Articles, Streams, and Books
Plus a surprise recipe we think you'll enjoy
7 Weekend Reads
What We’re Streaming
The Reading List
7 Weekend Reads
It’s the End of the Web as We Know It
“The web is in crisis, and artificial intelligence is to blame. For decades, seeking knowledge online has meant googling it and clicking on the links the search engine offered up. Search has so dominated our information-seeking behaviors that few of us ever think to question it anymore. But AI is changing all of that, and fast. A new generation of AI-powered “answer engines” could make finding information easier, by simply giving us the answers to our questions rather than forcing us to wade through pages of links. Meanwhile, the web is filling up with AI-generated content of dubious quality. It’s polluting search results, and making traditional search less useful.” Read more here
ChatGPT vs. Gemini: Which AI Chatbot Subscription Is Right for You?
“THE PROBLEM WITH testing AI chatbot subscriptions like Google’s Gemini Advanced and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus is their generality. The same tool is used for disparate applications; the same software service that developers in San Francisco are using to build their latest app might also be used by parents in Kansas to plan a Paw Patrol birthday. Even though companies often tout esoteric benchmarks to prove their chatbot’s superiority, it can be hard to discern how a chatbot’s technical prowess translates into a better experience for you, the user.” Read more here
Heart attacks, strokes, dementia—can Biden and Trump beat the odds?
“…in the view of many commentators, is becoming apparent in slips, verbal and physical, being made by both, but especially by Mr Biden. Perhaps, some suggest, the slippers should beckon after all. When it comes to age Mr Biden and Mr Trump are outliers compared both with other American presidents and with the present heads of government in other countries. When he became president in 2017 Mr Trump was the oldest person to have done so. That record was superseded in 2021 by Mr Biden.” Read more here
Wall Street’s Climate Retreat
“Climate hawks have long questioned the financial industry’s commitment to sustainable investing. But few foresaw JPMorgan Chase and State Street quitting Climate Action 100+, a global investment coalition that has been pushing companies to decarbonize. Meanwhile, BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, scaled back its ties to the group. All told, the moves amount to a nearly $14 trillion exit from an organization meant to marshal Wall Street’s clout to expand the climate agenda.” Read more here
How Paramount Became a Cautionary Tale of the Streaming Wars
“Sumner’s daughter, Shari, who took over for her father as chairman, thought that streaming would save the company. She’s spent billions of dollars on original series for its flagship service, Paramount+, producing spinoffs of hit shows such as Yellowstone and expanding the Star Trek universe. Yet all that spending hasn’t attracted a large audience. Paramount+ accounted for less than 1% of TV viewing in November, behind not only Netflix and Hulu but also Peacock, the Roku Channel and Tubi. Paramount’s streaming business is projected to have lost about $1.5 billion in 2023, dragging down earnings for the entire company. (Paramount has said that its losses likely peaked last year.)” Read more here
Google tests a feature that calls businesses on your behalf and holds until an agent is available
“Google is testing a new feature that will place a call to a business on your behalf, wait on hold and then give you a call once a live representative is available, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The new feature, called “Talk to a Live Rep,” would get rid of the need for users to wait countless minutes, and sometimes hours, listening to hold music trying to get connected to a customer service agent.” Read more here
Meet the Atlantic diet: The Mediterranean diet’s neighbor—with an added benefit
“Researchers at the University of Santiago de Compostela discovered a link between the Atlantic diet and a reduced risk of developing metabolic syndrome—a group of conditions that together heighten your risk of serious health problems such as heart disease. The findings were published this month in the journal JAMA Network Open. “ Read more here
And here’s a bonus weekend read for you. Why? Because why not? And it’s yum!
Thai-Inspired Chicken Meatball Soup
What We’re Streaming
The Reading List
Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral by Ben Smith
Traffic explores one of the great ironies of our time: the internet, which was going to help the left remake the world in its image, has become the motive force of right populism. People like Steve Bannon and Andrew Breitbart and Gavin McInnes and Chris Poole, the creator of 4chan, all seemed like minor characters in the narrative in which Nick and Jonah and crew were the stars. By 2020, any reasonable observer might wonder if the opposite wasn’t the case. To understand how we got here, Traffic is essential and enthralling reading.
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky
Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller
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 below.
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.
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.
Consumer Inflation Fighters - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
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.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity -The buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
EPS Diplomats - Profitable large capitalization companies proven to produce above-average EPS growth and provide investors with the benefit of multiple expansions.
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.
Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
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.
Precision Ag & Agri Science – Companies that look to address shrinking arable land by helping maximize crop yields utilizing technology, science, or both.
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 says – 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.