Breakfast | Dow and S&P 500 hit new highs again, market focus shifts to earnings season and Tesla Robotaxi Day

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Dow and S&P hit new highs again, Chinese stocks narrow losses, NVIDIA turns lower

The S&P 500 index hit a new high again, and market attention is shifting to earnings season. The third-quarter earnings season will begin on Friday, when several major banks will announce their performance. Investors have been generally optimistic recently, as strong economic data offset escalating tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election.

The three major U.S. indexes rose for two consecutive days, with the Dow rising over 1% to lead the gains, both the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting historic highs. Healthcare, technology, and industrial sectors led the gains.

The "Big Seven Tech Sisters" mostly fell. After the U.S. Department of Justice indicated considering breaking up Google's business, Google Class A shares fell by 1.53%. Apple rose by 1.67%. Amazon rose by 1.34%, NVIDIA fell by 0.18%. Meta fell by 0.40%, Tesla fell by 1.41%.

Chinese stocks continued to pull back, as investors await a press conference by the Chinese Ministry of Finance on October 12 to introduce details of strengthened fiscal policies. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell by 1.29%, the China Technology Index ETF (CQQQ) fell by 2.75%, the China Internet Index ETF (KWEB) fell by 1.11%, the Direxion FTSE China Bull 3X ETF (YINN) fell by 4.83%, the Direxion FTSE China Bear 3X ETF (YANG) rose by 3.08%, the "China Dragon" ETF RONDHL CHINA ETF (DRAG) fell by 1.66%. FTSE A50 futures rose by up to 3.7%.

Tiger Brokers fell by 13.93%, NetEase fell by 5.67%, Bilibili fell by 0.26%, Li Auto fell by 0.43%, ZEEKR fell by 3.31%, Baidu fell by 1.84%, Alibaba fell by 1.63%, Tencent Holdings ADR fell by 1.36%, JD.com fell by 1.61%, New Oriental fell by 1.39%, Pinduoduo fell by 2.43%, XPeng rose by 3.46%, Nio rose by 0.8%, Fangdd rose by 6.02%.

Important Event: The Chinese Ministry of Finance will introduce details of increasing the countercyclical adjustment intensity of fiscal policies on October 12.

People's Bank of China and Ministry of Finance establish joint working group on government bond trading for the first time

FOMC Meeting Minutes

A significant rate cut is not a sign of concern for the economy, nor is it a signal of rapid rate cuts; some officials believe that a modest rate cut is reasonable. Delaying or reducing policy restrictions too late or too little may pose risks of excessively weakening economic activity and employment. Gradually reducing policy restrictions is appropriate. Labor market conditions have eased somewhat, and economic activity continues to expand at a steady pace. Although inflation remains relatively high, its trend is consistent with falling to the target level.

"Fed Echo Chamber": FOMC meeting minutes show disagreement over the magnitude of the rate cut in September

Nick Timiraos stated that the vast majority supported a larger 50 basis point rate cut that was eventually approved, but others supported a 25 basis point rate cut.

NVIDIA (NVDA.O) CEO Jensen Huang stated that the future of artificial intelligence will be services that can "reason," but to reach this stage, the cost of computation needs to decrease. Huang also added that NVIDIA will increase chip performance by two to three times annually at the same energy and cost, laying the foundation for these advancements

Musk Bets Tesla's Future on Robotaxi

Tesla's "WeRobot" event will be held on October 10th in California, USA, which Musk claims will go down in history. Media reports suggest that Musk, in order to get Robotaxi on the road, is willing to sacrifice a widely anticipated affordable car, disbanding teams focused on other projects and downplaying the impact of slowing Tesla sales. Therefore, when Musk finally unveils the Robotaxi prototype later on Thursday, he will need to prove many things to the audience. He promises to usher in a new era of transportation with autonomous taxi as a key component.

Insider: Tesla Robotaxi to Feature Butterfly Doors and Two Seats

It is expected that Tesla CEO Elon Musk will discuss the Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities of electric semi-trucks.

Ming-Chi Kuo: Tesla Robotaxi Expected to Start Mass Production in Q1 2027

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that the Robotaxi service may involve autonomous vehicles or utilizing existing Tesla owners' cars, but the key is for the FSD system to meet government requirements in order to operate autonomous taxi services. The delay in mass production may mean that the FSD meeting government requirements will also be postponed to after 2026. In the long term, the trend of autonomous taxi services is promising, but short-term stock price fluctuations may not rise as expected.

