TradingKey

TradingKey - Impacted by the US-Iraq War, oil prices continued to climb, with Brent crude breaking above $111 per barrel and WTI crude rising to approximately $108. The surge in oil prices exacerbated the sell-off in the bond market, sending US Treasury yields higher across the board, with the 30-year yield reaching its highest level in nearly three years. Volatility was even more pronounced in the Japanese bond market, where the 10-year JGB yield touched its highest level since 1996, and the 30-year JGB yield hit a record high since the tenor was first issued in 1999.

TradingKey - SpaceX IPO targets June 12, 2026 on Nasdaq (SPCX). Raising up to $75B at $1.75T valuation — largest IPO in history. Starlink 9M+ users, $15–16B 2025 revenue. Dual-class shares. Musk keeps control.

TradingKey - According to South Korean media reports, Samsung has "decisively won" against the labor union, even though the planned strike has not yet commenced. On May 18, management and labor at Samsung Electronics initiated a second round of post-dispute mediation. Although the court approved part of the injunction application filed by Samsung, it ordered the union in South Korea to ensure that the strike does not impact the company’s production volume. Samsung’s stock price fell nearly 3.1% during Monday’s intraday session but reversed course to close nearly 4% higher. Does this mean Samsung has emerged victorious from the labor-management conflict, or has the dispute merely exposed deeper internal contradictions within the company?

TradingKey - During Monday's (May 18) Asian trading session, the 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield climbed to 2.8%, hitting a new high of approximately 29.5 years since October 1996. Last Friday (May 15), the 30-year JGB yield broke above 4% for the first time in history. The yield continued to reach new highs on Monday, peaking at 4.205%.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on May 18, a court suddenly halted global memory chip giant Samsung Electronics' planned 18-day general strike just three days before its scheduled commencement.

Cisco Systems is transitioning from legacy networking hardware to a secure, software-driven platform ecosystem.

The Trump family trust’s first major entry into the cryptocurrency sector has instantly ignited Wall Street.

Tradingkey - Asian equity markets were mostly lower on Monday, with technology stocks leading the decline. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend, while rising safe-haven demand and surging oil prices weighed on market sentiment. Last Friday, U.S. Treasury yields climbed to historical highs, putting broad pressure on U.S. tech stocks; as of writing, U.S. stock index futures remain under pressure. Furthermore, the market is awaiting earnings from AI giant Nvidia (NVDA), scheduled for release this Wednesday (May 20). Investors are looking to the results to gauge whether the global stock market rally driven by artificial intelligence can be sustained.

TradingKey - Walmart (WMT) will release its first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings report before the market opens on May 21, Eastern Time. Market consensus expects revenue of approximately $174.57 billion, up 5.36% year-on-year, and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.66, up 7.9% year-on-year.

TradingKey - Following the collapse of wage negotiations on May 13, Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union entered a new round of government-mediated talks today (May 18). Should these negotiations fail, the union is scheduled to launch an 18-day strike starting May 21.

Discussions between the U.S. and Israel regarding renewed strikes on Iran have triggered an accelerated pullback in Bitcoin prices; the future rally hinges on whether the $75,000 support level can hold.

Tradingkey - Geopolitical tensions escalated sharply over the weekend. Following the conclusion of Trump's visit to China, tensions between the U.S. and Iran flared up once again. Renewed expectations of a long-term blockade of the Strait of Hormuz pushed both major crude oil futures to nearly two-week highs. As of press time, Brent crude broke above the $110 mark, rising 1.80% to $111.45 per barrel, having touched its highest level since May 5 during intraday trading. WTI crude oil futures rose 2.39% to $103.41 per barrel.

TradingKey - During the early Asian trading session on May 18, the Nikkei 225 Index dropped nearly 1% in early trade as investor concerns over rising global interest rates intensified. Simultaneously, the 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield surged to 2.8%, hitting a nearly 30-year high since 1997.

TradingKey - In the early Asian session on May 18, gold prices (XAUUSD) extended last week's downward trend, falling for the fifth consecutive trading day. Prices briefly broke below $4,500 intraday, hitting a low of $4,480.54. Gold is currently trading at $4,497.11, down approximately 1% from last Friday.

Tradingkey - During the early Asian trading session on May 18, the KOSPI Index fell more than 4% at one point, hitting a near one-week low of 7,142.71. As of press time, the index remained down 1.57% at 7,375.55. Notably, the index closed down 6.12% in the previous session at 7,493.18, with the two-day volatility reaching a range of up to 904 points. After KOSPI 200 futures dropped 5%, the Korea Exchange triggered a circuit breaker mechanism, suspending program trading for five minutes.

US equities hit records on strong AI earnings and GDP growth. However, 3.8% inflation, $104 oil shocks, and narrow mega-cap concentration keep sentiment cautiously bullish but vulnerable as Kevin Warsh helms the Fed.

Wall Street institutions have ventured into Bitcoin primarily due to the United States' legalization and proactive embrace of the asset. Furthermore, these institutions recognize that Bitcoin offers potential profitability through strategies such as crisis hedging and capital appreciation from future price increases.

TradingKey - Nvidia Q1 FY2027 earnings May 20. Consensus: $78B revenue, $65B+ data centre, 74%+ margins. BofA target $320. NVDA at $224 at Fib 0.382 support. Breakout targets $231–$237.

Tradingkey - Since the beginning of this year, the wave of Agentic AI has driven an exponential increase in market demand for CPU chips, shifting the previous narrative that only GPUs would significantly benefit from AI. Current mainstream Agentic AI includes Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and OpenClaw. In the Agentic AI era, the role of the CPU has transitioned from an auxiliary component in the computing power value chain to the central control hub of agent systems. In this era, a CPU’s concurrency capabilities, memory bandwidth, and scheduling efficiency directly determine a system’s response speed and processing power. Once agent concurrency exceeds the CPU's capacity limit, issues such as request queuing and tool call failures arise, directly impacting user experience and system stability.

TradingKey - RXT up 165%+ in May on AI infrastructure partnerships. INOD triple-digit gains on LLM data contracts. Energy and defence surge on Iran friction. Next week: NVDA earnings, WMT, retail sales.