Halftime Report Navigating High AI Anxiety 2/24/26
Feb 24, 2026
Joe Terranova, portfolio manager who discusses allocation and sector positioning. Jim Laventhal, market strategist focused on consumer and cyclical themes. Josh Brown, RIA known for his HALO (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence) trade and stock picks. They debate high AI anxiety, trade-resistant HALO ideas, favorite consumer discretionary names, and a utilities spotlight.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
AI Anxiety Is Driving Perception Over Fundamentals
- Market moves this year are driven more by perceived and projected AI disruption than by current fundamentals.
- Hosts cite IBM's huge one-day drop and the Citrini paper as examples of speculation creating outsized volatility.
Past Market Panics Mirror AI Fear Cycle
- Jim Laventhal recounted past market panics from supply shocks and geopolitics to show AI fear cycles are similar recurring episodes.
- He referenced store shelves fears and earlier nuclear war worries to argue creative destruction repeats.
Rebalance Into Heavy Assets Low Obsolescence
- Rebalance away from asset-light, high-obsolescence stocks into heavy-asset, low-obsolescence 'HALO' names as a defensive trade.
- Josh Brown lists Texas Pacific Land, Corning, Deere, Iron Mountain, FedEx, Hershey and Colgate as HALO examples.