Hot News
The U.S. will raise import tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%, and the European Union states it is ready to take countermeasures.
On Saturday (May 31) local time, the European Commission warned that the U.S. government's move to increase steel and aluminum tariffs again undermines efforts by both sides to resolve issues through negotiation and stated that the EU is prepared to take countermeasures. The European Commission issued a statement that the Trump administration's decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy, and final consultations on expanding countermeasures are currently underway. If a mutually acceptable solution cannot be reached, existing EU measures and additional measures will automatically take effect on July 14 or may take effect earlier if necessary.
As of the time of writing, U.S. stocks related to steel and aluminum sectors collectively rose in after-hours trading.
The U.S. extends partial tariff exemptions under Section 301 against China.
On May 31 local time, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced an extension of tariff exemptions for certain products in the ongoing Section 301 investigation into China's actions, policies, and practices regarding technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. These exemptions, originally set to expire on May 31, 2025, have now been extended to August 31, 2025. The announcement shows that this extension is based on public comments received regarding the announcement on December 29, 2023, and ongoing evaluation of the opinions submitted during the four-year review process. The U.S. Trade Representative decided to extend again for three months the 164 exclusions extended in May 2024 and the 14 new exclusions added in September 2024.
The U.S. claims that China violated the consensus from the China-U.S. Geneva economic and trade talks; a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce stated that China firmly rejects the unreasonable accusations.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce responded to media inquiries about U.S. remarks: On May 12, after both China and the U.S. issued the "Joint Statement on China-U.S. Geneva Economic and Trade Talks," the Chinese side canceled or suspended related tariffs and non-tariff measures against U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' in accordance with the consensus reached in the joint statement. The Chinese side takes a responsible attitude, seriously implements, and actively maintains the consensus of the Geneva economic and trade talks. The Chinese side's commitment to safeguarding its rights is firm, and the implementation of the consensus is sincere. In contrast, after the Geneva economic and trade talks, the U.S. side has continuously introduced several discriminatory restrictive measures against China, including issuing guidelines for AI chip export controls, halting sales of chip design software (EDA) to China, and announcing the revocation of visas for Chinese students. These actions seriously violate the consensus of the January 17 call between the leaders of the two countries, seriously undermine the existing consensus of the Geneva economic and trade talks, and seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese side. The U.S. unilaterally provokes new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations, without reflecting on itself, but instead blaming the Chinese side for violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts. The Chinese side firmly rejects unreasonable accusations.
Recently, Wall Street has popularized a term "TACO Trade": Trump always chickens out.
In response to the tariff threats from the Trump administration, the "TACO Trade" has become Wall Street's most popular strategy. TACO is an acronym for "Trump Always Chickens Out," meaning that Trump always backs down at the last minute. The "TACO Trade" refers to the practice of betting that he will ultimately back down when market declines occur due to his tariff threats, allowing investors to profit by buying on dips.
This acronym was initially proposed by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong. He wrote earlier in May: "The recent rebound has largely stemmed from the market realizing that the U.S. government's tolerance for economic pressure is not high, and will quickly back down when tariffs cause pain. This is the TACO theory."
According to this theory, traders can profit by predicting changes in Trump's policies. When Trump announces new tariff threats, the market typically drops, providing a buying opportunity; when he retracts or delays these threats, the market rebounds, allowing for selling to profit. This strategy has been widely applied during the recent trade war and has achieved significant results.
Ukraine suddenly launched a major attack, and Russia suffered significant losses!
According to CCTV news on June 1, sources from the Ukrainian Security Services stated that the special operation code-named "Spider Web" took 18 months to plan and execute, successfully destroying 41 Russian strategic bombers. This operation was coordinated personally by Zelensky, and the head of the Security Services, Maliuk, led the direct implementation. The Ukrainian Security Services indicated that the operation's targets were precise, with approximately 34% of strategic bombers at major Russian airports being attacked. The preliminary estimate by the Ukrainian Security Services suggests that the implementation of this "Spider Web" special operation caused the Russian strategic aviation forces losses of up to 7 billion dollars.
As a result of the above news, today's spot Gold opened higher and reestablished itself above $3,300.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Besant stated that the U.S. will never default, refuting Dimon's comments about inevitable cracks in the bond market.
Post-Market Trading
The three major indexes showed mixed results, with the Nasdaq posting its largest monthly gain of 2023.
Last Friday, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq Index recording their largest monthly gains since November 2023.
As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.34 points, an increase of 0.13%, ending at 42,270.07 points; the Nasdaq fell 62.11 points, a decrease of 0.32%, closing at 19,113.77 points; the S&P 500 Index fell 0.48 points, a decrease of 0.01%, ending at 5,911.69 points.
In May, the S&P 500 Index rose by 6.15%, the Nasdaq Index increased by 9.56%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 3.94%.
