



An AI fight is threatening the market. How to avoid getting hurt.
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As the market digests another AI scare, we would suggest staying out of the fight. Other sectors and companies are proving resilient while tech sells off; stick with stocks toughing it out until the tech dust settles.
The market is certainly nervous this won’t end well. After falling for several days, the S&P 500 is down nearly 1% for the year. The Nasdaq Composite Index is off 3%, as companies like Microsoft and Nvidia drag it down.
The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX—the market’s “fear gauge"—has spiked, though it’s still low compared to last April’s “Liberation Day" panic. The problem isn’t earnings, which have been strong. Rather, investors are fretting over AI’s destructive potential.
Tools like Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 are threatening things like enterprise software, consulting, data analytics, and legal services. The fear is that it’s only the beginning. Yet tech’s troubles aren’t new.
As Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid points out, the sector peaked on Oct. 29, 2025, and is down more than 10% since then while the S&P 500 has been flat. What’s worked instead, he notes, is almost everything but tech.
Energy has led the charge, up 21%, followed by materials, consumer staples, and industrials. Aside from tech, the only sector down notably is utilities, off 4%. Tech is hardly falling of a cliff, at least from an earnings perspective.
The outlook from tech companies and corporate managers still looks better than that of the overall market, points out Dennis DeBusschere, president of 22V Research. “As a sector highly tied to the AI theme, strong earnings outlooks helps alleviate some concern about capex and profitability," he wrote in a note on Thursday. The economy, despite weakness
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