Weekend Buzz: 14-15 November 2026

Trump Says US No Longer Seeking Peace Deal With Iran

US President Donald Trump said that the US is no longer seeking a deal to end the war with Iran and ordered his vice president, JD Vance, a sometimes point man on peace efforts, to focus instead on domestic issues, including crime and corruption. Vance, who blamed the war for the Republicans' crushing defeat in midterm elections this month, had reportedly been talking to negotiators from Pakistan, Qatar and Iran about restarting negotiations to end the war, now in its ninth month. "We don't need a deal with Iran," Trump wrote on his social media post. "Those days have long since passed. We've got their money. We've got their Strait!" His comments appeared to effectively normalize a stalemate in the war, where the US is blockading Iranian oil exports and Iran is periodically attacking tankers violating its rules for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Global benchmark Brent futures closed the week at US$96.29 a barrel.

Nvidia Leadership Shift Raises Supply Chain Questions

Nvidia's leadership change could reshape supply-chain partnerships across Asia. A report by South Korea's Daol Investment & Securities said Nvidia's relationships with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics, two major partners, are expected to remain intact. However, the departure of Chief Executive Jensen Huang, who resigned amid a widening scandal, has raised questions about the company's product roadmap and how its new leadership will coordinate with partners. Asus chief Hsu Hsien-yueh plans to seek talks with newly appointed interim Chief Executive Colette Kress. The Taiwan-based computer, phone and electronics maker works with Nvidia on graphics cards and AI servers. Hsu said he doesn't expect Nvidia's products and position in the AI ecosystem to change overnight, but his company will be monitoring any impact on product quality, service costs and delivery.

Fallout from the scandal triggered by Huang's admission of an affair with foreign espionage overtones continued. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faces ouster amid accusations he failed to act earlier this year on internal intelligence pointing to national security concerns related to breaches of export restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips. Reports have also emerged that Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm that Lutnick formerly chaired and is now run by his sons, maintained extensive commercial ties with Nvidia, helping arrange billions of dollars in financing for companies in its AI business sphere. US congressional leaders want Huang and Lutnick to testify before committees as sentiment toward further restricting China's access to advanced US AI chips mounts. Nvidia shares dropped 2 percent on Friday, for a weekly loss of 10 percent. The company is due to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday.

SpaceX Launches a Planned First in Rocketry History

SpaceX has deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites aboard Starship Flight 15, after its Super Heavy booster diverted to an offshore splashdown instead of returning to the launch tower. The company's constellation already includes over 11,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit. The spacecraft is scheduled to spend 22 hours circling Earth before a planned controlled upright landing within the arms of its Mechazilla launch tower. Such a feat has never been attempted in the history of rocketry.

UN Climate Change Summit: The Challenges, The Ironies

World leaders attending the UN climate change summit in Turkey pointed to a world not coming to grips with global warming in speeches to delegates before they broke into smaller groups to try to thrash out a communique to end the conference. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates, "The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us. Emissions in 2025 reached all-time highs. The last four years were the hottest ever. This is the path to mutually assured destruction." Host nation President Tayyip Erdogan rued, "Our battle with climate change unfortunately comes at a time when the international system is grappling with tougher issues: wars, migration, famine and poverty." Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said momentum to control emissions of greenhouse gases has ebbed since the start of the year. "We started talking more about weapons and tariffs than the survival of future generations," he said. And Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said developed countries must take the lead in emissions reduction and honor commitments to climate finance.

His latter point is a contentious issue for the conference. Poorer nations that contribute little to emissions but suffer big consequences from global warming want financial aid to help them address those challenges. Rich countries, the main polluters, have been reluctant to stump up the multibillions of dollars of aid requested.

The summit has its ironies. Australia, a summit co-host, is the world's second-largest global exporter of coal. And about 90 private planes that have outsized carbon footprints flew delegations to the conference.

US Grounds All Airport Takeoffs for Four Hours

The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare "ground stop" order across major airports nationwide that halted flight takeoffs for four hours on Friday evening. Flight cancellations resulting from the stoppage will continue through the weekend. The agency cited communication problems affecting "multiple" air traffic control centers.

Top Business

Anthropic IPO Said to Be Six Times Oversubscribed

Anthropic's initial public offering, scheduled to begin trading on November 19, has been oversubscribed about six times the orders for the shares available, Bloomberg News reported. Bankers told prospective investors that Anthropic will prioritize existing backers, leaving some would-be buyers with smaller allocations than expected. Details of the IPO could change, according to the report. The maker of the Claude series of large language models is aiming to raise up to US$64.4 billion, for a valuation as high as US$1.4 trillion, slightly below earlier market expectations. The shares are priced at between US$70 and US$78 each.

Microsoft 24-Hour Outage Disrupts Services Worldwide

Microsoft's email and other services returned to normal after technical problems triggered a global outage that affected at least 430 million users across 74 countries and lasted nearly 24 hours. Anderson Economic Group estimated the cost of lost productivity could approach US$7 billion. The outage affected governments, businesses, schools and hospitals, among other users of Outlook, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, OneDrive and AI Copilot. Microsoft apologized for the outage and said it was not a cybersecurity issue. The US tech giant said multiple servers unexpectedly dropped offline as workloads increased. After plunging in morning trading in New York, Microsoft shares closed up 0.2 percent but fell in after-hours trading.

Applied Materials Earnings Beat Estimates on AI Boom

Applied Materials reported record quarterly revenue and earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter ended October 25, beating Wall Street estimates. It cited strong demand for equipment it sells to make advanced AI chips. Revenue rose 53 percent from a year earlier to US$10.4 billion, and net income increased 43 percent to US$2.7 billion. For the full fiscal year, revenue climbed 21 percent to a record US$34.5 billion, while net income rose 44 percent to US$10.1 billion.

