Akin to handing a beer to a raging alcoholic, I would like to introduce the LinkedIn warriors among us to the LinkedIn CringeBot 3000, which has been making the rounds across the internet.

In their own word: “Transform any topic into peak LinkedIn cringe”. Please, I’m begging for more posts about growth mindsets on my feed.

💸Nvidia Creates Payment Plan For Its Chips: Nvidia has signed agreements with the 6 biggest asset managers on Wall Street: BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Brookfield, and Goldman Sachs. Overall, Nvidia has created a $500 billion pipeline to finance AI companies and projects that need Nvidia chips/compute but don’t have the credit rating to borrow by themselves. Nvidia said it would guarantee 25% of the value of each project, but when you’re raising debt on behalf of other companies to purchase your product, it seems a bit risky. Interest on the debt is expected to be between 11% and 17% p.a., and analysts believe it leaves Nvidia exposed to being undercut by the cheaper (and more efficient) Chinese chip producers.

💸Anthropic Looks To IPO: Behind the scenes at Anthropic HQ, an IPO is brewing. Allegedly, Anthropic is laying the groundwork for what could be one of the biggest listings ever, with CFO Krishna Rao leading early meetings with prospective investors. So far, those discussions have reportedly steered clear of specific financials or valuation. That hasn’t stopped investors from doing the maths themselves: with Anthropic’s revenue run rate above US$47bn, some investors believe it could command a valuation of US$2tn or more, surpassing the US$1.77tn valuation SpaceX achieved in its record-breaking IPO in June.

💸U.S. Support Of The Yen Is An Epic Fail, Thus Far: Last time we checked in, the U.S. had joined Japan in buying yen to stop the currency from falling further. The move worked briefly, strengthening the yen from about ¥164 to ¥155 per dollar, but much of that gain has since been reversed, and the currency is back near ¥160. The reason why is, Japan’s 1% interest rate still makes it cheap to borrow in yen and invest in higher-yielding assets elsewhere, so some traders are using each intervention-driven rise in the yen as another chance to sell it. As one investor put it: “Intervention is a great opportunity to sell the yen at higher levels.”

💸July Inflation Cools: US CPI and trimmed mean CPI from the month of July signalled an economy that was not as hot as expected, with inflation squarely hitting expectations. CPI came in at 3.4%, rising only 0.1% month on month, whereas trimmed mean CPI came in at 2.6%. This is likely, in part, due to falling natural gas prices (falling 20% since July) due to high levels of US production and the amount in storage hitting all-time highs. All signs seem to point to a rate hold at the next Fed meeting in September.

🏛️Weekly Updates At The Strait: Pretty quiet week at the Strait this week. Trump said the U.S. naval blockade has given Washington “total control” of the waterway, calling it a “WALL OF STEEL” and adding, “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT,” a claim Iran rejected by saying commercial ships still need its permission for safe passage. Traffic remains far below normal, showing that neither side’s claim of control has translated into a return to normal shipping.

🏛️So, Who Is Count Binface: Count Binface, a satirical “intergalactic space warrior” played by Oxford-educated comedian Jon Harvey, became the unlikely star of a special election in Clacton, a seaside town in eastern England, after winning 9,455 votes against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Farage triggered the vote himself by resigning as the local MP amid scrutiny of his finances, then running to win the same seat back. Binface celebrated online by joking that he had come first among the candidates who actually showed up for the result, while Farage still won comfortably with 22,239 votes after Britain’s major parties sat out the race.

🏛️Update On The “Discrimination” at Harvard: A US District Court Judge dismissed the US Government’s lawsuit against Harvard University for not presently violating any civil-rights law. The judge ruled on Thursday that there was not “sufficient evidence of ongoing institutionalized racial discrimination at Harvard”. The Trump administration previously brought the suit alleging there was racial discrimination in the admissions process and broad antisemitism following the October 7th attack by Hamas.

