NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang rejected rumours regarding TSMC shifting 40% of its operations to the USA. He added that Taiwan will continue to be the major player in semiconductor manufacturing and the foundry investments in the USA are a necessary ‘expansion’ move to meet the ongoing AI demand. The rumours about the world’s largest chip manufacturer relocating to America surfaced after the U.S. Commerc...
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang rejected rumours regarding TSMC shifting 40% of its operations to the USA. He added that Taiwan will continue to be the major player in semiconductor manufacturing and the foundry investments in the USA are a necessary ‘expansion’ move to meet the ongoing AI demand. The rumours about the world’s largest chip manufacturer relocating to America surfaced after the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s CNBC interview, where he said US-Taiwan trade agreements aim to shift 40% of Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain to the U.S by the end of 2029. The Trade Deal Behind the Rumours: The US-Taiwan Semiconductor Trade Agreement The US-Taiwan Semiconductor Trade Agreement was announced on January 15, 2026. It aims to expand chip production capacity into the U.S. amid massive demands for AI hardware and potential bottlenecks in Taiwan, like power grids and space. The deal includes Taiwanese firms pledging $250 billion in investment in the U.S. on semiconductors, AI, and energy. In return, Taiwanese companies will enjoy higher tariff-free import quotas and a general 5% drop in tariffs on almost all Taiwanese goods. Thus, tariffs will be reduced from an earlier threatened 20% to 15%. The deal aims to cut the trade deficit and secure AI supply amid risks and chaotic U.S. foreign policies. Moreover, TSMC has already committed a total of $165 billion in investments in the USA. America’s push to bring more Taiwanese chip production and TSMC’s expansion in the U.S. were read together as a production shift by many. Why is it Important for Taiwan to remain the Semiconductor Capital? Taiwan plays a crucial role in global chip production and supply. TSMC produces 90% of advanced GPUs and chips for the world. The world’s most valuable company (by market capitalization) and tech leader, Nvidia, outsources nearly 100% of its advanced GPU production to TSMC. Any operational disruption of TSMC by means of Chinese aggression or infrastructure failure of the country can...
Good morning . The Trump administration prepares to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. The US president warns the UK and Canada against deepening business ties with China. And London’s luxury housing market downturn deepens. Listen to the day’s top stories . The Trump administration is preparing to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, people familiar said. T...
Good morning . The Trump administration prepares to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. The US president warns the UK and Canada against deepening business ties with China. And London’s luxury housing market downturn deepens. Listen to the day’s top stories . The Trump administration is preparing to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, people familiar said. The president plans to announce his pick this morning , with other contenders including Kevin Hassett, Christopher Waller and Rick Rieder. Senator Thom Tillis has warned he will block any Fed nominee until a Justice Department probe is resolved. The dollar and Treasury yields climbed, with investors viewing the former Fed governor as a relatively hawkish choice likely to deliver fewer rate cuts. Donald Trump warned the UK and Canada against deepening business ties with China after recent Beijing visits, as allies weigh engagement with China against risks of angering Washington. Separately, the US president threatened a 50% tariff on Canadian aircraft and to decertify new planes unless Ottawa approves Gulfstream jets, a move analysts questioned as unprecedented and potentially unsafe. London’s luxury housing market is sinking deeper into downturn. A slump has forced brokers to turn bearish , with Savills now predicting consecutive price declines for prime neighborhoods. Global wealth remains reluctant to find a home in the city, the firm said, citing tax changes, weaker demand and a shrinking pool of buyers. Prices in luxury postcodes declined 4.8% last year, leaving values 25% below their 2014 peak at the end of December. Adding to the pressure, rents in the capital’s most prestigious areas have fallen for the first time in more than four years. The London Metal Exchange delayed trading by an hour after a technical issue, adding to market unease after extreme price swings . The disruption came amid record copper volatility, with frenzied activity on the Shanghai Futures Exch...
Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over leaked tax information toggle caption Patrick Semansky/AP WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president's tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includ...
Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over leaked tax information toggle caption Patrick Semansky/AP WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for $10 billion, as he accuses the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president's tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includes the president's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs. The filing alleges that the leak of Trump and the Trump Organization's confidential tax records caused "reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs' public standing." Sponsor Message In 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn of Washington, D.C. — who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense and national security tech firm — was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking tax information about Trump and others to news outlets. Littlejohn, known as Chaz, gave data to The New York Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020 in leaks that appeared to be "unparalleled in the IRS's history," prosecutors said. The disclosure violated IRS Code 6103, one of the strictest confidentiality laws in federal statute. The Times reported in 2020 that Trump did not pay federal income tax for many years prior to 2020, and ProPublica in 2021 published a series about discrepancies in Trump's records. Six years of Trump's returns were later released by the then-Democratically controlled House Ways and Means Committee. Trump's suit states that Littlejohn's disclosures to the news organizations "caused reputational and financial harm to Plaintiffs and adversely impacted President Trump's support among voters in the 2020 presidential election." Littlejohn stole tax records of other mega-billionaires, including ...
