Toby Howell

People are moving away from, you know, phone environments.

They want to be more in person.

So this went from a discussion about higher ed to a discussion about our relationship with technology.

But it's all interconnected.

I will do that, Neil.

I do think that part of the reason the market has had this run up is optimism about the Iran war, even though the straightforward moves is still closed.

Trump has floated that a deal was very close over.

The ceasefire has held, albeit delicately, for about a week now.

So investors have expected that pace of the war to de-escalate rather than escalate.

That seems to be the trajectory that they are

betting on.

So that's number one.

Number two, strong corporate earnings.

I mean, we floated it at the beginning of the week, but JP Morgan, Goldman, Citibank of America, all the big banks absolutely crushed it.

They reported not only strong earnings and profits for their own businesses, but also reported that the consumer was still busting out the plastic.

They're still swiping their credit cards, spending at a robust rate.

And finally, the third thing, AI optimism.

I mean, the market goes as AI goes still up until this point.

TSMC reported blowout earnings.

They are the biggest chip maker in the world.