Economy & Markets

China's New Bank Lending Slips on Weaker Credit Demand

New bank lending in China last month fell for the third time this year amid weaker credit demand from households and businesses. New loans declined by about 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion), Reuters reported, extrapolating figures from the People's Bank of China. Outstanding yuan loans rose 4.7 percent in October, slipping from 4.8 percent growth in September. M2, the broadest gauge of money supply, increased 7.1 percent in October to 359 trillion yuan.

For the first 10 months of the year, new yuan loans totaled 11.4 trillion yuan, down from 15 trillion yuan in the same period last year. Net corporate bond and equity financing in the January-October period accounted for nearly 53 percent of incremental financing, surpassing traditional bank loans by 14 percentage points, according to the central bank. Net corporate bond issuance hit 3.1 trillion yuan (US$465 billion), 1.7 times above a year ago, as credit increasingly shifted toward tech and service sectors. Meanwhile, new corporate loan rates remained at low level of about 2.9 percent. Total social financing, which measures how much money is actually flowing into the hands of businesses and consumers, was up 7.2 percent to 469.2 trillion yuan.

China Unveils New Plan for Energy Storage Sector

China released a new plan on energy storage, shifting the sector from rapid expansion to a market-driven model by 2030. The blueprint targets 300 gigawatts of installed capacity. About 50-60 gigawatts will specifically support mega renewable centers across deserts and offshore sites to ensure grid stability. The plan outlines a tiered tech roadmap to upgrade lithium-ion, promote sodium-ion and commercialize alternatives like compressed air and flow batteries in the industry. Policymakers will revamp electricity pricing to reward the "reliable capacity value" of storage systems.

SpaceX-Tesla Merger Could Be Unveiled Next Month

Talks on a mega merger of Elon Musk's SpaceX and Tesla are progressing and could be announced as early as next month, Bloomberg News reported. The merger would bring together AI, robotics, electric vehicles, chip making and aerospace businesses under one umbrella. However, any deal would still face regulatory hurdles over SpaceX's US defense contracts and Tesla's reliance on China. SpaceX has a market capitalization of about US$1.9 trillion, and Tesla is valued at about US$1.5 trillion.

Giant Shanghai Chipmaker Sees No Let-Up in AI Demand

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, the biggest contract chipmaker on the Chinese mainland, said on Friday that the semiconductor supply chain for AI-related applications will stay tight through 2027 on high demand from data centers and cloud computing. Co-Chief Executive Zhao Haijun said AI is still in its early stages and discounted concerns about a bubble. The Shanghai-based company projects 2026 revenue will exceed US$12 billion.

Memory Chip Costs Push China's Q3 Laptop Prices Up 13 Percent

Driven by surging memory chip costs and supply chain restructuring, the average Chinese online selling price of laptops in the third quarter rose 13 percent from a year earlier to 7,759 yuan (US$1,163), according to industry tracker Runto Technology. The price increase wiped budget models off bestseller lists and dragged overall sales down 14 percent.

Goldman Sachs Forecasts 2.8 Percent Global Growth, Driven by AI Boom

Goldman Sachs forecasts global economic growth of 2.8 percent in 2027, with the US expanding 2.4 percent and the UK 1.4 percent, according to its latest economic outlook report. Artificial intelligence remains the primary growth engine. Annualized spending on AI hardware and intellectual property is projected to reach US$1.4 trillion, nearly 4 percent of the US economy, by the end of 2027. However, persistent inflation, rising energy prices and high borrowing costs pose downside risks, said Goldman, which forecasts Federal Reserve rate hikes in December and next March.

Corporate

Huawei, Seres Launch Upgraded Aito M8 SUV Model

Huawei and Seres unveiled the upgraded Aito M8, marking the first major model release since the two companies deepened their partnership. Priced starting at 379,800 yuan (US$56,927), the new SUV is available in five- and six-seat configurations, with both hybrid and all-electric power options. According to Huawei, research and development investment in the model totaled more than 1.5 billion yuan, with technological upgrades including Huawei's intelligent driving system built on an L3-ready architecture. Huawei-powered cars are facing fierce competition from rivals like Xiaomi, Nio and Xpeng.

Yuanjie Semiconductor Secures Laser Chip Order

Chinese optical chipmaker Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology announced it received a chip purchase order valued at 1.74 billion yuan (US$242 million) from a client it didn't identify. Under the agreement, the company will supply high-power laser chip products.

China Tea Chain Chagee Declares Special Dividend

Nasdaq-listed Chinese tea chain Chagee declared a special cash dividend of US$1.95 per share, totaling about US$370 million, to shore up its share price. The company's net profit in 2025 fell 52 percent amid a slump in same-store sales. The company's shares, which have fallen 50 percent since their listing debut in April 2025, rose 6.4 percent on Friday.

New World Mulls Rights Issue in Debt-Financing Strategy

New World Development, a leading Hong Kong property company with wide investments on the Chinese mainland, halted trading of its shares and debt securities in Hong Kong on Friday morning, amid reports it is considering a rights issue of up to HK$25 billion (US$3.2 billion). The heavily indebted company has been trying to restructure its capital base to handle maturing debt. It has been selling some assets. In a bond exchange last month, New World issued about US$189 million in new secured notes due in 2032 to swap for notes due in 2027 and 2028.

China Gold International Earnings Grow on High Bullion Prices

Hong Kong-listed China Gold International, a Canadian-based company with extensive gold and copper mining operations in China, reported third-quarter sales revenue rose 32 percent from a year earlier to US$454 million, with net profit surging 79 percent to US$254 million. For the first nine months, revenue increased 48 percent and profit more than doubled to US$766 million, as high gold prices offset a 12 percent decline in gold production.