Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

IonQ finalized its $1.8 billion acquisition of SkyWater Technology on July 31, creating a vertically integrated quantum computing platform that combines semiconductor design, fabrication, and advanced packaging. SkyWater, a pure-play semiconductor foundry, generated approximately $442 million in

According to Nick Timiraos, Fed Chair Powell's Friday speech shifted the central bank's default policy stance from holding rates steady to raising rates. Former Fed Vice Chair Don Kohn stated that Powell has "changed the original assumption," with the new logic being that the Fed will raise rates

According to the American Automobile Association, U.S. gas prices have surged by approximately $1.25 per gallon in August 2026 due to geopolitical tensions linked to the Iran conflict, as reported by @MarioNawfal. The national average price of regular gasoline currently stands at $4.081 per gallon,

According to the Reuters Econ World podcast, in late August, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to double the size of regular buyback operations from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, effective September 9. The 10-year Treasury yield stands at approximately 4.73%,

According to Goldman Sachs Research analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven, gold will reach $4,900 per troy ounce by year-end, driven by central banks purchasing an average of 50 tonnes monthly. This represents a 300% increase from pre-2022 levels of 17 tonnes per month. The analysts cited reserve d

According to Herald Economics citing ETF CHECK data, covered call exchange-traded funds received approximately 789.1 billion won in net inflows from retail investors over the past month (July 27 – August 27). Investors are allocating funds to these products to participate in equity gains while

According to CNBC's Jim Cramer, Nvidia should be held after posting fiscal Q2 2027 revenue of $96.2 billion, a 106% year-over-year increase, despite growing Wall Street concerns over the chipmaker's financial commitments. Analysts estimate Nvidia faces between $80 billion and $200 billion in peak li

According to the Korean exchange, nuclear-related ETFs surged during Aug 24-28, with TIGER Korea Nuclear leading at 18.69%, followed by ACE Nuclear Top 10 at 17.84% and HANARO Nuclear iSelect at 16.33%. The gains were driven by reports of the U.S. government proposing to South Korea a stake

According to Bloomberg NEF and JP Morgan, the global solar panel industry is significantly reducing silver consumption in 2026 due to soaring costs. Silver prices surged 150% last year, with silver now accounting for approximately 20% of solar module production costs. JP Morgan projects

Toss Securities announced plans to expand its data center infrastructure today (August 30), responding to sharp growth in trading volume and AI service expansion. According to Seoul Economic, the brokerage's domestic stock trading volume reached 692 trillion Korean won in the first half of 2026,

According to Koscom ETF Check, BNK Smart Car ETF, launched last month by BNK Asset Management, posted a one-month return of 16.85% as of July 28. The ETF invests across the value chain of future automotive technology, holding companies from automotive, IT, battery, artificial intelligence, and

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, as of August 27, domestic market credit trading balances surged 4.39 trillion Korean won to 33.33 trillion won in a month, with 82.8% of the increase concentrated in the KOSPI (South Korea's benchmark equity index), reaching 26.48 trillion won

Since early 2025, the Trump administration has executed roughly 30 equity and quasi-equity transactions totaling nearly $27 billion, converting federal grants and loan authorities into direct ownership

According to Korea Investment & Securities, reported by Korean Economic TV, high-net-worth investors (with average account balances of 1 billion won and above) net purchased 36.82 billion won of Samsung

According to Jin10, China Gold reported H1 2026 net profit of 2.79 billion yuan, down 12.35% year-over-year, on August 30. Operating revenue reached 248.996 billion yuan, declining 19.93% YoY. The company proposed a cash dividend of 0.92 yuan per 10

According to Seoul Economic, South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service discovered on August 30 that 88 leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds—which cannot be purchased through pension savings accounts—were incorrectly listed as "available for sale" on its comparative disclosure platform.

According to Seoul Econ, personal investors in South Korea channeled 114 billion Korean won into gold ETFs over the past month, with bullion ETF returns reaching 8% as international gold prices hit $4,508 per ounce on August 28. The ACE KRX Gold Bullion and TIGER KRX Gold Bullion ETFs gained 8.01% a

According to Korea Exchange data, preferred shares significantly underperformed common shares on August 30 following the Bank of Korea's decision to raise its benchmark interest rate to 3.00% on August 27. Over the subsequent two trading days, Samsung Electronics' preferred stock fell 5.08%,

According to Mirae Asset Securities, on August 30, SK Telecom's target stock price was raised 25% to 150,000 KRW from 120,000 KRW, with enterprise value revalued at 32.3 trillion KRW. The increase reflects new AI infrastructure prospects following SK Horizon's valuation at 6.3 trillion KRW, with 80%

According to Maeil Business Newspaper, BlackRock's stock surged 23% over the past two months as the world's largest asset manager expanded beyond traditional equities and bonds into private credit, infrastructure, and digital assets. BlackRock's assets under management (AUM) exceeded $15 trillion in