Andy Chen

Tradingkey - Nearly three months since the outbreak of the Iran war, oil prices continue to fluctuate at high levels, with WTI crude futures hovering around $100 and Brent crude around $105. The primary reason for prices maintaining current levels is a market consensus: while the escalation in the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global supply, it has also suppressed demand, with the two forces offsetting each other to create a delicate dynamic balance. A recent Morgan Stanley report noted that although net exports from major Middle Eastern producers have declined, other producers—led by the U.S.—have significantly increased export supplies. Simultaneously, major importers like China have reduced their import volumes, collectively sustaining the current supply-demand equilibrium in the crude oil market.

Tradingkey - On May 21, NVIDIA's stellar earnings results were released as expected, while OpenAI's plan to file for an IPO in the coming weeks further ignited market enthusiasm for the AI sector, driving a broad recovery in Asia-Pacific equity markets. Core NVIDIA supply chain plays, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, TSMC, and Advantest, rose in response and strengthened across the board. Geopolitical tensions also showed signs of easing; according to AXIOS, the U.S. and Iran plan to initiate 30-day negotiations. U.S. sources stated that Trump told Netanyahu that mediators are drafting a "Letter of Intent" to be signed by the U.S. and Iran to formally end the conflict and launch a 30-day negotiation period regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and other issues.

Tradingkey - As an unprecedented IPO project, SpaceX’s official listing is undoubtedly under the market spotlight. However, while positioning themselves, investors must maintain a clear perspective on various underlying risks. SpaceX’s prospectus reveals numerous risks beneath its surface; the materialization of any such risk would directly impact operating fundamentals and trigger significant volatility in the secondary market share price, warranting close attention from every investor.

Tradingkey - According to disclosures from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 20, SpaceX, Elon Musk’s largest-ever IPO project, has officially filed with the SEC. Reports indicate that SpaceX confidentially filed the document with the commission in April. Underwriters for the offering include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Citi, and J.P. Morgan Securities. SpaceX will issue two classes of common stock: Class A common stock (one vote per share) and Class B common stock (10 votes per share). The prospectus reveals that Musk holds a combined voting power of 85.1%, consisting of 12.3% of Class A shares and 93.6% of Class B shares. Regarding financials, for the fiscal years ended December 31 from 2023 to 2025, the company’s revenue was $10.387 billion, $14.015 billion, and 1...

Tradingkey - Driven by rising energy prices amid tensions in Iran, market inflation expectations have heated up rapidly, with markets beginning to bet that the Federal Reserve may lead the way in initiating a rate hike cycle within the year. Fueled by this sentiment, government bond yields in multiple countries rose in tandem. Amid growing concerns that persistent inflation will force central banks to tighten monetary policy, long-end US Treasury yields strengthened accordingly. On May 20, the 30-year US Treasury yield surged once again, hitting its highest level since 2007.

Tradingkey - Since April 2026, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) has maintained a unilateral upward trend, reaching an intraday all-time high on May 14. As of that date, the index recorded a cumulative gain of 69.05%, approximately double the increase of the Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ) over the same period, significantly outperforming the broader technology sector. However, the index entered a rapid correction starting in mid-May. Yesterday, it fell as much as 3.6% intraday, touching a low of 10,895.75 points, a nearly two-week low. By the close, the SOX had declined 6.8% from its recent peak.

Tradingkey - May 19: Poor performance in U.S. tech stocks yesterday weighed on Asian markets today. Amid market concerns over the impact of the Samsung strike on the AI industry and the upcoming earnings report from AI giant Nvidia, stock markets in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all declined. Geopolitical tensions eased as Trump announced the postponement of a military strike against Iran originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 19. Today, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister announced a draft agreement proposal to the U.S., which includes the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the surrounding region.

Tradingkey - Amid heightened market concerns that escalating conflict in Iran could trigger crude oil supply disruptions, U.S. President Trump suddenly announced on May 18 (ET) the postponement of a military strike against Iran originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 19. Trump stated on social media that, following a joint request from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, he has ordered the U.S. military not to proceed with the planned strike on the 19th. He noted that the U.S. and Iran are currently engaged in serious negotiations, and that the aforementioned Middle Eastern leaders believe the two sides will ultimately reach an agreement centered on the core provision that "Iran must not possess nuclear weapons."

