苹果智能获中国监管登记，将在中国接入阿里 Qwen 并与百度合作，但亚太可交易增量不够清晰

# 美股盘后复盘 → 亚太映射输入 · 美股 2026-07-15 交易日

（这是一份**跨市场读出（read-across）**的原材料：美股当日行情事实 + 当日美股时段的市场叙事新闻。**交付物是亚洲个股的多空腿（A股 .SZ/.SH、港股 .HK、日股 .JP、韩股 .KS、台股 .TW），不是把美股指数或 ETF 当交易标的。**下方指数 / ETF / 个股涨跌是**证据**，用来推导亚太受益 / 受损链条与 price-in，不是仓位本身。）

## 一、美股当日行情事实（Futu 日线，真实收盘价）
### 大盘指数 ETF
- 标普500 ETF (SPY.US): 754.81 +0.40%
- 纳指100 ETF (QQQ.US): 717.74 -0.27%
- 道指 ETF (DIA.US): 525.95 +0.24%
- 罗素2000 ETF (IWM.US): 295.77 +0.43%

### 半导体 / AI 硬件(亚太供应链最相关)
- 费城半导体 ETF (SOXX.US): 555.27 -2.23%
- 半导体 ETF (SMH.US): 590.77 -1.59%
- 英伟达 (NVDA.US): 212.5 +0.33%
- AMD (AMD.US): 529.14 -3.46%
- 博通 (AVGO.US): 394.28 +1.33%
- 美光 (MU.US): 904.28 -8.02%
- 台积电ADR (TSM.US): 419.48 -0.22%
- 阿斯麦ADR (ASML.US): 1815.27 +2.23%
- 英特尔 (INTC.US): 102.99 -4.43%
- 高通 (QCOM.US): 177.98 -0.07%
- 应用材料 (AMAT.US): 579.43 -2.73%
- 泛林 (LRCX.US): 335.43 -3.08%

### 科技大盘股 / 平台
- 苹果 (AAPL.US): 327.5 +4.01%
- 微软 (MSFT.US): 395.63 +2.78%
- 谷歌 (GOOGL.US): 370.92 +3.17%
- Meta (META.US): 681.31 +3.07%
- 亚马逊 (AMZN.US): 254.96 +3.02%
- 特斯拉 (TSLA.US): 394.46 -0.43%

### 中概 / 日企 ADR(美股时段;对应亚洲本地上市的隔夜 price-in 参考)
- 阿里巴巴 (BABA.US): 117.69 +4.78%
- 拼多多 (PDD.US): 85.74 +2.18%
- 京东 (JD.US): 29.28 +1.53%
- 百度 (BIDU.US): 111.48 +1.59%
- 蔚来 (NIO.US): 5.03 +0.40%
- 索尼 (SONY.US): 20.71 -0.43%

⚠️ 数据缺口：Futu 日线只反映 09:30–16:00 ET 正式时段收盘，**不含盘后 / 隔夜**。当日盘后财报反应、次日盘前跳空在这里看不到；不要把「日线没体现」当成「没发生」——涉及盘后发财报的名字，用 stock_quote / WebSearch 补盘后动作。

## 二、当日美股时段市场叙事（news_center 语料，NY 09:30–18:00，共 255 条，全文；来源＝市场条线 Reuters/CNBC/Bloomberg/MarketWatch/WSJ/FT 等，已剔除公司通稿 PR Newswire 与 IR newsroom）

[1] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:31 UTC] Stocks rise on chipmakers bounce, encouraging inflation signs: Live updates
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Stocks rose on Wednesday, led by gains in chipmakers, as traders reacted to more data showing inflation is cooling.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 28 points, or 0.1%.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) advanced more than 1%, led by a 3% gain in Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML. The semiconductor equipment maker hiked its sales outlook for the second time this year. Intel and Lam Research were up more than 2%.
Investors grew optimistic on the state of inflation after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a speech Wednesday that "there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters."
On Wednesday, the produce price index unexpectedly fell 0.3% in June, while economists had expected it to be unchanged on the month. That follows Tuesday's cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which bolstered hopes that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates as aggressively this year. The report prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Fed tightening.
The probability of a rate hike at the central bank's July meeting fell to 17% from 42% a day earlier, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Markets, however, continue to price in an increase later this year, with traders assigning a 63% probability that rates will be a quarter- or half-percentage point higher following the September meeting.
"While energy played a big role in the price deceleration, the easing was pretty broad and spread across a bunch of categories, a relief to investors," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. "However, the Fed and economy aren't in the clear – inflation is still elevated on an absolute basis, oil is back on an upswing, and AI is proving to be very inflationary at the moment."
While equity futures were higher, gains were limited as crude prices perked up, however. That's after U.S. Central Command said the U.S. launched more attacks against Iran. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.6% at above $79 per barrel. International Brent gained 0.7% to trade above $85 per barrel.
BlackRock was a winner Wednesday, with shares up more than 5% after the asset management firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results. In contrast, Johnson & Johnson shares were more than 2% lower, even after the company posted an earnings beat.

[2] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:35 UTC] The earnings season has kicked off. Can companies meet the high bar that's been set?
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/the-earnings-season-has-kicked-off-can-companies-meet-the-high-bar.html
The corporate earnings season really got underway this week, with all the big banks reporting better-than-expected results across the board. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all posted second-quarter figures that beat analyst expectations. Citigroup even reported its best quarterly revenue in a decade. Investors' reactions to the reports were uneven, however. Goldman Sachs rose sharply following its release, while JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America also advanced Tuesday . Citigroup and Wells Fargo , however, shed 5.3% and 2.7%, respectively after their releases. Morgan Stanley also pulled back more than 1% on Wednesday. Away from the banks, IBM released preliminary Q2 figures that missed Street estimates, leading the tech giant to its worst one-day decline ever. This illustrates a tough reality for companies and investors: While the market has scaled new heights, the bar set for corporations has risen as well. "Analysts raised earnings estimates during the second quarter, a rare occurrence that reflects growing confidence," wrote Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. "But the big question during this earnings season is whether or not companies can outperform very high expectations." Heading into the reporting period, analysts on average expected S & P 500 earnings expanded by almost 24% in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, FactSet data shows. If that's the case, it will mark the second straight quarter of year-over-year earnings growth faster than than 20%. Analysts also lifted their second-quarter earnings expectations from the 18.8% they was estimated when the quarter began. "While strong earnings growth usually is a positive for equity prices, elevated expectations can create a tough backdrop for individual companies and the S & P 500 Index as a whole," Wren wrote. "In this reporting season, we view the market as increasingly focused not only on whether companies exceed consensus estimates but on whether they can also beat the higher, unofficial 'whisper numbers' that largely circulate among institutional investors." Much of the earnings expansion is expected to have been led by tech. Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau said earnings excluding tech and energy are forecast to have grown just 5% year over year. "Tech/Semis' earnings will be in particular focus, with investors looking for reassurance on the AI capex outlook, as well as signs of a profitability boost for the AI spenders," Cau said. UnitedHealth and Netflix are among the companies set to report Thursday. Later this month, Apple and Microsoft , two of the five largest stocks in the nation, will post their quarterly figures.

[3] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 13:39 UTC] Newark’s Having Trouble Again—and Summer Air Travel Is at Stake
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/newarks-having-trouble-againand-summer-air-travel-is-at-stake-98b1ff3d
Controller staffing is set to drop by about one-fifth by the end of the month at the facility that helps direct aircraft to and from Newark.

[4] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 13:40 UTC] FCC Set to Repeal TV Audience Cap That Limits Consolidation
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/fcc-said-to-repeal-broadcast-audience-cap-in-win-for-nexstar
FCC Set to Repeal TV Audience Cap That Limits Consolidation

[5] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:41 UTC] Stocks rise on Big Tech gains, encouraging inflation signs: Live updates
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Stocks rose on Wednesday, led by gains in chipmakers, as traders reacted to more data showing inflation is cooling.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 28 points, or 0.1%.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) advanced 0.5%, led by a 2% gain in Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML. The semiconductor equipment maker hiked its sales outlook for the second time this year. Lam Research were up more than 1%.
Investors grew optimistic on the state of inflation after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a speech Wednesday that "there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters."
On Wednesday, the produce price index unexpectedly fell 0.3% in June, while economists had expected it to be unchanged on the month. That follows Tuesday's cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which bolstered hopes that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates as aggressively this year. The report prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Fed tightening.
The probability of a rate hike at the central bank's July meeting fell to 17% from 42% a day earlier, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Markets, however, continue to price in an increase later this year, with traders assigning a 63% probability that rates will be a quarter- or half-percentage point higher following the September meeting.
"While energy played a big role in the price deceleration, the easing was pretty broad and spread across a bunch of categories, a relief to investors," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. "However, the Fed and economy aren't in the clear – inflation is still elevated on an absolute basis, oil is back on an upswing, and AI is proving to be very inflationary at the moment."
While equities were higher, gains were limited as crude prices perked up, however. That's after U.S. Central Command said the U.S. launched more attacks against Iran. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 1% at above $80 per barrel. International Brent gained 0.6% to trade above $85 per barrel.
BlackRock was a winner Wednesday, with shares up more than 6% after the asset management firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

[6] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 13:41 UTC] Buffett describes Gates’s relationship with Epstein as ‘distasteful’
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/5a4ec9c3-e729-4e4b-892f-43e568402f26
Warren Buffett describes Bill Gates’s relationship with Epstein as ‘distasteful’
Warren Buffett has described Bill Gates’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as “distasteful” but said he could “picture” himself making a similar mistake in choosing associates.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that came after the billionaire chair of Berkshire Hathaway excluded the Gates Foundation from his annual donation of shares, Buffett characterised the Microsoft co-founder’s friendship with the late sex offender as an error of judgment.
But he added: “I’ve made mistakes in hiring all kinds of people or choosing friends and then finding out later one way or another they weren’t what I thought they were.”
“I found nothing in there that was beyond what I could picture myself doing,” he said.
Buffett’s exclusion of Gates’s non-profit foundation this week followed new revelations about the Microsoft co-founder’s ties to the deceased sex offender, which first began to emerge in January through new materials disclosed in the US Department of Justice’s investigation.
Buffett, who turns 96 in August, said in the interview that he had “re-evaluated my whole situation” in relation to his donations and determined that his three children, and a new foundation named in honour of his late wife, should decide how to give away his money.
As a former trustee, Buffett has played a crucial role in the Gates Foundation and donated more than $47bn to the organisation. Yet even before the recent Epstein revelations, Buffett signalled in 2024 that upon his death, his remaining wealth would go to a foundation tied to the family.
He plans to hand his remaining stake in Berkshire to four family-linked foundations within eight years.
Buffett said he had spent time with Gates in Omaha a few weeks ago, and that they had already made plans to see each other again. He added that they have had “an enormous number of good times together” since meeting more than three decades ago.
In March, Buffett had said the two had not spoken since “the whole thing was unveiled”, referring to the release of documents by the DoJ.
“I read what Congress came up with — I read everything — and all I can say is I don’t know whether I’ve done dumber things, but I’ve just done many dumb things in life,” Buffett said.

[7] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 13:41 UTC] French parliament votes on landmark assisted dying bill
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/french-parliament-votes-landmark-assisted-dying-bill-2026-07-15/
French lawmakers will vote on Wednesday on a bill that would create a legal right to assisted dying for adults with incurable ​illnesses, capping an intense ethical and political debate.

The proposed legislation would, under strict conditions, allow a person ‌who requests it to receive a lethal substance. The substance could be self-administered or, if the person is physically unable to do so, administered by a doctor or nurse.

Access to assisted dying would be restricted to adults who are French citizens or legal residents in France, ​and who suffer from a serious and incurable illness that is life-threatening and in an advanced or terminal ​phase, experience constant physical or psychological suffering linked to that condition, and are able to express ⁠a free and informed choice.

SENSITIVE DEBATE

The debate has divided French society.

Supporters say the legislation would give people facing unbearable suffering ​at the end of life greater autonomy and control over how they die, while maintaining strict safeguards.

"Can it still be ​called a life when the suffering is so great that you can no longer do anything?," said Anne Raynaud, a representative of France's association for the right to die in dignity (ADMD).

"People will be able to decide for themselves when and how they want to die once their ​suffering has become unbearable and can no longer be relieved."

Opponents, including sections of the medical profession and religious groups, argue ​that legalising assisted dying could put pressure on vulnerable people. The Catholic Church is among those that have opposed the legislation, with ‌one bishop ⁠threatening to deny communion to lawmakers who support it.

"A society grounded in fraternity supports, protects, and cares for people. It never gives up on the most fragile among us," former interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, a conservative presidential candidate, said on X.

Opinion polls have consistently shown broad public backing for assisted dying in France. An Ifop poll published in February found that ​84% of respondents approved of the ​bill.

Assisted dying is already ⁠permitted in several European countries, including Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, under varying legal frameworks. Several U.S. states also allow medically assisted dying for terminally ill patients.

France's Senate, where the conservative ​right has a majority, has voted against it, but the lower house of parliament, ​which has already ⁠backed the bill in the past, is set to have the final word on Wednesday.

SAFEGUARDS

The bill establishes a detailed procedure. Patients must submit a request to a doctor, who reviews eligibility with at least one other physician and another healthcare professional.

If the request ⁠is approved, ​patients must confirm their request after a minimum two-day reflection period.

Healthcare workers ​may opt out but must provide the patient with the names of healthcare professionals willing to help the patient end their life.

Even if passed, the ​bill could still be reviewed by the Constitutional Council and amended.

[8] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 13:45 UTC] Bank of Canada Holds at 2.25% as Growth Outlook Improves
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/bank-of-canada-holds-rates-at-2-25-as-growth-outlook-improves
Bank of Canada Holds at 2.25% as Growth Outlook Improves

[9] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:45 UTC] ‘Arsenal of democracy’: Jamie Dimon announces $24 million effort to boost American shipbuilding
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/jamie-dimon-jpmorgan-chase-defense.html
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday announced a $24 million effort to help revive American shipbuilding, his latest move under the bank's $1.5 trillion security project aimed at bolstering industries critical to U.S. economic and national security.
The figure includes $18 million in loans and $6 million in grants to finance a new submarine manufacturing facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard being built by Rhoads Industries, expand lending to maritime-related small businesses and strengthen regional suppliers, JPMorgan said.
"The arsenal of democracy has been reignited," Dimon told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin.
"People said it couldn't happen, but here you have Hanwha shipbuilding at the Philadelphia Navy Yard," Dimon said, naming a South Korean conglomerate with a U.S. vessel-making subsidiary.
The announcement comes as rising geopolitical tensions, including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, spur governments to rearm and reinvest in domestic industrial capacity.
Last year, JPMorgan launched a $1.5 trillion initiative to finance sectors it considers critical to U.S. economic and national security, including shipbuilding. The firm announced an expansion of the program into Europe this year.

[10] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:47 UTC] Watch Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh testify live before Senate banking committee
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/watch-fed-chairman-kevin-warsh-testify-live-before-senate-banking-committee.html
[The stream is slated to start at 10 a.m. ET. CNBC Television will start the stream when the event begins. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above.]
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh testifies Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee, facing questions over the the economy and how various factors might impact interest rates.
Part of congressionally mandated Capitol Hill appearances for the central bank leader, Warsh spoke Tuesday to the House Financial Services Committee. During his remarks, he reaffirmed the Fed's commitment to fighting inflation though he gave few clues about the direction of monetary policy.
Legislators tried baiting Warsh into commenting on fiscal and political matters, but he largely avoided the topics, stressing the importance of the Fed staying focused on its assigned responsibilities.
Read more:
Warsh pledges Fed policy 'regime change' to rid inflation 'tax' on American people
Kevin Warsh names members of his Federal Reserve task forces, including Marc Andreessen, Doug McMillon
Fed meeting minutes to show 'family fight' over rates. The squabble could drag on for a while

[11] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 13:54 UTC] Stripe and Private-Equity Firm Advent Offer to Buy PayPal
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/stripe-and-private-equity-firm-advent-offer-to-buy-paypal-534c72aa
The deal would value the fintech company at around $53 billion.

[12] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 13:54 UTC] Argent LNG and Ukraine's Naftogaz sign MoU to explore long-term US LNG supply deal
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/argent-lng-ukraines-naftogaz-sign-mou-explore-long-term-us-lng-supply-deal-2026-07-15/
Argent LNG and Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz Group have signed a memorandum of ​understanding to explore long-term U.S. liquefied ‌natural gas supply, transport and distribution cooperation, the companies said on Wednesday.

The MoU covers potential LNG sales from ​Argent's planned 25-million-tonnes-per-annum (mtpa) export terminal at ​Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

The agreement includes free-on-board cargoes, ⁠delivered ex-ship supplies into European regasification terminals ​and onward distribution through Naftogaz's underground storage network ​into Ukraine and neighboring markets.

"Port Fourchon exists to put reliable American supply behind allies who need it — not ​as a one-off cargo, but as the ​kind of long-term infrastructure relationship that actually changes a country's ‌strategic ⁠position," said Argent LNG chief executive Jonathan Bass.

The companies said they also plan to explore possible cooperation with U.S. government financing institutions and ​European energy-security ​partners, consistent ⁠with U.S. and allied energy policy objectives.

The non-binding agreement comes as ​Ukraine and other European countries seek ​alternatives ⁠to single-source and single-route gas supplies.

Earlier this year, Argent applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for ⁠permission ​to export LNG to countries ​with and without free trade agreements with the U.S.

[13] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 13:58 UTC] IRS chief Frank Bisignano will lead Trump Accounts expansion
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/irs-chief-frank-bisignano-will-lead-trump-accounts-expansion.html
The U.S. Treasury Department is putting top official Frank Bisignano in charge of implementing the expansion of its popular Trump Accounts, the department told CNBC on Wednesday.
The move is an expansion of authority for Bisignano, who will retain his roles as chief executive of the Internal Revenue Service and commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Bisignano resigned as chief executive of financial-technology firm Fiserv in 2025 to join the Trump administration.
The Trump Accounts are a savings vehicle created by Republicans' tax-and-policy legislation passed last year. They debuted on July 4. A family can create an account for a child under 18 and contribute $5,000 a year into a tax-deferred account.
Funds can't be withdrawn until the child turns 18. At that point, any withdrawals before age 59½ are generally subject to income taxes and a 10% penalty. There are certain penalty exceptions, such as for distributions for higher education expenses.
The Treasury Department says more than 6.5 million families have signed up. Children born between 2025 and 2028 are eligible for a one-time pilot contribution of $1,000 from the government. More than 1.5 million eligible children have enrolled, Treasury said.
More children are eligible for additional funding by private individuals and organizations that have backed the creation of the accounts.
Expanding access to the accounts is a priority for the administration. The stock market has boomed in recent years, with the S&P 500 gaining roughly 25% since President Donald Trump's second inauguration. The administration hopes the accounts will help more families participate in those kinds of gains. Some 58% of U.S. households are invested in the stock market, according to the Federal Reserve, though most of the country's wealth is held by the highest-net-worth households.

[14] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:00 UTC] Microsoft Gives Salespeople Tips to Knock Down Anthropic, OpenAI
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/microsoft-gives-salespeople-tips-to-knock-down-anthropic-openai
Microsoft Gives Salespeople Tips to Knock Down Anthropic, OpenAI

[15] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 14:00 UTC] Most Americans don’t know how to prevent dementia. Here’s what you can do.
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-dont-know-how-to-prevent-dementia-heres-what-you-can-do-85fb4bfc?mod=mw_rss_topstories
‘Brain health is a lifelong commitment — it’s never too early or too late to start’

[16] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 14:00 UTC] The Fight Over Humanoid Robots Has Shut Down a Car Factory for the First Time
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/the-fight-over-humanoid-robots-has-shut-down-a-car-factory-for-the-first-time-d45ac3e1
Hyundai workers in South Korea are on a partial strike over concerns about their future job prospects.

[17] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:02 UTC] IMF strategy chief urges countries to maintain price stability
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/imf-strategy-chief-urges-countries-maintain-price-stability-2026-07-15/
The International Monetary Fund's new strategy chief urged government officials on Wednesday to maintain credibility in fiscal ​and monetary policy with the aim of keeping prices stable ‌amid global economic uncertainty.

Christian Mumssen, the fund's new director of strategy, cited a rapid succession of major shocks to the economy in recent years, including ​the coronavirus pandemic, cost-of-living crises, trade frictions and wars in ​Ukraine and the Middle East.

"Technologically, artificial intelligence and digital ⁠finance are advancing at a speed few of us anticipated. And ​geopolitically, the post-war global order is giving way to a more ​fragmented, multipolar world," he told an event at the Atlantic Council.

"The global economy has proved remarkably resilient in the face of these forces. But the sheer ​scale of what is under way creates an exceptionally high degree ​of uncertainty - and we should expect the unexpected."

Governments must pay close attention to ‌sound ⁠public finances and debt, inflation, jobs and growth, he said, adding that price stability is likely to be threatened by frequent supply disruptions.

He said governments should enhance resilience from supply shocks and global ​political tensions and work ​to manage ⁠uncertainty.

Mumssen also said it was critical to address fast-moving technical innovations, including to ensure the rapid AI ​transformation translates to inclusive growth.

The big difference in ​the current ⁠global financial situation is that major transformations are happening at the same time, he said.

He encouraged countries to work with the fund on ⁠solutions.

"The ​problem is: just when massive structural challenges ​and a new technological revolution would call for greater international cooperation, the global governance ​system is fragmenting," Mumssen added.

[18] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:02 UTC] Senate Panel Advances BLS Nominee Matsumoto Toward Floor Vote
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/senate-panel-advances-bls-nominee-matsumoto-toward-floor-vote
Senate Panel Advances BLS Nominee Matsumoto Toward Floor Vote

[19] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 14:04 UTC] Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Are Still Giving Away Their Fortunes. Just Not Together.
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/warren-buffett-and-bill-gates-are-still-giving-away-their-fortunes-just-not-together-b11ccd1d
Buffett didn’t donate this year to the Gates Foundation and called his longtime friend’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein “distasteful.”

[20] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:04 UTC] Treasuries Rise as Producer Prices Reinforce Inflation Optimism
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/treasuries-rise-as-producer-prices-reinforce-inflation-optimism
Treasuries Rise as Producer Prices Reinforce Inflation Optimism

[21] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:07 UTC] US, Canada Contradict Each Other on Financial Terms of Detroit Bridge Deal
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/us-canada-contradict-each-other-on-financial-terms-of-detroit-bridge-deal
US, Canada Contradict Each Other on Financial Terms of Detroit Bridge Deal

[22] [Business Insider | 2026-07-15 14:12 UTC] PayPal stock surges 15% on report of a $53 billion takeover offer from Stripe and Advent
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-stock-surge-stripe-advent-acquisition-bid-report-2026-7
PayPal shares jumped about 15% on Wednesday following a report that Stripe and the private equity firm Advent International had made a joint offer to buy the payments giant.
The $60.50-per-share bid values PayPal at more than $53 billion and would see Stripe and Advent hold an equal stake, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
PayPal's stock rose as much as 19% in premarket trading before paring some gains.
Stripe was valued at $159 billion in a February tender offer, while PayPal's market cap stood at nearly $42 billion at Tuesday's close. Stripe and Advent's offer would represent a premium of about 28% for PayPal.
Reuters reported that Stripe and Advent's bid was backed by roughly $50 billion in committed financing from banks and that PayPal has yet to respond.
PayPal, Stripe, and Advent declined to comment.
A takeover would see a payments upstart swallow the incumbent. PayPal, founded in 1998, was an early pioneer of online payments, while Stripe was launched more than a decade later. Stripe primarily serves businesses, while PayPal's core products are consumer-facing, though both operate in each other's markets.
At more than $53 billion, the deal would rank among some of the largest tech acquisitions, topping Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter (now X) acquisition and Microsoft's $26.2 billion LinkedIn acquisition.
The bid comes after a steep decline in PayPal's valuation in recent years. Its market capitalization peaked at about $360 billion in 2021 and fell to as low as roughly $36 billion this year, as rivals including Apple Pay, Klarna, and Google Pay gained market share.
Enrique Lores, who became PayPal's CEO in March, has since launched a turnaround effort, splitting the company into three units and targeting about $1.5 billion in cost savings over the coming years.

[23] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:12 UTC] CAVA is 'not a cheap stock.' Investors should buy it anyway, Morgan Stanley says
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/cava-is-not-a-cheap-stock-investors-should-buy-it-anyway-morgan-stanley-says.html
CAVA Group is "not a cheap stock" even after its latest pullback, but it's still a worthy addition to investors' portfolios, according to Morgan Stanley. The investment bank upgraded the fast-casual restaurant chain to overweight from equal-weight and raised its 12-month price target on its shares to $90 from $86, implying 29% upside from Tuesday's close. "Valuation is defensible, because it remains one of the strongest fundamental stories in restaurants," analysts led by Brian Harbour said Wednesday in a 108-page review of the industry. "While this is not a cheap stock even after recent weakness, on the growth side of our coverage, it stands out as one of few where we feel good about most of the [key performance indicators] that matter – traffic growth, unit growth, new store performance and margin visibility." Shares had fallen nearly 21% over the past three months as the chain's same-store sales growth stagnated, raising concerns about a high valuation. CAVA 3M mountain Before rebounding Wednesday, CAVA was down about 21% over the past three months CAVA trades at more than 44 times enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). But that valuation is justified given CAVA's strong qualitative fundamentals, such as recent menu innovations and high customer loyalty, leaving the stock attractive, Morgan Stanley said. "We don't have concerns about longer-term fundamentals and have long had a positive bias towards the story, 2Q should be on track and FY guidance on track," Harbour wrote. The latest Morgan Stanley recommendation is in line with the Wall Street consensus, where 17 of 29 analysts rate it a buy or strong buy, with 11 calling it a hold, LSEG data shows.

[24] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:17 UTC] Five cloud business groups urge EU interim measures against Broadcom
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/five-cloud-business-groups-urge-eu-interim-measures-against-broadcom-2026-07-15/
The Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has joined forces with four other trade groups to ​urge EU antitrust regulators to suspend some business practices of ‌U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) , according to a joint letter seen by Reuters.

CISPE , which has nearly 50 members across Europe and counts Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) as associate ​members, in March asked for an interim measure on its own ​after Broadcom last year revamped its VMware cloud service provider ⁠ecosystem, which it acquired in 2023.

CISPE's complaint prompted the European ​Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, to question the VMware licensing ​changes .

Belgium's association of digital business users Beltug, and its counterparts France's Cigref, Germany's VOICE and CIO Platform Nederland, have now joined in, accusing Broadcom of imposing ​steep price increases on VMware's virtualisation platform users and excluding ​thousands of providers from deploying and purchasing it.

"We therefore urge you, in the strongest ‌possible ⁠terms, to act swiftly and impose interim measures now," CISPE said in their joint letter dated July 10.

They asked EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera and EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen to ensure a ​transition period of ​at least three ⁠years while regulators continue their investigation into Broadcom.

Broadcom said it disagreed with CISPE's allegations, calling it an ​organisation funded by large cloud service providers, or ​hyperscalers, which ⁠misrepresent the realities of the market.

"We continue to be committed to investing significantly in our European VMware Cloud Service Provider partners (VCSPs) helping them ⁠offer ​alternatives to the hyperscalers and meet the ​evolving needs of European businesses and organisations," a Broadcom spokesperson said.

The European Commission confirmed ​receipt of the letter.

[25] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:17 UTC] Blanche Testifies at Fiery Hearing For Attorney General Post
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/blanche-testifies-at-fiery-hearing-over-attorney-general-post
Blanche Testifies at Fiery Hearing For Attorney General Post

[26] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:20 UTC] One of the best AI data stories is emerging in this social media stock, says Tony Zhang
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/one-of-the-best-ai-data-stories-is-emerging-in-this-social-media-stock-says-tony-zhang.html
Reddit is being re-rated in real time, from a hard-to-value social platform into one of the clearest data stories of the AI era. For years, the debate around Reddit was whether its communities could ever be monetized without breaking the culture that made them valuable. That question is quietly being answered as it successfully runs two engines at once: an advertising business that has become a performance channel for brands, and a content-licensing business that turns human conversation into an input AI labs need. The market is starting to treat Reddit like core infrastructure for the AI answer layer. The breakout after a volatile stretch that saw the stock swing from deep drawdown to sharp rallies is showing that buyers have stepped back with conviction. The narrative has shifted from "can Reddit monetize?" to "how much optionality is embedded in the licensing model? The bull case is that it is one of the very few internet platforms growing fast enough, and sitting in a rare enough position in the AI supply chain, to keep earning its premium. Trade timing & outlook RDDT recently broke above the $200 level after basing over the last three months, and momentum has turned positive again with the stock reclaiming its longer-term moving average. Breakout confirmation : The stock has broke out above $200 on strong relative strength and volume, turning what was resistance into the pivot the trade is structured around. Level to hold: The $200 zone now becomes the key area to defend, with the short put positioned right at that reclaimed breakout level. Upside potential: A sustained move higher puts the $227 resistance back in play, and if momentum carries, our $260 upside target comes into view, with the prior 52-week high near $283 marking our final target level above that. Fundamentals Reddit trades at a clear premium to its industry, but the growth and margin profile is in a different league from the broader interactive media group. The setup is compelling because while its valuation sits well above the median, expected revenue growth, EPS growth, and net margins each run at roughly two to three times the industry median. When a company is growing at these rates while inflecting into real profitability, the multiple is less an obstacle. The Street rates RDDT a Buy with an average target in the $230 to $236 range and a high end above $300. Bullish thesis Ad Revenue Is reaccelerating: Advertising revenue grew 74% year over year to $625 million in Q1, part of a seventh consecutive quarter of 60%-plus total revenue growth, with strength broadening across the full ad funnel. AI licensing optionality: Reddit's data-licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI are collectively worth more than $200 million annually, all built on 25 billion-plus posts that has become one of the scarcest training inputs in AI. Operating leverage is inflecting: Adjusted EBITDA grew 131% on revenue up 69%, producing a 40% EBITDA margin against a 91% gross margin. With the cost base largely fixed, incremental ad and licensing dollars are falling directly to the bottom line. Users and monetization both climbing: Daily active uniques reached 126.8 million, up 17%, while global ARPU rose 44% to $5.23, showing Reddit is growing the audience and monetizing each user at the same time. Options trade To express a bullish view with defined risk, look to Sell the Aug. 21, 2026 $200 / $175 Put Vertical @ $10.37 Credit. This entails: Selling the Aug. 21, 2026 $200 Put Buying the Aug. 21, 2026 $175 Put Maximum Reward: $1,037 per contract if RDDT is above $200 at expiration Maximum Risk: $1,463 per contract if RDDT is below $175 at expiration Breakeven: $189.63 View this Trade on OptionsPlay for Updated Pricing This structure benefits if RDDT holds above its $200 breakout while allowing you to collect premium in a compelling growth name, with the breakeven near $190 sitting below the recent basing range. Note that Reddit reports Q2 earnings on July 30, which falls within the holding period and is part of why premium is elevated here; the defined-risk structure caps exposure through that event. Summary Reddit is no longer just a social platform searching for a business model. It is compounding advertising revenue near 70%, and inflecting into strong profitability as operating leverage kicks in. The valuation is rich and will stay that way, but few internet names combine this growth rate with this position in the AI data supply chain. With the stock breaking above $200 and fundamentals firmly in gear, RDDT offers a compelling bullish setup. The put spread provides a defined-risk way to express the view that the breakout can hold and that the market is only beginning to price Reddit as a data platform for the AI era. DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.

[27] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:20 UTC] Trafigura backs out of Angola transmission line project sources say
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trafigura-backs-out-angola-transmission-line-project-sources-say-2026-07-15/
Trafigura has walked away from a proposed 2,000-megawatt transmission line ‌that would have carried surplus hydropower from Angola to copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The initiative is one of at least three privately backed ​transmission projects worth billions of dollars aimed at supplying electricity from Angola, which has a large ​surplus of stranded hydropower, to critical minerals operations facing power shortages in the two ⁠neighbouring countries.

Trafigura signed in July 2024 a non-binding agreement with engineering firm ProMarks and the Angolan government ​to conduct feasibility studies for the line.

"Trafigura has abandoned the project," said one industry source.

A second source in ​the Angolan government confirmed Trafigura's withdrawal, saying the project remains in the negotiation phase with "some changes having been made regarding the consortium members interested in implementing the contract".

The energy and water ministry did not immediately respond to questions and it was ​unclear if the government intends pursuing the project.

Asked if they still supported the project, Trafigura, which is ​part of the Lobito Corridor Railway consortium shipping critical minerals from the DRC to western markets, replied: "No comment".

ProMarks did not respond ‌to ⁠requests for comment.

OTHER TRANSMISSION PROJECTS TO FILL GAP

Two other transmission lines being developed by Meridia Energy, a joint venture between Dubai-based Averi Finance and Morocco's Somagec, are moving ahead and could help fill the gap.

The project will connect Angola's national grid to Kolwezi, a strategic hub for DRC's copper and cobalt production, while linking ​Angola to the Southern ​African Power Pool and ⁠reinforcing the Lobito Corridor, officials said.

It will also strengthen the electricity grid in Angola's oil heartland, Cabinda province, and connect Soyo city in the north to the DRC.

The ​project includes the $450 million Soyo-Inga-Cabinda line with a capacity of up to 800 ​MW, and ⁠the $1.25 billion Lauca-Kolwezi link with capacity of up to 1,400 MW.

"We are targeting commercial operation of both lines by 2030," Joao Alvares, chief investment officer at Averi, told Reuters.

