I am a happy glider pilot and Google investor and Broadcom too. On November 20, 2025, shortly before Alphabet soared in the US to become the world’s second biggest company, I soared to around 9000 feet high in a glider over NSW skies, or almost 3km above the ground, enjoying very strong lift.

I can’t help but expand on the metaphor, with cloud earnings driving Alphabet higher, while the surge of hot air to cloud base pushed me up well above the Earth’s surface.

I climbed to cloud base, which you can see in the photo, in thermals as strong as 5 to 6 meters per second, so powerful was the surge. I got these statistics from my device running on Android, owned by Google, stored in the cloud. The photos were taken with an iPhone.

The world runs on these companies’ products and their revenues and profits are soaring. We need the cloud, including Google Cloud, and advanced computer chips from Nvidia, AMD, and for some of us, iPhones. Broadcom too is soaring, which I bought into because 99% of internet traffic goes through a Broadcom chip (it’s now bigger than Meta and the world’s 6th largest company) and its helping Google make TPUs so someday, Google won’t need to buy so many GPUs from Nvidia.

And it’s not just about AI but far more broadly, perhaps the digital age expanding at an increasing rate.

omentum has pushed these companies, along with the underlying need for the cloud/data storage and complex computing processing power demanded by an increasingly digital age.

And it’s not just about AI, but all things digital.

Back on terra firma, heading back to Sydney just outside Gunnedah, I was reminded of the beauty of the world outside digital domains, as I stopped for cattle casually grazing on the road. I admire these animals for their curiosity and questioning eyes. Not afraid to step ahead and check their surroundings and take their time to do it.

And that’s the way I think we should all be when it comes to investing. Managing risk at all times and being curious always. Doing you own research, using your own eyes and asking your own questions, including of the experts. Then compare the information you have and make a decision.

I did all that when I bought Nvidia and AMD shares 3 year ago. I knew nothing about GPUs, but I knew how to ask questions (especially of gamers), observe the world around me and check companies’ balance sheets. I stayed curious, just like the cows, which I often stop to admire, even when they aren’t blocking the road!

By Nicki Bourlioufas

Nvidia has overtaken Nvidia has overtaken Alphabet and Amazon in market value this week to become the 3th largest company in the US, and looks set to take on Apple for second place, a huge milestone in a rally fuelled by soaring demand for its GPUs, holding the greatest market share in AI computing.

Quite the Valentine’ day present for me, a Nvidia shareholder, who, as a single women, likes the boost. It might not be a bunch of red roses, but along with my other investments in AMD, Broadcom, and ASML, it’s not a bad bunch!

You can see the ranking of the largest US companies here, and Nvidia this week became the fourth largest company in the US, moving closer to the world’s biggest company Microsoft, and Apple, followed by Alphabet.

Lesser known US chip and software infrastructure company Broadcom entered the Top 10 US companies this year and looks set to overtake Tesla this month too.

My bet is that will continue Nvidia will close in on Apple and Microsoft and could become the second largest company in the US and the world after overtaking Amazon and Alphabet in 2024, Tesla and Berkshire Hathaway in 2023 and Meta in 2022.

Staying with the momentum

The momentum is with Nvidia and other chip companies such as AMD, Broadcom, ASML (now Europe’s largest tech company) and ASMI International, also soaring higher, and they are likely to keep on going this year and well beyond, building their revenues and shareholder wealth.

The flow of money into computer chip companies and their suppliers is fundamentally changing capital allocation in the world’s largest economy and that is likely to continue. We need computer chips such as high tech GPUs like never before. Which is why the US government is throwing billions in R&D to support the semiconductor sector and making sure through trade restrictions on Nvidia that the Chinese can’t get its GPU technology.

And it’s not just momentum. Geopolitical factors alone point to the ongoing dominance of these companies. Nvidia’s market share and that of other US chip producers and equipment suppliers is being protected by US and European regulators who are determined to keep the latest chip technology out of China.

Some experts are still calling an end to the US tech rally, linking the outcome to the US interest rate outlook, which is very short sighted indeed.

Short and long term factors underpin the momentum behind chip companies. Generative AI is only part of the story; the demand rising for advanced computer chips that can process computer applications will endure for the long term and still represents a huge growth opportunity for Nvidia and others.

This century’s oil

Computer chips too are the ‘oil’ of the 21st century. The world will need ever increasing numbers of computer chips and faster ones as we move into an increasingly digital world, much like the world needed oil last century to drive industrialisation. Now we need chips to drive computer applications, not just AI functions but all digital processes.

Momentum too is forcing everything up. February has seen fresh records for the US share market.

And it’s not just momentum. Moore’s Law too tells us that computer chips are constantly evolving, so new products is always being launched to improve the productivity of chips in what is the world’s most complex manufacturing process.

Even better, Nvidia’s market share and that of other US chip producers and equipment suppliers is being protected by US and European regulators who are determined to keep the latest chip technology out of China.