Willie B. Thomas/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis Protagonist Therapeutics ( PTGX ) stock had been on an upward trend for most of 2025. We've seen the stock up about 115% on the 1-year chart as momentum for their two late-stage assets in icotrokinra and rusfertide has continued to grow. However, the stock peaked in October last year as there were reports that Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) was in ...
Willie B. Thomas/DigitalVision via Getty Images Thesis Protagonist Therapeutics ( PTGX ) stock had been on an upward trend for most of 2025. We've seen the stock up about 115% on the 1-year chart as momentum for their two late-stage assets in icotrokinra and rusfertide has continued to grow. However, the stock peaked in October last year as there were reports that Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) was in talks to buy the company. I initiated my buy call back in my previous coverage and highlighted the attractiveness of the company. Since then, takeover speculation has remained quite flat, and the stock price has come down from the $95 high it hit back in mid-December. I think a lot of that stock momentum was due to the JNJ takeover speculation, and with current shares now trading in the $81 range, we should keep in mind the potential and upcoming catalysts Protagonist has in 2026. 3Q25 Back in early November, Protagonist reported some pretty solid, albeit investment-heavy 3Q25 results . We're clearly seeing the company transition from late-stage development toward potential commercialisation, as investors would hope. For the quarter, Protagonist reported license and collaboration revenue of about $4.7 million, a figure which was essentially flat year-over-year and driven mainly by their development services under the Takeda partnership. Operating expenses increased quite a bit with R&D rising to $40.0 million, up slightly from the $36.0 million we saw in 3Q24. It's a reflection of the expanded discovery and preclinical activity with the overall advancement of its pipeline. Elsewhere, G&A expenses climbed to $11.1 million as a result of higher professional services costs. Protagonist for the quarter reported a much wider net loss of $39.3 million, or about -$0.62 per share, compared to a net loss of $33.2 million, or -$0.54 per share, in the prior-year quarter. Importantly, however, their cash position is still pretty strong, and it needs to be with the upcoming developments...
Microsoft (MSFT) shares fell sharply following its Fiscal Q2 2026 earnings report, marking one of the company’s steepest single-session declines since the March 2020 crash. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) closed at $433.50, down $48.13 or 9.99% at 4:00:01 PM EST, before edging slightly lower in overnight trading to $433.15, a further 0.08% decline as of 11:20:15 PM EST. The pullback came despite soli...
Microsoft (MSFT) shares fell sharply following its Fiscal Q2 2026 earnings report, marking one of the company’s steepest single-session declines since the March 2020 crash. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) closed at $433.50, down $48.13 or 9.99% at 4:00:01 PM EST, before edging slightly lower in overnight trading to $433.15, a further 0.08% decline as of 11:20:15 PM EST. The pullback came despite solid headline results, underscoring a growing divide between Wall Street’s short-term expectations and Microsoft’s long-term AI strategy. The decline also weighed on broader US benchmarks, including the NASDAQ and the S&P 500, given Microsoft’s outsized index influence. Earnings Beat Fails to Lift Microsoft (MSFT) Shares For the quarter, Microsoft (MSFT) reported revenue of $81.3 billion, highlighting continued demand across its core software and cloud businesses. Earnings Per Share (EPS) came in at $4.14 on a non-GAAP basis and $5.16 on a GAAP basis, comfortably beating analyst estimates. Under normal conditions, such results would have driven shares higher. Instead, investors focused less on the beat and more on what lies ahead. Capital Expenditure Emerges as the Market’s “AI Tax” The dominant concern was Capital Expenditure (CapEx). Microsoft (MSFT) disclosed quarterly CapEx of $37.5 billion, representing approximately 65% year-over-year increase. This surge in spending, aimed at expanding AI infrastructure, data centers, and GPU capacity, has been labeled by analysts as the “AI Tax.” While the spending is designed to secure future dominance, the immediate impact is margin compression, something the market is increasingly unwilling to overlook. Azure Growth Slows as Capacity Constraints Limit Demand Azure (Cloud Services), Microsoft’s primary growth engine, also disappointed relative to expectations. Azure’s growth of 38–39% marked a deceleration that unsettled investors, especially as rivals delivered stronger near-term narratives. Microsoft (MSFT) emphasized that the slow...