FSD: Major Chord & Minor Chord

In this FSD episode, titled The Major Chord and the Minor Chord, Ram records on a rainy summer day, slightly under the weather, and finds the market in the same condition: running a little slower than usual. His frame for the moment is musical. AI has been the market's major chord, playing nonstop for most of the year up until Micron earnings. Since then the minor chord, quality, has taken over the melody. Good music has both, and so does a good bull market. He calls it hug your favorite CFA mode: quality businesses at good prices, and there are a lot of them out there. The middle of the drive is a tour of what's actually working. Insurance names like Berkshire Hathaway, Marsh McLennan, and Travelers, which is in a lockout rally. Medical devices through the IHI ETF, with DaVita as the case study: a year and a half ago it traded at nine times earnings with 12 percent buybacks, totally hated and unloved, and it turned into a momentum stock. Regeneron just triggered on his mean reversion quality screen, though he doesn't own it yet. ICE and CME are the purest expression of the theme, indestructible businesses that will still be here in 50 years. Staples are working too, maybe a bit overheated, and he trimmed Philip Morris and Altria today. The back half is the other side of the trade. AI semiconductor bottleneck stocks look terrible, with AAOI the poster child dropping below a key moving average, and Ram expects a washout there within days because crowded momentum takes time to unwind. The psychology of the market curve patterns the old Templeton guidance, and these names sit on the hope side, where the faith is almost religious. He closes with the tsunami metaphor: the water pulls back from the beach and the seashells left on the sand are the quality stocks, so when a trade gets crowded in one direction, run to the other side of the boat. It's still a bull market, the fundamentals and capex are intact, and both chords are going to play together. (00:00) A rainy day and the market's two chords (00:44) The return of quality (01:28) Insurance names: Berkshire, Marsh McLennan, Travelers (01:46) Medical devices and the DaVita story (02:58) ICE and CME: indestructible businesses (03:35) Staples, Google, and Microsoft (04:21) AI bottleneck stocks and a coming washout (04:59) Market psychology turns religious (05:42) Lessons from ASML and Micron in 2024 (06:53) Still a bull market: the tsunami metaphor (07:44) Capex is intact: cloud compute spot rates About the show: Non-Consensus Investing is Ram Ahluwalia's running commentary on markets, where he shares how he's actually positioning capital and talks through the ideas most investors are missing. Real-time analysis, specific names, and a bias toward what's overlooked rather than what's crowded. Connect with Us Online:Lumida NewsLumida DealsLumida WealthLumida ETF Watch the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lumida_Wealth🌐 Website: https://www.lumidawealth.com🐦 Twitter Follow us on https://twitter.com/LumidaWealth🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lumidawealth📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lumidawealth📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lumidawealth