Foreign Headlines: Reddit begins testing AI Q&A feature, Yizhi reportedly explores acquisition, Trump's son says the United States can become a superpower in Crypto Assets

Crypto Assets

The top news that global financial media collectively followed last night and this morning are mainly:

1. McDonald’s dining recognized by employee, involved in the insurance giant CEO New York murder case, the man was arrested in Pennsylvania.

2. Trudeau: Canada will respond if Trump imposes 25% tariffs

3. Mondelez reportedly explores acquisition of American chocolate producer Hershey, potentially creating a new food giant

4. Reddit begins testing AI question-and-answer feature to win more users

5. Barclays: There is high uncertainty in the forecast of the US 2025 Interest Rate.

6. Trump’s son says the United States could become a superpower in Crypto Assets

McDonald’s employee recognized while dining, insurance giant CEO involved in New York murder case arrested in Pennsylvania

A 26-year-old man was arrested on Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while New York police considered him a suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan.

A man named Luigi Mangione was recognized by employees while dining at a local McDonald’s. The police said he was carrying a manifesto, multiple false identification documents, an untraceable so-called ‘ghost gun,’ and a silencer. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference that the documents found on the man explained his ‘motives and mindset’.

This is the biggest breakthrough in this case to date. Thompson, who died at the age of 50, died early Wednesday morning after being shot in the back and leg outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown New York, in what police said was a targeted murder. The victim’s largest U.S. health insurance company was holding an investor day at the hotel, and Thompson was scheduled to speak that morning.

Trudeau: If Trump imposes a 25% tariff, Canada will respond

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that if US President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs on Canadian imports, the country “will respond.” He believes that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the US were successful after Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018.

During his speech at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau said that Canada will “respond in multiple ways to unfair tariffs. We are still looking for the right approach, but our response to unfair steel and aluminum tariffs ultimately led to the cancellation of these tariffs last time.”

Trudeau said that during Trump’s first term, Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on carefully targeted politically sensitive goods, “That’s how we hit back in a way that Americans feel.”

Yizhi is reportedly exploring the acquisition of the American chocolate producer Hershey, with the potential to create a new food giant.

Insiders revealed that snack and Candy company Mondelez International is exploring the acquisition of the well-known American chocolate producer Hershey Company, and this potential transaction is expected to create a food giant with total sales of nearly $50 billion.

A source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity due to the discussion of non-public information, said that the Chicago-based Mondelez has made preliminary contacts regarding a potential merger. As of last weekend, Mondelez’s market cap was about $84 billion and Hershey’s was $35 billion.

This is not the first time Nestle has sought a deal with Hershey. The chocolate giant rejected Nestle’s $23 billion acquisition proposal in 2016, leading Nestle to withdraw from discussions about potential acquisitions. Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman

Reddit begins testing AI Q&A functionality to win more users

Reddit announced on Monday that the company will launch a new artificial intelligence feature aimed at helping people quickly find answers based on user posts.

This feature is called Reddit Answers, which allows users to ask questions like using ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other generative artificial intelligence services.

With Reddit Answers, the company may encourage more users to search for Reddit content on the platform, thereby reducing the company’s reliance on Google.

As part of the initial test, a small portion of Reddit’s US users will be able to use the Reddit Answers feature, and the company will then expand this feature to a wider region.

Barclays: High Uncertainty in Predicting US Interest Rates for 2025

Based on the baseline prospect of the soft landing of the US economy in 2025, Barclays Interest Rate strategists predict that the yields on 2-year and 10-year Treasury bonds will be 3.75% and 4.25% respectively next year, with the 2s10s yield spread widening by about 50 basis points.

Anshul Pradhan and others wrote in the report that the interest rate cut should push the Interest Rate lower, while the long-term yield faces pressure from higher neutral Interest Rate, persistent Interest Rate Volatility, inflation risk premium, net bond expansion and other factors, but the incoming Trump administration will bring ‘great uncertainty’.

Trump’s son says the United States can become a superpower in Crypto Assets

Trump Organization’s Executive Vice President and President-elect Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump said that a “wise” regulatory policy can help the United States become a Crypto Assets superpower.

Eric Trump said in an interview in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday that he has been a loyal fan of Crypto Assets for a long time, and his father intends to make the United States the capital of Crypto Assets in the world after returning to the White House.

His comment was made shortly after the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, BTC, broke through $100,000.

Source: Sina

Author: Global Market Report