Viktor Shvetz, head of global desk strategy at Macquarie, said investors could profit by identifying the next market fixation in a series of bubbles. Shvetz told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Wednesday that the market has been experiencing a series of “rolling bubbles” related to the theme of artificial intelligence and that investors should keep an eye on potential winners. “We had a software bubble, but it has receded,” he said. “We’ve had a chip bubble, and it’s coming back. Then we’ll see AI applications, from robotics to biotech.” Macquarie’s research note, published June 1, outlines potential beneficiaries in more detail. “While today’s bubble is primarily focused on the infrastructure that powers South Korea and Taiwan, applications and products (from robotics and automation to 3D printing, from the metaverse to biotech and quantum computing) have not yet entered their own bubble,” Schwetz wrote. “While we’re happy to see Korea and Taiwan still overweight today, investors should keep an eye on how the winners of the AI bubble have changed.” An eye-popping 80% rally in semiconductor stocks, which added about $5 trillion to the Nasdaq 100’s market capitalization, hit a wall last week as the VanEck Semiconductor ETF fell nearly 10% at its lowest point in Friday trading. Since then, stock prices have gradually recovered. Thematic investing therefore offers a way to navigate the current market environment, Shvetz added. “In other words, identify themes that you think will be active over the next two, three, four years, knowing that one theme may quickly disappear, but another theme will take over,” he told CNBC.
