Category: 3. Business

Jet fuel can be produced from several different sources, including fossil fuels, feedstocks of biological origin, and captured carbon. Depending on the feedstock used, the lifecycle carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of the fuel can vary widely. Robust sustainability criteria prioritizing minimal life-cycle carbon intensity can help to ensure that sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are truly low carbon, which is crucial to achieving aviation’s 2050 net-zero target.

Unlike CO₂ emissions, the non-CO₂ emissions associated with combusting aviation fuels are not dependent on the feedstock of the fuel, but rather its composition. Specifically, fuel composition plays a key role in determining the particulate matter (PM) emissions and contrail impact of combustion within a given aircraft engine. We’ll start by understanding how these are related.

Regardless of the feedstock used to produce it, jet fuel can be engineered with varying levels of specific types of hydrocarbons (such as aromatics and naphthalenes), as long as the resulting fuel meets relevant standards set by ASTM International—an organization that sets technical standards for a range of industries. ASTM has separate standards for conventional fossil jet fuel and SAF.

Conventional fossil jet fuel, which makes up nearly all aviation fuel used today, typically has a fuel hydrogen content of about 13.8%. Fuel hydrogen content has been found to be the best correlating parameter when assessing the relationship between fuel composition and non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emissions, or soot. These ultrafine particulates can be measured at the aircraft engine exit in the solid phase, typically under 100 nm in diameter. On the other hand, volatile particulate matter (vPM) does not exist at the engine exit and forms in the exhaust plume, where it later condenses into particles. vPM formation in aircraft has been tied to compounds such as sulphates in fuels and vented engine lubrication oil.

SAF tends to have a higher hydrogen content than typical fossil jet fuel and little to no aromatics and sulfur, which translates into fewer PM emissions. Modeling results from a 2022 study by Teoh et al. estimated that fleetwide adoption of 100% SAF in the North Atlantic would result in 52% lower nvPM emissions. Likewise, experimental results from the 2024 ECLIF3 project, the first in-flight test campaign running on 100% SAF, measured a 35% reduction in nvPM particles.

Now for how this relates to contrails. This is a bit more complicated, because contrail formation is dependent on both engine emissions and meteorological conditions. While there is uncertainty about the climate impact of individual contrails, there is agreement that collectively, they have a net warming impact. The ideal meteorological conditions for persistent contrail formation include hot engine exhaust, cold temperatures, and high humidity. Areas where the meteorological conditions are conducive to contrails are called ice supersaturated regions, or ISSRs. When an aircraft is flying through an ISSR, ice crystals can nucleate around particulate matter at the engine exit and emissions plume, spreading to form contrails.

Recent modeling and flight tests indicate that nvPM reductions from SAF use can enable reductions in persistent contrail formation in rich-burn engines, which make up most of the existing fleet. The modeling results from Teoh et al. noted above estimated a 44% reduction in contrail radiative forcing resulting from the modeled decrease in nvPM emissions; climate modeling using the ECLIF3 experimental results showed a 26% reduction.

Although further flight testing is needed to rigorously quantify this relationship for different engines, there is a clear, observed trend of reduced contrail radiative forcing in rich-burn engines resulting from SAF use. When weighing the benefits of SAF relative to conventional fossil jet fuel, the impact of SAF thus widens considerably if you include the additional air quality and climate benefits coming from reduced PM emissions and contrail formation.

Importantly, the ability of SAF to contribute to non-CO₂ emissions reductions will be limited by its penetration into the aviation fuel supply. In 2024, SAF made up only about 0.3% of global jet fuel use; even in the most ambitious existing SAF mandate, which took effect in the United Kingdom this year, SAF blends reach 10% in 2030. Uniform blending of SAF at low percentages greatly dilutes any non-CO₂ emissions benefits. In this context, avoidance may be a more cost-effective and accessible solution to address contrails in the near term.

