Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

U.S. President Trump on Monday (August 3) criticized Exxon Mobil and Chevron for making excessive profits as Iran war pushed crude oil prices higher, demanding the companies pass a portion of their gains to consumers through retail price cuts. Chevron's second-quarter net profit surged

According to Barron's citing investment bank Tigress Financial Partners, the firm has reiterated a "strong buy" rating on General Motors (GM-US) in recent analyst reports and raised its 12-month price target to $130. Tigress sees GM transforming into a multi-growth investment opportunity through

Kyobo Securities, Eugene Investment & Securities, and Samsung Securities predicted on August 4 that LG Innotek will be added to the MSCI Korea index and HLB will be removed in the August regular review. MSCI will announce the review results on August 13 Korean time. The three securities firms

According to an exclusive CNBC interview on Monday, Palantir CEO Alex Karp renewed his criticism of frontier artificial intelligence labs, arguing that enterprises should not be forced to surrender intellectual property to work with model makers. "We have people trying to drug addict us to a

According to analysis from multiple Korean brokerages including Korea Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities, LG Innotek is expected to be added to the MSCI Korea index during the August 13 regular review, while HLB is likely to be removed. The index changes take effect on August 31 and

According to Yonhapinfomax, Samsung Electronics' foreign shareholding ratio fell to 46.7% on August 3, marking the lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. The decline reflects intensifying foreign capital outflows from South Korean semiconductor stocks, with foreign investors shifting a

SpaceX stock (SPCX) hit a record low of $104.83 on Monday, prompting Elon Musk to endorse the dip as a buying opportunity with a three-word response on X. The decline comes ahead of two critical events: earnings results on Tuesday and a major share unlock on Thursday, August 6, when up to 911.5

Korean securities firms issued 580 target price downgrade reports in July 2026, exceeding the 351 upgrade reports for the first time this year, according to financial data provider FnGuide. The shift occurred as the semiconductor-led market rally weakened and leading stocks

According to an X post by Elon Musk on August 3, the SpaceX CEO backed the prospect of further upside for the stock, saying "I think so" in response to an investor's bullish call. The same day, SPCX fell to $104.83, marking an all-time low, before closing at $114.53, up nearly 6% from Friday's

According to Goldman Sachs research released as of July 31, AI stock volatility does not signal the end of the bull market. The bank emphasizes that corporate earnings remain the strongest pillar, with 64% of S&P 500 companies by index weight beating earnings estimates by at least one standard

According to the Institute for Supply Management, the U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 55.6 in July, up from 53.3 in June and marking the highest reading since June 2022. The headline figure exceeded consensus forecasts of around 54, reflecting manufacturing activity expanding

Financial stocks emerged as market top performers this month, attracting investors rotating away from artificial intelligence-dominated sectors. Strong second-quarter bank earnings from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, combined with improving capital markets activity and fading

According to Newsis, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plunged 8.76% and 8.79% respectively on August 4, after their sharp surge on July 31. Foreign investors led profit-taking, with net sales of approximately 952.1 billion won and 1.72 trillion won respectively. Samsung's foreign investor

According to Morningstar, Nvidia has a fair value of $280 per share, representing 40% upside from Friday's close of $200.75, according to a report cited by Business Insider. The research firm attributes the valuation to Nvidia's durable competitive advantages in GPU chips and its CUDA software

Naver, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group, and CJ Group face complications in subsidiary listing plans due to new duplicate listing guidelines now in effect. The regulations affect Naver Financial (which will hold Dunamu), Hyundai Motor Group's Boston Dynamics, SK Group's SK Ecoplant, and CJ Group's CJ

Three South Korean semiconductor ETFs concentrating holdings in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix recorded declines exceeding 30% over a recent month period. SOL AI반도체TOP2플러스 fell 36.12%, ACE K반도체TOP2+ declined 33.21%, and KODEX AI반도체TOP2플러스 dropped 33.07%, ranking among the worst-performing

According to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley upgraded its investment rating on Korean equities to overweight on August 2, while maintaining a 9000-point target for the KOSPI index. At current levels around 6,257, this implies over 40% upside potential. The brokerage attributed the upgrade to

According to Yonhapnews, on August 3, South Korea's new duplicate-listing guideline prompted major conglomerates to shift subsidiary IPO strategies. Affected companies include Naver Financial (expected to acquire Dunamu in November and December), Boston Dynamics (Hyundai Motor subsidiary targeting

According to News1 data, South Korea's TOP2 semiconductor ETF series, which saw strong inflows earlier in 2026, have plunged sharply in the past month as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix stocks corrected. The SOL AI Semiconductor TOP2 Plus ETF posted a 36.12% decline over the past month, the