US interest rates have been raised for the first time in more than three years to 3.75%-4% from 3.5%-3.75% by the Federal Reserve. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh warned they could be increased further later this year in a bid to slow rising prices.

The increase comes despite fierce opposition from President Donald Trump, who had called for rates to be cut.

The president on Wednesday accused top Federal Reserve policymakers of acting against him for political reasons.

Craig Brelsford

Hello. This is Craig Brelsford with Redchip Companies. Thank you for joining today’s event with TransCode Therapeutics, which trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker RNAZ. Joining us today is Philippe Calais, Chairman and CEO of TransCode; Zdravka Medarova, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer; and John Tattory, the Interim CFO.

We will begin with a brief presentation in a moment, and then we will open the event to your questions. Welcome to everyone joining us today on X, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

[Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, please allow me to read the safe harbor statement. This call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical facts should also be considered forward-looking statements. Of course, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.

Philippe, please go ahead.

Philippe Calais
CEO & Executive Chairman of the Board

Great. Thank you very much, and hello, everybody. It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to describe our company today. And let’s jump in right away into the company overview. We really describe ourselves as a rare small cap company with 3 near-term catalysts. First of all, we have a very strong pedigree with some Harvard founders, and Z is one of them. She will be talking later on from Mass General and Harvard Medical School.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel shares rose 4.63% to $101.63 in midmorning trading Wednesday, up $4.49, after reports that SK hynix is in talks to make memory in the United States using Intel capacity and after Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said the company can fill only about half of customer demand for CPUs.

The stock closed Tuesday at $97.14. Premarket prints already pointed higher after The Wall Street Journal and other outlets said SK hynix was discussing a U.S. manufacturing arrangement that could tap Intel’s Ohio footprint. Neither company announced a signed deal. Traders treated the talks as a foundry-and-packaging catalyst: a memory leader needing American wafers, and Intel needing paying volume on tools that have been underused.

Tan spoke Monday at Splunk’s .conf26 conference in Denver. Asked by Cisco President Jeetu Patel why Intel’s factories matter, he said design, manufacturing and advanced packaging should sit in one company. On foundry concentration he was blunt. “So I think relying 95% on one company, especially one based in Taiwan, is very risky,” he said. TSMC held more than 70% of foundry revenue in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint.

On product, Tan said inference still runs on CPUs that schedule GPUs and applications. “CPU demand is so high that we can only serve 50% of our customers,” he said. He also said memory prices have risen five- to sevenfold and that substrates for advanced packaging remain tight. He called packaging the industry’s “Holy Grail.” On Intel’s own recovery: foundry is capital-heavy and slow. “The good news is, over the past 18 months the situation has improved.” He said 18A is in mass production with yields rising about 7% a year. Intel’s last earnings deck still pegged 14A high-volume manufacturing for 2028.

Those comments landed on a stock that has already had a violent month. Intel jumped 9% on Sept. 8, hit $106.24 on Sept. 9, then dropped more than 5% on both Sept. 10 and Sept. 14 as the broader AI-chip tape sold off. Wednesday’s bounce recouped the Monday-Tuesday stall, not the September peak. The 52-week range still runs from the mid-$20s to about $141.

The last official numbers were the second quarter: $16.1 billion in revenue, 25% higher than a year earlier and $1.8 billion above April’s outlook; non-GAAP gross margin 41.8%; non-GAAP earnings $0.42 a share. Third-quarter guidance was $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, 42% gross margin and $0.38 a share. Foundry revenue in the second quarter was $5.8 billion. Client and data-center CPU lines are still the cash engine; foundry is the option the market is trying to price.

A SK hynix deal, if it happens, would not turn Intel into a DRAM company. It would be a customer for U.S. capacity and a political win in Ohio. Tan’s 50% fill-rate line is the nearer trade: if CPUs are short, Intel can raise prices — reports already point to another PC-processor increase around Oct. 5 — and ship every wafer it can yield on 18A.

Wednesday’s $101 handle is not a verdict on 14A. It is a bid on two sentences: customers want more Intel CPUs than Intel can make, and a Korean memory giant may need a U.S. roof. Until there is a term sheet or a third-quarter print that holds the $16 billion run-rate, those sentences are the whole story.

