Return of Meme Stock Mania Has Traders on Alert for Market Froth
The speculative stocks caught up in the frenzy this week, like Opendoor Technologies Inc. and Kohl's Corp., gave up some of their gains as the week went on, but most are still trading at their highest levels in months. The broader S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 Index are doing even better, sitting at all-time highs after charging back from the early April selloff set off by President Donald Trump's tariff announcements.
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CNBC
a minute ago
- CNBC
Nvidia's set to regain some China access. But it still faces eroding AI chip market share
Nvidia's H20 chips are likely to return to China, but tech experts don't expect them to be met with the same fanfare in the market in light of new competition and regulatory scrutiny. The Trump administration last month gave Nvidia assurances that it would be permitted to resume sales of its H20 chips to China, after their exports had been effectively banned in April. It also announced a new "fully compliant" made-for-China chip. The move was seen as a huge win for the company, which had flagged billions in losses due to the policy. But while the H20s might be returning to the Chinese market that doesn't mean Nvidia will regain its former market share, analysts caution. In a recent report, global equity research and brokerage firm Bernstein forecast that Nvidia's AI chip market share in China would drop to 54% in 2025, from 66% the year prior. This drop is only partly owed to complications with resuming chip supply, as Chinese AI chipmakers have been seizing more of the booming domestic market. "U.S. export controls have created a unique opportunity for domestic AI processor vendors, as they are not competing with the most advanced global alternatives," Bernstein's report said, noting growing prominence of Chinese players such as Huawei, Cambricon and Hygon. "The localization ratio of China's AI chip market will surge from 17% in 2023 to 55% by 2027." Other analysts such as The Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman were more bullish about Nvidia's bounce back in China. However, he also flagged potential market share erosion from Nvidia customers that might have found success with Chinese rivals while the H20 controls were in place. It's also worth noting that Bernstein's predictions assume that broader U.S. chip restrictions will remain largely unchanged. That creates a dynamic where Chinese companies continue to develop and offer advanced chips, possibly eroding demand for outdated U.S. offerings. Ahead of rolling back the H20 restrictions, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had been lobbying for more access to China, claiming export controls were inhibiting U.S. tech leadership. While Trump administration officials had said the rollback was part of trade negotiations, analysts have echoed Nvidia's basic argument that chip controls for the China market should be eased, thereby creating more dependency on U.S. tech offerings. "The assumption is that by keeping U.S. technology companies in the China game, the U.S. can preserve and even grow its geopolitical leverage," Reva Goujon, director at Rhodium Group, told CNBC. In a report last month, Rhodium Group said that this logic may see the administration shift to a "sliding scale" approach to export restrictions that could allow U.S. chipmakers greater access to China as Huawei and other Chinese chipmakers continue to upgrade. However, while Chinese AI developers will be happy to have increased access to Nvidia chips, Beijing isn't expected to slow its efforts to steer companies toward homegrown AI infrastructure, according to Goujon. She noted that the Cyberspace Administration of China's recent summons to Nvidia was an obvious signal of the state's intention to intervene in the local AI infrastructure market. According to the Cyberspace Administration of China, Nvidia met with Beijing officials on Thursday regarding national security concerns posed by the H20 chips, including potential backdoors that would allow parties in the U.S. to access or control them. Beijing's move appeared to come in response, at least partially, to new laws proposed in the U.S. that would require semiconductor companies such as Nvidia to include security mechanisms and location verification in their advanced AI chips. Nvidia later denied that its chips have any "backdoors" that would allow external access or control. The move by Beijing was also likely an attempt to create some hesitation among Chinese AI developers looking to buy the new H20s, according to Futurum's Newman. "China wants to leave some levers in place to potentially restrict outside AI chips at some point down the line if and when it feels its homegrown technology is truly competitive," Newman said. Beijing has previously restricted American chipmakers' business in China amid periods of intense technology and trade tensions between the two countries. Micron Technology, for instance, failed a cybersecurity review in 2023 and was subsequently blocked from critical IT infrastructure. "The continued complexity of China-U.S. trade relations could bring further complications [for Nvidia] as negotiations continue and as China attempts to cement its own AI strategy," Newman added.
Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
Stablecoins – The Internet's Upgrade To Money?
Imagine if PayPal, Swift, and your banking app went on a wellness weekend in Silicon Valley and returned Monday as leaner, faster versions of themselves. That's the premise behind stablecoins - crypto's sensible sibling. They are digital tokens pegged to real-world currencies, such as the US dollar. One stablecoin, one dollar, it's as simple as that. Or at least that is the idea. Backed 1:1 by short-dated US Treasuries or bank deposits, stablecoins like USDC (Circle) and USDT (Tether) now represent a parallel financial infrastructure: programmable, blockchain-native money that moves 24/7, costs pennies (sometimes fractions of pennies) to transmit, and settles in seconds across borders. Unlike their volatile crypto cousins, stablecoins don't swing with Elon's tweets. They are built for stability and, increasingly, for scale. In short, stablecoins might just be the internet's long-overdue upgrade to money. The Market Defined - a $3 Trillion Disruption in Motion If traditional FX is a battered old dial-up modem, stablecoins are fibre-optic. The current foreign exchange system is built upon decades-old 'correspondent banking' rails. That means sending USD to Nairobi from Berlin still involves a long conga line of intermediaries, opaque fees, and 2–5 business days of holding your breath. Now imagine a contractor in Lagos receiving USD in minutes, not days, with 90% lower fees. That's the promise - and increasingly, the reality - of stablecoin payments. According to Visa and Artemis, over $35 trillion in stablecoins were transferred in the last 12 months, more than Visa and Mastercard combined. Adoption spans over 190 countries, with more than 30 million active wallets and $214 billion in supply. And yet, this is still small fry compared to the $1.1 trillion traded daily in traditional FX markets. The runway is long. The Emerging Stablecoin Stack At the heart of this emerging ecosystem are three core players: Stablecoins are now less about crypto speculation and more about enabling global payments, liquidity management, and even treasury operations. (Yes, SpaceX reportedly uses stablecoins to manage treasury exposure in places like Argentina and Nigeria.) Why Now? Three tailwinds are converging: As Jeremy Allaire of Circle put it: 'This is one of the biggest TAMs (Total Addressable Markets) of all industries out there.' Stablecoin Benefits - Not Just a Cheaper Payment Let's be clear: stablecoins aren't just shaving a few basis points off remittance fees. They're overhauling the plumbing of money movement, and if carried out properly, should ensure: Even governments are starting to warm up. The US Secretary of the Treasury recently noted stablecoins could 'reinforce the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency'. Now there's a geopolitical incentive too. The Use Cases - From Contractors to Capital Markets Today, stablecoins are fuelling cross-border B2B and remittances (especially in high-friction corridors like LatAm, Africa, Southeast Asia), Vendor payments and global payroll (freelancers, contractors, AI microtasks), DeFi and tokenised assets, Treasury operations and liquidity management, retail and micropayments (Stripe now lets you 'Pay with Crypto,' settling in fiat), etc. Platforms like Koywe and BVNK are abstracting away the blockchain complexity, offering embedded wallets and FX capabilities to fintechs, banks, and corporates alike. The Programmable Edge - Money with a Brain Stablecoins aren't just faster dollars. They're programmable money. Developers can build logic into transactions, such as pay-on-delivery, split payments, escrow with triggers, etc. Imagine Stripe automatically issuing a virtual card with preset limits for a one-time transaction. Or a DAO releasing funds when a smart contract verifies an invoice, this is where stablecoins become 'room-temperature superconductors for financial services,' to borrow Stripe's analogy. Fiat vs. Stablecoin - The Convergence is Underway Here's the kicker – the more people spend stablecoins, the less they need to convert back to fiat. This threatens the incumbents, not because stablecoins are replacing dollars or banks, but because they may become the rails on which banks ride. Think of stablecoins as TCP/IP for money, invisible but essential. Fiat isn't disappearing. But control over the user interface, the relationship, the rail – that's the next frontier. But… There