Elon Musk ’s SpaceX made history with the biggest initial public offering of all time, but there’s at least one metric where the deal falls short. The IPO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as the rocket, satellite and artificial-intelligence company is formally called, drew more than $100 billion of orders from retail investors, people familiar with the matter have said. While the bids are ...
Elon Musk ’s SpaceX made history with the biggest initial public offering of all time, but there’s at least one metric where the deal falls short. The IPO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as the rocket, satellite and artificial-intelligence company is formally called, drew more than $100 billion of orders from retail investors, people familiar with the matter have said. While the bids are enormous by most standards, they still pale in comparison to some of the hottest IPOs in mainland China and Hong Kong. In Shanghai, Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai Co. ’s IPO in late 2025 drew roughly 3 trillion yuan ($444 billion) in bids from mom-and-pop investors. In Hong Kong, the $511 million IPO of bubble-tea chain Mixue Group last year drew more than HK$1.8 trillion ($230 billion) worth of orders from retail investors, the highest subscription amount for that category in at least the past 10 years, according to stock-exchange data tracked by TradeGo FinTech Ltd. Driving the fervor over IPOs in mainland China are stellar first-day gains, which are practically guaranteed by regulatory efforts to keep debut valuations artificially low. And the process resembles a lottery . With no upfront payment required, millions join bids on the chance of winning shares at minimal risk. Across the border in Hong Kong, funded by easy access to broker margin loans, the city’s retail investors routinely use leverage to supercharge their IPO bets, a financial firepower further fueled by the intense fear of missing out on the next tech giant. First-time share sales in Hong Kong have altogether drawn above HK$16 trillion worth of retail orders so far this year, TradeGo data shows. That is almost equal to the demand mom-and-pop investors expressed in all Hong Kong listings last year. SpaceX’s IPO hasn’t been available to investors based in mainland China and Hong Kong, as underwriters were told not to accept orders from both locations due to US restrictions around the e...
Ministry says on WeChat that animals fitted with sensors by foreign agencies are ‘collecting sensitive marine data’ China’s ministry of state security has claimed that foreign espionage and intelligence agencies are using innovative new methods to monitor the country’s waters, including deploying “spy” animals fitted with sensors. In a post on the Chinese platform WeChat on Friday, the ministry wa...
Ministry says on WeChat that animals fitted with sensors by foreign agencies are ‘collecting sensitive marine data’ China’s ministry of state security has claimed that foreign espionage and intelligence agencies are using innovative new methods to monitor the country’s waters, including deploying “spy” animals fitted with sensors. In a post on the Chinese platform WeChat on Friday, the ministry warned that an “invisible secret war” was quietly playing out in the seas around China as foreign agencies were collecting sensitive data “through a variety of new spying devices” to produce underwater maps that pose a “serious threat to our national security”. Continue reading...
Gambling business, which also owns Betfair, to focus on New York in latest high-profile blow to UK stock market Business live – latest updates The gambling group that owns Paddy Power and Betfair is to scrap its listing on the London Stock Exchange, in yet another blow for the UK’s shrinking stock market. Flutter Entertainment , the world’s largest online betting company, told investors that it wi...
Gambling business, which also owns Betfair, to focus on New York in latest high-profile blow to UK stock market Business live – latest updates The gambling group that owns Paddy Power and Betfair is to scrap its listing on the London Stock Exchange, in yet another blow for the UK’s shrinking stock market. Flutter Entertainment , the world’s largest online betting company, told investors that it will cancel its London shares on 3 August, blaming low levels of trading in the stock and high costs. Continue reading...
DNY59/iStock via Getty Images By Gene Tannuzzo, CFA and Ed Al-Hussainy Policy and macroeconomic uncertainty strengthen the case for selective, high-quality fixed income. We examine opportunities across the curve. Fixed income remains well-positioned to deliver value amid heightened uncertainty. In this environment, flexibility, discipline and active selection are critical to navigating dispersion ...
