Igor Holt

A difficult week in the markets deserves perspective. So do the election results. But first, we lost a dear friend this week. John Nosta believed in ARK from the very beginning, even when many others did not. He joined our Brainstorm discussions for years, sharing his incredible intellect and his perspective on technology and the human condition. Above all, he was a devoted husband and father. We will miss him dearly. John had just published "The Borrowed Mind: Reclaiming Human Thought in the Age of AI." I hope you will consider buying John’s book to support his family and to honor his legacy. Turning to the election, while we thought President Trump would end the Iran War in months, the equity market started discounting a more prolonged war and a Democrat sweep in the election in May and June as higher oil and gasoline prices added to the affordability pressures facing consumers. Inside the congressional results, “pocketbook voters” leaned the results more to the conservative side of the spectrum than headlines captured. Can this election derail the AI revolution? We don’t think so. Companies building data centers are likely to be much more sensitive to the concerns of local communities and to provide and highlight more of the benefits: lower property taxes, higher paying jobs, commercial development, and funding for more schools and cultural facilities. Meanwhile, productivity gains are accelerating thanks to AI. In our view, those gains will translate into higher compensation—helping to turn around affordability—, as well as stronger margins, more investment, and lower prices. We have experienced just a taste of this technology revolution. The market’s uncertainty is understandable, but we believe the economy is on a stronger growth trajectory than most investors recognize. In this month’s In The Know, I put the election and market volatility into that longer-term perspective.