For years, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) was one of the top stocks on the market. From its IPO in 2016 to its peak in late 2024, the stock gained more than 4,000% as it regularly put up revenue growth of 20% or more, and delivered strong profit margins as well. The stock also benefited from a premium valuation. However, over the last year, The Trade Desk has collapsed. The adtech stock has fallen 8...
For years, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) was one of the top stocks on the market. From its IPO in 2016 to its peak in late 2024, the stock gained more than 4,000% as it regularly put up revenue growth of 20% or more, and delivered strong profit margins as well. The stock also benefited from a premium valuation. However, over the last year, The Trade Desk has collapsed. The adtech stock has fallen 83% from its peak in late 2024 as the business has slowed to its weakest growth rate ever, except for a brief dip during the pandemic. Continue reading
Hi, this is James Mayger in Beijing, where this week we solved a mystery of pretty epic proportions. Call it The Case of the Missing Tariffs . Consider this big clue: US data show that last year shipments from China tumbled 30%. Scholars and politicians in the US have pointed to that figure as evidence that tariffs were forcing America to decouple , at least in trade, from a geopolitical rival som...
Hi, this is James Mayger in Beijing, where this week we solved a mystery of pretty epic proportions. Call it The Case of the Missing Tariffs . Consider this big clue: US data show that last year shipments from China tumbled 30%. Scholars and politicians in the US have pointed to that figure as evidence that tariffs were forcing America to decouple , at least in trade, from a geopolitical rival some deem an existential threat . Not so fast. When we dug into the data we discovered that Chinese exports were still pretty healthy in 2025. The disparity between the two sets of data reveals a staggering problem — one that argues very strongly that the decoupling talk is wildly overblown. Namely, there is a whopping $112 billion gap between what China said it was exporting to the US and what America said actually arrived. That means up to a quarter of what Asia’s top economy shipped to American shores last year slipped past the tariff man . Read more about the trade whodunnit here . There are a number of likely culprits for the gap but fraud looks to be one of the main explanations. American importers are getting bombarded with WhatsApp messages and emails promising a deal that seems too good to be legal: move goods from China to the US while avoiding President Donald Trump’s levies . Companies that take up the deal pose an especially acute problem for honest businesses. Take Michael Kersey, president of American Lawn Mower Co. His firm began outsourcing production to China two decades ago and has paid duties of as much as 45% to bring goods into the US over the past year. That outlay puts him at a decided pricing disadvantage against competitors who duck the duties. “Tariff cheating is much, much worse than tariffs for us,” Kersey said. US authorities know about the suspected tariff evasion tactics but have a hard time keeping up with the cheats. Shell companies can offer a business a deep shipping discount, undervalue the arriving cargo on customs declarations and then di...
Twenty-one of China’s 31 provincial-level regions have set lower annual growth targets ahead of the unveiling of the national goal on March 5. Guangdong, the most populous region, cut its target for 2026 to a range of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent, versus “around 5 per cent” last year. Tianjin, Hebei and Shanxi are also among provinces with lower economic targets. Jiangxi is the only region with an i...
Twenty-one of China’s 31 provincial-level regions have set lower annual growth targets ahead of the unveiling of the national goal on March 5. Guangdong, the most populous region, cut its target for 2026 to a range of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent, versus “around 5 per cent” last year. Tianjin, Hebei and Shanxi are also among provinces with lower economic targets. Jiangxi is the only region with an increase. The national goal may be reduced to 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent from “around 5 per cent”,...
Earnings Call Insights: Expensify (EXFY) Q4 2025 Management View Ryan Schaffer, CFO & Director, reported that Expensify "generated nearly $20 million in free cash flow" for fiscal year 2025 and highlighted the company's role as the title sponsor of Apple's F1 movie. He shared, "Revenue was $35.2 million" for Q4, with average
Earnings Call Insights: Expensify (EXFY) Q4 2025 Management View Ryan Schaffer, CFO & Director, reported that Expensify "generated nearly $20 million in free cash flow" for fiscal year 2025 and highlighted the company's role as the title sponsor of Apple's F1 movie. He shared, "Revenue was $35.2 million" for Q4, with average
Hong Kong’s proposal to pull HK$150 billion ($19 billion) from a fund used to defend the currency’s peg with the greenback shocked some officials and raised concern over the precedent it sets. There was widespread surprise in Hong Kong on Wednesday when Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled the plan to transfer cash from the city’s Exchange Fund to finance a giant technology hub project and other...
