Table of Contents

• President Joe Biden

• CrowdStrike

• Nvidia

Top Stories Today

Economy & Finance

President Joe Biden

U.S. stocks advanced on Monday as investors reassessed the presidential race following President Joe Biden's announcement that he will not seek a second term, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris instead. This news led to a slight decline in predictions for a Trump victory, impacting trades and easing inflation concerns. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite recovered some losses from the previous week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also turned positive. Key tech stocks like Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Tesla saw gains, while Trump-linked stocks had mixed results. Biden's exit has prompted market speculation about potential fiscal policies under a new administration, adding to the volatility in the lead-up to the election.

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike shares fell by as much as 13% on Monday morning as the company continued efforts to assist clients in recovering from a significant outage that affected millions of Microsoft Windows devices last week. The issue stemmed from a faulty update to CrowdStrike's Falcon software, which led to crashes in PCs, servers, and display screens, disrupting flights and medical appointments. This incident affected 8.5 million Windows devices. Hackers exploited the confusion by creating fake update websites. On Sunday, CrowdStrike began testing a faster fix for the affected systems. Despite the company's efforts, Guggenheim Securities downgraded CrowdStrike to neutral, citing potential long-term impacts on its image and customer signings. Goldman Sachs, however, maintained a buy rating but anticipated delays in closing deals.

Technology

Nvidia

Nvidia is developing a China-specific version of its flagship AI chips to comply with U.S. export controls. The new "B20" chips, part of the Blackwell series, are set for release in 2025 in partnership with Chinese distributor Inspur. This move comes amid tightening U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to China, which have affected Nvidia's revenue from the Chinese market. Nvidia's current H20 chip, also tailored for China, is seeing rapid sales growth, countering competition from Chinese firms like Huawei. Shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% following the news.

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