Finance
Hong Kong Considers Longer Stock Trading Hours, Ending Lunch Break
Hong Kong’s stock exchange is considering an extension of equity trading hours to align with most global markets, including a proposal to eliminate the lunch break, according to people familiar with the matter.
Memory Chips: Peak Cycle, or Just Peak Acceleration?
AI demand is keeping memory chips scarce and prices high. But with expectations already sky-high, the next leg of the trade may be much harder.
EM Stocks Headed For Weekly Loss on Tech Selloff, Rising Crude
Bloomberg: July 17, 2026, Emerging-market equities fell for a second day and are headed for a weekly decline as concerns over stretched AI valuations dragged technology shares lower, triggering a selloff across Asia.
Why War Is No Longer Enough to Drive Gold Higher
War is escalating, yet gold is falling. Central-bank demand, interest rates and investor positioningWar is escalating, yet gold is falling. Central-bank demand, interest rates and investor positioning are pulling the market in different directions. are pulling the market in different directions.
After the NATO Summit: What's Next for Western Security?
The latest NATO summit ended with familiar headlines: higher defense spending, stronger commitments to collective security, continued support for Ukraine, and new initiatives on defense production and military technology. NATO leaders emphasized that the alliance is moving from setting spending targets to delivering concrete capabilities, including expanded defense industrial cooperation
AI Propped Up the Global Economy. Can It Keep Doing So?
AI investment helped cushion global growth, but with hyperscaler capex nearing $725 billion, can demand and productivity justify the cost?
Stripe, Advent offer to buy PayPal for more than $53 billion, sources say
Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have made a joint offer to acquire PayPal Holdings Inc. for $60.50 per share, in a deal that would value the payments company at more than $53 billion, two people familiar with the matter said.
Are Weather Delay Contracts About the Weather or the Officials?
Kalshi’s weather-delay markets reveal a grey area between weather forecasting, sports betting and official discretion.
Defense Backlog Growth Looks Bullish. Manufacturing Capacity Says Otherwise
Defense contractors keep winning, but the industrial base keeps losing time. A look at the budget data and what the market isn't pricing in on defense.
Sold Out, Soon Illegal: Inside China's AC Export Boom
Chinese air conditioners keep flying off European shelves, but the product driving this year's boom won't legally exist in Europe by 2029. Here’s what the market isn't pricing in on the China AC trade.
Japan’s borrowing costs soar to 30-year high on debt fears
Japan’s borrowing costs have climbed to their highest in 30 years as investors grow increasingly concerned about the country’s heavy debt burden, weakening yen and a $2.3 trillion long-term spending plan proposed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Polymarket Is Back in the U.S. But the Bigger Story Is What Comes Next
For more than three years, Polymarket operated outside the U.S. after settling charges with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in early 2022. It changed when Polymarket acquired CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse QCX, giving it a legal pathway back into the American market. Since then, Polymarket
