✂️ Big rate-cut fall?

…and Huawei chips in to the AI race Graeme Jennings/Getty Images Snip, snip   Sponsored by Hey Snackers, [CEO-poaching szn]( is in full swing: Victoria’s Secret nabbed the boss of Rihanna’s lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty. The news came a day after Starbucks announced its new CEO: Chipotle’s CEO. Non-complete clause who? The S&P 500 [closed higher]( for the fifth straight day after a cool July inflation report seemed to pave the way for a September rate cut.   JPOWER [Fresh data shows inflation’s trending down, boosting hopes of a big rate-cut fall]( It’s a trend… and your wallet’s grateful. Fresh #s this week showed that inflation’s [continuing to cool](. Yesterday, the consumer-price index (CPI) showed that annual inflation fell to 2.9% last month — its slowest pace since March 2021. On a monthly basis, consumer prices ticked up 0.2% in July (in line with expectations) after dipping in June. Rising housing costs accounted for nearly 90% of the monthly increase (#RentAnxiety). Some highlights: - Eggception: Food inflation was up just 0.2%, but egg prices rose a whopping 5.5% from June to July. - Wedding-szn bargains: Prices for men’s suits, sport coats, and outwear were down 4% month over month. Hoping for a big-cut fall… While [hot rate-cut summer]( failed to materialize, traders [seem]( certain that the Fed will start trimming at its September meeting. The CPI isn’t the only report boosting rate-cut expectations: July producer prices came in cooler than expected this week, falling by the most in over a year. The Fed’s in charge of keeping inflation in check while ensuring the labor market’s healthy. After years of lofty interest rates, the labor market’s [starting to cool](, and last month’s bummer jobs report showed that unemployment spiked. Those trends suggest it’s time to start trimming: - At its meeting last month, the Fed suggested that it’s less hawkish on crushing inflation and that it’s starting to worry about the labor situation. - Next week, we’ll get notes from the Fed’s July meeting, but the most up-to-date comments could come from Fed Chair Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole. THE TAKEAWAY It’s no longer a matter of if… but by how much. After months of wondering when the Fed would trim, investors certain of a September cut are now wondering how big it’ll be. Yesterday traders were giving a 62.5% chance of a 25 basis-points cut, and a 37.5% chance of a double cut of 50 basis points. The August jobs report should be the final big piece of data to inform the Fed’s decision. [Read this online]( Sponsored by Jurny Top VCs are Backing this Hospitality AI Start Up Jurny's AI aims to automate up to 90% of tedious back-office operations, potentially saving billions for the booming $4.1T hospitality industry. - Doubled YoY SaaS revenue - Backed by top VCs - Deals signed with Airbnb, Expedia & Vrbo - Featured on CNBC, Fortune & more As a Snacks subscriber, you can get exclusive early-bird terms. [Invest before August 21 to secure 25% discount on shares!](* Sponsored by Jurny Top VCs are Backing this Hospitality AI Start Up Jurny's AI aims to automate up to 90% of tedious back-office operations, potentially saving billions for the booming $4.1T hospitality industry. - Doubled YoY SaaS revenue - Backed by top VCs - Deals signed with Airbnb, Expedia & Vrbo - Featured on CNBC, Fortune & more As a Snacks subscriber, you can get exclusive early-bird terms. [Invest before August 21 to secure 25% discount on shares!](*   CONDUCTIVE [China’s Huawei reportedly develops an advanced AI chip to rival Nvidia]( Chippin’ in… Chinese tech giant Huawei has created an advanced AI chip, set to debut in October, The Wall Street Journal [reported](. Big companies including TikTok parent ByteDance, Chinese search-engine powerhouse Baidu, and telecom China Mobile are already in talks to buy the chip (dubbed “Ascend 910C”). Orders are expected to exceed 70K chips valued at a total of $2B. Chinese companies have struggled to get their hands on the most advanced chips as the US has ramped up sanctions. - Nvidia was effectively barred from selling its most advanced chips to Chinese customers in 2022. While it’s working on a new version of the China-specific chip it created as a workaround, it may struggle to win US approval. - The US says its restrictions on China’s chip industry (mainly: barring Chinese companies from importing advanced chips and the parts and equipment needed to make them) are meant to prevent the country from using the tech for military purposes. - China, which says the US wants to suppress its economic growth, raised $48B this year to back its semiconductor industry. When the chips are down… Biden is said to be weighing new chip restrictions on China. The US put Huawei on its “entity list” in 2019, restricting its access to the components, machinery, and factories used to produce advanced chips. In May, POTUS barred Huawei from buying chips from Intel and Qualcomm. But with billions in gov’t backing, Chinese tech titans could overcome restrictions by releasing their own advanced chips in their market. THE TAKEAWAY Restrictions can have recoil… If Huawei can start selling an advanced chip, it could leave US companies like Nvidia to bear the brunt of chip sanctions because they’re restricted from selling to the second-largest economy. FYI: China is the largest chip buyer, snapping up about half the world’s semiconductors. Nvidia — which is on pace to sell $12B worth of its made-for-China AI chip this year — could lose market share there. [Read this online](   ON SHERWOOD [Nintendo completely sat out the video game graphics wars. It’s winning anyway.]( What Nintendo lacks in fancy pixels, it makes up for in dopamine. That’s why it basically prints money. [Read More.](   What else we're Snackin' - [Go/ogle](: The DOJ is reportedly considering breaking up Google after a judge ruled the tech behemoth built an illegal monopoly in online search and ads. Android’s OS or Chrome could be divestment targets. - [NarcCars](: Texas has sued GM, alleging that the carmaker illegally collected customers’ driving data and sold it to insurance companies. Some drivers’ premiums have spiked by up to 21% after their data was sold. - [Crunch](: M&M’s and Snickers maker Mars agreed to buy Kellanova (Cheez-It, Pringles, Pop-Tarts) for $36B. Mars’ $50B in sales last year was quadruple Kellanova’s #s. FYI: the snack biggie split off from Kellogg last fall. - [Flight](: Budget airline Wizz Air rolled out an “all you can fly” plan for $550/year, offering EU travelers unlimited flights to hot spots like Paris. Wizz has seen its profit plunge even as Euro tourism’s taken off. - [Click](: Tencent is in talks with Apple to allow iOS payments for purchases in its WeChat app mini games. The move could give Apple access to WeChat’s 500M gamers and up to a 30% cut of payments.   Snack Fact of the Day [The Dallas Cowboys are the first NFL franchise to be valued at over $10B](   Thursday - Retail sales figures - US industrial production for July - Earnings expected from Alibaba Group, Walmart, JD.com, Deere, Applied Materials, and H&R Block Authors of this Snacks own Alphabet, Apple, GM, and Nvidia Advertiser's disclosures: * This is a paid advertisement for Jurny’s Regulation CF Offering. [Please read the offering circular and related risks](. Equity crowdfunding investments in private placements, and start-up investments in particular, are speculative and involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment through equity crowdfunding tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns.   [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [Sherwood Logo]( Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... 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