Category: Semafor

A global selloff in chip stocks dragged markets down Thursday, as record earnings from TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, failed to quell doubts over the sustainability of AI spending. TSMC’s stock fell after the company announced a fresh $100 billion investment for US chip fabs, signaling strong demand, but further ...

Spain is deepening its embrace of the Chinese car industry even as other European powers call for protectionist measures to shield local automakers. A Spanish factory built by Chinese battery giant CATL and carmaker Stellantis will rely on workers brought from China during construction, Bloomberg reported. Two other industrial ventures ...

US drug regulators signed off on a new pill designed to lower cholesterol levels far beyond what traditional statins can achieve. Merck’s Lipfendra achieved similar results to injectable treatments, potentially heralding a new era of easier prevention for people wanting to bring down artery-clogging cholesterol. “This is a game changer,” ...

The Scoop DR Congo’s finance minister ordered the tax authority to remove seals placed on Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Company offices, as talks continue over a multibillion-dollar tax dispute, a government spokesman told Semafor. The move comes days after President Félix Tshisekedi warned that heavy-handed measures by tax officials threatened to ...

Liz’s view Ted Pick is dropping breadcrumbs. Morgan Stanley’s CEO plopped a telling line into Wednesday’s earnings call: “We are, as a discipline, constantly evaluating potential inorganic opportunities to expand in attractive geographies, bolt on new capabilities, add new client relationships.” Don’t be thrown off by the CEO-speak. Pick’s comments ...

Kalshi continues its push onto Wall Street. The prediction market platform on Thursday launched 13 contracts that let users bet on the outcome of clinical drug trials, distilling the biggest milestones for biotech stocks into a simple yes or no. In recent days, it has also expanded its contracts that ...

Free alpha alert: Betting on who’s going to win World Cup games isn’t the only way to bet on the tournament. Stock-market volatility in country-specific indexes tends to spike after their national teams play, according to a new analysis from data-modeling firm Polybridge. A country’s stock market is about 15% ...

Robotics data startup Microagi closed a $55 million seed funding round, the largest ever in Germany, the company said Thursday. Microagi made headlines in May when it rolled out a service in New York offering free apartment cleanings, so long as customers let the company record everything. It has licensed ...

The US imposed 25% tariffs on some Brazilian imports over alleged “unfair” practices, a decision that could upend the South American country’s economy and politics. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on Brazil — even though it is one of the few Latin American countries with which ...

Mexico’s president rejected allegations from the head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration that there is a “deadly connection” between her government and cartels, the latest escalation in bilateral tensions. Washington has in recent months pressured Claudia Sheinbaum to extradite senior Mexican officials it says have ties to organized crime: ...