Investing

Nasdaq-100 performance, September 12 to 19, 2025.

Chart via Nasdaq.

Against that backdrop, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) put on a strong performance this week, closing at 24,626.25 on Friday (September 19), up 0.7 percent. The index saw momentum build toward the end of the week, supported by growth in technology and semiconductor stocks.

NVIDIA to take US$5 billion stake in Intel

While the Fed’s decision was a key factor for the tech sector this week, a landmark deal stole the spotlight.

A strategic partnership between NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) dominated the news cycle on Thursday (September 18), sending shockwaves through the semiconductor industry.

In a historic move, NVIDIA announced a US$5 billion investment in Intel as part of a new partnership. The companies will collaborate on custom data center and PC products, aiming to jointly develop custom CPUs and GPUs by integrating NVIDIA’s AI and accelerated computing technologies with Intel’s x86 platforms for data centers and personal computing.

The deal marks a major realignment in the chip industry focused on AI infrastructure innovation. Shares of both companies finished the week higher, with Intel notching a notable 21 percent increase.

Semiconductor exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also surged in response to the NVIDIA-Intel partnership announcement, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) gaining 4.17 percent, the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) rising 3.93 percent and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) increasing 3.92 percent over the course of the week, reflecting strengthened investor confidence across the sector.

Semiconductor ETF performance, September 16 to 19, 2025.

Chart via Google Finance.

The Intel-NVIDIA collaboration comes after reports this week that China’s regulatory authority has instructed major tech firms like Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and ByteDance to stop buying and cancel orders of NVIDIA’s AI chip designed for China. The news sent NVIDIA shares down early in the week, but the company ended the period flat.

The collaboration also helped provide a much-needed boost to Intel’s share price. The company has struggled with operational challenges and a difficult turnaround effort in the highly competitive semiconductor market.

In a direct reaction to the Intel-NVIDIA deal, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) declined on Thursday.

The latter company recovered some of its losses on Friday.

Advanced Micro Devices and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company performance, September 16 to 19, 2025.

Chart via Google Finance.

US and UK sign tech prosperity deal

In other tech news, the US and UK signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, pledging to boost collaboration in science and tech. Called the Technology Prosperity Deal, the arrangement focuses on civil nuclear power, aiming for independence from Russian fuel by late 2028 and developing new tech like small modular reactors.

The agreement also establishes joint task forces for AI standards and security, as well as quantum computing breakthroughs, and explores civil maritime nuclear applications.

Tech news to watch next week

Next week, investors will have an eye on Micron Technology’s (NASDAQ:MU) fiscal Q4 results, scheduled to be released on September 23 after market close. Analysts are estimating revenue of around US$11.15 billion.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN), a professional services company, will also release its fiscal Q4 results next week on September 25, with revenue expected in the US$17 billion range.

Investor Insight

Charbone Hydrogen offers a compelling investment opportunity in the US$89 billion Ultra High Purity (UHP) and low-carbon intensity hydrogen market, leveraging a decentralized approach for scalable plant deployment and focusing on environmentally friendly production to reduce carbon footprints.

Overview

Charbone Hydrogen (TSXV:CH,OTCQB:CHHYF,FWB:K47) is an integrated company specialized in Ultra High Purity (UHP) hydrogen and the strategic distribution of industrial gases in North America and the Asia-Pacific region. It is developing a modular network of green hydrogen production while partnering with industry players to supply helium and other specialty gases without the need to build costly new plants. This disciplined strategy diversifies revenue streams, reduces risks, and increases flexibility.

Charbone has recently accelerated its growth trajectory, securing a US$50 million financing to expand across North America, executing a US$1 million collaboration agreement to advance a green hydrogen project in Malaysia, and achieving multiple milestones at its flagship Sorel-Tracy facility in Québec.

With its exclusive focus on UHP green hydrogen, Charbone is positioning itself as a first mover in a multi-billion-dollar market. Leveraging Canada’s abundant hydroelectric power and expanding nuclear capacity, Charbone plans to deliver sustainable hydrogen solutions that meet rising demand from both governments and global industries.

