Tuesday’s Final Takeaways: Trade Deficit Widens, Moonshot AI & DeepSeek Funding Latest

Close. I'm Marley Kayden here in Chicago alongside Sam Vodice at the New York Stock Exchange. We gave you those results fromnn a ten minutes after they released those results to us, they announced that they are irik spirit based brand c Spike Aid. S they'll be adding to their offerings. That's also a conversation won the Market Matters podcast with Martin Ludwig from IWS about how those ready to drink dri are the future of the beverage industry. So take a listen to that. But as farr takeaways for today, the U.S. trade deficit rea standing out to me, widening sharply in August, hitting $105.6 billion. That was up 13.7% from July and the largest gap since March of 2025. Imports jumped 4.3% to a record $420.8 billion. That was outpacing a 1.4% increase in exports to $billion, with higher imports ofde oil, gold and semiconductors helping drive that increase. The data notable because the widening deficit comes despi administ's tariffs, which were intended in part to reduce America's reliance on foreign goods. The bigger economic question now is how much the surge in imports, reflecting strong domestic demand and business investment, will weigh on third quarter GDP. Also oil standing out to me, iid pull back earlier the session. We had Brant hovering around 101. It's now about 100. Now it's about 101 WTI holding right about $89. As we saw Gulf crude shipments excluding Iran rebo to more than 80% of pre-war levels. That was helped by Saudirabia's increased use of alternative export routes and pipelines that bypass some shipping bottlenecks. But the geopolitical risk pmium has not disappeared. Nearly 20 commercial vessels, mostly oil tankers, have been attacked inoz over the past month, highli just how vulnerable globa energy flows remain even as exports are recovering. The key takeaway here is that oil is being pulled in two directions improving exports or easing feae supply shock. While persistent geopolitical tensions are keep floor under prices. That matters not jus energy stocks, buto for inflation. For interest rates. The broader market, especially with crude hovering around that psychologically important $100 level oil and yields always top of conversation for us. It seems like every day, Sam, but what stuck out to you on the session? tely. And just chuck a bit of AI in there. Why don't we p going on in China's startup space today, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, deep sea reportedly now closing t least $12 billion in its latest funding round. That'sording to Bloomberg. It says the Chinese battery maker, porary Amperex and Tencent are among the biggest backers of the money. latest round of funding is said to be bigger than its own target, and comes ahead of an expected IPO in early 2027. It underscores t enormous amount of c needed to bankroll its ambitions as China looks to compete with th US. Meanwhile, its rival moonshot h reportedly closed itsinal round of fundraising at a valuation ofghly $50 billion prepares for its public offering in Hong in the first quarter. Bloomberg saying the company is looking to gauge investor appet through early meetingstarting this month. It's one of the most hotly anticipated IPOs in Hong Kong. It's reportedly looking to raise up to $5 billion i deal, and the onsh Chinese markets will reopen after a week long holiday tomorrow. So I will be keeping an eye on some of those technstocks, particularly after Huawei also just got that validation from Qualcomm's licensing deal this week. But heading into tomorrow, Molly, what are you going to be looking out for? Well, we'll get a look at the minutes from the last FOMC meeting. Some more insight into thought process behind that September hike. Fed watchers looking for anyes about the metrics that the fed is using when it's making its decisions rightow, and also what it's considering when it comes to how many more hikes could be in store. There was some comments about the fed being more accommodative going forward, but whether orot this current rally affecting some of that accommodation, I think we'll be looking for some, Sam? What are you looking for? Yeah. As KG has been also pointing out this week, the ten year note auction is going to be interesting tomorro Just obviously, given that bonds have been stealing the show, it'll be on the same day as the fed minutes. S'll certainly be looking at that. But Spiked Aid, a vodka based sports drink. I'm just wondering how many instances you would need both of those things. Molly drunk athletics. I'm not sure. We'll see if that takes off, but thatn market close for Sam Bardis I'm Marley