Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
Raymond James strategists are drawing a striking historical parallel, calling the artificial intelligence capital-spending boom one of the largest in a hundred and fifty years. The firm notes that while these cycles have historically produced painful busts, they eventually give way to powerful recoveries — a pattern investors betting on AI infrastructure would do well to keep in mind.
Shifting to geopolitics and its market implications, a potential U.S.-Iran peace deal is drawing attention from equity strategists who say markets have not fully priced in that scenario. European stocks, which have lagged their American counterparts since hostilities began, could see a meaningful catch-up trade if diplomacy gains traction — a rotation worth watching closely.
And in the defense sector, Ukraine has become an unlikely proving ground for Western weapons technology. Hundreds of international companies have now expressed interest in the country's battlefield testing program, with that number continuing to climb. Firms are gaining rare real-world data, though adapting that technology to active combat conditions remains a significant operational challenge.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