Large tech stocks showed mixed performance, with Apple up 0.45%, Meta up 0.38%, Microsoft up 0.37%, Amazon down 0.34%, Google A down 0.07%, Tesla down 3.34%, and NVIDIA down 2.92%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks generally fell, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index down 2.69%, Kingsoft Cloud down over 5%, Bilibili down over 4%, XPeng and NIO down over 3%, Alibaba down over 2%, PDD Holdings and JD.com down over 1%.
Palantir rose nearly 8%, Trump has chosen Palantir to collect data on the American people.
According to a foreign media report on Friday citing public records, six government officials and employees, the Trump administration is relying on Palantir to build the technical foundation required by its executive order, which mandates data sharing between federal agencies. $Palantir(PLTR.US)$ The report points out that since Trump took office, Palantir has received over $0.113 billion in federal government funding, including additional appropriations for existing contracts and new contracts signed with the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. Last Friday's close saw Palantir rise nearly 8%.
The Amazon cloud division continues to expand its data centers while also competing for NVIDIA chips.
$Amazon(AMZN.US)$ The head of its cloud computing unit, AWS, stated that the company is accelerating the expansion of server farms globally and seeking more of NVIDIA's latest AI chips. On Friday, AWS CEO Matt Garman told the media that earlier this year, AWS opened a data center cluster in Mexico and is also building new facilities in places like Chile, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. Amazon previously stated that its AI business is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue throughout the year. Garman added that this figure 'comes from AWS,' representing client usage of its on-demand AI services.
Costco rose more than 3% last Friday, with its latest earnings report exceeding market expectations, leveraging a low-price strategy to widen the gap with competitors.
As of May 11, in the third fiscal quarter, $Costco (COST.US)$ the EPS was $4.28, far exceeding Wall Street analysts' expectations. While the company maintains its profit levels, consumers are tending towards rational spending, focusing on daily necessities. Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip stated that the company is currently acting according to existing policies and has not adjusted its strategy due to the court's review of tariffs. He admitted, "It is difficult to formulate specific action plans until the outcome is unclear." Millerchip revealed that the company plans to gradually implement differentiated pricing for new inventory items later this year, with some maintaining current prices and others being adjusted moderately based on rising costs. If prices for certain items are too high, the company may also choose to stop selling them.
Meta shareholders overwhelmingly opposed the proposal to include Bitcoin in the reserves.
$Meta Platforms(META.US)$ Shareholders voted down the proposal to include Bitcoin in the company's finances at the annual meeting. Over 4.9 billion shares voted against this move, with only 3.92 million shares in support. Following Microsoft's push for Bitcoin to become mainstream a few months ago, Meta Platforms became the latest large technology company considering pressuring shareholders to include Bitcoin in its assets. However, like Microsoft, shareholders voted down the proposal out of concerns about volatility. The proposal was submitted by investor Ethan Peck, a representative of the American National Public Policy Research Center, who suggested that the company explore the possibility of converting some Cash / Money Market and Bonds into Bitcoin to better maintain shareholder value.
Trump Media Technology Group rose 2.4%, announcing completion of financing and becoming a major holder of Bitcoin.
$Trump Media Technology Group (DJT.US)$ Last Friday, the stock rose 2.4%. The company announced that it had completed the private placement with about 50 institutional investors, as previously disclosed. As one of the largest Bitcoin reserve trades among listed companies, the net funds from this placement and the company's strategy will make Trump Media Group one of the largest holders of Bitcoin among publicly traded companies in the United States. After this placement, Bitcoin will be included in Trump Media Group's balance sheet, alongside a total of $0.759 billion in Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Boeing: The 737 Max successor model is not a priority at the moment.
According to the Financial Times of the United Kingdom, $Boeing(BA.US)$ CEO Kelly Ortberg stated in an interview that launching a new aircraft to replace the best-selling Boeing 737 Max is not a priority at this time. He noted that the market is not ready for a new model, and Boeing's current financial situation is also not suitable for investing in the development of new aircraft. Ortberg mentioned that Boeing is working with the Trump administration to ensure that the company can withstand the impact of the trade war. The current trade situation remains unclear, which means Boeing will have to remain flexible and continue conversations with the U.S. government. He stated that Boeing will pay less than $0.5 billion annually for the imported products needed to manufacture its products.
Ulta Beauty surged more than 11%, with Q1 performance exceeding expectations.
$Ulta Beauty (ULTA.US)$ The Q1 earnings report revealed that for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, revenue was $2.848 billion, compared to $2.726 billion in the same period last year, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.49%. The net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 was $0.305 billion, down 2.57% from $0.313 billion in the same period last year. The basic EPS was $6.72, compared to $6.51 in the same period last year. The company's performance in the first quarter exceeded expectations, and it raised its annual performance guidance. Despite increasing economic concerns, consumers continue to purchase beauty products in large quantities. As of last Friday, Ulta Beauty had surged over 11%.
