Greek Recovery Shows South Europe Outpacing North, Premier Says

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman released a public letter to the company's 100,000-person workforce on Thursday morning, revealing that more than 13,000 job cuts will begin today. The timing is optically displeasing, coming just one week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Today, we will begin reducing our workforce by more than 13,000 employees across the organization, and significantly reduce our outsourced and other outside labor expenses," Schulman wrote in the letter.

Schulman said Verizon established a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for departing workers, focused on training, digital skills, and job placement in the era of artificial intelligence.

"This fund will focus on skill development, digital training and job placement to help our people take their next steps. Verizon is the first company to set up a fund to specifically focus on the opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI," the CEO noted.

Schulman's letter comes one week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon was planning about 15% in job cuts, or about 15,000 workers.

Bloomberg's latest data suggests that 13,000 job cuts equal about 13% of its roughly 100,000-person workforce. WSJ notes this would be the largest workforce reduction on record for the carrier.

Also, last week, Verizon chairman Mark Bertolini told CNBC's Becky Quick on "Squawk Box" that the company needs to "do something different" as it undergoes its leadership change.

Separate but notable...

So we guess that the "something different" is making 13,000 workers have a miserable holiday season.

Source: Zero Hedge

Wall Street futures inched higher on Thursday evening, steadying after a whipsaw session that ended with deep losses as an earnings-driven rally in Nvidia reversed course, while investors further priced out bets on a December interest rate cut.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell slightly further in aftermarket trade, following a 3.1% loss during the main session as investors soured on its third quarter earnings. Losses in Nvidia spilled over into broader tech shares, amid growing concerns over an artificial intelligence-fueled bubble.

Sectors beyond tech also lost ground as strong September payrolls data spurred bets that resilience in the labor market will give the Federal Reserve even less impetus to cut interest rates.

S&P 500 Futures rose nearly 0.3% to 6,576.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.2% to 24,186.25 points by 19:40 ET (00:40 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.3% to 45,970.0 points.

Markets took some support from President Donald Trump signing an order to lower U.S. import tariffs on some Brazilian agrigoods, which could help lower food costs in the country.

Wall St slumps on Nvidia reversal as AI valuation fears persist

Wall Street indexes tumbled on Thursday, logging wild swings as investors digested Nvidia's earnings.

While the top and bottom line figures were strong, some analysts raised concerns about Nvidia's rapidly growing inventories, while comments from management did little to quell broader concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble and circular investing.

Investor Michael Burry, famous for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, also criticized Nvidia's earnings, and warned that true end demand for AI was far less than what valuations were suggesting.

Nvidia slid 3% after initially rising 5%, logging a nearly $400 billion swing in valuation. The stock fell 0.2% in aftermarket trade.

Beyond Nvidia, positive earnings from top retailer Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) offered some support, with the stock rallying 6.5% during the main session.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6% to 6,538.97 points on Thursday. The NASDAQ Composite slid 2.2% to 22,078.05 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 45,752.26 points. All three indexes have fallen for five of the past six sessions.

Dec rate cut bets recede after strong payrolls data

Wall Street was also pressured by investors further scaling back bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December. This notion was furthered chiefly by stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data for September.

Strength in the labor market and sticky inflation give the Fed less impetus to cut interest rates further. The minutes of the Fed's October meeting, released earlier this week, also showed policymakers largely split over a December cut.

Markets are pricing in a 31% chance for a 25 basis point cut in December, down from 45.8% last week, CME Fedwatch showed.

Morgan Stanley analysts said they no longer expected a December cut, after Thursday's payrolls reading.

Source: Investing

The growth in Singapore's key exports is expected to moderate in 2026 to 0 per cent to 2 per cent as tariff impact materialises and frontloading eases, Enterprise Singapore said on Nov 21.

The trade agency also narrowed its 2025 forecast for growth in non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) to around 2.5 per cent, from its previous forecast range of 1 to 3 per cent.

In its quarterly review of trade performance, EnterpriseSG noted that the World Trade Organisation expects global trade growth to fall to 0.5 per cent in 2026 from 2.4 per cent in 2025.

"This slowdown primarily reflects the materialisation of tariff-related impact and the easing of frontloading effects," said the agency.

"Downside risks include potential re-escalation of tariff actions as well as sector-specific tariffs that could raise global economic uncertainty and dampen demand," it added.

In the third quarter, Singapore's key exports fell 3.3 per per cent from a year ago after a 7 per cent increase in the second quarter. Non-electronic shipments shrank while electronics grew at a slower pace.

Exports of electronic products grew 7.1 per cent year on year. Personal computers expanded 69.5 per cent, integrated circuits grew 9.2 per cent while disk drives were up 16.5 per cent.

Non-electronic shipments fell 6.5 per cent in the third quarter, dragged down by food preparations (-39.4 per cent), petrochemicals (-21.2 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (-9.3 per cent).

Key exports to the United States tumbled 30.7 per cent, while those to Indonesia dropped 29.3 per cent. Nodx to China fell 8.3 per cent.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Nov 21 that Singapore's GDP growth forecast for 2025 has been upgraded from "1.5 to 2.5 per cent" to "around 4.0 per cent". It largely reflects the better-than-expected performance of the Singapore economy in the third quarter of 2025.

But growth is expected to slow to 1 per cent to 3 per cent in 2026.

Source: Straitstimes

The recent downward pressure on the cryptocurrency market could be the result of deep holes in the balance sheets of market makers, according to Tom Lee, chairman of Ether treasury company BitMine.

