Have a wonderful day.
Indications
Nickel 3 month $7.806
Cash Last $ 7.711
Euro 1.137
Yen 163.69
gold $ 4030.26
silver $57.62
Copper LME $6.191
Copper Comex $6,291
Cobalt $ 27.50-30.40
Zinc $ 1.649
Tin $ 24.51
Crude $ 82.68 up 4.42%
Dow Jones up 1.03%
FTSE 100 up .31%
Dax up .41%
Hang Seng up 1.96%
Nikkei down 1.49%
U.S. Dollar index 101,45
Quote of the Day
We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Word of the Day
Abate: Becoming less in amount or intensity.
Trivia
Who is credited with the invention of the telephone?
Answer: at bottom of page under good read.
News of Interest
- Markets: Yesterday, stocks were decidedly mixed. The Nasdaq fell, but the Dow jumped, as investors pivoted away from AI-related stocks (more on that below). Elsewhere, Coca-Cola rose after it boosted projections and said Diet Coke was “having its moment.”
Investors are once again worried that AI is on the verge of falling apart. The Nasdaq 100 briefly fell into correction territory yesterday, after several hyperscalers, chipmakers, and storage providers’ stocks sank, dragging down the rest of the tech-heavy index. It ultimately finished the day down by less than 1%, underscoring the industry’s constant whiplash as investors jump at every sound.
What happened: The sell-off started Tuesday in Asian markets, specifically Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, major memory manufacturers, each dropped by over 15%, while storage provider Kioxia fell by 18%. Korea’s Kospi index, often seen as an early barometer for US AI stocks, sank by more than 10%, and trading was briefly halted.
Then, on Tuesday morning stateside, US companies started dropping:
- Memory company Micron fell by almost 9%, while semiconductor manufacturer Sandisk closed more than 14% in the red.
- Despite massive AI server sales and lucrative new government contracts, Dell’s stock finished yesterday down over 8% (it’s still almost 200% this year).
- The Dow closed up more than 500 points as investors rotated into industries that did not give them as much heebie-jeebies as AI.
The AI industry feels like it’s atop a loose rock pile…
...an awesome discovery for anyone under the age of 12, but a nightmare for companies trying to inspire legitimacy. One of the industry’s biggest fears is China gaining steam: Chinese chipmaker CXMT had a stellar IPO earlier this week, and cheaper models are increasingly rivaling US ones.
In addition to wanting to start seeing some returns on investment, investors are also nervous about the industry’s pattern of circular financing: Nvidia could potentially give OpenAI $250 billion in financial backstop to help the ChatGPT maker lease a $500+ billion Ohio data center.
Time will tell. Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft—which are collectively expected to spend trillions on AI over the next few years—report earnings this week. Investors will be listening intently to whether or not they plan to continue to increase spending, or if they’re pumping the brakes.—MM
- President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in separate closed-door meetings at the White House yesterday.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a surprise attack from Iran on US forces in the Middle East, according to Centcom, but all ballistic missiles were intercepted.
- American Airlines experienced a nationwide groundstop of approximately 45 minutes after a brief IT outage.
- Apple officially announced its Upgrade program, which will allow consumers to lease iPhones for $17.99
Nickel & Related Metal News
Nickel fell to around $17,030 per tonne in late July, retreating from an over one-month high near $17,300, as investors locked in profits following a strong rally in recent weeks. Prices also came under pressure after Indonesia moved to resolve regulatory bottlenecks that had delayed exports of some nickel products, easing concerns over near-term supply disruptions. The move followed reports that the government is working to address uncertainty over the allowable rare-earth content in mineral shipments, which had disrupted exports of nickel products and alumina. Still, losses were limited by signs of tighter market conditions, with LME nickel inventories declining for six consecutive sessions, while support from Indonesian mining policies and slower nickel ore shipments from the Philippines had helped lift prices.
Good Read
Answer to today's trivia question: Alexander Graham Bell