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Trade Wars
China’s Economy Expanded 4.5% in Third Quarter, Powered by Exports
China’s economic growth picked up in the third quarter, recovering from a three-year low as booming exports mitigate a deepening economic slowdown at home. Gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the period between July and September compared with the same period a year earlier, according to official data released Monday. This is up from 4.3% last quarter, which marked the slowest growth since 2022, when the Covid-19 pandemic hammered the Chinese economy.
The artificial intelligence boom has fueled China’s manufacturing engine, driven by global demand for the chips and tech equipment needed to build data centers and expand computing power. “The export sector is the bright spot in the economy,” said Jeremy Zook, senior director at Fitch Ratings. China is “quite a huge beneficiary” of the global build-out of AI infrastructure, he said. But at home, the picture is gloomy. A protracted crash in property—which was a major driver of China’s growth for years—is a painful drag on the economy. Falling property prices erode household savings, making Chinese households unwilling to spend.
Read more at The WSJ
JPMorgan Chase’s First $5 Billion of Defense Investments - Robot Factories And Hypersonic Missiles
JPMorgan Chase has made $5 billion in startup investments in the first year of its U.S. security and resiliency initiative, the company said Monday, a faster-than-expected pace that indicates the bank is finding plentiful opportunities in emerging defense, manufacturing and supply chain firms. The bank, which last year said it would deploy $10 billion into startups over a decade, may expand the program beyond that initial dollar amount, JPMorgan co-President Doug Petno told CNBC in an interview. Most of those investments have yet to be disclosed, but two known stakes seem emblematic of the project’s mission to bolster companies that are needed for a more dangerous and chaotic era of geopolitics.
JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has taken direct stakes in defense-related startups Hadrian and Castelion. In August, the bank helped lead a $1.4 billion funding round for Hadrian, which builds automated factories that make parts for the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors. A California factory run by Hadrian has 10 robots for every human employee, according to the startup’s founder. Also in August, the bank was involved in a $1 billion funding round for Castelion, whose flagship product is a relatively low-cost hypersonic missile called Blackbeard. Castelion was founded in late 2022 by a group of former SpaceX engineers.
Read more at CNBC
Micron And Other Chip Stocks Spring Back To Life After Bruising Selloff
AI-linked stocks bounced back on Monday from a bruising selloff last week as yields on government bonds dropped and crude oil prices eased, while CoreWeave gained following a rating upgrade. Its shares were up 2.4% in choppy trading after losing a quarter of their value last week as the neocloud company's $50 billion debt triggered a crisis of confidence, sparking a global selloff across AI and tech stocks. Advanced Micro Devices’ is up 4%. Shares of Intel and Micron Technology, which have both been major beneficiaries of AI-driven demand so far this year, are climbed 4.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
"You could certainly see a dead cat bounce today and maybe some continuation tomorrow, but it doesn't change the fact that the bond market is very skeptical about continuing to finance this without demanding higher and higher yields," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital. The AI trade stumbled last week after a hot inflation reading raised bets for interest-rate hikes, fuelling concerns that heavily indebted AI companies could face higher borrowing costs. Morgan Stanley expects total AI investment to surge to $1.6 trillion in 2027 and $1.8 trillion in 2028.
Read more at Reuters
Lockheed Martin Plans To Expand Aerospace Operations In Colorado
Lockheed Martin plans to expand its Space division’s operations at existing facilities in Douglas County and Jefferson County, Colorado, adding up to 1,250 jobs over the next four years. The company, which researches, designs, develops and manufactures aerospace, defense and security systems, did not disclose the amount of money it will invest in the expansion.
The new positions will include cybersecurity engineers, software engineers, technicians and administrative services roles. The expansion is intended to support the company’s delivery of solutions for customers’ needs. The company’s existing Colorado operations support the production of weather, communications and GPS satellites, national defense systems and spacecraft, including vehicles developed for human and robotic space exploration.
Read more at Plant Services
Self-Driving Big Rigs Rack Up Miles, Just Don’t Tell Them to Back Up…Yet
Moving goods across the U.S. is getting more expensive, with fewer drivers and surging fuel costs. So the flat, straight stretch of I-45 between Dallas and Houston is serving as a lab for dozens of driverless big rigs, some without human drivers and others with one riding along, just in case. Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation expects to have 200 autonomous trucks on the road in Texas and nearby states by year’s end, up from about 30 today. Volvo Autonomous Solutions plans to roll out 300 autonomous trucks with Aurora and Waabi by the end of 2027 in Texas and Oklahoma. Aurora estimates that by 2030, 30,000 autonomous trucks could be on the roads.
Right now, a typical driverless truck run is best suited for the middle-mile. The truck drives itself from a depot to another where the trailer is unloaded or a human takes over for docking or the final mile. Driverless 18-wheelers can’t back up without a human driver, though the companies say they are working on that.
Read more at The WSJ
Turkish Airlines Books Hundreds of Engine Deliveries, MRO
Turkish Airlines and CFM International struck a memo of understanding for an expansive deal involving hundreds of LEAP-1B engines and long-term service. No costs have been indicated for the deal, but based on typical purchases and aftermarket services for the LEAP engine program it could be worth up to $10 billion for CFM International. The LEAP-1B is the Boeing-optimized variant of the LEAP high-bypass turbofan engine series developed by CFM - which is a joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines - to provide high fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and lower noise levels the Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, and COMAC C919 commercial jets.
The supply will include at least 200 engines plus spares to outfit the 100 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that Turkish Airlines ordered last month for its planned fleet expansion, an order that includes purchase options for 50 more aircraft - meaning another 100 engines plus spares.
Read more at American Machinist
Port of Savannah To Build 3.5M TEU Container Terminal
Georgia Ports Authority received approval for a new container terminal capable of handling 3.5 million TEUs from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to an Oct. 14 press release. The $2.3 billion Savannah Container Terminal will span 350 acres, with construction set to start in January 2028 and be completed in the mid-2030s. The new terminal will turn the Port of Savannah into a 12 million TEU gateway container port, per the release.
The Port of Savannah is also more than 60% through an expansion of its Ocean Terminal to handle 1.75 million TEUs annually, up from 200,000. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. For shippers transporting goods to markets such as Atlanta and Memphis, Tennessee, the port “provides a clear economic advantage compared to West Coast routes,” according to Chris Gaffney, managing director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
IEA Expects Tight Diesel Market in 2027 Despite Production Recovery
In its monthly oil market report published Wednesday, October 14, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global gasoil and diesel production should improve in the first quarter of 2027. This recovery would not be enough, however, to rebuild the volumes lost in 2026, and the organization warns that "the market will remain tight in 2027". The IEA attributes the tightening observed in the third quarter of 2026 to two simultaneous shocks. The war in the Middle East disrupted hydrocarbon exports, notably of petroleum products. The war between Russia and Ukraine increasingly targeted energy infrastructure, including Russian refineries.
According to the agency, global diesel production fell to 26.4 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2026, 1.5 million barrels per day lower than a year earlier. It puts third-quarter production at 27.2 million barrels per day, down 1.7 million barrels per day year on year. OECD diesel stocks reached 565 million barrels in July 2026, 5% below their pre-conflict level in the Middle East, according to the IEA. The agency estimates that the global diesel market shifted to a deficit of about 100,000 barrels per day in the third quarter of 2026, compared with a surplus of 880,000 barrels per day a year earlier.
Read more at Energy News
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