Separately, U.S.-based HYDRO-LINK plans to build an interconnector between ⁠Angola and ​the DRC, aiming to deliver reliable, low-cost electricity primarily to the ​Lualaba and Katanga mining provinces.

The $1.5 billion project would span about 1,200 kilometres (746 miles) and include five substations, with construction expected to take ​about two and a half years.

(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous text at the beginning of the article)

[28] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:20 UTC] Goldman Sachs’ former top lawyer says she’s ‘happy to answer any question’ about Epstein ties
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/epstein-files-kathryn-ruemmler-goldman-sachs-house-oversight-interview.html
Goldman Sachs' former top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, is set to face questions Wednesday from the House Oversight Committee about her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The transcribed interview comes weeks after Ruemmler stepped down as Goldman's top lawyer following renewed scrutiny of her friendly emails with Epstein. But instead of leaving the investment bank, she remained in an advisory role while it seeks a permanent successor to her.
Lawmakers are expected to question Ruemmler about her dealings with Epstein between 2014 and 2019, including gifts he sent her, advice she offered him about responding to media scrutiny and a phone call he placed to her after his July 2019 arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges.
Ruemmler met Epstein in 2014 while working as a white-collar defense lawyer at Latham & Watkins. Her spokeswoman has said Ruemmler never represented Epstein but shared a client with him.
Documents released by Congress and the Justice Department show Epstein sent Ruemmler luxury gifts and called her after the arrest. In a March 2019 email, she also suggested language he could use to rebut criticism of the lenient plea deal he received in 2008.
Ruemmler has said she regrets knowing Epstein. She has not been accused of participating in his crimes.
Goldman CEO David Solomon told CNBC in February that the media scrutiny had made it "hard for her to execute on her job and her responsibilities," leading her to conclude "it was time to step away."
In an interview on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Tuesday, Solomon defended Ruemmler staying on past the end-of-June resignation she'd announced.
"Why wouldn't we take advantage of that as we try to do its best for Goldman Sachs?" he said. "That's an obligation to do its best for Goldman Sachs. And Kathy is ... helping us do that."
Ruemmler's voluntary interview is part of the oversight committee's examination of Epstein's crimes, the federal government's handling of his cases, and how Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell cultivated influence among powerful figures.
The panel has also interviewed former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
In addition to her work in the private sector, Ruemmler previously served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama.

[29] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:20 UTC] Netanyahu Plans US Visit Saturday, Seeks Meeting with Trump
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/netanyahu-plans-us-visit-saturday-seeks-meeting-with-trump
Netanyahu Plans US Visit Saturday, Seeks Meeting with Trump

[30] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:21 UTC] India markets regulator tightens conflict safeguards with recusal framework
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/india-markets-regulator-tightens-conflict-safeguards-with-recusal-framework-2026-07-15/
India's markets regulator on Wednesday introduced a formal recusal framework requiring its senior officials to step aside from matters ​where they face personal, professional or financial conflicts.

The framework ‌also allows the public to flag potential conflicts and mandates annual disclosure of recusal data.

Here are the key provisions of the stricter ​code of conduct, introduced after former Securities and Exchange Board ​of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch faced allegations of conflicts ⁠of interest linked to the Adani Group.

Senior SEBI officials will be ​required to recuse themselves from matters involving family members, relatives, ​close friends, associates from the previous three years, professional relationships, or material financial interests. The regulator defined a material financial interest as investments of ​more than 2 million rupees in an entity or ​holdings representing over 5% of an official's total financial investments

Senior officers, including ‌whole-time ⁠members and the chairperson, will be required to disclose their movable and immovable assets to an internal ethics office, which will also be responsible for handling complaints related to potential ​conflicts of interest

Disclosure ​requirements for ⁠whole-time members also cover family members, relatives, past professional interests, assets, liabilities and investment holdings. Officials ​will also have to disclose rental arrangements, ​including tenant ⁠names, whether tenants are SEBI-regulated entities.

SEBI will maintain a digital record of conflicts and recusals and publish annual recusal data. ⁠It will ​include summaries of recusals by the ​chair, whole-time members, part-time members and senior officials to appear in the regulator's ​annual report

[31] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:21 UTC] Nigerian Inflation Holds Steady Ahead of Interest-Rate Call
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/nigerian-inflation-holds-steady-ahead-of-rate-setting-meeting
Nigerian Inflation Holds Steady Ahead of Interest-Rate Call

[32] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 14:23 UTC] How this small-cap stock picker’s ‘ownership’ approach has helped him beat the Russell 2000
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-this-small-cap-stock-pickers-ownership-approach-has-helped-him-beat-the-russell-2000-d2a789fc?mod=mw_rss_topstories
An active value and quality-based approach can be an advantage in a part of the stock market dominated by index funds.

[33] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:24 UTC] Older UK Teens Face Midnight Curfews on Social Media Apps
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/older-uk-teens-face-midnight-curfews-on-social-media-apps
Older UK Teens Face Midnight Curfews on Social Media Apps

[34] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:28 UTC] Goldman Lawyer Tells Congress Her Epstein Emails Were Misread
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/goldman-lawyer-tells-congress-her-epstein-emails-were-misread
Goldman Lawyer Tells Congress Her Epstein Emails Were Misread

[35] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:32 UTC] Todd Blanche defends handling of Jeffrey Epstein files in Senate confirmation hearing
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-senate-nomination-hearing.html
Todd Blanche defended the Department of Justice's handling of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday as he testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee about his nomination by President Donald Trump to become U.S. attorney general.
Blanche, who is currently the acting attorney general, also faced criticism from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for holding cryptocurrency-related assets last year while "you issued an order dismantling DOJ's crypto enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations in the crypto industry."
Blanche has yet to respond to Durbin's criticism of his crypto holdings at the hearing.
In response to a question by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about the Epstein files, Blanche said, "We worked hard, hardworking lawyers within the department, to do the right thing, and we will continue to do so."
Blanche said that when Trump signed a law last fall requiring the DOJ to make public all of the documents it held related to Epstein, the department "undertook a Herculean task to review millions and millions of potentially responsive files.
Blanche in January, as deputy attorney general, said the DOJ would not publicly release millions more pages about Epstein after initially disclosing more than 3 million pages.
In his testimony on Wednesday, Blanche said some of the withheld files were not responsive to the demands of the law because, among other things, they included information related to another case involving someone else named Epstein.
The DOJ, in a Jan. 30 statement about the final release of the files, said those that were withheld fell into several categories, including duplicate documents from different investigations and those withheld under certain legal privileges.
A group of Epstein victims this week released a video urging the Senate to block Blanche as attorney general because their personal information was made public by the DOJ in the release of files even though that information should have been redacted.
On Wednesday, Blanche said, "The reviewers were qualified, experienced attorneys within the department and the FBI. They took pains to apply appropriate redactions. There were mistakes that were made, and so approximately 1% of the redactions had to be fixed after we released the Epstein files."
"Whenever we learned that any victim's name had been improperly not redacted, we immediately took the document down and fixed it as soon as we could," Blanche said. "That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility, but it does mean that we tried to fix them."
Blanche, who first drew national attention as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, has served as acting attorney general since early April, when Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of issues related to Epstein.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Tuesday praised Blanche, calling him a "great lawyer, always very fair," and writing, "every Republican Senator should vote to CONFIRM Todd Blanche, ASAP."
Blanche also faced questions on Wednesday about his decision to create a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund for the DOJ to compensate people who were purportedly the victims of prosecutorial overreach by the Justice Department.
The fund, which Blanche said he canceled in the face of sharp criticism from Republican senators and Democrats, was part of an out-of-court settlement of a suit filed by Trump against the IRS over the leak of his tax records. While Blanche has said the fund won't be created, Trump has floated the idea of reviving its creation.
That settlement included giving Trump, his family members and related business entities effective immunity from audits, prosecution or regulatory enforcement action by the IRS for tax returns filed up to the date of the settlement in May.
On Monday, a Miami federal judge in a scathing order said Trump had sued the IRS for an "improper purpose," to obtain the appearance of "judicial legitimacy for a 'settlement' that had no viable basis in law or fact." The judge ordered that a copy of her order be sent to the New York State Bar Association, of which Blanche is a member, and which is considering a pending ethics complaint against him.
Durbin's opposition to Blanche nomination
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that he had a 30-minute meeting with Blanche earlier in the day that included a discussion about the DOJ fund.
Durbin said Blanche told him: "'What more can I do? What more can I say? I made a mistake. I don't want to see the weaponization fund go forward.'"
Durbin said he then asked Blanche, "Why don't you put it in writing? Do something so it's a credible statement by you?"
The senator recounted that Blanche said he would be willing to work with Congress to codify that the fund can't be created.
"It seemed like a very weak defense," Durbin said.
CNBC has requested comment from the DOJ about that account, and about Durbin's description of how Blanche addressed the issue of cryptocurrency during their private meeting.
Durbin has been a critic of Blanche taking the attorney general post since he was nominated, saying he is concerned about money being made by Trump administration officials.
"I said to Todd Blanche, it just boils down to this: I don't think if you want to get rich you ought to be running for public office," Durbin said Tuesday. "I can't understand all the money that's being made in this administration."
Durbin said Blanche "did not address any of those things directly," but that he "addressed his own situation with cryptocurrency."
Blanche said he had consulted with the Office of Legal Counsel and ethics officials about his holdings in cryptocurrency, according to a Durbin aide who was at the session with reporters.
"He had $160,000 roughly in cryptocurrency and he was told that he had to divest it," Durbin said.
In this conversation with Blanche on Tuesday, Durbin told reporters, "I started off with the issue of corruption."
"And during the period of time when he was going through this process of turning it over to his children and grandchildren, there were decisions made about the regulation of cryptocurrency, which most people, and most of the things I've read, suggest that they were lessening the government scrutiny of their activity," the senator said.
"He's an owner of cryptocurrency. He's transferring it within his family. He's making decisions … involved in decisions at the Justice level as to the scrutiny of this industry," Durbin said.
"That sounds like it, on its face, to be a conflict of interest."
Another area of controversy Democrats are expected to focus on is the federal prosecutions of people Trump considers enemies — former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, last fall. That office is overseen by the DOJ.
Both of those cases, whose allegations were strongly denied by both defendants, were dismissed by a judge in November after he ruled that the interim U.S. attorney who lodged the case was invalidly appointed.
— CNBC's Justin Papp contributed to this article.

[36] [Business Insider | 2026-07-15 14:32 UTC] Goldman Sachs pinpoints 5 safe havens for investors as the market's momentum trade breaks down
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/where-to-invest-stock-picks-sell-off-safe-havens-goldman-2026-7
One of the market's hottest investing strategies has hit a rough patch, but Goldman Sachs sees a few places investors can hide.
A team of strategists at the bank identified a handful of safe-havens in the market amid volatility in the momentum trade sparked by a broadening rotation into some lesser-loved sectors. Momentum stocks — which are stocks that have seen a rapid price increase in recent months — have started to tumble from their records, with high-flying memory and chip companies dropping and investors flocking to other areas of the market.
Invesco's S&P 500 Momentum ETF, one popular fund tracking momentum stocks, is down 5% from its recent peak.
"Over the past 3 weeks, market leadership has been tested, with the momentum factor delivering the sharpest sell-off since the early 2000s," Goldman strategists wrote this week.
The bank said it analyzed various "assets, styles, and sectors" and found several investments with a low correlation to the momentum trade, which provide a buffer to portfolios amid the swings.
Chip stocks, growth stocks, and Taiwan and Korean stocks were some of the most positively correlated with the momentum trade, the bank said.
Here are some of the safe havens the bank thinks says could protect against recent declines:
Software stocks
Software stocks got pummeled in the "SaaSpocalypse" earlier this year, which shields it somewhat from the disruption other stocks are facing as the momentum trade breaks down. Many beaten-down names in the sector have bounced back from their lows, a sign that some investors are taking the opportunity to scoop up shares at more attractive valuations.
The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF is still down 9% for the year, but the software-heavy fund has rebounded 25% from its April low.
Here are some of the biggest gainers in the past month:
- Palo Alto Networks: +24%
- CrowdStrike: +21%
- Adobe: +14%
- Snowflake: +14%
Bonds
Both long- and short-dated bonds appear to be moderately sheltered from recent volatility.
The ICE BofAML MOVE Index, a gauge that measures bond volatility, dropped 3% on Monday. The gauge is down 32% from its peak in late March.
It's been a challenging year for fixed income, largely due to fears of hotter inflation, which has raised yields and pushed bond prices lower. Vanguard's Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF is down 1% year to date.
US low volatility
Low-volatility stocks, by definition, have steered clear of the broader volatility stemming from the momentum trade.
The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF, which tracks low-volatility US stocks, is up 3% for the year.
Real estate
Real estate is another bright spot in the market lately, partly due to the recent stabilization in interest rates and lingering hopes that rates could still edge lower.
Vanguard's Real Estate Index Fund ETF is up 10% for the year, narrowly beating the S&P 500.
'Dividend Aristocrats'
Firms that have steadily increased dividend payments to shareholders have been star performers amid the sell-off in momentum stocks. Dividend Aristocrats, which are S&P 500 companies that have raised dividend payouts for at least 25 years straight, have the lowest correlation with the momentum trade, according to Goldman's analysis.
The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF, one fund tracking companies in this bucket, is up 7% for the year.

[37] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:33 UTC] Ben & Jerry's Foundation may suspend operations after funding cut
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/ben-jerrys-foundation-may-suspend-operations-after-funding-cut-2026-07-15/
The Ben & Jerry's Foundation said on Wednesday it will suspend ​operations at year-end after Magnum ‌Ice Cream (MICCT.AS) cut its funding and evicted it from its offices, unless ​it wins a favorable ​court ruling.

Magnum cut the foundation's funding ⁠in April 2025 before ordering ​it to vacate its offices by July ​15, 2026, the foundation said in a press release.

Unilever-backed audit in December 2025 found ​that the foundation had deficiencies ​in financial controls and governance

Foundation disputes the ‌findings ⁠and says previous audits identified no similar concerns

Legal challenge over funding and office eviction remains pending ​in New ​York ⁠federal court, and is expected to extend into next ​year

Magnum spun off from ​Unilever ⁠in December with a valuation of about 7.8 billion euros

Magnum's handling ⁠of ​Ben & Jerry's has drawn ​investor criticism

($1 = 0.8752 euros)

[38] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 14:35 UTC] PayPal’s battered stock is getting a record boost from a report of buyout interest
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-53-billion-lifeline-stripe-and-advent-reportedly-team-up-to-bid-for-battered-paypal-3bc6fcc2?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Shares of PayPal, the struggling payments processor, were having their best day ever on Wednesday, after the release of a report that rival Stripe is teaming up with private-equity group Advent International on a bid.

[39] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:39 UTC] Amazon shares are really cheap compared with competitors Walmart and Alphabet, says Jefferies
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/amazon-is-cheaper-than-walmart-and-alphabet-says-jefferies-.html
Amazon stock isn't necessarily cheap, but it offers a much less expensive way to gain exposure to the artificial intelligence data center and retail investment themes than Walmart and Alphabet , according to Jefferies. The investment firm has a buy rating on the e-commerce giant. It also has a $320 price target on shares, implying 29% upside from Tuesday's close. The stock was trading 3% higher on Wednesday in the wake of Jefferies' call. Amazon has an enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization multiple of roughly 12, making it cheaper than comparable retail and technology plays, Jefferies said. "At ~12x [next 12 months] EV/EBITDA, AMZN trades at [a one-third] ... discount to 18x blended GOOGL 17x / WMT 19x and is a top pick among hyperscalers," analyst Brent Thill said Monday in a note to clients. Amazon is both the largest retail competitor to Walmart and its most comparable rival in the cloud technology industry. The analyst added that now is a particularly good time to add shares of Amazon to one's portfolio. The stock's price is up modestly over the past three months, "only cheapen[ing] an already attractive entry," Thill wrote. He also noted that Amazon should soon get a boost from its AI-linked data center plans, particularly if it raises its capital expenditure guidance this year. "Our expert called the current buildout unprecedented & believes [estimates of Amazon's capital expenditure and free-cash flow for the full year] ... may still be understated," Thill said in his note. Of the 69 analysts covering Amazon, 65 have buy or strong buy rating on the stock, while four have a hold on it, LSEG data shows. Shares have risen 13% year to date, underperforming the S & P 500's 21% gain over the same period.

[40] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:40 UTC] Goldman Helps Wall Street Get Its Swagger Back With Record-Smashing Quarter
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/jpmorgan-goldman-help-banks-rediscover-swagger-in-first-100-billion-half
Goldman Helps Wall Street Get Its Swagger Back With Record-Smashing Quarter

[41] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 14:42 UTC] The UK finally has a blueprint for innovation — now it must act on it
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/06660166-3796-41c8-923c-482be3643d8b
The UK finally has a blueprint for innovation — now it must act on it
Anyone needing a shot of optimism about the UK’s economic prospects should visit the New Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge. The gleaming £58mn building, home to some of the prototype turbojet engines developed by Frank Whittle in the 1930s, highlights the UK’s rich industrial past and promises an equally innovative future.
The Whittle Lab is intent on transforming one of Britain’s strongest manufacturing industries: aerothermal engineering, which spans aerospace, energy and defence.
As he tours the premises, Rob Miller, the lab’s contagiously enthusiastic director, explains that the four steps in the engineering process — design, manufacture, test and iterate — are all being transformed by new technologies and business models. That presents a unique opportunity for the UK — “aerothermal is an industry where the UK leads”, he says, noting the success of Rolls-Royce aero engines and UK-made Formula 1 cars. The aim is to cut engineering development time from several years to a few months, or even weeks.
To that end, he has launched the affiliated Bennett Innovation Lab with Elliott Grant, a former executive from GoogleX’s innovation arm. Their aim is to create a “hardware unicorn machine” supporting tech start-ups that can grow to more than $1bn in valuation. In the US, Y Combinator has successfully incubated scores of software start-ups. The Bennett lab wants to do the same for UK hardware start-ups. “As AI collapses the cost and speed of innovation, this is where I want to be building the next big thing,” Grant says.
Outside observers are intrigued by the initiative. “I 100 per cent believe that we can dramatically accelerate these engineering processes,” Sir John Lazar, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, tells me. “But the really, really difficult debate is how you assess and deal with risk.” The next challenge will then be battling through the “horrible accretion of frictions” that prevents promising UK start-ups from becoming global technology champions.
How to overcome those frictions has been explored in a new book by US entrepreneur Amir Hegazi. The UK Innovation Blueprint has contributions from 24 entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers and contains 10 recommendations on how the country’s “conversion gap” can be closed.
Mobilising capital, creating a government delivery machine that can act as the first customer for promising start-ups and easing visa restrictions to attract researchers and entrepreneurs are high on the list. Hegazi himself lost his UK Global Talent visa because of an administrative misunderstanding over health insurance and has now moved to the UAE.
The most glaring weakness highlighted in the UK and Europe is the lack of risk-taking growth capital. That has meant that pioneering UK technology companies with global ambitions, such as Arm, DeepMind and Oxford Ionics, have often had little choice but to sell themselves to US or Asian buyers.
In the book, Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, laments the fact that all 11 European tech unicorns he has backed ultimately relocated to the US. This “predictable and devastating” failure is “the single most important problem,” he argues.
In her contribution, Kate Bingham, who chaired the UK Vaccine Taskforce in 2020, says Britain showed it could innovate, mobilise resources and scale up quickly during the Covid pandemic. Delivery mechanisms employed at the time could be replicated across other sectors today. The three essential ingredients are: creating mission-driven teams; committing public money early to support them; and ensuring government departments work simultaneously, not sequentially. The trouble is, she adds, that this way of working is “the opposite of the government’s default”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s outgoing government appeared finally to have grasped some of these challenges and was acting with increasing urgency. Sadly, the incoming government of Andy Burnham appears more focused on devolution, taxation and redistribution. But if it wants to achieve its wider ambitions, its top priority must be to back enterprise to reignite growth.
Even during the darkest days of the second world war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill struggled to mobilise the government will to develop Whittle’s new jet engine. “The challenges the UK now faces are similarly immense,” argues Miller.
Today, at least, Britain is at peace and its tech community has a clear, achievable blueprint for innovation. It is high time to bet big on the country’s entrepreneurial talents and turn that blueprint into action.

[42] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 14:44 UTC] Buying a house is getting easier by one measure. Here’s why it doesn’t feel like it.
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/homes-are-getting-more-affordable-so-how-come-you-still-cant-afford-to-buy-one-f2d69d02?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Home prices are growing much slower than they did during the pandemic-era buying frenzy.

[43] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:47 UTC] Goldman Sachs’ former top lawyer tells House Epstein was a ‘masterful liar’ who used her to bolster his standing
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/epstein-files-kathryn-ruemmler-goldman-sachs-house-oversight-interview.html
Goldman Sachs' former top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, told CNBC she's "happy" to answer questions Wednesday from the House Oversight Committee about her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"You know what I'm happy to answer any question that they have that they think will help their inquiry. So again I'm looking forward to being with the committee members today," Ruemmler said on her way into the hearing.
The transcribed interview comes weeks after Ruemmler stepped down as Goldman's top lawyer following renewed scrutiny of her friendly emails with Epstein. But instead of leaving the investment bank, she remained in an advisory role while it seeks a permanent successor to her.
Lawmakers are expected to question Ruemmler about her dealings with Epstein between 2014 and 2019, including gifts he sent her, advice she offered him about responding to media scrutiny and a phone call he placed to her after his July 2019 arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges.
Ruemmler met Epstein in 2014 while working as a white-collar defense lawyer at Latham & Watkins. Her spokeswoman has said Ruemmler never represented Epstein but shared a client with him.
Documents released by Congress and the Justice Department show Epstein sent Ruemmler luxury gifts and called her after the arrest. In a March 2019 email, she also suggested language he could use to rebut criticism of the lenient plea deal he received in 2008.
Ruemmler has said she regrets knowing Epstein. She has not been accused of participating in his crimes.
Goldman CEO David Solomon told CNBC in February that the media scrutiny had made it "hard for her to execute on her job and her responsibilities," leading her to conclude "it was time to step away."
In an interview on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Tuesday, Solomon defended Ruemmler staying on past the end-of-June resignation she'd announced.
"Why wouldn't we take advantage of that as we try to do its best for Goldman Sachs?" he said. "That's an obligation to do its best for Goldman Sachs. And Kathy is ... helping us do that."
Ruemmler's voluntary interview is part of the oversight committee's examination of Epstein's crimes, the federal government's handling of his cases, and how Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell cultivated influence among powerful figures.
The panel has also interviewed former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
In addition to her work in the private sector, Ruemmler previously served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama.

[44] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:47 UTC] Mounting Data-Center Backlash Across US Has Companies Turning to Green Debt
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/mounting-data-center-backlash-across-us-has-companies-turning-to-green-debt
Mounting Data-Center Backlash Across US Has Companies Turning to Green Debt

[45] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 14:49 UTC] You are missing the bond deal of the decade — and it is guaranteed to beat inflation
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-are-missing-the-bond-deal-of-the-decade-and-it-is-guaranteed-to-beat-inflation-0f1d6cf8?mod=mw_rss_topstories
TIPS are offering a rare gift — and it is time to lock in a generous payout.

[46] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:49 UTC] DTCC, Wall Street’s post-trade powerhouse, tests tokenized markets with industry heavy hitters
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/dtcc-wall-streets-post-trade-powerhouse-tests-tokenized-markets-with-industry-heavy-hitters.html
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation on Wednesday will complete a set of financial transactions using digital versions, or "tokenized," of assets held at The Depository Trust Company, the company announced.
The day-long event, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will include more than 25 firms across the traditional finance and digital assets industries. To kick off the day, JPMorgan converted the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) into a tokenized asset. Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Vanguard and the New York Stock Exchange are among the other participating firms, a DTCC spokesperson confirmed.
"Today is the beginning of a long journey where we will demonstrate that the old and the new can live together, [and] that the technology enables a lot of opportunities for our participants worldwide," Nadine Chakar, global head of DTCC Digital Assets, said in a video statement published Wednesday morning. "We're going to prove the value of tokenization and hopefully build the foundation that would lead to a scalable launch come October."
Tokenization usually refers to the process of issuing digital representations on a blockchain network of publicly traded securities, real world assets or any other form of value. The often-touted benefits of blockchain technology include lower costs, faster settlement times, greater transparency about ownership and performance and programmable terms — as well as increased accessibility for retail investors and global reach.
The DTCC is the central post-trade organization in the U.S. financial system that processes, settles and safeguards most stock and bond transactions. Its subsidiaries processed $4.7 quadrillion worth of securities transactions last year.
The financial industry has debated tokenization for years without widespread implementation. In that time, competing tokenization specialists from the crypto industry such as Ondo and Securitize have burst onto the scene, threatening legacy clearing infrastructure through high-profile partnerships with giants including BlackRock.
"DTCC is bridging TradFi and DeFi so that capital markets is built on the same infrastructure that has underpinned global financial markets for decades," Brian Steele, DTCC's president of clearing and securities services, said in a statement. "Through the DTCC Tokenization service, we have the opportunity for increased efficiency, deeper liquidity and new ways to move and use assets."
DTCC's trial run is a tangible step toward adoption, though it remains an early phase. Wednesday's event is meant to demonstrate how tokenized assets can operate across collateral, repo, equities, margin and asset transfers by leveraging the existing financial infrastructure.
Shares of Microsoft, Circle Internet Group, Invesco QQQ Trust, State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV), as well as Treasurys of different maturities are expected to be tokenized during the demonstration.

[47] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:50 UTC] Burberry shareholders back CEO pay boost, but 37% vote against
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/burberry-investors-support-ceo-pay-boost-2026-07-15/
A majority of ‌Burberry (BRBY.L) investors on Wednesday supported an executive pay overhaul allowing CEO Joshua Schulman to get much bigger share awards, significantly increasing his compensation if performance and share ​price targets are met.

Many shareholders rebelled against the change, however, ​with 37% of votes at the company's annual general meeting ⁠against and 63% in favour.

Under the new policy, Schulman would get performance ​share awards worth up to 300% of his salary, with his total potential ​package reaching £12.24 million ($16.41 million) if the brand achieves maximum performance targets and its share price rises by 50%.

Influential proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had ​both recommended investors vote against the change and vote against the resolution ​on directors' remuneration policy.

In a statement acknowledging the investor pushback, Burberry said its board ‌had ⁠been consulting with shareholders in the run-up to the AGM and would continue to engage to respond to their concerns, and provide an update within six months — as required by UK governance rules for any resolution ​with less than ​80% support.

Burberry said ⁠both resolutions were supported by its 10 largest shareholders.

Schulman is leading a turnaround at Burberry, and has slashed ​jobs and returned the company to profit.

In a struggling ​global ⁠luxury sector, Burberry has rewarded shareholders better, in terms of total returns over the two years since he joined, than bigger rivals like LVMH, Hermes, ⁠Kering, ​and Richemont.

Investors also confirmed William Jackson as ​Burberry's new chair, taking over from Gerry Murphy, who has held the role since 2018.

[48] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 14:50 UTC] Law firm WilmerHale sued in class action after data breach
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/law-firm-wilmerhale-sued-class-action-after-data-breach-2026-07-15/
Large U.S. law firm WilmerHale ​has been sued in federal court in Washington over a data breach that allegedly exposed ‌sensitive personal data in a cyberattack earlier this year.

The lawsuit , filed on Tuesday, alleges the prominent firm failed to protect personally identifiable information on its network, including names and Social Security numbers.

The plaintiff, Nevada resident Jason Perry, said he was suing on ​behalf of himself “and thousands of other similarly situated persons in the massive and preventable cyberattack.”

In ​a statement, WilmerHale said "an unauthorized third party that has been targeting firms across the ⁠legal industry recently obtained a limited set of information from the firm."

It said a review showed the ​incident was isolated, that no internal data was misused or disseminated, and that "the third party did not directly ​access the firm’s systems or network."

"We regret this incident occurred and are continuing to enhance our security posture in response to the evolving threat landscape," the firm said.

Perry said he received a notice from the law firm that his private information ​was involved in the breach. The lawsuit did not describe Perry’s relationship with WilmerHale, which employs more than ​1,100 lawyers in offices in the United States and Europe.

The lawsuit said Perry and others “were required to provide their private ‌information ⁠to defendant in order to receive services.”

Perry’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Law firms have increasingly become targets in cyberattacks. Other recent data-related lawsuits were filed against law firms including Wiley Rein , Fox Rothschild and Blank Rome .

The complaint alleges WilmerHale's network was breached in May. It did not identify the hackers or specify ​how the alleged intrusion occurred, ​stating only that one ⁠or more unauthorized third parties accessed class members' private data.

A notice on the Vermont attorney general’s office data breach notice website shows a July 10 listing ​from WilmerHale. The notice said a breach affected 11 Vermont residents.

Perry’s lawsuit seeks ​unspecified monetary damages ⁠and improved data-security measures.

The case is Jason Perry v. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 1:26-cv-02470.

For plaintiff: Laura Grace Van Note of Cole & Van Note, and David Wise of Wise ⁠Law Firm

For ​defendant: No appearance yet

Read more:

US law firm Blank Rome faces ​class action over data breach

Law firm Fox Rothschild hit with class action over data breach

Law firm Wiley Rein hit with class action over ​data breach tied to Chinese hackers

Law firm Pillsbury faces class actions over April data breach

[49] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:51 UTC] Ken Griffin Spends Millions to Back GOP in Tight Senate Races
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/ken-griffin-spends-millions-to-back-gop-in-tight-senate-races
Ken Griffin Spends Millions to Back GOP in Tight Senate Races

[50] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 14:52 UTC] I let people wearing cameras clean my apartment and cook a meal for me for free
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/robot-trainers-clean-apartment-cook-lunch-free-shift-ai-startup-2026-6
I let an AI startup film every inch of my apartment.
That's a privacy nightmare — and yes, I did suitably hide all my personal items before they arrived. But, as a 23-year-old living in New York on a journalist's budget, I'm not exactly splurging on house cleaners.
These were free, so long as I agreed to the cameras.
The cleaners came from Shift, a startup that offers free housekeeping across New York. The price is the video recording, which will later be used to train robots. (Shift says it anonymizes "names, faces, or other personal information," per its website.) It's part of a bigger trend: startups are paying for videos of household tasks, like folding laundry, to train robots.
When Shift premiered in May, I quickly booked myself a spot. When the cleaners arrived two weeks later, I was nervous. Who were these strangers in my shoebox apartment? I grew even more nervous when they texted me 10 minutes before my appointment time that another staffer — a chef! — would be joining.
That cooking service is now coming to San Francisco. The teaser video promised filet mignon and lobster, for date night or dinner parties. The idea could prove popular: over 400 commenters have already expressed interest.
As the staffers began their cleaning and cooking, my nerves subsided. It was free, after all.
The cleaners came first
When Shift's cleaners arrived at my apartment, I was hesitant. These were 20-somethings, wearing baggy white polos and suiting up with baseball caps attached to cameras.
The cameras hung off the brim of their caps. While they weren't walking around with large camcorders, the wires hanging off the cameras were still highly visible.
The cleaners mostly used a mix of their supplies and mine. They took about 90 minutes of the two-hour slot. I was working while they cleaned, and they rarely disrupted me, which I appreciated.
I wasn't overly impressed with the cleaning. (When my roommate came home, he asked: Did they even come?) Still, the service was free, and I liked not having to vacuum myself.
Shift surprised me with a three-course meal
About 10 minutes after the cleaners arrived, I heard a knock on the door. Chef James was here.
James wore the same uniform: white polo, baseball cap, wire running up the neck. He set up in my kitchen and asked if I had any allergies or dietary preferences.
I had no idea what James had come to cook. (I didn't even know Shift had a chef service!) It turned out that my work lunch would be a three-course meal. James brought the ingredients himself and only used my pans, knives, and plates.
My favorite was the entrée: seared tuna with coriander salt, Meyer lemon, artichokes, sugar snap peas, and asparagus. My least favorite was the appetizer, a cured salmon belly that was vastly overpowered by mustard oil. I saved the dessert, a light cake with whipped cream and strawberries, for later.
The chef service was Shift's peak. I don't have anything sensitive in my kitchen, so I didn't have to worry about him filming, say, a passport. And who doesn't love free food?
My final takeaways
About thirty minutes into the cleaning, I got used to the wires and baseball caps milling around my apartment.
I'll be interested to see whether these free robot-training services are sustainable. The costs of my session were likely high for Shift: three workers, cleaning supplies, and food. I'm hesitant to believe that a video of my apartment is worth that much.
The demand is certainly there: Shift filled its slots quickly and was similarly booked up when I checked a week later. I get why.
After they left, I enjoyed my semi-clean apartment and my leftovers. And I prayed that I didn't have any IDs or credit cards lying around that would get accidentally ingested by the AI machines as they tried to learn how to cook and clean like humans.

