Applied Materials expects to see more than 20% growth in semiconductor-equipment revenue this year as AI potentially lifts overall chip-industry sales to $1 trillion.
Applied Materials expects to see more than 20% growth in semiconductor-equipment revenue this year as AI potentially lifts overall chip-industry sales to $1 trillion.
Hi, this is Karoline Kan in Singapore, where many people are planning a ski trip to Japan during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Normally, Chinese tourists would also be making plans to hit Hokkaido for ski season. But this year is a bit different. After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response by Tokyo, Beijing warned people a...
Hi, this is Karoline Kan in Singapore, where many people are planning a ski trip to Japan during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Normally, Chinese tourists would also be making plans to hit Hokkaido for ski season. But this year is a bit different. After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response by Tokyo, Beijing warned people against traveling to her country. Read about China-Japan ties after Takaichi’s big win here . That call has resonated with many people in China. “As an ordinary Chinese person, I can’t do much but can at least cancel my skiing trip to protest,” said Chen Yang, a 42-year-old who with her family has often traveled from the southern province of Guangdong to Japan for skiing. She’s not alone. Bookings to Sapporo are expected to slide 62% in the first two months of 2026, according to China Trading Desk, a marketing and research firm. Beidahu, a top resort area in the northeastern province of Jilin, saw hotel reservations jump as much as 70%. The shift plays into Beijing’s long-term strategy. In 2014, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to involve 300 million of the nation’s people in winter sports, treating ice and snow as an economic opportunity . The push accelerated after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, backed by heavy state investment and policy support. (By the way, check out our Milano Cortina Winter Olympics medal tracker here .) Three decades ago, China had just nine ski venues and roughly 10,000 skiers. Today, the industry is on track to top 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in size — about four times its 2015 level. The country has built roughly 900 ski resorts and venues, including 66 indoor slopes, largely in the past decade. Beidahu and Songhuahu, also in Jilin, each attracted more than 1 million visits in the 2025 season for the first time. That milestone has been achieved by only a small fraction of resorts around the world, most of them in the Alps and North Ameri...
Hanizam/iStock via Getty Images By James Picerno The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week revised its budget outlook for the federal government and the results (still) look worrisome. In line with recent updates, the US deficit remains on track to deteriorate further. The forecast may not be surprising in the red-ink-drenched post-pandemic period, but the new estimates remain concerning by ...
Hanizam/iStock via Getty Images By James Picerno The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week revised its budget outlook for the federal government and the results (still) look worrisome. In line with recent updates, the US deficit remains on track to deteriorate further. The forecast may not be surprising in the red-ink-drenched post-pandemic period, but the new estimates remain concerning by highlighting the government’s deteriorating fiscal profile. CBO projects that the shortfall will deepen in 2026 to $1.853 trillion, slightly more than 2025’s $1.775 trillion deficit. Looking further down the road offers a similarly concerning trajectory. Over the coming decade, the non-partisan budget office predicts that the US deficit-to-GDP ratio will steepen to 6.7% in 2036 from the current 5.7%. Policy analysts warn that the size of the deficit is especially troubling because the current level of red ink is unusual for a peacetime economy that’s growing. Presumably during the next recession, if history’s a guide, the fiscal hole will deepen as tax revenue retreats and demand for government spending rises, which is typical for periods when the economy contracts. The projection for “sustained large deficits are historically unusual, given that the unemployment rate is projected to remain below 5%,” CBO Director Phillip Swagel said in a statement. A key impact of the growing debt will be reflected in projections for rising interest costs. “Net outlays for interest go from $1.0 trillion in 2026 to $2.1 trillion in 2036, rising from 3.3% of GDP to 4.6%,” Swagel added. Baseline assumptions Forecasts are subjective, of course, and so reasonable minds can debate how the future will unfold. CBO’s modeling includes the projection that economic growth will pick up in 2026 (real GDP is expected to rise 2.2% this year, up from 1.9% in 2025), and then downshift to 1.8% for 2027 through 2036. Change the prediction for economic growth and the budget forecast will change, for good or i...
The frightening Feb. 5 air pocket in crypto was a reminder that bad headlines aren't the only thing that can cause crypto markets to absolutely crater. While it's still unclear what sparked the sell-off, it was nonetheless a remedial lesson for many investors that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) still sets the tone for the sector. That's even the case when leading assets like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Sola...
The frightening Feb. 5 air pocket in crypto was a reminder that bad headlines aren't the only thing that can cause crypto markets to absolutely crater. While it's still unclear what sparked the sell-off, it was nonetheless a remedial lesson for many investors that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) still sets the tone for the sector. That's even the case when leading assets like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) have their own stories, which (in theory) shouldn't be affected by anything that happens to Bitcoin. The next few moves in this market will probably test your patience. Here's what Bitcoin's big stumble is going to do for other crypto majors. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
The Australian arm of Octopus Group plans to spend as much as A$20 billion ($14.2 billion) on renewable projects over the next five years, one of the largest investment plans in the country’s green sector. Octopus Australia will invest at least A$15 billion developing assets in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, Chief Executive Officer Sam Reynolds said in an interview. About 60% of that wi...
The Australian arm of Octopus Group plans to spend as much as A$20 billion ($14.2 billion) on renewable projects over the next five years, one of the largest investment plans in the country’s green sector. Octopus Australia will invest at least A$15 billion developing assets in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, Chief Executive Officer Sam Reynolds said in an interview. About 60% of that will be spent on wind projects, with the remainder divided between standalone batteries and combined solar and batteries. Octopus’s big bet on Australian renewables, and especially wind, would be a boost to a sector that has plateaued in recent years, threatening an ambitious government goal to more than double green energy generation to 82% of the total by 2030. Octopus has form in disrupting markets — becoming the UK’s biggest energy retailer just nine years after starting, partly by tapping outside capital, something it also intends to do in Australia. Octopus Australia has won the backing of Dutch pension fund APG Asset Management NV and the Australian government’s Clean Energy Finance Corp. , among others. It bought two battery projects worth more than A$3 billion earlier this month. “We still need to find big investors to come in, so we’ll continue to fundraise,” Reynolds said, adding that he would look to international markets including Singapore, Japan, Korea, Canada and Europe. Octopus Group owns 60% of Octopus Australia, APG holds 25% and the company’s employees the remainder.