Tuesday: August 26th
Israel has called on roughly 60,0000 reservist for duty for its offensive into Gaza city. Israel's army and citizens are reportedly "exhausted" from two years of fighting, and a large majority are calling on the government to end the war in exchange for the remaining hostages. There are expected to be about 20 hostages held by Hamas still to be alive.
Intel is a little unique in that it is one of the few chip manufacturers that both designs and manufactures its own chips. It's manufacturing segment has not been doing well; driving much of its poor performance, the segment lost $3.2 billion in the Q2 of 2025.
Tan, the current CEO, is pulling back on the reigns. In July, he announced plans to lay off 15% of the workforce, cut billions of planned investments, delay work on the large Ohio chip plant and to generally restrict spending.
Tan, Intel's CEO was at the helm of Cadence Design Systems while the company had sold restricted technology to a Chinese national defense university. This violation resulted in a $140 mm fine to the company. Some have used this action while Tan was the CEO of Cadence to question his ties with the foreign government. Based on the same logic, Trump accused Tan of being conflicted as CEO of Intel and called for his resignation on Truth Social on August 7th.
TSX 60: 1,670.01
DJIA: 45,236.83
S&P: 6,435.49
Nasdaq: 21,443.63
Oil (WTI): 64.75
ICE NGX (T-1): 1.08
Israel to Call Up 60,000 Reservists for Gaza City Invasion
Inside Intel’s Tricky Dance With Trump
Friday: August 22nd
Intel has been suffering losses for a while; $18.8 bb last year, and $3.8 bb in 1H25. The company cut 15,000 jobs last year and plans on cutting another 20,000 this year.
Benjamin Netanyahu has begun his offensive on Gaza City. Yesterday, heavy bombings were carried out as his troops plan to infiltrate, and assume control of the strong-hold. He also instructed his team to begin negotiations with Hamas to end the war. Hamas on Monday released a statement of agreement to a 60-day cease-fire which is almost exactly the same as the one almost agreed on in July (1,000 Palestinian prisoners for 10 alive Israeli captives + remains). Netanyahu's comments remain unclear if he rejects or agrees to the Hamas cease-fire offer as of now.
"Netanyahu has recently said he wants a single-stage deal that would see the release of all the remaining hostages and for Hamas to be disarmed and removed as a military or governing force in Gaza, as well as Israeli security control of the enclave. " something I find to be reasonable after the fall-through of the multi-stage agreement signed months ago between the two rivals.
As of now, roughly 75% of the Gaza strip is under the control of Israel's military.
And a big deal in the Canadian oil and gas industry as Cenovus Energy Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MEG Energy Corp. The deal will be completed with a 75% cash, 25% Cenovus stock deal valuing MEG at $27.25/share. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive with estimated $150mm in annual synergies, growing to $400mm annually by 2028 and beyond.
TSX 60: 1,665.99
DJIA: 44,952.88
S&P: 6,384.59
Nasdaq: 21,139.83
Oil (WTI): 63.50
ICE NGX (T-1): 0.73
Israel’s Netanyahu Says He Approved Expansion of War and Talks on Deal to End It
Cenovus announces agreement to acquire MEG Energy
Thursday: August 21st
SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate has their own incentive to growing the capacity of Intel's chip making business; to reduce their dependence on Asian chip manufacturing. Just days ago the deal was released regarding SoftBank's $2 Billion equity investment (approx. 2% ownership) into Intel. This came after discussions earlier this year when SoftBank intended to acquire the chip business from Intel completely, but that deal fell through. This news comes in-line with the Trump administrations discussions to take a 10% stake in the company too.
The deal with the government may come in the form of a stock-for-funding agreement which will flow billions in USD from the Chips and Science Act. Such a deal would not, however give the U.S. government voting rights in Intel. It would still be one of the largest shareholders in the company.
The B.C. government seems to be taking a strict stance on the next LNG projects by regulating the electrification process sourcing from hydro power. It is still unclear as to what percentage of the electricity used must be from hydro, but it seems to be a significant figure. This comes with challenges as the infrastructure for hydro power simply has not been built out to supply the capacity needed for these LNG plants. Cedar LNG, likely to be the next full scale operating LNG plant, though smaller than LNG Canada in export capacity, will run on B.C. Hydro's renewable energy. The plant will likely be the worlds leader in low-emission LNG liquefaction and exportation.
TSX 60: 1,654.46
DJIA: 44,808.21
S&P: 6,380.83
Nasdaq: 21,112.52
Oil (WTI): 62.85
ICE NGX (T-1): 0.90
Intel, SoftBank Discussed a Sale. Now, a Cash Infusion Will Accelerate American AI.
Israel Strikes Outskirts of Gaza City as Residents Brace for Invasion
British Columbia’s LNG Sector Will be Huge, But the World Wants it to Be Bigger
Wednesday: August 20th
Good morning, it's good to be back! With the CFA Level 3 exam now written, it's time to pick up where we left off.
Big news has been on Trump and Putin meeting in Alaska, and then Zalenskiy visiting the White House in the days subsequent to the Alaskan Summit. Oil prices seem to have been fluctuating between ups-and-downs and investors try to discern if a peace deal will come to fruition. To me it seems like the deal is still a ways away, but as we have witnessed thus far in the Trump 2.0 presidency, conditions are subject to change at a flip of a 'tweet'.
Oil prices saw a boost today as U.S. crude inventory was drawn down by 6mm barrels, more than double what analysts predicted.
The Trump administration had discussions earlier last week with Intel's CEO about the idea of the government taking a financial stake in the company. Notably, this is contrasting Trump calling for the CEO to be fired within the past weeks. Intel's chip manufacturing business has been hemorrhaging cash since 2020, when competition from the likes of Taiwan Semi came into play. Even though Intel has been sliding downhill for years now, they still stand as the U.S.'s best hope for scaling up manufacturing of high quality chips.
Why is Trump even concerned about this? Because the growing trend of semiconductor dominance is becoming more and more dominated by Taiwan which endangers Trump's goals regarding American national security and supply chain stability. Many U.S. companies like Apple and Nvidia use these Taiwanese semiconductor chips as main inputs for their products, creating a significant weakness in Trump's mind.
TSX 60: 1,652.35
DJIA: 44,922.70
S&P: 6,406.62
Nasdaq: 21,269.67
Oil (WTI): 62.60
ICE NGX (T-1): 0.94
Oil prices rise on drop in US crude inventories as investors focus on Ukraine peace push
‘Nothing Is Off the Table.’ Gigantic Changes Are Coming to Pro Golf.
Intel’s Move Toward Nationalization Won’t Work—at Least for the Long Haul