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We're back with The Skinny On...three wild stories: confusing jobs data, Japan's equity market rally, and why everyone's freaking out about AI killing SaaS companies.

Confused by the latest Non-Farm Payrolls report? So were we. The blowout headline number was nothing compared to the massive downward revisions to 2025's data. Yet somehow, bonds still sold off and the market has priced out March rate cuts. Huh?? We're not buying it.

Then we jump to Japan, where the Nikkei's been ripping. Everyone's talking inflation, but the real story is decades in the making: Japan's finally ditching "holder capitalism" (where companies hoarded cash and protected jobs) for actual shareholder value. Prime Minister Takaichi's landslide win just accelerated reforms that started under Abe. With an aging population, pension funds need equities to work — so corporate Japan has no choice but to unlock value.

Next: the "SaaS-pocalypse." Software stocks got obliterated on fears that AI will replace them entirely, pushing many loans in the tech sector into distressed territory. But remember: corporate cash flows don't vanish overnight. We share lessons from the past that suggest the current panic feels overblown, even if the existential threat is real.

As our philosophical debate continues over the appropriate role for AI in the workplace, we bring on Charlie Schilling, CEO of Macabacus, to talk about how his company (creators of a beloved Wall Street productivity toolkit) is navigating this chaos and what AI actually means for financial modeling.

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