Hong Kong’s proposal to pull HK$150 billion ($19 billion) from a fund used to defend the currency’s peg with the greenback shocked some officials and raised concern over the precedent it sets. There was widespread surprise in Hong Kong on Wednesday when Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled the plan to transfer cash from the city’s Exchange Fund to finance a giant technology hub project and other infrastructure works. It would be the first withdrawal since 1984. While the withdrawal would be a small part of the HK$4 trillion Exchange Fund , especially after it posted record returns last year, it has raised concerns. The fund’s primary purpose is to backstop Hong Kong’s currency within a band of 7.75 to 7.85 per US dollar to maintain financial stability and attract investments. Kelvin Lam , senior China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics in London, said the move may “open a Pandora’s box” with unintended consequences. “What’s worrying is that if this practice of moving funds becomes the norm, without counter-balances in the institutions and at the political or financial will of the government, the credibility of the linked exchange rate system will inevitably be undermined,” he said. “Investors or currency holders will, at some point, lose trust in the system well before the fund is reduced to its threshold.” A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority , which oversees the fund, on Wednesday said “the Exchange Fund continues to serve as a solid bedrock” for the linked exchange rate system, together “with the sizable foreign currency reserves of over $420 billion.” The HKMA “remains fully capable of and confident in maintaining the stability and integrity of Hong Kong’s monetary and financial systems in accordance with the Exchange Fund Ordinance,” the spokesperson said. The government didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Chan told reporters Wednesday the government is confident that “we would be able to weather volatility or even attacks o...
Days after back-flipping AI humanoids dazzled China with a new year performance alongside dancers, a small research firm jolted US markets with a stark warning about how automation could trigger an economic spiral by displacing workers. Intended or not, images of robots swinging nunchucks alongside their human counterparts threw a spotlight on Beijing’s challenge of balancing productivity gains wi...
Days after back-flipping AI humanoids dazzled China with a new year performance alongside dancers, a small research firm jolted US markets with a stark warning about how automation could trigger an economic spiral by displacing workers. Intended or not, images of robots swinging nunchucks alongside their human counterparts threw a spotlight on Beijing’s challenge of balancing productivity gains with labor stability. While no Chinese companies were referenced in Citrini Research’s dystopian report, similar risks loom for China — America’s most formidable AI rival and home to the world’s largest labor force. That’s leaving President Xi Jinping with a dilemma. China can’t afford to hobble itself in the race with Washington for AI capabilities that will underpin advanced manufacturing and technology critical to military advancement. At the same time, the Communist Party needs to ensure enough job creation to prevent social unrest. “Beijing is aware of the potential for this process to have major societal impacts,” said Paul Triolo , a former US government official and partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group who specializes in China and tech policy. “Officials are also already grappling with high levels of youth unemployment,” making another wave of job displacement harder to deal with, he added. Only last month, China’s Ministry of Human Resources announced it was drafting policy guidance to address AI’s impact on jobs ahead of next month’s release of the country’s five-year development plan. Zhang Yunming, vice industry and technology minister, also in January described employment pressures from AI as “inevitable.” Despite that, the Asian powerhouse has pushed to embed AI across its economy. China installs more factory robots each year than all other countries combined, leads the world in drone delivery and tests more autonomous cars than anywhere else. Goldman Sachs estimates China will lead the world in adopting autonomous vehicles, with 90% of cars sold there expe...
gorodenkoff Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) on Thursday said that the company “cannot in good conscience” allow the Department of Defense to use its models in all lawful use cases without limitation, adding that the agency’s threats do not change its position. “It is
gorodenkoff Anthropic ( ANTHRO ) on Thursday said that the company “cannot in good conscience” allow the Department of Defense to use its models in all lawful use cases without limitation, adding that the agency’s threats do not change its position. “It is