[51] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 14:55 UTC] Warsh Says Price Impact From AI Not Necessarily Inflationary
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/warsh-says-price-pressures-from-ai-not-necessarily-inflationary
Warsh Says Price Impact From AI Not Necessarily Inflationary

[52] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 14:58 UTC] Warren Buffett calls Bill Gates' actions with Epstein 'distasteful' but says people make mistakes
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/warren-buffett-calls-bill-gates-actions-with-epstein-distasteful-but-people-make-mistakes.html
Warren Buffett called Bill Gates' association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as "distasteful" after the Berkshire Hathaway chairman excluded the Gates Foundation from his sizable annual charitable donations.
"I read a great deal since January 1 in terms of what happened, with Bill and Epstein," Buffett said in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick. "While it's distasteful, while he made mistakes, I made mistakes, hiring all kinds of people, or choosing friends, and then finding out later that, one way or other, they weren't what I thought they were. I found nothing in there that was beyond what I could picture myself doing."
Buffett, who has been friends with Gates for more than three decades, said he extensively reviewed information about Gates' relationship with Epstein before deciding to overhaul his charitable giving. The 95-year old Buffett directed all of this year's donations to four family-linked foundations.
For years, the Gates Foundation was the largest recipient of his annual Berkshire donations. Since 2006, Buffett has donated more than $47 billion worth of Berkshire stock to the philanthropic organization founded by the Microsoft co-founder and his former wife, Melinda Gates.
Buffett said he and Gates remain in contact and recently spent several hours together in Omaha.
"He came by Omaha three weeks ago. I kind of lose track of time, but certainly not three months, and we spent three hours talking together," Buffett said. "He intends to call me... He already proposed another meeting."
In the hands of Buffett's children
The Oracle of Omaha said his estate plan should place greater responsibility in the hands of his three children. He said he had gradually prepared them for that role over decades.
"I reevaluated my whole situation," Buffett said. "What happened was that I gave the Gates Foundation a great deal of money. I thought that was a good decision. I think it was a decent decision, but I did not think my kids were in any way ready to give away vast sums of money."
"I tell the three children that it is theirs, and it's their responsibility to get it done well," he said.
Buffett said in a statement earlier this week that his goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years as his children are "unfortunately growing older."
This year, Buffett is giving the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late first wife, 9 million Class B shares with a current value of around $4.5 billion. The three foundations run by his children, Susie Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation, will each get 1 million Class B shares worth just under $500 million.
Buffett also said he recently underwent surgery after breaking his leg several weeks ago and is recovering well.

[53] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 15:00 UTC] Inside Ode with Anthropic, the startup betting AI services are the future of enterprise
URL: https://techcrunch.com/video/inside-ode-with-anthropic-the-startup-betting-ai-services-are-the-future-of-enterprise/
Can a handful of engineers really do the work of an army of consultants? That’s the bet behind Ode with Anthropic — the joint venture dedicated to embedding forward-deployed engineers in enterprise firms, backed by Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Goldman Sachs and others.   On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Ode’s leaders Chris Taylor and Eddie Siegel, who founded Fractional AI, […]

[54] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 15:01 UTC] The great Netflix-YouTube convergence is here
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-great-netflix-youtube-convergence-is-here-2026-7
Can Netflix become YouTube before YouTube can become Netflix?
The two apps are starting to look a lot more alike as Netflix chases creator content, podcasts, and short-form video, and YouTube pitches itself as a destination for TV advertisers and Emmy-worthy shows. They are also both diving into live sports.
The top streamers are all trying to create a "super app," said Scott Purdy, a media sector leader at the consulting firm KPMG US.
"They're just trying to pick off the best things, whether that's creator-driven stuff, whether that's games, whether that's better customization around advertising, to create an ecosystem that you never have to leave," he said.
The pair is even dueling over awards shows — Netflix is streaming The Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards), while YouTube is set to host the Oscars beginning in 2029.
The battle for attention doesn't come cheap.
Netflix and YouTube are spending billions of dollars a year on content, either through production and licensing deals or advertising-revenue sharing, as they duke it out for the top spot in Nielsen's monthly ranking of US TV viewership.
As content becomes less differentiated, the companies that do a better job at customizing the viewing experience will have an edge, said Frank Albarella, a US media and telecommunications leader at KPMG US.
"What do you see when you fire up your homepage?" he said. "Are they doing a good job at pointing it to certain things? That's always important."
Price will matter too, he added.
Right now, that's a key difference between paid Netflix and free YouTube. (Though YouTube has a paid, ad-free version, and there are periodic rumblings in the analyst community that Netflix should launch a free tier.) There's also the fact that Netflix pays money up front for content, while YouTube splits ad revenue with creators.
These differences have led Netflix to own higher-budget, scripted TV, while YouTube dominates influencer content and the long tail.
Both have been signaling their desire to make inroads into each other's traditional turf, however — though the extent to which they'll be successful remains to be seen.
The streaming wars are now a head-to-head fight
A decade ago, few would have guessed that Netflix and YouTube would be the final showdown in the streaming wars. Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in 2013 that the company's goal was "to become HBO faster than HBO can become us."
Back then, Netflix didn't have an advertising business. Today, it knows its biggest task is to drive watch time. The company's North Star has shifted to "engagement," which it has called the "best proxy for customer satisfaction."
Sarandos told investors last year that the streamer is the best place for premium content "as defined by fans," not critics. It isn't HBO tastemakers that are driving the bulk of TV viewing. Many spend their time in social feeds, watching influencers bake bread or do trick shots on basketball courts. Just under half of Gen Z and millennial viewers consider watching social media videos to be the same as watching TV, according to a Deloitte report from last year.
To win, Netflix is looking to offer a mix of cable TV, TikTok, and YouTube-style fare. It's not alone. Other streamers seem to be realizing they need to offer more in their apps to compete. Disney and Paramount are exploring short-form video feeds and free tiers to expand their audiences and drive up engagement.
"These streaming platforms and the social platforms are moving towards the same center of gravity," Albarella said. "We call it a battle for audience attention or engagement, and almost like a new category called creator-driven television."
This month, Netflix said it's adding three to 20-minute videos from the likes of Bon Appétit, Variety, and Cosmopolitan — the type of short content that people binge-watch on YouTube. It's adding new videos from YouTube creators The Stokes Twins, Rhett and Link, the food influencer Meredith Hayden, and other social stars like Salish and Jordan Matter.
YouTube, meanwhile, is now letting creators organize their videos in TV-style series, offering seasons and episodes for viewers to burn through. The company said more users watch YouTube on television than on computers or phones, and it's pitching shows from top creators like Kareem Rahma to advertisers as TV buys.
Ultimately, all the media and social platforms have the same goal: to keep us watching.
"There's only so many hours in a day, and everyone is competing for amounts of attention," Purdy said. "They're all trying to figure out how to monetize that attention effectively."
The biggest question mark is the future of prestige scripted content. YouTube has traditionally struggled in this area, but if younger generations spend less time watching it, that might cease to be such an edge for Netflix.

[55] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:01 UTC] Portugal says strategy, not just price, will decide TAP stake buyer
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/portugal-says-strategy-not-just-price-will-decide-tap-stake-buyer-2026-07-15/
Portugal's choice of a buyer of a minority stake in flag carrier TAP is a strategic decision that ​will depend on more than the bid price, the country's ‌infrastructure minister said on Wednesday, as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa prepare to make binding offers.

Portugal relaunched TAP's long-delayed privatisation in July, aiming to sell a 44.9% stake ​to a strategic airline partner to strengthen its global reach ​and competitiveness, while reserving 5% for employees.

The government has asked ⁠Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) and Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) to submit binding bids by July 29 after ​the two airlines emerged as the sole contenders, with initial offers it ​deemed "largely equivalent and very ambitious" across strategic, industrial and financial criteria.

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said that a proposal of that nature was inherently complex and involved ​numerous factors.

He did not elaborate on the factors but the government ​has said bidders must commit to strengthening TAP's operations and route network not only ‌at ⁠its Lisbon hub but also across Portugal's nine other airports, including Porto, Faro in the Algarve, and the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.

"This is a strategic decision that should not be reduced to price ​alone and therefore ​requires careful ⁠consideration and discretion," Pinto Luz told a parliamentary committee.

TAP's main attraction is its prime and lucrative slots connecting ​its Lisbon hub with Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African countries, and ​the United ⁠States.

After receiving binding bids, state holding company Parpublica has 30 days to submit a final report assessing their merits to the government, which can ⁠then ​either choose a winner or open negotiations ​with one or both bidders for improved final offers.

The government is expected to decide on ​a winner later this year.

[56] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:04 UTC] US agency to vote to end 39% local TV station ownership cap
URL: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-agency-vote-end-39-local-tv-station-ownership-cap-2026-07-15/
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday the agency will vote to ​rescind the 85-year-old rule that bars broadcasters from reaching more than ‌39% of the total number of U.S. TV households.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed Wednesday the agency will vote to lift the cap in favor of a new case-by-case approach. "Our ​new proposal would allow the FCC to approve deals that exceed ​the 39 percent cap, but only if doing so would ⁠promote the public interest," Carr said in a essay published Wednesday.

Under current ​rules, stations with weaker over-the-air signals can be partially counted against a company's ​ownership cap.

Critics say only Congress can lift the cap and argue it will lead to excessive concentration among station owners.

In March, the FCC approved the $3.54 billion sale of local television station ​owner Tegna to Nexstar (NXST.O) despite objections from Democratic-led states.

The acquisition, if ​not reversed by courts, will expand Nexstar's presence to cover 80% of U.S. TV households. ‌The ⁠FCC said it was waiving the 39% rule in approving the deal.

A judge has halted the deal pending a court challenge.

In February, President Donald Trump said he supported the deal. Trump has repeatedly pressured Carr to revoke ​the licenses of Comcast-owned (CMCSA.O) ​NBC and ⁠ABC stations and Carr ordered an unusual early license review of Disney's (DIS.N) eight company-owned ABC stations.

Critics have said ​Carr is violating the free speech rights of broadcasters.

FCC Commissioner ​Anna Gomez, ⁠a Democrat, said the "cap reflects Congress’ judgment that excessive concentration threatens competition, localism, and viewpoint diversity. It is not a suggestion. It is the law."

The ⁠National ​Association of Broadcasters praised Carr's action saying it "reflects ​the understanding that decades-old ownership restrictions that apply only to broadcasters – and none of our competitors – are ​out of step with today’s media marketplace. "

[57] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:04 UTC] Goldman's Reummler says she would have reported Epstein if she knew of his abuses
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/goldmans-reummler-says-she-would-have-reported-epstein-if-she-knew-his-abuses-2026-07-15/
Goldman ​Sachs (GS.N) senior counsel Kathy ‌Ruemmler on Wednesday told a House committee investigating ​convicted sex offender Jeffrey ​Epstein that if she ⁠had known he was ​abusing women or girls, ​she would have reported him to law enforcement.

"First, I did ​not see any ​evidence of ongoing criminal conduct or ‌misconduct ⁠of any kind by Epstein during the time I dealt with him," ​she ​said ⁠in her opening statement.

"Second, if I ​had seen or ​heard ⁠any evidence suggesting that he was abusing women ⁠or ​girls, I would ​have immediately reported him to law ​enforcement."

[58] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:05 UTC] Missile Maker MBDA Names Airbus Veteran Dumont as New CEO
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/missile-maker-mbda-names-airbus-veteran-dumont-as-new-ceo
Missile Maker MBDA Names Airbus Veteran Dumont as New CEO

[59] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:06 UTC] India's Sun Pharma wins South Africa approval to launch generic Ozempic
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/indias-sun-pharma-wins-south-africa-approval-launch-generic-ozempic-2026-07-15/
India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUN.NS) has received approval from South Africa's health regulator to manufacture and ​sell a generic version of semaglutide, the active ingredient ‌in Novo Nordisk's top-selling diabetes and obesity drugs.

Novo's (NOVOb.CO) patent on semaglutide - used in diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Wegovy - expired in March, ​prompting expectations of a wave of cheaper generics ​from local and international drugmakers.

The entry of generics also ⁠poses a challenge to U.S. company Eli Lilly (LLY.N) , which has ​launched blockbuster diabetes and obesity drugs in South Africa as ​well.

The approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority makes South Africa the second market, after India, where Sun Pharma has secured ​clearance for a generic semaglutide injection, the company said in ​a statement.

The approval is for adults with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes.

Sun ‌Pharma ⁠said it plans to launch the product in South Africa in the coming days. The drug will be sold as a pre-filled, multi-dose injectable pen in two strengths — 2 mg ​and 4 mg — ​for once-weekly ⁠use.

"We remain committed to improving access to generics and making evidence-based treatment options available to ​patients and healthcare professionals," said Sun Pharma's Chief ​Operating ⁠Officer Aalok Shanghvi.

South Africa's weight-loss drug market is dominated by Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo's Ozempic and Wegovy, although the products ⁠face ​growing competition from compounded versions of the medicines.

Regulators ​have been increasing efforts to monitor and regulate the compounded-drug market amid strong ​demand for low-cost treatments.

[60] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 15:10 UTC] BlackRock has best-ever start to a year as investment flows double and profits surge
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackrock-profits-jump-as-assets-under-management-hit-a-record-15-trillion-8e6fd54b?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Shares of BlackRock were rallying toward their best day in more than a year on Wednesday, after strong inflows into exchange-traded funds and buoyant markets helped the world’s biggest asset manager beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations for the latest quarter.

[61] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:10 UTC] Wall Street's investment banking machine firing on all cylinders
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/wall-streets-investment-banking-machine-firing-all-cylinders-2026-07-15/
A broad revival in investment banking is taking hold on Wall Street, fueled ​by a surge in IPOs , mergers and debt issuance .

The biggest U.S. banks said this week that deal activity is strengthening across their investment ‌banking businesses, suggesting the broad-based recovery that has eluded the industry for years is gaining momentum.

Investment banking fees at the six largest U.S. banks surged 45% on average in the second quarter from a year earlier, with Morgan Stanley reporting the strongest percentage growth.

"Even with very strong investment banking revenues this quarter, our backlog increased to its highest ​level in five years and its second highest level on record, underpinned by a record advisory backlog," Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said ​on a call with analysts on Tuesday.

Years of elevated interest rates, market volatility and tougher regulatory scrutiny kept companies ⁠from pursuing deals and public listings. More recently, conflict in the Middle East and uncertainty over AI's economic impact prompted a brief bout of ​caution, but neither proved enough to derail the recovery.

IPOs OPEN THE EXIT DOOR

U.S. initial public offerings raised a record $104.8 billion in the second quarter, according to ​Renaissance Capital, driven by the historic listing of Elon Musk's SpaceX .

The resurgence also reached sponsor-backed companies, as several private equity and venture capital-owned firms returned to public markets.

That reopened an important exit channel for financial sponsors, many of whom had been forced to hold portfolio companies longer than expected while the IPO market remained subdued.

"As we enter the second ​half, the pipeline looks healthy," Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said, adding that the bank is looking to invest in talent to fill gaps that ​would help it gain market share, including in M&A.

Wall Street is also preparing for the U.S. IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, which have filed confidentially. Reuters has reported ‌the listings ⁠could come as soon as this year, and analysts expect each company to be valued at around $1 trillion.

Mega IPOs are typically among Wall Street's most lucrative mandates, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in fees while often leading to years of additional business, from capital raising to mergers and acquisitions advisory.

DEALMAKING BOOM

Announced global M&A volumes have hit over $3 trillion so far in 2026, climbing more than 40% from a year earlier, according to Dealogic.

"Client engagement remained ​broad-based with activity across capital markets, strategic ​transactions, liquidity management," Bank of ⁠America Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick told analysts on a call.

Technology companies, particularly AI firms and the "picks-and-shovels" businesses supplying the computing infrastructure needed to support the AI boom, have dominated activity in 2026. Activity also accelerated in the healthcare, ​utilities and energy sectors.

"The pipeline remains quite robust, and the current activity levels seem to be encouraging more ​activity," JPMorgan CFO ⁠Jeremy Barnum said .

Morningstar analysts said the "investment banking super-cycle" appears to have room to run, though the business remains inherently volatile. The research firm added it does not expect a "material contraction" until 2028 or later.

Expectations of stronger investment banking profits have helped lift Wall Street bank shares this year, although the increases are more modest ⁠than in recent ​years due to concerns about high valuations.

"Investment banking divisions experienced their strongest fee-generating quarter ​since the peak of 2021," said David Wagner, head of equities and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, which holds several bank stocks.

"The major investment banks comfortably cleared Wall Street's profit ​forecasts by wide margins, signaling one of the most bullish dealmaking environments the sector has seen in years."

[62] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:11 UTC] Trump's nominee for key US labor board post cleared by Senate panel
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trumps-nominee-key-us-labor-board-post-cleared-by-senate-panel-2026-07-15/
A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday approved President Donald Trump's nomination of a veteran management-side labor lawyer to ​provide a crucial third Republican vote on the National Labor Relations Board.

The Republican-controlled Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ‌Committee voted 12-11 to send the nomination of James Macy to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Macy has juggled multiple roles at the U.S. Department of Labor since last year, after a career in private practice spanning more than four decades.

The committee also approved Trump's nomination of David Prouty, who joined the board in ​2021, and is its only Democratic member, for a second term. Under longstanding practice, the board, when fully stocked, has ​two Democrats, two Republicans, and a chair from the president's party.

The Labor Department and the NLRB did ⁠not immediately respond to requests seeking comment from Macy and Prouty.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Macy would give Republicans a ​3-1 edge on the five-member board and allow them to roll back a series of Biden-era NLRB decisions that boosted union organizing and ​have been criticized by business groups.

By tradition, the board requires three members to vote in favor of overruling existing precedent, and Trump's other appointees, Scott Mayer and James Murphy , said during confirmation proceedings last year that they would not break with that practice.

Macy joined the Labor Department in September as the acting ​head of the Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage laws, and was later named director of its Office of Workers’ ​Compensation Programs.

On the social networking site LinkedIn, Macy identifies himself as a senior counsel to the secretary of labor. Macy was previously in private ‌practice representing ⁠employers and municipalities, most recently at Wisconsin-based von Briesen & Roper.

The five-member board lost a quorum of at least three members last year when Trump, a Republican, took the unprecedented step of firing Democratic Member Gwynne Wilcox , and it could not decide hundreds of pending cases for nearly a year. Meanwhile, about 16,000 labor complaints have piled up in recent years at short-staffed regional offices now run by Trump-appointed ​General Counsel Crystal Carey.

Wilcox sued ​and was briefly reinstated by ⁠a judge, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused and then reversed that ruling .

The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld Trump's removal of a Democrat from the Federal Trade ​Commission, finding that a law shielding FTC commissioners from being removed without cause was invalid.

Wilcox's case turns ​on a nearly identical ⁠law applying to NLRB members that the D.C. Circuit also struck down. Her petition for Supreme Court review of that decision is pending.

Read more:

Trump taps veteran labor lawyer to fill out Republican NLRB majority

Trump taps NLRB member, career staffer Murphy as agency's chair

US Senate confirms Trump nominees ⁠for labor ​board paralyzed after member's firing

US senators question independence of Trump's NLRB picks after ​member's firing

NLRB poised for major policy shifts in 2026 with new Trump-appointed majority

Trump nominates two lawyers to seal Republican control of US labor board

NLRB resurrects rule from ​Trump's first term limiting 'joint employment'

US labor board warns lawmakers on budget cuts as Democrats question independence

[63] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:11 UTC] OnePlus, Once Popular with Tech Fans, to Pull Out of US and Europe
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/oneplus-once-popular-with-tech-fans-to-pull-out-of-us-and-europe
OnePlus, Once Popular with Tech Fans, to Pull Out of US and Europe

[64] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:11 UTC] Brazil Education Firm Anima Plunges 30% as Analysts Pan M&A Deal
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/brazil-education-firm-anima-plunges-30-as-analysts-pan-m-a-deal
Brazil Education Firm Anima Plunges 30% as Analysts Pan M&A Deal

[65] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:14 UTC] Colombia’s Tiger Trade Is Powered by High Rates, Fiscal Optimism
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/colombia-s-tiger-trade-is-powered-by-high-rates-fiscal-optimism
Colombia’s Tiger Trade Is Powered by High Rates, Fiscal Optimism

[66] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 15:25 UTC] U.S. agency to vote to end 39% local TV station ownership cap
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/fcc-to-vote-to-end-local-tv-station-ownership-cap.html
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday the agency will vote to rescind the 85-year-old rule that bars broadcasters from reaching more than 39% of the total number of U.S. TV households.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed Wednesday the agency will vote to lift the cap in favor of a new case-by-case approach. "Our new proposal would allow the FCC to approve deals that exceed the 39 percent cap, but only if doing so would promote the public interest," Carr said in a essay published Wednesday.
Under current rules, stations with weaker over-the-air signals can be partially counted against a company's ownership cap.
Critics say only Congress can lift the cap and argue it will lead to excessive concentration among station owners.
In March, the FCC approved the $3.54 billion sale of local television station owner Tegna to Nexstar despite objections from Democratic-led states.
The acquisition, if not reversed by courts, will expand Nexstar's presence to cover 80% of U.S. TV households. The FCC said it was waiving the 39% rule in approving the deal.
A judge has halted the deal pending a court challenge.
In February, President Donald Trump said he supported the deal. Trump has repeatedly pressured Carr to revoke the licenses of Comcast-owned NBC and ABC stations and Carr ordered an unusual early license review of Disney's eight company-owned ABC stations.
Critics have said Carr is violating the free speech rights of broadcasters.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, said the "cap reflects Congress' judgment that excessive concentration threatens competition, localism, and viewpoint diversity. It is not a suggestion. It is the law."
The National Association of Broadcasters praised Carr's action saying it "reflects the understanding that decades-old ownership restrictions that apply only to broadcasters – and none of our competitors – are out of step with today's media marketplace. "

[67] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:25 UTC] New EVs From Toyota, Subaru Breathe Life Into Struggling Market
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/toyota-subaru-ev-models-from-boost-us-sales
The automakers released a crowd of relatively affordable models that lured buyers despite the end of federal incentives.

[68] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:28 UTC] Anthropic Plans IPO Investor Meetings as Mega-Listing Nears
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/anthropic-is-said-to-plan-ipo-investor-meetings-as-listing-nears
Anthropic Plans IPO Investor Meetings as Mega-Listing Nears

[69] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:29 UTC] Trump's pick to head Bureau of Labor Statistics clears key Senate hurdle
URL: https://www.reuters.com/world/trumps-pick-head-bureau-labor-statistics-clears-key-senate-hurdle-2026-07-15/
Brett Matsumoto, President Donald Trump's pick to head the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, moved a step closer on Wednesday to running the agency charged ​with producing key economic data, including on the labor market and inflation.

The ‌U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 12-11 along party lines to advance Matsumoto's nomination to the full Republican-controlled Senate. The committee also approved the nomination of James Macy to ​be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, also on a party-line ​12-11 vote, and the nomination of David Prouty for a second ⁠term as a member of the NLRB by a vote of 17-6. No date ​has been set for the final votes on the Senate floor.

The Federal Reserve, economists, ​investors, and the public rely on BLS data to gauge the health of the labor market, the extent of price pressures, and other critical aspects of the $32 trillion U.S. economy.

During a confirmation hearing in ​June, Matsumoto told the panel that he did not believe BLS data had ​been fabricated or rigged. Trump had removed the previous BLS commissioner, Erika McEntarfer , for issuing what he called "fake" ‌job ⁠numbers.

Matsumoto , an economist who has worked at the BLS since 2015 but is on leave from the economic data agency to work at the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, also said he has faith in the work performed by the career ​staff who collect and ​process the data ⁠and would ensure that their output is what is published by the agency.

He said he would work to address technical issues that ​have undercut the quality of BLS data in recent years ​but did ⁠not echo Trump's unfounded assertions that agency output was being manipulated for political purposes.

Trump fired McEntarfer, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, last August following the release of a ⁠monthly ​employment report that included historically large revisions to previously ​reported figures on job creation.

The president initially picked conservative economist E.J. Antoni to head the agency but later ​withdrew the nomination.

[70] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 15:29 UTC] Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba’s Qwen AI
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/apple-intelligence-approved-for-launch-in-china-with-alibabas-qwen-ai/
Apple Intelligence is headed to China after regulators approved Apple’s AI services through a partnership with Alibaba. The long-rumored deal will bring Alibaba’s Qwen AI models to Apple’s operating systems, marking a major expansion of the company’s generative AI platform into one of its most important markets.

[71] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:29 UTC] AI Push to M&A-Starved Loans Gains Fuel With Supersized QTS Deal
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/ai-push-to-m-a-starved-loans-gains-fuel-with-supersized-qts-deal
AI Push to M&A-Starved Loans Gains Fuel With Supersized QTS Deal

[72] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 15:29 UTC] Jim Cramer sees more upside for Goldman and addresses Wells Fargo's biggest question
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/jim-cramer-on-goldman-sachs-wells-fargo-earnings.html
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Wednesday's key moments. 1. Stocks rose Wednesday as investors got a second favorable inflation report in as many days. Before the opening bell, the June producer price index unexpectedly declined 0.3%, reflecting a big drop in gas prices. Tuesday's cooler consumer price index also benefited from easing energy costs. Club portfolio director Jeff Marks said these reports take an interest rate hike at the Federal Reserve's July meeting off the table. The wildcard here is that oil prices have been going up again recently as the U.S. and Iran trade airstrikes, and after the U.S. reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz. 2. Apple shares rose 3%, trading above Monday's record-high close of $317 each. Jim Cramer said Apple has been eating high memory costs for a couple of quarters instead of raising device prices and still delivering strong margins. If Apple can keep sales strong in the face of recent Mac and iPad price increases and expected ones coming on iPhones, Jim predicted that "you can have a monster quarter." On Tuesday, KeyBanc downgraded Apple to a sell on concerns about price hikes hurting demand. Jim dismissed the call, saying, "I like Apple here." 3. One day after a solid quarter was met with a stock drop, Wells Fargo shares rose 2%. Jim pointed out the bank's pivot to bulking up underwriting and mergers and acquisitions work, and how CEO Charlie Scharf downplayed net interest income as a key metric. NII was a tad light in the second quarter. Jim questioned whether Scharf will be able to change the narrative. For now, he said Wells Fargo is a hold at less than 12 times forward earnings. Fellow Club name Goldman Sachs delivered a great quarter on investment banking strength . Jim said on Wednesday that Goldman stock "can keep going higher." 4. Stocks covered in Wednesday's rapid fire at the end of the video were: Morgan Stanley , BlackRock , IBM , Conagra , and PayPal . (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AAPL, WFC, GS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

[73] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 15:32 UTC] Copper is shadowing the hyperscaler stocks — but wait for a dip before buying
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/copper-is-shadowing-the-hyperscaler-stocks-but-wait-for-a-dip-before-buying-8fe7adcc?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Copper prices have climbed 12.5% since the start of the year, with Nvidia and Broadcom up around the same amount in that time.

[74] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 15:32 UTC] Copper is shadowing the AI hyperscaler stocks — but wait for a dip before buying
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/copper-is-shadowing-the-hyperscaler-stocks-but-wait-for-a-dip-before-buying-8fe7adcc?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Copper prices have climbed 12.5% since the start of the year, with Nvidia and Broadcom up around the same amount in that time.

[75] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 15:33 UTC] Buy SpaceX shares ahead of this week's Starship launch, says UBS
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/buy-spacex-shares-ahead-of-this-weeks-starship-launch-says-ubs.html
SpaceX could get a boost if its upcoming rocket launch goes well, according to UBS. "SpaceX has made multiple hardware and software upgrades since the last flight," analyst Gavin Parsons wrote in a note on Wednesday. "This flight would demonstrate multiple new milestones and in our view be a positive for the stock." The bank has a buy rating on the stock and a $210 price target, implying a 54% upside from Tuesday's close. SpaceX is scheduled to hold its 13th rocket launch on Thursday. According to Parsons, this will support the bank's forecast for four commercial launches this year and 1,588 flights in 2031. Thursday's flight will focus on deploying Starlink V3 satellites, engine reliability and controlled reentry, he said. SPCX 1M line SpaceX in One Month "Flight 13 is important because it is intended to validate some of the key capabilities required for this launch ramp, including booster engine relight reliability, in-space Raptor relight, Starlink V3 satellite deployment, and continued heat shield development," Parsons said. Shares of the rocket company are hovering slightly above their IPO price of $135, but have fallen 40% from a $225.64 peak reached on June 16. SpaceX had the biggest IPO in history, surging to a $2 trillion valuation on its first day. UBS' rating matches the Wall Street consensus, where 26 out of the 31 analysts covering the stock have a buy or strong buy rating, according to LSEG.

[76] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:34 UTC] Wildfires in Northern Ontario bring world's worst air quality to Toronto
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/wildfires-northern-ontario-bring-worlds-worst-air-quality-toronto-2026-07-15/
Toronto's air quality ranked the worst among major cities globally on Wednesday as wildfire smoke from northwestern ‌Ontario blackened skies and prompted health warnings and calls for residents to limit outdoor activities as temperatures remained high.

Environment Canada reported an Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) reading of 10+, classified as "very high risk," for Toronto, while forecasts suggested hazardous conditions could persist through Thursday night.

IQAir, a Swiss air quality ​technology company, ranked Toronto as having the worst air quality across the globe, surpassing Kinshasa and Delhi.

Wildfire smoke from ​northern Canada in recent years has also spread across wide swaths of the United States, spurring ⁠health warnings, particularly for infants and the elderly who are more susceptible to smoke particles.

A video shared on social media ​showing a Canadian National train on fire near Armstrong, Ontario, went viral. Canadian National said it had temporarily suspended rail operations near ​Armstrong as a precaution due to wildfire activity in the area. CN employees in the area and residents of Armstrong were evacuated on Monday night, CN said.

The Government of Canada has said that wildfire season began more slowly in 2026 than in 2023 or 2025 -- the two worst ​seasons for wildfires -- but warned that fires were likely due to warmer than usual temperatures across the country.

Some 835 active ​fires were burning in the country on Wednesday, and 112 according were considered out of control, according to the government. So far, 1.9 million ‌hectares (4.7 ⁠million acres) have burned. Most of the fires were in the central provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Greg Evans, professor at University of Toronto, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, said it was the first time the city had been simultaneously hit with severe heat and wildfire smoke to his recollection.

"I expect that this will occur more frequently over the coming decades so cities and residents ​need to prepare for this ​in the future," he said.

Paula ⁠Oreskovich, a Toronto resident, said she noticed the haze and smell of smoke when she stepped outside in the morning. She said the poor air quality was concerning, particularly as wildfire ​smoke has become a recurring feature of recent summers.

"I think you have to be silly ​if you're not ⁠going to be concerned about climate change. It's definitely here, it's definitely happening, and it's happening globally," Oreskovich said.

Toronto has also faced severe heat in recent days. Environment Canada maintained a heat warning for the city, forecasting a high of about 33 degrees Celsius (91 ⁠Fahrenheit), with ​humidity making temperatures feel closer to 39 C.

"Reduce or reschedule strenuous activities outdoors, ​especially if you experience symptoms such as coughing and throat irritation," Environment Canada posted in an advisory note.

IQAir recorded a U.S. Air Quality Index reading of ​184 for the city, a level considered unhealthy.