are still Challenges Of course, no revolution is without its wrinkles. The regulation is still evolving. US and EU frameworks are being formed, but cross-border clarity remains a work in progress. Redemption risk: Some 'stable' coins aren't so stable (read: algorithmic failures). The user experience is improving. Right now, wallets, gas fees, cross-chain issues are still too clunky for grandma. There's friction with the Central Bank. Will CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) replace stablecoins? Maybe. But don't expect it to be programmable, anonymous, or innovation friendly. CBDC is great tools for surveillance, monetary policy, and state control but it won't be winning developer hearts any time soon. The Road Ahead – What Matters and Who Wins? Here's what we're betting on: The winners will straddle both worlds. Not crypto-native or TradFi alone, but companies that can operate across both and move fast. Banks and fintechs will converge. Banks are already exploring the issuance of stablecoins and fintechs are acquiring bank charters. Platforms matter. Ethereum and Solana are dominating, but keep an eye on Bitcoin Lightning, Stellar, and Tron in emerging markets. Yield matters. Those who capture the interest from reserves will be the ones to define business models. Ultimately, stablecoins aren't a threat to the financial system. They represent an evolution - an upgrade. The question isn't if they'll go mainstream, but how fast, who wins, and what rails the money flows on. If you're still thinking of stablecoins as a crypto gimmick, you're already late for the next phase of finance.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Are Wall Street Analysts Predicting General Motors Stock Will Climb or Sink?
Detroit-based General Motors Company (GM) designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts, and also provides software-enabled services and subscriptions. With a market cap of $50 billion, General Motors operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. The auto maker notably outperformed the broader market over the past year, but underperformed in 2025. GM stock has surged 21.1% over the past 52 weeks and dipped 1.4% in 2025, compared to the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 14.5% gains over the past year and 6.1% returns on a YTD basis. More News from Barchart Find Winning Momentum Trades With This Moving Average Stock Screener Tariffs, Earnings and Other Can't Miss Items this Week This Blue-Chip Dividend Stock Is Stuck in the Tariff Crosshairs. Can Cost Cuts Save the Day? Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. Narrowing the focus, GM has also outperformed the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLY) 18.2% gains over the past 52 weeks and a 3.7% drop in 2025. General Motors' stock prices plunged 8.1% following the release of its Q2 results on Jul. 22. While the company observed improvements in used vehicle and service revenues, and an increase in leased vehicle income and finance charges, its vehicle, parts, and accessories sales remained under pressure. This resulted in a 1.8% year-over-year drop in overall topline to $47.1 billion. However, this figure surpassed the Street's expectations by a notable margin. Meanwhile, its adjusted net income plunged 29.8% year-over-year to $2.5 billion, but adjusted EPS of $2.53 beat the consensus estimates by 5.9%. Following the initial drop, GM stock prices surged 8.7% in the subsequent trading session. For the full fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect GM to report an adjusted EPS of $9.41, down 11.2% year-over-year. On a positive note, the company has a solid earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street's bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. The stock has a consensus 'Moderate Buy' rating overall. Of the 28 analysts covering the stock, opinions include 11 'Strong Buys,' two 'Moderate Buys,' 12 'Holds,' and three 'Strong Sells.' This configuration is slightly more bullish than a month ago, when only 10 analysts gave 'Strong Buy' recommendations and one suggested a 'Moderate Buy' rating. On Jul. 22, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained an 'Outperform' rating on GM and set a price target of $55. GM's mean price target of $55.73 suggests a 6.1% upside potential. Meanwhile, the Street-high target of $80 represents a staggering 52.3% premium to current price levels. On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
