Why was I fined NT$1,200 despite having my daytime running lights on in the rain? Court reveals key detail: even light rain counts
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 風傳媒
A man surnamed Chen from Tainan was fined for driving in the rain without his headlights on. He argued that the rain had stopped and that his daytime running lights were on. Based on video footage, the court found that it was still raining and that daytime running lights are not a substitute for headlights. It dismissed the case, stressing that headlights must be turned on whenever it rains, regardless of the amount of rain.
Facts
A man surnamed Chen from Tainan was fined NT$1,200 on the morning of May 11, 2026, for failing to turn on his headlights in the rain.
After reviewing video footage, the court found that it was still raining at the time of the incident and dismissed Chen’s case.
The court ruled that daytime running lights cannot replace the headlights required by law.
Article 109 of the Road Traffic Safety Regulations requires headlights to be turned on when it rains, with no minimum rainfall threshold.
Drivers who fail to use their lights as required face a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$3,600.
Opinion: Shen Fu-hsiung’s sense of déjà vu, Shen Po-yang’s sense of revulsion
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 風傳媒
The article examines former legislator Shen Fu-hsiung’s criticism of the competitive environment and polling results in the Taipei mayoral race between Shen Po-yang and Chiang Wan-an. The author counters that Shen’s views are rigid and emphasizes the importance of professional polling and a peaceful, rational election.
Facts
On a program hosted by Zhao Shaokang, Shen Fu-hsiung criticized Shen Po-yang for successfully managing his campaign in a short time, creating a relatively uneven contest.
Zhao Shaokang said it is the media’s job to invite guests for interviews and that anyone with news value will be invited, regardless of whether they are blue, green or white.
Shen Fu-hsiung questioned Dai Lian-an’s polling results, arguing that when 畢肯公司 adjusted for gender and population, it also skewed party preferences.
The author argues that polling experts such as Dai Lian-an have professional authority and that professional ethics require a final line of self-regulation and oversight.
The article says Taipei residents are concerned about municipal issues including traffic tickets, congestion, tree cutting, food safety and a shortage of trash cans.
Opinion: Why has Beijing drawn a 280,000-square-kilometer no-fly zone?
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 風傳媒
Starting September 20, Beijing implemented a permanent airspace restriction covering more than 280,000 square kilometers, encompassing Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding provinces. The move followed the June China Zun aircraft collision and aims to strengthen security around the capital and low-altitude surveillance.
Facts
Beijing established a permanent special restriction zone with a diameter of about 600 kilometers, centered on the city.
The restricted zone covers more than 280,000 square kilometers.
The restricted zone covers Beijing, Tianjin and most of Hebei.
The restricted zone extends into parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shandong and Liaoning, as well as the Bohai Sea.
The restricted zone extends from the ground to unlimited altitude.
Flights are prohibited in principle, with exceptions only for specific authorized activities.
Authorized flights must be equipped with devices that allow air traffic control to continuously identify and track them electronically.
A new home run king has emerged in baseball history; excerpt from “50 Moving Moments in Baseball History” (4)
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 風傳媒
On April 8, 1974, Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run to break the record. Broadcaster Milo Hamilton paid tribute to his integrity in overcoming racism and death threats with the words, “He is Henry Aaron.”
Facts
Broadcaster Milo Hamilton used the words “He is Henry Aaron” while reporting on Aaron breaking the record.
Aaron received a large number of death threats and hate mail while pursuing the record.
Henry Aaron holds the all-time records for most runs batted in and most total bases.
10-year Treasury Suffers Worst Quarter in More Than 30 Years as TLT Hits Record Low
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
The 10-year Treasury yield posted its biggest quarterly rise since 1994, reaching 5.29%, while the TLT ETF hit a record low. Although August PCE inflation came in below expectations, delaying rate-hike expectations, rising real yields continued to pressure long-dated bonds and raise corporate financing hurdles. Attention now turns to the nonfarm payrolls data.
Facts
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.29% on Wednesday, up 87 basis points over the past three months, its biggest quarterly rise since the first quarter of 1994.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT-US) fell 10% in the third quarter, hitting a record low.
The U.S. core PCE price index rose 3% year over year in August, below the market forecast of 3.3%.
Original市場押注10月升息1碼的機率降至約37%，下次升息預期延後至12月。
The 10-year real yield is nearing 3%, above the 1.7% level before the Iran war broke out at the end of February.
