April FOMC Minutes: Fed Leans Toward Hikes, Not Cuts
The April 2026 FOMC minutes reveal that a majority of Fed officials see further tightening as appropriate if inflation stays above 2%, upending the rate-cut thesis that many equity investors were counting on.
WTI Below $100: Three Things to Re-read Before the May 21 Session
WTI crude just fell below $100 for the first time since Hormuz was blockaded. The Iran risk premium built into BSR, GAS, and PLX over two months is starting to unwind.
Vietnam's Fuel Fund Runs Dry: Three Scenarios for May 21
The BOG stabilization fund has barely VND 199.92 billion left as Brent recovers nearly 20% to USD 108/barrel. Wednesday's Ministry announcement will determine whether prices hold, rise, or fall on their own.
US 30-Year Yield Hits 19-Year High, VN-Index Faces 1,900
The US 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.18% (a 19-year high) on May 19. Wall Street closed in the red, the VN-Index retreated from its all-time high. Three technical signals to watch for the next move.
Vietnam's Third IPO Wave Arrives at the Market Peak: Three Absorption Scenarios
VN-Index just hit an all-time high. The government convened to review divestment at 23 state conglomerates, and LPBS launched a VND 4,256 billion IPO. The question is no longer whether a new IPO wave is coming; it's how the secondary market will absorb it.
Nikkei Up, KOSPI Down: Which Side Is VN-Index On
Nikkei gained 0.9% while KOSPI lost 1.4% on the same morning of May 19. The divergence isn't about sentiment. It's about market structure, and VN-Index sits firmly in Japan's camp.
Musk Lost on Timing: The AI Balance of Power Shifted in April
An Oakland jury dismissed Musk's lawsuit over a missed statute of limitations deadline, not on the merits. The real turning point in the AI landscape happened three weeks earlier.
Decree 161: Base Salary +8.1%, CPI 5.46% Narrows the Gain
Decree 161/2026 raises Vietnam's base salary to VND 2,530,000/month from July 1 for nearly 6 million beneficiaries. But with April 2026 CPI at 5.46%, already above the National Assembly's annual target, real income gains are far smaller than the headline figure and monetary policy room is narrowing.
US 30Y Treasury at 5.127%: Same Number, Two Opposite Readings
The 30-year US Treasury yield hit 5.127%, its highest since 2007. For bondholders who bought at 3%, that's a paper loss. For new buyers, it's the richest coupon in 19 years.
VN-Index Hits All-Time High, Dow Jones Drops 537 Points Same Week
During the week of May 11–15, VN-Index set an all-time high of 1,925.46 while the Dow Jones shed 537 points on persistent US inflation at 3.8%. An analysis of the divergence: domestic resilience and its limits.
Gold Down 14% Amid Iran War Escalation: The Real Mechanism
From $5,275 on Feb 27 to $4,548 on May 15, gold has shed 14% precisely during a period of unrelenting Iran war escalation. The paradox has an explanation. The answer is not on the geopolitics newswire.
Same Peak, Different Engine: KOSPI 8,000 and VN-Index 1,925
VN-Index and KOSPI both hit all-time highs in the same week, but through completely different mechanisms. Understanding the difference matters far more than counting how many markets are in the green.
Cerebras IPO +68%: The AI Chip Market's Three-Act Transformation
On the night of May 14, Cerebras Systems debuted on Nasdaq with a 68.3% first-day gain, valuing the company at roughly $95 billion. The bigger picture: the AI chip market has completed a three-phase journey from near-Nvidia monopoly to genuine multi-competitor structure.
Trump Meets Xi: Vietnam's Exports Split in Two Directions
The S&P 500 hit a record 7,444 points on the evening of May 13, just as Trump landed in Beijing. But not every Vietnamese export stock will benefit through the same mechanism.
Warsh Confirmed as Fed Chair on the Day PPI Hit a 4-Year High
On May 13, the U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair with a 54-45 vote, while the April PPI came in at +1.4% month-over-month, the hottest reading since March 2022. Two independent events, one shared question: where is U.S. interest rate policy headed, and three transmission channels to Vietnam's market were already visible that same session.