In today’s briefing:
- Ohayo Japan | Trump’s Fed Attacks Trigger Market Sell-Off
- US Banks – Loans to Other FI’s and Cash, Are Driving Most All Growth, Neither Is Positive
- Japan Morning Connection: US Markets Pushing Back on Trump-Powell Tensions
- Silicon Dreams: Can India Outgrow Its EMS Assembly Tag?
- Monday Delight: 21/04/25
- Biopharma Week in Review Shrugging Off Constant Bad News; LLY Winning Obesity Drug Race
Ohayo Japan | Trump’s Fed Attacks Trigger Market Sell-Off
- Stocks fell sharply as Trump criticized Fed Chair Powell, demanding rate cuts and threatening his removal, amid trade tensions, with the Dow dropping 971 points.
- ITOCHU to sell 25% stake in CP Pokapang by 2026, expecting 125 billion yen gain, dissolving cross-shareholdings while maintaining strategic alliance and CITIC investment.
- BYD, a leading Chinese electric vehicle maker, will launch a mini EV in Japan in 2026, targeting the kei vehicle market, which comprises 40% of new car sales.
US Banks – Loans to Other FI’s and Cash, Are Driving Most All Growth, Neither Is Positive
- While loan growth continues to accelerate for US banks in weekly HFD, the single most important driver is loans to other financial institutions
- Cash growth is also very high and can be a sign of risk aversion, with cash up USD196bn vs loans up USD98bn from end Jan to 9 April
- It is unclear which of the institutions contained in the Fed definition of other FI’s, where commercial banks are lending, but it does not feel core
Japan Morning Connection: US Markets Pushing Back on Trump-Powell Tensions
- NVDA possibly facing issues with its new chip, which may involve its Microsoft partnership.
- Intel’s 18A process is claiming solid performance and interest from likes of Broadcom.
- Poor numbers from Hexel should add more downside pressure to JP CF makers.
Silicon Dreams: Can India Outgrow Its EMS Assembly Tag?
- India leads in electronics assembly but imports 94% of components. EMS 2.0 seeks to change this dynamic with local manufacturing
- Display modules and PCBs offer growth potential with new manufacturing facilities being built nationwide to reduce import dependence
- 2025’s $2.7B PLI scheme for components aims to attract $7B investment and create 91,600 new jobs across the electronics sector
Monday Delight: 21/04/25
- Each week, I’ll share five intriguing investment ideas that recently caught my attention. These ideas are meant to spark your research and help you kickstart the week ahead with fresh insights.
- Because these ideas are the result of my first-level idea generation process, they require more in depth research. Therefore, the ideas will often be concise, with occasional references to valuable work from other practitioners that I encourage you to explore.
- If you have something fascinating to share that could benefit me and the wider community, don’t hesitate to send it my way—I’d love to hear from you!
Biopharma Week in Review Shrugging Off Constant Bad News; LLY Winning Obesity Drug Race
- In a week of bad industry news, biopharma surprisingly held onto its bounce from recent two-year lows.
- With pharma tariffs now expected by June and federal health agencies’ prospects looking worse, we may be close to peak negativity, but too much uncertainty remains for any confidence in a bottom.
- In obesity, LLY had a win for an oral GLP-1, while PFE lost, affecting NVO, GPCR, VKTX, AMGN, MTSR, ALT, and TERN. VERV gained on CVD data and BMY’s heart drug failed, affecting CYTK and EWTX, while MURA stopped development.
💡 Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
Sign Up for Free
The Smartkarma Preview Pass is your entry to the Independent Investment Research Network
- ✓ Unlimited Research Summaries
- ✓ Personalised Alerts
- ✓ Custom Watchlists
- ✓ Company Data and News
- ✓ Events & Webinars