Meanwhile, to maximize the potential non-CO₂ emissions reductions from fuel composition, airlines could explore the feasibility of hydroprocessing fossil jet fuel until SAF is widely available. Hydroprocessing includes refinery processes, such as hydrotreatment and hydrocracking, that add hydrogen to a fuel at high temperatures and pressures, greatly reducing aromatic and sulfur content and, consequently, PM emissions. When considering this option, non-CO₂ climate and air quality benefits should be weighed against potential tradeoffs at refineries coming from the required energy input for these processes. However, initial studies indicate that the overall climate benefit of using hydroprocessed jet fuel could outweigh penalties from additional refinery emissions and serve as a promising near-term mitigation strategy as SAF production grows in parallel.

It is clear that the chemical properties of jet fuel play a key role in aviation’s non-CO₂ impact. As the aviation sector works to mitigate its climate impact, policymakers could consider targeted use of low-carbon SAF on contrail-prone routes and using hydroprocessed fossil jet fuel to unlock near-term climate benefits and improved local air quality.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has characterized his company’s $100 billion OpenAI investment as an opportunity to invest in the next “multitrillion-dollar” company.

Nvidia itself is part of that club, with a market valuation of $4.5 trillion.

Investments like Nvidia’s in OpenAI are predicated on “the confidence in the revenues” a company can sustain, Huang said on the “BG2” technology podcast.

Nvidia and OpenAI already have an indirect collaboration, through the cloud-computing darling CoreWeave, based in New Jersey, which has a standing agreement with OpenAI to sell Nvidia systems to OpenAI.

One of CoreWeave’s biggest investors? Nvidia.

There are other players in the thicket. Oracle has said it will spend about $40 billion on Nvidia’s chips to power one of OpenAI’s data centers.

Oracle and OpenAI are also collaborating with Japan’s SoftBank group on plans to spend $500 billion on additional data centers in a project known as Stargate.

Nvidia is a “core technology partner” to the Stargate deal. SoftBank owns a $3 billion stake in Nvidia.

An OpenAI representative referred NBC News to CFO Sarah Friar’s recent comments to CNBC, in which she discussed the company’s need for additional computing power. But she did not directly address the “circular” question.

Nvidia and CoreWeave declined to comment. Representatives for Oracle and SoftBank did not respond to requests for comment.

To some investment advisers, the Nvidia-OpenAI deal is especially reminiscent of the ones announced in the lead-up to the 2000 dot-com bubble burst.

In March of that year, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite stock index fell by 77% and wiped out billions of dollars in market value.

It would take 15 more years before the Nasdaq returned to its March 2000 highs.

“There’s a healthy part and an unhealthy part” to the AI ecosystem, said Gil Luria, a managing director at D.A. Davidson financial group who covers technology.

The unhealthy part has become marked by “related-party transactions” like the ones involving these companies, he said, which can artificially prop up the value of the firms involved.

If investors decide the ties among the AI giants are getting too close, he said, “there will be some deflating activity.” That’s Wall Street-speak for a bubble’s bursting.

Altman recently sought to calm fears of a looming AI bust, suggesting that it was part of the life cycle of every industry.

“Between the ten years we’ve already been operating and the many decades ahead of us, there will be booms and busts,” Altman said last month during a tour of the massive data center complex that OpenAI is building in Abilene, Texas.

“People will over-invest and lose money, and underinvest and lose a lot of revenue,” he said.

Concerns about AI’s insular web of deals and investments have been outweighed by the near-term potential for nearly unimaginable returns.

Rather than worry about whether AI is really growing at the pace it appears to be, many investors are instead focused on whether the companies can grow fast enough and make enough profit to justify the mammoth investments being poured into them.

“For this whole massive experiment to work without causing large losses, [OpenAI] and its peers now have got to generate huge revenues and profits to pay for all the obligations they are signing up for and at the same time provide a return to its investors,” wrote Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners and author of The Boock Report.

As long as tech-firm valuations keep soaring into the stratosphere and investors keep getting rich, the incentives remain for Wall Street to bless the boom and ignore the doomsday scenarios.

As of Wednesday, more than 35% of the market value of all the companies in the S&P 500 Index — more than $20 trillion — came from just seven tech companies, collectively known on Wall Street as the “Magnificent 7.”

And each of them — Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — is heavily involved in AI projects.

(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia look set for a positive open after Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s blockbuster deal with OpenAI helped fuel a rally in chipmakers that sent US shares to all-time highs. The dollar rose, while the yen held its biggest drop in almost five months.

