Flash News

TREE NEWS update: SpaceX’s weight in the Nasdaq 100 will rise to 2.82% when the index’s quarterly rebalance takes effect next Monday, September 21, up from roughly 1.28% currently. The increase matches the preliminary weights previously published by the index provider. By market capitalization SpaceX is the seventh-largest company in the index at over $2 trillion, but its current index weight does not place it in the top 20.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin rose 24.6% over five days in August even as active leverage declined, with short positions accounting for 89% of every liquidated dollar. The findings indicate the rally was driven almost entirely by short liquidations rather than fresh leveraged demand.

TREE NEWS update: Iran said on September 19 that mediators Qatar and Pakistan have told it the United States is ready to negotiate and reach an agreement, and is serious about the process. A senior Iranian source said Tehran would resume implementing the Islamabad memorandum within days if Washington returns to it and honors its terms. Iran is demanding credible guarantees it will not be attacked again, and would start talks on its nuclear program and sanctions relief once the US halts hostilities, lifts the blockade and allows Iranian oil exports.

TREE NEWS update: US Central Command commander Brad Cooper said on September 19 that mine clearance of the main shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz has been completed, with thousands of vessels having passed through. More than 1 billion barrels of crude have been shipped out of the Gulf region via the strait by partner nations, and crude, cargo and LNG volumes over the past two weeks hit their highest level in six months. Under the US blockade, Iranian crude exports via those routes stand at zero.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia asked France, the UK, Pakistan and Egypt for air defense support after Riyadh issued its first air-raid alert on the 19th amid escalating tensions with Yemen. British media reported the kingdom’s interceptor missiles are running out. Local officials said allies have offered mostly sympathy rather than military hardware, with only Pakistan providing more than words.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi authorities sounded air-raid sirens over Riyadh on Saturday morning, the first such alerts for the capital since the most intense phase of the US-Iran war in March and April. The warning system issued emergency alerts to residents at 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. with no further details, and Saudi civil defense later said the danger from both alerts had passed. Similar warnings were issued overnight in Jeddah and Yanbu on the Red Sea coast and on the Farasan Islands.

TREE NEWS update: Germany’s federal and state governments agreed on a €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) relief package that includes a three-month fuel tax cut starting in October and a temporary cap on pump prices. The energy tax on petrol and diesel will drop by 14 euro cents per litre, about 17 cents including VAT. Half the cost will be borne by the states.

TREE NEWS update: US Central Command commander Cooper said Iran’s crude oil exports have fallen to zero as a result of the blockade. More than 1 billion barrels of oil have shipped out through the Strait of Hormuz over the past several months, while oil, cargo and LNG volumes over the past two weeks hit a six-month high.

TREE NEWS update: The US Department of Energy issued an emergency order aimed at lowering the risk of power outages in the Carolinas. The order was announced without further details on the specific measures or the facilities involved. No timeline or scope beyond the Carolinas region was disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: US Energy Secretary Wright ordered the continued operation of two coal-fired power plants in Indiana, directing Nipsco, CenterPoint Energy and MISO to take action. The order keeps the plants running rather than retiring them.

TREE NEWS update: Xibei, the Chinese restaurant chain, said on September 19 that all of its stores nationwide are operating normally, responding to online rumors that the company would close down entirely. The company said it would continue to focus on product quality and service and urged the public to treat online information rationally.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said the latest rating-agency action is an encouraging verdict that also applies to many other countries, but it requires political will and a government that understands the important issues. He said good policy can change everything and there are no unsolvable structural constraints. Greece’s economy is now growing twice as fast as the rest of the euro area and its public debt-to-GDP ratio is falling rapidly.

TREE NEWS update: EU official Valdis Dombrovskis said highly indebted member states must meet their fiscal targets. Ukraine faces even larger financing needs, he added. The comments set out the bloc’s position on budget discipline for its most leveraged economies while pointing to the scale of external funding required by Kyiv.

TREE NEWS reports: ECB Governing Council member and Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras said the ECB cannot look through persistent supply shocks, adding that no second-round effects have yet been seen. He said weaker euro-area growth data could justify a pause, and that if doubts exist at the ECB level it would be better to wait until December to act, while a surge in inflation would not rule out another hike in October. Inflation is also being driven by fiscal policy and the AI boom alongside energy, he said.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has published the country’s first national standard for perovskite photovoltaics, GB/T 6495.12—2026, covering current-voltage (I-V) characteristic measurement methods for perovskite solar cells and modules. Proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and administered by the National Technical Committee for Solar Photovoltaic Energy System Standardization (SAC/TC90), the standard takes effect in 2027.

TREE NEWS update: The United States signed the Graham Sanctions Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law on September 18, strengthening sanctions on Russia, extending Iran-related measures, and allowing secondary tariffs of up to 100% on third countries that import Russian oil or gas. China’s Commerce Ministry said it opposes unilateral sanctions lacking UN authorization and will reserve the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and the legitimate rights of Chinese firms.

TREE NEWS update: China launched the Zhuzhou Space-Interstellar PIESAT-2 13-16 satellites at 18:50 on September 19 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center aboard a Long March 2D rocket. The satellites entered their planned orbits and the mission was declared a complete success. The flight was the 668th of the Long March launch vehicle series.

TREE NEWS update: Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) has developed a new interceptor drone and put it into successful service against jet-powered Shahed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Zelensky said SSU chief Oleksandr Poklad reported that the agency’s military counterintelligence unit had achieved significant results in defending against the Iranian-designed attack drones. No further technical details or deployment figures were given.

TREE NEWS reports: A shortage of available supertankers has driven global crude shipping costs sharply higher, making some long-haul oil trades unprofitable. Shipping a cargo from Houston to Asia now costs about $26 more per barrel, reducing the appeal of long-distance crude. Miller Tabak’s Matt Maley said nothing in the fundamentals suggests oil prices will fall sharply or yields will plunge in the medium term, adding that volatility could still spike.

TREE NEWS update: Michael Marra was elected leader of Scottish Labour on the 19th, succeeding Anas Sarwar, who had previously resigned. The vote was held by party members in Scotland, and Marra now takes over the leadership of the devolved party.