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TSMC’s $100B US Bet Tests Trump’s Vision

Taiwan’s TSMC has unveiled a new plan to invest an additional $100 billion in the US, following CEO C.C. Wei’s announcement of the deal alongside President Donald Trump. This ironically echoes the president’s call to bolster domestic chip production due to mounting worries about America’s reliance on foreign-made semiconductors.

“We must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here,” Trump said, highlighting national security as the reason behind the investment.

The fresh outlay envisions five additional facilities on US soil, encompassing three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging centers, and a research and development hub.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Kazakhstan Reverses Again On Arbitration Award For Canadian Uranium Firm (theDeepDive)

• Private equity industry shrinks for the first time in decades (FT)

• NHL commissioner says U.S.-Canada tariffs could affect league (NBC)

• Government Regulations Are Choking Canada’s Success | Rob McEwen (theDeepDive)

• Business leaders say trade ties with U.S. deeply scarred (Globe)

• Why US Military Dollars Are Backing Graphite | Gordana Slepcev – Lomiko Metals (theDeepDive)

• US cuts off intelligence sharing with Ukraine (FT)

• Scale AI announces multimillion-dollar defense deal, a major step in U.S. military automation (CNBC)

• The Zinc Shortage Nobody Is Talking About | Bart Jaworski – Group Eleven Resources (theDeepDive)

• Panama’s President Accuses Trump of Lying to Congress Over Canal (Bloomberg)

• Why Denuclearization is a Threat to Uranium Stocks | Lobo Tiggre (theDeepDive)

• Budget watchdog projects $50.1-billion deficit for fiscal year ending March 31 (Globe)

What’s the latest?

• Housing: Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area dropped 27.4% year-over-year in February, with 4,037 homes sold compared to 5,562 in 2024. The average selling price fell 2.2% to $1,084,547, while total inventory surged 76% to 19,536 listings. Detached homes saw the biggest decline in sales at 31.1%, followed by townhouses (-30.6%), semi-detached homes (-22.3%), and condos (-22%). Economic uncertainty, including high mortgage rates and new U.S. trade tariffs, has contributed to buyer hesitation.

• Copper Prices: Copper prices surged over 5% in New York after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports of the metal. Comex copper now trades about 11.5% higher than London Metal Exchange (LME) prices, nearing last month’s 13% peak. The price gap has triggered a global rush to secure copper shipments to the U.S. before tariffs take effect. LME copper remains around $9,500 per ton, while New York prices trade about $1,000 higher, creating major arbitrage opportunities.

• ECB: The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 2.5% at its Thursday meeting, with markets pricing in a further cut to 2% by year-end. However, policymakers are divided on whether rates should drop below the "neutral rate" of 1.75%-2.25% amid weak economic growth. Additional uncertainty comes from U.S. tariffs on key trading partners and Europe’s planned defense spending surge, including Germany’s potential €1 trillion investment in defense and infrastructure. Analysts expect internal ECB disagreements to intensify after this likely "last easy" rate cut.

• CrowdStrike: CrowdStrike shares fell 9% after issuing weak earnings guidance, citing continued financial pressure from its July IT outage. The company expects Q1 earnings of $0.64-$0.66 per share, below the $0.95 estimate, and FY earnings of $3.33-$3.45 per share, missing the $4.42 analyst expectation. CrowdStrike reported a Q4 net loss of $92.3 billion, impacted by $21 million in incident-related costs and $49.9 million in tax expenses from acquisitions. Despite the setback, Q4 earnings exceeded expectations at $1.03 per share on $1.06 billion revenue, with CEO George Kurtz calling the company a “comeback story.”

• DOGE: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak criticized Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its mass firings at federal agencies, calling it a “sledgehammer” approach. He also accused Musk and Trump of "bullying" Ukraine and stated that U.S.-Ukraine relations have worsened under Trump's administration. Wozniak suspects he was banned from X after criticizing Tesla, claiming his account has been frozen for months. He also slammed Tesla’s user interface and Full Self-Driving features, calling them “miserable” and unsafe.

National Bank Q1 Earnings

The stock market and stuff

• Toronto home sales drop 28.5% in February as trade uncertainty hits sentiment (Reuters)

• Deutsche Bank Warns of a New Global Currency Landscape As Dollar Supremacy Wanes (theDeepDive)

• Saudi Aramco exploring initial bid for BP's Castrol unit, source says (Reuters)

In the juniors

• KITS Eyecare Reverses Fortune To An Annual Net Income In 2024, 32% Revenue Jump (theDeepDive)

• i-80 Gold Outlines $155 Million After-Tax NPV For Granite Creek Underground In PEA (theDeepDive)

• Omai Gold Intersects 5.21 g/t Gold Over 19.3 Metres In Final Assays From 2024 Program (theDeepDive)

FULL DISCLOSURE: Rua Gold is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. The author has been compensated to cover Rua Gold on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.