Subscribe to receive these charts every morning!

1. Buy the rumour, sell the fact.

TSMC fell nearly 2% Thursday, despite a beat to estimates and forward guidance that shows unrelenting AI chip demand.

The company pulled in $33B in revenue, up more than 30% from a year ago, and profit climbed 39%. The company said its full-year revenue is on track to grow near 35% this year, raising its spring estimate. Gross margins were a mouth-watering 60%, and operating margins 51%. The company said its highest-end chips for 5G and AI compute applications made up nearly two-thirds of revenue.

So why the sell-off? The stock is up 50% this year, and maybe the weight of an all-time high on a down day helped contribute to the sell-off. Not to mention politics: the Taiwanese company is right in the middle of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.

2. Fed’s “Beige Book Report” shows slowing demand.

“Hiring remains slow as businesses face headwinds from tariffs, as tariffs are pushing up prices, adding upward pressure to inflation”, the report said.

The report may be important for the Federal Open Market Committee because it confirms already widespread expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates at least several more times in the coming months. Futures now fully price in a 25-basis-point cut at both the October and December Federal Open Market Committee meetings.

3. A sleeping giant is awakening.

Nestle said it plans to reduce its workforce by 16,000 as new Chief Executive Philipp Navratil seeks to drive cost savings at the world's largest packaged-food company.

The Swiss company's shares jumped 7.7% in morning European trading on Thursday, putting them on course for their biggest single-day percentage increase since 2008. The job cuts equate to 6% of the company's 277,000-strong global workforce. About 12,000 to be slashed will be white-collar roles, with 4,000 in manufacturing and supply-chain positions. The reductions have already begun and will accelerate over the next two years, Navratil said in a call with reporters.

"The world is changing, and Nestle needs to change faster," Navratil said.

4. China dominates global clean tech supply chains.

5. India’s factory robot installations.

Not a subscriber yet?