The Season of Artificial Intelligence

During the early days of the internet boom, many people believed it would be the next big thing, like oil or gold. Companies that were popular in the market, like Yahoo and Blackberry, were expected to provide huge returns on investment, regardless of their actual intrinsic value. However, by 2000, these expectations were proven wrong, and investors lost faith in these once-high-expectation companies.

As the saying goes, "The show must go on." We often believe that things have changed, and this time will be different. And indeed, everything appeared to be different. The internet has become a necessary tool, and individuals can now easily showcase themselves from their homes via social media and quickly obtain the things they desire.

The economic downturn is an inherent part of the market cycle. Companies rise, fall, and then rejuvenate. In the 90s, investors believed that technology companies would replace oil as the market's new driving force and invested billions of dollars in them. Unfortunately, many investors lost money in the process. However, they were correct about the internet being the new driving force. Nowadays, buying items online has become a routine activity, and technological devices have become standard.

Many companies were highly anticipated in the past, but only a few have become well-known today. One example is Amazon, whose market capitalization was $25.7 billion in 1999, with a closing stock price of $3.81 and 6.76 billion shares. During the same year, its stock price peaked at $103.89 on December 10th, which valued the company at around $691 billion. These events occurred during the dot-com bubble and before the market crash. Despite the challenging market conditions, Amazon was able to weather the storm and emerge as one of the most successful companies in the world as of now.

Contrary to popular belief, WorldCom's market capitalization reached $186 billion in April 1999. However, the infamous tech bubble burst in 2000, causing a significant drop in their market value. Unfortunately, accounting scandals further worsened the situation, eventually leading to their bankruptcy in July 2002.

We often hear about the wonders of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which brings only positive trends and immense market capital for companies in that sector. Just like the internet, AI may become necessary with time. However, only time will reveal whether it is a sustainable trend or another bubble waiting to burst or drop.