South Korea’s exports accelerated in February, reinforcing the central bank’s view that solid semiconductor demand is helping cushion the economy as it maintains a neutral policy stance while monitoring financial stability risks. The value of shipments adjusted for working-day differences increased 49.3% from a year earlier, according to data released Sunday by the trade ministry. That compared wi...
South Korea’s exports accelerated in February, reinforcing the central bank’s view that solid semiconductor demand is helping cushion the economy as it maintains a neutral policy stance while monitoring financial stability risks. The value of shipments adjusted for working-day differences increased 49.3% from a year earlier, according to data released Sunday by the trade ministry. That compared with a revised 34% gain for the full month of January. Unadjusted exports climbed 29% and overall imports rose by 7.5%, resulting in a trade surplus of $15.5 billion. February data remained robust despite the Lunar New Year holiday falling within the reporting period, which reduced the number of working days. Economists typically look to average daily shipments or working-day adjusted figures to strip out those distortions and gauge the underlying pace of trade. Early data showed that February exports surged more than 47%, a sign companies rushed to front-load shipments ahead of the holidays. Back-to-back months of strong trade figures augurs well for South Korea’s economy, with overseas sales accounting for about 40% of gross domestic product. Semiconductor shipments remained the primary driver, advancing almost 161% amid sustained global investment in AI infrastructure and data centers. Auto exports fell nearly 21%, weighed by fewer working days due to the holiday, while shipments of wireless communication products increased 12.7%. Both shipments of steel and petrochemical products declined 7.8% and 15.4%, respectively, mainly due to a global supply glut. By destination, shipments to China rose 34.1%, exports to the US increased almost 30%, and those to the European Union gained 10.3%. The data also highlight that South Korea’s export engine remains resilient even in the face of fresh uncertainty over America’s trade policy. The US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump ’s tariffs imposed under emergency powers, but a 10% global levy remains in effect until Trump ...
A Manchester move, Shaun Ryder’s bleeped-out anecdote and the odd leftfield flourish added some life to a slick ceremony – yet when it came to the prizes, commercial heavyweights tended to reign The Brit awards have perhaps borrowed a trick from the Mercury prize, which last year unexpectedly applied the defibrillator to an event that’s been on the verge of extinction for years by the simple exped...
A Manchester move, Shaun Ryder’s bleeped-out anecdote and the odd leftfield flourish added some life to a slick ceremony – yet when it came to the prizes, commercial heavyweights tended to reign The Brit awards have perhaps borrowed a trick from the Mercury prize, which last year unexpectedly applied the defibrillator to an event that’s been on the verge of extinction for years by the simple expedient of moving it to Newcastle and packing the audience with music fans rather than music biz grandees. The Brits’ relocation to Manchester had the effect of adding at least a slight edge of chaos to a ceremony that’s become increasingly slick in recent years, largely by dint of involving Shaun Ryder, who almost immediately enlivened proceedings by telling an anecdote about being busted for drug possession during the Brits in the 90s that ITV found it necessary to bleep out in its entirety. The show itself was too varied to suffer from the blandness that’s cursed Brits past, offering performances ranging from Rosalia’s Björk-assisted opera/gabber hybrid to Alex Warren (“what you get if you order Ed Sheeran on Temu”, as Whitehall put it) performing Ordinary with a smoking-jacket-clad James Blunt on piano, via the unexpected sight of Ghostface Killah dad-dancing with Dua Lipa during a medley helmed by outstanding contribution to music winner Mark Ronson. Continue reading...
What War With Iran Could Mean For Markets Monday Tl;dr : Bloomberg macro strategist, Michael Ball, warned that President Trump’s urging of Iranians to overthrow the government gives Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran the potential to usher in a more prolonged higher-volatility era rather than being a one-off tradeable shock . Traders will be closely watching for updates on crude production ...
What War With Iran Could Mean For Markets Monday Tl;dr : Bloomberg macro strategist, Michael Ball, warned that President Trump’s urging of Iranians to overthrow the government gives Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran the potential to usher in a more prolonged higher-volatility era rather than being a one-off tradeable shock . Traders will be closely watching for updates on crude production and shipping disruptions, and any spike in oil will move across global rates and FX and eventually weigh on equities - but Trump’s post-strike comments make it harder for markets to assume this is one and done. A limited strike would likely see the usual pattern: Crude and gold spike, equities wobble, then volatility compresses if production is unaffected and Strait of Hormuz flows keep moving, leading the risk premium to ebb quickly. But a longer-term campaign framed around leadership removal is different. It will stretch the uncertainty window, raise the probability of wider tail risk outcomes, keep oil prices elevated and volatility high and force broader risk premiums to reflect a more uncertain growth and inflation backdrop. * * * Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance Most of the U.S. woke up today to news that that the U.S. and Israel have started “major combat operations” and a broad military campaign against targets across Iran. Also it looks like we have an answer about the “mystery” SPY put buyers and the super aggressive gold and silver call buyers into the close last week. Someone was obviously in the know that full-scale military action involving Iran was about to kick off Friday night and was positioning ahead of it. Anyone who tells you the options market can’t telegraph news or hint at where the market is headed isn’t paying attention. Order flow doesn’t predict everything - but sometimes it absolutely signals that something big is coming. The operation against Iran reportedly began with strikes in Tehran and other strategic locations late last night/early this ...
A SEC filing dated February 13, 2026, shows Waterfall Asset Management, LLC initiated a new stake in National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) , purchasing 297,700 shares. The quarter-end position value also rose by $8.42 million, a figure that includes both the new shares and any price movement over the period. This is a new position for the fund, representing 4.53% of its 13F reportable AUM a...
A SEC filing dated February 13, 2026, shows Waterfall Asset Management, LLC initiated a new stake in National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) , purchasing 297,700 shares. The quarter-end position value also rose by $8.42 million, a figure that includes both the new shares and any price movement over the period. This is a new position for the fund, representing 4.53% of its 13F reportable AUM as of December 31, 2025 Top holdings after the filing: Continue reading