Breakfast | S&P 500 posts largest gain in 5 months, NVIDIA set to make history with a crazy week

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S&P 500 Index Records Largest Increase in Five Months, NVIDIA Soars Nearly 13%

The Federal Reserve's decision and Powell's press conference both hinted at a possible rate cut in September, with the S&P 500 index closing up 1.58%, accumulating a 1.13% increase in July. The Dow rose by 0.24%, up 4.41% in July, marking the best monthly gain of the year so far with three consecutive months of increase. The Nasdaq rose by 2.64%, down 0.75% in July, ending a two-month streak of gains.

Except for Microsoft, the "Big Tech Seven" generally saw gains. NVIDIA led the way with a 12.81% increase, despite a 5.28% drop in July. Tesla rose by 4.24%, Amazon by 2.9%, Meta by 2.51%, Apple by 1.5%, and Google A by 0.73%. Microsoft fell by 1.08%.

Serve Robotics rose by 16.8%, AMD by 5.3%, Dell by 4.67%, BigBear.ai by 4.14%. Li Auto rose by 5.11%, Pinduoduo by 4.65%, Bilibili by 1.54%, XPeng by 1.51%, and Alibaba by 1.09%.

NVIDIA's Market Value Surges by $329 Billion in a Single Day

NVIDIA's wild market performance this week is set to go down in history. The company, ranked third in global market value, added a record-breaking $329 billion in market value, surpassing the single-day records set repeatedly over the past few months. The stock price rose nearly 13% on Wednesday, following a 7% plunge on Tuesday. The huge fluctuations make even volatile assets like Bitcoin pale in comparison.

Jensen Huang's Net Worth Increases by Approximately $12 Billion in a Single Day, Setting a Historical Record

Highlights of the Federal Reserve FOMC Statement and Powell's Press Conference

FOMC Statement:

Unanimously agreed to maintain interest rates in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% for the eighth consecutive time, in line with market expectations. Reiterated that there will be no rate cut until there is greater confidence in inflation.

Powell's Press Conference:

1. Rate Outlook: Approaching the point where a rate cut is possible, but not there yet. If inflation falls as expected and the labor market remains stable, a rate cut could come as early as September. There was indeed an in-depth discussion about rate cuts at this meeting. Different scenarios from zero rate cuts to multiple rate cuts can be imagined.

2. Inflation Outlook: No need to focus solely on inflation. Confident in achieving the 2% target. Inflation downside risks have diminished as the range of inflation declines widens and long-term inflation expectations seem firmly anchored. Upside risks to inflation have diminished.

3. Election Impact: If a rate cut happens in September, it should be non-political. Any decisions made before, during, or after the election will be based on a balance of data and risks, without attempting to formulate policy based on election results that are not yet known.

Meta's Second Quarter Report and Next Quarter Guidance Exceed Expectations, After-Hours Trading Up by 5%

In the second quarter, Meta's revenue and profit exceeded expectations, with quarterly revenue increasing by 22% year-on-year to $39.07 billion, higher than the market's expected $38.34 billion. Diluted EPS earnings per share: up 73% year-on-year to $5.16, higher than the market's expected $4.72. Capital expenditures for the quarter were lower than expected, and there was no further increase in the upper limit of annual capital expenditures, with no upward revision to the guidance for total spending for the year, and the midpoint of the revenue guidance for the third quarter exceeded market expectations

Arm's full-year revenue guidance not raised, key business growth expectations lowered, down more than 10% after hours

Arm's second-quarter revenue of $9.39 billion hit a new quarterly high, exceeding expectations with a year-on-year growth of 39%. The full-year revenue guidance remains unchanged, with a maximum growth of nearly 27%, slowing down from the previous two quarters. Arm will no longer disclose the shipment volume of Arm architecture chips starting this quarter. The CEO mentioned that Arm's performance is weak in certain markets, while the CFO stated that the annual guidance remains unchanged due to the license fee growth expectations from AI-enabled smartphones falling short of 24%, previously expected to be around 25%. Analysts commented that Arm's failure to raise the annual guidance is concerning and shows a lack of confidence in its own growth prospects.

Mobile demand rebounds, Qualcomm's revenue in the third quarter exceeds expectations by 11%, may surge by 19% this quarter

Qualcomm's second-quarter revenue was $9.39 billion, exceeding market expectations of $9.21 billion, compared to $8.45 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $2.33, a 25% year-on-year increase, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.24, with a 13% year-on-year growth from the first quarter. Pre-tax profit was $3.034 billion, a 25% year-on-year increase, with an 11% year-on-year growth from the first quarter.

New Oriental's performance below expectations leads to stock price decline, executives claim transparent communication with Yu Minhong

New Oriental's second-quarter total net revenue increased by 32.1% year-on-year to $1.1367 billion; operating income was $10.5 million, a 78.1% year-on-year decrease; net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 6.9% year-on-year to $27 million; GAAP operating margin was 0.9%, non-GAAP operating margin was 3.2%.

Robin Li's wife, Ma Dongmin, reduces her holdings in Baidu for the first time this year, cashing out $22.41 million

Ma Dongmin sold 260,000 shares of Baidu, with the "approximate sale date" being July 1st. The announcement did not specify the specific reason for the reduction. In 2023, Ma Dongmin had reduced her holdings multiple times, totaling over $200 million, reducing her stake to 3.2%.

Over 200 venture capitalists voice support for Harris

On July 31st, over 200 venture capitalists publicly supported Kamala Harris's bid for the White House, stating that without a "strong, trustworthy institution," Silicon Valley and other industries would collapse. Signatories of the VCs for Kamala commitment include billionaires Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman, Kleiner Perkins co-founder Brook Byers, Ron Conway from SV Angel, and Aileen Lee from Cowboy Ventures, among others