On today's episode of Catalysts, Hosts Seana Smith and Madison Mills break down some of the biggest stories of the trading day.

A new World Economic Forum report warns that global long-term growth is at risk due to high worldwide debt and political instability. World Economic Forum Managing Director Saadia Zahidi paints a mixed picture of economist opinions. Most are cautiously optimistic, with 54% saying the economy is "relatively stable." However, 37% believe it "could get a little bit worse," while only 9% expect improvement. However, she mentions that economists are particularly upbeat about US growth prospects.

The US sports betting industry has exploded in recent years, with platforms like FanDuel leading the charge. As the NFL season kicks off, Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter (FLUT) (FanDuel's parent company), expresses enthusiasm about Flutter's growth prospects. He projects the North American market to reach a staggering $70 billion, with global markets (excluding the US) reaching $300 billion. The CEO attributes this success to "the quality" of FanDuel, which he calls "the best in the market" in terms of value and user experience. This edge, he claims, "is what is enabling us to win" against competitors.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday after the announcement of a stimulus package from China’s central bank. Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick argues that US investors should be rooting for China's economy because if they fail, it will have serious ripple effects on the global economy. "I think we have to remember how in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, one of the things that helped us dramatically was that the Chinese economy was expanding so rapidly. And as a result, it had spillover effects into the rest of the world. The flip side is if their economy shrinks dramatically, that will also have spillover effects into the rest of the world," he explains.

Intel (INTC) is under pressure as it navigates a slew of missteps while falling behind names like Nvidia (NVDA) in the heated chip race. Eric Jackson, the founder and president of EMJ Capital argues, “I don't see a quick fix here. I don't see a lever to pull, whether it's taking money from Apollo, separating the company into two businesses.” Apollo Global Management (APO), which is Yahoo's parent company, has reportedly offered a multibillion-dollar investment in the legacy chipmaker. There have also been reports that the company is considering splitting into two to separate its foundry segment from the rest of its business. “All of these roads I see leading to basically a ten-year slog in trying to turn this company around to fix the cultural issues. And unfortunately, that's just I don't see any faster way for Intel,” Jackson explains.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest concerns AI players like Nvidia (NVDA) have to contend with is increased energy use. Dion Harris, Nvidia's head of data center product marketing, believes there are two parts of the energy equation: short-term and long-term. In the short-term, many of Nvidia's customers do not have the means to quickly build efficient data centers. Thus, its newest Blackwell chips provide "a huge uplift in terms of the productivity they can get out of their existing power assets." In the long-term, Nvidia is working closely with partners and energy providers to ensure that data centers are being built as efficiently as possible and that grid infrastructure is resilient.

A new report from Bain & Company forecasts substantial growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) product market in the coming years. The firm projects that the market for AI-related hardware and software could expand by 40-50% annually, reaching approximately $990 billion by 2027. Bain & Company identifies three key areas of opportunity driving this growth: the development of larger data centers, enterprise and sovereign AI initiatives, and ongoing improvements in software efficiency and capabilities.

This post was written by Melanie Riehl