Company Highlights

• Canada’s only publicly listed green hydrogen company: Charbone Hydrogen offers investors unique exposure to the fast-growing hydrogen economy as a company focused on green hydrogen production and distribution.
• Building a North American green hydrogen pipeline: The company is advancing multiple projects, anchored by its flagship Sorel-Tracy facility in Québec, to establish a scalable production and distribution network.
• Well-financed for growth and expansion: Charbone secured a US$50 million financing, facilitated by US Capital Global, to accelerate funding of modular build-out and expand its footprint across North America.
• Expanding into international markets: Through a US$1 million master collaboration agreement, Charbone is supporting the deployment of a green hydrogen project in Malaysia, highlighting its global reach.
• Aligned with strong policy and market tailwinds: For years, Canada leaned on centralized, fossil-based reformers. That playbook is obsolete. Now, Quebec’s hydropower surplus runs electrolyzers that split H₂O into H₂ and O₂ with zero carbon footprint. Charbone’s plug-and-play approach repurposes proven gear, slashing lead times and trimming capex. Charbone is well-placed for long-term growth.
• Exclusive focus on ultra-pure green hydrogen production: Charbone is dedicated to producing hydrogen using renewable hydroelectric and nuclear energy — a critical pathway to decarbonization and huge demand of ultra-high purity hydrogen in electronics and military sectors.

Project Pipeline and Key Partnerships

Charbone forged strong partnerships to execute its business model. Here’s where it gets cool: renewable hydroelectricity powers electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Purification skids then crank it up to 99.999% purity—true industrial grade. This hydrogen production model serves everything from fuel-cell fleets and semiconductor fabs to specialty metal processing and next-gen refueling stations.

Charbone isn’t flying solo. They’ve teamed up with:

• A leading Canadian energy distributor supplying the battle-tested equipment
• Hydro-Québec delivering clean, reliable electrons
• An ABB partnership to boost North American production networks
• Offtake and supply agreements with U.S. Tier-One industrial gases producer
• Public listings on TSX Venture, OTCQB, and Frankfurt for global financing access

This lineup de-risks the rollout and turbocharges their momentum.

Charbone has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ABB to collaborate on the development of up to 15 modular and scalable green hydrogen production facilities across North America over the next five years. Under the MOU, ABB will support CHARBONE in standardizing basic engineering for systems and components across its project portfolio to increase energy efficiency and reliability.

Among the sites covered by the collaboration is Charbone’s flagship Sorel-Tracy facility near Montreal in Québec, Canada, which is currently under construction. The Sorel-Tracy facility is located on a 40,000-square-meter land parcel along Quebec Highway 30, known as the “Steel Highway” because of the numerous steel mills and process plants operating along the highway.

The construction of its Sorel-Tracy facility is being done in partnership with EBC, one of the largest construction companies in Quebec. EBC has a proven track record of designing and building facilities in Canada and the US. The partnership agreement gives EBC the right of first refusal to construct additional Sorel-Tracy phases, as well as one or all of Charbone’s facilities within the North American market.

In addition, Charbone has entered into several other strategic partnerships, all aimed at expanding its footprint in North America. The company entered into a special consultancy agreement with Enki GéoSolutions for potential partnership proposals as a co-operator and distributor of an emerging form of clean and renewable hydrogen, known as white or natural hydrogen.

In June 2024, Carbone executed a supply agreement for a complete containerized electrolyzer system ready for shipment to its flagship green hydrogen site in the City of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. The electrolyzer has a higher capacity than originally planned and will significantly enhance initial operational capacity estimates. The company also acquired its first tube trailer for the transport and bulk delivery of compressed green hydrogen produced from the City of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec flagship project to local and domestic customers.

Charbone signed commercial supply agreements (CSAs) with a top-tier US industrial gas producer and distributor. The first CSA secures hydrogen supply ahead of Charbone’s own production, while the second expands its product offerings to include helium and other industrial gases. Positioned to capitalize on emerging North American opportunities, particularly in Canada, Charbone leverages its early-mover advantage to build strategic partnerships and strengthen its role in the low-carbon, high-purity hydrogen market.

Superior Plus

This partnership allows Charbone to sell hydrogen produced at the Sorel-Tracy facility to Certarus, a subsidiary of Superior Plus. Such supply agreements ensure that Charbone can generate cash flow immediately following the commencement of production.

Charbone Hydrogen entered into an off-take partnership with Certarus on the supply and

distribution of green hydrogen.

NEK Community Broadband

Another such supply agreement was signed in November 2023 with NEK Community Broadband, which ensures the supply of green hydrogen in the Northeast Kingdom of the state of Vermont (USA). NEK Broadband is building a high-speed broadband infrastructure and plans to install a hydrogen fuel cell backup system for a reliable power supply.

Oakland County Economic Development Department, Michigan

Further advancing its goal of US expansion, Charbone signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2023 with Michigan’s Oakland County Economic Development Department to set up Charbone’s first green hydrogen facility in the United States. Oakland County is home to major automakers, and a green hydrogen facility in their proximity will support the effort of producing environmentally friendly mobility options.