And while AI has brought Nvidia and GPUs to the spotlight, GPUs have been important for a long time. While I drew a comparison between computer chips and oil, I admit that’s crude, given oil is a commodity and computer chips are the product of the world’s most complex manufacturing process.

The initial drawcard to Nvidia

What brought me to Nvidia in the first place?

Good spin I spun for a client, and the logic that computer chips bring us and represent.

Back in 2021, I pitched the potential benefits of investing in Nvidia on behalf of global asset manager VanEck, which held Nvidia as the largest stock in its video gaming fund ESPO, followed by AMD. I was so convinced by my own spin that I bought both up.

That spin was right on the money.

The story I pitched to business reporters and editors around the world at Bloomberg, Reuters, Yahoo, the AFR, the SMH, The WSJ, The Australian, was that if investors wanted to diversify out of the FAANG stocks, Nvidia was a good bet. The company would potentially grow more quickly than the FAANGs in the years to come, given its importance as a key producer of graphics processing units (GPUs). Demand for GPUs was racing ahead in 2020-21 with pandemic-heightened gaming and the surge in crypto mining. It still is with AI.

But back in 2021, no journalist or editor wanted to know or asked any questions when I pitched on Nvidia’s benefits as a great investment set to overtake the FAANGs, such was the focus on Bitcoin and other crypto assets. No one in the media wanted to know about GPUs or knew what they were, unless they were a gamer.

But I bought up. I invested in Nvidia at less than US$200/share in 2022, and I bought AMD on dips when it fell below US$100 in 2023 and in 2022, convinced that both companies would fly. I bought Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet shares early last year.

Another chip supplier to Nvidia and AMD, and Dutch born chip equipment supplier, ASM International, has gained tenfold in five years. And the next five? I’ve put money on its continued run, being a market leader in the technology used to create logic and memory chips; what’s to stop the momentum?

That’s an even more logical question to ask rather than how interest rates will affect long-term demand for chip producers and their suppliers, as many experts have done.

Want help to spot and tell a good story? Contact Nicki Bourlioufas on +61 411 786 933 or email at nicki@spotoncpr.com

By Nicki Bourlioufas

A recent article by Wall Street Journal columnist James Mackintosh declared “How I, and everyone else, got 2023 so wrong.”

“My biggest error in 2023 was the same as everyone else’s: being in the consensus that the fastest rate hikes in 40 years would cause a recession. They didn’t.”

Mr Mackintosh got it wrong again when he grouped himself with everyone else on December 29. He judged all investors by his lack of insight and assumed we all made the same mistakes as he did last year. We didn’t.

I, and millions of other investors, got 2023 right. That’s why the prices of US share soared, on soaring demand. My US share investments, dominated as they were by chip companies Nvidia, AMD and ASML, climbed to the clouds. And they are still soaring to new heights.

As Nvidia and AMD hit fresh records towards US$700 and US$200, respectively, this month, investors in these companies are on a high too. And the momentum is with them.

Strong underlying demand, not just hot air.

I expect the chip-led rally in US share markets to continue through 2024 so I’m hanging on for more records. Lookout for other chip companies like Broadcom that recently became the 10th largest company in the US.

Some experts are still calling an end to the US tech rally, linking the outcome to the US interest rate outlook.

I’m not backing that view, once again captured in this recent WSJ headline on 21 January. “Stocks Are at Record Highs, but Things Will Only Get Harder From Here.”

Really? A confident prediction made ahead of the US tech companies reporting their earnings – and entirely incorrect.

Much like Mr Mackintosh’s warning to investors in December to steer clear: “Things can always work out but, with U.S. stocks so expensive already, the odds aren’t good.”

The reality?

Momentum is forcing everything up. February has started with fresh records for the US share market.

Short and long term factors underpin this lift. Generative AI is here to for the long term and still represents a huge growth opportunity for Nvidia and others for the long-term.

As many experts have done, not just Mr Mackintosh, judging the outlook for computer chips and tech shares generally by yields on 10-year bonds is like trying to fly a glider plane at night. Impossible. Bond yields are a measure of the probabilities, about economic growth and inflation in 10 years’ time. They are not relevant to the underlying demand for computer chips now or in the future; that demand is underpinned by a longer-term need for faster computer processing power.

As for the short-term outlook for rates, it’s even less relevant.

That reflects an important fact. Computer chip companies are fundamentally changing capital allocation in the world’s largest economy and they are likely to continue doing so in 2024 and beyond. We need semiconductors them like never before.

You may have heard the analogy that computer chips are the ‘oil’ of the 21st century. The world needs more and more computer chips as we move into an increasingly digital world, much like the world needed oil last century to drive industrialisation. Now we need chips to drive computer applications, not just AI functions but all digital processes.

Reflecting that, Nvidia became the fifth largest company in the US last year and fellow chip and software company Broadcom this month became the tenth largest company in the US.  Like Nvidia two years ago, no one has ever heard of it, other than gamers and tech heads. Well, that’s changing.

AMD is likely to likely to move into the Top 20.

