Jay Qian

TradingKey - During Asian trading hours on July 14, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son predicted at an annual corporate conference in Tokyo that the artificial intelligence sector will require an annual investment of $5 trillion (approximately 800 trillion yen) by 2040. He flatly dismissed market concerns regarding an AI bubble, calling the question itself "ridiculous."

TradingKey - During Asian trading hours on July 14, South Korea's ruling Democratic Party is pushing for an amendment to the "Act on Special Measures for Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National Strategic Industries." The move aims to pave the way for semiconductor companies such as SK Hynix to introduce external investors when constructing wafer fabs in regions outside the capital area.

TradingKey - Over the past week, the focus of competition in the AI industry has shifted from "performance" to "price." From Elon Musk's SpaceXAI (SPCX) to OpenAI and Meta (META), the three giants released their next-generation AI models in quick succession. This time, however, the competition is not just about who is "smarter," but also about who is "cheaper."

TradingKey - On July 13, Eastern Time, the three major US stock index futures fell collectively in pre-market trading. As of press time, Nasdaq 100 Index futures were down 0.83%, S&P 500 Index futures dropped 0.26%, and Dow Jones Index futures declined 0.03%.

TradingKey - On July 12, ET, as mainstream investment banks raised their 2026 S&P 500 price targets to the 7,500–8,100 range, James E. Thorne, Chief Market Strategist at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, issued an even bolder long-term forecast: the S&P 500 is expected to hit the 14,000-point mark within the next five years (by 2031), nearly doubling from its current level of approximately 7,500.

TradingKey - Seoul, July 13: The South Korean government officially released its fiscal year 2027 budget plan today, with total fiscal expenditure surpassing 800 trillion won (approximately $530 billion) for the first time. This represents a significant jump from this year's 727.9 trillion won and marks the largest spending record in South Korean history. The confidence behind this "super budget" stems primarily from better-than-expected tax revenue dividends generated by the nation's semiconductor industry amid the global artificial intelligence wave.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on July 13, the South Korean stock market experienced a "Black Monday." Despite reports that Samsung Electronics has completed the tape-out of Tesla's AI5 chips and is preparing for production, the company's share price still closed down over 10%, leading the decline in the KOSPI Index. The Korea Exchange (KRX) urgently activated its "Sidecar" mechanism during the session to suspend program trading sell orders.

TradingKey - TSMC's (TSM) earnings call serves as a bellwether for the global semiconductor industry. As the world's most advanced foundry, TSMC's capacity utilization, capital expenditure plans, and AI chip demand guidance directly impact the supply chain expectations of tech giants like Nvidia, AMD, and Apple. For the upcoming earnings call on July 16, the market will search for key signals on whether AI demand can continue to exceed expectations. Less than two weeks before the earnings call, Citigroup (C) released a research report on July 6, raising its price target for TSMC's Taiwan-listed shares from NT$2,875 to NT$3,800 while maintaining a "Buy" rating. Based on the current share price of approximately NT$2,500, this target price implies an upside of about 57%.

TradingKey - On June 24, Eastern Time, OpenAI, in collaboration with Broadcom (AVGO), released its first self-developed AI inference chip, Jalapeño. The chip took only nine months from design to tape-out and is regarded by the industry as the "most aggressive move" yet by a major tech company to reduce its reliance on Nvidia.

TradingKey - On July 10, Eastern Time, Meta Platforms (META) rose more than 4% at one point in pre-market trading. As of press time, it was trading around $655.45. Meta closed up 4.7% the previous day.

TradingKey - On July 10, Eastern Time, SK Hynix (SKHY) will officially list on the Nasdaq, priced at $149 per ADR. Raising approximately $26.5 billion, the offering surpasses Alibaba’s 2014 record of $25 billion to become the largest US IPO by a foreign company.

TradingKey - On July 10, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock index futures showed mixed performance in pre-market trading. As of press time, Nasdaq 100 Index futures fell 0.34%, S&P 500 Index futures declined 0.05%, and Dow Jones Index futures rose 0.12%.

TradingKey - The takeover battle for easyJet has taken a dramatic turn in just one week. U.S. private equity giant Apollo Global Management (APO) has emerged with a £5.7 billion bid, surpassing Castlelake, which had previously reached an agreement in principle. This move has intensified the bidding war for Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier.

TradingKey - As SK Hynix officially listed on Nasdaq on July 10, the South Korean semiconductor giant's debut on the U.S. stock market is triggering a chain reaction. According to market sources, six new leveraged and inverse ETF products tracking the performance of SK Hynix ADRs are in the final stages of preparation and are expected to be listed collectively next week, providing global investors with more diverse trading tools.

TradingKey - According to a report by LatePost, multiple sources within Tesla’s supply chain revealed that the company recently issued specific procurement guidance for Optimus components to its suppliers. The guidance requires production capacity to be increased to 1,000 units per week by September this year, with a further increase to between 2,000 and 2,500 units per week by year-end. Based on the projected weekly capacity for the end of the year, suppliers will have the capability to provide components for approximately 100,000 Optimus units annually to Tesla by year-end.

TradingKey - On July 9, Eastern Time, US stock index futures were mixed in pre-market trading. As of press time, Nasdaq 100 Index futures rose 0.64%, S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.13%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.16%.

TradingKey - On July 8, Eastern Time, Japanese lunar exploration company ispace announced a partnership with SpaceX (SPCX) to lease Starship payload capacity for low-cost lunar cargo transportation services. Following the announcement, ispace's share price in the Japanese market surged by nearly 20% intraday, ultimately closing up 18.69%.

TradingKey - On July 9, Eastern Time, OpenAI officially released the GPT-5.6 series models to the public, including three models: Sol, Terra, and Luna, ending the limited preview implemented since June 26 due to US government security reviews. This release is more than just a product iteration; it is a carefully orchestrated "roadshow" for the capital markets. Sol entered the market at approximately half the price of its competitor, Claude Fable 5 (at $5 per million input tokens and $30 per million output tokens), while scoring 91.9% on the Terminal-Bench 2.1 programming benchmark, surpassing Claude Mythos 5's 88%. However, behind the glitzy product launch, a more severe issue is looming: if OpenAI postpones its IPO to 2027, the impact on artificial

TradingKey - On July 8, Eastern Time, in pre-market trading, the three major US stock index futures fell further. As of press time, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.94%, S&P 500 index futures slid 0.70%, and Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 1.03%.

TradingKey - U.S. President Trump stated at the annual NATO summit on July 8 that he believes the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding is "over." This means the temporary ceasefire between the two countries, which had just shown signs of easing, has officially come to an end.