The main headlines that caught the attention of global financial media last night and this morning are:

• Trump threatens military action against Iran: We have already hit them hard, and it could escalate further
• Trump made a phone call demanding that Musk lift the speed restrictions on Ustar Chain, and subsequently, some of the Ukrainian military's communications were restored.
• Western Digital's financial report far exceeded expectations: profit grew by 161%, gross margin approached 60%

Trump threatens military action against Iran again: We have already dealt a heavy blow to them, and it could escalate further.

U.S. President Donald Trump once again stated on October 23 that the United States might take further military action against Iran. In his latest interview, Trump said, "We have already hit them hard, and we might go a step further." This is yet another military threat issued by Trump regarding the Iranian issue recently. As negotiations between the U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is hindered, and military conflicts in the Middle East continue, concerns in the market about the possibility of the U.S. expanding its military actions against Iran have risen once again.

Trump made a phone call demanding that Musk lift the speed restrictions on Ustar Chain, and subsequently, some of the Ukrainian military's communications were restored.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, on October 21 to request the removal of the speed restrictions previously imposed on Ukraine's military version of Starlink (Starlink) satellite communication services. U.S. officials revealed that Trump was dissatisfied with the speed limit of about 100 miles per hour (approximately 161 kilometers per hour) on the relevant system, as this restriction prevented some of Ukraine's attack drones and interceptor drones from performing their tasks properly. After the call, the relevant system began to return to a more normal operating state on October 22, but some Ukrainian officials stated that the service has not yet fully returned to its original level.

Western Digital's financial report far exceeded expectations: profit grew by 161%, gross margin approached 60%, but the stock price has been cut in half from its peak.

In the early hours of October 23, Western Digital ( Western Digital , NASDAQ : WDC ), a leading American hard drive manufacturer, announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. Driven by strong demand for data center storage and rising product prices, the company's quarterly revenue increased by 55% year-on-year to $4.381 billion, and its adjusted earnings per share soared by 161% year-on-year to $4.64, both exceeding Wall Street's expectations.

Western Digital also provided a more optimistic outlook for its performance in the next quarter: it expects revenue to reach up to $5.2 billion, with the adjusted gross margin expected to exceed 60%. This indicates that the ongoing demand growth and price improvements in the storage industry continue to drive the company's profitability. However, this strong financial report contrasts sharply with the stock price performance seen earlier. Although Western Digital's stock price has still risen by more than 100% this year, it has fallen by about 53% from its peak in June of this year. Investors' concerns regarding whether investments in AI data centers will be sustainable and whether competitors' capacity expansions will weaken hard drive manufacturers' pricing power have become important factors putting pressure on the stock price recently.

OpenAI is nearing completion of a financing round worth up to $30 billion, with a pre-investment valuation reaching $1.25 trillion, led by investors from the United Arab Emirates.

On October 22, OpenAI is nearing the completion of a round of financing totaling up to $30 billion, with a pre-investment valuation reaching $1.25 trillion. Sources revealed that this round of financing was co-led by UAE investors and investment firm Coatue, and OpenAI plans to use it as transitional financing before its potential initial public offering (IPO).

Insiders stated that the valuation of $1.25 trillion has not yet been included in this round of new financing. On Thursday, OpenAI informed investors that they plan to complete the signing of the financing agreement by the end of next weekend, but the final scale of the financing is still being determined.

On October 22nd, the stock price of Moderna plummeted by about 25% during trading, while the stock price of Merck (' Merck ') fell by more than 3% at one point. Previously, the data from the Phase III clinical trials of the personalized mRNA cancer vaccine jointly developed by the two companies was disclosed ahead of schedule, raising concerns among investors about the actual efficacy of the vaccine.

Subsequently, Merck and Moderna announced the key efficacy data ahead of schedule, confirming that the core figures that had previously been leaked were accurate: when used in combination with Merck's best-selling anti-cancer drug Keytruda, the vaccine can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or death in melanoma patients by 42%. Although this result is statistically significant, it is lower than the 49% risk reduction shown in the previous IIb phase of studies, which has led to a re-evaluation of its commercial prospects by the market.

As market sentiment regarding artificial intelligence (AI) trading fluctuates wildly, a rather stable trading pattern has gradually emerged in the stock market: regardless of how the concept stocks related to AI perform, Apple Inc. tends to move in the opposite direction.

The stock price of this iPhone manufacturer has risen by 28% since 2026, making it the biggest contributor to the 12% increase in the S&P 500 index. Apple is also the best-performing company among this year's "Big Seven" tech stocks, in a sharp contrast to 2025. Back then, Apple's stock only rose by 8% for the whole year, ranking near the bottom among such stocks.

The reasons for this differentiation are relatively straightforward. Most large technology companies are making substantial investments in AI infrastructure, while Apple has largely not participated in this race of capital expenditure. Instead, it continues to focus on its areas of strength, which is creating products that can attract consumer attention, such as the newly launched foldable screens iPhone and Duo. As Wall Street's views on AI capital expenditure continue to change, Apple's stock has become a preferred choice for investors looking to continue to allocate to large technology stocks while avoiding some of the volatility risks.