Castle Securities: The Forces Driving US Stocks to New Highs Remain Solid

An FBI agent was arrested last Friday on suspicion of stealing approximately $1 million in crypto assets from "hostile crypto accounts". The affidavit states that Patrick Yaroch began transferring funds in late 2024 or early 2025. After discovering he could control the keys to the relevant digital wallets, he made around 12 transfers. Yaroch, a former senior special agent in the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at FBI Headquarters, previously worked at the Boston Field Office and was fired on July 31. He told investigators that he mixed his personal funds with the crypto assets involved, admitting to "making some very bad decisions" regarding crypto wallets. The FBI noted that Yaroch used ChatGPT for advice on how to dispose of or invest the $1 million, and on moving to a European country. Based on his family situation, his need to purchase a 2 to 5 hectare estate, and his interest in collecting vintage wine, ChatGPT listed Portugal as the top choice. The affidavit also shows Yaroch has purchased round-trip tickets to Portugal for September 3. Court documents indicate Yaroch has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, as well as receiving stolen goods, securities, and funds.

According to Bitget data, South Korea’s KOSPI index opened 1.24% higher at 6335.15 points. SK Hynix rose more than 3%, while Samsung gained over 2%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index opened 0.30% higher at 63948.13 points.

According to Bloomberg, digital asset brokerage FalconX has laid off 10% of its global workforce amid a potentially prolonged crypto market downturn. People familiar with the matter said roughly half of staff at its Singapore office were cut, including senior executives, sales and accounting personnel. FalconX is adjusting its Singapore business strategy to focus on crypto derivatives trading that does not require relevant licenses, and plans to withdraw its license application submitted to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The company stated it will reallocate resources to its core business lines while retaining its Asia-Pacific operations and expanding its regulated business in Europe. FalconX currently has around 350 employees globally, with 7 offices located in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and other locations. Over the past 18 months, the firm has acquired derivatives startup Arbelos Markets, crypto exchange-traded product issuer 21Shares, and blockchain trading and network technology company bloXroute. FalconX is the latest crypto firm to implement layoffs, following Crypto.com, Coinbase and Gemini. The report noted the industry is facing a prolonged bear market, cost pressures and impacts from advances in AI technology. Since its founding in 2018, FalconX has facilitated approximately $2.5 trillion in trading volume, and closed a $150 million Series D funding round in 2022 at an $8 billion valuation.

US authorities recently stated that to support the yen’s exchange rate, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) likely deployed around $87 billion (equivalent to 11 trillion yen) in its latest round of foreign exchange intervention. According to calculations based on the BOJ’s latest money market data, the central bank likely used $53 billion on July 30 and $34 billion on July 31 for the intervention, totaling $87 billion (11 trillion yen) to buy yen and prop up its exchange rate. (CCTV)

US President Donald Trump criticized ExxonMobil and Chevron for reaping massive profits amid the Iran war-driven surge in energy prices, saying the two firms "made too much money" and should return a portion of their earnings to the public and lower retail gasoline prices. ExxonMobil and Chevron posted combined second-quarter profits of $29 billion, averaging roughly $318 million per day—more than triple their year-ago results. The Strait of Hormuz crisis lifted oil prices, while refining margins for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel expanded. US retail gasoline currently averages around $4.10 per gallon, up over 30% from earlier this year before US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Trump said he supports the free enterprise system but cannot accept the oil industry’s current profit levels. He argued that if a company earns 12 times more than the prior year, it should return some profits to the public, and demanded oil companies voluntarily cut consumer costs until the Iran war ends and energy prices retreat. On Monday, Chevron’s stock fell approximately 2%, while ExxonMobil dropped 0.6%. Analysts noted that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has hit its lowest level since the early 1980s, and commercial crude inventories are also shrinking. Neither the government nor oil firms have tools to quickly lower oil prices, with reopening the Strait of Hormuz cited as the key to restoring global supply and driving prices down.

According to DigiTimes, the full-year 2027 production capacity of DRAM and HBM has been fully pre-sold. While NAND flash supply is less tight than DRAM, its 2027 capacity bookings are also expected to be fully completed by the end of this month. Industry chain sources said some companies have not publicly acknowledged the need to lock in storage supplies within this month, fearing that as more manufacturers join the capacity competition, their own allocated quotas will further decrease. Currently, storage manufacturers typically only deliver 60% to 70% of the initial quantity requested by customers, prioritizing the needs of cloud service providers and large AI enterprises. As a result, the amount of DRAM that smartphone and PC manufacturers will be able to obtain in 2027 is expected to drop significantly compared to 2026. DigiTimes noted that with capacity almost fully sold out, companies that have not yet finalized their procurement volumes may face a more severe "can't buy even if they want to" situation next year. The report also stated that high storage prices will become the norm. As capacity competition eases, the price increase in 2027 may be lower than the sharp rises seen previously, but the overall supply gap and the cost pressure borne by end-product industries will remain difficult to alleviate in the short term.