Equity futures indicated gains in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney. The S&P 500 climbed for a seventh session — the longest advance since May — after AMD soared 24% following the deal to build artificial intelligence infrastructure. In Asia, options traders are the least bullish on the yen in more than three years after pro-stimulus lawmaker Sanae Takaichi’s near-certain ascent to become the next prime minister.

Monday’s AMD deal is the latest big-budget data center agreement this year. It follows last month’s announcement that Nvidia was planning to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI amid demand for tools like ChatGPT and the computing power needed to make them run.

“Semiconductors are ‘on fire’,” said Louis Navellier at Navellier & Associates. “The AI narrative continues to gain momentum.”

With “animal spirits” surrounding the AI phenomenon getting yet another boost, Matt Maley at Miller Tabak notes it’s no surprise that issues like the US government shutdown are being mostly ignored by traders.

Long-term Treasuries underperformed, joining a similar trend through much of Europe and Asia amid fiscal concerns. Australia’s 10-year yield climbed five basis points early Tuesday.

Gold extended gains in early Asia trading to near $4,000 an ounce. Oil held Monday’s gain after dropping last week, as a modest production increase by OPEC+ over the weekend staved off traders’ fears of a super-sized hike.

Japanese stocks surged on Monday, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closing 4.8% higher at a fresh record amid hopes of more fiscal spending amid Takaichi’s win. The yen lost 1.8% against the dollar to past 150 and sank to an all-time low against the euro, while longer-term bonds fell on concern her policies will require more government spending and fan inflation.

In the US, companies are set to enjoy a better-than-expected earnings season as a robust economy and a solid outlook for AI have left estimates looking too low, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by David Kostin. They also expect the so-called Magnificent Seven group of tech heavyweights to beat expectations.

At Ritholtz Wealth Management, Callie Cox says markets feel “untouchable,” which is why there are so many people talking about valuations.

“Higher valuations aren’t unusual, but earnings need to grab the baton for the rally to continue,” she said. “Ideally, we want to see profits support prices.”

To Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise, it’s possible that some level of investment in the AI buildout today may not yield the degree of return investors hope for, and valuations among some of the leaders would likely need to be adjusted downward.

“However, given the size and scale of companies and industries that have yet to tap into AI in a meaningful way, we are less concerned that we are on the cusp of a dot-com bubble just yet,” he said.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Hang Seng futures rose 0.6% as of 7:19 a.m. Tokyo time S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.1% Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.8% S&P 500 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3% Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin was little changed at $125,284.64 Ether rose 0.2% to $4,699.27 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.15% Australia’s 10-year yield climbed five basis points to 4.38% Commodities

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $3,971.98 an ounce West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $61.75 a barrel This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Bombardier Inc. (“Bombardier”) today announced that it has redeemed all remaining outstanding US$166,289,000 aggregate principal amount of its 7.125% Senior Notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”) and US$83,711,000 aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 7.875% Senior Notes due 2027 (together with the 2026 Notes, the “Redemption Notes”), in each case effective October 4, 2025 and as set forth in the respective notices of redemption issued September 4, 2025.  

Payment of the redemption price and surrender of the Redemption Notes for redemption are being made through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company in accordance with the applicable procedures of the Depository Trust Company. 

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, sale or purchase of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation, sale or purchase would be unlawful.  

The securities mentioned herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, any state securities laws or the laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The securities mentioned herein have not been and will not be qualified for distribution to the public under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the securities in Canada may only be made on a basis which is exempt from the prospectus requirements of such securities laws.  

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements based on current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. 

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WELLINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s central bank said on Tuesday it would form a new financial policy committee that would give it the power to set prudential requirements for banks and help it to make decisions over mortgage lending ratios.

The move is in line with recommendations that followed a recent parliamentary inquiry into banking competition and will strengthen the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s financial policy-making, the RBNZ said in a statement.

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The committee will consist of the RBNZ chair, its governor, three other board members, and up to two members who are not board members or employees of the central bank, the RBNZ said.

“The creation of the FPC will strengthen financial policy-making at the RBNZ, with greater focus and expertise brought to bear to make sure that the New Zealand financial system remains strong and stable,” Deputy Chair Rodger Finlay said.

The committee is planned to be operational from early 2026.

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