Tradingkey - According to a White House official, incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will be formally sworn in at the White House this Friday, succeeding Jerome Powell as the 17th Chair of the Federal Reserve. President Trump will make a rare personal appearance to preside over the ceremony, breaking a decades-long tradition of internal swearing-in ceremonies at the Federal Reserve. Historical data indicates that the last Chair to be sworn in at the White House was Alan Greenspan in 1987, and the last President to personally attend such a ceremony was George W. Bush in 2006 for Ben Bernanke’s inauguration. Contrasting with 2018, when Trump did not attend Powell’s internal ceremony, this high-profile White House event—alongside Warsh’s status as the "wealthiest Fed Chair in history"—signals a strong personal endorsement from the White House for the new Fed leadership. This rare

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 - 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 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.

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 - With the rise of AI-generated content, a new wave of unicorns are being created. The most notable of these is Anthropic. Anthropic is generating a lot of buzz in the investment community in addition to developing Claude. Anthropic is viewed as one of the fastest-growing, and most promis

Tradingkey - Amid the meeting between the heads of state of China and the U.S., fresh conflict erupted in the Strait of Hormuz, putting broad pressure on Asia-Pacific equity markets, with the South Korean KOSPI Index plunging over 6%. According to the latest reports, India's Ministry of External Affairs stated on May 14 that an Indian merchant vessel was attacked off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi remarked that no military solution exists regarding Iran and that the Iranian people will never yield to any threats or pressure. In South Korea, the KOSPI briefly surged past 8,000 points in early trading to hit a record high, reaching an intra-day peak of 8,046.78 points. It subsequently fluctuated downward, at one point falling more than 7%. By the close, the index fell 6.12% to end at 7,493.18 points.

Tradingkey - On May 15, during the late Asian trading session, gold and silver prices saw a significant decline. Spot gold (XAUUSD) dropped more than 2% at one point, hitting a low of $4,556.45. As of press time, it remained down 1.74%, trading at $4,571.33. Spot silver (XAGUSD) fell over 6% at one point to a low of $77.56. As of press time, it was still down 5.92% at $78.52. Rising oil prices coupled with higher U.S. Treasury yields collectively squeezed the valuation space for non-yielding precious metals, serving as the primary driver behind this round of gold's decline.

Tradingkey - Amid the summit between the heads of state of China and the United States, news of Ford Motor (F) entering the AI supply chain through a cross-sector expansion has boosted the company's stock price. According to media reports, the Detroit automaker officially launched its new subsidiary, Ford Energy, this week, focusing on providing battery energy storage systems for data centers, utilities, and other industrial and commercial customers in the U.S. Lisa Drake, President of Ford Energy, stated that the deep intersection of rapid data center development, large-scale renewable energy integration, and grid resilience requirements has created a significant structural gap in the global energy market. Ford Energy was established to fill this gap. Driven by this news, Ford’s stock price recorded a cumulative two-day gain of 20.77%, closing at $14.48. The share price reached a four-year high since February 2022.

Tradingkey - During the Asian morning session on May 15, the KOSPI opened lower but trended upward, briefly surpassing 8,000 points to hit a record high, reaching an intraday peak of 8,046.78 points. As of press time, the KOSPI had reversed to a 0.4% decline, trading at 7,949.71. Market analysis suggests three major tailwinds are supporting the upward trajectory of the South Korean stock market: tech giants continue to scale up capital expenditure, significant room remains for the expansion of AI application penetration, and geopolitical factors alongside data sovereignty are driving increased investment from non-US countries. Given the high weighting of AI-related industries among South Korean listed companies, these factors are expected to provide continued support for the market. Furthermore, corporate governance is poised to become a second structural support pillar by 2026, alongside earnings improvement. If companies continue to deliver on share buybacks and cancellations, dividend increases, asset efficiency optimization, and enhanced transparency in information disclosure, the market pricing of the "Korea Discount" is expected to narrow further, driving a valuation recovery for low P/B blue chips from a tactical phase into a sustained trend.

Tradingkey - On April 13, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in its monthly report that global crude oil inventories are shrinking at a record pace due to supply disruptions triggered by the Iran war, which could drive oil prices even higher. The report highlighted that, faced with unprecedented disruptions to Middle Eastern crude supplies, importing nations are depleting their oil stocks at record speeds. In April, the average daily reduction in global crude oil and refined product inventories neared 4 million barrels. This scale of depletion exceeds the combined consumption of the United Kingdom and Germany, significantly undermining the buffer capacity of nations to manage supply shocks.

Tradingkey - On May 12, CME Group and GPU market data provider Silicon Data jointly announced plans to launch the world's first standardized computing power futures product in the second half of 2026, pending final regulatory approval. This marks the official entry of computing power assets into the era of standardized derivatives trading.