Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Market analysts are divided on whether bitcoin can return to $100,000 by the end of 2026. Bitwise research head Ryan Rasmussen expects institutional ETF and corporate buying demand, inflation and government debt concerns, and a better regulatory environment to push bitcoin to $100,000 or higher, while LO:TECH’s Adam Morgan McCarthy sees a range of $85,000 to $95,000, citing inflation and possible Fed rate hikes. Laser Digital’s Luca Invernizzi said leverage has largely been flushed out and a break above $90,000 could trigger short covering.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said Iran is “very tough,” without offering further details. The remark was made in comments carried by Fox News. No additional context or policy specifics were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: China Securities Co. (CSC) said in a research report that recent volatility in long-term bonds stems mainly from shifts in market sentiment, as no clear change has been observed in fundamentals or macro policy. It attributed the recent rally to risk aversion and capital rotation tied to a short-term equity market pullback, with increased central bank liquidity injections adding some resonance. CSC expects the 10-year Chinese government bond yield near 1.65% to remain worth watching.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed up 0.82% at 10,189.77 on Sunday, October 18, recovering from its lowest close since March 16, 2023. The benchmark had closed at 10,106.54 on Thursday, its lowest since early 2023, and touched an intraday low of 10,034.79. Saudi Aramco rose 2.06% to 25.80 riyals, while the Albilad CSOP MSCI Hong Kong China Equity ETF, listed in Saudi Arabia, closed flat at 11.30 riyals.

TREE NEWS reports: Chinese exchange-traded funds drew a net 88.38 billion yuan ($12.2 billion) of inflows this week, with 83.64 billion yuan going into broad-based ETFs as large investors bought CSI 300 and SSE 50 products. E Fund, China Asset Management and Huatai-PineBridge led with net inflows of 37.72 billion, 23.62 billion and 20.29 billion yuan respectively. Guotai CSI All Share Communications Equipment ETF saw 423 million yuan of outflows.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Deputy Director Pan Xiaodong met AmCham China Chairman Michael Hart and member companies on October 12 to discuss consumer rights protection, fair competition review and advertising regulation. Pan said SAMR will work with the chamber to implement recent agreements between the two countries’ leaders and create a favorable business environment for foreign firms, including U.S.-invested enterprises, in China. Hart said AmCham China will continue to serve as a bridge to support expanded bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

TREE NEWS update: A Saudi airstrike on a house in Yemen’s Saada province killed nine people and wounded 11 on the 18th. The casualties include women and children, the Houthi side said. Saada is under the control of the Houthi movement.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump called on France to close its borders and regain control, saying the country is burning and that migrants from a different world have destroyed a once-great nation. In a post on [platform], Trump said France must act quickly or it will be too late. No French government response was immediately reported.

TREE NEWS reports: Spain’s day-ahead electricity auction price jumped 182% to €215.12 per megawatt-hour, up from €76.29 the previous day, marking the highest level since April 27, 2022. In France, power prices rose 29% to €221.77/MWh on the Epex Spot exchange, the highest since December 17, 2022.

TREE NEWS update: Shanghai Superconductor Technology Co. completed structural topping-out of its second-generation high-temperature superconducting tape campus in Pudong on Oct. 18. The Phase III base is planned for 15,000 km/year of 12mm tape capacity, lifting the company’s total capacity to 20,000 km/year — the largest in the global 2G HTS tape segment. The site will host the world’s first 3km single-length tape production line, with output targeted for Q1 2027.

TREE NEWS update: Japan has recorded eight outbreaks of classical swine fever this year, with about 20,000 affected pigs culled across Ibaraki, Gunma and Ehime prefectures. The latest outbreak was confirmed on Aug. 16 at a pig farm in Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, the first there since 2023, after an increase in piglet deaths was reported earlier this month. Authorities are investigating whether it is linked to rising infections among local wild boars.

TREE NEWS reports: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde asked Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to relay a message to President Vladimir Putin that war hinders prosperity and only peace can deliver economic growth, people familiar with the matter said. The exchange took place in Bangkok on Saturday at a closed-door meeting held before the plenary session of the IMF’s top advisory body, where Siluanov wore headphones for simultaneous interpretation and understood her remarks.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian defense company reported on social media on the 18th that Ukrainian forces used FP-1 drones before dawn that day to strike a data center in St Petersburg, Russia, the Ruchi oil depot and the St Petersburg oil terminal. The company said fires broke out at the depot and terminal area, and the data center was severely damaged. The St Petersburg oil terminal has an annual throughput capacity of 12.5 million tons.

TREE NEWS update: Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said on the 18th that Iran’s armed forces have drawn up response plans for any new “adventurism,” adding that the new operational plans will not follow rules familiar to the other side. In a social media post, Rezaei said heated rhetoric and repeated threats from US and Israeli officials cannot change realities on the battlefield, and that any response would be more destructive than before.

TREE NEWS update: Pakistan’s security forces struck Afghan militant border posts and camps on 17 March after Afghan armed men opened fire without provocation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, a Pakistani security source said. The source said Pakistani security forces responded effectively to the firing. No casualty figures or further details were given.

TREE NEWS update: Russian forces struck substations in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions on the night of Feb. 17, leaving tens of thousands of households without power, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media on Feb. 18. The overnight air strikes on Ukraine also killed two people and injured 12, Zelensky said.

TREE NEWS update: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on October 18 that Iran’s plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains on the negotiating table, state-linked Tasnim news agency reported. Araghchi had previously said Iran conveyed the plan to the United States through Qatar, and that the strait could reopen within seven days for normal maritime traffic if Washington takes the necessary action.

TREE NEWS update: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi chaired a National Defense Council meeting in Cairo on the morning of the 18th, which declared that Saudi Arabia’s national security is tied to Egypt’s and Arab national security. Egypt pledged full solidarity with Riyadh and will provide all necessary and possible support to defend Saudi security and stability and protect its resources and territorial integrity, while stepping up diplomatic efforts with regional and international parties to de-escalate tensions.

TREE NEWS reports: Crypto analyst Darkfost pushed back on October 18 against community claims that a 20% US stock market correction would send Bitcoin tumbling to $10,000. Such a drop would mean an roughly 87% decline from current levels and about a 92% drawdown from its all-time high, Darkfost noted. Bitcoin has exceeded a 92% drawdown only once, in 2011, while maximum drawdowns in 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2026 were 82.5%, 82.6%, 74.4% and 54.2% respectively.

TREE NEWS update: Shenghe Resources plans to transfer 51% stakes in four rare earth smelting and separation subsidiaries to China Rare Earth Group Industrial Development Co. for an estimated 1.6575 billion to 1.8105 billion yuan, the company said in a filing. The four targets have a combined estimated equity value of 3.25 billion to 3.55 billion yuan. After the deal, the units will be deconsolidated and accounted for under the equity method; their January-June 2026 revenue accounted for 20.09% of Shenghe’s consolidated revenue and net profit 36.57%.