Are You Not Entertained? (FvF Ep. 213)

The episode centers on two shocks that hit markets in quick succession: the Jensen Huang story and the midterm election results. On the Nvidia side, the guest argues that the alleged affair and Chinese-spy angle raise real regulatory and political risks, especially around overseas chip shipments, congressional hearings, and possible securities-fraud exposure. He says the stock’s decline may reflect not just reputational damage but also concern that trade secrets or software could have been compromised. The host and guests frame the issue as one that could shift demand away from Nvidia and toward other semiconductor names rather than destroy AI demand outright.

The conversation then turns to politics and the market’s reaction. Barry says the election was effectively a blue wave driven by voters’ focus on prices and the economy, and he argues that the center, not the extremes, gained power. The host connects that to market behavior: Thursday’s sharp selloff was followed by a strong bounce from oversold levels near the 200-day moving average, and he notes that midterm-election periods have historically been positive for stocks over the following six months.

A major technical concern was data centers and power availability. Blake says local ballot measures and the Texas governor race could make data center builds slower and more expensive, which would pressure returns and lower IRRs. The team also sees real yields as a sign that growth remains resilient, while stressing that portfolio risk management now has to account for concentration in the AI trade and the possibility of rotation into other areas.