China and Europe to Continue Negotiations on Electric Vehicle Subsidy Case

According to sources, China, the US, and the EU have recently engaged in intensive discussions on trade issues such as electric vehicles. After the EU member states voted to pass the final ruling on the EU electric vehicle subsidy case on October 4th, the China-EU working group will continue negotiations.

In addition, preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that the estimated wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China in September increased by 48% year-on-year, with Tesla's delivery volume in China reaching 88,321 units.

Meta AI to Launch in 21 New Regions, Including the UK, Brazil, Latin America, and Asia.

Amazon Deploys Electric Delivery Vans

Amazon plans to deploy 1,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian by early 2025, equipped with a visual-assisted package pickup system.

Disneyland Raises Peak Season Ticket Prices by About 6% in Southern California, USA

Furthermore, Disneyland Resort has also increased the prices of "Magic Key" annual passes, with the cheapest "Imagine Key" now rising by $100 to $599.

OpenAI Expects $14 Billion Loss in 2026

According to The Information, OpenAI burned $340 million in the first half of 2024, with the company expecting to achieve profitability by 2029, reaching $100 billion in revenue by then. It is estimated that by 2026, the loss could reach as high as $14 billion, nearly three times the expected loss this year, with a total loss expected to reach $44 billion from 2023 to 2028

Media: OpenAI plans to adopt a public benefit corporate structure to fend off hostile takeovers

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI is pursuing a largely untested corporate structure to protect itself from hostile takeovers and shield CEO Sam Altman from external interference. To achieve this, it is planning to restructure as a Public Benefit Corporation. This means that existing investors, such as Microsoft or others, may face obstacles if they attempt to acquire OpenAI.

Boeing's wage negotiations with the union collapse

Boeing and IAM negotiated a proposal on Monday and Tuesday regarding a 30% wage increase and improved retirement benefits, but the negotiations collapsed. Boeing and IAM each blamed the other for the deadlock.

Over 1.6 trillion brokerage "giants"! Major asset restructuring plans of CITIC Securities and Haitong Securities disclosed, both resume trading on Thursday

CITIC Securities and Haitong Securities are planning a major asset restructuring through a stock-for-stock absorption merger and raising supporting funds. CITIC Securities will issue CITIC Securities A shares to all A-share shareholders of Haitong Securities, issue CITIC Securities H shares to all H-share shareholders of Haitong Securities, and the proposed A shares will apply for listing and circulation on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, while the proposed H shares will apply for listing and circulation on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Haitong Securities' A shares and H shares will be correspondingly cancelled, and Haitong Securities will delist and cancel its legal person status.

The stock exchange ratio between Haitong Securities and CITIC Securities is 1:0.62, meaning that every 1 share of Haitong Securities A shares can be exchanged for 0.62 shares of CITIC Securities A shares, and every 1 share of Haitong Securities H shares can be exchanged for 0.62 shares of CITIC Securities H shares. The H-share exchange price for CITIC Securities is HKD 7.73 per share, and the H-share exchange price for Haitong Securities is HKD 4.79 per share.

SMIC: Company's current production and operation activities are normal

SMIC issued a price movement announcement stating that the company's current production and operation activities are normal, with no significant adjustments in market environment or industry policies, no significant fluctuations in production, sales, and other business situations, and normal internal production and operation order. There are no significant matters affecting the trading price of the company's stock, and no other significant matters that should be disclosed but have not been disclosed.

Hong Kong IPO market rebounding? Fundraising has exceeded last year's total! Investment banks: Investor interest is increasing

Since the beginning of this year, the Hong Kong IPO market has welcomed 48 new companies, raising a total of HKD 57 billion, surpassing last year's total of HKD 46.3 billion. Investment bank professionals state that the market currently favors larger IPO projects, and institutional investors are no longer blindly chasing high growth but are instead showing interest in companies with good cash flow. Optimistically, the total fundraising for Hong Kong IPOs this year is expected to reach billions of US dollars, breaking into the top three globally.

Maoge Ping Cosmetics Co., Ltd. submits listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with China International Capital Corporation as the exclusive sponsor

What is China's fiscal policy countercyclical adjustment? How is it adjusted? The Ministry of Finance is prepared to discuss this: