countries whose exports to the United States will incur 10 percent tariffs when the new fees go into effect on Saturday… The seafood counter may hold even worse surprises. Read more here
Trump’s tariffs continue to roil global markets, wiping out trillions in market value. Not included in those measurements, though, are millions of small businesses that sell through online marketplaces on Amazon, Walmart Inc. and Facebook and don’t have the market power or profit margins to absorb the tariff shocks. These independent merchants provide about 60% of all products sold on Amazon. While it can take years to shift production to other factories, dynamic pricing allows them to increase prices instantly. For consumers, the average US household will lose an estimated $3,800 in purchasing power as a result of global tariffs announced this year, according to an analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale. Read more here
Cybersecurity
Some members of AustralianSuper, the country’s top pension fund, have lost substantial amounts of retirement savings in industry-wide cyber attacks that potentially compromised the personal data of thousands. AustralianSuper confirmed on Friday that cyber criminals may have used up to 600 members’ stolen passwords over the past week in their attempts to commit fraud. Read more here
Hackers intercepted about 103 bank regulators’ emails for more than a year, gaining access to highly sensitive financial information, according to two people familiar with the matter and a draft letter to Congress seen by Bloomberg News. The attackers were able to monitor employee emails at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency after breaking into an administrator’s account… Read more here
The Port of Seattle is notifying 90,000 individuals that their personal information was compromised in an August 2024 data breach resulting from a ransomware attack.The incident occurred on August 24 and forced the Port to isolate critical systems, which impacted the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA Airport), Fishermen’s Terminal, and public marinas it operates. Read more here
Brits planning travel to Europe are being warned by an industry body not to fall for scams amid confusion over entry and exit rules.With the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)coming into force this week, scammers are busy taking advantage of the uncertainty. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has warned of fake websites offering a similar pass to British travellers heading into mainland Europe. Read more here
Digital Infrastructure
Meta Platforms Inc. plans to spend nearly $1 billion on the development of a data center project in central Wisconsin, underscoring a larger effort from the social media giant to ramp up investments in AI and cloud infrastructure… Meta is applying AI across all of its businesses — an effort that affects how Instagram and Facebook target users with ads, and how content is ordered in people’s feeds. It’s also being used in the company’s consumer hardware, including the Meta Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg told investors in late January that he anticipates Meta will ultimately spend hundreds of billions on AI. Read more here
The heads of Google and Amazon have restated their commitment to investing in AI and the necessary infrastructure. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on Wednesday during the Google Cloud Next 2025 conference that the company was still committed to spending around $75 billion on building out data center capacity to support AI…Shortly after Pichai's statements about investment, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in his 2024 letter to shareholders, expressing a similar sentiment. Jassy noted that with AI, there is a "substantial capital investment required." He notes that while the company only starts monetizing the investment many months after it is spent, "We continue to believe AI is a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know, the demand is unlike anything we’ve seen before, and our customers, shareholders, and business will be well-served by our investing aggressively now." Read more here
Digital Lifestyle
People still want the TV and movie experience offered by traditional studios, but social platforms are becoming competitive for their entertainment time—and even more competitive for the business models that studios have relied on. Social video platforms offer a seemingly endless variety of free content, algorithmically optimized for engagement and advertising. They wield advanced ad tech and AI to match advertisers with global audiences, now drawing over half of US ad spending.1 As the largest among them move into the living room, will they be held to higher standards of quality? Read more here
Homebuilding & Materials
Cutting-edge technology was once a de rigueur residential amenity for any eight-figure listing, along with elaborate home gyms, zero-edge swimming pools and 12-car garages. It’s becoming nearly impossible to find a fridge, toaster or LED light that isn’t Wi-Fi-enabled or voice-activated. But the fully loaded tech compound is suddenly falling from favor as high-end homeowners frantically reset the password to escape the $100 billion home-automation industry. “Just like the arts-and-crafts movement was a reaction against industrialization, we’re now experiencing a reaction against the smart home. People are looking for more manual, less complicated places to live,” Read more here
Tariffs on building materials act as a tax on American builders, home buyers and consumers. Builders estimate an average cost increase of $9,200 per home due to recent tariff actions, according to the March 2025 NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.NAHB estimates that approximately 7.3% of all goods used in new residential construction originated from a foreign nation in 2024… A new single-family home on average requires $174,155 worth of building materials for construction, with imports accounting for $12,713 of the total building material cost. Read more here
Luxury Buying Boom
A mere month ago, luxury businesses were looking forward to a new era of deregulation, lower taxes and a booming stock market — and dreaming of well-heeled buyers splurging on opulent ball gowns and statement watches. Instead, as the Trump administration imposes 20 percent tariffs on products from the European Union, they are bracing for a different reality. One that may mean a U.S. market with fewer quilted Chanel bags, more expensive Rolexes and uncertainty about the price tags attached to “Made in Italy,” “Made in France” and “Made in Switzerland” for American consumers. Read more here
Higher end consumers may be spooked by the market reaction, more than the tariffs themselves. After all, in the US, upper-income households base their financial outlooks on market performance, according to Bain. Judging by this week’s luxury stocks, things aren’t looking good. “They might be able to afford things, but they’re still feeling the negative vibes, which can impact spending,” says Saunders. Read more here
Nuclear Energy & Uranium
Texas power grid operator ERCOT is projecting an explosion in energy demand over the next five years, with peak electricity use more than doubling as new data centers come online around the state. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas on Tuesday updated its projections to show peak electricity demand as high as 218 gigawatts in 2031. The current power demand record, set in August 2023, was 85.5 gigawatts. Read more here
Driven by data centers and transportation electrification, U.S. electricity demand will increase 2% annually and 50% by 2050, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association said in a study published Monday… The analysis, completed for NEMA by PA Consulting, anticipates 300% growth in data center energy consumption over next 10 years and 9,000% projected growth in e-mobility power consumption through 2050. Read more here
Safety & Security
President Donald Trump this week unveiled plans for a $1 trillion defense budget next year, a massive increase that he claimed will provide the country with unmatched military strength for years to come… “We’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say, actually, the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military,” he said. “$1 trillion. Nobody has seen anything like it. Read more here
When body-worn cameras first came on the scene, the technology was promised to hold police accountable, document encounters with the public, collect evidence and facilitate incident review. However, only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of hours of bodycam footage captured by police is ever reviewed. Law enforcement agencies in states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Michigan are using such software to review petabytes of bodycam data. Read more here
Motorola Solutions has announced new strategic alliances with BRINC, a developer of drone technology for first responders, and SkySafe, a provider of counter-drone and airspace awareness solutions, according to a company release. The company said the integrations aim to support public safety agencies and critical infrastructure providers by delivering improved situational awareness, aiding in de-escalation efforts and enhancing response capabilities in high-risk incidents. Read more here
The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models
Aging of the Population - Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings with it.
Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.
Cash Strapped Consumers - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
CHIPs Act – Capturing the reshoring of the US semiconductor industry and the $52.7 billion poised to be spent on semiconductor manufacturing.
Cloud Computing – Companies that provide hardware and services that enhance the cloud computing experience for users, such as co-location, security, and edge computing.
Core Holdings – Companies that reflect economic activity and are large enough to not get pushed around by day-to-day market trends. Low-beta, large-cap names able to better withstand economic turmoil.
Cybersecurity - Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption, or destruction of data.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity - Companies that are integral to the development and the buildout of the infrastructure that supports our increasingly connected world.
Digital Lifestyle - The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.
EPS Diplomats - Profitable large capitalization companies proven to produce above-average EPS growth and provide investors with the benefit of multiple expansion.
EV Transition - Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.
Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.
Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.
Market Hedge Model – This basket of daily reset swap-based broad market inverse ETFs protects in the face of market pullbacks, overbought market technicals, and other drivers of market volatility.
Nuclear Energy & Uranium – Companies that either build and maintain nuclear power plants or are involved in the production of uranium.
Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
Rebuilding America - Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.
Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.
Space Economy – Companies that focus on the launch and operation of satellite networks.
The Strategies Behind Our Dividend Income Models
Monthly Dividend Model – Pretty much what the name indicates – this model invests in companies that pay monthly dividends to shareholders.
ETF Dividend Model – High-yielding ETFs that provide a range of exposures from domestic equities, international equities, emerging market equities, MLPS, and REITs.
ETF Enhanced Dividend Model – A group of high-yielding ETFs that utilize options to enhance yield through collecting option income.
Don’t be a stranger
Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion for an article or book we should read, or a stream we should catch, email us at info@tematicaresearch.com. The same email works if you want to know more about our thematic and targeted exposure models listed above.