So, for all those experts who see Nvidia as crashing, and US tech shares generally, I’m staying long.

It’s not just about interest rates

Interest rates are very important. I know that I reported on the yield curve for many years for Dow Jones Newswires. There is no more important economic variable.

Yet some experts and commentators are so focused on talking about interest rates and ‘soft’ and ‘hard,’ landings, repeating the rhetoric over and again, that can’t see the wood for the trees.  (An aside here, we need new adjectives, please; there are many synonyms for ‘soft’ and ‘hard).

An alternative view is that of Steve Eisman of the ‘Big Short’ fame, known for betting against US subprime mortgages. He said last week that he’s feeling ‘blissful’ about the outlook for US stocks and going long.  I’m feeling blissful too, and staying long.

Irrespective of whatever happens to interest rates and global growth in 2024, the semiconductor sector is growing. The logic is clear enough: to become more productive, the world will need ever more computer chips, so it needs more investment in that space to power digital processes. It’s common sense.

Microsoft becomes Number One, Nvidia follows

Apart from anything else, momentum is driving these stocks up. It’s a significant factor driving US equity markets, a factor that many ‘experts’ didn’t account for in 2023. Momentum is a sentiment-based factor; put simply, strong past returns are associated with strong future returns. Some asset managers pay mathematicians a lot of money to predict momentum, and for good reason.  It can be a very reasonable predictor of equity prices in the future. I’m applying it to 2024.

But it’s not just momentum. Moore’s Law too tells us that computer chips are constantly evolving, so new products is always being launched to improve the productivity of chips in what is the world’s most complex manufacturing process.

Even better, Nvidia’s market share and that of other US chip producers and equipment suppliers is being protected by US and European regulators who were determined to keep the latest chip technology out of China. Geopolitical factors alone point to the ongoing dominance of these companies.

Now, with Nvidia trading near an all-time over US$660/share, and AMD also striking record highs at around US$180 as it heads towards US$200/share, up from US$100 in November 2023, I’m hanging on.

The initial drawcard

What brought me to these stocks in the first place?

Good spin I spun for a client, unpinned by logic.

Back in 2021, I pitched the potential benefits of investing in Nvidia on behalf of a client, a global asset manager VanEck, which held the stock as the largest holding in its video gaming fund, followed by AMD. I was so convinced by the spin I spun for this client on both companies that I myself bought both up.

The story I pitched to reporters and editors was that if investors wanted to diversify out of the FAANG stocks, Nvidia was a good bet. The company would potentially grow more quickly than the FAANGs in the years to come, given its importance as a key producer of graphics processing units (GPUs). Demand for GPUs was racing ahead in 2020-21 with pandemic-heightened gaming and the surge in crypto mining. No one to whom I pitched wanted to know, such was the focus on crypto assets in late 2021, but I was convinced.

So, I bought into Nvidia at less than US$200/share in 2022, and I bought AMD on dips when it fell below US$100 in 2023 and in 2022, convinced that both companies had a long way to fly.

As I told the WSJ in this article in early 2023, I’d buy other US tech stocks on dips to share in their profits. “As soon as there’s any hint that interest rates will be cut, then I expect tech stocks will rally and I’d like to be there and positioned. I use their products and I’d like to also reap their profits.”

Notably, chip companies’ market caps aren’t just ballooning in the US. Over in the Netherlands, ASML is now Europe’s largest technology company and its shares shot to a record.  Another chip supplier to Nvidia and AMD and others, ASM International, has gained almost as much as Nivida over the past five years. And the next five? The company is a market leader in the technology used to create logic and memory chips; what’s going to stop its run?

That’s a even more logical question to ask rather than how interest rates will affect the outlook for chip producers and their suppliers.

Last week, Microsoft became the world’s largest company, overtaking Apple, as it’s more closely linked to AI than Apple, focused as it is on smartphones.  Apple has significantly underperformed the Magnificent Seven over the past year. My bet is that will continue and Apple will keep falling down the list of the 10 largest companies in the US over this year or two with Nvidia catching up to Apple and potentially overtaking Amazon in 2024, after overtaking Tesla and Berkshire Hathaway in 2023 and Meta in 2022.

My track record isn’t bad either. I’m not being driven by greed but the desire to build and preserve wealth. I don’t hang on if it gets too risky.

Selling out before the GFC

Unlike most fund managers, I sold all my stocks in the month leading up to the GFC and put all my profits onto my mortgage. With banks going under and the US Fed adopting emergency rate cuts, I’d sold out all by shares by June 2008 before October’s crash. I was a business editor for News Corp at the time, reporting so much bad news that, for me, the writing was on the wall.

So, while most active fund managers hung on hard, betting on ongoing momentum, even as bad news emerged, I got out of equity amrkets while many of the ‘expert’ investors hung on, eventually losing billions of pension investors’ savings.

This time, it’s the other way around. Many ‘experts’ entirely missed the momentum and are still calling a correction in the prices of the world’s largest companies, in this increasingly digital age.