Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

Korean domestic banks reported a 900 billion won decline in net profit during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, according to a September 20 report by Lee Byung-yoon, senior research fellow at the Korea Financial Research Institute. The profit decrease stemmed from a 2.3

AI researcher and investor Leopold Aschenbrenner is suspected of purchasing $96 million worth of call options on SanDisk, Micron, Intel, and Marvell stocks, with all contracts expiring October 2. The speculation emerged from social media posts by Jim Cramer and ZeroHedge, though SEC filings have not yet disclosed the buyer's identity. Aschenbrenner runs hedge fund Situational Awareness, which previously lost billions of dollars during an AI stock downturn that the Financial Times ranked as the l

Overnight SHIBOR (Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate) fell to 1.3650%, declining 5.20 basis points, while the 7-day SHIBOR dropped to 1.4100%, also down 5.20 basis points. The 3-month SHIBOR rose slightly to 1.4310%, up 0.10 basis points.

From 02:00 to 03:00 (UTC) on September 20, 2026, BTC edged up 0.07%, trading within a range of 81,088.8–81,156.3 USDT, with an amplitude of 0.08%. Overall, the market showed a low-volatility, narrow-range consolidation pattern. The current price is approximately $80,360, down about 1.15% over the past 24 hours, while market sentiment remains weak and attention is noticeably lower than in previous days. The core driver of this market move was the FED’s first rate hike since July 2023. The benchma

According to ZeroHedge and Jim Cramer, Leopold Aschenbrenner is suspected of purchasing $96 million worth of AI stock call options today. The suspected trades include $44 million in Micron calls at $1,000 per share strikes, $41 million in SanDisk calls at $1,600 per share, and $11 million across

Three crypto firms have successively filed applications with U.S. regulators to launch perpetual contract products (with no expiration date) linked to individual U.S. stocks: Coinbase and Kalshi filed applications on September 18, while Kraken parent company Payward announced on September 20 that it had submitted a related application through its subsidiary Bitnomial Exchange, initially planning to launch contracts on 10 U.S. stocks. Application Scale and Filing Times of the Three Institutions:

According to Goldman Sachs, on September 17, the investment bank raised its forecast for 2027 global investment-grade debt issuance by Amazon (AMZN-US), Alphabet (GOOGL-US), Meta Platforms (META-US), Microsoft (MSFT-US), and Oracle (ORCL-US) to $420 billion from $400 billion, marking a 68 percent in

According to Investopedia reporting and Wells Fargo analysis on Friday (Sept 18), Netflix shares fell nearly 5% to just below $72, with Wells Fargo downgrading the stock from neutral to underweight and slashing its price target from $80 to $57—the lowest on Wall Street, well below the consensus

The KOSPI daily average trading volume fell to 21.3 trillion won in September, marking the lowest monthly level of the year, according to Korea Exchange data reported on Sept 20. The figure represents a 57.8% decline from June's peak of 50.3 trillion won over a three-month period. The sharp

The European Central Bank (ECB) officially began recruiting euro area e-commerce and mobile commerce businesses on Sept. 15, inviting merchants to participate in a digital euro pilot scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027. The pilot will test everyday payment scenarios, including online shopping, mobile payments, and in-person purchases. The deadline for merchant applications is Oct. 27, and the pilot will run for 12 months. The ECB has selected 36 PSPs to provide services, process payme

According to F&Guide, South Korea's active equity ETF market reached 14.1 trillion won in assets under management as of September 16, with 88 listed products, expanding 2.6 times from 5.4 trillion won in 2025. Retail investors increasingly shifted to active ETFs amid prolonged KOSPI weakness,

According to South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, on September 20, the country's financial authorities announced new regulatory measures targeting margin trading as credit loan balances surged to 33.25 trillion won, nearly double the 16.84 trillion won recorded in January 2025. The FSS

According to Korea Exchange, KOSPI average daily trading volume fell to 21.26 trillion won in September, hitting the lowest level this year and down 57.8% from June's 50.35 trillion won. The monthly decline accelerated from July's 36.88 trillion won to August's 25.85 trillion won. Analysts

Korean aerospace exchange-traded funds recorded sharp gains during the week of the 11th to 17th as SpaceX announced plans for its Starship test flight. Shinhan Asset Management's SOL Aerospace Value Chain ETF led with a 9.01% return, followed by Hanwha Asset Management's PLUS Aerospace ETF

DB HiTek, a South Korean foundry company, received heightened investor attention during September 8-14 as KB Securities raised its target price from 170,000 won to 200,000 won. The upgrade followed supply shortages at TSMC and Samsung Electronics in advanced foundry operations, while China's AI

Korean stock market analysts issued conflicting forecasts following the US Federal Reserve's rate hike decision on September 16, as the KOSPI rebounded 2.66% to close at 6894.23 on the 18th. The divergence stems from differing interpretations of the Fed's 25-basis-point increase to a 3.75-4.00%

According to fund evaluation firm KG Zero In, South Korea's SOL Aerospace Value Chain ETF posted the highest weekly gain among domestic equity funds, surging 9.01% during the week of September 11-17. The rally was driven by anticipation ahead of SpaceX's scheduled 14th test flight of its Starship on

According to data from F&Guide, DB Hi-Tek dominated investor search rankings during September 8-14, claiming the top two positions for most-searched analyst reports. KB Securities raised its target price for DB Hi-Tek from 170,000 won to 200,000 won, citing structural chip supply imbalances

According to SoSoValue data, for the week ending September 18, Grayscale’s Zcash Spot ETF had net inflows of $98.21 million, the highest among the 14 types of crypto Spot ETFs in the United States. During the same week, the 12 Bitcoin Spot ETFs had combined net inflows of just $6.21 million, while Ethereum Spot ETFs had net outflows of $140 million. ZCSH’s Fund Flows This Week: $84.23 Million Concentrated on Thursday and Friday, Plus Cumulative Data for the Four Weeks Since Listing ZCSH had net

The Korean monthly dividend ETF market experienced significant growth as the Bank of Korea maintained its base rate at 3.0% in September with the KRW/USD exchange rate at 1346. Domestic covered call ETF assets under management expanded from 15.1087