Your Money with Michelle Martin

Market View: AI Winners, Earnings Whiplash & the Fed’s Pause Button

Big Tech earnings are splitting the market right down the middle - Meta soars, Microsoft stumbles, and investors are asking whether AI spending is starting to bite. Big Tech earnings dominate today’s Market View as Meta and Microsoft head in sharply different directions. Meta delivers blockbuster results, with fourth-quarter revenue jumping 24% and investors cheering its confidence to ramp up AI investment - even with spending set to surge this year. Microsoft, meanwhile, beats expectations but unsettles markets by flagging slower cloud growth, triggering a sell-off despite strong headline numbers. The earnings picture widens with our UP or DOWN round: Tesla grapples with its weakest annual profit since the pandemic, Starbucks shows signs of a long-awaited turnaround, while SK Hynix and Samsung ride relentless demand for AI-driven memory and chips. Markets zoom out as the S&P 500 briefly tops 7,000 before retreating, with the U.S. Federal Reserve holding rates steady under continued pressure from President Donald Trump. We end back home in Singapore, tracking STI movers and new SGX board lot changes, before closing with a cultural curveball - the Grammys! K-pop is entering the fray and Michelle shares her pick for an artist who signals a deeper shift from spectacle to substance.  Hosted by Michelle Martin with Ryan Huang. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Money and Me: Are You Really Diversified - or Just buying the same 7 over and over?

You think you’re diversified… but what if you’re just betting on the same seven tech stocks again and again? The so-called Magnificent Seven now dominate both US and global indices, quietly shaping returns for anyone holding “broad” ETFs. We examine whether global diversification is becoming important again as big institutional players like Vanguard cut back on UK exposure and also talk about the rise and rise of gold. Has one of our best known commentators changed his long-standing tactical view on the metal? Michelle Martin speaks with Arun Pai, Associate Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, about how to spot unintended exposure and what a smarter diversification strategy really looks like, hosted by Michelle Martin. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Money and Me: Robots, Gold and Tariffs - Are Markets in Denial?

Bad news is piling up, yet markets keep climbing - so which signal should investors trust? Gold surges past US$5,000 an ounce as investors hedge against trade wars, political risk and warnings of a looming “capital war” from Ray Dalio. Elon Musk claims robots will outnumber humans and could make up most of Tesla’s long-term value, even as the car business faces slowing deliveries and rising competition. We ask whether stock prices are rising because the economy is healing - or simply because the dollar is weakening. With US market concentration at record highs, what does this mean for portfolios heavily exposed to American equities? Michelle Martin speaks with Swapnil Mishra, author of Investing for the Clueless, Reckless and Overly Cautious, about whether this is resilience, illusion, or the start of a structural shift  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Market View: Boeing’s Comeback, India’s Trade Breakthrough and Big Tech’s Next Test

From aircraft crises to AI cables and a surprise trade pact, markets are being pulled in very different directions at once. Boeing’s earnings revive hopes of a turnaround as deliveries improve after years of safety and production failures, though investors remain cautious. We size up corporate winners and losers in an UP or DOWN round, with General Motors and UPS showing resilience while UnitedHealth’s outlook weighs on sentiment. Attention shifts to geopolitics as India and the European Union seal a landmark free trade agreement that could reshape supply chains and export flows. In tech and industry, Corning’s multibillion-dollar AI data-centre deal contrasts with Meta’s risky push into paid social media subscriptions. Singapore stocks break new ground as the STI hits fresh highs led by banks and property names, while Micron’s US$24 billion expansion anchors the island’s semiconductor ambitions, hosted by Michelle Martin with Ryan Huang. Hear about Boeing, General Motors, UPS, UnitedHealth, Corning, Meta, Puma, Anta Sports, Micron, DBS, OCBC, UOL, Jardine Matheson, Wilmar International. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Money and Me: Is Cash Quietly Making You Poorer?

Michelle Martin asks if falling interest rates are changing the maths for Singapore’s savers who love hoarding cash. With billions still parked in T-Bills and money-market funds, investors now face a new risk: opportunity cost. Michelle speaks with Afdhal Rahman of OCBC about what could trigger a shift from cash into equities, bonds and gold. They unpack why Asia ex-Japan may look more attractive than the US as the dollar weakens and valuations diverge. The conversation also explores how bonds are becoming income engines again, and why gold is moving from hedge to strategy. What happens when staying on the sidelines costs more than riding out volatility.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.