Global macro

• Buffett: index fund may become an investment tool to outperform high inflation

Since the beginning of this year, high inflation has been everywhere in people's lives, whether it is used cars or daily necessities. Recently, Buffett reiterated his previous view that people should hold index funds, which is the best way to invest at the moment. While it is crucial to choose a good stock in times of inflation, Buffett recommends that for most investors, the best way to invest is to invest in low-risk, low-cost index funds. Prior to this, Buffett repeatedly advised the majority of investors to invest in index funds, because these funds track the underlying index and can play the role of automatic diversification. For example, the S & P 500 includes well-known companies such as Apple Inc, Coca-Cola Company and Alphabet Inc-CL C.

• Charles Schwab Corp survey data: new investors are frenzied into the US market, and technology stocks are their first choice.

A new survey by Charles Schwab Corp found that new investors poured into the market during the epidemic and many were optimistic about the US stock market in the second half of 2021. Charles Schwab Corp's half-yearly survey surveyed 500 American investors who traded at least 36 stocks a year. The survey found that when asked which three industries will perform best as the economy recovers, information technology is the most popular choice, with 40% of investors saying they are technology stocks, health care stocks ranked second at 31%, and financial stocks ranked third at 30%. Meanwhile, Meme shares are still popular among investors surveyed by Charles Schwab Corp.

• Us bond yields continue to fall under the mood of risk aversion, and Powell finalizes the time for the annual speech of the global central bank.

Treasury yields continued to fall on Thursday, Aug. 19, as market risk sentiment worsened by concerns about the spread of the variant virus. The surge in cases of delta variants has heightened fears that the economic recovery is not as fast as expected and dampened consumer confidence. At present, the main focus of the bond market has undoubtedly turned to the annual meeting of global central banks in Jackson Hole next week (August 26-28). Investors will follow Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell's speech in Jackson Hole for new signs of when the Fed will announce a reduction in its bond-buying program. According to the latest schedule released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday, Powell has decided to deliver a speech on the Kansas City Fed's YouTube channel on the theme "Economic prospects" at 10:00 local time on August 27th (10:00 Beijing time on the 27th).

• The crisis of lack of core is far from over! Global car production may fall by 7.1 million this year

In its latest report released Thursday, market research firm IHS Markit provides an up-to-date analysis of global semiconductor shortages, automotive supply chain challenges and the impact of global car production. The agency predicts that the impact of chip shortages on car production will continue until 2022. IHS Markit said the reduction in car production due to disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain is expected to be 1.44 million in the first quarter and 2.6 million in the second quarter, while it is likely to be between 1.8 million and 2.1 million in the third quarter and will continue to face disruption in the fourth quarter. For the whole year, IHS Markit expects the chip crisis to reduce global car production by 6.3 million to 7.1 million this year.

• Guggenheim: the Delta variant has led to a slowdown in the US economic recovery, and the Federal Reserve is expected to postpone the reduction.

Scott Mined, global chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, a well-known US asset manager, has warned that the Delta mutation virus has had a substantial impact on consumer behavior and will postpone the Fed's timetable for scaling back its asset purchases.

• The futures of the three major US stock indexes fell collectively before Friday's trading.

Hot news

• RLX Technology Inc. 's net income in the second quarter was 2.54 billion yuan, an increase of 6.0% over the previous quarter.

$RLX Technology Inc. (RLX.US) $Net revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was 2.54 billion yuan ($390 million), up 6.0 percent from 2.4 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2021. Under non-US GAAP, adjusted net profit was 650 million yuan ($100 million), up 6.8 per cent from 610 million yuan in the first quarter of 2021. As of press time, RLX Technology Inc. was up 1.65% before trading.

• Apple Inc will welcome "multiple catalysts" at the end of the year, and Xiaomo will raise its target price to US $180.

