Andy Chen

As US inflation data continued to show signs of cooling, risk appetite in US equities rebounded. All three major US stock indexes advanced, with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time high. Memory chip stocks led the gains. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13% to 53,839.99; the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.81% to 26,803.03; and the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.65% to 7,798.99.

On August 13 Eastern Time, Intel (INTC) shares broke through the $105 mark. The catalyst for the stock price was Intel's recently announced $20 billion financing plan. UBS stated that the $20 billion financing plan announced by Intel this week has likely eliminated the long-standing uncertainties hanging over its stock price. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri pointed out that, combined with the advance payments and financial commitments attached to several foundry agreements Intel is finalizing—with Google believed to have reached a deal on EMIB-T technology, Apple involved with M-series chips, alongside AMD, SpaceX, and other potential clients—this round of financing is sufficient to support the subsequent buildout investments for its foundry business.

Google (GOOGL) has launched Gemini 3.7 Flash, further accelerating the iteration of its low-cost agent models. As the latest release in the Flash series, Gemini 3.7 Flash focuses on coding, AI agents, and complex knowledge work scenarios, coming just three weeks after the launch of Gemini 3.6 Flash.

SanDisk (SNDK) has surpassed $1,500. The market is no longer trading just the NAND price cycle, but a longer-term thesis: As AI transitions from training to large-scale inference, can flash memory become an AI infrastructure asset that sits closer to compute and offers greater demand visibility?

On August 13, Eastern Time, risk appetite in U.S. equities rebounded. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.85% intraday to hit a record high of 7,816.7 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.04%; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced 2.07%, serving as a major driver of the market's upward momentum. The core factor strengthening risk assets was the continuous signal of easing U.S. inflation data. Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the same day showed that the July Producer Price Index (PPI) was flat month-on-month, below market expectations for a modest increase, while the year-on-year gain slowed from 5.5% in June to 4.7%.

U.S. July CPI met market expectations, dampening Federal Reserve rate-hike expectations as trading remained active. The three major U.S. stock indices ended mixed, with AI hardware stocks leading the gains. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04% to 53,770.27 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.54% to 26,588.49 points; and the S&P 500 Index gained 0.26% to 7,748.50 points.

On August 12, Eastern Time, Cerebras Systems (CBRS), which went public in May this year, will report its second-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results after the market close. According to the company's previous guidance, its core revenue for the second fiscal quarter is expected to be approximately $194 million, up 88% from the same period last year.

SpaceXAI (SPCX) has officially launched Grok 4.6, further expanding into long-running agents, complex programming, and knowledge work scenarios. Upgraded from Grok 4.5, the model focuses on enhancing sustained execution capabilities for multi-step tasks, making it suitable for thematic research, information analysis, cross-codebase collaboration, and transforming product ideas into executable applications or work deliverables.

On August 12, Eastern Time, SK Hynix ADR (SKHY) shares climbed back above $150. Reports indicate that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix may announce new shareholder return plans as early as the end of August. The combined scale of returns from the two companies could exceed 200 trillion won (approxim

Dashed investor expectations for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz deepened market concerns over whether the U.S. and Iran can reach a resolution to their conflict; meanwhile, with U.S. July CPI data set for release tomorrow, cautious sentiment dominated market trading. The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower across the board, while memory stocks bucked the trend to move higher. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34% to 53,791.85; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.60% to 26,445.45; and the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.32% to 7,728.20.

Elon Musk's AI business SpaceXAI announced the launch of a new product, Grok Bot, further expanding its presence in the enterprise AI agent market. Positioned as a collaborative team of AI agents, the product is capable of logging into applications and websites, retaining previous task information,

Manus announced that it will soon resume independent operations, signaling that its separation from Meta (META) has entered the final stage. Previously, Meta announced in December 2025 that it would acquire the general AI agent developer for approximately $2 billion, but Chinese regulators required the deal to be unwound in April this year, prompting both parties to initiate a complex separation of business operations and data.

Intel (INTC) officially finalized its $20 billion common stock offering plan on August 11, Eastern Time, raising the size by one-third from the previously announced $15 billion.

Speculation regarding a potential merger between Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX) continues to grow. On *The Brainstorm*, a podcast by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, several guests noted that if Tesla and SpaceX move forward with a merger in the future, Tesla's operations in China could become a complex regulatory variable. SpaceX is involved in U.S. national security and satellite projects, while Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory serves as a major manufacturing and export hub, meaning certain technology and business dealings could face heightened scrutiny.

On August 10, Eastern Time, Rocket Lab (RKLB) reported its second quarter 2026 financial results after the market close. During the period, revenue surged 62% year-over-year to $234 million, setting a new quarterly record and exceeding the previous quarter's high by $34 million. The results surpassed the market consensus estimate of approximately $232 million.

High uncertainty surrounding the reopening prospects of the Strait of Hormuz drove oil prices up by 5%. Meanwhile, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated that the Federal Reserve may still need multiple rate hikes to bring down inflation. Against this backdrop, the three major U.S. stock indices were under slight pressure, with chip stocks retreating while oil stocks led the market. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11% to 53,975.98 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.32% to 26,605.36 points; and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.06% to 7,753.11 points.

According to the Financial Times, Nvidia (NVDA) is in talks with several Wall Street giants regarding a $500 billion AI infrastructure financing plan, with funds potentially directed toward key areas such as data centers, chip procurement, and power. The deal could be announced as early as Monday, though details concerning the financing structure, specific projects, and whether the funds represent new commitments have not yet been disclosed.

On August 10, Eastern Time, international oil prices rose sharply as market concerns over crude oil supply disruptions intensified due to uncertainty regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing security tensions in the Middle East. These factors supported the risk premium for international oil prices. As of the time of publication, WTI crude (USOIL) rose 3.49% to $80.91, while Brent crude (UKOIL) climbed over 3% to $86.75.

On August 10 ET, Apple (AAPL) shares have been hovering near $300 since the release of its quarterly earnings report, but pessimism on Wall Street is accelerating. In its latest research report, Jefferies downgraded Apple to an "Underperform" rating and lowered its target price from $285.56 to $263.66, implying approximately 14% downside from the current price of $306.

On August 10, Eastern Time, SpaceX (SPCX) returned to its offering price of $135 in intraday trading before falling by more than 1%, with its latest market capitalization reaching $1.76 trillion. However, the company's share price was still hovering near $105 just two trading days ago.