DNY59/iStock via Getty Images By Gene Tannuzzo, CFA and Ed Al-Hussainy Policy and macroeconomic uncertainty strengthen the case for selective, high-quality fixed income. We examine opportunities across the curve. Fixed income remains well-positioned to deliver value amid heightened uncertainty. In this environment, flexibility, discipline and active selection are critical to navigating dispersion and capturing opportunity. While policy and macroeconomic uncertainty are likely to persist, they reinforce the case for high-quality allocations and a more selective approach. In credit, fundamentals remain constructive, but tight valuations raise the bar - making dispersion and security selection increasingly important. For investors, the message is clear: keep income working by capturing today’s higher yields, broaden the opportunity set deliberately and lean into high-quality allocations across the curve - because in today’s market, flexibility is a key differentiator. Uncertainty is driving markets Uncertainty remains the dominant theme molding markets, driven by inflation, the labor market and the evolving path of Federal Reserve (Fed) policy. What has changed since the start of the year is not just the level of these dynamics but their direction. Coming into 2026, moderating inflation and a softening labor market left the door open for rate cuts. Over the past six months, those dynamics have reversed, creating a more complex and less predictable backdrop for fixed-income investors. Key forces of change: Persistent inflation. Disinflation has stalled, with tariff effects still feeding through, energy prices rising amid geopolitical tensions and services inflation remaining sticky. The energy shock has not only added to price pressures but also shifted the debate toward the durability of inflation, particularly if the conflict in the Middle East continues. A stabilizing labor market. Earlier concerns around rising unemployment have eased, reducing the urgency for polic...
Telefónica SA is looking to cut sponsorship of a road cycling team in the sport’s premier championship as part of a broad review of marketing spending, according to people familiar with the matter. The Spanish carrier is seeking to either sell its sponsorship contract, which includes naming rights for the Movistar Team and runs through 2029, or to bring on other sponsors to shares costs, said the ...
Telefónica SA is looking to cut sponsorship of a road cycling team in the sport’s premier championship as part of a broad review of marketing spending, according to people familiar with the matter. The Spanish carrier is seeking to either sell its sponsorship contract, which includes naming rights for the Movistar Team and runs through 2029, or to bring on other sponsors to shares costs, said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter isn’t public. The contract is worth about €25 million ($29 million) a year, the people said. Telefónica is shifting its marketing spending as part of widespread business review led by Executive Chairman Marc Murtra under a corporate plan presented late last year. The decision to sell the contract also comes against the backdrop of significant inflation in pro cycling budgets in recent years, as a number of big global brands and sovereign states entered the sport, either through sponsorships or by becoming team owners. Some of the brands that invest in the sport include energy drink producer Red Bull GmbH, retailer Lidl & Schwarz and sporting goods group Decathlon SA. Cycling has also attracted significant Middle Eastern investments, with state-backed projects such as UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious. Telefónica began sponsoring the Movistar team in 2011. At the time, much of the value of the partnership — through jersey exposure and brand awareness — was seen as tied to the company’s presence in Latin America as much as in Spain but that has changed with the sale of most Latin American operations, according to two of the people. Roughly 80% of the team’s revenues come from brand sponsorship, one person said. The carrier has mandated YouFirst, a consultancy, to advise on finding an buyer or co-sponsor, according to one of the people. The Movistar team is owned and managed by Abarca Sports, whose majority owners are team founders Eusebio Unzué and Francisco Fernández Maestre. Last year investment fund Quantum Pacific...
Asset manager Ninety One has increased its holdings in Turkish defense electronics maker Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS , seeing the company as a way to diversify from the artificial-intelligence trade that’s dominating global markets. The state-run producer of radar equipment, drone components and air-defense systems has become one of the largest positions in Ninety One’s emerging market...
Asset manager Ninety One has increased its holdings in Turkish defense electronics maker Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS , seeing the company as a way to diversify from the artificial-intelligence trade that’s dominating global markets. The state-run producer of radar equipment, drone components and air-defense systems has become one of the largest positions in Ninety One’s emerging markets equity strategy, which has a total $12.5 billion under management, portfolio manager Varun Laijawalla said. Given Turkey accounts for less than 1% of MSCI’s emerging equity index , the fund’s enthusiasm for Aselsan is “quite unusual,” he said. The stock rose about 220% last year and has gained another 60% so far in 2026, benefiting from the global rally in defense stocks, as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spur governments to beef up military spending. While more than a third of the Ninety One strategy is invested in information technology stocks, the fund is betting Aselsan will be a useful complement to that AI exposure. “We’re usually quite cautious around state-owned enterprises, but I think this one is different,” Laijawalla said in an interview. “You want to buy idiosyncratic, high conviction companies that are also diversified, I think this is that.” Unlike Asian tech and AI names, Aselsan also has the advantage of being “uncrowded, uncorrelated,” he added. READ: Turkish Defense Firm That Surged 236% in a Year Eyes New Markets Aselsan secured more than $2 billion in export contracts last year. While its products range from wearable cameras to self-defense anti-drone systems, it’s also involved in Turkey’s Steel Dome, an air-defense network that will resemble Israel’s Iron Dome. Laijawalla said one positive for the company is that it previously had a build-up of cash receivables — the money it’s owed for its products — but these have now come down. Second, the business is selling more outside the country, particularly to Europe. “You’re not just playing def...