$Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing(TSM)$ $ASML Holding NV(ASML)$ TSMC and ASML have delivered another strong signal for the AI semiconductor cycle. TSMC reported second-quarter revenue of $40.2 billion, a gross margin of 67.7%, and net profit growth of 77.4% year over year. ASML, meanwhile, raised its 2026 revenue outlook from €36 billion–€40 billion to €43 billion–€45 billion, while preparing to expand EUV and immersion DUV capacity again in 2027 and 2028. Together, the two earnings reports confirm that demand for AI chips, advanced process nodes, HBM and semiconductor equipment remains strong. The next question is moving downstream: Can Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazo

$IBM(IBM)$ IBM delivered one of the clearest signals yet that the AI boom is reshaping corporate technology budgets. The company’s shares plunged about 25% after it released preliminary second-quarter results below Wall Street expectations. IBM expects quarterly revenue of roughly $17.2 billion, up only 1% year over year and below the $17.86 billion analysts expected. Adjusted earnings are projected at $2.93 per share, versus the $3.02 consensus estimate. (Reuters) The headline numbers were disappointing, but the explanation was even more important. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said that during the final weeks of June, corporate clients redirected part of their quarterly capital spending toward servers, storage and memory. Customers wante

Korean semiconductor stocks delivered a dramatic V-shaped reversal today. SK hynix fell roughly 9% during the session, then recovered to close about 3.7% higher. Samsung Electronics followed a similar path, moving from an early decline to a gain of around 3.3% by the close. The contrast between the open and the close matters. At the open, the market was still dealing with forced selling, leveraged-position reductions and concerns surrounding SK hynix’s new U.S. ADR. By the close, bargain hunters had stepped in and investors were willing to buy the memory-chip story again. The key question now is: Has the Korean semiconductor market moved past the most dangerous stage of deleveraging? What triggered the selloff? The reversal followed an unusually violent correction. On Monday, SK hynix’s Se

Oil is back at the center of the market today. According to Reuters, crude prices jumped more than 3% after renewed U.S.-Iran tensions raised concerns over tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude traded around $78.48 per barrel, while WTI rose to around $73.76 per barrel. The key issue is not simply higher oil prices. The market is pricing in a renewed geopolitical risk premium. Iran reportedly claimed a temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while President Trump said the strait remained open to commercial traffic. That gap is exactly why markets are nervous: the physical flow may not be fully disrupted yet, but the risk of disruption is back. Why Hormuz matters The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. Any disruption there can quic

$Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ Meta is back in the AI spotlight. According to the latest reports, Meta plans to deploy 7GW of AI compute infrastructure in 2026, and then double total capacity to 14GW by 2027. That number is massive. For context, some Street-style estimates use roughly $35 billion per GW as a rough AI infrastructure cost assumption. Based on that framework, an additional 7GW could imply around $245 billion of potential capex scale. This is not Meta’s official capex guidance, but it gives investors a sense of how aggressive the plan could be. At first glance, this sounds like another AI spending “horror story.” But the market reaction was more interesting. Instead of only worrying about capex, investors started asking

Two memory-chip stories hit the market this week. On one side, SK hynix’s U.S. ADR offering reportedly drew demand more than 7x the available supply, with proceeds expected to support new facilities tied to AI memory demand. On the other side, China’s Changxin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, is moving ahead with its Shanghai IPO book-building, aiming to raise funds for production-line expansion and technology upgrades. Different markets, different paths, but the same underlying question: Is AI turning memory chips from a cyclical trade into a structural AI infrastructure story? For years, investors mainly watched memory stocks through the old cycle: When will DRAM prices bottom? When will inventories clear? When will the next upcycle arrive? Now the questions are changing: Can HBM demand sta

【NEWS EVENT】 The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) just disclosed that President Donald Trump executed over 21,000 securities trades in 2025, with a total value between $600 million and $1.86 billion. Trump's team claims these assets are independently managed by third-party institutions through "automated, model-based portfolios," placing them in a so-called "blind trust." Trump averaged 85 trades per market day in 2025, with a net purchase of approximately 300million in U.S. stocks for the full year. His holdings are heavily concentrated inTechnology( $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ , $Microsoft(MSFT)$ , $Apple(AAPL)$ , $Advanced Micro

2026 is already halfway through, and the first half of the year has given investors plenty to talk about. AI remained one of the most important market themes, but the story kept expanding. It was no longer just about GPUs or mega-cap tech. Some stocks kept breaking new highs. Some names suddenly became market favorites after earnings. Some themes looked speculative at first, but continued to attract attention. And for many investors, H1 2026 probably came with at least one familiar feeling: “I saw it… but I didn’t buy it.” Maybe you watched an AI stock rally again and again. Maybe you hesitated before a semiconductor earnings report. Maybe you thought a nuclear or power stock had already gone too far. Maybe you sold too early and had to watch the stock keep climbing without you. At the sam

