What to look for in Warsh nomination hearings as US-Iran talks also in focus.

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Today’s Links

Is the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) meltdown overdone?
It is, according to Deiya Pernas of Pernas Research, a guest on the Monetary Matters podcast, arguing that there are key moats in place that will prevent the profound disruption the market is anticipating. This could be very interesting for relative valuations even in a sideways to slightly negative overall market if the market has been too quick to throw the SaaS babies out with the bath water.

The latest evidence of US urgency to rebuild its supply chains and infrastructure.
Craig Tindale weighs in with some comments on a new Presidential Determination announcement from the White House, the latest sign of the urgency of US policy awareness that national defense is everywhere in the foundations of the economy, like in grid infrastructure, where it must up its game to compete with China and build out AI.

FT with startling demographic projections on China (and other countries)
Asking the great question: Will China get richer before it gets much, much smaller?

What is the future of work if AI displaces so many current jobs?
The Ghosts of Electricity substack has some very interesting answers, using a an anecdote of Starbucks reversing its own automation initiatives because they was bad for business as a starting point. In short, it’s about relationships as AI can replace our productivity, but not our humanity. The post also links toa widely linked longer form paper on the same subject.

EU regulators trying to disrupt the doom-scrolling algorithms
A Bloomberg columnist covers the EU commission’s Digital Fairness Act, which could have profound implications for some “social” media business models.

If you don’t like Palantir CEO Alex Karp, you will very much like this
A tour de force vivisection of what the author Hamilton Nolan calls “the closest thing we have to Dr. Evil.”

Chart of the Day - Steel Dynamics (STLD)

I don’t follow steel companies very closely, but worth noting that one of the top US steel companies, Steel Dynamics, reached a new all-time high yesterday. It is a more than ten-bagger from the 2020 pandemic lows. The company reported earnings yesterday after the close. (The shares are up another 1% or so after reporting, sorry for missing that detail on the podcast - the strong session yesterday was due in part to the strong results of steel industry rival Cleveland Cliffs). Steel Dynamics also has a growing and considerable aluminum recycling business. Nucor is somewhat larger US steel producer than Steel Dynamics and also rushed to a new all-time high yesterday. Note the link above on the Presidential Determination on US grid infrastructure: one wonders if the general underinvestment in US infrastructure, the current move to fast-track US re-industrialization and grid infrastructure, as well as the focus on sourcing efforts to address the problem within the United States might result in rising demand for steel from here for years to come?