Being the only publicly listed green hydrogen player in Canada, Charbone offers investors a unique opportunity to participate in the rise of green hydrogen as a potential low-emitting alternative to fossil fuels.

Management Team

Dave Gagnon – Chairman and CEO

Dave Gagnon has been chairman and chief executive officer of Charbone Hydrogen Corporation since April 21, 2022. With over 20 years of executive leadership experience in Cleantech, Wind Power, Hydropower, Lithium Resources, and Industrial Gases, he has built a career focused on scaling innovative infrastructure, accelerating sustainable energy solutions, and leading cross-border growth initiatives in high-impact sectors.

Benoit Veilleux – Chief Financial Officer

Benoit Veilleux was appointed as the CFO of Charbone on August 15, 2022. Veilleux has over 15 years of experience in corporate accounting and finance. He began his professional career at KPMG in 2003, where he managed and coordinated audit teams for public companies until 2010. Since then, he has worked with a number of companies including Air Liquide Canada and the Hypertec Group.

Daniell Charette – Chief Operating Officer

Daniell Charette has been the chief operating officer of Charbone since February 2019. He brings over 25 years of experience in running and managing renewable energy companies. He has worked in senior leadership roles with several renewable companies including NEG Micon A/S, Vestas and Brookfield Power. He has served on various association boards and councils, including the Canadian Wind Energy Association, Association Québécoise des Producteurs d’Énergie Renouvelable, and Latin Wind Energy Association.

Francois Vitez – Director

Francois Vitez is a hydropower and energy storage expert with more than 24 years of experience in development, engineering and construction management as well as operations and maintenance of hydropower and energy storage projects in North America and internationally. He is a board member and chair of the Value of Hydropower committee at Waterpower Canada, vice-chair of the Energy Storage Association of Canada, board member of the California Energy Storage Association, and member of the International Hydropower Association.

Patrick Cuddihy – Industrial Gases Operations Team

Patrick Cuddihy is a seasoned operations leader with over 20 years of experience at Air Liquide Canada, to its hydrogen operations team. Patrick brings a wealth of expertise in managing industrial gas production and distribution, having held senior roles including network sales director for Quebec Region, general manager for Pacific Region, director of procurement services, and director of logistics and assets for the Eastern Region.

What does the GDX index change mean for gold investors?

It may seem counterintuitive for global investment management firm VanEck to make a change to the index for the popular US$20.5 billion GDX, but there are plenty of good reasons.

The switch was planned a few months ago in conjunction with housekeeping that’s a routine component of exchange-traded fund (ETF) management. The move to the MarketVector Global Gold Miners Index is happening at the same time that the firm would normally rebalance the weight of its positions in GDX’s underlying securities.

And the move makes sense. Not only is MarketVector a subsidiary of VanEck, but it is based on free-float market-cap-weighted methodology that many major stock indexes now use.

“By focusing only on shares available for public trading, excluding those held by insiders or restricted from the market, this method offers a more accurate reflection of market dynamics than the full-market capitalization method,” explains Investopedia, noting that this approach is used by indexes like the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX).

It seems VanEck is joining the rest of the global financial community, which has transitioned away from full market-cap-weighting methodologies like that used by NYSE ARCA Gold Miners Index.

So what can GDX investors expect from this change?

They probably won’t see much difference right away besides slight adjustments to how some stocks are weighted in the fund, or which stock listing is used for companies with multiple stock listings.

For example, major miner Newmont (TSX:NEM,NYSE:NEM,ASX:NEM) — which is among the ETF’s top five holdings — will be weighted at 6.95 percent from 12.99 percent.

Chart via VanEck.

Over the long term, however, GDX may see a boost in performance, including less volatility and better liquidity, as the dead weight is cut away and the largest companies are no longer concentrated at the top. This could represent a major growth opportunity for GDX investors, especially if this bull run on gold and gold-mining stocks continues.

Banking reform stalled, but bipartisan momentum building

As the co-founder of Nabis — which works with more than 400 brands and thousands of retailers — Ning has a unique perspective on these challenges. He explained that forcing a multibillion-dollar, state-sanctioned industry to operate largely in cash comes with safety and economic risks for businesses.

“Bottom line, it costs us around 4 to 5 percent of our top line of the business, which is pretty substantial,” he said, citing expenses like armored vehicles, guards, security safes, theft insurance and cash processing fees.

The SAFER Banking Act is designed to create a safe harbor for financial institutions to provide these services, protecting them from federal penalties for working with state-legal cannabis businesses.