Gold has broken down. On Wednesday, $XAU/USD(XAUUSD.FOREX)$ fell below the $4,000/oz level for the first time since November 2025. From the record high of $5,594 reached in January, gold has now fallen nearly 29%. London gold tells a similar story. In just 30 trading days, it dropped from around 4,700 to 3,980, a decline of roughly 16%. Although prices rebounded modestly today, with $GLD$ trading around $368, the overall trend has clearly turned lower. Just two weeks ago, when we were discussing DBS's tokenized gold product, gold was still comfortably above 4,500. Now it's already below 4,000. Why Did Gold Collapse So Quickly? Higher rates. Stronger dollar. The historic rally throughout 2025 was built on one core assumption

$Micron Technology(MU)$ reports FY2026 Q3 earnings after the close on June 24, and the timing couldn't be more important. Just last week, markets were rattled by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish debut. Global central banks are increasingly leaning toward tightening, while investors have started questioning whether AI valuations have simply gone too far. In short, the market is looking for a catalyst to stabilize sentiment. Tonight, Micron faces that test. Micron has become the market's preferred way to verify whether AI spending remains as strong as investors believe. If cloud providers are still aggressively buying HBM, DRAM, and NAND, Micron's results should reveal it more clearly than almost anyone else. The question isn't just whe

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh made his first FOMC appearance this week, and his hawkish tone immediately poured cold water on markets, triggering a sharp repricing across global assets. The policy rate itself did not change. The Fed kept rates unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% for the fourth consecutive meeting, with a unanimous 12-0 vote. What scared the market was not the rate decision. It was that Warsh effectively took away the Fed’s “script.” But the story reversed the very next day. On Thursday night, the three major indices rebounded strongly, led by tech: $NASDAQ 100(NDX)$rose 2.48%, $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$gained 1.91%, and $S&P

The major indices sold off yesterday: $S&P 500(.SPX)$ fell 0.57%, $NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ dropped 1.15%. Today started differently. Stocks opened higher, with the S&P up about 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.6%, before giving back some gains during the session. Just weeks ago Goldman Sachs was talking about S&P 8000. Now Citadel and PGIM are warning about inflation, rates, and valuation risk. Japan has already begun tightening. The global conversation is shifting from rate cuts back to rate hikes. Just days ago, the Bank of Japan raised rates by 25 basis points to 1%. A few weeks earlier Goldman Sachs was calling for S&P 8000 and raising

The moment $SpaceX(SPCX)$ went public, it threw a wrench into one of Wall Street's favorite labels: the Mag Seven. With its valuation surging above $2 trillion after listing, SpaceX immediately surpassed Tesla and Meta, becoming one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. When a $2 trillion tech giant isn't part of the Mag 7, does the term still represent the leaders of the technology sector? SpaceX Doesn't Fit the Mag 7 Playbook For years, the market's tech leaders were simple: $NVIDIA(NVDA)$, $Apple(AAPL)$, $Microsoft(MSFT)$,

Tonight, the largest IPO in history begins trading on Nasdaq under the ticker $Space Exploration Technologies(SPCX)$. The hype has reached a fever pitch. More than $250 billion in subscription funds have reportedly been locked up, with retail investors alone contributing over $70 billion. Allocation rates are expected to be only 20–30%, while more than 1,000 institutions competed for shares and international allocations accounted for less than 10% of the deal. With a greenshoe stabilization mechanism in place, most investors expect a strong debut rather than an IPO break. The Most Expensive IPO in History SpaceX generated roughly $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025. At a $1.77 trillion valuation, that implies a staggering 94x price-to

The countdown is on. As soon as next week (the market broadly expects around June 12), $Space Exploration Technologies Corp(SPCX)$ lists on the Nasdaq under the ticker $SPCX$. Priced at $135 per share, a $1.77 trillion valuation, raising $74.4 billion — instantly the largest IPO in history. Musk skipped the usual price range and simply named a number. If the stock pops in its first days, he could become the world's first trillionaire. Just how big is this IPO? - $135 a share, $1.77T valuation, $74.4B raised (ceiling up to $86B). That raise nearly exceeds the total of every US IPO of the past two years combined - More than 40% above the company's own $1.25T self-valuation in February - SpaceX rewrites prior record was Saudi Aramco i

US stocks pulled back from record highs, and $Bitcoin(BTC.USD.CC)$ hit a new low, falling below $62,000 — its lowest level since February 6. Strategy sold off a massive holding of roughly $2.5 million in Bitcoin. "Bitcoin's price fell this week because Strategy broke its 'never sell' promise." At almost the same moment, Goldman Sachs raised a whole batch of price targets — S&P at 8000 by year-end, Asian markets revised up across the board. The research reports were unanimously bullish, yet the market took a breather first. What gives Goldman the confidence to be this bullish? $S&P 500(.SPX)$ at 8000 by year-end (about +6% from now), riding on earnings resilien