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18 Jul 2024

Global chip stocks from Nvidia to ASML fall on geopolitics, Trump comments.

Global chip stocks fell sharply, with ASML , Nvidia and TSMC posting declines amid reports of tighter export restrictions from the U.S. and a ramp-up of geopolitical tensions fueled by comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump. ASML’s Netherlands-listed shares were down 11%, while Tokyo Electron shares in Japan closed nearly 7.5% lower. The moves came after Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that the Biden administration is considering a wide-sweeping rule to clamp down on companies exporting their critical chipmaking equipment to China. Washington’s foreign direct product rule, or FDPR, allows the U.S. to put controls on foreign-made products even if they use the smallest amount of American technology. This can affect non-U.S. companies. Source: CNBC

17 Jul 2024

The amount raised by the former president is a record second-quarter haul that almost matches the sums raised during his entire 2016 campaign, according to an analysis of federal filings

Fundraising groups aligned with Donald Trump raised more than $400mn for his presidential election campaign between April and June — a record second-quarter haul that almost matches the sums raised during his entire 2016 campaign, according to a Financial Times analysis of federal filings. The figure, which is likely to grow as more of the political action committees that help fund campaigns report this weekend, is three times the first-quarter total and roughly double their contributions from the same period of the 2020 election. The massive windfall, which puts the Republican on track to outpace his Democratic rival President Joe Biden, came from small donors furious at Trump’s criminal conviction in New York and billionaires flocking to his campaign. Source: FT Link >>> https://lnkd.in/eijfGTMR

17 Jul 2024

Some good news for Wall Street?

Donald Trump will not seek to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the central banker’s term ends and would consider JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for Treasury secretary if he won the Nov. 5 election, the former president told Bloomberg in an interview published on Tuesday. JPMorgan declined to comment on Trump’s remarks. Powell’s term as chairman runs through January 2026, and his position as a Fed governor continues until 2028. The interview was conducted in late June, according to Bloomberg.

17 Jul 2024

Police fatally shot a man Tuesday about a mile away from the main Republican National Convention venue in Milwaukee, CNN affiliate WISN reported.

Witnesses told the station that two men were fighting in a local park when one of them pulled a knife out. Witnesses said the men were startled when officers responded and the man with the knife was shot by multiple officers, WISN reported, noting those details had not been confirmed by police. Source: CNN

16 Jul 2024

From Elon Musk to David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Trump Backers Cheer Vance as VP Pick - Bloomberg

-> Many in the startup world rejoiced at Trump’s VP pick -> Vance has criticized big tech and has backed small players Major Silicon Valley investors hailed Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio senator and former venture capitalist JD Vance as his running mate, a move that puts the technology industry closer to center stage in Washington if the former president takes the White House in November. Elon Musk called the decision a “great choice” and said the lineup “resounds with victory” on X, the social platform he owns. David Sacks, an investor and Trump supporter scheduled to speak at the GOP convention on Monday night, called Vance an “American patriot” in a post. According to Tech Crunch >>> "Vance spent years as a venture capitalist before leaving the industry when elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022. After graduating from Yale Law School in 2013, Vance moved to San Francisco, where he was a principal at Mithril Capital, a fund co-founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan. Mithril raised two funds, a $540 million and an $850 million vehicle in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Thiel was publicly active in politics in 2016, backing Trump’s first presidential campaign, and helped fund Vance’s Senate race, but has said he’s not planning to donate to any Republicans in the 2024 election. In 2017, Vance left Mithril and joined Steve Case’s Washington, D.C.-based Revolution as a managing director. His move came when his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, landed a role as a Supreme Court clerk. While at Revolution, Vance helped Case launch Rise of the Rest, a strategy focused on investing in startups outside the main U.S. tech hubs. At Revolution, the Republican VP nominee led deals into Michigan-based Aatmunn, a startup that develops software and wearable devices for on-the-job safety for construction workers. He also backed and served on the board of Kentucky-based AppHarvest, an indoor farming startup, that went public via a SPAC in 2021 but filed for bankruptcy protection in 2023". Source: Bloomberg, Tech Crunch

16 Jul 2024

Big money and the Valley are backing Trump

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16 Jul 2024

Goldman Sachs Republican winners versus losers basket (i.e long stocks likely to benefit from a Trump victory / short those who are likely to suffer from it) added 2.77% yesterday

Source: Bloomberg, RBC

16 Jul 2024

Donald Trump has picked Senator JD Vance as his running mate, in a move that could help the former president win votes across the crucial swing states of the US’s industrial Midwest.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, less than a decade ago, rose to prominence as a Trump critic. But over the last few years, Vance, 39, has emerged as a Trump loyalist, becoming one of his most vocal defenders in the Senate and a frequent surrogate on television as he called for the party to embrace Trump’s populist agenda. Vance could expand Trump’s appeal in the swing states. Indeed, he hails from the Rust Belt, which includes portions of the critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He’s also a Marine veteran, and would be the second youngest vice president — tied with Richard Nixon — if Trump wins in November. Source: FT

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