While the act did not pass during the Biden administration, it continues to receive support, with a bipartisan coalition of 32 state attorneys general renewing calls to pass the SAFER Banking Act during a congressional break in late July, underscoring its importance for public safety, economic transparency and financial access.

Analysts have noted the need for a creditworthiness benchmark for cannabis firms, saying that without one companies like Nabis have had to develop their own internal credit scoring systems.

The rescheduling debate: Tax relief and research

While banking reform would address operational security, federal rescheduling of cannabis would tackle the punitive tax burden under Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code.

This past April, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confirmed that its cannabis rescheduling review was still pending, with no new steps taken, subject to 90 day updates.

That same month, during an April 30 Senate hearing, new DEA head nominee Terrance Cole said reviewing the rescheduling proposal would be a top priority for him if confirmed, though he gave no position.

Several months later, in August, President Donald Trump said his administration was actively reviewing the proposal, with a decision expected in the coming weeks, though no hearing was scheduled. A day later, Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) reintroduced the 1-to-3 Act to legislatively move cannabis to Schedule III.

Also in late August, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and other Democrats reintroduced the MORE Act to federally decriminalize cannabis, while Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA) circulated draft legislation to regulate hemp-derived intoxicating products, closing Farm Bill loopholes. The STATES Act, which aims to allow states to set cannabis policies free from federal interference, was reintroduced in August as well.

Progress in rescheduling progress and the elimination of Section 280E would further mitigate banking risks, decrease business taxes and broaden opportunities for medical research.

Speaking about this topic, Ning provided a powerful financial metric. He estimates that the removal of the 280E tax would bring back roughly 12 percent to companies’ bottom lines. Ning described this as a non-dilutive gain that would make the cannabis industry a legitimate category for institutional investment.

“I think it would bring a lot of renewed sense of interest and excitement,’ he said.

Additionally, rescheduling would allow academic institutions to conduct more research with greater funding, as it would officially acknowledge cannabis as a medically accepted product with acceptable use cases.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy has consistently shown interest in expanded research into therapeutic uses of cannabis and psychedelic compounds.

MAPS is conducting a Phase 2 study examining inhaled cannabis for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, funded by a US$12.9 million grant from the Michigan Veteran Marijuana Research Grant Program.

Should legislative obstacles in Washington be overcome, America’s cannabis industry could see a new wave of opportunities. Unfortunately, a rescheduling decision is improbable before the midterm elections.

In September, Represenative Dina Titus (D-NV), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told University of Nevada, Las Vegas, researchers that federal reform efforts remain stalled.

Shortly after, on September 11, the Department of Justice withdrew several proposed regulatory actions, including a measure to facilitate cannabis research and a hemp lab waiver tied to the rescheduling hearings.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee recently approved a bill blocking rescheduling or descheduling, but kept a rider protecting state medical programs.

State-level trends in US cannabis

Nabis’ unique position in the supply chain gives the company a macro view of the industry.

Data cited by Ning reveals that the cannabis industry as a whole is growing as more and more states legalize it; however, he noted significant differences between mature markets like California and newer ones. In mature markets, there are often more brands than retailers, giving retailers bargaining power to demand longer terms and deeper discounts, or sometimes not paying at all. Meanwhile, smaller brands have no other option but to sell to larger retail chains.

This imbalance is contributing to a trend of consolidation, which Ning said happens first in the most costly areas of the industry, such as distribution, followed by cultivation and then manufacturing.

Retailers are the most recent tier to see rapid consolidation.

While Ning believes this will eventually happen in younger markets like New York, where retail sales alone have already surpassed US$2 billion, he noted that the state’s regulations, which include credit laws and a limit on the number of licenses an individual can own, may prevent the kind of aggressive consolidation seen in California.

Ning also pointed to a shift in consumer behavior and product trends. While flower products remain the biggest base of the market, more highly manufactured products like edibles, concentrates and beverages are seeing significant growth in the legal market because consumers are more loyal to the brands that make them.

This is in contrast to the illicit market, where consumers tend to be loyal to the strain rather than the brand.

What’s next for US cannabis?

The cannabis industry is caught between growing state-level legalization and persistent federal uncertainty.

While some in the industry have lost hope in federal reform, Ning believes a new wave of investor confidence would emerge if either rescheduling or banking reform were to pass, or if there was a breakthrough in medical research.

In the meantime, Ning pointed out that the cannabis industry has historically been insulated from broader economic downturns because it operates domestically, and, in fact, is even more “hyper localized” within each state.

He also noted that cannabis, similar to other vices like alcohol or tobacco, tends to boom during recessions.

“We saw this during COVID. We saw this in prior situations that resembled depressive times before. So that brought back some investment sentiment as well,’ he concluded.