Market Snapshot
U.S. retail sales rose 0.9% month-over-month in May, exceeding the market expectation of 0.5%. The prior month's figure was revised down to 0.4% from 0.50%. U.S. President Trump stated that the market is highly satisfied with the Iran deal, praised the rising stock market and falling oil prices, and noted that lower oil prices would positively impact consumer affordability.
The Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting commenced at 2:30 a.m. Beijing time tonight in Washington, D.C., marking the first such meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh since assuming the role of Fed Chair.
U.S. stock index futures were mixed, with Dow Jones futures down slightly by 0.15%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.52%, and S&P 500 futures edging up 0.06%. International crude oil prices rose modestly, while spot gold declined slightly.
$Star Tech Companies (LIST2518.US)$Pre-market trading showed mixed performance, with ASML Holding up more than 4%, Intel gaining nearly 3%, Micron Technology and AMD rising over 2%, Broadcom climbing close to 2%, while Google, Tesla, and Meta each fell nearly 1%.
$China Concept Stocks (LIST2517.US)$Most stocks traded higher in pre-market action, with NetEase and Taiwan Semiconductor up over 1%, XPeng Group down nearly 2%, and Alibaba declining more than 1%.
$Data storage stock (LIST23925.US)$Semiconductor stocks rose across the board in pre-market trading, with Micron Technology and Silicon Motion Technology gaining nearly 3%, Western Digital up over 2%, Seagate Technology climbing close to 2%, and Western Digital rising more than 1%.
$Space (LIST2556.US)$Stocks broadly advanced in pre-market trading, with MNTS surging over 18%, ASTS up more than 5%, and FLY, SPCX, RDW, and LUNR each gaining over 1%.
$Optical Communication (LIST23979.US)$Most semiconductor stocks rose, with AXTI up nearly 4%, AOI gaining over 3%, Marvell Technology climbing close to 3%, ALAB rising 2%, and Broadcom, LITE, and CRDO each advancing nearly 2%.
Individual Stock News
TrendForce: 2024 is expected to be a critical verification period for Taiwan Semiconductor’s CoPoS equipment and materials, with glass substrates potentially entering mass production after 2030.
TrendForce's latest report indicates that,$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$Currently focused on CoPoS and targeting a substrate size of 310×310 mm, 2026 is expected to be a critical verification period for related equipment and materials suppliers, with pilot production commencing in 2027 and full-scale mass production beginning in the second half of 2028. Additionally, Taiwan Semiconductor’s next strategic focus is expected to shift toward glass substrates, with mass production likely to be realized after 2030.
Intel rises more than 3% in pre-market trading as its 18A-P process node enters risk production phase
$Intel (INTC.US)$Announced that the enhanced version of its 18A process node, '18A-P,' has officially entered the risk production phase. Intel’s 18A-P process, based on the 18A node which commenced volume production in Q4 of last year, has been optimized for manufacturing data center CPUs as well as semiconductors for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC).
Compared to 18A, 18A-P delivers up to a 9% performance improvement at the same power consumption, or reduces power consumption by up to 18% at equivalent performance levels. Furthermore, Intel plans to use 18A-P to manufacture its 'Diamond Rapids' CPU chips, which are expected to launch next year.
Amkor Technology rises over 4% in pre-market trading following the announcement of a long-term strategic partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor
On June 16, Taiwan Semiconductor and$Amkor Technology (AMKR.US)$entered into a ten-year cooperation agreement to deepen collaboration and enhance advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities in Arizona, further advancing investment in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain ecosystem. The agreement establishes a cooperative framework under which Taiwan Semiconductor will procure advanced packaging and testing services from Amkor Technology. Both parties will jointly expand capacity to build a more efficient, mutually beneficial operational model and strengthen their ability to meet diverse customer requirements.
Coherent rises more than 2% in pre-market trading as construction begins on Texas facility expansion to scale up indium phosphide production lines
On June 16,$Coherent (COHR.US)$held a groundbreaking ceremony in Sherman, Texas, officially marking the start of its manufacturing facility expansion. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Coherent CEO Jim Anderson both attended the event, reaffirming the central role of optical interconnects in AI infrastructure.
This expansion aims to increase the production capacity of 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafers, providing critical manufacturing support for high-speed optical communication devices. Additionally, the company announced it has signed a letter of intent to secure up to $50 million in direct funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act to expand its production facility.
Michael Burry, the 'Big Short' investor: 'I’d really like to short SpaceX, but high-priced options deterred me.'
According to CNBC, Michael Burry, who gained fame for successfully shorting the U.S. subprime mortgage market, stated that he currently holds$SpaceX (SPCX.US)$neither long positions nor short positions, primarily not due to any assessment of the company's fundamentals, but because the cost of shorting is currently prohibitively high.
In a Substack post, Burry argued that SpaceX is essentially 'a small aerospace company, a niche-market telecommunications operator, a troubled social media firm, and a “CoreWeave-light” computing infrastructure provider,' generating less than $20 billion in annual revenue yet commanding a market valuation of approximately $3 trillion.
These remarks come as SpaceX’s share price has surged since its listing. The stock jumped 20% on its debut day and climbed more than 25% over the following week, propelling its market capitalization beyond that of Berkshire Hathaway and into the top five globally—trailing only NVIDIA, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Serenity blasted Bernstein: Calling Kioxia a short is foolish—Bernstein previously misjudged Intel; don't trust institutional reports meant for retail investors.