Top 20 trading volumes.
Hong Kong Market Outlook
North funds aggressively bought Hong Kong stocks exceeding 9.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, buying MEITUAN for over 1.9 billion Hong Kong dollars and selling TENCENT for over 0.8 billion Hong Kong dollars.
On May 30 (Friday), southbound funds net bought Hong Kong stocks for 9.647 billion Hong Kong dollars.
$MEITUAN-W(03690.HK)$、 $China Construction Bank Corporation (00939.HK)$、$XIAOMI-W(01810.HK)$Net purchases were 1.922 billion Hong Kong dollars, 1.336 billion Hong Kong dollars, and 0.636 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively;
$TRACKER FUND OF HONG KONG(02800.HK)$、$TENCENT(00700.HK)$、$Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(00981.HK)$Net sales were 0.886 billion Hong Kong dollars, 0.865 billion Hong Kong dollars, and 0.144 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively.
On May 13, 13 A-share listed companies plan to go public in Hong Kong, with Zijin Mining Group intending to spin off Zijin Gold International for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Recently, A-share listed companies are flocking to go public in Hong Kong. According to incomplete statistics, as of the time of writing, from May (May 1 - May 31), including $Nations Technologies Inc.(300077.SZ)$ 、 $Hehe Information(688615.SH)$ 、 $Shantui Construction Machinery(000680.SZ)$ 、 $Zijin Mining Group (601899.SH)$ 、 $Qingdao Gon Technology (002768.SZ)$ 、 $Will Semiconductor (603501.SH)$ 、 $Longqi Technology (603341.SH)$ 、 $Guangdong CHJ Industry (002345.SZ)$ 、 $GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. (603986.SH)$ 、 $MeiG Smart Technology (002881.SZ)$ 、 $ENN Natural Gas (600803.SH)$ 、 $Military Trust Co., Ltd. (301109.SZ)$ and $Shenzhen Woer Heat-shrinkable Material (002130.SZ)$ A total of 13 A-shares listed companies, including these, have disclosed plans to list the company or spin off subsidiaries in Hong Kong. Among them, Zijin Mining Group announced on May 26 that it plans to spin off Zijin Gold International to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Multiple new energy vehicle companies have gradually announced their performance for May.
$BYD Company Limited (01211.HK)$ In May, there were over 0.3824 million vehicles sold, including 376,930 passenger cars.$ZEEKR (ZK.US)$ Technology has sold over 0.04 million units for three consecutive months, with sales exceeding 0.046 million units in May. $LEAPMOTOR (09863.HK)$ In May, the delivery volume reached 45,067 units, with a growth rate exceeding 148%; the total delivery of new cars for the HarmonyOS series in May broke 0.044 million units, achieving record-high sales.
$Ideal Autos-W (02015.HK)$ In May 2025, 40,856 units were delivered, an increase of 16.7% year-on-year. $XIAOPENG MOTOR-W(09868.HK)$ In May, 33,525 new cars were delivered, representing a 230% year-on-year increase; Xiaomi's vehicle deliveries exceeded 28,000 units in May. $NIO-SW(09866.HK)$ In May, 23,231 new cars were delivered.
Lei Jun recently spoke out, quoting Mo Yan: 'Discrediting is itself a form of admiration,' and then deleted it.
$XIAOMI-W(01810.HK)$ On June 1, CEO Lei Jun posted on Weibo that the delivery volume of Xiaomi SU7 will exceed 28,000 units by May 2025, and we are doing our best to prepare for the large-scale mass production of Xiaomi Yu7, which is expected to start in July. In addition, Lei Jun also expressed that he just learned a famous saying from Mo Yan: "Discrediting is, in itself, a form of looking up." However, he later edited this Weibo post and deleted that sentence. On the evening of May 31, Xiaomi Group partner, president, and general manager of the Xiaomi brand, Lu Weibing, also quoted Mo Yan's famous saying in a post - Mo Yan said: "Discrediting is, in itself, a form of looking up."
Today's focus.
Keywords: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI, Federal Reserve Governor's Speech, SSE SH Equities Index Closure
On Monday, economic data will include the final value of the U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI, and the monthly rate of U.S. construction spending.
Regarding financial events, Federal Reserve Governor Waller will speak on economic prospects at the 2025 South Korea Central Bank International Conference.
In addition, the Hong Kong Stock Connect, SSE SH Equities Index, and Shenzhen Stock Connect will be closed all day due to the Dragon Boat Festival.
Futubull Morning Reading:
It takes 20 years to earn a good reputation, but only 5 minutes to ruin it. If this is understood, the approach to work will be different.
——Warren Buffett
Editor/Rocky
