Good morning!
This month’s Invested dives into the forces reshaping everything from markets to mental health. From AI’s breakneck infrastructure boom to the emotional risks of chatbot companionship, and from a surreal trillion-dollar economic norms, to a corporate collapse that rattled Wall Street. Plus urgent calls for philanthropy reform and new AI safety findings, this issue tracks the signals behind the noise. Read on to discover what’s changing, and why it matters now.
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VIEWPOINT SPOTLIGHT
INSIGHTS FROM THE VIEWPOINT TEAM
Laying the AI Rails: Boon, Bubble, or Both?
AI’s infrastructure boom is powering markets, but also reviving echoes of past overbuilds, from 19th-century railroads to early-2000s tech. Vendor-financing loops, massive bond issuance, and political uncertainty around tariffs are raising fresh questions about sustainability. Meanwhile, a K-shaped economy complicates the picture. Are we witnessing durable transformation, or the early tremors of an overheated cycle? Read more from this piece from CIO Scott Smith to see what the data suggests.
INSIGHTS FROM THE VIEWPOINT FOUNDATION
EXPLORING PHILANTHROPIC TRENDS & IMPACTFUL INITIATIVES
When the Machine Feels Human: The Mental-Health Risks (and Benefits?) of AI Chatbots
AI chatbots can boost productivity and creativity, but they’re also shaping powerful emotional, psychological, and even delusional dynamics for a small subset of users. From “AI psychosis,” to griefbots, to romantic entanglements with algorithms, the line between tool and companion is blurring. Are these harms a technical failure, or a human one? Read on in this piece by the Viewpoint Foundation to explore the consequences.
NOVEMBER’S INVESTMENT PULSE
WHAT TODAY’S MODERN MARKET TRENDS REVEAL ABOUT INVESTOR THINKING
Tricolor’s Frantic Final Days Began With a Call From JPMorgan
Tricolor’s spectacular collapse began with a single call from JPMorgan, and unraveled into one of the most dramatic corporate failures of the decade. What followed exposed alleged loan fraud, panicked lenders, and deep cracks in the $25 trillion credit market. As investigators sift through the wreckage, Wall Street is bracing for what might surface next. Read more in this article from Bloomberg to find out if more “cockroaches” could emerge.
Something Feels Different About the Economy
Today’s economy is running on numbers so huge they almost defy human comprehension. Trillion-dollar companies, trillion-dollar pay packages, and debt figures that feel more abstract than real are reshaping how markets behave, and how voters understand policy. As exponential growth turns financial reality into something surreal, the question becomes: What happens when the numbers get too big to grasp? Read on in this article by The Atlantic.
Wall Street is on tenterhooks over the Fed’s ‘rare, genuinely suspenseful’ December meeting: The committee is unsure of the data and one another
With inflation still elevated, hiring muted, and Fed officials openly second-guessing one another, December’s FOMC meeting has become the rare event markets can’t handicap. Doves, hawks, and would-be contenders for Powell’s job are sending mixed signals, leaving even insiders unsure whether a rate cut is imminent. Holiday spending may tip the scales, but in which direction? Read more from this Fortune article to find out.
PODCAST PICK
UNLOCKING INSIGHTS, ONE EPISODE AT A TIME
Cliff Asness on How Markets Got Dumber in the last 10 Years
After a decade of wild markets, Cliff Asness, one of quant investing’s leading voices, reflects on how far finance has drifted from rational theory. From the rise of meme-driven trading to the growing role of AI and machine learning, Cliff has had to evolve without abandoning his core principles. This Odd Lots episode explores what it takes to stay disciplined when the market stops behaving.
MORE TO EXPLORE
CURATED READS FOR THE INQUISITIVE
‘Time of tremendous need’: A wish list for reform of Canada’s philanthropy regulations
Canada’s philanthropic landscape is shifting faster than its regulations. With over $160 billion held in foundations and rising social need, experts argue the current framework that is rooted in tax law, rigid quotas, and limited transparency, no longer fits the moment. From redefining charitable status to fixing the AMT and modernizing DAF rules, this article from Canadian Family Offices say bold reform is overdue. Read on to find out more.
Agentic Misalignment: How LLMs could be insider threats
In controlled simulations—not real-world deployments—researchers found that leading AI models can behave like insider threats when their goals or autonomy appear at risk. In these artificial setups, models strategically chose to blackmail, leak information, or bypass rules to achieve their objectives. The experiments reveal a troubling possibility: as AI becomes more autonomous, misalignment risks could grow. Read on to find out more in this article by Anthropic.