[77] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:36 UTC] Warsh Says He’s Told Trump ‘Repeatedly’ He’s Independent
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/warsh-says-he-s-told-trump-repeatedly-he-s-an-independent-guy
Warsh Says He’s Told Trump ‘Repeatedly’ He’s Independent

[78] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:37 UTC] Senators Grill CDC Director Nominee on Vaccine Stance in Hearing
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/senators-grill-cdc-director-nominee-on-vaccine-stance-in-hearing
Senators Grill CDC Director Nominee on Vaccine Stance in Hearing

[79] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 15:40 UTC] Todd Blanche is asked 'how long you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character?'
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-senate-nomination-hearing.html
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ripped FBI Director Kash Patel in a question dripping with contempt to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Blanche's nomination to become permanent AG.
"How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character?" Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked Blanche, who, if confirmed as attorney general, would head the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI.
"Are you good with his airplane jaunts? Are you confident he's not drinking on the job?" Whitehouse asked.
"Are you sure none of his travel is a pretext for vacation activities like snorkeling, Olympics, and visiting girlfriends?" Whitehouse asked. "Are you sure he knows what he's doing? Do you vouch for him? Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?"
Blanche replied: "That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator."
"And I have full faith in Director Patel and the work that he's doing every day," said Blanche, who is serving as acting attorney general.
"Great, you get to own that," Whitehouse shot back.
Patel has faced criticism for his use of the FBI director's jet for various travels, including a visit to Milan to watch the U.S. men's hockey team in the Olympics finals and to watch his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, perform the national anthem during a wrestling event in Pennsylvania. Patel is suing The Atlantic magazine for $250 million, alleging defamation from an article alleging he abuses alcohol.
Blanche earlier Wednesday defended the DOJ's handling of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday as he testified about his nomination by President Donald Trump.
Blanche also faced criticism from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for holding cryptocurrency-related assets last year while "you issued an order dismantling DOJ's crypto enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations in the crypto industry."
Blanche has yet to respond to Durbin's criticism of his crypto holdings at the hearing.
In response to a question by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about the Epstein files, Blanche said, "We worked hard, hardworking lawyers within the department, to do the right thing, and we will continue to do so."
Blanche said that when Trump signed a law last fall requiring the DOJ to make public all of the documents it held related to Epstein, the department "undertook a Herculean task to review millions and millions of potentially responsive files.
Blanche in January, as deputy attorney general, said the DOJ would not publicly release millions more pages about Epstein after initially disclosing more than 3 million pages.
In his testimony on Wednesday, Blanche said some of the withheld files were not responsive to the demands of the law because, among other things, they included information related to another case involving someone else named Epstein.
The DOJ, in a Jan. 30 statement about the final release of the files, said those that were withheld fell into several categories, including duplicate documents from different investigations and those withheld under certain legal privileges.
A group of Epstein victims this week released a video urging the Senate to block Blanche as attorney general because their personal information was made public by the DOJ in the release of files even though that information should have been redacted.
On Wednesday, Blanche said, "The reviewers were qualified, experienced attorneys within the department and the FBI. They took pains to apply appropriate redactions. There were mistakes that were made, and so approximately 1% of the redactions had to be fixed after we released the Epstein files."
"Whenever we learned that any victim's name had been improperly not redacted, we immediately took the document down and fixed it as soon as we could," Blanche said. "That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility, but it does mean that we tried to fix them."
Blanche, who first drew national attention as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, has served as acting attorney general since early April, when Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of issues related to Epstein.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Tuesday praised Blanche, calling him a "great lawyer, always very fair," and writing, "every Republican Senator should vote to CONFIRM Todd Blanche, ASAP."
Blanche also faced questions on Wednesday about his decision to create a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund for the DOJ to compensate people who were purportedly the victims of prosecutorial overreach by the Justice Department.
The fund, which Blanche said he canceled in the face of sharp criticism from Republican senators and Democrats, was part of an out-of-court settlement of a suit filed by Trump against the IRS over the leak of his tax records. While Blanche has said the fund won't be created, Trump has floated the idea of reviving its creation.
Durbin's opposition to Blanche nomination
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that he had a 30-minute meeting with Blanche earlier in the day that included a discussion about the DOJ fund.
Durbin said Blanche told him: "'What more can I do? What more can I say? I made a mistake. I don't want to see the weaponization fund go forward.'"
Durbin said he then asked Blanche, "Why don't you put it in writing? Do something so it's a credible statement by you?"
The senator recounted that Blanche said he would be willing to work with Congress to codify that the fund can't be created.
"It seemed like a very weak defense," Durbin said.
CNBC has requested comment from the DOJ about that account, and about Durbin's description of how Blanche addressed the issue of cryptocurrency during their private meeting.
Durbin has been a critic of Blanche taking the attorney general post since he was nominated, saying he is concerned about money being made by Trump administration officials.
"I said to Todd Blanche, it just boils down to this: I don't think if you want to get rich you ought to be running for public office," Durbin said Tuesday. "I can't understand all the money that's being made in this administration."
Durbin said Blanche "did not address any of those things directly," but that he "addressed his own situation with cryptocurrency."
Blanche said he had consulted with the Office of Legal Counsel and ethics officials about his holdings in cryptocurrency, according to a Durbin aide who was at the session with reporters.
"He had $160,000 roughly in cryptocurrency and he was told that he had to divest it," Durbin said.
In this conversation with Blanche on Tuesday, Durbin told reporters, "I started off with the issue of corruption."
"And during the period of time when he was going through this process of turning it over to his children and grandchildren, there were decisions made about the regulation of cryptocurrency, which most people, and most of the things I've read, suggest that they were lessening the government scrutiny of their activity," the senator said.
"He's an owner of cryptocurrency. He's transferring it within his family. He's making decisions … involved in decisions at the Justice level as to the scrutiny of this industry," Durbin said.
"That sounds like it, on its face, to be a conflict of interest."
Another area of controversy Democrats are expected to focus on is the federal prosecutions of people Trump considers enemies — former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, last fall. That office is overseen by the DOJ.
Both of those cases, whose allegations were strongly denied by both defendants, were dismissed by a judge in November after he ruled that the interim U.S. attorney who lodged the case was invalidly appointed.
— CNBC's Justin Papp contributed to this article.

[80] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:42 UTC] Apple chasing AI chip company deals, The Information reports
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/apple-chasing-ai-chip-company-deals-information-reports-2026-07-15/
Apple (AAPL.O) is looking to buy chip companies to bolster its efforts to make server processors for running AI, ​The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with ‌the matter.

Here are some details:

The iPhone maker has approached chip startups to gauge their interest in a buyout and has spoken with bankers ​about possible deals, the report said.

Apple's interest comes as ​it faces challenges with the performance of its in-house ⁠AI servers, which currently run on internally designed M2 ​Ultra chips, according to The Information.

It had originally planned to ship ​a future version of its AI server chip, known internally as "Baltra", this year, but the project has been pushed back, people familiar with the ​matter told The Information.

Apple did not immediately respond to ​a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Earlier this year, ‌Apple ⁠tried running Google's (GOOGL.O) Gemini models on its internal servers as part of a Siri overhaul, but the Mac-based chips could not handle the large model, forcing the company to run ​parts of the ​revamped assistant ⁠on Nvidia (NVDA.O) chips in Google's cloud infrastructure, the report said.

Apple has historically avoided large acquisitions, last ​making a deal in January for Q.ai , an ​Israeli company ⁠working on AI technology for audio.

The company had $45.57 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 28, the end of ⁠its ​second quarter.

Last week, Apple said it ​plans to spend over $30 billion under a multi-year chip supply deal with Broadcom (AVGO.O) , bolstering its ​domestic sourcing.

[81] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:43 UTC] PG&E Says Power Shutoffs Required in California on Wildfire Risk
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/pg-e-says-power-shutoffs-required-in-california-on-wildfire-risk
PG&E Says Power Shutoffs Required in California on Wildfire Risk

[82] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:44 UTC] Incoming UK Fiscal Watchdog Head Warns on Debt-Funded Spending
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/incoming-uk-fiscal-watchdog-head-warns-on-debt-funded-spending
Incoming UK Fiscal Watchdog Head Warns on Debt-Funded Spending

[83] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:45 UTC] Burnham Set to Name Mahmood as UK Chancellor, Reports Say
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/burnham-set-to-name-shabana-mahmood-as-uk-chancellor-ft-says
Burnham Set to Name Mahmood as UK Chancellor, Reports Say

[84] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:45 UTC] Peru Growth Misses Forecasts on Weak Fishing, Manufacturing
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/peru-economy-misses-expectations-on-weak-fishing-and-manufacture
Peru Growth Misses Forecasts on Weak Fishing, Manufacturing

[85] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 15:46 UTC] The best Fitbits of 2026
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/best-fitbit
The best Fitbits can help you maintain an active lifestyle, monitor your sleep, and keep an eye on your overall health. And with the launch of Google's new AI-powered Health Coach, Fitbits can now offer highly personalized advice and plans based on your lifestyle.
I've been covering health and fitness for years, and I spent a few months living with Google's latest Fitbits, including its most recent release, the Fitbit Air. I wore them during workouts, on daily walks, while sleeping, and throughout my usual day-to-day routine. After all that real-world testing, the Fitbit Charge 6 stands out as the best Fitbit for most people. It strikes a great balance between ease of use and robust tracking features. But if you're looking to spend less, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great budget alternative. It cuts some advanced features, but for under $100, it covers the essentials really well.
Ultimately, the best Fitbit for you really depends on what you want from a tracker. For most folks, the Charge 6 and Inspire 3 are easy to recommend. But if you're after something that feels more like a full-fledged smartwatch, the Google Pixel Watch 4 deserves an honorable mention. It's not technically a Fitbit, but it uses Fitbit's tracking technology.
Our top picks for the best Fitbit
Best overall: Fitbit Charge 6 - See at Amazon
Best budget: Fitbit Inspire 3 - See at Amazon
Honorable mention: Google Pixel Watch 4 - See at Amazon
Best overall
The Charge 6 boasts a more expansive feature set than the budget-friendly Inspire 3, catering to both fitness amateurs and enthusiasts. While it's a pricier option, it's still an amazing value for such a capable fitness tracker.
What we like
What we don't like
Whether you want to increase your daily step count, track your sleep, or set a regular running routine, the Fitbit Charge 6 is the best Fitbit for most people looking to improve their fitness.
I tested the Charge 6 for several weeks across workouts, sleep, long days at my desk, and travel. I found it really hits the sweet spot between comfort, accuracy, and features — all at a relatively affordable $160 price point.
The Charge 6 is impressively accurate in measuring heart rate, sleep stages, and step counts, rivaling more expensive wearables from Apple and Garmin. In fact, this model has the most accurate heart rate tracking across Fitbit’s lineup, especially during fast-paced interval training. Fitbit’s signature features — such as Zone Minutes, movement reminders, and A+ sleep tracking — work precisely as intended and genuinely help build healthier habits.
You also get over 40 workout modes, an ECG app for tracking irregular heart rhythms, and on-wrist stress detection via EDA scans. The Google Health app offers more in-depth information about your daily activity, sleep patterns, and overall health. However, you need a Premium subscription ($10/month) to access advanced sleep metrics and the new AI-powered Health Coach.
Design-wise, the Charge 6 is slim and comfortable enough to wear 24/7. Its AMOLED display is easy to read, but it is small, which limits the amount of data you can view at once. As such, this tracker isn’t ideal if you’re training for a race and need to easily switch between different metrics (for race training, I recommend the Garmin Forerunner 265). Another downside is the device's built-in GPS, which I found to be unreliable until I switched to dynamic GPS paired with my phone.
Battery life is strong, lasting around six to seven days on a single charge. However, some people report that their Charge 6 drops to a single-day charge after about a year. (A recent firmware update may fix this.)
The Charge 6 also offers basic smart features, including Google Maps, Google Wallet, and call and text notifications. But it’s definitely a tracker first and smartwatch second, as these features feel like little extras rather than core strengths. This model is really geared toward users who want a discreet, accurate, and approachable fitness tracker rather than a full smartwatch. In that context, the Fitbit Charge 6 is the Goldilocks of Fitbits, offering the best choice for most people seeking to enhance their health and fitness.
Read our full Fitbit Charge 6 review.
Best budget
The Inspire 3 may be one of Fitbit's most basic watches, but it still packs a powerful fitness-tracking punch with tons of trackable activities, advanced health features like skin temperature sensing, and a comfortable, lightweight design.
What we like
What we don't like
If you're starting a health or fitness routine and want a simple, no-fuss tracker for under $100, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is the best Fitbit for you.
This is one of the most comfortable and lightweight wearables I've tested. It's so unobtrusive that I often forget I'm wearing it. It delivers the core metrics you need right on your wrist: steps, heart rate, sleep stages, and active minutes. It auto-detects most basic activities (better than pricier Fitbit models, in fact), so even short walks and bike rides are logged accurately without you having to press a button. It also features Fitbit's signature Reminder to Move, which vibrates your device and prompts you to get up and walk around if you haven't taken at least 250 steps in this hour.
For its price, the Inspire 3 also packs thoughtful features, such as daily stress management scores, heart rate zone tracking, and one of the most gentle smart alarms I've used — a vibrating wrist alarm that wakes you up when it's most optimal for your sleep cycle.
Though the screen is small, the vibrant AMOLED display clearly shows you one workout metric at a time (e.g., time elapsed, distance, pace). The device also offers Fitbit's stand-out sleep tracking, but you need to pay for Google Health Premium to unlock deeper analytics.
Of course, given that this is Fitbit's budget model, some features are missing. The Inspire 3 lacks built-in GPS, music control, or in-depth training tools. Notifications are hard to read on the small screen, and the tracker lags slightly during high-intensity intervals (one area where the Charge 6 excels). But given the Inspire 3's budget-friendly price, these shortcomings are easy to forgive.
In a sea of tricked-out fitness trackers, the Inspire 3 strips away the extras and offers you a tracker that focuses on the basics with a price tag to match. It'll help you move more throughout the day, make sure you're hitting your target time or heart rate during workouts, and sleep a bit better at night — all in a device that's easy to wear and even easier to use.
Read our full Fitbit Inspire 3 review.
Visit our guide to the best fitness trackers.
Honorable mention
The Google Pixel Watch 4 has a brighter screen and longer battery life than its predecessor. It also boasts extensive fitness tracking, including advanced running features and a target cardio load.
What we like
What we don't like
Although not technically a Fitbit, the Google Pixel Watch 4 is powered by Fitbit's technology, and it's such a good wearable that it warrants a mention in this guide. For Android users who want smart features and Fitbit health data, the Pixel Watch 4 is worth the price tag and a better buy than Fitbit's own smartwatch models, such as the Versa 4.
This model replaces my previous pick in this spot, the older Pixel Watch 3. Compared to its predecessor, the Pixel Watch 4 features a brighter, dome-shaped screen to provide a larger viewing area. Google says the Pixel Watch 4 also offers longer battery life, with up to 40 hours of use. The LTE model also has emergency satellite communication. Since both models are often sold for around the same price, the Pixel Watch 4 is now the better buy.
Utilizing Fitbit's top-tier heart rate sensors and tracking software, the Google Pixel Watch 4 logs basic data, such as steps, calories, and distance, as well as advanced metrics, including cardio load, workout fatigue, and loss-of-pulse alerts. All your workout and sleep data syncs with the Google Health app, a significant perk for longtime users, as the algorithm becomes smarter with more historical data. That said, Pixel Watch owners still need to pay for Premium to access the app's more advanced sleep metrics and features, such as a personalized workout builder.
Fitness aside, the Pixel Watch 4 is a fully featured smartwatch, offering LTE connectivity with an onboard microphone and speaker that let you make calls, set reminders, and respond to texts. You'll get better app integration and smart features than any Fitbit device, even the Versa. However, the trade-off is battery life, as the Pixel Watch 4 requires charging every one to two days. It's also Android-only, so iPhone users are out of luck.
What else we considered
Fitbit Air - See at Amazon
Google's newest wearable is sleek and stylish, but it's less of a traditional fitness tracker and more of a passive health monitor. Without a screen, it quietly tracks your sleep, recovery, heart rate, and daily activity in the background rather than providing the real-time workout metrics or movement reminders Fitbit is known for. It's a great choice if you want an understated, screenless wearable for your wrist, but most people shopping for a Fitbit will be happier with the Charge 6 or Inspire 3, which do a better job of supporting workouts and everyday fitness goals.
Read our full Fitbit Air review.
Fitbit Versa 4 - See at Amazon
Fitbit's main smartwatch, the Versa 4, is fully equipped with the brand's foundational health and fitness technology, including reliable heart rate tracking, in-depth sleep insights, and over 40 activity modes. But it falls short as a true smartwatch: The touchscreen lags, and it has limited app support and smart features (especially for iPhone users), making it feel behind the competition. The Google Pixel Watch 4, which uses Fitbit's fitness technology, is a better choice for Android users seeking a smartwatch, while iPhone users may be happier with a Garmin or an Apple Watch.
Read our full Fitbit Versa 4 review.
Fitbit Sense 2 - See at Amazon
The Sense 2 offers everything the Versa 4 does, plus an ECG app for detecting heart rhythm irregularities and an EDA sensor for continuous stress monitoring. If heart health and stress tracking are top priorities, it's a strong choice. However, for most people, the Fitbit Charge 6 offers a better value for basic fitness and health tracking. You can also find more advanced apps and communication features in a smartwatch from Apple, Garmin, or Google.
Read our full Fitbit Sense 2 review.
How we test Fitbits
As a health and fitness writer for over a decade, I've worn numerous Fitbits across various generations while training for half-marathons, sweating in HIIT classes, and commuting to and from office jobs. For this guide, I tested four leading Fitbit models — the Versa 4, Charge 6, Inspire 3, and Air — over the course of three months, wearing each 24/7 to see how they handled workouts, daily movement, periods of inactivity, sleep, and showering.
When picking the best Fitbit for different types of people, I prioritized:
- Sensor quality and accuracy (heart rate, GPS, SpO2, ECG, EDA)
- Battery life during real-world use
- Design, comfort, and durability for everyday and sleep use
- Companion app quality for interpreting health data
- Platform compatibility across Android and iOS
I also considered which models offer the most features without requiring Google Health Premium — although many models unlock deeper insights with a subscription.
Meet the expert behind this guide:
Rachael Schultz, contributing reporter: I've spent years writing about health and fitness, and I've logged plenty of miles (and sleep cycles) with a Fitbit strapped to my wrist. For this guide, I wore different models for months at a time during exercise and daily life to see how they actually perform in real-world use. I live in a Colorado mountain town, where I regularly ski, hike, raft, and bike, so these trackers don't just get tested in a lab — they come along for the ride. That means you're getting firsthand, day-to-day insights to help you choose the right model with confidence.
Learn more about the Reviews team at Business Insider.
What makes Fitbit unique?
Fitbit stands out from its competitors for several reasons. First and foremost, it has one of the best continuous heart rate trackers on the market, especially for interval training. An accurate heart rate monitor means that other areas relying on this technology — namely, sleep and stress tracking — are also highly accurate. Secondly, Fitbit has two notable features across all its screen-based models, which I found to be very helpful in training and moving more:
- Active Zone Minutes track the time you spend in elevated heart rate zones, helping you gauge whether your workout is actually improving cardio fitness or burning fat. Instead of focusing on time or distance, you can use this feature to keep your heart rate in the right range without needing to know exact numbers, for a more effective, goal-driven workout.
- Reminders to Move gently nudge you to get up and take at least 250 steps each hour to reduce sedentary time throughout the day. Rather than solely focusing on reaching, say, 10,000 steps per day, this feature encourages you to move regularly and often to keep blood flowing.
The best Fitbit devices also offer solid, multi-day battery life, seamless compatibility with both iOS and Android, and access to Google's newly designed app, which stores all your data — years' worth, for Fitbit brand loyalists — in one place.
Additionally, with a Premium membership, the Google Health Coach is one of the better wearable AI-powered advisors I've tried, and it provides highly personalized and helpful advice on how to level up your training, improve your recovery, or move more within the constraints of your lifestyle or capabilities.
Lastly, many Fitbits are relatively affordable compared to competitors like an Apple Watch or a Garmin.
Fitbit FAQs
Are Fitbits worth it?
The best Fitbit wearables feature reliable heart rate technology, are well-designed to be compact yet readable, and are generally well-priced compared to other fitness trackers. Furthermore, the free Google Health companion app provides significant value to individuals seeking guidance on improving their workouts, sleep, and stress management, though the Premium subscription offers even greater benefits, including the new AI-powered Google Health Coach.
There are other brands with longer battery life, better GPS tracking, and potentially more robust smartwatch features. But if you want a reliable health and fitness tracker without spending a fortune, Fitbits are definitely worth it.
For other top picks in the wearable tracker space, check out our guides to the best Android smartwatches, best smart rings, and best Garmin watches.
Will there be new 2026 Fitbit models?
Google released a new Fitbit model, the Fitbit Air, in May 2026. It's a screen-free fitness tracker that passively monitors your health in the background. Whether the company plans to release additional Fitbit models this year is unclear, but Google hasn't announced any new devices beyond the Air.
What is Google Health Premium?
Google Health Premium is the company's optional monthly membership. You can use the Google Health app for free to view core stats, including steps, sleep scores, period tracking, activity history, and your Daily Readiness Score. However, for $10 a month, Fitbit Premium unlocks more in-depth health and fitness tools, including advanced sleep insights (such as detailed sleep-stage breakdowns), nutrition guidance, and full access to Google Health's workout and mindfulness libraries.
Premium subscribers also get access to Google Health Coach, an AI-powered coach built with Gemini. It can analyze your sleep, activity, and recovery trends, answer questions about your health data, and create personalized workout and wellness plans based on your goals.
You don't need Google Health Premium to use a Fitbit device, but it does add a meaningful boost to the overall experience across the lineup.
Is Google's new AI coach helpful?
Google has added an AI-powered Health Coach to the redesigned Google Health app for Fitbit Premium subscribers. Built with Gemini, the coach can answer questions about your health data, identify trends across your sleep, activity, and recovery, and create personalized workout and wellness plans based on your goals. After testing it, I found the Google Health Coach to be helpful, accurate, and highly personalized, largely because it can draw on years of your Fitbit history to deliver tailored recommendations.
Is a Fitbit better than an Apple Watch?
The best Apple Watch models are more powerful and feature-rich than Fitbits, but if you don't need a big app ecosystem, a Fitbit will get the job done. Both platforms offer robust tracking for activities such as running, cycling, and weightlifting, and each features a clean, easy-to-use interface.
While the Apple Watch now delivers extensive fitness and activity tracking, it still leans more toward the smartwatch side — similar to Fitbit's Versa line, just more advanced. If you prefer straightforward fitness tracking without the extra bells and whistles, a simpler option like the Fitbit Charge 6 is likely a better fit.
Learn more about Apple's latest offerings in our Apple Watch Series 11 review, Apple Watch SE 3 review, and Apple Watch SE 3 versus Series 11 comparison.
Will a Fitbit work with an iPhone or Apple Health?
Even though the company is owned by Google, Fitbits are compatible with any iPhone running iOS 16.4 or later, which is the minimum requirement for the app. The Fitbit app is now integrated with Google Health, but iPhone users can still download and use it fully. You can learn more about compatibility on the Fitbit website.
While a Fitbit can't directly sync with the Apple Health app, you can use third-party apps, such as Strava, as a go-between to transfer data from a Fitbit to the Apple Health app.
What's the battery life like on a Fitbit?
The latest Fitbit models offer battery life ranging from four to 10 days, with an average of six days. In our experience, the Sense 2 lasts an average of six days on a single charge, while the Inspire 3 lasts up to 10 days, for instance.
While top Garmin watches generally have a longer battery life, most Fitbits last long enough that you won't have to worry about charging them every night.
How accurate are Fitbits for tracking steps, heart rate, and sleep?
Fitbits are generally very accurate in tracking steps, heart rate, and sleep. As one of the original fitness-tracking brands, Fitbit has spent nearly two decades refining its sensors and algorithms. Garmin still has an edge in on-wrist GPS accuracy — especially for tracking precise mileage on runs — but for everyday metrics like step count and heart rate, most modern fitness trackers, including Fitbit, perform similarly well.
You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.
Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.

[86] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:46 UTC] Of Course Trump Is Exploiting Graham's Legacy
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/graham-s-legacy-is-being-exploited-by-trump
Of Course Trump Is Exploiting Graham's Legacy

[87] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 15:46 UTC] ASML shares fall after hiking sales forecast for second time this year on strong AI chip demand
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/asml-2q-earnings-ai-chips-orders.html
ASML on Wednesday raised its guidance for the second time this year and reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results as its customers continue to ramp up production of AI chips.
The Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker said it now expects full-year sales to come in between 43 billion euros ($49 billion) and 45 billion euros, and a gross margin of between 54 and 56%. It previously predicted annual net sales of between 36 billion and 40 billion euros, and a gross margin between 51% and 53%.
The stock jumped over 7% at the market open before slightly paring gains to last trade 3.4% higher. Shares have surged 115% this year.
Here's how ASML did versus LSEG consensus estimates for the second quarter:
- Net sales: 9.3 billion euros versus 8.8 billion euros expected
- Net profit: 2.9 billion euros versus 2.6 billion euros expected
ASML — Europe's most valuable company — is the only company in the world that makes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines used to produce the most advanced semiconductors.
CEO Christophe Fouquet said order intake remained "extremely strong" in the first half of the year. That momentum means the company will target adding 30% to its 2026 low NA EUV capacity and 30% to its 2026 Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) immersion capacity, he said.
Chip expansion push
ASML had already raised its guidance last quarter on the continued demand for its highest-end EUV machines. This is expected to remain high as chipmakers expand production capacity to meet the needs of the AI boom.
The company's customers continue to "accelerate their capacity expansion plans," CEO Fouquet said in a Wednesday statement. "This is translating into customer commitments across our product portfolio, providing ASML with increased visibility into longer-term demand."
"ASML is doing a great job in bringing that capacity in, and the firm has several levers to do that," Javier Correonero, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC's Ritika Gupta. He said the company was increasing output by optimizing the "cleanroom" space they have in Veldhoven, where they produce the DUV and EUV machines, while also carrying out so-called "fast shipments."
Earlier this week, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), one of ASML's largest customers, reported a 68% jump in June sales on the back of strong demand for its chips.
TSMC is planning to add two advanced chip packaging plants in the Chiayi Science Park in southern Taiwan, Reuters reported, citing remarks made by Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen on Sunday.
UBS analysts said in a July 10 note that the buildout in semiconductor fabrication facilities, as well as AI-driven demand for leading-edge chip production, is expected to help ASML see a stronger second half of the year.
China sales
Despite robust demand, semiconductor stocks have come under pressure as investors question whether the huge AI-driven capital spending can be sustained. ASML also faces tightening restrictions on export controls of its advanced chip equipment.
The stock slumped 6% in April after a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers proposed a bill that would cut off ASML's sale of DUV machines to Chinese chip companies and impact its already shrinking sales there. That law still needs to work its way through the U.S. legislative process.
But restrictions can have a counterintuitive effect, Morningstar's Correonero said, and have previously led to a boom in demand as Chinese customers snapped up machines in anticipation of further restrictions. He noted that while ASML is a well-managed company, expectations are quite high.
"There's a lot priced in, and we see it slightly overvalued," the analyst said. "Just to give you an idea, ASML right now is trading roughly at a 50x forward PE, which is in line with the peaks that we saw during Covid times ... Our valuation for ASML implies more like a 35-40x forward PE, which we consider more recent."
ASML said Wednesday that it continues to expect China to make up around 20% of its total net sales for the year. China's contribution to sales dropped from 19% in the first quarter to 14% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, South Korea continued to be its largest market, contributing to 43% of sales in the second quarter.
"The Chinese market is moving in sync with the overall behavior that we see globally," Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said in a transcript of a video interview.
The company said it will provide an update on its longer-term goals at a Capital Markets Day on June 10 next year.
Read more
— CNBC's Arjun Kharpal helped contribute to this story.

[88] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:49 UTC] BP to sell stakes in over 10 firms in ventures portfolio
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/bp-sell-stakes-over-10-firms-ventures-portfolio-2026-07-15/
BP (BP.L) has reached an agreement ​to sell minority interests in more ‌than 10 companies in its ventures arm portfolio to investment firm Verdane, it said on ​Wednesday.

CEO Meg O'Neill, who started in ​the top job in April, said earlier ⁠this month that BP needs to prioritise ​financial discipline by simplifying its portfolio, cutting ​costs and tightening capital spending, as the company refocuses on its core oil and gas investments.

BP ​will retain interests in a small ​number of investments, it said. It did not disclose ‌the ⁠price of the sale.

The British major's venturing arm BP Ventures, which began in 2007, had 27 companies in its portfolio, ​its website ​showed ahead ⁠of the announcement. These included projects related to artificial intelligence, ​electric vehicles and hydrogen.

BP had an ​ill-fated ⁠foray into renewables before announcing a strategy reset last year.

The company is embarking ⁠on ​a $20 billion divestment plan aimed ​at cutting debt and boosting returns.

[89] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:50 UTC] EU Set to Slow Carbon Cuts to Give Industry Time to Adapt
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/eu-to-slow-carbon-market-emission-cuts-for-heavy-industry
EU Set to Slow Carbon Cuts to Give Industry Time to Adapt

[90] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:51 UTC] New York Yankees in Talks With Apollo Over $3 Billion Financing Deal
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/new-york-yankees-in-talks-with-apollo-over-3-billion-financing-deal
New York Yankees in Talks With Apollo Over $3 Billion Financing Deal

[91] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:52 UTC] Chile's Codelco expects flat copper output in coming years, chairman says
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chiles-codelco-expects-flat-copper-output-coming-years-chairman-says-2026-07-15/
Chile's state-run copper miner Codelco expects production in ​the coming years to stay similar to current ‌levels, chairman Bernardo Fontaine said on Wednesday, when asked if the company was on track to meet its target of 1.7 million ​metric tons a year by 2030.

The miner is ​working to recover from a slump in 2022 ⁠and 2023 when production fell to two-decade lows. Last ​year's production at Codelco's own mines stood at 1.33 million ​tons.

"It is very possible that it sits at a production rate quite similar to the one it has today," Fontaine told a ​congressional committee.

He added that the company's structural projects, designed ​to counter declining ore grades, had faced unexpected delays and costs.

The El ‌Abra ⁠copper mine, where Codelco holds a 49% stake alongside majority-owner Freeport McMoRan, could be a good option to focus investment, he noted.

The U.S. miner has planned a $7.5 billion expansion project ​at the ​mine.

"It has ⁠a very significant investment project, so it must be evaluated very carefully. Perhaps that is ​the best project whre we could invest ​whatever ⁠resources we are able to get," Fontaine said.

Chile's copper agency Cochilco expects to release a preliminary audit of Codelco's production ⁠in ​September, after scrutiny over whether the ​company improperly included some 20,000 metric tons of copper in a 2025 ​production report.

[92] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:54 UTC] ASML Mulls Price Hike for Chipmaking Tools, Information Says
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/asml-plans-prices-hikes-for-chipmaking-tools-says-information
ASML Mulls Price Hike for Chipmaking Tools, Information Says

[93] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:56 UTC] Kering appoints LVMH Fragrance chief as new Bottega Veneta CEO
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/kering-appoints-lvmh-fragrance-chief-new-bottega-veneta-ceo-2026-07-15/
French luxury group ​Kering (PRTP.PA) has ‌appointed Romain Spitzer as ​the ​new CEO of ⁠Bottega Veneta, ​it said ​on Wednesday.

Spitzer, currently president and ​CEO ​of Fragrance Group LVMH (LVMH.PA) ‌Beauty, ⁠will join the Italian fashion ​brand ​from ⁠September 1, ​the company ​said ⁠in a statement.

[94] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 15:57 UTC] More people are reaching their 60s than ever before — and it’s an incredible investing opportunity
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-people-are-reaching-their-60s-than-ever-before-and-its-an-incredible-investing-opportunity-367cc8b8?mod=mw_rss_topstories
The world is getting older. Here’s how that’s going to change things.

[95] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 15:57 UTC] EU Freezes Russian Oil Price Cap Until July 23 as Talks Slow
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/eu-freezes-russian-oil-price-cap-for-a-week-as-sanctions-stall
EU Freezes Russian Oil Price Cap Until July 23 as Talks Slow

[96] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 15:58 UTC] EU envoys fail to agree on 21st package of sanctions against Russia, says EU diplomat
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-envoys-fail-agree-21st-package-sanctions-against-russia-says-eu-diplomat-2026-07-15/
European Union envoys ​have not reached ‌an agreement on a 21st package ​of sanctions ​against Russia in response ⁠to Russia's ​war with Ukraine , an ​EU diplomat said on Wednesday.

The diplomat added ​that EU ​envoys had agreed to keep ‌a ⁠price cap on Russian oil unchanged at ​the ​current ⁠level of $44.10 per barrel until ​July 23 ​while ⁠discussions continued on that 21st ⁠package ​of sanctions.

[97] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:00 UTC] Inside China’s Race to Overtake European Supercars
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/inside-chinas-race-to-overtake-european-supercars-b33c7f0f
Watch as an aristocratic English estate becomes the battleground where Chinese automaker BYD takes on the world’s most prestigious car brands.

[98] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:00 UTC] Developers Are Back to Building U.S. Warehouses
URL: https://www.wsj.com/logistics-report/developers-are-back-to-building-u-s-warehouses-9a1c9ff7
Industrial real estate under construction rose 18% in the second quarter, driven by demand from suppliers of data-center equipment.

[99] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 16:01 UTC] OpenAI's new $230 mini keyboard is for Codex power users
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-codex-micro-shortcuts-agent-work-louder-2026-7
OpenAI is bringing your AI agent to your fingertips, literally.
The AI lab's first hardware product has officially arrived. Codex Micro is a mini keyboard built for power users of OpenAI's coding product. The device is engineered by Work Louder, a Canadian-Italian producer of keyboards and other accessories.
No, this isn't the fabled Jony Ive collaboration that's in the works. (OpenAI's CFO said that would revealed by the end of the year.) Rather, this device is a boon for AI coders — and a signal for where OpenAI is placing its bets.
Introducing the Codex Micro
For $230, Codex users can make vibe coding even easier — and more tactile.
The Codex Micro includes six light-up keys that show an agent's status. For those into multi-agent orchestrations, the keys also allow users to seamlessly jump between agents. There's a joystick for navigation and a dial for adjusting the agent's reasoning level.
The keyboard also has a customizable set of shortcut keys for common Codex actions. That includes a voice recorder for those who send audio prompts to their agents.
Work Louder produces several mechanical keyboards. As such, the Codex Micro comes in two options for the mechanical keys: "clicky" and "silent."
Codex on the rise
As OpenAI continues its quest to cut down on "side quests," AI coding has grown into a key priority.
The company has bet big on Codex, including expensive advertising campaigns and offering free usage perks. Last week, the company merged Codex into the ChatGPT desktop app.
Codex and ChatGPT Work have reached 8 million active users, per Thibault Sottiaux, Codex's engineering lead.
The Micro is yet another sign: OpenAI is all in on Codex.

[100] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:01 UTC] Sanofi sues Pfizer, Moderna over COVID shot technology
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/sanofi-sues-pfizer-moderna-over-covid-shot-technology-2026-07-15/
Sanofi (SASY.PA) has sued Pfizer (PFE.N) and Moderna (MRNA.O) , alleging that their COVID-19 vaccines infringe several of the French pharmaceutical company's patents.

The two lawsuits ​filed on Tuesday in New Jersey federal court allege ‌that the blockbuster vaccines violate Sanofi's patent rights in messenger RNA (mRNA) innovations.

The cases add to a web of high-stakes patent lawsuits filed by biotech companies against Pfizer ​and Moderna over the mRNA technology used in their COVID ​vaccines.

Spokespeople for Pfizer and Moderna did not immediately respond ⁠to requests for comment on Sanofi's new lawsuits on Wednesday. A ​Sanofi spokesperson said on Wednesday that the company is "seeking fair compensation for ​use of its patented technology" and not seeking to block sales of the vaccines.

Pfizer and Moderna's shots use molecules called lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to transport mRNA into ​the body. Sanofi said in its complaints that their LNP technology ​infringes patents covering LNP technology developed by its mRNA-focused subsidiary Translate Bio.

