Welcome to this week’s Market Pulse, your 5-minute update on key market news and events, with takeaways and insights from the Sidekick Investment Team.

Today, we’re looking at Trump’s latest tariff threats, Robinhood’s stock tokens, and Shein’s shaky London listing. 

But first, our number of the week…

$4 trillion

That’s the market capitalisation that Nvidia reached this week, becoming the first company in history to achieve a $4 trillion valuation. With the stock up more than 20% this year, Nvidia now accounts for 7.5% of the S&P 500 index. 

Sidekick Takeaway: Despite fears of an AI slowdown, Nvidia’s fortunes show that Big Tech’s appetite for investment is stronger than ever. Recent analyst estimates indicate that tech megacaps are set to spend over $350 billion on AI capital expenditures this year, a boon for chip providers like Nvidia. 

Only have a minute to read? Here’s the TL;DR:

• This week, Donald Trump executed a familiar playbook by threatening elevated tariff rates and then wavering on the deal deadline. In a sign that investors are increasingly looking past Trump’s threats, markets largely shrugged off the news.
• After Robinhood unveiled tokenised stocks late last month, OpenAI objected to tokens tied to the company’s private shares. Now, EU regulators are getting involved, with the Bank of Lithuania opening an inquiry into Robinhood’s latest innovation. 
• Chinese e-commerce giant Shein confidentially filed for an IPO in Hong Kong, threatening one of London’s most hotly anticipated listings. The move follows extended disagreements between UK and Chinese regulators over disclosures in Shein’s filing. 

It’s important to note that the content of this Market Pulse is based on current public information which we consider to be reliable and accurate. It represents Sidekick’s view only and does not represent investment advice - investors should not take decisions to trade based on this information.

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The Vicious Cycle: Markets Shrug Off Trump’s Tariffs 

Since his inauguration in January, US President Donald Trump’s tariff playbook has followed a frustratingly similar pattern:

• First, threaten to apply staggeringly high tariff rates on a future date.
• Next, insist that the tariff date will never be moved, and demand that countries sign punitive trade deals.
• Finally, when those deals fail to materialise, relent and delay tariff implementation.

This cycle – and the uncertainty it creates – has been a key driver of market volatility in recent months.

This week, Trump’s tariff cycle played out once again. But the market’s muted reaction shows that investors are learning to shrug off Trump’s threats.

The tariff cycle is losing its shock value

On Monday, Trump sent a series of letters to countries that have so far failed to sign a trade deal with the US.

In addition to 25% levies on Japan and South Korea, dozens of other countries were threatened with elevated tariff rates.

Speaking to the press, however, Trump indicated that the August 1st deadline for the levies was not ‘100% firm’ – only to later reverse course and insist that the deadline wouldn’t move.

In a sign of how seemingly exhausted investors are of this cycle, markets shrugged off the news. 

Despite a small sell-off Monday, the S&P 500 recovered all weekly losses by late Thursday.

Given Trump’s repeated unwillingness to follow through on his tariff threats, investors have largely learned to look past them entirely.

Sidekick Takeaway: A common refrain from Trump’s first term was to take the US president seriously, but not literally. In his second term, markets appear to have stopped taking Trump either seriously or literally, assuming that he will never follow through on his most significant tariff threats. 

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Taking Stock: Regulators Scrutinise Robinhood Tokens

Late last month, brokerage app Robinhood unveiled the company’s newest product innovation – stock tokens.

Technically, these tokens aren’t equity. Instead, they’re derivatives stored on a blockchain.

Each derivative is backed by underlying stock held at a US financial institution, such as shares of Nvidia or Apple. 

However, Robinhood isn’t just attempting to tokenise public shares.

In fact, the company’s efforts to tokenise private companies have already earned Robinhood additional regulatory scrutiny.

EU regulators contact Robinhood on OpenAI concerns

In addition to public companies, Robinhood also announced stock tokens for select private companies, including SpaceX and OpenAI.

Immediately following the announcement, OpenAI took to social media to denounce the tokens:

• In a post on X, OpenAI underscored that the tokens are not actually equity and that OpenAI did not partner with Robinhood or endorse the project.
• The Bank of Lithuania, Robinhood’s lead regulator, contacted the company this week, citing concerns over the OpenAI situation. 
• Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev defended the launch and downplayed these concerns, adding that the company expected some level of regulatory scrutiny. 

Tokenising public stocks could come with valuable benefits.

Tokenising private stocks, however, might be a regulatory bridge too far.

Sidekick Takeaway: This episode only underscores the growing demand for high-quality private market investments. With the world’s most innovative startups taking longer and longer to go public, investors are increasingly demanding alternative structures to access private shares.

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Losing Its Shein: London Risks Major IPO

British capital markets have struggled in the recent past – and this year has been no different.

In the first six months of 2025, London saw just five companies go public. In total, those IPOs raised a mere £160 million, the lowest level since 1995.

And this week, news broke that could take the year from bad to worse for British markets. 

With Shein confidentially filing for a Hong Kong IPO, London might be set to lose one of the city’s most hotly anticipated listings.

Shein seeks to pressure UK regulators with Hong Kong threat

Shein, the massive Chinese e-commerce firm, has been preparing for a London IPO since early last year.

The listing could be a massive boon for British markets, potentially raising upwards of £2 billion.

But disclosure disagreements between UK and Chinese regulators could be set to tank the deal:

• Early this year, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority approved a version of Shein’s prospectus highlighting the risks of doing business in China. 
• However, China’s securities regulator refused to approve the prospectus, demanding changes to language surrounding the risks of human rights abuses in the country. 
• In an attempt to break the impasse, Shein has filed for a Hong Kong IPO, hoping to sway British regulators into relaxing their requirements – or risk losing out on the deal.

In fact, even if UK regulators acquiesce, Hong Kong may ultimately prove to be a more suitable exchange for Shein. 

Given criticism from MPs, pressure from NGOs, and mixed public opinion, London is unlikely to be a friendly venue for the company. 

Sidekick Takeaway: While missing out on the Shein IPO would certainly be a blow for UK capital markets, it will take more than one listing to save the LSE. Still, this incident could be a signal for British regulators to consider modernising and streamlining disclosure requirements to make listing a less onerous process. 

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Notices

Sidekick Money Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (No. 13882980). Sidekick Money Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 984829). Our address is 21-33 Great Eastern St, London, EC2A 3EJ.

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯.

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