Trade Wins, Dollar Dips, and Baidu's AI Bombshell

Money Masters' Market Kickoff Week 27

June 30, 2025

In partnership with

Dear Money Master,

June closed with a whirlwind of events 🌪️ — the U.K. clinched a key trade win, Canada scrapped its digital tax, and China’s factories continued to shrink despite stimulus. Over in tech, Baidu rocked the AI world by open-sourcing its ERNIE model 🤖, igniting talk of a global AI pricing war. Meanwhile, Nvidia insiders offloaded $1B+ in stock, even as Micron soared on record AI-driven chip sales. Despite global uncertainty, the Nasdaq 100 hit fresh highs 📈.

In today’s 🔥 Article of the Day, Efficient Frontier Investing shares their exclusive July market view, typically reserved for private clients. From dollar weakness and rising deficits to renewed volatility signals, this expert analysis breaks down the contradictions shaping global markets.

📰 Your Daily Financial Digest - June 30th, 2025

🌍 Economics & Finance:

  1. UK Clinches Auto Tariff Relief in U.S. Deal 🚗
    A new trade pact makes the U.K. the first nation to gain tariff relief under Trump’s reciprocal trade policy. The first 100K U.K. vehicles now face a 10% tariff, instead of 50%, making U.S. exports viable again. Read More

  2. Canada Pulls Back Digital Services Tax Amid U.S. Pressure 💻
    Ottawa rescinds its 3% digital services tax targeting U.S. tech giants to resume trade talks, halting $2B in retroactive levies. Read More

  3. China’s Factory Activity Still Shrinking, Despite Stimulus 🏭
    PMI rose slightly to 49.7, marking the third straight month of contraction. Exports show signs of life post-U.S. truce, but deflation and job cuts cloud the outlook. Read More

  4. China Resumes Rare Earth Exports, But Doubts Linger ⛏️
    A new U.S.-China framework eases short-term magnet shortages, but transparency and IP risks remain high as firms report invasive licensing demands. Read More

💻 Technology:

  1. Baidu Open Sources ERNIE, Shaking AI Market 🔓
    China’s Baidu will gradually open-source its top language model, challenging the pricing models of OpenAI and Anthropic, and potentially cutting enterprise AI costs. Read More

  2. Nvidia Insiders Dump Over $1B in Shares 📉
    Executives sold $500M worth of stock in June, bringing the year’s total to $1B, even as Nvidia retains its crown as the world’s most valuable firm. Read More

  3. CATL Expands Globally With Battery Swaps 🔋
    China’s battery giant raised $5.2B via IPO to fund European factories and EV battery-swapping infrastructure, making a bold push amid tight margins at home. Read More

  4. Reddit Sues Anthropic Over Data Scraping ⚖️
    The platform argues the AI firm scraped user posts without permission, triggering a legal fight over data ownership in the age of large language models. Read More

💹Earnings:

  1. Micron Shatters Revenue Records on AI Memory Demand 💾
    With revenue up 37% YoY to $9.3B, Micron forecasts even stronger Q4 numbers thanks to data center growth and Nvidia-driven AI chip orders. Read More

  2. Cyngn Stock Soars on Nvidia Partnership 🤖
    Shares jumped 20% Friday after a deal to build self-driving industrial vehicles using Nvidia’s Isaac robotics platform. Read More

  3. H&M Sees Summer Sales Lift, Warns on Tariffs 🛍️
    June sales rose 3%, but tariff uncertainty clouds outlook. The retailer plans 200 closures in mature markets and 80 new stores in growth regions. Read More

🔍 Article of the Day: July Market View from Efficient Frontier Investing

"Dollar Dips, Markets Climb: The Contradictions of June" 💹
This exclusive outlook, typically reserved for Efficient Frontier’s private network, offers a sharp take on a volatile month. Despite geopolitical shocks, the Nasdaq 100 surged while the U.S. dollar slid nearly 10% YTD.

AI portfolios outperformed, and the Swiss franc remained the world’s strongest currency. Global growth projections were slashed to the lowest since 2008 (excluding recessions).

👉 Read the full expert insight in the Money Masters app.

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