Financial Mindset

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and contrary to popular belief, Beijing doesn’t want the yuan to dethrone the dollar as the world’s dominant currency, according to a top China scholar. While China has been trying to internationalize the yuan, also known as the renminbi, it doesn’t want the obligations that come with being the global reserve currency, Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relation, wrote in Foreign Affairs this month. To truly take the dollar’s place would require open capital markets, which would threaten the Communist Party’s control over who gets capital and how, she explained. That’s as many elites rely on offshore dollar holdings as a type of insurance against domestic political persecution. Since China actually prefers to keep the dollar on top, the real reason for promoting the yuan abroad is to prevent the U.S. from weaponizing the financial system against it, Liu added, sim...

Stocks suffered more carnage this week as investors remain nervous about the durability of the AI boom in the wake of mixed quarterly earnings reports. Alphabet saw its cash flow sink deeper into negative territory in the third quarter, with the Google parent also joining Meta and Amazon in charging ahead with massive spending plans. On Thursday, Alphabet fell about 12%, its worst day on record. Meanwhile, Microsoft reported strong cloud growth and stayed free cash flow positive, though it said its capital spending will accelerate, while AI chip giant SK Hynix blew away earnings forecasts. And ahead of its IPO, Anthropic’s S-1 filing showed its cash flow turned positive in the first half of this year. Some on Wall Street see investors sorting out AI winners from losers rather than giving up on the sector altogether. That’s after numerous head-fakes in recent years that falsely signaled the AI boom was about to go bust. According to market veteran Ed Yardeni, the ...

Amid all the business risks that Anthropic revealed in its S-1 filing this week , including that its technology could be nationalized or that a bad actor could use Claude to create biological weapons, one potential  pitfall may have been glossed over—the idea that U.S. immigration policies could harm its ability to recruit the best talent. This risk, disclosed by Anthropic Monday, comes as the Trump administration has tried to restrict the number of non-Americans working for companies in the U.S. Although Anthropic did not mention President Trump or the administration directly in the context of immigration policies, the risk brings renewed attention to concerns by companies that cutting back on foreign workers will make the American AI industry less competitive as it struggles for AI dominance with countries like China. The AI company, which is preparing for a potential $2 trillion IPO as early as next month, made clear in its prospectus that good talent gives it an edge...

Chinese audiences may be happy to let AI generate their microdramas—but a fully AI-generated feature film may be a step too far.  China’s first AI-generated feature to release in cinemas, the sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past , flopped at the Chinese box office. The movie, produced by Bona Film Group, tells the story of an archaeologist who must save the future world enslaved by AI, according to Chinese state media. It only managed to generate an estimated $180,000 through Monday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. The film had a budget of $1.5 million, according to AFP . Jiang Defu, the company’s chief operating officer, acknowledged the film’s lukewarm reception in an interview with Chinese film outlet Yuli. Still, he argued Sanxingdui was an important experiment. “We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit, and the first to be tested by the audience,” he said. “I think that is not easy at all.” Fortune has reached out to...

The Pentagon wants every major U.S. military base to run for 90 days without outside help if a war cuts off power and supply chains. Across the Atlantic, Britain is telling families to keep canned food, bottled water and cash on hand to get through three days of disruption. The two efforts aren’t known to be coordinated, and neither government has said a new war is imminent. But both are planning for disruptions that could leave homes and military installations without the services they depend on. Inside the Pentagon’s 90-day plan The Pentagon is developing a requirement that every major military installation in the continental U.S. be able to sustain essential operations on its own for at least 90 days, Fox News Digital reported Oct. 25 , citing internal planning documents. The requirement falls under an initiative called FORTRESS, short for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled F...

Data centers have emerged as a national issue during this midterm election cycle, and candidates for the House and Senate have seized on it in their campaigns. But state and local officials actually have more sway over data center construction and energy infrastructure, so the winners of lower-profile races may hold the economy’s future in their hands. Hyperscalers have been spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, with forecasts for 2027 topping $1 trillion. JPMorgan has estimated AI-related investment was responsible for about one-fifth of GDP growth over the past year. Analysts at ING believe AI will account for a third of growth in 2026. With Election Day just over a week away and early voting already in full swing in many states, expectations for big Democratic gains could weigh on the stock market, which has sold off in recent days on fears the AI boom will go bust. If there is a further stock slump, it will be because a “blue wave” at ...

Scott Kirby caused a stir last week when he said the U.S. should have a national wealth tax, but the United Airlines CEO didn’t back down and also offered another idea, this time for national service. In a New York Times Q&A last Sunday, he was asked if he’s concerned that the general public has less trust in CEOs. Kirby replied that wealth inequality poses a danger to society and should be addressed. “We should have a national wealth tax—it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he added. “And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level. I would pay them.” The remarks came as California voters will decide next month on a billionaire tax, which some economists have said could “ kickstart a movement ” that spreads to other states and countries. Conservative pundits and politicians quickly slammed Kirby over his wealth tax comments with some suggesting he should give awa...