WILL THE FED CUT RATES IN SEPTEMBER?

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sparked optimism in the markets with his speech at Jackson Hole this Friday, where he left the door open to a potential interest rate cut expected at next month’s meeting.

Investors got the answer they were hoping for when Powell stated that current conditions “could justify an adjustment in stance”. As a result, the likelihood of a cut in September surged above 90%, according to analysts.

EURO-DOLLAR PAIR: HIT BY THE FRENCH CRISIS

The EUR/USD pair hit a fresh three-week low, dropping below 1.1600 on Wednesday.

The bearish pressure is driven by political turmoil in France, where minority government Prime Minister Bayrou faces a potential key confidence vote next month, which could lead to his removal.

The strengthening of the US dollar further reinforces this decline.

TRUMP BECOMES AN INTEL SHAREHOLDER

Intel shares jumped 5.53% on Wall Street this Friday after confirmation that US President Donald Trump announced the government will acquire a 10% stake in the company.

"They have agreed to do it and I think it’s a great deal for them," Trump said during an interview on CNBC.

The administration plans to convert part of the Chips Act subsidies into equity, which would amount to roughly $10 billion at current prices.

Intel remains the only US company capable of manufacturing advanced chips domestically, although TSMC and Samsung also have plants in the US.

Trump aims to increase domestic tech production, and this state stake would help fund Intel’s new plants in Ohio.

DEFENCE STOCKS: UNDER THE US GOVERNMENT’S RADAR

Following the Intel deal, the US government is considering investing in defence companies.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed to CNBC that the Department of Defence is reviewing potential operations in this sector, pointing to a “tremendous debate on defence” within the administration.

Among the options is Lockheed Martin, described by Lutnick as “an arm of the US government”.

Other candidates include Boeing and Palantir.

APPLE: ALL EYES ON SEPTEMBER 9

Apple has announced a launch event for September 9, where the iPhone 17 is expected to be unveiled.

This release is crucial as iPhone sales account for 47% of total revenue.

The company is aiming to consolidate its recovery in China, a key market with growing competition.

HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP: TRUMP AND CRYPTO.COM

Trump Media and Crypto.com confirmed a strategic alliance to create a new cryptofinance company:

Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, operating a treasury-style model to accumulate CRO, Crypto.com’s native token.

• Trump Media will invest $105 million in CRO.

• Crypto.com will contribute $50 million in Trump Media common stock.

Goal: integrate CRO and its wallet infrastructure into platforms such as Truth Social and Truth+, enabling rewards and CRO-based payments for subscriptions and services.

GOOGLE: DISRUPTING THE LANGUAGE LEARNING MONOPOLY?

Shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) fell 3% after Google’s announcement: new AI-powered live translation and language-learning tools in Google Translate.

Features include:
✔ Real-time bidirectional conversations
✔ Audio and on-screen translation
✔ Support for 70 languages

The innovation is driven by Google’s Gemini AI models, enhancing:

• Translation quality

• Multimodal translation

• Text-to-speech capabilities

Fact: over 1 trillion words per month are translated through Translate, Search, and visual translation.

🇮🇳 INDIA: CENTRAL HUB FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE PRODUCTION

Suzuki Motor will invest ₹700 billion (£8 billion / $8 billion) in India over the next 5–6 years, coinciding with the production of its first electric vehicle.

India will become Suzuki’s global centre for electric vehicle manufacturing, complementing its current output of 17 models exported to 100 countries.

META’S MEGA AI INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT: DATA CENTRES NATIONWIDE

Meta will build an AI data centre in Louisiana with an investment of $50 billion.

Details:

• Facility located in Richland Parish

• Designed to support large-scale AI workloads

• Funding: $29 billion

Meta aims to expand its AI infrastructure across the US, following last year’s announcement of over $10 billion in investments.

META: BANK OF AMERICA FORECASTS

Bank of America Securities has maintained its Buy rating on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) with a $900 price target, in line with overall market consensus.

Analyst targets range from $658 to $1,086, with 32 analysts recently revising their earnings estimates upward, despite reports of another AI division restructuring.

Meta remains well-positioned in the AI space thanks to its large user base and technological infrastructure.

STABLECOINS: BREAKING RECORDS

According to Bitwage, 48% of global company payments went to Argentine professionals, with 75% opting for stablecoins, and salaries averaging 25% higher than the global average.

Argentina now leads in the use of cryptocurrencies for business payments, primarily choosing USDT and USDC.

Average salary: $1,600, 25% above the global median.

ETF APPROVAL? KEY DATE IN OCTOBER

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again postponed decisions on several cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), delaying approval deadlines for seven proposed funds until October 2025.

Affected ETFs include:

• Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF

• Multiple XRP ETFs, a Litecoin ETF, and an Ethereum ETF with staking

According to filings on 18 August 2025, the SEC extended the review period for the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF until 8 October 2025.

INTEL: RESCUE DEAL

SoftBank Group Corp. and Intel announced on Monday that the Japanese tech conglomerate agreed to purchase Intel shares worth $2 billion to develop advanced chip manufacturing facilities in the United States.

SoftBank will pay $23 per share for Intel’s common stock.

"This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will expand further in the US, with Intel playing a critical role," said SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in a statement.