Editor

Trump ‘has a lot on his plate’, misunderstands Taiwan’s chip role, minister says

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump “has a lot on his plate” and misunderstands Taiwan’s role in the semiconductor industry, possibly because others have misinformed him, the island’s Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said on Monday. Trump, the Republic nominee in November’s presidential election, unnerved democratically governed Taiwan, which is claimed by China, by saying in July, “Taiwan should pay us for defence,” and that it had taken American semiconductor business. His remarks pummelled … Read more…

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ByteDance taps banks for $9.5 billion Asia dollar corporate loan, sources say

(Reuters) – TikTok-owner ByteDance is tapping banks for a $9.5 billion loan that would be the biggest dollar-denominated corporate facility in Asia ex-Japan, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are the coordinators of the financing, which carries a tenor of three years and can be extended to up to five years, the sources, who did not want to be named because the discussions are confidential, said. … Read more…

Tesla’s China-made EV sales rise 3% y/y in Aug

BEIJING (Reuters) – Sales of U.S. automaker Tesla’s China-made electric vehicles grew 3% in August from a year earlier, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday. Deliveries of China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles rose 17% from the previous month. Chinese rival BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and plug-in hybrids, was again on a roll in August, with passenger vehicle sales up 35.3% year-on-year in August … Read more…

Tech market values fall on AI costs and recession fears; Eli Lilly, Berkshire gain

(Reuters) – Market values of major tech firms declined in August amid concerns over escalating artificial intelligence infrastructure costs and rising recession risks that would make the stocks particularly vulnerable during a market correction. Last month, Alphabet Inc’s lost 4.7% of its market value as a slowdown in YouTube’s advertising sales fuelled concerns about its earnings. A U.S. judge’s ruling that Google had violated antitrust laws and the emergence of new competition from OpenAI, which … Read more…

Consumer Confidence Surges – by Justin Vaughn

(Justin Vaughn, Editor, Options Trading Report) This week’s menu is again filled with several pertinent reports. Tuesday will see the release of the Case-Shiller Home Price index for June, with The National Association of Realtors releasing its “Pending Home Sales Index” for July. The NAR report will focus on ‘housing activity’ as both releases will define the present housing market conditions. Also coming up after market close on Wednesday will be the much awaited earnings … Read more…

Futures gain ahead of inflation data as Fed’s September meeting looms

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures edged up on Friday ahead of a crucial inflation report that could influence investor expectations about the extent of the central bank’s interest-rate cuts this year. Global markets are nearing the end of a tumultuous month for riskier assets, after signs of a sudden moderation in the labor market sparked fears of a quicker-than-expected slowdown in the world’s largest economy in early August. … Read more…

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Traders see Fed delivering 25 bps cut in Sept, 100 bps by year-end

(Reuters) – Traders added to bets that the Federal Reserve will start U.S. interest-rate cuts next month with a quarter-point reduction in the policy rate, rather than a bigger half-point cut, after the U.S. central bank’s preferred gauge of inflation for July showed inflation rose in line with economist expectations even as consumer spending increased solidly.     Traders continued to see the Fed cutting rates by a full percentage point over the final three meetings … Read more…

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GM delays additional $330 million investment in Thacker Pass, Lithium Americas says

(Reuters) – Lithium Americas said on Friday automaker General Motors has delayed the second tranche of investment, worth $330 million, in the miner until the end of the year. GM had announced an investment of $650 million, in two tranches, in Lithium Americas last year to help it develop the Thacker Pass lithium mining project in Nevada, which holds enough of the battery metal to build 1 million electric vehicles annually. The lithium miner said … Read more…

Intel rises as report of chipmaker exploring options stokes investor enthusiasm

(Reuters) – Intel’s shares rose more than 3% before the bell on Friday, as a report of the struggling chipmaker exploring options that could include a merger or a split induced some investor enthusiasm after one of the stock’s worst slumps in decades. The company is working with investment bankers and considering various options such as separating its flagship product business from its money-losing manufacturing unit, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Intel is also discussing … Read more…

OpenAI says ChatGPT’s weekly users have grown to 200 million

(Reuters) – AI startup OpenAI said on Thursday its chatbot ChatGPT now has more than 200 million weekly active users, double the number it had in the last fall season. ChatGPT, launched in 2022, can generate human-like responses based on user prompts and had 100 million weekly active users, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had said in November. OpenAI said 92% of Fortune 500 companies are using its products and the use of its automated Application … Read more…