Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: Arthur Hayes said on October 16 on the Convergence program that OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX are unprofitable, with AI model companies relying on debt and equity financing and implicit U.S. government support. The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.5% and chip stocks dropped for an eighth straight session, the longest losing streak since 2008. With bitcoin near $81,400 on October 17, Hayes argued the bigger the AI bubble, the larger the eventual bailout and the higher bitcoin goes.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Premier Li Qiang opened the 2026 World Traditional Medicine Conference in Beijing on the morning of October 17 and delivered remarks. Li said China will push the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional Chinese medicine, encourage Chinese and foreign research institutions and companies to take part, and continue expanding pilot programs for opening up medical services. He also said China is willing to work with all parties to build Belt and Road medicinal resource conservation centers.

TREE NEWS reports: Capital Economics climate and commodities economist Hamad Hussain said on Oct. 16 that gold prices may trend lower over the rest of the year, citing continued Federal Reserve rate hikes and expectations that market fears of an end to the AI boom will prove temporary. TD Securities global head of commodity strategy Bart Melek said gold remains range-bound and is leaning toward the lower edge of its support zone, mainly because the Fed’s next move remains highly uncertain.

TREE NEWS reports: Circle is looking to enter 40 developing markets, CEO Jeremy Allaire said, as demand for stablecoins rises across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The stablecoin issuer’s planned expansion targets regions where local currency volatility and limited dollar access are driving adoption of dollar-pegged tokens.

TREE NEWS update: Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said Saturday that an internal economic model projects AI could push US economic output to $44 trillion by 2030, up from just over $30 trillion today. Speaking at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Clark called the forecast “sounds very crazy” but said AI is rapidly accelerating scientific discovery and could produce such an outcome if the technology keeps advancing. He urged international cooperation on “special and strict rules” for the technology.

TREE NEWS reports: Yiwu Customs, under Hangzhou Customs, reported that cross-border e-commerce import orders supervised in Yiwu surpassed 100 million by Oct. 17, reaching the mark more than 40 days earlier than last year and hitting a record high for the period. The first three quarters saw 96.05 million orders worth 23.779 billion yuan, up 25.1% and 28.18% year on year, respectively.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the euro-area economy is resilient and that the digital euro is imminent, stating the project “will further stimulate innovation and competition in retail payments.” Lagarde’s remarks position the ECB’s planned central bank digital currency as a near-term development for euro-area retail payments.

TREE NEWS update: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 16 asked the European Union at its Brussels summit to provide at least €70 billion in additional aid next year, saying Ukraine’s 2027 war-related spending is expected to reach €155 billion and that the EU funds are needed for defense, weapons and national resilience. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the same day that the €70 billion funding gap “must be filled” as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues and remains hard to predict.

TREE NEWS update: International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said on the 16th that the security situation in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters continues to deteriorate and that transit risk for ships has not eased. He said shipping should not be used as a tool of pressure in conflict and that only addressing the root causes of the crisis can restore conditions for safe navigation. Dominguez noted disruptions also affect the Red Sea, Somalia’s coast, the Gulf of Aden, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and could raise global costs and weigh on the world economy, energy supply and food security.

TREE NEWS update: Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 610 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones between 20:00 on the 16th and 08:00 on the 17th across Moscow region, Leningrad Oblast and the Black Sea. Early on the 17th, Russian forces struck metallurgical and transformer plants and energy facilities in Kryvyi Rih and Zhytomyr with high-precision land-, air- and sea-based weapons and attack drones, the ministry said, adding that a dry cargo ship carrying military supplies to Odesa port was hit in the Black Sea.

TREE NEWS update: The Gansu-Zhejiang ultra-high-voltage power transmission project has entered the commissioning phase of its direct-current system after the grounding electrode at the Yuezhou converter station in Lin’an, Zhejiang, passed acceptance checks. It is the first core unit of the project’s DC system to clear verification. The 2,370-kilometer line spans six provincial-level regions from Wuwei, Gansu, to Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and is scheduled for completion and operation in 2027.

TREE NEWS update: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the 2026 Autumn Meetings in Bangkok reached three core consensuses, covering global economic resilience, AI development and its risks, and global economic divergence. Speaking in her closing remarks on Oct. 17, Georgieva said AI has become a key driver of economic growth, but over-reliance on a single growth engine also carries risks, and the foundations of global economic resilience are facing challenges.

TREE NEWS update: China Coast Guard vessel Changshan and South Korea’s fisheries guidance ship Mugunghwa 42 conducted a joint patrol in the China-South Korea Fisheries Agreement provisional measures zone from October 8 to 17, 2026. The two maritime law enforcement agencies said the operation deepened bilateral cooperation on managing fishing vessels in the zone, combating illegal fishing and conserving marine fishery resources.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a delayed report of a tanker being struck near Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The agency did not specify the vessel’s name, the nature of the strike, or casualties. The report comes amid heightened risks to shipping in the region.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said the fight against inflation is not yet over. The remarks signal continued caution from a key ECB policymaker even as the eurozone central bank weighs the path of interest rates. Nagel, who also heads Germany’s Bundesbank, did not provide further details in the statement.

TREE NEWS update: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said war is creating upside risks to inflation while downside risks weigh on the economic outlook, and called for measured policy action to contain price pressures. She also said fiscal sustainability remains a key pillar of overall economic stability, urging governments to keep fiscal measures responding to energy shocks temporary, targeted and adaptable.

TREE NEWS update: People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng met with central bank governors from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Australia, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria and Georgia during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings held Oct. 14-16, 2026. The parties exchanged views on the global economic situation and deepening bilateral practical financial cooperation, the PBOC said. Deputy Governor Xuan Changneng also attended the meetings.

TREE NEWS update: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the risks under discussion include artificial intelligence, inflation, high debt levels and worsening climate change. Stubborn inflation and rising interest rates are intensifying the debt-service burden on countries already carrying high debt loads.

TREE NEWS update: A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan at 13:06 on October 17. The epicenter was located at 27.90 degrees north latitude and 66.25 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometers. No further details on damage or casualties were immediately available.

TREE NEWS reports: Monthly traded electricity prices in Guangdong and Jiangsu rose in the fourth quarter despite the end of peak summer demand, and spot prices in the southern region also strengthened. Jiangsu Power Exchange Center issued guidelines on Oct. 13 for the province’s 2027 retail power market to fully pass wholesale prices through to retail. Brokerage utility analysts said 2026 may mark the bottom for domestic power prices, with an inflection point now emerging.