JPMorgan Chase & Co will$Apple Inc (AAPL.US) $The target price was raised from $175 to $180, reiterating the "overweight" rating. Samik Chatterjee, an analyst at the bank, believes that Apple Inc's share price will usher in "multiple catalysts" at the end of this year, including the upcoming iPhone13 and investors'"low expectations" for total revenue in fiscal year 2022. In addition, the analyst expects Apple Inc's iPhone sales to rise to 246 million in 2022 and believes that iPhone sales are "up sharply" relative to consensus expectations. Chatterjee also said that the upgrade rate of iPhone 13 is expected to slow compared to iPhone 12, but sales of iPhone 13, which has a price advantage, will increase.

• With the advent of COVID-19 's strengthening needle, the sales of Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc are expected to increase by billions of dollars.

Vaccine makers are fuelled by increased injection strategies and concerns about Delta mutant strains, according to the Wall Street Journal$Pfizer Inc (PFE.US) $和$Moderna Inc (MRNA.US) $Sales are expected to be billions of dollars higher than previously expected, and the two companies have raised prices in the United States and elsewhere. The Biden administration on Wednesday urged adult Americans who had received two injections of the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer Inc or Moderna Inc to receive a third shot eight months later. According to Ronny Gal, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein's pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer Inc and his partners$BioNTech SE (BNTX.US) $COVID-19 's vaccine sales are expected to reach US $74 billion next year (excluding Germany and Belgium), 17% higher than previously expected.

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd surpassed Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to become the company with the highest market capitalization in Asia.

According to reports,$Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSM.US) $Has gone beyond$Tencent (00700.HK) $、$Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.US) $To become the most valuable company in Asia The market capitalization of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd has soared as the supply chain has been severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and demand from industries such as cars and data centers has surged, resulting in a global shortage of semiconductors. As of Thursday's close, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's market capitalization was about US $573.1 billion, Tencent's market capitalization was about HK $4.04 trillion (US $518.6 billion) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's market capitalization was about US $436.4 billion.

• Samsung Q2 surpassed Intel Corp and won the world's largest chip supplier again in the past three years.

Recently, semiconductor analysis company IC Insights released its latest report in August, showing that Samsung surpassed for the first time in nearly three years in the second quarter of 2021.$Intel Corp (INTC.US) $To regain its position as the world's largest semiconductor supplier. Samsung's chip sales rose 19 per cent month-on-month to $20.29 billion in the second quarter against a backdrop of rising demand for DRAM and flash memory products, according to the report. Of this total, integrated circuit (IC) sales were $19.26 billion, while optoelectronic, sensor and discrete (OSD) sales were $1.03 billion. By contrast, Intel Corp's chip sales rose just 3 per cent to $19.3 billion in the second quarter from a month earlier.

• After the listing of FF, the global recruitment scale will be expanded to accelerate the mass production delivery of FF 91.

August nineteenth$Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (FFIE.US) $It has been announced that it plans to significantly expand its workforce over the next 12 months following the completion of the merger in July, and the new recruitment will help FF launch FF 91, its luxury flagship electric model, in 2022.

• Wells Fargo & Co: keep Tesla, Inc. 's rating in line with the big market, with a target price of US $660

Wells Fargo & Co analyst Colin Langan pointed out in the research report that$Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) $The unexpected exposure of humanoid robots is "exciting", but given Boston Dynamics's years of development of similar technology, he thinks plans to launch humanoid robots in 2022 look "optimistic". Analysts said the robot exposure was likely to provide a short-term boost to share prices, but expected production at factories in Texas and Berlin, NHTSA investigations into self-driving and possible subsidies for US electric cars to be more relevant medium-term drivers. The analyst did not change Tesla, Inc. 's synchronized rating with the big market and his target price of $660.

• Jeffery: raise NVIDIA Corp's target price to $223 and maintain his buy rating

Jeffery analyst Mark Lipacis will$NVIDIA Corp (NVDA.US) $Raised its target price to $223 from $214 and maintained its buy rating on the stock. Earlier, the company reported that earnings per share in the second quarter and earnings per share in the third quarter exceeded market expectations of 2% and 4%, respectively. The analyst told investors in a research report after the results that NVIDIA Corp's "ecosystem moat" and growing software revenue were expected to produce "additional surprises".

Pre-market turnover of US stocks TOP20