Serenity, dubbed the 'internet celebrity stock guru,' posted on X: 'Bernstein is absolutely the dumbest research firm I’ve ever seen—they actually claim'$Kioxia Holdings (285A.JP)$there’s 50% downside potential. Back in January, they set a$Intel (INTC.US)$target price of $36, and now it’s already trading at $118. That’s a great lesson: never pay attention to institutional reports meant for retail investors. They’re certainly not here to help retail investors make money.'
Duan Yongping comments on SpaceX: A $3 trillion valuation wouldn’t be unreasonable if it can generate $150 billion in annual profit.
Renowned investor Duan Yongping stated in a recent post that after revisiting SpaceX’s history, he has gained a better understanding of the market’s high valuation and believes the company may not necessarily be in a 'bubble.' He noted that if SpaceX achieves annual profits exceeding approximately $150 billion in the future, a corresponding market capitalization of around $3 trillion would not be unreasonable, adding that such a level of profitability appears plausible over a 5–10 year horizon.
However, he emphasized that this assessment ultimately hinges on whether SpaceX can consistently sustain such a level of profitability over the long term. After reviewing the company’s development trajectory, he expressed 'great admiration' for its technological and business model capabilities and remains open-minded about its long-term growth potential.
Global Macro
Waller’s Fed debut is approaching, and markets expect the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady.
According to CCTV Finance, the Federal Reserve's two-day interest rate meeting commenced on the 16th local time in Washington, D.C. This marks the first such meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh since assuming the role of Federal Reserve Chair. In addition to the interest rate decision scheduled for release on the 17th local time, markets are closely watching Warsh’s statements during the subsequent press conference regarding U.S. inflation, the state of the labor market, and the economic outlook.
As scheduled, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on the afternoon of the 17th local time—early morning on the 18th Beijing time. Market participants widely expect the Fed to hold rates steady at this meeting. Analysts note that with the imminent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the U.S. and Iran, energy prices have declined, fueling expectations of easing inflationary pressures. However, this also means Warsh will need to strike a delicate balance between mitigating inflation and political pressure to cut interest rates.
Trump: If Dissatisfied with U.S.-Iran Memorandum, Will Resume Bombing Operations
On Wednesday, U.S. President Trump stated that the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran is not a final agreement and warned that he could resume bombing operations if dissatisfied with its terms.
Speaking at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France, Trump said: “It’s a memorandum of understanding. If I don’t like it, we’ll start shooting at them again and drop bombs on their heads. If I don’t like it—if they don’t behave—we’ll immediately drop bombs right smack in the middle of their heads.”
Trump also noted that the memorandum of understanding with Iran does not include the immediate lifting of sanctions on the country and added that he would discuss the issue further at a later time.
Trump praised rising stock markets and falling oil prices.
U.S. President Trump stated that markets are very pleased with the Iran deal, adding, “Nothing is smarter than the market.” He claimed the Strait of Hormuz would fully reopen within a day or two, noting it was already partially open. Oil prices are falling, he said, praising the rally in equities and the decline in crude prices, which he argued would positively impact consumer affordability. He attributed sustained low oil prices to the withdrawal of vessels from the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States has allocated $500 million to SandboxAQ to identify new materials for chip manufacturing.
On Wednesday, the U.S. government awarded SandboxAQ a $500 million grant to develop novel chemicals and materials required for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, including alternatives to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). This funding forms part of President Trump’s allocation of research funds under the CHIPS Act. Previously, the program had committed $150 million to new chip manufacturing equipment and $2 billion to quantum computing. Backed by NVIDIA, SandboxAQ was valued at $5.75 billion as of April 2025 and has raised over $1 billion to date.
Is the surge in storage prices far from over? Memory prices have soared by 288% and continue to rise, while HDD prices have already doubled.
According to Kuaikeji, data from ComputerBase tracking prices across three major storage categories—memory, HDDs, and SSDs—indicates that the current storage supply crunch is far from over. HDD prices surged significantly in mid-June, while memory and SSD prices also rose. Since September 2025, ComputerBase has selected 12 mainstream retail storage products each month to monitor pricing, using September 2025 prices as the baseline (0% change) and recording monthly price fluctuations accordingly.
The latest data from mid-June shows that memory prices remain at extremely elevated levels, rising slightly again compared to last month. Using September 2025 as the baseline, average DDR5 memory prices have increased by 288%, up from 282% a month earlier. This means that a standard 32GB DDR5 memory kit now costs nearly four times its original price. The only exception is one DDR4 product, which became approximately 10% cheaper in mid-June compared to mid-May—the sole category showing a notable price decline.
Industry forecasts indicate that the memory shortage will persist at least through the second half of 2026, with no signs of price declines yet. The increase in HDD prices has been even more dramatic: last month, the average HDD price rose 88% above the benchmark, and this month it surged past the 100% mark, reaching 107%—meaning HDDs now cost more than double their previous price.
Top 20 pre-market trading volume stocks in the U.S.
Reminder of the US stock market macroeconomic calendar
(The following times are in Beijing Time)
22:00 U.S. April Business Inventories MoM
22:00 U.S. May Pending Home Sales Index MoM
22:30 EIA Crude Oil Inventories for Week Ended June 12 (in 10,000 barrels), United States
22:30 EIA Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventories for Week Ended June 12 (in 10,000 barrels), United States
In the early hours of the following morning,
02:00 Federal Reserve Interest Rate Decision (Upper Bound) as of June 17, United States
02:00 The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) releases its interest rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections.
02:30 Fed Chair Waller holds a press conference on monetary policy.
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Editor/melody