Breakfast | August 20, 2026
The U.S. Treasury's "market rescue" effort reversed a three-day losing streak for the three major U.S. stock indices. During trading, the yield on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds plunged by 10 basis points, and spot gold once rebounded sharply by over 4%. Cryptocurrencies rallied, with Ethereum rising more than 10% intraday; the offshore renminbi broke above 6.73 during trading for the first time in three years.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would at least double the long-term bond buyback limit to $4 billion per operation, causing long-term U.S. Treasury yields to plummet in response.
The Federal Reserve Minutes were hawkish: More than three members favored a rate hike in July, with many believing action is needed if inflation does not decline. Some anticipated that AI would push up inflation, and staff noted upside risks to Inflation Expectations. Waller proposed reducing FOMC meetings to six times a year.
Trump changed his tune just a day later: Perhaps negotiations with Iran will resume "at some point." British media reported that if the U.S. escalates hostilities, Iran is considering striking U.S. military targets in Europe.
U.S. federal government debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time in history, more than doubling in ten years.
China's Ministry of Justice stated that the EU's practices related to foreign subsidy investigations constitute improper extraterritorial jurisdiction and vowed to take firm countermeasures in accordance with the law.
Major breakthrough: China achieved land-based rocket recovery for the first time. Experts stated that China's space launch costs are expected to decrease by more than 70%.
Major breakthrough in mRNA cancer therapy: Moderna's phase III trial of its melanoma mRNA vaccine was successful, with its stock price closing up nearly 180%.
SK Hynix plans to repurchase and cancel 40 trillion won worth of shares and committed to returning at least 50% of its cash flow to shareholders.
OpenAI "misses the mark"? Reported second-quarter revenue grew by only 18%, far below Anthropic.
AI demand is squeezing capacity; Samsung reportedly raised chip manufacturing prices in July, with increases of up to 15%.
Unitree Technology closed up 460% on its first day of listing, with a market capitalization of 340 billion yuan. Winning one IPO subscription lot earned nearly 500,000 yuan; founder Wang Xingxing became the new richest person born in the 1990s.
Yangtze Memory Technologies' IPO counseling status changed to "counseling acceptance."
Reminder: China's August LPR will be announced on Thursday, and Alibaba and NetEase will release their earnings reports on Thursday.