When I was a cub reporter in Los Angeles, covering crime for the now-deceased Los Angeles Herald Examiner, we used to joke that we should never let the facts get in the way of a good story. It was a horrendous paper — don't ask me what I was doing there other than booking a paycheck. My late editor, Don Forst, used to tell me that if I wanted truth, I should be novelist.
It wants to hear a clearly articulated story about why Amazon is so enamored with AI. I think CEO Andy Jassy and Co. will have something good to say, or at least a decent story. But it feels tired, in need of something new. I just don't think a strong Amazon Web Services number will do the trick. All of these stocks are fighting another enemy now, besides data-center spending fears and the small-cap run: the Federal Reserve.