Owner Tungsten West says it could become one of the Western world’s most important sources of tungsten

A mine in Devon that holds one of the “most significant” deposits of tungsten in the Western world has entered production. Tungsten West, the owner and operator of the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine near Plymouth, told investors on Tuesday (September 15) that ore was now being processed through the plant.

The mine – formerly known as Drakelands – ceased operations in October 2018 following the liquidation of its previous operator, Australian company Wolf Minerals. Aim-listed Tungsten West took ownership of the site in 2019 and has been working to revive production.

Jeffery Court, chief executive of Tungsten West, described the moment as a “landmark” one for his company.

“[The mine entering production] represents the culmination of an enormous effort by our team and partners to bring this strategically important mine back into operation,” he said.

“At a time when governments and industry are increasingly focused on security of critical mineral supply, Hemerdon has the potential to become one of the Western world’s most important sources of tungsten.

“Our focus now turns to safely ramping up operations and establishing Hemerdon as a reliable, long-term supplier of tungsten concentrate to the UK and its international partners.”

It is understood that Hemerdon could produce up to 20 per cent of the global supply of primary tungsten outside of China once fully operational. Tungsten is used within many industries, including in the automotive and defence sectors.

Following the start of processing, Tungsten West says it will now “progressively ramp up” operations towards targeted steady-state production.

Emma Reynolds, chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Tungsten West is a great success story for Devon and demonstrates our vision to drive growth in every postcode and the reindustrialisation we need for good jobs across the UK.”

The news comes less than a month after the government announced its National Wealth Fund would inject £71m into the project. The funding comprises a £36m share acquisition, which will hand the government a 7.4 per cent stake in Tungsten and a seat on the board of directors, alongside a £25m loan facility.

Oliver Holbourn, chief executive of the National Wealth Fund, added: “Just a few weeks on from our investment, and we’re already seeing the first tungsten ore being processed at site.

“Through our investment, we want to unlock this strategic asset for the UK, secure a domestic supply of tungsten for our industry and bring jobs and opportunity to local communities. With today’s news, Tungsten West is delivering on the first step in that ambition.”

The Hemerdon project is expected to provide a significant boost to the West’s economy, including generating 350 direct jobs.

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Aeluma’s Q4 Fiscal Year 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference call is being recorded.

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Moira Conlon, Investor Relations for Aeluma. Please go ahead.

Moira Conlon
Financial Profiles, Inc.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Aeluma’s Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Call. I’m here today with Founder and CEO, Dr. Jonathan Klamkin; and CFO, Christopher Stewart.

Today’s discussions and responses to questions may include forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the earnings press release issued today, along with the reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports, along with today’s earnings release and fourth quarter presentation that we will reference during this conference call can be found under the Investors section of our website.

Aeluma assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this call. Throughout the discussion, the company will refer to non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included in our earnings press release and SEC filings.

Now I’ll turn the call over

NEW YORK — Medici Brands, Inc. is launching its David Protein brand into the beverage category with a line of protein milkshakes.

The ready-to-drink beverages are formulated with ultrafiltered milk and contain 30 grams of protein, 140 calories to 150 calories and less than 1 gram of sugar.

The milkshakes are available in vanilla and chocolate flavors.

The protein shakes may be purchased online through the company’s website and select retailers in New York City. 

Of course, knowing what you’re supposed to do is one thing but actually walking up to a stranger and starting a conversation, or even messaging someone out of the blue online, is another.

Taylor Crow who works in sales says she’s “fairly good” at networking as it was something she prioritised at university.

“I sent over 200 cold DMs on LinkedIn and reached out to people in the companies I wanted to work at while I was studying.”

She admits it was “so awkward” but it was something she had to do to land the job she wanted.

Her colleague Vicky Peterlin, 24, agrees. “It’s not about being good at networking but more about not being afraid to reach out to people.

“I had thoughts about how I’m not qualified to have these conversations but then you realise there are no rules and sending out emails and messages are free and easy.