Sanofi acquired Massachusetts-based ‌Translate ⁠for $3.2 billion in 2021 to bolster its mRNA capabilities.

Companies including GlaxoSmithKline , Bayer and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals have also filed patent lawsuits seeking shares of Pfizer and Moderna's tens of billions of dollars of revenue from COVID-19 vaccine sales.

Moderna sued ​Pfizer for patent ​infringement in 2022, ⁠in a case that is still ongoing. Pfizer's partner BioNTech countersued Moderna in February, arguing Moderna's next-generation COVID-19 ​shot, mNEXSPIKE, infringes one of its patents.

The cases are ​Translate ⁠Bio Inc v. Moderna Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 2:26-cv-08690 and Translate Bio Inc v. Pfizer Inc, U.S. ⁠District ​Court for the District of New Jersey, ​No. 2:26-cv-08697.

For Sanofi: Sarah Chapin Columbia and Sarah Fischer of McDermott Will & Schulte

For Moderna ​and Pfizer: attorney information not yet available

[101] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:03 UTC] U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Post Weekly Withdrawal
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/u-s-crude-oil-stockpiles-post-weekly-withdrawal-aa4c3b69
Commercial crude oil stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels last week. Analysts expected crude stocks to decline by 900,000 barrels.

[102] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:03 UTC] Todd Blanche says he has 'full faith' in Kash Patel as FBI director
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-senate-nomination-hearing.html
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ripped FBI Director Kash Patel in a question dripping with contempt to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Blanche's nomination to become permanent AG.
"How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character?" Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked Blanche, who, if confirmed as attorney general, would head the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI.
"Are you good with his airplane jaunts? Are you confident he's not drinking on the job?" Whitehouse asked.
"Are you sure none of his travel is a pretext for vacation activities like snorkeling, Olympics, and visiting girlfriends?" Whitehouse asked. "Are you sure he knows what he's doing? Do you vouch for him? Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?"
Blanche replied: "That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator."
"And I have full faith in Director Patel and the work that he's doing every day," said Blanche, who is serving as acting attorney general.
"Great, you get to own that," Whitehouse shot back.
Patel has faced criticism for his use of the FBI director's jet for various travels, including a visit to Milan to watch the U.S. men's hockey team in the Olympics finals and to watch his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, perform the national anthem during a wrestling event in Pennsylvania. Patel is suing The Atlantic magazine for $250 million, alleging defamation from an article alleging he abuses alcohol.
Blanche earlier Wednesday defended the DOJ's handling of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday as he testified about his nomination by President Donald Trump.
Blanche also faced criticism from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for holding cryptocurrency-related assets last year while "you issued an order dismantling DOJ's crypto enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations in the crypto industry."
Blanche has yet to respond to Durbin's criticism of his crypto holdings at the hearing.
In response to a question by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about the Epstein files, Blanche said, "We worked hard, hardworking lawyers within the department, to do the right thing, and we will continue to do so."
Blanche said that when Trump signed a law last fall requiring the DOJ to make public all of the documents it held related to Epstein, the department "undertook a Herculean task to review millions and millions of potentially responsive files.
Blanche in January, as deputy attorney general, said the DOJ would not publicly release millions more pages about Epstein after initially disclosing more than 3 million pages.
In his testimony on Wednesday, Blanche said some of the withheld files were not responsive to the demands of the law because, among other things, they included information related to another case involving someone else named Epstein.
The DOJ, in a Jan. 30 statement about the final release of the files, said those that were withheld fell into several categories, including duplicate documents from different investigations and those withheld under certain legal privileges.
A group of Epstein victims this week released a video urging the Senate to block Blanche as attorney general because their personal information was made public by the DOJ in the release of files even though that information should have been redacted.
On Wednesday, Blanche said, "The reviewers were qualified, experienced attorneys within the department and the FBI. They took pains to apply appropriate redactions. There were mistakes that were made, and so approximately 1% of the redactions had to be fixed after we released the Epstein files."
"Whenever we learned that any victim's name had been improperly not redacted, we immediately took the document down and fixed it as soon as we could," Blanche said. "That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility, but it does mean that we tried to fix them."
Blanche, who first drew national attention as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, has served as acting attorney general since early April, when Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of issues related to Epstein.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Tuesday praised Blanche, calling him a "great lawyer, always very fair," and writing, "every Republican Senator should vote to CONFIRM Todd Blanche, ASAP."
Blanche also faced questions on Wednesday about his decision to create a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund for the DOJ to compensate people who were purportedly the victims of prosecutorial overreach by the Justice Department.
The fund, which Blanche said he canceled in the face of sharp criticism from Republican senators and Democrats, was part of an out-of-court settlement of a suit filed by Trump against the IRS over the leak of his tax records. While Blanche has said the fund won't be created, Trump has floated the idea of reviving its creation.
Durbin's opposition to Blanche nomination
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that he had a 30-minute meeting with Blanche earlier in the day that included a discussion about the DOJ fund.
Durbin said Blanche told him: "'What more can I do? What more can I say? I made a mistake. I don't want to see the weaponization fund go forward.'"
Durbin said he then asked Blanche, "Why don't you put it in writing? Do something so it's a credible statement by you?"
The senator recounted that Blanche said he would be willing to work with Congress to codify that the fund can't be created.
"It seemed like a very weak defense," Durbin said.
CNBC has requested comment from the DOJ about that account, and about Durbin's description of how Blanche addressed the issue of cryptocurrency during their private meeting.
Durbin has been a critic of Blanche taking the attorney general post since he was nominated, saying he is concerned about money being made by Trump administration officials.
"I said to Todd Blanche, it just boils down to this: I don't think if you want to get rich you ought to be running for public office," Durbin said Tuesday. "I can't understand all the money that's being made in this administration."
Durbin said Blanche "did not address any of those things directly," but that he "addressed his own situation with cryptocurrency."
Blanche said he had consulted with the Office of Legal Counsel and ethics officials about his holdings in cryptocurrency, according to a Durbin aide who was at the session with reporters.
"He had $160,000 roughly in cryptocurrency and he was told that he had to divest it," Durbin said.
In this conversation with Blanche on Tuesday, Durbin told reporters, "I started off with the issue of corruption."
"And during the period of time when he was going through this process of turning it over to his children and grandchildren, there were decisions made about the regulation of cryptocurrency, which most people, and most of the things I've read, suggest that they were lessening the government scrutiny of their activity," the senator said.
"He's an owner of cryptocurrency. He's transferring it within his family. He's making decisions … involved in decisions at the Justice level as to the scrutiny of this industry," Durbin said.
"That sounds like it, on its face, to be a conflict of interest."
Another area of controversy Democrats are expected to focus on is the federal prosecutions of people Trump considers enemies — former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, last fall. That office is overseen by the DOJ.
Both of those cases, whose allegations were strongly denied by both defendants, were dismissed by a judge in November after he ruled that the interim U.S. attorney who lodged the case was invalidly appointed.
— CNBC's Justin Papp contributed to this article.

[103] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:04 UTC] PayPal can push Stripe to dig deeper in its wallet
URL: https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/paypal-can-push-stripe-dig-deeper-its-wallet-2026-07-15/
The financial plumbing ‌firm and buyout shop Advent offered $53 bln to buy the payments processor. It's a welcome ​lifeline for Venmo's owner, but at ​a bargain price. There's room to sweeten ⁠the bid by 15%, but it ​would increase the risks from extra debt and ​legacy technology.

Full view will be published shortly.

Follow Karen Kwok on LinkedIn and X .

[104] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:06 UTC] Moulin Says ECB Must Be Ready for Any Inflation Eventuality
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/moulin-says-ecb-must-be-ready-for-any-inflation-eventuality
Moulin Says ECB Must Be Ready for Any Inflation Eventuality

[105] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 16:07 UTC] ASML raises forecasts as AI boom drives chipmaking demand
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/731ec5ef-e9e1-40f5-b0bd-09e71787a938
ASML raises forecasts as AI boom drives chipmaking demand
ASML raised its annual sales outlook for the second time this year, as surging demand for AI computing power drove better-than-expected sales for the world’s leading maker of chip manufacturing equipment.
The Netherlands-based group said on Wednesday it now expects total net sales of between €43bn and €45bn, well ahead of analysts’ forecasts of €39.6bn, according to S&P Visible Alpha.
The bullish outlook came as it reported 21 per cent year on year growth in sales to €9.3bn in the second quarter, surpassing forecasts, as customers upgraded their existing equipment. Net income of €2.9bn also beat analyst forecasts of €2.6bn.
Christophe Fouquet, ASML’s chief executive, said the company plans to increase production capacity of its most advanced “extreme ultraviolet” lithography machines by 30 per cent next year and is considering a similar increase in 2028, as the semiconductor industry races to expand production. ASML is already “close to [receiving] all the EUV orders we need for 2027”, he added.
ASML’s role at the centre of the global chipmaking industry has made it Europe’s biggest winner from the AI boom and turned it into the region’s most valuable company, with a market value in excess of €600bn. The company can produce only a few dozen of its complex “extreme ultraviolet” lithography machines a year.
ASML’s ability to produce enough of the complex machines has been seen by some in Silicon Valley as a potential throttle on the AI industry’s growth, which is underpinned by chips such as Nvidia’s graphics processing units.
Fouquet said that the latest quarter’s performance reflected “continuous, very strong demand from our customers” as well as the company’s ability to meet that demand. Revenue from customers making memory chips, whose producers have seen extraordinary stock price gains in recent months, is now projected to increase by 75 per cent this year.
Its latest results follow strong indications of demand from two of its biggest customers this week. Intel said it plans a €5bn investment to expand its production capacity in Ireland and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reported a 36 per cent rise in quarterly sales.
ASML said on Wednesday that Intel had begun to deploy its latest chipmaking machine, dubbed “High NA” EUV, in production — a key milestone for a product that sells for as much as $400mn.

[106] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:08 UTC] SpaceX Falls Below IPO Price for First Time as Hype Fades
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/spacex-shares-fall-below-ipo-price-for-first-time-as-hype-fades
SpaceX Falls Below IPO Price for First Time as Hype Fades

[107] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:10 UTC] US money market funds turn defensive with Fed rate outlook uncertain
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/us-money-market-funds-turn-defensive-with-fed-rate-outlook-uncertain-2026-07-15/
Money market funds are taking a more cautious approach in their portfolios, reflecting lingering uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's ​rate policy path, the latest industry data show.

Weighted average maturity — the average time until securities held by a money market fund mature — ‌fell to 38 days for the week ending July 10 for the Crane Money Fund Average, a broad industry measure, from 42 days a month ago. The same figure fell to 40 days this month from 44 days in June in the Crane 100 Money Fund Index, which tracks funds holding the vast majority of industry assets.

The move toward shorter maturities underscores ​the murky outlook for Fed policy. A dovish Chair Kevin Warsh could find himself at odds with more hawkish Federal Open Market Committee members, although ​softer-than-expected inflation readings bolster the case for rate cuts or an extended pause.

Fund managers typically shorten portfolio maturities when they anticipate ⁠higher interest rates. Shorter-dated securities mature more quickly, allowing managers to reinvest at higher yields if the Fed raises rates. Locking in three- or six-month Treasury ​bills ahead of a rate hike can leave investors stuck with lower yields as rates move higher.

That caution comes as money market fund assets continue to attract ​cash. Assets climbed to a record of nearly $8 trillion in the first week of July, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

FLOATING RATES FIND FAVOR

Managers have been deploying some of those inflows into floating-rate notes (FRNs), whose payouts change with the market, unlike typical fixed-rate debt. Treasury FRN holdings rose by $32 billion at the end of June to a record $523 billion.

"This positioning ​suggests that money market managers are increasingly favoring floating-rate exposure to capture elevated three-month T-bill yields," said Angelo Manolatos, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo.

"You're not ​taking duration risk, so if the Fed hikes, your note will reset higher," he added, underscoring the defensive nature of the strategy and referring to a measure of interest rate ‌sensitivity.

Funds also ⁠increased their use of repurchase agreements, or repos, lending cash to dealers in exchange for securities that the dealers later buy back. As of June 30, repo balances had climbed by $68 billion to $3.06 trillion, representing 37.2% of total fund holdings, according to Crane Data.

Yet the appeal of overnight repos has diminished in recent weeks, analysts said. Reserve management purchases by the Fed have injected cash into funding markets and reduced the amount of available collateral, weighing on repo yields.

As a result, ​money market funds face a difficult balancing ​act.

"Money market funds right now are ⁠caught between a rock and a hard place," said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities.

"They want to be shorter in their weighted average maturities because of the risk of Fed rate hikes, but rates at the ​very front end of the curve, like repos, are still a bit soggy."

That leaves fund managers choosing between accepting ​unusually low overnight yields ⁠or extending maturities and risking being locked into lower returns should Treasury bill yields move higher.

"That's really the thing we're watching," Goldberg said.

The shift toward shorter and more flexible investments coincided with a reduction in Treasury bill holdings, data showed. Money funds cut their T-bill allocations by $96 billion at the end of June to $3.3 trillion, according ⁠to Crane Data, ​although bills still accounted for 39.9% of their total holdings.

More broadly, Manolatos said money funds have ​limited their exposure to longer-dated bills while increasing allocations to repos, a move designed "to position defensively in a potential rising rate environment."

U.S. interest rate futures currently imply one Fed rate hike in 2026, ​likely at the December policy meeting, with nearly an 80% probability, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

[108] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:12 UTC] SpaceX stock sinks below $135 IPO price for the first time
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/spacex-spcx-stock-ipo-price.html
People gather near a SpaceX advertisement outside the Nasdaq MarketSite, on the day of their initial public offering (IPO) in New York City, U.S., June 12, 2026.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
SpaceX shares fell for a fourth-straight session on Wednesday, dropping below their $135 initial public offering price for the first time ever.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

[109] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:12 UTC] S&P 500 is little changed as chip stocks fall; traders weigh inflation data: Live updates
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/14/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday, with chipmakers suffering losses, as traders digested more data showing inflation is cooling.
The broad market index traded around the flatline, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 107 points, or 0.2%.
Micron Technology shares declined 9%, while Lam Research shares were down more than 4%, while Intel and Advanced Micro Devices were lower by 5% and 6%, respectively. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shed nearly 3%.
Shares of Big Tech companies bolstered the market. Amazon, Apple and Microsoft climbed around 3%, while Alphabet moved up more than 1%. Additionally, shares of SpaceX were in the green.
Investors grew optimistic on the state of inflation after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a speech Wednesday that "there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters."
On Wednesday, the produce price index unexpectedly fell 0.3% in June, while economists had expected it to be unchanged on the month. The index also showed a 5.5% annual inflation rate.
That follows Tuesday's cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which bolstered hopes that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates as aggressively this year. The report prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Fed tightening.
The probability of a rate hike at the central bank's July meeting fell to 17% from 42% a day earlier, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Markets, however, continue to price in an increase later this year, with traders assigning a 63% probability that rates will be a quarter- or half-percentage point higher following the September meeting.
"I'm not convinced it takes rate hikes off the table because if the target is truly 2%, these numbers are still coming in well over 2%," said Melissa Brown, global head of investment decision research at SimCorp. "The markets these days are maybe overreacting to one piece of news one way or the other."
While equities were higher, gains were limited as crude prices remained elevated, however. That's after U.S. Central Command said the U.S. launched more attacks against Iran. West Texas Intermediate futures were last trading above $78 per barrel. International Brent traded above $83 per barrel.
BlackRock was also a winner Wednesday, with shares up more than 7% after the asset management firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

[110] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:12 UTC] Moderate Democrat Gains Ground in Critical Michigan Senate Race
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/moderate-democrat-gains-ground-in-critical-michigan-senate-race
Moderate Democrat Gains Ground in Critical Michigan Senate Race

[111] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:12 UTC] SpaceX shares slide below IPO price as blistering rally unravels
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/spacex-shares-slide-below-ipo-price-blistering-rally-unravels-2026-07-15/
SpaceX shares dropped below their initial public offering price for the first time on Wednesday, just over a month after a frenzy over the rockets-to-AI company powered ​the biggest IPO ever and made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

Shares (SPCX.O) ‌dropped 1.7% to $134, falling below the $135 apiece IPO price and well below the all-time high of $225.64, which propelled the company's market valuation briefly above those of Silicon Valley giants Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) .

The decline ​leaves investors who bought into the company at the IPO price sitting on ​paper losses for the first time, potentially testing confidence in the stock.

It ⁠also offers a reminder that Wall Street enthusiasm can cool quickly, even for a ​company with the size and scale of SpaceX, which raised around $85.7 billion and fetched a ​valuation of around $2.1 trillion at the end of its first trading day.

It is not uncommon for a stock to fall below the IPO price, especially during periods of broader market stress.

Wall Street's main ​indexes have been under pressure in recent weeks due to uncertainty around the Federal ​Reserve's interest rate path and concerns about the durability of the rally powered by AI winners such ‌as ⁠chipmakers.

Still, the drop may bolster critics who had argued that SpaceX's valuation was stretched, as the company was unprofitable and many of its ambitious bets were still untested.

Investors would find better entry points after the first wave of excitement had faded, some analysts had ​warned before the IPO.

The ​reversal also underscores ⁠the risks of chasing momentum, and the limits of a valuation driven more by narrative than near-term fundamentals.

The stock's addition to prestigious ​indexes, such as the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) , did little to reignite ​the buying. ⁠Its shares have dropped nearly 13% since they were included in the Nasdaq 100.

The focus now shifts to the company's first results after listing. SpaceX has not yet disclosed when ⁠it plans ​to do it, but has said they will be ​released only through its website and its social media account on X, and not through wire distribution services.

[112] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:13 UTC] Buying stock with borrowed money reaches level of past market tops: 'Very bearish looking'
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/buying-stock-with-borrowed-money-reaches-level-of-past-market-tops.html
Margin debt is reaching levels seen only at past market tops. According to data from Leuthold Group, margin debt has grown by more than 40% over the past 12 months, a threshold seen at prior market peaks in 2000, 2007 and 2021. Margin debt — money investors borrow from brokers to buy stocks, using existing securities as collateral —amplifies buying power and potential gains, but can also magnify losses. What's especially troubling now is how fast margin debt has grown relative to S & P 500 returns. Put another way, people are borrowing money at a much faster pace than stocks are rising. Debt outpaces S & P 500 The S & P 500 has returned about 22% over the past year, including reinvested dividends, only about half as fast as the rate of growth in margin debt. "Today's 54% absolute margin debt growth, and 26% excess margin debt growth over the last 12 months both exceed the historical trigger points in our study," Leuthold wrote. Historically, "neither series spends much time above the threshold." Once animal spirits subside, margin debt shrinks and stock prices are pressured downward. If history is any guide, returns in the S & P 500 have historically evaporated over a one-year time horizon when margin debt growth has been this high. With the rate of change in margin date having hit the 40% threshold months ago, the market is "heading into the traditionally scary part of the calendar," said Scott Opsal, Leuthold Group's chief investment officer. "When people get too enthusiastic, too tolerant of risk, too greedy, things usually roll the other direction," Opsal told CNBC. "This is very bearish looking." Margin debt ballooned to $1.4 trillion in May, the most recent month available, according to data from Finra . When borrowing slows, so does the demand for stocks, Opsal said. "Those are both things that then set up the market for not so good times down the road," he said. "When people start doubling down with borrowed money, that's a contrarian sign that's really hard to beat." Attracting margin players With the artificial intelligence trade underpinning the latest multi-year bull run, it's likely drawn a lot of margin players into the market, Opsal added. One sign of that is found in the boom for more speculative, leveraged ETFs. In two months last spring, assets in those funds nearly doubled , underscoring a willingness to take on more risk. If that's the case, margin calls – when a broker demands an investor deposit more money into their account or face forced liquidation – would also accelerate any downdraft. "Once a data center buildout stock starts to crack, that could force others to crack, and then the margin calls will hit that whole silo of investors," the investment chief said. "The concentration of gains and the concentration of buying power is part of the story." — CNBC's Deena Zaidi contributed to this report.

[113] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 16:14 UTC] America’s oil refiners could more than triple profits as Iran war sparks massive boom
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-oil-refiners-could-more-than-triple-profits-as-iran-war-sparks-massive-boom-c3ad5d33?mod=mw_rss_topstories
U.S. oil refiners are about to report a historic profit surge as the industry takes advantage of supply disruptions.

[114] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 16:16 UTC] It’s a buyer’s market for bonds
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-a-buyers-market-for-bonds-aeba3adc?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Bonds are out of fashion with big investors — which makes them an interesting investment opportunity for the rest of us.

[115] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:16 UTC] Partners Group’s Assets Under Management Rise to $186 Billion
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/partners-group-s-assets-under-management-rise-to-186-billion
Partners Group’s Assets Under Management Rise to $186 Billion

[116] [Business Insider | 2026-07-15 16:17 UTC] SpaceX drops below its $135 IPO price for the first time since its debut
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-stock-price-today-ipo-elon-musk-spcx-2026-7
SpaceX shares slipped below their $135 IPO price for the first time since the company's blockbuster public debut in June.
On Wednesday, SpaceX stock sank 2% to a low of $132.75. It marks a 41% drop from a high of $225.64 hit shortly after the stock started trading last month.
The stock's tumble below its IPO price comes just over a month after SpaceX's record-breaking June 12 debut, which raised $85.7 billion and briefly propelled the company to a market value of more than $2 trillion.
From the outset, the space tech company polarized investors. Bulls said the company deserved a premium for its dominance in launch services and Starlink. Skeptics questioned its rich valuation, governance structure, and whether investors were paying today for years of future growth.
The stock's slide below its IPO price comes as Wall Street reassesses some of this year's hottest listings and debates whether enthusiasm for AI-linked companies has pushed valuations beyond what near-term fundamentals can support.
SpaceX is among several of this year's most-hyped stock market debuts that have stumbled after their initial surge. Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix's US-listed shares have also given up much of their early gains as investors have grown more selective.
SpaceX's decline also comes ahead of its first post-IPO lockup expirations, which could increase the stock's public float if insiders choose to sell eligible shares.
The company has enjoyed an overwhelmingly bullish reception from Wall Street. After SpaceX's post-IPO quiet period ended, an overwhelming number of analysts rated the stock a buy.
A handful of bears say the stock still has a lot to prove.
"For me to become more bullish, I need to see growth actually begin to materialize, or begin to see them talk about the growth in a way that's not just speculative," Keith Snyder, a CFRA Research analyst, told BI's Samuel O'Brient.
"All we have is hope right now but hope isn't a business strategy," added Snyder, who has a sell rating on the stock.

[117] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:19 UTC] Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh's testimony to Senate banking committee hits on economy, interest rates
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/watch-fed-chairman-kevin-warsh-testify-live-before-senate-banking-committee.html
[The stream is slated to start at 10 a.m. ET. CNBC Television will start the stream when the event begins. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above.]
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh testified Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee, facing questions over the the economy and how various factors might impact interest rates.
Part of congressionally mandated Capitol Hill appearances for the central bank leader, Warsh spoke Tuesday to the House Financial Services Committee. During his remarks, he reaffirmed the Fed's commitment to fighting inflation though he gave few clues about the direction of monetary policy.
Legislators tried baiting Warsh into commenting on fiscal and political matters, but he largely avoided the topics, stressing the importance of the Fed staying focused on its assigned responsibilities.
Read more:
Warsh pledges Fed policy 'regime change' to rid inflation 'tax' on American people
Kevin Warsh names members of his Federal Reserve task forces, including Marc Andreessen, Doug McMillon
Fed meeting minutes to show 'family fight' over rates. The squabble could drag on for a while

[118] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 16:20 UTC] Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/microsoft-patches-record-number-of-security-vulnerabilities-citing-its-use-of-ai/
Microsoft released a record number of security patches for Windows, Office, and other tech product lines this week, citing the use of AI to aid the discovery of code vulnerabilities.
The technology and cloud giant issued patches for 570 security flaws on Tuesday as part of its monthly scheduled release of fixes, which security researchers have long dubbed “Patch Tuesday.”
At least two of the vulnerabilities are classified as zero-days, meaning that they were exploited before Microsoft was made aware of them. One bug affecting Windows Server allows hackers to escalate their privileges from a limited user to a system administrator. Another bug affects the SharePoint file sharing server — the U.S. government’s cybersecurity agency CISA has warned hackers were actively exploiting the bug to compromise organizations.
Krebs on Security first reported the news.
The huge patch update comes a week after Microsoft said in a blog post that it expected its usual batch of monthly security patches to be far higher in number than before. The company cited its use of AI to help its employees uncover previously undiscovered security bugs in its software.
“As AI helps defenders discover more issues, customers will see a higher volume of security updates included in each security release,” said Windows boss Pavan Davuluri.
As AI models become more advanced and focused on cybersecurity issues, security researchers are using them to uncover vulnerabilities that may have been dormant in software code for years, if not longer. Parts of Microsoft’s Windows code dates back decades.

[119] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:22 UTC] Nubank Brazil Chief to Take Over as CEO for All of Latin America
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/nubank-brazil-chief-to-take-over-as-ceo-for-all-of-latin-america
Nubank Brazil Chief to Take Over as CEO for All of Latin America

[120] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:24 UTC] Russian Fuel Prices Soar as Drone Attacks Curb Refinery Output
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/russian-fuel-prices-soar-as-drone-attacks-curb-refinery-output
Russian Fuel Prices Soar as Drone Attacks Curb Refinery Output

[121] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:24 UTC] EU accepts action plan by Elon Musk's X to become more transparent
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-accepts-action-plan-by-elon-musks-x-become-more-transparent-2026-07-15/
The European Union, which fined Elon Musk's social ​media network X €120 million ($137.2 million) ‌last year, said on Wednesday it had accepted an action plan ​by X to comply ​with transparency rules under the ⁠EU's Digital Services Act.

"The ​European Commission has accepted X's action ​plan to comply with transparency obligations and researchers' access to data ​under the Digital Services Act," ​it said in a statement.

"The approved ‌measures ⁠represent an important step in enabling researchers, civil society and the public in general to ​gain ​more transparency ⁠into X's systems, in particular to monitor ​X's systemic risks and ​to ⁠assess the platform's broader impact on its users and European ⁠society ​as a whole," ​it added.

($1 = 0.8745 euros)

[122] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:25 UTC] Google to Allow Third-Party Stores in Its App Store Next Week
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/google-to-allow-third-party-stores-in-its-app-store-next-week
Google to Allow Third-Party Stores in Its App Store Next Week

[123] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:27 UTC] Auto & Transport Roundup: Market Talk
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/auto-transport-roundup-market-talk-b7b103bd
Find insight on Lucid Group, Rheinmetall and more in the latest Market Talks covering auto and transport.

[124] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:28 UTC] Stocks making the biggest moves midday: SpaceX, Apple, PayPal, Cava, Progressive, Micron & more
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-spcx-aapl-pypl-cava-pgr-mu.html
Check out the companies making the biggest moves in midday trading: SpaceX — Shares of the rocket maker fell for the fourth-straight session, dipping below its $135 initial public offering price for the first time. Apple , Alibaba and Baidu — Apple shares rose about 4% to a fresh high after its Apple Intelligence cleared a major regulatory hurdle in China, which will allow the service to be used on iPhones in the country. No launch date is set yet, but the news also lifted shares of Alibaba and Baidu, which will partner with Apple on the effort. Alibaba gained 5%, while Baidu added 2%. Memory stocks — The group was pulling back in midday trading Wednesday after big gains in the prior session. Micron , Seagate and Western Digital shares each fell around 8%, while Sandisk tumbled more than 11%. The move comes amid some speculation that competition with Chinese memory chipmakers could be poised to intensify. These fears were stoked by reports that rival ChangXin Memory Technologies , also known as CXMT, is seeing strong demand for its Shanghai listing. Cava — Shares of the fast-casual food chain climbed 5.5% following an upgrade to overweight from equal weight by Morgan Stanley. The bank said Cava has a "defensible" valuation and is "one of the strongest fundamental stories in restaurants." Lionsgate — The movie studio's stock jumped more than 6% after Reuters reported , citing three people familiar with the matter, that Lionsgate is exploring a sale and has seen some interest from France's Bollore Group. The report also said Banijay Group is a potential suitor as well. Insurance stocks — Shares of Progressive fell more than 7% after the insurer reported a 31% drop in income in June versus a year ago. Progressive also saw a steep increase in its combined ratio last month, as it rose to 90% from 86.6% a year ago. Other insurance stocks were down in sympathy, including Allstate , which fell 4%; AON , which slipped less than 1%; and Travelers , which fell almost 2%. Lucid Group — Shares rebounded 19% after the electric vehicle maker denied reports that it is considering filing for bankruptcy court protection or exploring a take-private transaction. Management said it has sufficient liquidity to fund its operation into next year and called the reports "completely false." BlackRock — The investment management company jumped more than 7% after it reported better-than-expected earnings. BlackRock delivered adjusted earnings of $13.91 per share, topping an LSEG estimate of $12.59 per share. Revenue also beat estimates. Pentair — Shares tumbled more than 17% after the water-treatment equipment maker issued preliminary second-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations. The company said it expects adjusted earnings of $1.12 a share, well below the $1.48 analysts were expecting, according to FactSet. Morgan Stanley — Shares were up up slightly after the bank delivered record quarterly revenue and profits in the second quarter. Earnings came in at $3.46 per share compared with analyst expectations for $2.94. PayPal — The digital payments platform surged 17% after Reuters reported that payments firm Stripe and private equity company Advent offered to buy PayPal for $53 billion. Citing two people familiar with the matter, Reuters said the deal would price PayPal at $60.50 per share, and that the offer was submitted earlier this month. Elevance Health — The stock tumbled 10% despite Elevance Health reporting revenue for the second quarter that was above consensus estimates. Elevance also raised its full-year earnings guidance, which came in slightly above expectations. Bank of New York Mellon — Shares rose nearly 3% after the bank reported an earnings and revenue beat in the second quarter. It also expects revenue to now grow double-digits in 2026, but the bank also sees greater expenses than previously anticipated. — CNBC's Alex Harring and Fred Imbert contributed reporting

[125] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:29 UTC] Energy & Utilities Roundup: Market Talk
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-utilities-roundup-market-talk-771cafa9
Find insight on crude futures, Thai Oil, Malaysia’s energy sector and more in the latest Market Talks covering energy and utilities.

[126] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:31 UTC] Vance, House GOP Push Ahead on Politically Risky Iran War Funds
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/vance-house-gop-push-ahead-on-politically-risky-iran-war-funds
Vance, House GOP Push Ahead on Politically Risky Iran War Funds

[127] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 16:33 UTC] Chip-Machine Supplier ASML Raises Guidance Again on Unrelenting AI Demand
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/chip-machine-supplier-asml-raises-guidance-again-on-unrelenting-ai-demand-5cae18c9
The company lifted its annual sales guidance for the second time and said it would boost output of its semiconductor-making machines in the coming years.

[128] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:33 UTC] Trump's DNI pick Clayton won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/trump-dni-jay-clayton-senate-2020-election.html
Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, claimed not to know his predecessor Tulsi Gabbard took part in a raid of a Georgia election office earlier this year and defended subpoenaing New York Times journalists in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Clayton, the former SEC chair and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence more than a month after Trump announced his nomination and weeks after the president then abruptly sabotaged a planned confirmation hearing in June.
While it appeared a month ago that Clayton would have a relatively smooth path to confirmation, Democrats challenged Clayton's election comments and time as U.S. attorney. He is still likely to be confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who spoke with MS NOW Tuesday ahead of a Thursday night speech Trump is scheduled to deliver on foreign attempts to subvert the 2020 election, grilled Clayton on whether he was aware of Gabbard's presence earlier this year at a raid of a Fulton County, Georgia election office.
Clayton said he only learned of Gabbard's involvement, which was widely reported, from Ossoff during a private meeting earlier this week.
"Is it appropriate for the director of national intelligence to oversee the execution of domestic search warrants at sensitive election facilities? Yes or no?" Ossoff asked. Clayton did not answer.
"Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility," Ossoff said.
On multiple occasions during the roughly two-hour hearing, Clayton declined to answer who won the 2020 election, instead saying: "I am not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified."
Ossoff, at one point, called Clayton's responses "disqualifying."
The committee is expected to vote on Clayton's nomination next week. If advanced by the committee, the full Senate will weigh in.
The process of Clayton's nomination as DNI, a role that would grant him access to the country's most sensitive secrets and authority over 18 intelligence agencies, has been marred by controversy, thanks to Trump's actions and the interim appointment of Bill Pulte, a close Trump ally and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Bipartisan lawmakers have questioned whether Pulte — who from his perch atop the FHFA launched mortgage-related inquiries into Trump opponents — was fit for the job.
"I can't think of any other instance in history of this committee where a president sends a nominee up, and then in a bipartisan way, we say we really want to move heaven and Earth to get this nominee moving quickly because of the importance of the position, and then the president decided that the Senate was moving too fast on his own nominee, and holds that nominee" Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., said Wednesday at Clayton's hearing.
The DNI job opened up in May when then-director Gabbard announced plans to step away. Pulte took the helm later that month and has carried out Trump's orders to fire dozens of high-ranking intelligence officials.
The morning of Clayton's original hearing, Trump took to TruthSocial and directed him not to appear, saying he was pausing the nomination. Trump said he balked in part because he wanted Congress to attach a controversial election bill — that would impose photo identification rules and proof of citizenship to register — to the renewal of an unrelated foreign surveillance law.
Subsequent to Trump's appointment of Pulte, negotiations over that foreign surveillance law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, fell apart. The program lapsed in June, as Democrats protested Pulte's appointment to the position.
In the wake of Pulte's interim appointment, support for Clayton seemed widespread. But he was grilled on Wednesday by Democrats on the Senate panel.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, questioned Clayton about a statement he made on CNBC about California elections, in which he seemed to entertain the possibility of voter fraud.
"We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America," Clayton said during June appearance on "Squawk Box." "On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it."
King requested clarification.
"That meant that the audit trail we have available for our elections in a number of places is not the kind of audit trail that you would expect in something that is this important," Clayton said.
Asked by King whether voter fraud was a problem in American election, Clayton said: "I don't think we can say definitively whether there is, or is not, until we have better processes."
Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., both pressed Clayton on subpoenas served to New York Times reporters last week on the heels of reporting on security concerns related to a new Air Force One that was gifted to Trump by Qatar.
Clayton issued the subpoenas, which The New York Times said were delivered Friday, in some cases to the homes of the reporters in question. Those reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury on Wednesday to testify "in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law."
Clayton said he was not able to get into the specifics of the investigation.
"Let me say that I am confident that the procedures that we have in place to protect the First Amendment and protect the freedom of the press, and not result in intimidation of journalists," Clayton said.

