Good morning. Evergrande gets the boot from Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Does Dubai’s soaring housing market have legs, or is it just another phase in the boom-and-bust cycle? And get ready for a real steal: Singapore is offering up luxury goods confiscated in the its largest money-laundering probe. Listen to the day’s top stories.
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Evergrande down. The former high-flying developer, whose demise came to symbolize China’s property bust, said it will be delisted from Hong Kong’s stock exchange, marking the end of an era for the firm. Shares will be removed on Aug. 25 and the company won’t apply for a review of the decision. And to make matters worse, court-appointed liquidators said any hopes for a “holistic” restructuring are out of reach after discovering that Evergrande’s debt load is far bigger than previously estimated.
AI startup Perplexity made an audacious $34.5 billion bid for Google’s Chrome browser, ahead of a potential requirement for the search giant to sell the web browser in US antitrust proceedings. The unsolicited offer comes not long after rival artificial intelligence startup OpenAI expressed interest in acquiring Chrome. Google declined to comment.
Three years after shaking up the crypto world—and helping to trigger the collapse of FTX—Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleaded guilty to charges in a US fraud prosecution tied to the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022. The 33-year-old, dressed in a yellow prison jumpsuit, reached an agreement with prosecutors under which he will forfeit $19.3 million and certain properties.
A solid US inflation print sent the S&P 500 above 6,400 to a fresh record as calm prevailed across Wall Street and bolstered speculation that the Federal Reserve will have room to lower interest rates in September. Money markets were so confident in the data that they’ve priced in a roughly 90% chance of a rate cut next month.
Sticking with the Fed, Donald Trump said he’s considering allowing a lawsuit to proceed against Jerome Powell over the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters. The president may also expand the share the US receives from China chip sales to include companies beyond Nvidia and AMD. Another subject of Trump’s ire was David Solomon, whom he criticized for Goldman Sachs’ “bad prediction” about the impact of his tariff agenda.
Deep Dive: Don’t Burst Your Bubble
Rendering of Eywa. Courtesy R.Evolution
One of Dubai’s latest dazzling developments—Eywa, a residential tower designed to resemble the Hallelujah Mountains from the Avatar films where units have sold for as much as $7.5 million—is spurring fears that the emirate’s hot real estate market is headed for yet another boom-and-bust cycle.
Dubai housing has been on a tear since 2020, but only time will tell if the outlandish project—and others like it—signal a coming slowdown or a successfully timed entry into the city.
Both outcomes are possible. On the one hand, foreign professionals continue to pour into Dubai, driving prices even higher.
On the other, critics note that housing supply is set to increase by 30% over the next few years, while surging land prices are squeezing potential margins for new players.
China is playing the long game on trade—and it’s working, Karishma Vaswani writes. Though Trump may tout success in bringing China’s economy to heel, Beijing is actually laying out its path to victory by betting on time and resilience.
Gold bars seized from the money laundering case. Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg
What a steal. Singapore is set to sell off luxury goods confiscated in the country’s largest money-laundering probe. The items up for grabs include Patek Philippe watches, Hermes bags and 58 gold bars.
