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Shanghai-based manufacturer, Aishengna challenges ASML’s Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) market dominance.
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China clears up ambiguity on overseas trust holdings, as they plan to collect 20% tax for all holdings within 90-days.
Business & Finance
the answer is ‘42’
(August 5th, 2026 - Toronto, Canada)
In the Hitchhiker Guide to Galaxy series, Douglas Adams dreams up a supercomputer that is designed to answer the question to life, the universe, and everything. When the computer finally comes to its conclusion and shares its answer, the public is less than satisfied. The answer is ‘42’.
Boy, did that computer likely cost a lot.
South Korean Volatility - Korean Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
In July, the market drivers SK Hynix and Samsung both report quarterly earnings, with AI and chip-making capabilities driving investment expectations. Despite positive earnings, foreign investors began “taking profits ” and triggered a drop in price revealing many overleveraged investors facing a margin call. The result saw the market drop to 40 per cent of its June highs and reveal much of the AI investment is based on speculation and debt.
U.S Tech Sector
Similar to Korea, the U.S. markets are driven by the evaluations of 7 Tech companies and the subsidiary businesses they fund. The Magnificent 7 (Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), and Tesla (TSLA) represent 28% of the entire S&P 500.
Two other similarities to Korea, is that recent investment growth has been predominantly driven by AI and data center development, while many investors are speculating and overleveraged (e.g. Situational Awareness). As Wall Street has begun to review Q2 performance, investment in data centers weigh heavy on everyone’s books. Alphabet has reported its first negative cash flow in over 20 years; questions are rising about basic fundamentals. The U.S. market does not want to see investors, or CEOs, begin to “take profits” striking a downturn – noting Jeff Bezos has filed to sell $4.1B of Amazon.
Companies are reporting Q2 earnings (although may be not their Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) debt management via shell corporations). Fund investors are thoroughly reviewing the fundamentals of tech companies and the circular economy where these 7 companies appear to be recycling the same funding on their books. The AI companies (OpenAI, Anthropic) are making record profits from software company investment (Microsoft, Amazon) yet buy AI companies buying the software companies cloud computing services. This model plays out with others, and chip companies are at the core of the market.
Japanese Carry Trade
On July 31st, the U.S Treasury bought $59B of Japanese Yen, in partnership with the Bank of Japan (BOJ). The motive has been promoted as a supportive partnership; the reality is the U.S. is dependent on money that is parked in Japan with 0% interest borrowing cost. Since the 1990’s, investors would convert funds to Yen, borrow at no interest and invest with a set proven return, now enter the U.S. Treasury Bills. As Japanese interest rates have risen, the borrowers will exit their investments and convert back to the Yen (thus increasing the value of the currency). The faster this unwinds, the Japanese government will move to protect Yen by selling off its asset, of which Japan hold $2.2T of U.S. Treasury Bills increasing the overall yields on these U.S. bonds. Hence, the U.S. government loans BOJ some money.
Retrocausality
(July 24th, 2026 - Toronto, Canada)
In the Sci-fi movie ‘Looper’ Bruce Willis’ character is from the future and describes that possibility by not describing it at all. "I don't want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about it then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws." This is a great technique for the writer to evade critique of plots holes, and similarly a genius way to highlight that we are not as confident in how time works as we think we are.
Enter the brightest minds of the 20th century; Einstein’s Relativity and Analytical Philosophers (Russell, Wittgenstein) debate with Quantum Physicists (Feynmann, Wheeler) about how time & space are intertwined and observed.
They describe time as an ‘Arrow’ flowing through the air, which we can break down ‘all’ the moments of flight into stills yet when observed continuously it travels to its destination. When the Arrow hits its target, causal ripples are left from the flight and as it hits its destination. Simple; time is linear, and it is observable as such.
In the theory of special relativity, the faster something moves the heavier it gets, as the kinetic energy increases. It takes more energy to propel a faster moving object, and the implications of this proof creates its own ripple effect.
Although humans are restricted by our observational limits, and what we cannot record, this does not limit what we can conceptualize. Our mind can break down the flight of said Arrow, question the permutations defining its trajectory, outcome, and overall nature. These questions, which seem simple, branch off into endless discussion.
Free-Will v. Determinism (Strong – Macrocosmic)
o Are the permutations of flight purely chaotic or pre-determined in a fixed system. If the Arrow is set in a deterministic system, then ‘linear time’ is irrelevant as every state can exist at once – the only difference is the moment that one observes it.
o Bell’s theorem questions if fixed systems, e.g. various computer programs, can exist independently. Although there are fixed systems, they can exist independently and not impact the other systems, or the larger chaotic ecosystem which they exist in.
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox (Weak – Microscopic)
o By measuring quantum permutations of flight, the observation alone will impact the mechanics of what is being measured. To rationalize these gaps, we need “no-go theorems”, models of quantum theory unavoidably nonlocal, contextual, and ψ-ontic (i.e., ascribe reality to the quantum states ψ).
o By observing the Arrow going forward, there is an implication that is the preferred direction
o In our present model of the physical universe, The Arrow is composed of multiple charged particles emitting an electromagnetic frequency, these forces should impact its trajectory. The ‘absorber theory of radiation’ opens way for the Dirac Equation to present particles dampen their own electromagnetic field around its position.
o Enter Stückelberg’s interpretation that the absorption of a positive particle inverse in time becomes a negative particle when it moves backwards in time, acting as the original absorber of the positive particle.
o Particles exist, and retreat to create a negative charge, cancelling their electromagnetic impact.
o “They are all the same electron” Yoichuro Nambu.
As creatives get ahold of scientific theory applicable to quantum particles, the lessons quickly find themselves expressed in human stories. The protagonist, as the particle, in this case meets its doppelganger in time and annihilates themselves. Fantastically, a rogue doppelganger retreats to the past with an attempt to impact on previous decisions. Creating a confusing, almost nonsensical, loop.