Economists forecast that the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September will show 84,000 jobs added.
Another setback in the race to catch OpenAI? Gemini 4 shines in benchmarks, but Google staff reportedly criticize poor real-world results
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
Alphabet shares pared gains from more than 2% to about 0.5% after employees questioned Gemini 4’s real-world performance. Bloomberg reported that Google had suffered another setback in its effort to catch up in the AI coding tools market.
Facts
Alphabet shares pared gains from more than 2% to about 0.5% late in regular U.S. trading.
Google showed Gemini 4 to a small group of trusted cybersecurity partners on Wednesday.
Gemini 4 beat OpenAI’s Astra in a test measuring security capabilities.
Gemini 4 still has problems handling front-end design coding tasks.
Google had planned to launch Gemini 3.5 Pro in June but later abandoned the plan.
Alphabet closed up 0.9% at $344.08 per share.
Meta Platforms launched the AI agent Muse in early September, capable of handling everyday tasks such as online shopping and making reservations.
Google launched its previous Pro version in February.
特斯拉 introduced standing voting instructions to mobilize retail shareholders in support of board proposals, a move seen as advancing a potential merger with SpaceX, although no merger has been confirmed and the market reaction was muted.
Facts
特斯拉 can now set “standing voting instructions” for retail shareholders, who will automatically vote in line with the board’s recommendations.
Smaller retail investors hold about 40% of 特斯拉’s outstanding shares, about 2 times the average for other large technology stocks.
ISS and Glass Lewis had both advised shareholders to oppose Elon Musk’s potentially trillion-dollar 2025 compensation plan.
SpaceX operates AI data centers, while 特斯拉 uses AI to train its Robotaxi and humanoid robots.
SpaceX shares rose 1.1% to close at $150.88, while 特斯拉 ended up 0.6% at $354.81.
Companies mentioned：特斯拉、Tesla、SpaceX、ISS、Glass Lewis
S&P 500 Fell Just 0.5% in September, but These 15 Stocks Plunged More Than 20%
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
The S&P 500 edged down 0.5% in September, but market breadth was extremely weak, with 78% of its constituents falling. Fair Isaac plunged nearly half as the competitive landscape for credit scoring changed, while Gen Digital was weighed down by takeover rumors. Although financial and real estate stocks led declines, technology and communications stocks rose against the trend, while heavyweight stocks supported the index.
Facts
The S&P 500 fell about 0.5% in September, but about 78% of its constituents had lower share prices at the close on September 30.
Fair Isaac (FICO-US) was the S&P 500’s worst-performing constituent in September, with a decline of about 47.2%.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte announced that VantageScore data would be included in the unified pricing framework for mortgages purchased by federal agencies.
輝達 (NVDA-US) accounts for about 8.3% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and its shares have risen 23.6% since the start of 2026.
Moderna shares surged in the third quarter, driven mainly by updated clinical data on the cancer vaccine developed in partnership with Merck. The stock rose about 173% in the third quarter through the end of September.
The S&P 500 currently has a market-cap-weighted forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 19.2 times, below 22.2 times at the end of 2025.
Micron Q4 Results Beat Expectations, Strong Forecast as Data Center Revenue Soars 11-Fold
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
Micron reported fiscal 2026 Q4 results, with AI demand driving data center revenue up 11-fold to $18 billion. Total revenue reached $54.23 billion and net income was $37.7 billion. The company raised its Q1 forecast and announced a $250 billion investment in the U.S. to expand HBM capacity.
Facts
Micron’s revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 reached $54.23 billion, nearly 4 times the year-earlier figure.
Micron’s core data center revenue in the fourth quarter rose from $1.58 billion to $18 billion.
Micron raised its revenue forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 to $61.5 billion.
Micron announced a $250 billion investment to build 2 new HBM campuses in the United States.
Micron’s fourth-quarter DRAM revenue jumped 343% year over year to $39.8 billion.
Precious Metals Wrap: Gold Falls 6.6% in September but Posts a Quarterly Gain in Q3
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
Gold fell 6.6% in September, pressured by a stronger dollar, rising Treasury yields and elevated energy prices. Despite weak inflation data, gold continued to face headwinds. The market is turning its attention to upcoming PCE and employment data, while expectations for Fed rate hikes remain high.
Facts
Spot gold fell 0.7% on the 30th to $4,152.86 per ounce.
Gold fell 6.6% in September but posted a gain in the third quarter.
