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Since the sell-off in April, the stock markets – especially those in the US – have been moving in only one direction: steeply upward. Although we have repeatedly pointed out that a consolidation is possible, two sectors promise enormous, perhaps even greater potential if they converge more closely: Artificial intelligence is already profoundly changing the economic environment. However, if the rapid advances in quantum computing continue, both technologies together will open doors that we could only dream of until now. In areas such as healthcare, materials science, new energy sources, logistics, climate research, and many others, discoveries will make leaps that are hardly imaginable today – and will most likely trigger another revolution.

Of course, there are voices warning of a possible AI bubble. But it is worth looking back at the internet bubble: back then, companies became billion-dollar businesses without ever having generated a positive cash flow – often they had nothing more than a fancy business plan. The situation today is different. Most AI companies are already making money and are likely to become significantly more profitable in the coming months and years. In addition, almost all companies from all sectors want to benefit from it – not for image reasons, but because AI can drastically reduce costs and significantly increase margins. The potential is only growing.

The stock markets that benefit most from this development are those with a high density of AI and quantum computing companies. And here, of course, Wall Street is at the forefront. Thanks to IT and AI giants, it has already left all other stock exchanges behind – and with quantum companies, this lead is likely to grow even further. Europe, on the other hand, seems to have missed the boat and is too bogged down in (geo)political constraints.

Despite its dominant high-tech industry, however, the US economy has a structural problem: it has to import many goods. Around four-fifths of economic output is accounted for by the service sector. Donald Trump wants to change this as quickly as possible, but so far these are just plans. A weaker dollar – expressly desired by the US president – would make goods imports even more expensive. And now short positions on the greenback have expanded massively in the last two weeks. This could cause nervousness on Wall Street sooner or later.

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In fact, the stock markets are looking a little tired at the moment. However, this is not yet reflected in the S&P 500’s’Smart Investors Action’: as the blue area in the chart shows, smart investors have been accumulating heavily recently. But in the past, the current level has often been the starting point for consolidation.

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Consolidation can quickly turn into a correction, especially when sentiment deteriorates significantly. Here, too, the blue area in the chart shows that sentiment remains positive, but the trend is slowly shifting toward pessimism.

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A similar picture can be seen in the Nasdaq index, where high tech stocks are naturally particularly well represented. Unsurprisingly, accumulation by smart investors was even more pronounced than in the broad S&P 500. But here, too, maximum purchasing power seems to have been reached.

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And, unsurprisingly, sentiment remains positive, but the euphoria is subsiding – realism is returning.

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A look at Germany: since the strong recovery at the end of May, the German stock market has shown little momentum. On the contrary, pessimism dominated at times during the summer. The fact that there were no major setbacks is likely due primarily to the strength of Wall Street, which acted as a locomotive.

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But it wasn’t just the DAX that disappointed. The entire European stock market – as measured by the Stoxx Europe 600, which tracks the 600 most important companies – is lagging significantly behind the global index. The blue line shows the Stoxx 600 significantly underperforming the world index. And since the spring, the strength indicator has not shown green once, which explains the continuing risk-off sentiment.

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The US market is quite different: risk-on sentiment continues to prevail here, but it is increasingly overheating. Whenever the index strays too far from its 200-day line, consolidation usually follows. If the difference exceeds a certain threshold – marked by the black line – this often even ends in a correction. A few days ago, the S&P 500 reached this mark again.

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For the market to continue rising, it needs fresh capital – in other words, new buyers. And that requires liquidity, i.e., higher incomes or rising wages. The ‘real wages’ indicator is particularly meaningful here: with a lead time of six months, it provides valuable insights. However, the current trend shows declining real wages, which suggests that there may be insufficient liquidity for new stock purchases in the coming months. In this case, sellers could gain the upper hand – and more sellers than buyers mean falling prices.

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There is another warning sign: the correlation between the S&P 500 and volatility has reached an unusually high level. This is often a sign that investors are feeling too confident. And if one thing is certain, it is this: the stock market has a knack for punishing complacency with a rude awakening.

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