The US is giving Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC $6.6 bn in grants and up to $5 bn in loans to ramp up domestic production as part of their $65bn investment. They’re going to construct a 3rd factory in Phoenix focusing on 2-nm process technology, key for AI and the military. Xi is having a bad day reading the news.
Canada is creating a $1.8 bn fund to accelerate the work of AI players and researchers. Given the costs to build in this space, it’s something…of a start.
BBG says that profit growth is expected to be 3.9% for S&P co’s, the smallest since 2019. So, we’ll see how investors react if companies beat, meet, or fall short of slower expectations.
Bullet points from Jamie Dimon’s 61-page 2023 annual letter were distributed today (yes, it’s April 2024…). Obvious points: US economy is resilient. Our economy has been supported by a ton of gov spending and stimulus. They’ll have to spend more because of climate change, supply chains, military costs, and healthcare costs, so inflation will remain high and sticky. QT is a drain. First Republic was a steal. Less expected points: He thinks proxy firms like ISS and Glass Lewis have too much power and are at fault for why there’s a lot more private firms these days, and the number of public firms has shrunk. Ukraine costs benefit Americans making the stuff. A ton of their work is in the cloud, and they’re transitioning a lot to AI. Basel III is not good.
During her visit to China, Yellen threatened sanctions for Chinese banks and exporters that help bolster Russia’s military capacity. Troubled banks, I’m sure, loved hearing this. Plus, the gov probably regrets putting out the welcome mat on some levels. Her other message—get your growth up and stop investing in manufacturing that undermines other countries’ companies—fell flat too.
Microsoft is opening an AI hub in London to leverage talent across the pond– on advancing language models and its supporting infrastructure. That announcement surely made afternoon tea a bit sweeter for techies across the pond.
Bullion purchases by central banks and consumers has been strong amidst outflows from gold-backed ETFs. UBS thinks those flows will be back, as it raising its year-end price outlook by +11% to $2,500 per ounce. Silver has been strong too, with ETFs attracting wider interest.
Analysts estimate that there’s a ~$5 war premium on oil, per CNBC.
Tesla is bringing robotaxis. (Heard that before, right?) Musk says the design is coming in Aug. My good friend works on flying cars. Don’t think it’s prime time yet, folks. Seems more like trying to stop the stock price drop and take focus away from negative sales figures and stories of late.
Another Boeing plane issue this weekend, but on Southwest. I don’t think I want to fly much these days, given all the Boeing planes in the air. Hard to ensure you know what plane you’ll be gambling on.
BBG has an interesting story out about India vs China. If Modi fixes infrastructure issues, expands the skills and participation of the workforce, builds housing for the workers and lures factories to give them jobs…no easy task…India will overtake China as the growth driver. Right now, India’s economy is $3.5trn vs China’s $17.8trn, so that’s a bit of a step function change. They estimated potential paths/time frames, below.