The market expects a 68% chance of a Fed rate hike in October and a 95% chance of a hike in December.
Trump confirms he raised the Jimmy Lai case with Xi Jinping last week, hopes for productive discussion
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he raised the release of political prisoners, including the cases of Jimmy Lai and Min Xin, when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping last week. The two sides held important discussions, and Trump hopes to achieve results. Securing the release of people detained overseas is one of his priorities.
Facts
Trump confirms he raised release of political prisoners during meeting with Xi Jinping last week
Trump pledged during his 2024 campaign to secure Jimmy Lai’s release 100%.
The two sides held important discussions on political prisoners, and Trump hopes to achieve results.
Securing the release of Americans detained overseas is a priority for Trump.
Muse fuels AI enthusiasm；Meta surges 27% in September for best monthly performance in nearly four years
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
Meta shares surged about 27% in September, their best monthly performance since November 2022, mainly because its personal AI agent Muse surpassed ChatGPT in iOS downloads after launching. However, infrastructure investment and competition with OpenAI remain concerns going forward.
Facts
Meta shares surged about 27% in September, their best monthly performance since November 2022
Meta shares closed down 1.84% at $725.18 per share on Sept. 30, up about 27% from $572.34 at the end of August
CEO Mark Zuckerberg positioned Muse as a centerpiece at the annual Connect developer conference in September and unveiled new hardware, including the Muse Charm AI pendant
StoneX analyst Mark Zgutowicz said Muse’s infrastructure requirements are clearly higher and will heighten ROIC concerns；he maintained a “Hold” rating on Meta
Meta expects capital expenditure to double to about $140 billion this year
Meta has hired MongoDB CEO CJ Desai to lead its newly established Meta Enterprise Platform division
〈U.S. stocks after hours〉Treasury pressures weigh；Dow falls more than 440 points, monthly and quarterly charts both end in the red
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
U.S. PCE inflation data for August came in below expectations, lowering the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October to about 37%. However, yields on longer-term Treasuries climbed to their highest levels since 2002, weighing on U.S. stocks. The Dow fell 443.87 points on Wednesday, ending the month and quarter in the red. The S&P 500 also closed lower, while the Nasdaq gained against the trend, supported by technology shares.
Facts
U.S. PCE rose 3.4% year over year in August, below market expectations of 3.7%
Core PCE rose 0.2% month over month and 3% year over year, below expectations of 0.3% and 3.3%
Odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October fall to about 37%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 443.87 points (0.86%) to close at 50,906.05
The Nasdaq rose 63.52 points (0.24%) to close at 26,861.06
The S&P 500 fell 19.30 points (0.25%) to close at 7,651.54
U.S. private companies added 90,000 jobs in September
Companies mentioned：Meta、蘋果、Alphabet、微軟、亞馬遜、AMD、博通、輝達、應用材料、高通、美光、威騰電子、SanDisk、希捷、SK海力士、台積電、日月光、聯電、中華電信、莫德納、花旗、Merck、波音、諾斯洛普·格魯曼、Cerebras、OpenAI、Robinhood、芝商所、紐約聯準銀行、Fifth Third Wealth Advisors、U.S. Bank、Janus Henderson Investors、Chase Investment Counsel、Counterpoint、SemiAnalysis、五角大廈
Musk returns to Trump’s government circle！Joining Luckey and Gingrich to shape plans for future warfare
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the launch of Project Meridian, to be jointly led by Musk, Luckey and Gingrich. The project aims to study future forms of warfare and military technology needs within 120 days, covering areas including AI and autonomous systems, and to produce an unclassified report.
Facts
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the launch of a program called “Project Meridian,” to be jointly led by Musk, Luckey and Gingrich.
Project Meridian’s research mission is to examine the operational domains that may emerge in future warfare and the capabilities and technologies the U.S. military will need to master.
The project is expected to be completed by Jan. 28, 2027, and will ultimately produce a public unclassified report and a classified annex.
Musk’s return to official work with the Trump administration marks his first time serving as a government adviser again since leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Department of War is also advancing plans to establish an “Autonomous Warfare Command,” dedicated to expanding the use of drones, robots, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems across the U.S. military services.
〈New York FX〉Dollar flat but still up for the month；below-forecast U.S. inflation reduces rate-hike bets
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
The dollar was flat on Sept. 30 as U.S. PCE inflation data came in below expectations, reducing market bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in October and pushing Treasury yields lower and the dollar weaker.