🏛️Tariff Refunds Hitting the Bottom Line: Over the past few weeks, companies have been reporting the impact of tariff refunds on their profit margin. Of the $166 billion a federal judge ordered the administration to repay, approximately half has been paid out. Apple got $2.2 billion, Amazon got $600 million, and Nike got $300 million so far; however, despite consumers paying higher prices due to tariffs, they will see none of the tariff refunds. Amazon has said they will “proactively reach out to affected consumers” and refund where there was an explicit upcharge due to tariffs, but for the most part it seems like a good day for the company.

💼Just How Much AI Debt is there? Most investors (retail or institutional) are quick to ask that very question when investing in the hyperscalers; however, it seems to be good news, as most of them seem to have more cash than debt. However, when taking into account joint ventures, special purpose vehicles, and leases that have not yet commenced, there is an additional USD$1 trillion debt (with a “t”) that is not on the balance sheet of these public companies. And no, this is not illegal; it’s just very creative and very legal accounting. For a bit of a deep dive into why this is the way it is, click on the link above for an article that explains it further.

💼David Ellison Gives California An Ultimatum: David Ellison is reportedly threatening to pull Paramount out of California on Oct. 1 unless there is progress in a legal battle over his USD$110bn Warner Bros. Discovery takeover. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading 11 other state attorney-generals in trying to block the deal, arguing that combining two of Hollywood’s five major film distributors would give Paramount too much power over movies and cable TV, potentially leading to higher prices and fewer releases.

💼Shein IPO?: Shein is considering an IPO with a USD$30 bn valuation on the HKEX (Hong Kong) as soon as August 28, according to Bloomberg, and it will be looking to raise $2 to $3 bn. Shein has previously considered IPO’ing in New York and London prior to considering Hong Kong, but Chinese and US regulators (for NY) did not approve the listing. Shein is now trying to position itself as a peer to major fast-fashion retailers such as Zara-owner Inditex and H&M, after reporting net income of around $2.0 bn in 2025.

💼Mickey Mouse Rings: Just 14 months after Mark Walter and co. bought a majority stake in the Lakers at a US$10bn valuation, Walter has now agreed to sell his stake to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and investor Joshua Kushner (Jared Kushner’s lil bro), in a deal valued at US$12.5bn. If approved, that would set a new record valuation for a professional sports franchise. The Buss family, which owned the Lakers for more than four decades, will keep their remaining shares, and Jeanie Buss is expected to stay on as team governor. The deal still needs NBA approval.

🫣Immortal Pets: Now that people are having fewer kids and want to live longer with “anti-aging” tech, they figure their pets can also benefit. Some people are giving their pets peptide shots, microdoses of anti-aging drug rapamycin, or red light therapy. While pet science is still catching up, spending on our furry friends (at least in the US) is forecast to hit $165 billion this year alone. While veterinarians aren’t too pleased with this approach, they’re also aware it is hard for pet owners to stop.

🫣Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Hits Columbia: On Monday, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit western Columbia; over 12,000 homes were destroyed, with 74,000 damaged by the quake. While the search continues, 379 people are missing, and 3,971 people were injured. The search and rescue team was joined by 40 US personnel, thermal-capable drones, and canine units to help look for people trapped under the rubble. Columbia’s President declared it a national emergency and requested humanitarian aid.

🫣Air India New “High” Altitude Safety: Air India is now drug-testing all pilots after the captain of an August 4 Phuket-to-Delhi flight reportedly tested positive for marijuana following a 300-foot midair drop. The Airbus A320neo landed safely, but the incident, which injured 24 people, prompted an investigation. The new policy goes well beyond India’s rule requiring random tests for just 10% of flight crews each year.

🫣Luigi Pleads Guilty: “I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Luigi Mangione told a federal judge as he pleaded guilty to two stalking charges from the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. Mangione said years of severe back pain and frustration with the U.S. health-insurance system contributed to his actions, and he now faces up to life in federal prison. His lawyers are also trying to dismiss a separate New York murder and weapons case under the state’s double-jeopardy law, arguing that his federal plea means he should not be prosecuted again for charges based on the same killing.

~ The Weekly Charge Team ❤️🐮