Episode 536: Neal and Toby talk about the tech stock meltdown that results in one of the worst days for the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Then, Canada has elected a new prime minister, former banker Mark Carney, who promises to combat US tariffs. Also, another Chinese AI tool just dropped and some are calling it another ‘DeepSeek’ moment, while others aren’t so impressed. Meanwhile, 5 years ago, the world was transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Toby looks at some of the trends that have lasted and some that fizzled out. Lastly, a wrap of other headlines you should know. Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow There are risks involved with investing in ETFs, including possible loss of money. ETFs are subject to risks similar to those of stocks. Investments focus in a particular sector, such as technology, are subject to greater risks and are more greatly impacted by market volatility, than more diversified investments. Since ordinary brokerage commissions apply for each buy and sell transaction, frequent trading activity may increase the cost of ETFs. Invesco does not offer tax advice. Please consult your tax professional for information regarding your own personal tax situation. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or eliminate the risk of loss. Invesco Distributors, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Why did tech stocks experience a massive sell-off?
Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, carnage on Wall Street as stocks plummeted to their worst day this year. Recession fears are real.
Then who is Mark Carney, the banker turned prime minister of Canada? It's Tuesday, March 11th. Let's ride.
Five years ago, March 11th, 2020, is a day none of us will soon forget because it was when you realized, oh, this pandemic thing is really going to shut down the world, isn't it? On that day five years ago, the World Health Organization declared a worldwide pandemic. The NBA suspended its season after jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, leading to mass confusion in the arena.
And Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson posted a photo on Instagram sharing that they got COVID-19 while in Australia. Toby, that evening is absolutely seared into my memory. Hard to believe it's been five whole years.
And we're going to take a deeper dive into it with a Toby's trend later in the show. But I'll add my own personal anecdote as well. Neil, you interviewed me for a job at the Morning Brew offices in Fidei in late February of 2020. And that turned out to be the last time I set foot in a Morning Brew office until we started this podcast three years later.
I'm sure lots of people graduating around that time had a similar experience. Hey, grab your computer. We're going to work from home for a little bit, which turned into a week, which turned into a month, which turned into a lot longer. But you are right. Absolutely seared in a lot of people's memories. Now a word from our sponsor, Invesco QQQ.
I hate to be that guy, but I am training for another marathon. You have always been that guy, Toby. Are you doing anything differently this time around? I'm trying to remember the big picture this time and not go too hard on any one day.
Oh, you're taking the Invesco QQQ approach.
What do you mean?
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Chapter 2: Who is Canada's new Prime Minister, Mark Carney?
Chapter 3: How did the COVID-19 pandemic change the world?
Five years ago, March 11th, 2020, is a day none of us will soon forget because it was when you realized, oh, this pandemic thing is really going to shut down the world, isn't it? On that day five years ago, the World Health Organization declared a worldwide pandemic. The NBA suspended its season after jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, leading to mass confusion in the arena.
And Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson posted a photo on Instagram sharing that they got COVID-19 while in Australia. Toby, that evening is absolutely seared into my memory. Hard to believe it's been five whole years.
And we're going to take a deeper dive into it with a Toby's trend later in the show. But I'll add my own personal anecdote as well. Neil, you interviewed me for a job at the Morning Brew offices in Fidei in late February of 2020. And that turned out to be the last time I set foot in a Morning Brew office until we started this podcast three years later.
I'm sure lots of people graduating around that time had a similar experience. Hey, grab your computer. We're going to work from home for a little bit, which turned into a week, which turned into a month, which turned into a lot longer. But you are right. Absolutely seared in a lot of people's memories. Now a word from our sponsor, Invesco QQQ.
I hate to be that guy, but I am training for another marathon. You have always been that guy, Toby. Are you doing anything differently this time around? I'm trying to remember the big picture this time and not go too hard on any one day.
Oh, you're taking the Invesco QQQ approach.
What do you mean?
Well, the Invesco QQQ ETF is a low fee, tax efficient, diversified way to access the future.
It really is like marathon training. Maybe now the training I put in today can help me in the future.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the new Chinese AI tool, Manus?
As an AI agent, Manus is part of a class of systems that go above and beyond a chatbot's capabilities by completing multi-step complex tasks on its own and produce tangible results, all without human intervention.
In a demo, Manas' chief scientist shows the technology completing three different tasks, sorting through resumes to find the top job candidate, Zillow surfing in New York City to help you find the right apartment, and performing a correlation analysis on various stocks.
For the second time in as many months, the AI sector went berserk trying to understand the implications of a potential breakthrough by a Chinese company. Remember, earlier this year, DeepSeek unveiled a model that allegedly rivals OpenAI's ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost, sending chip stocks tumbling and U.S. tech leaders into panic mode over their fragile dominance of the key sector.
In response to Manus, the reaction has been similarly impassioned and polarized. Some say this is the best thing since sliced AI bread. Others argue its capabilities are overblown. Toby, what are you hearing about Manus?
Let's go to the overblown side, because you did actually mention some of the tasks that they have been seeing completing. And they are impressive, like sorting through resumes, analyzing stock trends. TechCrunch, for instance, was one publication that put it through its paces a little bit, and it failed pretty miserably on some tasks.
An editor asked it to order a fried chicken sandwich from a top-rated fast food joint in my delivery range. After about 10 minutes of thinking, Manus just crashed. On the second attempt, it actually did find a menu item that met the criteria. but it couldn't complete the ordering process or provide a checkout link. He asked it to book a flight from NYC to Japan. It couldn't do that on its own.
All it did was provide some links to some kayak flights, but some of those links were broken. So remember the whole promise of an AI agent is that you can take a human out of the loop and have these programs work on your behalf while you're not paying attention to it. But Manus looks like it was whiffing on those and
was introducing humans into the mix because it was just failing at the tasks that it was asked to do.
On the other hand, there was a certainly high degree of hype from a few people who played around with it. The head of product at Hugging Face called Manus the most impressive AI tool I've ever tried. AI policy researcher Dean Ball of George Mason described Manus as the most sophisticated computer using AI. So there was a lot of praise from the developer community around its code. And, uh,
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