Preview of US Stock Market | Three major stock index futures rise together, Meta and AMD reach a $600 billion strategic alliance.

1. On February 24th (Tuesday) before the US stock market, the futures of the three major US stock indexes rose together. As of press time, Dow Jones futures rose by 0.23%, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.15%, and Nasdaq futures rose by 0.33%. 2. As of press time, the Germany DAX index fell by 0.08%, the UK FTSE 100 index fell by 0.10%, the France CAC40 index rose by 0.03%, and the European Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.07%. 3. As of press time, WTI crude oil rose by 0.23%, to $66.46 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose by 0.13%, to $71.20 per barrel. Market News Citrini's "Dystopian Report" reshapes AI investments: "AI Doomsday Narrative" in the US, Alpha in the Asian Computational Link. Citrini Research recently released the "2028 AI Doomsday Prediction" - a comprehensive envisioning of a dystopian AI future shaped by artificial intelligence. The institution predicts that in 2028, despite the global AI productivity soaring beyond expectations, a "global economic plague" will occur due to the complete disruption of white-collar employment, leading to panic in the global financial markets. Several market sectors, from software to wealth management and logistics, experienced panic selling due to this "2028 AI Doomsday Prediction report," with investors becoming more fearful of the performance impact that AI intelligent agent tools like Claude Cowork and OpenClaw may bring, entering a "shoot first, ask later" selling mode. AI "Horror Story" Bloodbath on US Stocks Again: An "Imaginary" Essay on 2028 Triggered Panic, IBM's Largest Drop in 25 Years. On Monday, "panic trading" around artificial intelligence (AI) once again erupted, increasing concerns about the disruptive power of AI, dragging down the stock prices of express delivery, payment, and software companies, and causing IBM (IBM.US) to experience its largest single-day drop in 25 years. This selling began with a small institution named Citrini Research releasing a pessimistic report over the past weekend. The report outlined the risks that AI may bring to various sectors of the global economy by setting an imaginary scenario in June 2028. In this scenario, the disruptive impact of AI leads to a large number of white-collar job losses, a decrease in consumer spending, defaults on software-supported loans, and economic contraction. "AI Disruption Everything" Sweeps the Stock Market, Where is a Safe Haven? The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. provides a keyword: HALO. The strategists at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. suggest that stock prices of heavy asset-intensive companies with tangible production assets are significantly outperforming the global stock market. This is mainly because global investors, including hedge funds and individual investors, are actively seeking safe havens to avoid the "AI Disruption Everything" storm. They are shifting their investment focus to stocks in the HALO (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence - focusing on heavy asset-intensive and low AI replacement risk) category. The "HALO effect" quoted by Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in their research report is not the commonly known "halo effect" in psychology, but refers to companies whose value comes mainly from high replicable costs, long life cycle physical assets/core capabilities/manufacturing networks/infrastructure. Trump's New 10% Global Tariff Officially Implements, US "Tariff Wall" Enters Reconstruction Phase. The new 10% global tariff implemented by US President Trump took effect on Tuesday. Previously, the Supreme Court had denied his previous comprehensive tariff plan. This new tariff marks the White House's new efforts to continue the president's trade agenda. Just hours after the Supreme Court ruling last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order authorizing the 10% import tax. He had earlier threatened to raise this figure to 15%, but as of early Tuesday morning in Washington, he had not officially issued the directive to increase the tax rate. A government official revealed that the White House is preparing a formal order to raise the global tariff rate to 15%, with the schedule for implementing the higher tariff rate yet to be finalized. Individual Stock News Home Depot, Inc. (HD.US) Q4 revenue and profits beat expectations. Driven by solid demand, Home Depot, Inc.'s key sales indicators exceeded expectations, but the retailer also warned of ongoing macro challenges. The financial report showed that Home Depot, Inc. had revenue of $38.2 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3.8% year-on-year decrease, exceeding expectations by $100 million; adjusted earnings per share were $2.72, surpassing expectations by $0.20. In the fiscal quarter ending on February 1st, same-store sales performance for stores open at least a year increased by 0.4%, exceeding the average expected value. Meta (META.US) and AMD (AMD.US) reach a strategic alliance worth $60 billion. Global social media giant Meta platform company announced a strategic partnership agreement with semiconductor giant AMD (AMD.US) that is of significant industry milestone significance. According to official plans disclosed by both parties, Meta has pledged to purchase up to $60 billion worth of AI chips and related data center hardware from AMD over the next five years, aiming to build a solid computational foundation for its expanding AI empire. This move signifies Meta's transition from a mere hardware buyer to a strategic partner deeply involved in the supply chain, bringing AMD the largest single order in history and officially heralding the transition of the AI chip market from "monopoly" to "duopoly." Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is more confident in the Mac Mini plan in Houston than the Mac Pro plan in Austin. Apple Inc. is expanding its factory in Houston to assemble Mac Mini desktop computers. Under pressure from the Trump administration, Apple Inc. promised to invest $60 billion in the US over the next four years. David Tom, Apple Inc.'s global sourcing manager, stated that this commitment also includes Apple Inc.'s plans to purchase over 100 million chips from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR Arizona factory this year. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B (NVO.US) potential weight-loss drug successful in mid-term trial in China, with nearly 20% weight reduction. An experimental drug authorized last year by Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B (NVO.US) showed significant weight loss in a mid-term study in China, aiding the company in its efforts to search for new products to sustain its growth in the obesity market. Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B's partner in China, United Laboratories International, reported that obese and overweight Chinese subjects experienced weight loss of up to 19.7% after 24 weeks of taking the drug. In comparison, subjects taking the placebo only lost an average of 2%. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) invests $12 billion in Louisiana for data center construction to meet cloud computing and AI demand. Amazon.com, Inc. announced on Monday that it will invest $12 billion in the construction of its first batch of data center facilities in Louisiana, USA, to support its cloud computing and artificial intelligence businesses. US mega-scale cloud service providers are vying for dominance and investing billions of dollars into data center infrastructure to enhance computing capabilities, which is crucial to support the development of artificial intelligence. Important Economic Data and Events Outlook 11:00 Beijing Time: US February Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index 05:30 the next day Beijing Time: US Crude Oil Inventory Change (in thousands of barrels) for the week ending February 20 21:00 Beijing Time: 2027 FOMC Voter, Chicago Fed President Gulsby Speech 21:00 Beijing Time: 2027 FOMC Voter, Atlanta Fed President Bostick speaks at the 42nd Annual Economic Policy Conference of the National Association for Business Economics 22:00 Beijing Time: Boston Fed President Collins delivers opening remarks at an event 22:00 Beijing Time: 2027 FOMC Voter, Atlanta Fed President Bostick speaks 22:10 Beijing Time: Fed Governor Waller delivers remarks 22:35 Beijing Time: Fed Governor Lisa Cook speaks on AI 00:00 the next day Beijing Time: Apple Inc. holds its online Annual Shareholders Meeting 04:15 the next day Beijing Time: Richmond Fed President Barkin and Boston Fed President Collins jointly attend a group meeting TBD: US President Trump delivers the State of the Union Address Earnings Forecast Wednesday morning: HP Inc. (HPQ.US), HSBC (HSBC.US) Wednesday pre-market: Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW.US)