“The worst that can happen is that they say no and that’s ok.”

Katherine Leopold, a tutor at Greenwich Business School, echoes this. She says the biggest hurdle is making the first move but if you don’t take the step you are “ruling yourself out”.

The number of applications that organisations are dealing with is “absolutely enormous” so try to meet employers in person and show them your total authentic story, she advises.

“Ensure you say to them, ‘I have this skill, I have this piece of knowledge, so I’m confident that your team is stronger with me in it.’”

For Natalie Fratto, putting on her dark green jumper from US microchip giant Nvidia is like wearing the kit from a favourite sports team.

On the front of the $178 (£132) woollen garment is a cartoonish image of the tech company’s boss Jensen Huang.

Fratto doesn’t work for Nvidia. Instead, she’s a fan of the company.

“I have a New Zealand All Blacks rugby jersey, and I think of my Jensen sweater in kind of the same way,” says New York-based Fratto, who runs a tech start-up.

She explains that it’s a representation of a team and ethos “that I am impressed by and root for”, and she proudly wears the jumper in videos she posts on social media., external

Nvidia certainly plays in the top league of global tech firms. Under Huang’s leadership, it has capitalised on the AI boom to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.

While it sells tens of millions of its chips per year, its clothing is far more exclusive. The lines, which also include t-shirts, hoodies and hats, are typically only available to buy from pop-up stalls at its conferences, and for very limited periods or “drops” via an online store and sell out very quickly.

And while it might seem odd that such a tech company is selling clothing, others are getting in on the act too – and also focusing on exclusivity.

OpenAI, the operator of ChatGPT, usually only offers its branded fashion to employees, but occasionally it goes on general sale for a few days via its website.

Meanwhile, Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, last year opened a temporary, pop-up coffee shop in Manhattan’s West Village. For just one week it gave away free baseball hats with the word “thinking” embroidered on the front.

Professor Hazel Clark, who teaches fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York, says that by limiting availability, tech firms have taken inspiration from the world of fashion. “It’s a very common strategy for brands to use. It elevates the desirability,” she says.

But why are such companies selling clothing in the first place? It is not as if they need the supplementary income streams.

Nvidia, OpenAI and Anthropic all declined to comment, but it appears to be about brand promotion and reputation management.

Take US software firm Palantir Technologies, which has faced criticism due to it work for the military and police, both in the US and overseas. Since launching its own clothing range last year, Palantir now calls itself a “lifestyle brand”.

Eliano Younes, Palantir’s head of strategic engagement, says: “A lifestyle brand isn’t defined by what you sell, it’s defined by what you stand for and whether people want to affiliate with it. I believe that the store’s success and the enthusiasm from our community proves this.”

Younes adds that “investors, customers, employees, and everyday people” in more than 60 countries have bought Palantir’s gear, which includes a cotton jacket.

Households feel the impact of a rising Bank rate through higher borrowing costs, but can benefit from more generous savings rates.

Given the global picture, and market expectations of a higher Bank rate, a host of major lenders have already increased the cost of new fixed-rate mortgages in recent days.

Andrew Montlake, chief executive of mortgage broker Coreco, said that the latest data showed that “the inflation dragon has not been fully slain”.

“If inflation proves sticky, lenders’ funding costs stay under pressure, which makes cheaper mortgages harder to deliver,” he said.

“We are already seeing lenders reprice upwards, so this will do little to calm things down. Borrowers should not panic, but anyone approaching the end of a fixed rate should start looking early, secure an option and keep reviewing it.”

The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate is at its highest since 11 May, at 5.77%, while the average five-year is at its highest since 8 November 2023, at 5.83%, according to financial information service Moneyfacts.

Savers may be offered more generous returns, but the spending power of their savings could be eroded by the rising cost of living.

“It’s almost impossible to time things just right, so I would urge households to focus on what’s best for them now, in the medium term and in the longer term,” said Harriet Guevara, chief savings officer at Nottingham Building Society.

“For savers, regularly check that your savings are earning a competitive return and that you have the right balance between easy access and money you can afford to put away for longer.”