Markets largely slid sideways in the usually quiet end of the month of August. There was news though, including the last of Mag 7earnings (NVDA), political turmoil in France, PCE for July, and th usual list of Trump matters.

This week had a double trade war "positive" for investors, excellent earnings, strong earnings and a favourable outlook from Nvidia, the 2025 Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, the release of minutes from the last FOMC meeting, and a poor Japanese 40y bond auction.

This is a very brief update for the Mag 7 stocks for 1Q2025, all of which were down, several sharply. It is not getting better either!

Market volatility is increasing due to erratic US government policies. Bonds, gold, and foreign stocks are the place to hide.

DeepSeek wrecks outlook for AI companies; Mag 7 companies MSFT, META, TSLA and AAPL report earnings; FOMC expected to hold rates

Equities were better in the US and Europe. UST yields were marginally changed. Gold and Bitcoin soared to record highs. The Dollar was up

US stocks and gold hit more record highs. S&P 500 earnings mixed: banks strong, chip companies mixed, luxury struggles.

This article takes a quick look at the semi-conductor value-chain, including chip designers, fabricators and chip machinery makers.

Tech companies drove the 7% return of the S&P 500 in the 1Q23. Without the "magnificent seven", the index would have been flattish.