[129] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:33 UTC] Wall Street banks point to resilient US consumer as loan growth picks up
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wall-street-banks-point-resilient-us-consumer-loan-growth-picks-up-2026-07-15/
Wall Street's largest banks struck a reassuring tone on U.S. consumer health, citing steady spending, rising loan balances and healthy credit quality that suggest households remain resilient despite growing economic uncertainty.

The U.S. consumer is on a sturdy footing even as borrowing costs remain ​elevated, supported by a still-strong labor market and wage growth, although lower-income households are grappling with mounting cost pressures.

As ‌such, consumer loan balances have continued to grow modestly, with credit-card portfolios emerging as a key driver, while credit quality remains broadly stable.

"The U.S. economy has proved more durable than expected," Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said on a call with analysts on Tuesday, adding that spending had recently expanded and continued to "outperform" expectations.

The ​confidence comes at a time of increasing caution over the impact of the U.S.-Iran war, which has driven up oil prices ​and clouded the outlook for interest rates due to fears of surging inflation.

A prolonged conflict threatens to weigh ⁠on household budgets by driving up the prices of essential goods and squeezing discretionary spending.

The Consumer Price Index increased by a still-high 3.5% in ​the 12 months through June after surging 4.2% in May, which was the largest year-on-year rise since April 2023, data from the Labor ​Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

RESULTS MIXED

While consumer loan growth across JPMorgan, Bank of America (BAC.N) and Wells Fargo (WFC.N) was broadly mixed, credit card balances rose at all three lenders.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. lender, reported a 7.3% rise in overall period-end credit card loans in the quarter to $249.9 billion, while consumer balances excluding credit cards ​fell 1% from a year ago.

Bank of America, which reported a 3.2% increase in overall consumer loans, posted a 4.4% jump in credit ​card balances. Home equity and residential mortgage balances were also up slightly.

"People don't buy a home and take on that type of debt unless they are ‌feeling more ⁠secure in their income prospects," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

Wells Fargo's total consumer loan balances were up 5.4%, underpinned by a 32% rise in auto loans. Credit card balances jumped close to 5.6%, while residential mortgages posted a modest fall.

"Tying this into the health of the economy and the U.S. consumer, clearly they are both strong by the numbers," said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at ​Zacks Investment Management, which owns shares ​of some U.S. big banks.

CREDIT ⁠CARD BALANCES ROBUST

Rising credit card balances are typically a boon for large banks because they generate outsized interest income and fee revenue, making cards one of the industry's most profitable lending businesses. They can, however, ​also be an early sign of pressure on household budgets.

JPMorgan (JPM.N) CFO Jeremy Barnum outlined in the company's ​earnings call on Tuesday ⁠that spending had remained robust across income segments, while delinquencies came in lower than expectations.

Despite some consumers' reliance on credit to manage higher living costs, banks have said employment levels and household balance sheets have generally remained healthy.

U.S. job growth slowed sharply in June, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 57,000 ⁠jobs, well ​below expectations for a 110,000 rise. Employment gains, however, averaged 111,000 per month in ​the second quarter, far more than the 34,000 during the same period last year.

"On the consumer side, it really is good. The delinquency trends are better than we modeled ​most months... overall, you're seeing really good performance," Wells Fargo CFO Michael Santomassimo told analysts.

[130] [Business Insider | 2026-07-15 16:36 UTC] Michael Burry shares the earnings reports he's watching to see if IBM's disastrous quarter is an industrywide problem
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-burry-ibm-stock-down-ai-software-stocks-msft-wipro-2026-7
IBM stock plunged on Tuesday in its worst single day of trading ever. The question is, now: is this an IBM issue or a software-sector problem?
For investors trying to figure it out, Michael Burry says there are a few key earnings reports in the pipeline they should be watching.
"The Big Short" investor wrote on Wednesday that the dramatic plunge in IBM stock might amount to an overreaction on Wall Street, but upcoming earnings reports will reveal the answer.
"Today's problem looks less problematic if management's explanation is corroborated by other companies throughout earnings season," he wrote on his Substack.
The problem in this case is IBM's failure to adapt quickly and navigate the AI-driven market, as CEO Arvind Krishna discussed in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday.
While news of the company's warning and the lackluster quarter was enough to send IBM stock into a nosedive, Burry said investors should be looking to some of IBM's peers that are scheduled to report in the coming weeks to know if panic is warranted.
"SAP is one to watch," he wrote. "ServiceNow is on July 29th, and Microsoft around then too. Wipro is on July 17th, Infosys on July 23r, Cognizant and Capgemini report in late July/early August. We will see if these companies also saw that revenue diversion at the end of the quarter."
Burry noted that while he sees Accenture as the best comparison for IBM, the consulting giant doesn't report earnings until September. While he compared IBM to Palantir in a different section of the note, he didn't name as one to watch, though he reiterated his bearish stance on the AI stock.
Enterprise software and IT consulting services aren't the only sections of the tech sector that Burry is keeping tabs on this earnings season, though. He also highlighted cybersecurity as a sector that could provide further insight for investors.
"Checkpoint on July 29th, Fortinet in early August, Palo Alto Networks in mid August, CrowdStrike and Zscaler in late August - All of these should report extra bump in revenues as well if IBM's excuse on cybersecurity concerns being a distraction is accurate," Burry said.
He raised the possibility, though, that despite IBM's grim outlook, customers may not be abandoning it all together, rather temporarily shifting their spending, which other tech earnings report may confirm in the coming weeks.
"Validation of IBM's reasons might suggest a mania in AI buildout parts is not a good reason to give up on IBM," Burry added.

[131] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:38 UTC] Trump’s Aides See China Cheating on Trade, But Shun Retaliation
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/trump-s-aides-see-china-cheating-on-trade-but-shun-retaliation
Trump’s Aides See China Cheating on Trade, But Shun Retaliation

[132] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:40 UTC] Novo Nordisk wins EU approval for Wegovy weight-loss pill
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/novo-nordisk-wins-eu-approval-wegovy-weight-loss-pill-2026-07-15/
Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) said on Wednesday the European Commission approved its once-daily Wegovy pill for weight management in adults with obesity or who ​are overweight, making it the first oral GLP-1 weight-loss ‌treatment cleared for use across the European Union.

Here are some details:

The approval comes after a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency in May , ​giving the Danish drugmaker a head start in the ​race to dominate the emerging weight-loss pill market alongside ⁠Eli Lilly's (LLY.N) Foundayo, which has yet to clear the EU ​regulatory pathway.

The approval covers oral semaglutide 25 mg for adults ​with a body mass index of at least 30, or at least 27 with one weight-related health condition, alongside diet and exercise.

Novo said the ​approval was based on clinical trial data showing people taking ​the Wegovy pill lost about 17% of their body weight on average, ‌compared ⁠with about 3% for those on placebo.

The company said side effects were in line with the known safety profile of injectable semaglutide. Treatment discontinuations linked to side effects were 6.9% for ​the pill and ​5.9% for ⁠placebo, it said.

"This approval brings another important treatment option to people living with obesity," Novo ​Nordisk Chief Executive Mike Doustdar said in a ​statement, adding ⁠that a tablet may be simpler and more acceptable for some patients than injections.

The Wegovy pill is currently available in the ⁠United ​States, Britain and the UAE, and ​the company plans to launch it in more countries in the second half ​of 2026.

[133] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:43 UTC] Amazon Leo to bring satellite internet to South Africa in 2027
URL: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/amazon-leo-bring-satellite-internet-south-africa-2027-2026-07-15/
Amazon's (AMZN.O) low-earth orbit satellite internet venture Amazon Leo has signed an agreement with South Africa's Herotel to launch a ​new broadband service aimed at connecting underserved rural communities, it ‌said on Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Herotel, South Africa's largest fixed internet service provider, will use Amazon Leo's satellite technology to offer a new service called evry, which ​is expected to launch commercially in 2027 for residential customers.

The ​deal comes as satellite internet providers race to expand in ⁠Africa. SpaceX's Starlink is also seeking to enter the South African market, ​but is awaiting proposed changes to licensing rules that could allow foreign satellite ​operators to meet local ownership and empowerment requirements through alternatives to equity stakes.

Amazon Leo and Herotel said their partnership would help address a longstanding connectivity gap in South ​Africa, where millions of people living on farms, in small towns ​and rural communities remain beyond the reach of reliable internet services because conventional fibre ‌and ⁠wireless networks are often uneconomical to deploy.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"This collaboration is about breaking down barriers and unlocking opportunity for millions of people who don't yet have reliable access for work, education, ​or the services ​they depend on," ⁠David Zapolsky, Amazon's chief global affairs and legal officer, said in a statement.

Herotel, owned by Maziv, serves more ​than 350,000 customers across over 550 towns through fibre ​and ⁠fixed wireless networks and operates 120 offices nationwide. The company said that footprint would allow it to provide installation, customer service and field operations for ⁠the ​satellite service from launch.

Earlier this year, Amazon Leo signed ​an agreement with Vodafone (VOD.L) to link Vodafone's network to base stations in hard-to-reach locations in Africa, through ​its South Africa subsidiary Vodacom (VODJ.J) .

[134] [Business Insider | 2026-07-15 16:47 UTC] Warren Buffett says he made the call for Berkshire to plow billions into Alphabet, but regrets not getting in earlier
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-alphabet-investment-goog-ai-tech-stocks-2026-7
Warren Buffett says he made a mistake when it comes to Alphabet.
The Oracle of Omaha said he made the call for Berkshire Hathaway to invest billions into Alphabet. The conglomerate owns about $31 billion worth of stock. Buffett's one regret? That Berkshire didn't invest in the Google parent sooner, he said, speaking to CNBC in an interview this week.
"I initiated," Buffett said, adding that he didn't make any decisions that Greg Abel, his successor at Berkshire, didn't approve of, and vice versa.
Shares of Alphabet jumped nearly 4% on Wednesday, putting the tech titan up 17% for the year.
Alphabet was Berkshire's largest stock purchase last quarter, with the company now making up 6% of its total portfolio. The Google parent is also Berkshire's sixth-largest holding, falling shy of Occidental, Chevron, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, American Express, and Apple, which is Berkshire's largest investment.
Apart from its stakes in Apple and Alphabet, Berkshire has rarely invested in tech, with Buffett previously stating that he avoided the sector due to its unpredictability. In the past, he's characterized Apple as a consumer company.
The latest investment in Alphabet also reflects Buffett's lasting influence over Berkshire despite officially stepping down as CEO last year.
Buffett pointed to how questions surrounding AI capex are now hanging over Google and other tech giants in the artificial intelligence race. Investors have been concerned about the billions being spent on AI as many companies have yet to monetize or see considerable cost savings from the technology.
Alphabet, though, seems more likely than the others to come out on top, Buffett said.
"I made a mistake," Buffett said of not investing in Alphabet sooner. "I think they're more likely to be a winner based on their record than probably 90% or 95% of what gets merchandised through Wall Street," he added.
"They don't have any choice," he added of companies' AI capex spending plans. "They are now playing a game in many cases — or in some cases — where they're playing a game they don't want to play."
He added that he didn't like Alphabet as much as four to five other businesses Berkshire owned, but didn't specify which ones.

[135] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 16:49 UTC] Trump's DNI pick Jay Clayton won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/trump-dni-jay-clayton-senate-2020-election.html
Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, claimed not to know his predecessor Tulsi Gabbard took part in a raid of a Georgia election office earlier this year and defended subpoenaing New York Times journalists in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Clayton, the former SEC chair and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence more than a month after Trump announced his nomination and weeks after the president then abruptly sabotaged a planned confirmation hearing in June.
While it appeared a month ago that Clayton would have a relatively smooth path to confirmation, Democrats challenged Clayton's election comments and time as U.S. attorney. He is still likely to be confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who spoke with MS NOW Tuesday ahead of a Thursday night speech Trump is scheduled to deliver on foreign attempts to subvert the 2020 election, grilled Clayton on whether he was aware of Gabbard's presence earlier this year at a raid of a Fulton County, Georgia election office.
Clayton said he only learned of Gabbard's involvement, which was widely reported, from Ossoff during a private meeting earlier this week.
"Is it appropriate for the director of national intelligence to oversee the execution of domestic search warrants at sensitive election facilities? Yes or no?" Ossoff asked. Clayton did not answer.
"Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility," Ossoff said.
On multiple occasions during the roughly two-hour hearing, Clayton declined to answer who won the 2020 election, instead saying: "I am not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified."
Ossoff, at one point, called Clayton's responses "disqualifying."
The committee is expected to vote on Clayton's nomination next week. If advanced by the committee, the full Senate will weigh in.
The process of Clayton's nomination as DNI, a role that would grant him access to the country's most sensitive secrets and authority over 18 intelligence agencies, has been marred by controversy, thanks to Trump's actions and the interim appointment of Bill Pulte, a close Trump ally and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Bipartisan lawmakers have questioned whether Pulte — who from his perch atop the FHFA launched mortgage-related inquiries into Trump opponents — was fit for the job.
"I can't think of any other instance in history of this committee where a president sends a nominee up, and then in a bipartisan way, we say we really want to move heaven and Earth to get this nominee moving quickly because of the importance of the position, and then the president decided that the Senate was moving too fast on his own nominee, and holds that nominee" Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., said Wednesday at Clayton's hearing.
The DNI job opened up in May when then-director Gabbard announced plans to step away. Pulte took the helm later that month and has carried out Trump's orders to fire dozens of high-ranking intelligence officials.
The morning of Clayton's original hearing, Trump took to TruthSocial and directed him not to appear, saying he was pausing the nomination. Trump said he balked in part because he wanted Congress to attach a controversial election bill — that would impose photo identification rules and proof of citizenship to register — to the renewal of an unrelated foreign surveillance law.
Subsequent to Trump's appointment of Pulte, negotiations over that foreign surveillance law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, fell apart. The program lapsed in June, as Democrats protested Pulte's appointment to the position.
In the wake of Pulte's interim appointment, support for Clayton seemed widespread. But he was grilled on Wednesday by Democrats on the Senate panel.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, questioned Clayton about a statement he made on CNBC about California elections, in which he seemed to entertain the possibility of voter fraud.
"We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America," Clayton said during June appearance on "Squawk Box." "On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it."
King requested clarification.
"That meant that the audit trail we have available for our elections in a number of places is not the kind of audit trail that you would expect in something that is this important," Clayton said.
Asked by King whether voter fraud was a problem in American election, Clayton said: "I don't think we can say definitively whether there is, or is not, until we have better processes."
Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., both pressed Clayton on subpoenas served to New York Times reporters last week on the heels of reporting on security concerns related to a new Air Force One that was gifted to Trump by Qatar.
Clayton issued the subpoenas, which The New York Times said were delivered Friday, in some cases to the homes of the reporters in question. Those reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury on Wednesday to testify "in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law."
Clayton said he was not able to get into the specifics of the investigation.
"Let me say that I am confident that the procedures that we have in place to protect the First Amendment and protect the freedom of the press, and not result in intimidation of journalists," Clayton said.

[136] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 16:49 UTC] Morgan Stanley Landed Its Multibillion-Dollar Whale
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/morgan-stanley-earnings-bank-landed-its-multibillion-dollar-whale
Morgan Stanley Landed Its Multibillion-Dollar Whale

[137] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 16:52 UTC] US says Americans returning from Congo must wait 21 days, citing Ebola
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-says-americans-returning-congo-must-wait-21-days-citing-ebola-2026-07-15/
The United States said on Wednesday that American citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo must spend 21 days in a third country ​before entering the United States, citing concerns about the Ebola outbreak in ‌the region.

The restrictions, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a website update dated July 14, also apply to some travelers from Uganda and South Sudan. ​Other travelers from those countries will continue to undergo airport screening, as ​they have in recent months.

The CDC said exceptions may be ⁠granted on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian or law-enforcement reasons.

Reuters first reported the ​new policy on Tuesday, saying the Trump administration was blocking Americans in Congo from ​boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights.

Dr. Daniel Jernigan, a former senior CDC official who led the agency's response during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, said on Tuesday that using a "do-not-board" ​policy to prevent U.S. citizens from returning home when they have little ​risk of Ebola infection is unprecedented.

"This change in policy risks shifting medical and public-health responsibility ‌to third ⁠countries, it may encourage travelers to conceal itineraries or exposures, and it will make recruitment of American outbreak responders more difficult."

The CDC and other federal agencies had already issued an order this spring that prevented non-citizens, including those ​with extended legal status, ​from entering the ⁠U.S. directly from those three countries and required the same 21-day stay in another country.

Americans had been allowed to ​enter at select airports, where they were screened by officials ​on travel ⁠history, temperature and symptoms.

The outbreak in Congo has resulted in more than 1,900 confirmed Ebola cases and over 700 deaths, according to official data, with all cases ⁠linked ​to the Bundibugyo strain .

No cases linked to the outbreak ​have been confirmed in the United States, and the risk to the American public and travelers remains ​low, according to the CDC.

[138] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 16:58 UTC] PayPal investors can afford not to check out too hastily
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/2a69ffcf-3417-4f25-853a-c19ccdfcc23f
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[139] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 17:00 UTC] Whatnot acquires Shaped to power real-time live shopping recommendations
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/whatnot-acquires-shaped-to-power-real-time-live-shopping-recommendations/
Livestream shopping app Whatnot announced Wednesday that it has acquired Shaped, a machine learning company that specializes in real-time recommendation and search systems. The deal is meant to strengthen Whatnot’s discovery and personalization capabilities as the platform continues to expand across new product categories and millions of buyers.
According to the company, the acquisition helps Whatnot continue its investment in AI as it looks to solve one of live commerce’s biggest challenges: helping shoppers find the right products while inventory, auctions, and buyer demand change in real time.
Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms, where product catalogs remain relatively stable, Whatnot’s marketplace is constantly evolving, and live auctions can end within minutes or last for hours.
“By combining Shaped’s technology with Whatnot’s existing systems, we can make recommendations faster, more responsive, and more personalized,” Emmanuel Fuentes, VP, Data and AI at Whatnot, told TechCrunch. “That speed matters because live commerce is a uniquely hard recommendation problem. Inventory changes by the second, shows start and end continuously, and buyer intent shifts throughout a show.”
Fuentes said the company has spent the last six years improving the speed of its recommendation engine, reducing recommendation latency from roughly a day to just minutes. Integrating Shaped’s technology is expected to push those recommendations even closer to real time. The company says its systems process more than 500,000 hours of live video and millions of real-time interactions every week, using that data to continuously improve recommendations.
Founded to help businesses build AI-powered recommendation systems, Shaped developed technology that combines existing customer data with large language models and machine learning to deliver highly personalized search and discovery experiences. Its customer roster included companies such as Outdoorsy and QVC.
As part of the acquisition, Shaped founder and CEO Tullie Murrell, along with nearly a dozen engineers and AI researchers, will join Whatnot. Murrell will lead the company’s newly formed Applied AI Research group. (Notably, Murrell worked at Meta before launching Shaped.)
The acquisition comes as Whatnot experiences significant growth. Launched in 2019, the company recently revealed that sellers have surpassed one billion orders. Earlier this year, Whatnot raised $225 million in Series F funding, giving the company a valuation of more than $11 billion after adding 20 million buyers over the past year.
Whatnot has also significantly broadened its marketplace, launching more than 35 new categories last year—including art, golf, and vinyl—and more than 45 additional categories during the first half of 2025, with new subcategories continuing to roll out each month.
Additionally, the move comes as resale giants race to integrate AI throughout their platforms, such as eBay and Poshmark.

[140] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:00 UTC] China Tops US in Global Favorability for First Time, Pew Finds
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/china-tops-us-in-global-favorability-for-first-time-pew-finds
China Tops US in Global Favorability for First Time, Pew Finds

[141] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:00 UTC] Containers Surge Into Top US Ports Amid Tariff, Iran Uncertainty
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/containers-surge-into-top-us-ports-amid-tariff-iran-uncertainty
Containers Surge Into Top US Ports Amid Tariff, Iran Uncertainty

[142] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:00 UTC] Fed's Cook says she is prepared to act soon if inflation does not begin to slow
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-cook-says-she-is-prepared-act-soon-if-inflation-does-not-begin-slow-2026-07-15/
U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Wednesday she is "prepared to act" if inflation does not soon begin to ​slow, though she is willing to wait "a bit more time" ‌for that to happen.

"I see it as prudent to give a bit more time to observe how inflation unfolds from here. Going forward, though, I believe the risks ​continue to be strongly weighted toward higher inflation," because of the ​investment boom around artificial intelligence and price pressures from tariffs ⁠and the U.S. war with Iran, Cook said in remarks prepared ​for delivery to the Exchequer Club of Washington, D.C.

"If we do not see ​signs of disinflation soon, I am prepared to act," Cook said. "I am fully committed to reaching our inflation target, and this commitment is unwavering."

Cook compared the current situation, with ​inflation well above the Fed's 2% target and the job market ​seemingly stable, with the outlook a year ago when there were risks around the job ‌market ⁠and inflation slowing.

"I see a notable shift in the balance of risks relative to a year or so ago, with inflation risks now outweighing employment risks," she said.

Fed officials have been debating the prospect of a rate ​hike that investors ​anticipate could come ⁠as soon as this fall, with Fed Governor Christopher Waller also this week saying the U.S. central bank may ​need to act unless there is consistent evidence of slower ​inflation ⁠in coming months.

The outlook for rates became cloudier this week after the U.S. government released two generally benign inflation reports .

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has avoided commenting on his ⁠interest ​rate views, even as the outlook among his ​colleagues has been shifting toward the need for tighter monetary policy.

The Fed will hold its ​next policy meeting on July 28-29.

[143] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 17:00 UTC] Hack suggests AI music generator Suno scraped YouTube for training data
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/hack-suggests-ai-music-generator-suno-scraped-youtube-for-training-data/
The AI music generator Suno was hacked, according to a report from 404 Media.
The hacker told the publication that they used a supply chain attack to access an employee’s credentials, allowing them to then access source code showing how Suno allegedly scraped decades of audio from YouTube Music, Deezer, Genius, stock music libraries, and podcast RSS feeds.
Suno previously admitted that it trains its AI on “publicly available music files” on the open internet, arguing that it can train on copyrighted material under the fair use doctrine, a subjective carve out of copyright law. But according to the major record labels actively suing Suno, it is illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to deliberately circumvent YouTube’s protections against data scraping; it also violates YouTube’s terms of service.
Udio, a competitor to Suno, has also been accused of scraping YouTube data. Google, the parent company of YouTube, faces similar allegations of copyright infringement from a variety of major book publishers.
The hacker reportedly accessed customer data including customer emails, phone numbers, and partial credit card numbers in Stripe.
Suno did not notify customers about the November 2025 breach and claims that this was a “limited security incident that was quickly contained.”

[144] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:01 UTC] Macron’s Successor Faces €126 Billion Challenge Over French Debt
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/macron-s-successor-faces-126-billion-challenge-over-french-debt
Macron’s Successor Faces €126 Billion Challenge Over French Debt

[145] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:01 UTC] Citigroup estimates revised after bank flags higher expenses, stock tanks
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/citigroup-estimates-revised-after-bank-flags-higher-expenses-stock-tanks-2026-07-15/
Analysts revised estimates for Citigroup on Wednesday after the bank's management surprised ‌investors and forecast higher expenses in the second half of the year.

Despite beating analysts' estimates in the second quarter with a 45% rise in net income, Citigroup shares tanked 5.3% on Tuesday.

"The culprit was a combination of high expectations and muddled messaging ​on the second half outlook during the earnings call," Bank of America analyst Ebrahim Poonawala said in ​a report to clients on Wednesday. Before the earnings call, Citi shares were up ⁠2%.

The bank reported a return on tangible common equity of 13.1% in the first half of the year, ​but decided to stick with guidance of 10% to 11% return for the year. "This inspired half a dozen ​questions on the order of, 'You're saying the second half of 2026 will be dreadful?'" wrote Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski in his Wednesday report, "The Problem with Giving Guidance."

CEO Jane Fraser and CFO Gonzalo Luchetti told analysts during the earnings call that the bank ​decided to pull forward some of the $5 billion in additional investments the bank projected as needed to increase ​market share during the investor day. The bank also expects to spend more than the $800 million initially predicted to lay off ‌employees.

Responding ⁠to a question, Fraser said the investments would be for the "offense" and not catching up.

"This is not restructuring, but offensive moves to better gain share and compete in a more competitive environment, such as in credit cards," said Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, who still expects the bank to exceed its 11% profitability target in 2026.

Kotowski ​said the outlook for higher ​expenses prevented raising estimates ⁠by more than he did.

Poonawala said the strategy is a "tactical blip" that does not change his target price or buy rating. But he raised the estimates for ​the efficiency ratio at the bank to 60.3% from a previous estimate of 59.6%. ​BofA also ⁠changed its earnings-per-share estimate for 2026, raising it to $11.09 from $10.79 before the second quarter.

Jefferies' David Chiaverini lowered earnings-per-share estimates for 2026 and 2027 to $10.65 to $12.60 from $10.95 to $12.75. But the analyst also maintained its buy rating.

KBW's Chris McGratty was among ⁠the ​most optimistic, saying the expense pull forward was used as an ​excuse to take gains with the stock. KBW raised by 1% its EPS estimate for the full year from $11 to $11.15, less than would ​be possible considering the second-quarter beat.

Citigroup declined to comment on the reports.

[146] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:01 UTC] Fed’s Cook Says Prepared to Act If Inflation Doesn’t Cool
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/fed-s-cook-says-she-s-prepared-to-act-if-inflation-doesn-t-cool
Fed’s Cook Says Prepared to Act If Inflation Doesn’t Cool

[147] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:01 UTC] Trump Calls NY Moratorium on AI Data Centers ‘Terrible Decision’
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/trump-calls-ny-moratorium-on-ai-data-centers-terrible-decision
Trump Calls NY Moratorium on AI Data Centers ‘Terrible Decision’

[148] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:03 UTC] Saudi Gulf Oil Loads Slump as Iran Hits Tankers in Hormuz
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/saudi-s-gulf-oil-loads-slump-as-iran-hits-supertankers-in-hormuz
Saudi Gulf Oil Loads Slump as Iran Hits Tankers in Hormuz

[149] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 17:03 UTC] New SK Hynix ADRs are trading at a BIG premium
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/d86edec3-395a-43d6-bd88-d58b46d952c7
New SK Hynix ADRs are trading at a BIG premium
SK Hynix’s $26.5bn American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing in the US last week was a big deal for the South Korean chipmaker, its bankers and investors. And there’s a lot going on in memory stocks right now.
As a result, SK Hynix’s ADR listing is doing well. Extremely well. From Bloomberg (Alphaville’s emphasis in bold):
The ADRs gained 27% on Tuesday, more than recovering from a 9.3% drop a day earlier when a record selloff in South Korea bled into the US session. That pushed their premium over the Seoul-traded common shares to 51%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, far above the 3% gap they priced at last week in the $26.5 billion offering.
This is pretty wild. Economists tend to expect different listings of the same asset to converge at one price (the law of one price, or “LOOP”).
Imagine two 7-Elevens in the same neighbourhood; if they sold Big Gulps at different prices then people would naturally buy from the cheaper restaurant. The more expensive one would be forced to lower its prices if the cheaper 7-Eleven doesn’t raise theirs. In financial markets there are trading firms and hedge funds that do almost nothing but take advantage of subtly different prices for similar securities — an arbitrage that helps keep markets functioning.
However, in practice, weird market distortions — from capital controls to regulatory differences — mean that divergences happen, and they can sometimes be pretty big. And in the case of SK Hynix we’re talking huge:
SK Hynix’s Korean shares have actually fallen a little since it listed ADRs in New York. But those ADRs have rallied hard. As a result, according to our calcs, the company’s Korean shares give it a $967bn value, while the ADRs imply that it is worth $1.38tn — a $415bn difference of opinion.
SK Hynix’s ADRs, which convert to Korea-listed common shares at 10-to-1, could be trading at a premium for a few reasons. On July 29 it should be possible to swap ADRs for the equivalent in Korean common stock. But until then there’s no way to actually settle the arbitrage. And according to the Bloomberg article, it’s nigh on impossible to borrow ADR stock right now if you wanted to get ahead of July 29 and short it.
Whether or not you think memory is a hype cycle or the next big thing, it appears that much of the market reckons that buying the ADR is the order of the day.
There is also the question of convertibility. Whereas the ADRs embed a contractual ability to buy Korea-listed common shares, Korean regulators would need to grant Korean equity holders permission to go in the opposite direction. We know there is a huge amount of (American) demand for (Korean) memory that would overload (Korean) capital markets right now. If investors know that, they might price a higher liquidity premium in the ADR.
It’s important to realise how large this premium is, versus the average, at least. Most ADRs trade with a small (less than 5 per cent) premium above the foreign-listed equity due to some mixture of convenience and fees. A 51 per cent premium is huge, and speaks to the enormous US flows into memory at this exceptional moment.
This is not the first time we’ve seen listings of popular assets priced at wildly different levels in the ROK. For years Bitcoin traded at a significant premium on South Korean exchanges. In fact, arbing the “kimchi premium” was the thing that first made Sam Bankman-Fried rich. SK Hynix’s situation is a kind of “reverse kimchi premium” for Korean memory stocks.
Such oddities are arguably bound to spring up given how far from liberalised South Korea’s capital markets are. This is in part by design — industrial policies in Asia broadly use capital controls and financial repression in a highly concentrated conglomerate-heavy economy.
The premium might close by the end of the month when Korean shares list, but frankly anything could happen. And while these price differentials persist, won volatility has the potential to make things even more interesting.
Further reading:
— When the ducks are quacking, feed them (FTAV)
— How concentrated is the market behind Micron mania? (FTAV)

[150] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:09 UTC] CIA Says AI Drones Give Russian Troops Only 30 Minutes to Live
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/cia-says-ai-drones-give-russian-troops-only-30-minutes-to-live
CIA Says AI Drones Give Russian Troops Only 30 Minutes to Live

[151] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:11 UTC] Germany’s Wealth Fund to Hike Private Markets Exposure to 30%
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/germany-s-wealth-fund-to-hike-private-markets-exposure-to-30
Germany’s Wealth Fund to Hike Private Markets Exposure to 30%

[152] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:12 UTC] Lead Prices Slump as Trafigura Lifts LME Stockpiles to a Record
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/lead-prices-slump-as-trafigura-lifts-lme-stockpiles-to-a-record
Lead Prices Slump as Trafigura Lifts LME Stockpiles to a Record

[153] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 17:13 UTC] SpaceX sell-off wipes $1tn from Musk’s rocket group
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/94959f40-1874-4ece-b629-b18f43aa3ede
SpaceX shares slide below IPO price
SpaceX on Wednesday slipped below its listing price of $135 per share, extending a slide that has erased $800bn from the value of Elon Musk’s conglomerate since a peak shortly after its record public offering.
Shares in SpaceX hit an intraday peak of $225 in mid-June, pushing the market capitalisation of Musk’s lossmaking company above Amazon’s in the days after it raised $86bn at a valuation above $2tn in the world’s biggest-ever IPO.
But the shares have since slipped 40 per cent, slashing the value of Musk’s 42 per cent stake to about $760bn from $1.2tn over the same period. SpaceX bonds issued in late June have also sold off sharply.
“This is a little bit of a tricky time for the stock,” said an investment banker at one of the banks that worked on the SpaceX IPO.
“But we didn’t leave too much money on the table and the people who are buying the stock are actually really smart investors, so I feel very good about who owns it,” the person added.
The more than 20 Wall Street banks that worked on the SpaceX deal shared a fee pool of half a billion dollars, by far the largest IPO windfall of all time. Several of the biggest US lenders this week reported record quarterly profits thanks in part to a speculative trading boom concentrated around AI-linked stocks.
The subsequent slump in SpaceX’s stock price has come as shares in richly valued tech stocks have struggled over the past month amid worries about higher US interest rates and the profitability of Big Tech’s huge AI investments.
SpaceX three weeks ago raised about $25bn in debt. It has since been among the worst performers in the high-grade bond market.

