Technology & Telecommunications

Are housing prices on the way down, and what does war in the Middle East mean for markets, investors and their superannuation?

I joined Phil Clark on ABC Nightlife to unpack these issues, explaining why forecasts of sharp housing declines are unlikely given the strong incentives supporting prices, from migration to government policy and bank balance sheets. We also discussed how rising oil prices and geopolitical tensions could delay rate cuts, the potential for recent market gains to fade, and how the “SaaSpocalypse” (Software as a Service apocalypse) and artificial intelligence (AI) are impacting companies and investors.

Tune in to hear the segment: ABC Nightlife. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Investing Education, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Property, Radio, Technology & Telecommunications.

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Corporate strategic pivots are common throughout history and particularly during market booms. Recall the mining companies that became internet companies during the internet bubble of 1999. Back then, merely adding “.com” to a company’s name saw its share price surge. 

In the 1920s, radio was the ‘Internet and artificial intelligence (AI)’ equivalent of its day. It was the first time an electronic buzzword could instantly inflate a company’s value, and between 1922 and 1929, sales of radio equipment in the U.S. jumped from US$60 million to over US$840 million. Investors were so hungry for radio exposure that any company adding the word to its name saw its stock soar. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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The gigawatt IPOs

Ahead of a multi-billion-dollar Australian data centre Initial Public Offering (IPO), many local investors are taking a particular interest in the sector, swatting up on everything they can learn. Of particular interest are the latest developments at Datacentre hopeful Fermi America.

In the age of Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI), building the world’s largest data centre sounds like a license to print money. But as Fermi America shareholders are currently discovering, even having the former U.S. Secretary of Energy as a co-founder and the Trump name on the door doesn’t make concrete pour any faster. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Energy / Resources, Market commentary, Technology & Telecommunications.

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Should persistent inflation drive a portfolio shift?

Helped by a 12 per cent rally since the war-inspired low recorded on March 30, the U.S. S&P 500 index is now at new all-time highs and more than two per cent above its previous all-time high recorded in February. 

It’s reasonable to conclude the global and U.S. economies are healthy and booming, as is the AI rollout. But those booms, along with the shocks stemming from war in the Middle East, may be sowing the seeds of a pivot and an inflation threat that could have serious implications for portfolio construction. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Energy / Resources, Global markets, Insightful Insights, Manufacturing, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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I have been challenging my own thinking on this subject, and I am eager to distil the debate into the primary arguments, which are defined by a profound division.

That division mainly pits a sceptical public, the media, and some investors against an optimistic and arguably self-serving Silicon Valley, populated by tech pioneers and billionaires.

This article was first published in The Australian on 09 April 2026. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Editor's Pick, Global markets, In the Press, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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I know everyone is focused on Iran and oil at the moment, but when the conflict eventually ends, investors will cheer…and return to the themes that previously dominated markets.

And that theme is artificial intelligence (AI).

At Montgomery, we have always preached that, in the long run, share prices follow a simple trajectory: the present value of future cash flows or the ‘intrinsic value’ of a stock. We have long advocated investors look for “great” businesses with high returns on incremental invested capital and durable competitive advantages.

From time to time, however, the market enters a period of “narrative-driven” exuberance where the arithmetic is ignored in favour of a grand story. A theme. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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Prior to the conflict, investors were debating AI’s immediate and long-term impact. While 2025 was about the rise of the AI “picks and shovels” – enablers like Nvidia – 2026 witnessed the emergence of agentic AI, and the narrative quickly became about the fall of the middlemen – the traditional software companies that built epochal and capital-light business on a per-seat revenue model.

This article was first published in The Australian on 25 March 2026. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Global markets, In the Press, Investing Education, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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As Agentic artificial intelligence (AI)’s threat to jobs spreads ever wider, the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is shifting from theory to, frighteningly, a central pillar of Silicon Valley’s vision for our future.

Love him or hate him now, OpenAI’s Sam Altman was the first to publicly discuss a UBI, announcing in early 2016 that Y Combinator would fund a multi-year, large-scale UBI study to prepare for an automated future. Elon Musk followed later that year, saying in a CNBC interview that UBI is “going to be necessary” because “there will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better.” continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Global markets, Insightful Insights, Market commentary, Technology & Telecommunications.

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I recently wrote an article for The Australian, titled, How AI boom and a liquidity crisis are threatening to upend markets. It garnered quite a few comments highlighting a range of opinions about where artificial intelligence (AI) is headed and where it might be taking humanity.

The “AI Revolution” is being sold to us as either a sleek, inevitable future of effortless productivity or one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse bringing destruction to humanity, first by laying waste to the workforce. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary, Technology & Telecommunications.

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Today on Ausbiz with Juliette Saly, I discussed the growing hype around humanoid robots. While many companies promise household robots within a decade, leading roboticist Rodney Brooks believes major technical hurdles remain before they can perform meaningful work in homes or industry. 

We explored the limitations of bipedal design, the extraordinary dexterity of the human hand, and the safety challenges robots face when interacting with people. For investors, it is a reminder that technological excitement often runs ahead of reality, and markets can price in adoption long before the technology is ready. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Technology & Telecommunications, TV Appearances.

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