Flash News

TREE NEWS update: Microsoft said a failed health check caused the global outage that disrupted Outlook and Copilot on Friday, and that it found no evidence of malicious activity. The company said a full root-cause report would follow. The disruption affected users worldwide, though Microsoft did not specify how many.

TREE NEWS reports: Sales of AI companion toys in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics market have risen about 150% compared with normal levels, as merchants roll out upgraded models for the peak consumer season. A new interactive panda toy that simulates drinking milk, emits childlike sound effects when picked up and supports offline conversation was on display, with vendors offering 12% and 5% discounts. The report did not name any companies or provide revenue figures.

TREE NEWS reports: US natural gas inventories rose by 61 billion cubic feet last week, a 1.6% week-over-week increase, bringing total storage to 3.86 trillion cubic feet, the Energy Information Administration said. The build reflects continued injection activity as the agency tracks weekly storage levels.

TREE NEWS reports: Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, reported third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $60 million, down about two-thirds year over year. Funded accounts rose 37% over the same period. The company also plans to launch US prediction markets and a personal finance AI agent.

TREE NEWS reports: US natural gas inventories fell by 61 billion cubic feet in the week ended November 6, the EIA reported, compared with a forecast draw of 62 Bcf and a prior-week decline of 77 Bcf. The smaller-than-expected withdrawal leaves storage levels drawing down at a slower pace than analysts had anticipated.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia’s central bank opened new positions in SanDisk and Honeywell and added to its holdings of Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon in the third quarter. It exited Royal Caribbean, Carnival and IonQ, and trimmed stakes in AerCap and Domino’s Pizza. Micron, Nvidia, Apple, Meta and Microsoft were among its largest holdings.

TREE NEWS reports: The recent decline in international oil prices stems mainly from the unwinding of the Middle East war risk premium rather than a deterioration in oil supply-demand fundamentals, CA Research said. With that premium now largely compressed, further downside is limited even if a Middle East peace agreement is reached, though a renewed escalation could push prices above the highs seen during this war.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s Defence Ministry said Russian forces struck a substation in the Sumy region and hit a cargo ship carrying military supplies at sea. The ministry also said two railway locomotives were hit in the area of the Serbka railway station in Odesa region.

TREE NEWS update: Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan said the Fed should distinguish assets bought to keep markets functioning from those held for monetary policy, so its intentions are clearer in times of financial stress. In remarks prepared for a Dallas Fed banking conference, she proposed that the FOMC hold securities purchased for market-functioning purposes in a separate account and commit to selling them as soon as possible.

TREE NEWS update: Brazilian central bank governor Gabriel Galipolo rejected the idea of implementing yield curve control, saying that if market participants view the set interest rate level as inconsistent with policymakers’ inflation-control mandate, risk perception would spread across all maturities and force investors to demand higher risk premiums. “The only way to compress the premium is to compress risk, and that is directly tied to credibility,” he said at a Barclays-hosted event.

TREE NEWS reports: Bank of America now expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in January, on top of its earlier forecasts for hikes in December and March 2027. The revised call adds a third increase to the bank’s projected tightening path.

TREE NEWS update: Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren condemned General Motors’ plan to repurchase $20 billion of its own stock while car prices sit at historic highs. The criticism targets the buyback’s timing, as elevated vehicle costs weigh on consumers. GM has not publicly responded to Warren’s statement.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the 12th that the Starshield satellite communications system used by Ukrainian forces has suffered “major disruptions” in recent days, making it much harder to intercept Russian drones. Zelensky said he was briefed by the defense minister and armed forces commander that Starshield is being systematically speed-limited to below 161 km/h, sharply increasing the difficulty of intercepting Russian jet-powered drones.

TREE NEWS update: The European Union has set Nov. 18 as the deadline for nominations to replace European Central Bank officials Isabel Schnabel and Philip Lane, an EU official said. The two ECB executive board members are set to be replaced, with the deadline marking the formal start of the succession process.

TREE NEWS reports: Japan’s government has begun coordinating to set total defense spending for fiscal years 2027-2031 at about ¥60 trillion, roughly ¥2.5 trillion yuan, people familiar with the matter said on the 13th. That is far above the ¥43 trillion earmarked for FY2023-2027. The figure is being weighed as part of the revision of the three security documents, including a new National Defense Program Guidelines covering the five-year period.

TREE NEWS update: US lawmakers have called Commerce Department official Kessler and Nvidia’s general counsel to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill. The summons names a Trump administration Commerce official and the top lawyer of the chipmaker Nvidia. No date, topic or committee was specified in the material.

TREE NEWS reports: The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index extended its decline to 5%, with AMD falling 9.02%, Broadcom 5.75%, Intel 5.29%, Micron 4.67%, Qualcomm 3.66%, Nvidia 3.31%, TSMC 2.87% and ASML 1.82%. The broad selloff hit chipmakers across the board.

TREE NEWS reports: Traders are increasingly speculating that Mexico’s central bank is pushing for a weaker peso after the currency’s strength threatened exports and tourism. The peso has fallen nearly 9% since hitting a two-year high in early September, the second-worst performer among 31 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The slide accelerated after Banxico officials signaled willingness to cut borrowing costs and last week lowered rates by 25 basis points, surprising economists who had expected no change.

TREE NEWS update: OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Wallet, a new payment feature that lets its “dots” AI agents make purchases on behalf of users. The wallet will initially be available to OpenAI Pro subscribers aged 18 and over in the US. Developed with American Express, Mastercard and Visa, it lets customers keep their existing card rewards and protections.

TREE NEWS reports: Gracias-owned Valor has backed Elon Musk’s ventures for 20 years, generating a 78% return, with its SpaceX stake up 81x since 2008. The firm is now raising $1 billion for its Opportunities Fund.