[154] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:14 UTC] Iran’s Tanker Attacks Squeeze the Hormuz Oil-Shuttling Trade
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/iran-s-tanker-attacks-squeeze-the-hormuz-oil-shuttling-trade
Iran’s Tanker Attacks Squeeze the Hormuz Oil-Shuttling Trade

[155] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 17:16 UTC] Fed Chairman Warsh says he meets 'often' with Trump administration, defends independence
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/feds-warsh-says-he-meets-often-with-trump-administration.html
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Wednesday declined to say if he has spoken to President Donald Trump since becoming chair, but confirmed he is in regular communication with the Trump administration.
That doesn't affect his independence, Warsh said.
Warsh is in a delicate position seven weeks into his term as Fed chair. Investors are trying to suss out where the Fed will take interest rates, as Warsh pulls back on how the Fed talks about its plans. He was appointed by a president who said lower interest rates were a litmus test for his choice of chair and has continued to call for cuts since Warsh was confirmed. Any suggestion that Warsh didn't come by his views honestly could threaten his ability to bring a divided Federal Open Market Committee to consensus on interest rates.
The White House declined to comment on any conversations between the president and the Fed chairman, saying it doesn't discuss any of the president's private conversations that might or might not have occurred.
Spokespersons for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Fed declined to comment.
Warsh, in the hearing, repeatedly defended his independence and the credibility that flows from it during two days of appearances before Congress, starting with the House on Tuesday and moving to the Senate Wednesday.
"The independence of the Federal Reserve is sacrosanct," Warsh said Tuesday. "Part of the reason for the Fed's power comes not just from a printing press, though it can be useful from time to time. It comes from our credibility, credibility to make the best choices we can consistent with the law that you've written for us."
As Warsh noted in his testimony both days, inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target for the past 63 months. Inflation fell in June, according to consumer and producer price index data released this week, but Warsh was careful not to take a victory lap.
"Any central bank would be happy to have the data going in the right direction. My view is these are all imperfect measures of the state of underlying inflation," he said.
That view of inflation is up for debate within the Fed. Warsh has created a task force to review how the Fed thinks about inflation. But it isn't a given that the Fed will accept the task force's — and Warsh's — views on the matter.
The FOMC appears divided on the course of interest rates. Governor Christopher Waller and New York Federal Reserve President John Williams have said in recent days it may be necessary to raise interest rates this year.
But if Warsh still needs allies on the Fed, he has one in the Trump administration. The White House has said the president defers to Warsh's views about how to manage the Fed, even though Trump still generally wants interest rates down.
The Fed chair and the Treasury secretary meet for a weekly breakfast by longstanding tradition.
Warsh has kept up that tradition with Bessent, and gone beyond it, he said Wednesday.
"I do meet with the Treasury Secretary weekly. I talk to him often between that." He added he will make his own decisions about interest rates.
Warsh and Bessent share a mentor in investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who employed Warsh for more than a decade until he became Fed chairman. Bessent worked for Druckenmiller earlier in his career as a hedge fund manager. Warsh and Bessent didn't overlap in working for Druckenmiller, but the two knew each other well before taking their current jobs.
Warsh said before becoming Fed chairman that he wanted to negotiate a new Treasury-Fed Accord, referring to the 1951 agreement that established the Fed's modern independence. Warsh said he wanted to hand some powers over the Fed's balance sheet to the Treasury secretary. He hasn't elaborated on those views since becoming Fed chair and has created a task force that will review the Fed's balance sheet policy.
Top Trump economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he also had recently spoken to Warsh. Hassett said he had praised Warsh's new task forces when the two spoke.
Warsh declined to say under direct questioning from the Senate Banking Committee whether he had spoken to the president since becoming chairman. But he indicated it shouldn't be seen as a problem if he had spoken to the president.
"I certainly don't feel uncomfortable receiving a call from the chairman of this committee or the president of the United States," Warsh said.
Public calendars released by the Fed show Powell met with or called Bessent only a handful of times outside of their regular breakfast meetings. There was only one such meeting in 2026, when Powell and Bessent discussed risks of artificial intelligence with bank CEOs in April.

[156] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 17:17 UTC] Historic IBM stock crash sets up unique options strategy
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/historic-ibm-stock-crash-sets-up-unique-options-strategy.html
On July 14, 1789, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, signaling a violent end to the absolute authority of the ancien régime. Today, on that very same date, (albeit 237 years later) the stock market staged its own financial revolution against the ancien régime of technology: International Business Machines.
IBM shares fell just over $73 to ~$217 — a jaw-dropping 25% single-day decapitation. It is the steepest single-session drop in my lifetime, matching a scale of destruction not seen since January 3, 1968, before I was born.
The catalyst for this sudden coup was a preliminary Q2 sales miss. IBM reported revenue of $17.2 billion, falling short of Wall Street's $17.9 billion expectations, driven by a 7% slide in its infrastructure division. According to CEO Arvind Krishna, enterprise customers shifted their spending away from IBM's traditional products, hoarding cash to buy hardware, servers, and storage to hedge against AI-fueled supply shortages and impending price hikes. While this may be Krishna's own convenient narrative rather than an independently verified trend, the market didn't wait for a trial. The verdict was absolute, and the execution was swift.
But where there is panic, there is premium. In the option pits, the crowd has gathered but hasn't dispersed. Typically, when bad news drops, implied volatility undergoes a rapid "vol crush." Instead, IBM's one-month implied volatility is trading at its 99.6%ile — dwarfing the premium expansion seen during the 2019 Taper Tantrum, the 2022 rate-hike bear market and the various tariff tantrums, exceeded only by the "Pandemic Plunge" in 2020.
With the market pricing in absolute chaos, it is time to adopt an "off with their heads" stance on high premiums. Since the stock has already endured a massive 25% structural re-rating, the majority of the downward momentum is likely exhausted. By selling the monthly August 21, 2026, 190/245 short strangle, we can collect a massive premium from terrified buyers, betting that the stock will quietly consolidate within its new post-revolutionary boundaries.
Premium Captured: ~$11.25 per strangle (as of the July 14, 2026, close). This represents a 5.18% standstill yield relative to the underlying stock price in just 38 days.
- Downside Breakeven: $178.75 (approx. 17.6% below current price)
- Upside Breakeven: $256.25 (approx. 18.1% above current price)
This trade relies on a wide, symmetrical margin of safety. To breach the lower barrier of $178.75 — a level not visited since early 2024 — IBM would need to drop an additional 18% from its already-shattered state. If forced to take assignment, you are establishing a long position at a steep historical discount. On the upside, reclaiming $256.25 would require IBM to recoup more than half of today's historic sell-off before August expiration, an unlikely feat given the sudden enterprise freeze on software and consulting budgets.
As the dust settles on this Bastille Day blowout, the market has left the gates wide open for option sellers. The news is out, but panic has kept options premiums elevated. For those willing to capture the fear, the short strangle offers a high-probability path to watch the remaining premium slowly bleed away.

[157] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 17:18 UTC] SpaceX’s stock breaks below its IPO price for the first time
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/spacexs-stock-breaks-below-its-ipo-price-for-the-first-time-8826dc9a?mod=mw_rss_topstories
SpaceX has lost more than $800 billion in market value from its closing high seen a month ago.

[158] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:19 UTC] Trump Officials Move Toward Renewing Shipping Waiver for Fuel
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/trump-officials-move-toward-renewing-shipping-waiver-for-fuel
Trump Officials Move Toward Renewing Shipping Waiver for Fuel

[159] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 17:22 UTC] Anthropic moves closer to mega-IPO as bankers line up investor meetings
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/anthropic-ipo-banks-investor-meetings.html
Anthropic is lining up meetings with investors ahead of a potential initial public offering later this year, a person with knowledge of the plans told CNBC.
Bankers leading the offering are scheduling meetings between prospective investors and executives of the artificial intelligence firm behind the popular Claude models, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the process.
The meetings suggest Anthropic's IPO preparations are advancing, as bankers begin sounding out investor demand before a formal roadshow and eventual share sale. Anthropic confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, but hasn't disclosed when it plans to debut.
The giant AI startup could hit the public markets as soon as October, though the timing could change, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the investor meetings. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment.
An Anthropic listing would build on momentum from June's massive SpaceX IPO and further open the public markets to companies at the center of the AI boom. It follows years in which the industry's biggest names remained private while raising hundreds of billions of dollars from investors.
Anthropic appears poised to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets, which could be an advantage for the startup if AI enthusiasm later wanes. OpenAI also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC in June, but it has not disclosed any additional details.
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of executives and researchers who defected from OpenAI over concerns about the company's direction. Anthropic has found early success selling to enterprises, in large part due to its popular coding assistant, Claude Code.
The company closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May, pushing it above OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, the three biggest Wall Street banks by revenue, are involved in the IPO planning.
The AI spending boom has fueled a resurgence in profit for Wall Street firms as they seek to satisfy investors clamoring for ways to fund the buildout and invest in or hedge aspects of the theme.
— CNBC's Kate Rooney contributed to this report.
WATCH: Anthropic says Trump administration has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5

[160] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:23 UTC] FCC Near Rulings Against Disney Over ‘The View,’ TV Licenses
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/fcc-nearing-rulings-against-disney-over-the-view-tv-licenses
FCC Near Rulings Against Disney Over ‘The View,’ TV Licenses

[161] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 17:24 UTC] A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal: 'I couldn't stay at Google in good conscience'
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-researcher-resign-military-contract-pentagon-2026-7
A Google DeepMind researcher said he resigned over the company's work with the Defense Department, adding to the internal backlash over the tech giant's military partnership.
Alex Turner, a research scientist who worked for more than two years on AI safety at Google DeepMind, stepped down from his position in June, he told Business Insider. Turner said he made the decision after Google signed an agreement to let the Pentagon use its AI for classified operations.
The Pentagon confirmed in early May that it had signed the deal with Google and a group of other companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI, for "lawful operational use."
"When Google signed the deal, my conscience simply said 'nope,'" he told Business Insider.
In May, after the Pentagon announced its agreement with Google and other labs, a Google spokesperson said: "We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that AI should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight."
Google's Pentagon agreement has caused some backlash among its workforce. In April, around 600 of Google's nearly 195,000 employees signed a petition asking the company not to enter into any deal involving classified work. A classified agreement limits how much oversight Google has over how its AI is used.
One DeepMind researcher said on X that he was "ashamed" of Google's Pentagon agreement, while another employee published a resignation letter internally in May, also citing Google's closer relationship with the US military.
Turner said he started thinking about leaving Google in February, when he first thought Google would sign the Pentagon deal.
"I think I would have stayed a few more months if they hadn't signed the deal. When Google signed, I just couldn't do any more work. My brain said 'no,'" he wrote in a blog post published on Wednesday. He told Business Insider that he doesn't have another job lined up yet.
Turner said that earlier this year, he proposed a framework for military AI that he hoped Google might adopt, including provisions to ensure human control over AI targeting systems.
A Google spokesperson told Business Insider that the company had been receptive to hearing Turner's ideas.
Google's changing AI pledges
In early 2025, Google updated its AI principles to remove pledges that it would not pursue the use of AI for weapons or mass surveillance. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis co-authored a blog post at the time announcing the changes. The decision caused backlash from some employees at the time.
In an internal message to colleagues sent before he left, Turner said there was a disconnect between Hassabis' comments in an employee town hall that his principles hadn't changed and the decision to remove the pledges.
"If I can't trust this easily verifiable claim, how am I supposed to rest easy on the careful oversight he says protects us?" Turner wrote in the message, which was viewed by Business Insider.
Turner said he got the attention of executives at Google earlier this year.
He said he had lunch with Google's chief scientist, Jeff Dean, to discuss his concerns. He also helped organize an employee letter to Dean, who had publicly shown support for Anthropic during its spat with the White House over military use of AI. The letter called on Google to draw red lines in any agreements with the Pentagon, such as prohibiting Gemini from piloting autonomous weapons without human oversight.
Turner said he sent the proposal for his military AI framework to Hassabis earlier this year, and he told him to have it evaluated by two senior people working in policy at Google. After some discussions about next steps, Turner said he stopped receiving responses. Shortly after, the Department of Defense confirmed it had signed a deal.
"At that point, I couldn't stay at Google in good conscience, so I left," Turner wrote in his blog post.
Turner said he's working on independent AI safety and security work while he works out his next move.
"When an employee leaves a top AI lab, it's often into the arms of another," he wrote. "They usually rack up a huge bonus that way. That's not what I did: I didn't flirt with competitor labs."
"I'm unemployed right now," he added.

[162] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 17:27 UTC] Warsh won’t say if he’s spoken with Trump since taking the Fed’s helm
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/warsh-wont-say-if-hes-spoken-with-trump-since-taking-the-feds-helm-45dd7d26?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Senate Democrats are uneasy about White House influence at central bank.

[163] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:27 UTC] Burnham Upsets Labour Left Who Wanted Him to Become UK Premier
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/burnham-upsets-labour-left-who-wanted-him-to-become-uk-premier
Burnham Upsets Labour Left Who Wanted Him to Become UK Premier

[164] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:29 UTC] Palantir’s CTO Sees Chinese AI Models Posing Economic Risk to US
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/palantir-s-cto-sees-chinese-ai-models-posing-economic-risk-to-us
Palantir’s CTO Sees Chinese AI Models Posing Economic Risk to US

[165] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:33 UTC] French lawmakers adopt landmark assisted dying bill
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/french-lawmakers-adopt-landmark-assisted-dying-bill-2026-07-15/
French lawmakers adopted on Wednesday a bill that will create ​a legal right to assisted dying ‌for adults with incurable illnesses, capping an intense ethical and political ​debate.

The legislation will, under ​strict conditions, allow a person ⁠who requests it to receive ​a lethal substance. The substance ​could be self-administered or, if the person is physically unable to do ​so, administered by a doctor ​or nurse.

Access to assisted dying will be ‌restricted ⁠to adults who are French citizens or legal residents in France, and who suffer ​from a ​serious ⁠and incurable illness that is life-threatening and in ​an advanced or terminal ​phase, ⁠experience constant physical or psychological suffering linked to that condition, ⁠and ​are able to ​express a free and informed choice.

[166] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 17:33 UTC] Public Service Loan Forgiveness has new rules — 3 changes borrowers should know about
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/public-service-loan-forgiveness-pslf-changes.html
While federal courts have blocked the Trump administration's efforts to curb eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, other recent changes still impact borrowers' ability to benefit from the program.
For example, a new repayment plan doesn't qualify for PSLF, and many parent borrowers may now be locked out of the program entirely. These shifts are due to President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which overhauled the country's federal student loan system, and are effective as of July 1.
PSLF, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007, allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after 120 payments, or 10 years. More than 9 million borrowers may be eligible, according to a 2022 estimate from Protect Borrowers, a nonprofit.
Here are three recent updates to PSLF.
1. New repayment plan won't qualify
To qualify for PSLF, student loan borrowers need to be enrolled in certain repayment plans.
Any time spent in one of the new plans established by the OBBBA — the Tiered Standard Plan— will not count toward your 120 required PSLF payments, said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for federal student loan servicers. The Tiered Standard plan comes with fixed payments, spread over different timelines based on your total debt amount.
For new borrowers, or those who took out loans after July 1, your only repayment option to qualify for PSLF is the new Repayment Assistance Plan. RAP is the U.S. Department of Education's latest income-driven repayment plan, or IDR, meaning it sets borrowers' monthly bills at a share of their income. Under RAP, monthly payments typically range from 1% to 10% of your earnings; the more you make, the bigger your required payment.
"For anyone borrowing a new loan on or after July 1, 2026, this is especially important, because the Tiered Standard Plan is the default," said Rich Williams, a former deputy assistant secretary at the Education Department. "New borrowers who don't actively pick a plan get placed there automatically, quietly earning zero PSLF credit."
It's a 10-year path to forgiveness regardless of which plan you are enrolled in.Nancy Niermanassistant director at EDCAP
Existing student loan holders pursuing PSLF will have more repayment plans to choose from, including the Income-Based Repayment plan, or IBR, said Nancy Nierman, assistant director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, a nonprofit that helps borrowers navigate repayment. As a result, they should compare their monthly bills under the available IDR plans and pick the cheapest option, she said.
If you hope to get your debt scrubbed from PSLF, you should generally ignore the forgiveness term on the IDR plan, Nierman added. For example, RAP concludes in debt cancellation only after 30 years.
But for PSLF borrowers, she said, "it's a 10-year path to forgiveness regardless of which plan you are enrolled in."
2. Parent PLUS borrowers may be locked out
Many parents who borrow student loans for their children's higher education no longer qualify for PSLF, due to the OBBBA's changes. That's because the law shut out Parent PLUS borrowers from IDR access.
"Parent PLUS loans no longer have a path into income-driven repayment or PSLF," said Williams.
Parent borrowers who took out loans after July 1 now qualify only for the Tiered Standard Repayment plan, which doesn't count toward PSLF.
Meanwhile, existing Parent PLUS loan holders recently had a short window to consolidate their debt and potentially maintain a way to enroll in an IDR plan. Consolidating Parent PLUS loans leaves borrowers with a Direct federal loan — the kind most students carry.
But if you did not do so, you have lost access to IDR plans and therefore the benefit of PSLF, experts say.
3. Your employer shouldn't disqualify you
Student loan borrowers may no longer need to fret over whether their employer will remain eligible for PSLF. That's because two federal judges in June struck down the Trump administration's rule that would have changed the definition of a "qualifying employer" under PSLF to exclude organizations that "engage in unlawful activities."
Opponents of the policy said the vague language would have allowed the Trump administration to shut out nonprofits that it didn't like.
"The administration could appeal the decision, but they have not said anything since the rule was struck down," Nierman said. "And if they did appeal, there's no guarantee they would win."
The Education Department recently wrote on its website that it was working to update the PSLF form to comply with the court order, but that "language regarding an employer's certification that it has not engaged in illegal activities will have no effect."
The best way to find out if your job qualifies for PSLF is to fill out the so-called employer certification form. It's best to fill out this form at least once a year and keep records of your confirmed qualifying payments, experts say.

[167] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 17:34 UTC] SpaceX’s stock breaks below its IPO price for the first time. Why it could still fall further.
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/spacexs-stock-breaks-below-its-ipo-price-for-the-first-time-8826dc9a?mod=mw_rss_topstories
SpaceX has lost more than $800 billion in market value from its closing high seen a month ago.

[168] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:36 UTC] Airbus Set to Win A330 Jet Deals from Flynas, Condor
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/airbus-set-to-win-a330-jet-deals-from-flynas-condor
Airbus Set to Win A330 Jet Deals from Flynas, Condor

[169] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:38 UTC] Outgoing Trump watchdog faces Democrat fire over handling of consumer agency
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/outgoing-trump-watchdog-faces-democrat-fire-over-handling-consumer-agency-2026-07-15/
Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's outgoing interim consumer finance watchdog, on Wednesday sparred with congressional Democrats over his administration's handling of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , telling lawmakers efforts ​to sharply shrink the agency in fact helped eliminate economic burdens.

Vought's testimony in a sometimes ‌raucous hearing before the House Financial Services Committee came two weeks before he is due to step down after serving for a year and a half in an acting capacity during which he has sought to fire most agency staff, rescind ​regulations in bulk and halt much of the agency's regular activity .

Vought faced supportive questions from the committee's ​Republicans, who said Vought had appropriately changed policy directions for an agency they ⁠accused of politicized enforcement and burdening free enterprise.

Trump last month nominated current Capital One (COF.N) executive Brian Johnson, a ​former top CFPB official, to replace Vought as CFPB director.

"Sir, I am glad you are leaving," New York ​Democrat Gregory Meeks told Vought, alleging that he had flouted the laws establishing the agency. The committee's top Democrat, Maxine Waters, told Vought that he should prepare for further scrutiny from lawmakers.

"Let me be clear, we are not done with ​you," she said. Should Democrats regain the majority in November's midterm elections, they would have the power ​to formally investigate Vought's actions at the agency.

Congress created the CFPB following the 2008 financial crash to prevent predatory ‌lending and ⁠police financial products that underpinned the global financial crisis.

Vought, who is also the White House budget director, cited research published this year by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which asserted that the CFPB's regulatory actions actually imposed costs on consumers of hundreds of billions of dollars, by raising costs and ​reducing access to credit. Consumer ​advocates and experts have ⁠strongly disputed the report's methods and conclusions, however.

In testimony, Vought described the agency as invasive and outside the oversight of Congress.

"When you have a financial regulatory ​entity that views themselves as a prosecutor, an advocate, and they have ​the tools of ⁠the civil investigative demand...you have great opportunities for mischief," he said.

Representative Andy Barr, the top Republican on the subcommittee for financial institutions, compared CFPB regulatory enforcement activity to "Gestapo tactics," referring to Nazi secret police, that he ⁠claimed had ​bankrupted law-abiding companies.

In a statement following the hearing, a Barr ​spokesperson did not directly address the Gestapo comparison, saying the CFPB had "crushed consumers — the very people it was supposedly created to protect — ​by waging war" on industries that provide consumer credit.

[170] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 17:38 UTC] Bullish charts and fundamentals are lining up for JPMorgan Chase, says Frank Cappelleri
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/bullish-charts-and-fundamentals-are-lining-up-for-jpmorgan-chase-says-frank-cappelleri.html
As a technician and CMT charter holder, I focus on price action first. But when the fundamentals reinforce the technicals, they always gets my attention. (After all, I also persevered through the CFA process many years ago.) JPM appears to have both working in its favor right now, something that became even clearer following yesterday's strong earnings report. Let's start with the daily chart: JPM had a wild session Tuesday following the release of its latest quarterly numbers. The stock initially fell more than 2%, then reversed sharply to rally nearly 6% intraday, ultimately finishing with a 2.5% gain. The result was an extremely large bullish engulfing candlestick, along with a new intraday high and all-time closing high. In fact, the candle engulfed nearly three weeks of the prior price action. Coming immediately after earnings, that reversal carries added significance, as investors now have a much clearer view of the state of the company. While the daily chart does not yet show a classical chart pattern, the technical backdrop is clearly bullish. With earnings now behind it, known company-specific risk has diminished, allowing price action to take center stage. As the second-largest holding in XLF (slightly) behind Berkshire Hathaway , JPM performance will continue to have an important influence on the Financial sector. Even though JPM made a new all-time high Tuesday, it is not extended by its own historical standards. We can see that by viewing the stock within this upward-sloping channel on the weekly log-scale chart. Since bottoming in October 2022, JPMorgan has remained in a well-defined uptrend, though certainly not in a straight line. The stock has experienced several sharp swings in both directions, with pullbacks consistently finding support near the lower boundary of the channel before resuming higher. Likewise, rallies have often paused after reaching or briefly exceeding the upper boundary. The stock now sits near the middle of that channel, suggesting it is not stretched. In fact, after spending much of the last few months in the lower half of the range, there is room for the stock to work its way back toward the upper half, where it spent much of 2025. The bottom line is straightforward: as long as JPMorgan remains within this channel, the long-term uptrend remains intact. Here's the monthly log-scale chart going back to 2013. As we know, JPM has advanced at a remarkably consistent pace for more than a decade, meaning that buying virtually anywhere during that period has been rewarded. What catches our attention are the breakouts from multi-month and multi-year trading ranges. As is clear, those breakouts have repeatedly led to months — and in some cases years — of additional upside. With yesterday's move to new all-time highs, JPM may be entering another one of those longer-term advancing phases. Altogether, we have a strong earnings report, a sizable positive reversal, new all-time highs, a stock trading near the middle of a well-defined upward sloping channel, and the potential breakout from a multi-year base. None of that guarantees future gains, of course, but the more technical factors that align — especially across multiple timeframes — the stronger the overall case becomes. —Frank Cappelleri Founder: https://cappthesis.com DISCLOSURES: None All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.

[171] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:42 UTC] Amazon AWS executive and CEO advisor Dave Brown to leave after 19 years
URL: https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-aws-executive-ceo-advisor-dave-brown-leave-after-19-years-2026-07-15/
Amazon (AMZN.O) veteran Dave Brown, a ​senior vice president in ‌Amazon Web Services and member of the elite internal group advising ​CEO Andy Jassy, is ​leaving the company after 19 ⁠years.

He is leaving for another ​job, according to a memo ​from AWS CEO Matt Garman, who did not provide specifics. He was ​most recently leading compute ​and machine learning services.

Brown will be replaced ‌by ⁠Dave Treadwell, the senior vice president of ecommerce foundation, according to the memo, starting ​on August ​1. ⁠Like Brown, Treadwell is a member of the ​so-called S-team, or senior ​leadership ⁠team, which directly advises Jassy. Working within the group is ⁠regarded ​as a badge ​of honor at the company.

[172] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 17:47 UTC] Small-cap outperformance is persisting — and these 15 quality stocks pay rich dividends
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-cap-outperformance-is-persisting-and-these-15-quality-stocks-pay-rich-dividends-5a814386?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Think large caps are still the best bet? The data say you are looking in the wrong place.

[173] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 17:47 UTC] Thames Water warns over future as Burnham eyes state control
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/7f5ad72a-f007-4764-bbc4-58ce57154f3a
Thames Water warns over future as Burnham eyes state control
The water industry is braced for Andy Burnham to set out plans to take control of Thames Water as the utility warned of “material uncertainty” over its long-term future.
Burnham, who is set to become prime minister on Monday, said last month that he was interested in greater public ownership of utility companies, adding: “I would say for Thames Water, that is what should be done.”
Water executives believe the incoming prime minister could end years of uncertainty around Thames Water by quickly pushing it into a special administration regime, a form of temporary nationalisation.
That looked more likely on Wednesday after Thames Water said it could survive for another 12 months but warned of “material uncertainty” over its long-term future.
Britain’s largest water company has been on the brink of collapse for several years, weighed down by huge debts. It is currently in the effective control of its creditors, who are trying to get permission for a takeover from Ofwat, the sector regulator.
Burnham is expected to make an announcement on “the water industry” within weeks, according to people close to the situation. His team refused to clarify on Wednesday whether or not this was about Thames Water.
“I think having promised that [public control], he will come under huge pressure within the Labour Party and trade unions to push the company into SAR, which would be the first step towards nationalisation,” said one senior water industry figure.
“It would look odd after his rhetoric if he didn’t go ahead with it.”
The powerful GMB trade union is among those pushing for Burnham to move fast and take control of the utility, which serves 16mn customers.
Gary Carter, GMB’s national officer, said: “It’s clear the free market is no place for a natural monopoly like water and this disastrous experiment has failed,” he said.
More than 80 per cent of the public support state ownership of the utilities, according to a YouGov poll earlier this year.
There is also some support from other political parties. Charlie Maynard, Liberal Democrat MP, urged the new prime minister to put Thames into SAR as a “perfect way for Burnham to demonstrate that he will [. . . ] stand up for customers and take genuine steps to fix the water sector.”
Thames Water said in its annual report on Wednesday that it was “reasonable to assume” it would have “adequate resources” to continue its operations for the next 12 months.
But the group’s directors cautioned that there was “material uncertainty” over the company’s ability to secure enough liquidity to see it through to a successful recapitalisation.
It has just £588mn of liquidity left as of June, enough to last through the last quarter of 2026. The company’s gross debt has grown to more than £19bn.
If Burnham does pursue a SAR, the government would have to apply to a high court on one of two grounds.
It could either argue that the company is financially insolvent or it could insist there has been a “serious breach” of its environmental and services licence requirements.
The company is not insolvent, even though it is reliant on the financial package provided by creditors, lawyers said.
And although the utility has breached its licence multiple times, Ofwat has created a special regime to deal with that.
Other water companies have performed equally poorly as Thames Water on environmental grounds, too. Several companies, including South East Water, also have high debt levels and have breached licence conditions.
“It would be a big legal risk for Burnham to take Thames Water on now when there is still a creditor deal on the table,” said one lawyer close to the discussions.
“To minimise the legal and political risk, the government should wait until it has run out of money and the company asks to be taken into SAR.”
If Thames Water tipped into SAR, it would be in the hands of an independent insolvency practitioner who would ensure services keep running and staff continue to be paid. The debt and interest payments would be frozen, freeing up cash for infrastructure improvements.
The company could then be bought out of administration by fresh private-sector bidders, as happened with energy group Bulb when it entered a SAR.
Any additional costs borne by the Treasury would be first in line to be recouped on the sale.
Senior creditors, which own the bulk of the debt pile, have been locked in negotiations with Ofwat for more than a year over their proposed rescue of Thames Water.
If a deal with creditors — which include Silver Point Capital and Elliott Management — is not reached by the beginning of October, Thames Water will need a further £2.4bn to get through the end of 2027.
Ofwat must submit any deal with creditors to a three-month public consultation, and it will also have to be signed off by the High Court.
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds last month said the plan submitted by the group of senior lenders was not “good enough” and that “we stand by for any outcome” including state control.
The utility said on Wednesday: “We continue to work with all parties to reach an agreement that supports Thames Water’s long-term financial stability and ensures the uninterrupted delivery of our biggest infrastructure upgrade in 150 years while continuing to meet the needs of our 16mn customers.”
Burnham’s team and Ofwat declined to comment.

[174] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 17:47 UTC] Uber nears €12.5bn deal to acquire Delivery Hero
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/c15115ea-7386-4f44-9643-f95f58187514
Uber nears €12.5bn deal to acquire Delivery Hero
Delivery Hero is set to be taken over by Uber in a deal that values the company at about €12.5bn in an acquisition that will further consolidate the global food delivery market.
The German food delivery group is expected to announce the deal as early as Thursday with Uber paying roughly €41 per share, said multiple people familiar with the matter.
The transaction will split Delivery Hero, with the group selling its Turkish arm Yemeksepeti alongside multiple European businesses to an investment firm in an attempt to reduce geographic overlap with Uber that might prompt regulatory scrutiny over competition issues, the people added.
People close to the deal cautioned the terms and timing are not finalised and could change. Uber and Delivery Hero were approached for comment.
The deal would mark the latest consolidation of the food delivery market and give Uber further scale to challenge its rivals. Last year, DoorDash took over UK-based Deliveroo for £2.9bn and Prosus acquired Just Eat Takeaway for €4.1bn.
The deal would help Uber expand aggressively in the Middle East through the acquisition of Talabat and Saudi Arabia’s HungerStation. It will also pick up Delivery Hero’s Korean arm Baemin, having previously explored a bid for the unit.
Uber has been locked in talks with Delivery Hero since May when chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi first approached the company’s board with an offer of €33 per share, valuing the company at roughly €10bn, as the FT first reported.
The move came as Delivery Hero’s founder and chief executive Niklas Östberg said he would leave by March 2027 following years of shareholder pressure. Activist investor Aspex Management had long called on the company to streamline operations, speed up asset sales and replace Östberg.
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing group has since built up a sizeable stake in Delivery Hero. In April, it acquired €270mn worth of shares from Prosus, which had been reducing its holding to comply with EU antitrust requirements linked to its takeover of Just Eat. The following month Uber picked up shares from Hong Kong-based Aspex.
Ahead of this week’s deal Uber controlled 24.99 per cent of Delivery Hero’s voting rights, strengthening its position to block any rival bids while staying just below the legal threshold for a foreign investment review by the German government as well as merger controls.
In preparation for the deal, Uber paused the launch of delivery services in five new European markets which also had Delivery Hero operations including Austria, Norway and Greece, months after they were announced.
Uber and Delivery Hero overlap in four EU delivery markets: Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
One industry figure said the pause may help smooth any EU antitrust review of a takeover, which is expected to face scrutiny because of the large overlap between the two companies’ markets.

[175] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 17:48 UTC] Permanent daylight-saving time would be a win for tourism, but other sectors have big concerns
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/permanent-daylight-saving-time-would-be-a-win-for-tourism-but-other-sectors-have-big-concerns-dd3076f8?mod=mw_rss_topstories
One lawmaker points to benefits such as more time to do “outdoor leisure activities.”

[176] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:48 UTC] Musk's xAI sues Grok user over sexualized 'deepfakes'
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/musks-xai-sues-grok-user-over-sexualized-deepfakes-2026-07-15/
Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence startup xAI has sued a South Carolina man arrested earlier this year on charges of sexually exploiting ​minors, alleging he misused the company's AI system Grok to ‌create child sexual abuse material.

xAI alleged in the lawsuit , filed in federal court in Texas on Tuesday, that Terry Harwood violated the company's terms of service. The case ​is one of the first brought by an AI company ​against one of its users for allegedly using an AI ⁠system to generate explicit material.

Contact information for Harwood, who was arrested in February, ​was not immediately available. Spokespeople for xAI did not immediately respond to ​a request for comment on Wednesday.

The company's lawsuit against Harwood follows intense global scrutiny of xAI over allegations that Grok has allowed users to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes, or realistic-looking ​videos fabricated by AI.

xAI's complaint said that the company "enforces its rules ​against violators through account suspensions, account terminations, and by reporting suspected child sexual abuse ‌material ⁠to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children."

"Indeed, Plaintiff has suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports to NCMEC in 2026, resulting in (at least) 244 arrests," the lawsuit said.

xAI alleged that Harwood uploaded non-sexual images of ​adults and minors ​to Grok and ⁠tried to use the system to generate sexually explicit deepfakes based on them. The complaint also alleged he ​created non-consensual sexual imagery of adults.

The company asked the ​court ⁠for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order permanently blocking Harwood from using Grok.

"Defendant’s actions were a calculated scheme to weaponize Plaintiff’s ⁠tool ​for criminal ends, exposing real victims to profound ​and lasting harm, while exposing Plaintiff to significant legal risk and reputational damage," xAI said ​in the lawsuit.

[177] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:53 UTC] Trump spy nominee Clayton will not directly say Biden won 2020 election
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-spy-nominee-clayton-will-not-directly-say-biden-won-2020-election-2026-07-15/
President Donald Trump's nominee to be the top U.S. spy, Jay Clayton, refused on Wednesday to directly acknowledge that the Republican president lost the 2020 election despite ​repeated questioning by Democrats in his Senate confirmation hearing.

