Former Treasury Secretary Downplays Economic Recession Concerns, Calls Stock Market Pullback a Natural Phenomenon

According to a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the matter have disclosed that OceanBase, the distributed database subsidiary of Jack Ma-backed Ant Group, is seeking to raise capital, with discussions ongoing for a Series A financing round targeting approximately 2 billion to 3 billion yuan. The funds will enable the firm to operate more independently and support its expansion into the artificial intelligence (AI) database services sector. OceanBase was developed in 2010 to fulfill Ant Group’s internal database requirements. It is currently enhancing its AI analytics capabilities and improving its ability to process unstructured data such as video. The sources noted that the company’s recurring revenue surpassed $200 million in 2026, marking a 70% year-over-year increase, and it is expanding into markets across Southeast Asia, Japan, India, and Latin America, following a development trajectory similar to that of Databricks. IDC data shows OceanBase held the top spot in China’s distributed database market by market share in 2025. The firm is currently competing with industry players including Huawei and Tencent. In 2024, it established an independent board of directors and an employee equity incentive plan, as part of preparations for a future spin-off from Ant Group.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, as SKHX’s price continues to decline, gains from short positions have further expanded. The whale with the address starting with 0xEbE1 currently holds a floating profit of over $10 million from its SKHX short position, and has also accumulated approximately $1.23 million in funding fee income.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, SK Hynix’s stock continued to decline after the company released its earnings report this morning. As of press time, SKHX, Hyperliquid’s Korean stock mapping contract for SK Hynix, traded at $969.93, down roughly 11.0% in 24 hours. Less than an hour after the sharp drop, the platform recorded five positions (all long orders) worth over $1 million each—new, reopened or reversed—totaling 8,419.75 SKHX contracts, with a position value of around $8.167 million and a weighted average entry price of $981.15. SKHX has now fallen below the overall cost line of these whales, leaving all five long positions in unrealized losses totaling approximately $95,000. The latest liquidation price stands at $930.62, about 4.1% below the current level. Funding rates show bottom-fishing capital is rushing in: SKHX’s hourly funding rate hit -0.0855% at 7 AM this morning, turned positive immediately after the earnings release, and the current real-time estimate has risen to 0.0373%. Calculated at the current rate, a $1 million long position needs to pay roughly $373 per hour to short sellers. The rapid flip of funding rates to positive signals that long trades after the sharp drop have become significantly crowded, yet prices have yet to stabilize.

SK Hynix stated during its Q2 2026 earnings call that the company is negotiating with major clients on the scale and pricing of HBM supply for 2027. The negotiations are progressing smoothly, backed by strong client demand, though SK Hynix declined to disclose specific client contracts or pricing details at this time. The firm added that HBM pricing is not solely determined by traditional DRAM prices; instead, it is negotiated individually with each client, taking into account multiple factors including wafers, advanced processes, TSV, packaging, capacity investments, technical complexity, opportunity costs, and product value. Leveraging its advantages in technology, cost, mass production capability, and client partnerships, SK Hynix aims to maintain steady profitability in its HBM business, drive the continuous development of the AI ecosystem via product iteration and long-term collaborations, and achieve long-term sustainable growth.

Citrini analyst Jukan published an analysis noting that in the memory chip sector, the saying "don't trust anyone except Korean analysts" is not unfounded. He pointed out that Korea Investment Securities (KIS) is an experienced research institution in this field. Not only KIS, but also senior analysts from firms including Citigroup and Meritz have recently cut their earnings forecasts for SK Hynix.

According to a report by the Financial Times, as AI-related stocks have continued to plunge over the past two weeks, Wall Street banks have required some hedge funds to post additional collateral (margin) to maintain their existing leverage levels. Sources said banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have issued margin calls to funds with highly concentrated positions in specific sectors, with some of the requirements automatically triggered by risk control mechanisms activated by market volatility. Data shows the Nasdaq 100 index has fallen as much as 10% from its early-June all-time high, entering a technical correction zone; SanDisk and Intel have dropped 53% and 39% respectively from their year-to-date highs, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has declined roughly 25% cumulatively since the end of June. A prior Goldman Sachs report noted that total leverage among hedge funds in the first five months of this year saw its largest increase since records began in 2016, indicating many funds amplified their positions via borrowing amid the AI rally. Additionally, as of noon local time on Tuesday, long-short strategy hedge funds fell an average of 1.3%, and multi-strategy funds dropped 1.7%, marking one of their largest single-day declines since the 2020 COVID-era market volatility. Still, hedge funds as a whole have posted an average return of over 10% this year. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs disclosed that as of June 30, approximately 16% of its prime brokerage business’s risk exposure was directly linked to AI storage chip stocks.