Good morning, investors. Nvidia reports earnings this week but, for once, there is another AI-related event happening that could have even more widespread ramifications than what Jensen Huang says on quarterly results.

Let’s dive in.

A labor dispute in South Korea could put the AI memory supercycle on pause.

More than 41,000 Samsung Electronics workers are set to begin an 18-day walkout Thursday that could pull 3 to 4 percent of global DRAM supply offline.

This should remind investors that Micron carries none of the labor or court risk that hangs over South Korea’s memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The Suwon District Court is slated to rule on Samsung's strike-injunction request before May 20, which will determine whether the walkout proceeds on schedule. 

Analysts at Citi, meanwhile, have already cut Samsung's 2026 and 2027 operating profit estimates by 10% and 11% on the strike risk.

As a ProCap Insights report documented, the strike presents just one of multiple layers of risk for investors looking to bet on South Korea’s AI memory sector.

Buying into EWY — the popular iShares South Korea ETF — requires stomaching exposure to North Korea’s missile tests, currency volatility, and tariff uncertainty. 

The US-based Micron faces none of those headwinds and it’s outperformed EWY over the last year. Micron's HBM revenue share grew from 11% in Q3 2024 to 21% in Q3 2025, while Samsung's share fell from 35% to 22% over the same window.

Plus, as Opening Bell Daily has reported, Micron looks like a steal relative to other AI stocks. It trades just under 8x full-year 2027 earnings. 

And Micron’s valuation does not require taking a view on Korean labor laws.

To be sure, SK Hynix still held 57% of global HBM revenue in Q3 2025. The Korean memory bull case — as expressed by EWY — has not gone away.

But investors who want the high-bandwidth memory exposure without the geopolitical overhang have a cheaper, less encumbered stock that’s based in Idaho. 

The AI memory trade does not have to come with a country risk premium attached.

🚢 The US and Iran are stalled on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The sides are no closer to resolving their differences, and President Trump said “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking.” (Bloomberg)

🔥 A drone strike sparked a fire near a UAE nuclear plant. Radiation levels remain normal and the Gulf state said it was investigating where the attack stemmed from, and tensions are still high with war in Iran. (WSJ)

📈 Bond traders are bracing for higher-for-longer yields. A new era of elevated borrowing costs seems to be underway, with inflation concerns sending 30-year yields toward a two-decade high above 5%. Treasuries are coming off their worst week in a year. (Bloomberg)

I sat down with Anthony Pompliano to discuss the current macro setup heading into midterm elections, why scarcity assets will win the AI boom, and the pitfalls of the bearish AI bubble fears.

Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

🗓 May 18, 1998: The US Justice Department filed antitrust charges against Microsoft, alleging the company illegally maintained a Windows monopoly by bundling Internet Explorer.

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