Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

According to Morgan Stanley research on August 16, Silver Lake is in talks to acquire Workday, which has a market value of approximately $50 billion. If the acquisition proceeds at a 30-40% premium, the valuation would reach 5x 2027 price-to-sales and 16x 2027 free cash flow, both below historical a

Samyang Foods purchased stocks in Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and Kia on March 6, investing approximately 1.8 billion won across the three companies as part of its surplus cash management strategy. The investments were driven by substantial cash accumulation from global sales of its Buldak s

According to South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service disclosure system, Samyang Foods invested in Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Korea Finance Holdings on March 6, with simple investment as the stated purpose. The company spent approximately 599.95 million Won to acquire 3,188 Sams

According to TradingBeats, on August 18, a major whale positioned approximately $8.2 million in short orders on Brent crude oil near the $91 level. BRENTOIL rose 3.4% in 24 hours to $89.19, with the whale having already opened a short position of 27,849.71 contracts at an average price of $88.30 ear

According to Nikkei, SoftBank Group on August 18 announced plans to issue approximately 1 trillion yen ($6.26 billion) in retail bonds to Japanese retail investors, marking the largest retail bond issuance ever by a Japanese company. The bonds carry a 7-year maturity, with specific terms including i

South Korea's KOSPI index ended its five-day winning streak on August 18 as foreign investor net buying momentum weakened, amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and surging long-term U.S. Treasury yields that intensified risk-asset selloff sentiment. Market analysts are closely

Hong Kong stock market closed on August 18 with the Hang Seng Index up 0.07%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.9%. AI-related stocks tumbled sharply, with Zhipu dropping over 13% and MINIMAX-W down over 4%. Chip and PCB concept stocks also declined broadly, including Kingboard Laminates down o

FX and CFD brokers are expanding AI and automation across onboarding, payments, compliance, risk management, and support operations, according to industry executives from Exness, Capital.com, Muinmos, Gold-i, and GCEX. An ESMA survey across EU securities markets found that 70% of firms expected to r

Bitcoin traded at $64,246 as of 4 PM on the 18th according to global cryptocurrency platform CoinGecko, remaining unable to break above the $65,000 level despite renewed capital inflows into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. ETF fund flows reversed to net inflows on the 17th with $137.3

According to BlockBeats citing BIT market data, storage sector stocks fell sharply in premarket trading on August 18. SanDisk declined 5.26%, Western Digital fell 4.88%, SK Hynix ADR dropped 4.1%, Seagate dropped 4.34%, and Micron Technology declined 3.6%.

Korean semiconductor stocks regained investor attention on KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets between July end and August 18, with KOSPI market capitalization rising 219 trillion won and major semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and SK Square posting a combined 29 tri

According to Jin10, gold prices fell on Tuesday, August 18, as rising oil prices and higher U.S. Treasury yields increased the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold. Despite the decline, gold has gained over 10% so far this

According to trading sources and shipping data on August 18, Saudi Aramco resumed crude oil loading in the Strait of Hormuz last week following weeks of suspension due to tanker attacks during the U.S.-Iran escalation in July. Between August 12 and 16, three very large crude carriers

Kraken launched US stock trading for eligible customers across the European Economic Area, expanding its equities business beyond the US. The launch follows a recent limited rollout in Germany, the Netherlands and France, with a spokesperson confirming the service has been rolling out in recent

According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin traded at $64,246 on August 18 despite renewed inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, remaining stuck within the $62,000-$65,000 range. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF saw $865.3 million in net inflows from August 3-7, followed by outflows of $248.4 million from August 12-14.

According to E Daily, on August 18, South Korea's semiconductor sector dominated both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ exchanges. The four major KOSPI semiconductor companies—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and SK Square—added 29 trillion Korean won to their combined market

According to Chosun Biz Money Move, Kosdaq-listed company Finger announced on August 18 its plan to divest its financial data subsidiary Fintech. The investment banking industry confirmed the divestiture is in progress, following Finger's sale of Finger Asset Management in

According to Spain's Ministry of Economy, Spain posted a trade deficit of €7.69 billion in June.

According to Bloomberg, on Monday, the Amara fuel tanker repeatedly turned back near Iran's Qeshm Island while attempting to enter the Persian Gulf. Ship tracking data showed the vessel made at least five turnarounds after entering the gulf empty-loaded, with its transponder active throughout. The t

Pre-market on Wednesday (August 18), storage chip stocks declined broadly, with SanDisk down roughly 4%, Western Digital down about 4%, and Micron Technology and SK Hynix each down approximately 3%.