June 29, 2026

Flat Friday on the index surface, but bonkers beta underneath.

22 minutes

Today, a look at a much zanier Friday session in US equities than the almost flat close on the S&P 500 suggested as market internals have become wildly divergent, much of it linked to the market's bucketing of AI winners and losers. Elsewhere, as Volkswagen sets up a possibly 100,000 layoffs, in part on weaker Chinese demand and greater competition from cheaper Chinese EVs, and as Europe roasts with record high temperatures, will Europe's trade policy toward coal-burning China harden on climate grounds? As usual, macro and FX and much more also on today's pod, which is hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy.

Links

See Friday's John J. Hardy substack, in which I discussed the AI winners and losers on the very day when market internals went especially haywire along the fault lines of this theme.

A WSJ article suggests that one of China's latest AI models may match the ability to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities shown by Anthropic's Mythos.

FTAlphaville with an excellent article wondering whether the current AI revolution may echo some of the impacts on labor and capital that marked especially the early decades of the Indutrial revolution.

About twice per week (in normal times, hopefully soon to resume), you will find links discussed on the podcast and a chart-of-the-day over at the John J. Hardy substack.

Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here.

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