Facts
The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose 0.3% last month
Market odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October fall to 37%
U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks stalled over implementation sequence；another ship attack reported in the Strait of Hormuz
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks have reached an impasse over disagreements on the order of implementation, while another reported ship attack in the Strait of Hormuz highlights regional security risks. Although the resumption of Persian Gulf crude exports is supporting supply, shortages of refined products and high freight costs are keeping energy markets tense.
Facts
The U.S. and Iran disagree over the implementation sequence of the “7-day confidence-building plan,” leaving the talks without a breakthrough.
A crude oil tanker and a liquefied natural gas carrier were reportedly struck by unidentified flying objects in the Strait of Hormuz.
Original高盛估計波斯灣地區過去一週每日石油出口量已恢復至2,330萬桶。
Original摩根大通估計過去五天石油出口量的10天移動平均值為每日2,050萬桶。
OPEC+ may keep its November oil production target unchanged at Sunday’s meeting.
〈Energy after hours〉U.S.-Iran talks stall；fuel markets tighten；oil rises another 1%；Brent gains 14% for the month
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
International oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent crude gaining 14% for the month, its biggest increase since July. Stalled U.S.-Iran talks and falling refined-product inventories supported prices. Although Middle Eastern crude supplies are gradually recovering, uncertainty over supply and high freight costs continue to keep markets tense.
Facts
Brent crude futures for November delivery settled at $103.50 per barrel, up 0.9%.
Brent crude rose about 14% for September, its biggest monthly gain since July.
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels to 204.4 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels to 105.2 million barrels.
Goldman Sachs estimates that Persian Gulf crude exports have recovered to 23.3 million barrels per day.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $90.42 per barrel, up 1.2%.
The market forecast for the average Brent price in 2026 is $89.05 per barrel.
Italian newspaper warns: China is steadily eroding and breaking the Taiwan Strait status quo
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
A senior reporter for 晚郵報 warned in an article that since 2012, China has gradually eroded and broken the Taiwan Strait status quo through measures including the normalization of military activity, damage to undersea cables and disinformation. Although observers believe the status quo has not changed following a meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders, the article says China is seeking to control Taiwan without launching a full-scale invasion.
Facts
As much as $14 billion
More than 10 years ago
Since Xi Jinping took power in 2012
More than 90% of the world's key AI semiconductors
U.S. Democratic senators issue joint statement, urge Trump to promptly advance arms sales to Taiwan and join forces with allies against Chinese coercion
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
More than 20 Democratic U.S. senators issued a joint statement urging the Trump administration to immediately deliver defense assistance to Taiwan approved by Congress, including an arms sales package worth $14 billion, and stressing the need to work with Indo-Pacific allies to counter Chinese coercion.
Facts
More than 20 Democratic U.S. senators
A new arms sales package worth $14 billion
The $1.3 billion in funding provided by the current Congress
Trump-Xi meeting ends; Trump says release of Jimmy Lai, Min Zin and other issues were discussed
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
U.S. President Donald Trump said he discussed the release of U.S. citizen and Burmese researcher Min Zin and Jimmy Lai, founder of 壹傳媒集團, during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump: South Korea to invest $200 billion in U.S. energy industry, including Alaska LNG
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that South Korea will invest $200 billion in the U.S. energy industry, including $54 billion in the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and support the construction of 8 new nuclear power plants and a natural gas power plant in Texas.
UK PM 柏南 considering return to EU; Macron: Welcome back
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
British Prime Minister 柏南 proposed the idea of the UK rejoining the European Union, breaking a long-standing political taboo. French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez welcomed the proposal. 柏南 said Brexit had done more harm than good, and that the Labour government would consider various options, including joining the single market or rejoining in full.
Academic background talk and succession issues… 4 concerns unique to families of doctors
Published ・ Source Japan | m3.com
An introduction to content exclusive to m3.com physician members. On Docpedia LIFESTYLE, experts and doctors answer questions about lifestyle topics, including housing, careers, and children's education.
[Up to 100a] “Practice Management White Paper 2026”: The Current State of Independent Physicians
Published ・ Source Japan | m3.com
An introduction to the findings of the “Practice Management White Paper 2026” survey. More than 1000 independent physicians responded about management challenges amid headwinds such as rising prices and revisions to medical fees. A quiz is available to article readers, with up to 100a awarded.