Speaking with CNBC on Thursday, Lee suggested that the Oct. 10 market crash, which saw a record $20 billion liquidated from the market, ultimately caught some market makers off-guard, causing severe liquidity issues.

With less capital to operate, combined with reduced capital from traders as their primary source of revenue, it's a tough time for market makers, Lee said. As a result, this has also led them to shrink their "balance sheet further" in a bid to free up more capital.

"And if they've got a hole in their balance sheet that they need to raise capital, they need to reflexively reduce their balance sheet, reduce trading. And if prices fall, they've got to then do more selling. So I think that this drip that's been taking place for the last few weeks in crypto reflects this market maker crippling," he said.

Tom Lee offers his current read on the market. Source: CNBC

Lee, who is also the co-founder of Fundstrat, likened the importance of crypto market makers to "central banks" and suggested that the market may face more pain for a few more weeks until the market makers' liquidity issues are resolved.

"Today's stock market looks a lot like an echo of what happened on October 10th. But on October 10th, that liquidation was so big [...] it really crippled market makers," he said, adding:

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at over $121,000 before the Oct. 10 crash, and has since declined back to $86,900, with most of the market following a similar pattern.

Lee said there may be another couple of weeks of market maker unwinding before the market starts to heal, as he pointed to a similar occurrence from 2022:

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

The US Justice Department has charged four people in a scheme to illegally export Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, prompting a key House Republican to call for urgent passage of a chip-tracking bill on Thursday.

"China recognises the superiority of American AI innovation and will do whatever it must to catch up," said John Moolenaar, the chair of the US House Select Committee on China. "That's why the bipartisan Chip Security Act is urgently needed."

The legislation, which Moolenaar introduced in May and has 30 cosponsors, would require location verification for chips, make it mandatory for chipmakers to report and share information about potential diversion, and look at additional ways to stop US chips from ending up in the wrong hands.

The case highlights the challenges Washington faces in enforcing its sweeping restrictions on high-tech exports to China, which are designed to hobble Beijing's military development and keep the US ahead on technology. China has criticised US export curbs as part of a campaign to weaponise economic and trade issues.

The indictment, which the US Department of Justice announced on Thursday, charges two US citizens and two Chinese nationals with conspiring to export Nvidia GPUs to China without required licences. The defendants allegedly created fake contracts and provided false documentation to ship the chips to third countries, knowing they were destined for China.

They then exported 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs to China through Malaysia between October 2024 and January 2025, according to the indictment. Law enforcement stopped attempts to export 10 Hewlett-Packard supercomputers with Nvidia H100 GPUs and 50 separate Nvidia H200 GPUs through Thailand, the US Department of Justice said.

In the Florida case, the conspiracy included the use of a Tampa company as a front to purchase and export chips, and nearly US$4 million (RM16.58 million) in wire transfers from China to fund the scheme, the Justice Department said.

A lawyer for one defendant declined to comment and a lawyer for a second defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The other defendants could not immediately be reached.

Source: Theedgemarkets

Asian shares extended a global rout on Friday as the much anticipated U.S. jobs data failed to provide clarity on interest rates, with investors returning to dumping riskier assets even after Nvidia's earnings dazzled.

Japan's Nikkeitumbled 2% on Friday, Australia's resources-heavy sharesslid 1.4%, while South Koreaplunged almost 4%.

Wall Street dived overnight as jitters over inflated tech stock prices returned after temporary relief from Nvidia's stellar forecasts, resulting in the Nasdaq's widest one-day swing since April 9 when President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs spooked markets.

Data showed the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in September, but a rise in the unemployment rate and downward revisions to prior months painted an ambiguous picture for the Federal Reserve as it considers whether a cut in interest rates is needed next month to bolster the labor market.

Treasury yields fell as futures moved to imply a 40% probability of a U.S. rate cut in December, up from 30% a day earlier, but still not enough to convince investors of a December move, with the next payrolls numbers available only after the Fed meeting.

"The markets had plenty to be positive about and initially Nvidia's banging quarterly results meant Wall Street burst out of the gates. The U.S. jobs data was probably as good as you could have hoped for too," said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com.

"However, the momentum simply was not there to carry the rally through, with the passing of two critical risk events – both with positive outcomes, no less – not enough to kill the bearishness gripping the markets currently."

There are now more concerns about financial market stability among Fed officials, including the potential for a sharp drop in asset prices, as they debate when and even whether to cut interest rates further.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack warned on Thursday that cutting rates further right now carries a wide range of risks for the economy. Fed Governor Lisa Cook sees a risk of outsized asset price declines.

In the currency markets, the dollar jumped on the risk-sensitive commodity currencies, hitting a three-month high on the Aussieand a fresh seven-month top on the kiwi (NZD).

It was steady at 157.50 yen, after scaling a new 10-month peak of 157.9 overnight, as traders stayed on high alert for intervention from Japanese authorities given the yen's recent rapid fall.

Data showed Japan's core consumer prices rose 3% in October, keeping alive expectations of a near-term interest rate hike. However, prospects of economic stimulus from Japan's new government, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, have undermined the yen.

The government is set to unveil an economic stimulus package worth over 20 trillion yen, the biggest since COVID-19, on Friday.

Treasuries rose overnight as investors raised bets for a Fed cut next month. Two-year Treasury yields (US2YT=RR) slipped 1 basis point to 3.545%, having fallen 4 basis points overnight, while the 10-year yieldwas steady at 4.092%, after easing 3 bps overnight.

Oil prices fell in early trade. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crudedropped 0.9% to $58.47, and was down 2.7% this week.

Spot gold priceswere flat at $4,077 per ounce, having been little moved overnight.

Source: TradingView