Federal Reserve Governor Jefferson: No Need to Hurry to Further Cut Interest Rates, Strong Economy Makes Caution Appropriate

On June 18, the total open interest for SPX and SPY options expiring June 19 topped $5.1 trillion, marking the largest nominal options expiration in SPX history. According to analysis, traders are currently in a neutral gamma position, meaning their hedging flows are far less likely to provide the typical market support that would otherwise cap volatility, which could lead to elevated swings across equities markets.

On June 18th, Coinbase confirmed via an official announcement that it has listed Re (RE).

June 18 — (via The New York Times) After SpaceX’s successful IPO, Wall Street is starting to bet big on a potential merger between the aerospace firm and Tesla. Investors, analysts, and even a senior SpaceX executive have been weighing the benefits of the deal across social media, research reports, and TV interviews, noting the two companies have long shared executives and resources while collaborating on multi-billion-dollar projects. In a post-IPO CNBC interview, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell suggested the merger “might make Musk’s life a little easier,” adding it would drive synergies in areas like AI, energy, and robotics. Legal experts flag a key risk: the deal would amount to Musk “doing a deal with himself,” which could spur shareholder lawsuits alleging harm to minority interests. Still, they say Texas law makes such challenges unlikely to succeed—both firms are registered in the Lone Star State, where corporate rules make it hard to overturn management decisions. Musk’s a

June 18: U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended June 13 came in at 226,000, right in line with the consensus forecast of 225,000. The prior week’s claims figure was revised upward from 229,000 to 230,000. Separately, the June Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index hit 10.3, beating economist expectations of 10 and rising sharply from the previous month’s reading of -0.4.

June 18: U.S. Vice President Harris is scheduled to host a press briefing at 11 a.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. Beijing Time).

On June 18, a social media user asked online: "When will China’s large-scale models reach the level of Anthropic’s Fable? Zhiku’s GLM-5.2 has undoubtedly narrowed this gap." Tesla CEO Musk replied: "Possibly in Q1 (2027)." On June 15, Zhiku officially announced the launch and open-sourcing of its next-generation flagship large-scale model, GLM-5.2. Several AI industry insiders believe Musk’s prediction is relatively conservative, noting the capability gap between Chinese and American models could be less than seven months. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, has also stated that Chinese AI models may only lag behind overseas counterparts by "a few months" in overall capabilities. --------------------------------- Click the original link below to join the BlockBeats · Feishu AI News Channel, where AI trends and news are monitored 24/7.