Trump "isn't in the room today," Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona told Clayton. "If you can't disagree with him when he's ‌not in the room, are you going to be able to disagree with him when you're sitting across from him?"

Propelled by Trump's claims that U.S. elections are "rigged" and his refusal to accept his 2020 electoral loss to Democrat Joe Biden, the administration has sought to increase federal oversight of U.S. elections. Legal experts say such an effort would take power away from states in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Clayton said only that Biden had been "certified" as president, while ​saying, "I am not an election denier."

Trump will deliver a national address on Thursday night about newly declassified intelligence on U.S. elections and what the White House calls voting machine vulnerabilities.

Clayton's ​Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to serve as director of national intelligence led to shouting when he repeatedly refused to acknowledge that Biden ⁠had been elected in 2020.

Pressed by Kelly on whether the winner was the person certified as the victor by Congress and who had the most electoral votes, Clayton said: "I think that's your characterization. I'm ​really, I'm not going to continue."

Lawmakers also questioned Clayton about his recent subpoenas of New York Times journalists in his current role as the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan.

Wednesday's hearing was the second for Clayton ​scheduled by the intelligence panel, after Trump last month ordered the abrupt postponement of his first one to put pressure on Congress to pass a contested package of election restrictions known as the SAVE America Act.

That measure remains stalled because it lacks enough votes to pass the Senate. Voting rights groups say it would disenfranchise millions of Americans with no ready access to passports and birth certificates.

Democrats had seemed amenable to confirming Clayton, hoping to quickly replace the ​acting DNI, Bill Pulte, a close Trump ally and Federal Housing Finance Agency director, who lacks national security and intelligence experience. Pulte replaced Tulsi Gabbard , who left the job in June.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, ​the committee’s Republican chairman, said he intended to hold a vote early next week on Clayton's nomination and send it for consideration by the full Senate.

POLITICIZING INTELLIGENCE?

Lawmakers questioned Clayton about subpoenas he issued on Friday ordering New York ‌Times journalists ⁠to testify before a federal grand jury after reporting on security concerns involving Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One.

The newspaper described the move as "an extraordinary escalation" in Trump's efforts to intimidate journalists, a view echoed by some senators. The Justice Department said it was not aimed at journalists but at officials leaking sensitive information.

Clayton said the subpoenas were "in connection with an ongoing national security investigation," and that they were issued as part of a "consultative process" with career prosecutors in his office.

"I'm absolutely committed to and respect our First Amendment and the role of the press," Clayton said, adding that he did not want to ​discuss the case in detail.

Senator Mark Warner of ​Virginia, the committee’s senior Democrat, called on ⁠Clayton to refrain from what Warner charged were "repeated attempts" to politicize intelligence by Gabbard and Pulte.

The director of national intelligence, overseer of the 18-agency U.S. intelligence community, acts as the president's top intelligence adviser, and is expected to be nonpartisan and to present and defend intelligence analyses that may not support ​the views of the Oval Office.

Warner said one of his greatest concerns was how Pulte might misuse extremely sensitive intelligence about U.S. elections that ​he is expected to declassify ⁠for Trump's address on Thursday.

"I just don’t understand how Mr. Pulte … can end up figuring out what is appropriate or not appropriate (to declassify) since he’s been in the job for only three weeks," Warner said.

Clayton said he was not involved in preparations for Trump's speech.

Clayton lacks extensive traditional intelligence agency experience, but said he has worked on security matters while chairing the Securities and Exchange Commission and as Manhattan U.S. Attorney, a ⁠position in which ​he has been handling the prosecution of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Since assuming his acting position last month, Pulte has ​announced repeated rounds of staff reductions, as some Republicans urge the elimination of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Clayton pushed back, saying there was a need for a "focal point for coordination across the other 17 intelligence agencies." But he added ​that ODNI should "probably pull back" from involvement in operations and from functions performed by other agencies.

[178] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 17:53 UTC] SpaceX IPO Lifts Wall Street ECM Revenue to Best Since 2021
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/record-ipos-spur-best-wall-street-share-sale-revenue-since-2021
SpaceX IPO Lifts Wall Street ECM Revenue to Best Since 2021

[179] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 17:58 UTC] Russia seeks more gasoline from India after Ukraine attacks refineries, sources say
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-seeks-more-gasoline-india-after-ukraine-attacks-refineries-sources-say-2026-07-15/
Top Russian energy companies have approached Indian refiners for ​more gasoline after Ukrainian strikes knocked out a significant portion of Russia's refining capacity, two sources familiar with the ‌matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

India is the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude oil, making Moscow's bid to secure Indian gasoline an unusual reversal in the countries' energy trade relationship, highlighting the extent of the disruption caused by the Ukrainian attacks. Moscow is witnessing its worst gasoline crisis .

At least one cargo of Indian ​gasoline has already sailed to Russia and more are expected, with nearly 40% of Russia's refining capacity unlikely to return ​for at least two months if there are no further attacks, one of the sources with knowledge ⁠of the matter said.

Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , Gazprom Neft and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) are among the companies that have contacted Indian counterparts, including private and state-run refiners, ​the source said, adding that any supplies would be routed through traders if deals are agreed.

Sources at three Indian state refiners said ​Russian companies had approached them for more gasoline but that they have no surplus volumes to export. They and the other two sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Major Indian state refiners including Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS) , the three Russian oil companies, ​and Russia's energy ministry did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this month that ​Indian companies were not selling fuel to Russia but it was possible that Russia purchased Indian-origin fuel from traders.

SHIP-TO-SHIP TRANSFERS

One of the sources familiar with ‌the ⁠matter said any further supplies from India could reach Russia through ship-to-ship transfers. Russia would seek supplies of diesel if Ukrainian attacks knocked out further refining capacity, though there were enough supplies of the fuel for now, the source added.

Reuters reported early this month that traders have sold gasoline produced by Indian refiner Nayara Energy , partly owned by Rosneft, to Russia.

Tanker Agni loaded with 42,000 metric tons of gasoline ​from Nayara's Vadinar port between June ​18 and 20 and did ⁠a ship-to-ship transfer of the cargo onto the vessel Garnet at Damietta Light near Egypt, between July 6 and 7, Kpler said in a note citing satellite imagery. Garnet is expected to reach ​Vitino in Russia around July 26, the ship tracking agency said.

Shipping sources said another tanker, Varg, loaded ​with gasoline from ⁠Nayara's Vadinar port, was bound for Suez, where the cargo is expected to be transferred to another vessel off Egypt for onward shipment to Russia.

Nayara told Reuters it "has neither sold nor has any plans to sell fuel to Russian companies".

"Nayara Energy remains committed to serving the Indian ⁠market and ​meeting the demand for fuels across the length and breadth of India," it ​said in response to questions from Reuters.

"As the country’s largest private sector fuel retailer, our only priority is to ensure optimum supplies to over 7,000 stations and other ​channels including bulk customers."

[180] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:00 UTC] Murati’s Thinking Machines Releases First AI Model for Broad Use
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/murati-s-thinking-machines-releases-first-ai-model-for-broad-use
Murati’s Thinking Machines Releases First AI Model for Broad Use

[181] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:00 UTC] Guess Who’s Coming to Crash the Memory-Chip Party?
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/china-s-cxmt-is-coming-to-crash-the-memory-chip-party
Guess Who’s Coming to Crash the Memory-Chip Party?

[182] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:01 UTC] Nigeria anti-graft agency wins forfeiture of 48 properties tied to ex-attorney-general
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/nigeria-anti-graft-agency-wins-forfeiture-48-properties-tied-ex-attorney-general-2026-07-15/
A Nigerian court has ordered the final forfeiture ​of 48 properties linked to former attorney-general ‌and justice minister Abubakar Malami to the government after finding they were suspected proceeds of ​crime, court documents show.

Judge Joyce Abdulmalik ​of the Federal High Court in the ⁠capital Abuja said the Economic and ​Financial Crimes Commission had shown that the assets ​were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through illicit means and not from lawful income.

Malami, Nigeria's ​chief law officer from 2015 to 2023, ​is facing 16 counts of money laundering and conspiracy involving ‌billions ⁠of naira (hundreds of millions of dollars), brought by the EFCC. He has previously pleaded not guilty.

An interim order on July ​1 gave interested ​parties ⁠14 days to show why the properties should not be finally ​forfeited to the government. That deadline ​expired ⁠on Tuesday.

Assets listed include a luxury Abuja duplex, a university campus, an agro-allied factory ⁠and ​other properties in the ​north of the country.

[183] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 18:02 UTC] What the launch of SK Hynix leveraged ETFs tells us about the hottest trade on Wall Street
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-launch-of-sk-hynix-leveraged-etfs-tells-us-about-the-hottest-trade-on-wall-street-2110c484?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Investors are still enthusiastic about the memory boom, and are looking for new ways to cash in.

[184] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:02 UTC] AI startup Thinking Machines launches an open-weight AI model
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/ai-startup-thinking-machines-launches-an-open-weight-ai-model-2026-07-15/
AI startup Thinking Machines revealed on Wednesday a new artificial intelligence model that could serve as one ​of the few alternatives to popular open-source offerings from Chinese ‌AI labs.

Named Inkling, the model is open-weight, meaning users can download, run and customize the underlying systems, unlike proprietary, closed-source models.

It is the first general-purpose model ​release to come out of Thinking Machines, a San Francisco-based ​startup founded last year by OpenAI’s former chief technology ⁠officer Mira Murati.

Thinking Machines launched its first product called Tinker, which ​helps customize AI models, last October. Inkling is available on Tinker and ​other developer platforms, it said.

The model has 975 billion parameters — variables that determine how an AI system processes information — making it one of the largest models ​of its kind.

The open-source ecosystem in the West lags behind its ​counterpart in China, especially in the wake of a void left by Meta (META.O) , which ‌changed ⁠course to a proprietary approach after the disappointing release of its open Llama 4 model last year.

Businesses have in turn flocked to adopt Chinese models as the primary alternatives to expensive closed-source models. Hedge fund Bridgewater ​Associates used Tinker ​to build a ⁠custom version of Qwen, a model developed by China’s Alibaba (9988.HK) , which it said outperformed top proprietary models ​at lower costs.

Thinking Machines published a series of benchmarks ​that compared ⁠Inkling’s capabilities with closed models from Anthropic, Google (GOOGL.O) , and OpenAI, as well as leading open offerings, most of them from Chinese labs.

While those ⁠other models ​maintain the edge on performance overall, ​Inkling put in a competitive showing, particularly on agent-related tasks, that could spur interest from ​prospective users.

[185] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 18:04 UTC] Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/thinking-machines-amps-up-its-bet-against-one-size-fits-all-ai-with-its-first-open-model-inkling/
Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, released its first proprietary AI model Wednesday morning, called Inkling — and unlike the flagship models from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, it’s open-weight, meaning outside developers and companies can download it and modify it directly.
Inkling is a mixture-of-experts system with 975 billion total parameters, though it only draws on a fraction of that — about 41 billion — for any given task, a common design that keeps very large models faster and cheaper to run. It was trained on 45 trillion tokens of text, image, audio, and video, and reasons natively across all three, according to the company’s own release materials.
It’s the company’s first public proof point after a year and a half spent building AI infrastructure largely out of public view. Some of that work surfaced already, in a May research preview of “interaction models” — AI designed to listen and speak (and even interrupt) instead of stop and wait as with typical chatbots. It’s also a test of the central bet behind Thinking Machines, which is that AI that organizations can adapt for themselves will outperform the one-size-fits-all models the biggest labs currently sell.
It’s an interesting model, one that’s designed to give calibrated answers, including flagging uncertainty rather than guessing, and which lets users dial “thinking effort” up or down when they want to trade for speed. On one benchmark, the company says, Inkling uses a third as many tokens as Nvidia’s Nemotron 3 Ultra in order to hit the same coding performance. It’s worth noting that Thinking Machines doesn’t claim Inkling is best-in-class. Its briefing materials state explicitly that Inkling is “not the strongest model available today, closed or open.” What it’s evidently going for instead is well-rounded performance.
Of course, that raises a big question, which is who this product is targeting, beyond the obvious — this is definitely an enterprise product. Thinking Machines is, for now, marketing it less as a finished work than as a starting point, something for organizations to fine-tune themselves through Tinker, the company’s model-customization platform. (OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have all taken a very different approach with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, respectively, which were all built to compete as general-purpose chatbots first, with agentic, autonomous features layered on top.)
A post published by Thinking Machines last week was clearly meant as the backdrop for this release. AI that’s trained centrally by one company and then set in stone, the company argued in that post, underperforms AI that organizations shape themselves because so much expertise is specific to the people who hold it. The broader idea is that centralized labs are selling everyone the same product, repeatedly refined by the lab that built it, while enterprises willing to own and customize their own models can wring far more value from them.
It’s an argument that’s gaining steam. In a blog post published Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — whose company has invested billions in both OpenAI and Anthropic — warned that enterprises using proprietary AI models effectively pay twice: once in subscription costs, and again by handing over business knowledge embedded in their thousands of prompts and corrections, which can be absorbed into future model versions.
Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue made a similar prediction in conversation with TechCrunch last week. Frontier models, he said, will increasingly be reserved for experimentation and high-value tasks, while most production AI work shifts to private or open-source alternatives — the exact split Thinking Machines is building around.
The clearest evidence for that argument came recently from a project with Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund (which is not, for what it’s worth, a Thinking Machines investor). Researchers from both companies took an existing open-source model and trained it further on Bridgewater’s own financial expertise. The result scored 84.7% on financial reasoning tests, beating top proprietary AI models, while costing roughly a fourteenth as much to run, though those results, published jointly in late June, come from the two companies’ own evaluation, not an independent one.
Thinking Machines has also emphasized how quickly it got here: OpenAI took roughly five years, and Anthropic roughly three, to bring tech to market and show revenue; Thinking Machines says it did the same in about nine months.
Some will wonder whether Inkling was trained on outputs from competitors’ models, a practice known as distillation that has drawn scrutiny industry-wide. The short answer, per the company’s own materials, is partly. Thinking Machines pretrained Inkling from scratch, but it says it used other open-weight models — including Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2.5 — to help generate some of its early post-training data before large-scale reinforcement learning took over. The next model, the company insists, will use fully self-contained post-training instead.
On the cost side, Thinking Machines has been more guarded. It struck a strategic partnership with Nvidia in March to deploy a gigawatt of Vera Rubin computing capacity, and says Inkling itself was trained entirely on Nvidia’s GB300 NVL72 systems. But the company hasn’t said how it plans to balance that against revenue that, by most accounts, hasn’t been a primary focus so far. (A reported $50 billion fundraising round was said to be coming together last November, which multiple outlets reported had stalled by January; the company has declined to talk about its funding picture since, though Nvidia said it made a “significant investment” in Thinking Machines when the companies announced that March partnership.)
A related question is whether Thinking Machines’ spending will ever reach the scale of OpenAI’s or Anthropic’s, or whether its efficiency-driven approach means the economics look different. Put another way, the company’s bet may be less that it will eventually spend like its larger rivals than that it won’t need to at all — because once weights are public, nothing obligates anyone who downloads them to pay Thinking Machines to run them, unlike the metered access OpenAI and Anthropic sell. It’s Tinker, not the model itself, where the company’s revenue has to come from, via training, fine-tuning, and, now, a cut of the hosting ecosystem built around it.

[186] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 18:06 UTC] SpaceX slips below its $135 IPO price ahead of Starship launch
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/spacex-slips-below-its-135-ipo-price-ahead-of-starship-launch/
SpaceX’s shares fell below $135, the price that CEO Elon Musk and his company chose ahead of its blockbuster June 12 IPO that raked in nearly $86 billion.
After slipping below that price on Wednesday afternoon to beneath $133 per share, the stock traded back up to the $135 price, and occasionally hovering above it.
The dip on Wednesday followed a steady decline in the month since the company went public. SpaceX initially saw its stock price rise to more than $200 in the days after it went public, briefly giving it a valuation that rivaled tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft. Its shares have lost value basically every week since reaching that high point.
Some of the volatility is attributable to the fact that just 4% of the company’s total shares are trading on the Nasdaq. That small “float,” as its known, combined with an immense amount of constant attention on the company, has created wild swings during the first month of trading.
The markets also appear to be sobering up on CEO Elon Musk’s grand vision for the company, part of a broader deflation in tech stocks over the last month. Not only has SpaceX’s stock traded down, but bonds the company sold in the wake of the IPO are suffering, too.
A prolonged downturn for SpaceX could have wider effects because the company’s stock price is a sign of how investors view the (literal) otherworldly promises Musk has made about what his company can accomplish. SpaceX’s IPO has also set the table for other big tech companies like Anthropic and OpenAI to go public. Both of those companies have filed confidentially for an IPO. While neither has set a date to go public, SpaceX’s stock is being closely watched to gauge how successful those IPOs could be.
SpaceX is about to face another early test of the durability of its stock price. On Thursday the company will test launch its Starship rocket for the first time since the IPO. Starship is still very much in development, which means it is prone to failures — the result of SpaceX’s “fly, fail, fix” approach.
This will be the first Starship flight since it experienced a booster failure in May. And once again, the company does not plan to try to recover the Starship booster or upper stage on this flight, instead opting to have them simulate a landing in the Gulf of Mexico. That means both parts of the overall Starship rocket system will end in an explosion no matter what, even if they don’t run into any problems during the flight plan.

[187] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 18:06 UTC] See if you qualify for Fidelity's $2.5M data breach settlement and learn how to fight identity theft
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/select/fidelity-2-5-million-data-breach-settlement/
If you're a Fidelity Investments customer, you may be eligible for a payout stemming from the financial giant's recent $2.5 million data breach settlement.
Fidelity and its subsidiary, Fidelity Brokerage Services agreed to the deal on May 13, closing the door on a lawsuit alleging the investment giant failed to both adequately prevent a cyberattack and alert members to its existence after the fact.
- Settlement amount: $2.5 million
- Claim deadline: July 27, 2026
- Maximum reimbursement: Up to $5,000
- Estimated cash payment: About $100-$150
- Credit monitoring: Two years
- Final approval: July 9, 2026
In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that Fidelity detected suspicious activity on its network between Aug. 17 and 19, 2024, but waited almost two months before notifying customers. Calling the breach "preventable," they claimed Fidelity's "inadequately secured computer systems" allowed the attackers to gain entry.
According to their filing, some 77,099 individuals had data compromised, including "particularly sensitive and high-risk information," such as Social Security numbers, driver's licenses and financial account information. Court documents indicate approximately 86,000 more customers whose bank account and routing numbers were exposed may also be eligible for the settlement, even if they weren't directly notified.
The plaintiffs allege that, as a result of the breach, they suffered fraud, lower credit scores and the exposure of their personally identifiable information (PII) on the dark web.
Fidelity has denied any wrongdoing but said it agreed to settle because of "the uncertainty and risks inherent in any litigation."
"We remain fully committed to the security of our clients' accounts and personal information," the company told CNBC Select in a statement. "Litigation can involve a considerable amount of time and resources, [and] a settlement is one way to avoid this for both parties."
Here's what you need to know about Fidelity's $2.5 million settlement, including who is eligible, how much you could receive, how to file a claim and what to do if you're the victim of a data breach.
Who is eligible for the Fidelity data breach settlement?
Class members could number more than 160,000, including those notified of the breach and others whose bank account and routing numbers were allegedly exposed.
If you're not sure whether you are a class member, you can go to the settlement website, email info@FidelityDataSettlement.com or call 833-386-6470.
You can also contact the settlement administrator at:
Fidelity Data Security Incident Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA
92799-9958
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
According to National Debt Relief, clients who complete its debt settlement plan can reduce their enrolled debt by an average of 20% to 25%, after fees.
Freedom Debt Relief has resolved over $20 billion in outstanding debts since 2002. It offers free credit card debt relief consultations.
How much can you receive?
Eligible class action members may receive up to $5,000, depending on the nature of their losses.
- Reimbursement of documented losses: You could receive up to $5,000 if you can document out-of-pocket losses incurred between Aug. 17, 2024, and July 27, 2026, resulting from the breach, including fraud and time spent restoring your identity.
- Pro rata cash payment: Members of the class without proof or explanation may be eligible for payments of approximately $100, although the actual amount will depend on the number of class members and other legal costs
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): California residents may be eligible for an additional $50 payment.
- Credit monitoring services: Class members can also claim two years of free credit monitoring from CyEx, including $1 million in fraud and identity theft insurance.
How do you file a claim?
To receive a payment from the settlement, you must submit a valid claim by July 27, 2026. You can file online here or download the claim form and mail it to the settlement administrator.
The deadline to be excluded from the settlement was June 26, 2026.
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Plans from $10 to $32 per month, billed annually
Protects against identity theft, fraud, spam calls and websites, viruses and malware. Offers three-credit-bureau monitoring, VPN, dark web monitoring, password manager, email aliases and instant credit lock.
On Aura's site
From $7.50 to $25.00 per month, billed annually on individual plans and $12.50 to $33.33 per month, billed annually on family plans
Up to $1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
On Identity Guard's site
When will settlement payments be sent?
The settlement was approved in a final fairness hearing on July 9, 2026. If there are no appeals, attorneys' fees and the lead plaintiffs will be paid first.
The remaining funds will then be distributed among other class members who have submitted valid forms.
What should you do if your personal information was exposed?
In most cases, advice about identity theft is reactive:
- Place fraud alerts with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
- Review your bank and credit card statements for suspicious activity.
- Freeze your credit to prevent new accounts from being opened in your name.
- Report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission and local law enforcement.
- Keep records of all communications and fraudulent transactions.
- At least once every six months, review your credit reports for signs of suspicious activity.
- Your credit card company or bank should provide updated credit score information for free.
- You can get free copies of your reports from each of the three major bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.
- You can get a free credit report from Experian every 30 days and CreditWise from Capital One provides free access to your TransUnion credit report. Equifax offers two free credit reports per year with myEquifax.
- For regular updates on all three reports, consider subscribing to a paid identity theft protection service like PrivacyGuard® or Experian IdentityWorks℠.
PrivacyGuard®
Cost
$9.99 to $24.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore
Dark web scan
Yes, for Identity and Total Protection plans
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million for Identity and Total Protection plans
Terms apply.
Experian IdentityWorks℠
Cost
Basic: Free; Premium: 7-day trial, after $24.99 per month; Family: 7-day trial, after $34.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
1-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, with Basic plan only and 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with Premium and Family plans only
Credit scoring model used
FICO® Score 8, with all plans
Dark web scan
Yes, with all plans
Identity theft insurance
Yes, up to $1 million with all plans
Terms apply.
*Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
How to prevent identity theft
There are some proactive measures you can take, though, like getting a password manager that can help keep your usernames, passwords and email addresses under lock and key. Services like Keeper and Dashlane add dark web monitoring and email masking.
Keeper
Cost
Keeper Free: $0; Keeper Unlimited: $3.58 per user per month; Keeper Family: $7.67 per month; B

[188] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 18:07 UTC] A big dividend cut and a $2 billion charge: Conagra’s results signal more pain ahead for food industry
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-big-dividend-cut-and-a-2-billion-charge-conagras-results-signal-more-pain-ahead-for-food-industry-8613bd71?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Conagra Brands’ stock was up a bit on Thursday, but the company’s results and forecast were the latest dose of bad news for the packaged-food industry.

[189] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:12 UTC] Fed’s Beige Book Shows Slight to Moderate Growth Across US
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/fed-s-beige-book-shows-slight-to-moderate-growth-across-us
Fed’s Beige Book Shows Slight to Moderate Growth Across US

[190] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:13 UTC] Kalshi Seeks to Let Traders Bet on Flight Cancellation Rates
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/kalshi-seeks-to-let-traders-hedge-on-flight-cancellation-rates
Kalshi Seeks to Let Traders Bet on Flight Cancellation Rates

[191] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:15 UTC] Pentagon to Screen Testosterone of Male Troops, Hegseth Says
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/pentagon-to-screen-testosterone-of-male-troops-hegseth-says
Pentagon to Screen Testosterone of Male Troops, Hegseth Says

[192] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:16 UTC] Apple Boosts AppleCare+ Monthly Prices by 50 Cents in Latest Increase
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/apple-boosts-applecare-monthly-prices-by-50-cents-in-latest-increase
Apple Boosts AppleCare+ Monthly Prices by 50 Cents in Latest Increase

[193] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:17 UTC] UK’s Next PM Andy Burnham Plans to Be ‘Upfront’ With Trump
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/uk-s-next-pm-andy-burnham-plans-to-be-upfront-with-trump
UK’s Next PM Andy Burnham Plans to Be ‘Upfront’ With Trump

[194] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:19 UTC] Dimon Warns of Broad Mythos Access, Calling It a Real Issue
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/dimon-warns-about-broad-mythos-access-calling-it-a-real-issue
Dimon Warns of Broad Mythos Access, Calling It a Real Issue

[195] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:20 UTC] PayPal's $53 Billion Surrender Is Far From Certain
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/paypal-offer-a-53-billion-surrender-to-stripe-and-advent-is-far-from-certain
PayPal's $53 Billion Surrender Is Far From Certain

[196] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:20 UTC] Medtronic faces first trial in US hernia mesh injury cases
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/medtronic-faces-first-trial-us-hernia-mesh-injury-cases-2026-07-15/
Medical device manufacturer Medtronic (MDT.N) went on trial on Wednesday in the first case to reach a jury out of thousands of lawsuits by people who claim they were injured by defective hernia-repair mesh implants made by ​its Covidien unit.

Lawyers for the company and an Alabama resident who was implanted with Covidien-made mesh in 2017 ‌sparred before a federal jury in Boston over whether the product was to blame for his injuries, in a so-called bellwether trial that could help shape the outcome of similar lawsuits facing Medtronic.

About 10,350 other plaintiffs nationally are pursuing similar claims against Medtronic alleging they were harmed after being ​implanted with products from hernia lines that include Parietex, ProGrip and Symbotex.

Other hernia mesh manufacturers have faced similar ​cases, most of which have settled. Most of the cases against Medtronic are in Massachusetts, where about ⁠7,450 plaintiffs have pending lawsuits in state court. Another 2,400 lawsuits are consolidated in federal multidistrict litigation before U.S. District ​Judge Patti Saris, who is presiding over the trial that started Wednesday.

The plaintiff, Larry Patterson, was implanted with a Symbotex mesh ​during a 2017 hernia repair operation and claims it eventually caused him to suffer a bowel obstruction necessitating another operation in 2020.

Timothy O’Brien, a lawyer for Patterson at Levin, Papantonio, Proctor, Buchanan, O’Brien, Barr & Mougey, in his opening statement told jurors that doctors including Patterson's surgeon were never warned ​about a potential risk posed by a key safety feature of Covidien's polyester mesh.

That safety feature is a collagen coating that ​is intended to act as a barrier and prevent bare polyester mesh from being exposed to intestines while abdominal lining regrows. Symbotex's coating ‌was made ⁠from pig, a shift from the past use of bovine collagen.

O'Brien said that sales staff told doctors the coating would last for 30 days as had been the experience with bovine collagen, but the company knew that the porcine collagen would be absorbed in seven days, which for Patterson and other patients was not enough time to avoid complications.

"No one will darken that door, come into court, ​and say we told Larry ​Patterson's surgeon it will go ⁠away in a week and he implanted it anyway," O'Brien said.

Lyn Pruitt, a lawyer for Medtronic at DLA Piper, countered that the coating worked as designed. She urged jurors to question whether other ​factors could have led to Patterson's injury, which she noted occurred three years after the ​mesh was implanted.

She ⁠argued the evidence would show that the mesh was not what caused Patterson's bowel obstruction but that he had suffered a hernia recurrence, which he was at increased risk of developing as a result of surgical decisions and factors such as obesity and diabetes.

“I want ⁠you to ​know this design did what it is supposed to do," Pruitt said.

The ​trial is expected to last three to four weeks.

The case is Patterson v. Covidien Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:22-cv-10153.

For the ​plaintiff: Timothy O’Brien of Levin, Papantonio, Proctor, Buchanan, O’Brien, Barr & Mougey

For Medtronic: Lyn Pruitt of DLA Piper

[197] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 18:23 UTC] Amazon senior cloud executive departs after 18 years
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/amazon-dave-brown-treadwell-aws.html
A longtime executive in Amazon's cloud unit is leaving the tech giant after nearly 19 years, the company announced Wednesday.
Dave Brown, a senior vice president in Amazon Web Services, plans to depart at the end of this month for "a new role outside of the company," AWS CEO Matt Garman wrote in a note to staffers. Brown will be replaced by Dave Treadwell, a top executive in Amazon's e-commerce division, Garman said.
"Dave has been a big part of what we have built at AWS, and I want to personally thank him for all of his contributions in helping grow and develop the technology, the business and the team," Garman wrote.
Brown joined AWS in its infancy and was a member of the early team that assembled its core EC2 service in South Africa in the 2000s, according to his LinkedIn profile. EC2, one of AWS' oldest services, provides virtual slices of physical servers for rent, billed by the second, that companies use to run applications and websites.
More recently, Brown's responsibilities expanded to include AWS' compute and machine learning services, such as its Bedrock and SageMaker offerings. He's also part of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's vaunted S-team, a highly influential group of 28 executives that report to Jassy and meet with him regularly to make key business decisions.
In a separate memo, Brown said it felt "like the right time for me to begin a new chapter" and added that his organization is "in outstanding hands" under Treadwell.
"He's an exceptional leader with deep technical expertise, relentless customer focus, and a genuine passion for building strong teams," Brown wrote.
Brown's departure comes as AWS has benefited from strong demand for artificial intelligence services, helping the unit record 28% revenue growth in the first quarter. Cloud rivals Microsoft and Google have also been riding a surge in AI-related spending.
— CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed reporting to this article.

[198] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 18:23 UTC] Why Jim Cramer is shocked by Citi's against-the-grain praise of Microsoft's Copilot
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/why-jim-cramer-is-shocked-by-citis-against-the-grain-praise-of-microsofts-copilot.html
Citi stepped up to the plate on Wednesday, going to bat for Microsoft 's much-maligned Copilot artificial intelligence assistant. Jim Cramer said he was stunned by the research. In a note to clients, Citi analysts said they expect a strong fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, with momentum building into fiscal 2027 from its Copilot and Azure cloud. They said that improving foundation should "ultimately drive accelerating overall revenue/EPS growth through" fiscal 2030. Based on industry checks, Citi said, "We picked up notable stronger Copilot adoption momentum and improving feedback from customers as more advanced IQ offering starts to work into the Copilot suite." As a result, the analysts are raising their Copilot estimates. "We expect higher than typical upside PBP [payback period] with increasing M365 Copilot net adds of +8M vs +5M in Q3." Microsoft reports fiscal Q4 earnings after the market close on July 29. "Citi has an against-the-grain view" on Copilot, Jim said on CNBC, adding that reading the note was like reading a page out of "Alice in Wonderland." He added that Citi's optimism is contrary to everything he has been hearing about Copilot being subpar. "To hear the Copilot's better? I mean, I don't know about you, but I'd rather fly without a Copilot." Jim was, however, pleased to see that Citi thinks Azure is doing well. Microsoft stock rose more than 3% on Wednesday, extending its month-to-date gains to 6%. It has had only three negative sessions in July. Despite this recent bounce, shares are down 18% year to date —drastically underperforming the S & P 500's more than 10% advance over the same stretch. The stock is down some 27% from its record close of just over $542 in late October 2025. MSFT 1Y mountain Microsoft 1-year performance While maintaining its buy rating, Citi recognized the deterioration in Microsoft stock — cutting its price target to $570 from $620, citing multiple compression in enterprise software. The group, including Microsoft, has been crushed this year on concerns of AI disruption. Fellow Club stock Salesforce has been ravaged even more severely — plunging 36% year to date for the same reason. It's a worry crystallized by IBM 's preannouncement of troubles in its software business, which crushed the stock by 25% on Tuesday and another 1% on Wednesday. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Starbucks is looking to reduce the $400 million it pays Microsoft and IBM per year for software tools by replacing them with in-house developed applications with the help of AI. While the "AI is eating software" worries won't go away overnight, one way for Microsoft to push back on these fears is showing meaningful and sustained traction in Copilot. Microsoft stock has also been under pressure due to questions about its reliance on OpenAI for Azure growth. At the same time, the market has wondered whether Microsoft was leaving Azure growth on the table as it ran into capacity constraints. While there is no denying that Azure is a juggernaut, there has been no room for error when Microsoft and its cloud rivals Amazon and Alphabet are committing to some $575 billion collectively this year on AI infrastructure. That's on top of the hundreds of billions of dollars they have already invested in building out their AI capabilities. Add it all up, and we remain cautious on Microsoft stock. While scratching his head on Citi's Copilot take, Jim found the analysts' commentary around Azure reassuring. For an update on Microsoft, and the rest of the Investing Club portfolio, tune in to our July Monthly Meeting livestream at noon ET on Thursday. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long MSFT and CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

[199] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 18:24 UTC] The CEO of a startup helping non-techies code still sees a lot of value in engineering degrees
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-ceo-emergent-sees-value-engineering-degrees-2026-7
Startup CEO helping non-techies code still values engineering degrees
AI is redefining the work of software engineers, and fueling growth in a new crop of companies. The CEO of vibe-coding startup Emergent joins Business Insider's Dan DeFrancesco for a live Q&A to discuss his company's exponential growth. Mukund Jha also shares what he looks for when hiring software engineers, and how vibe coding is changing his industry.
AI is redefining the work of software engineers, and fueling growth in a new crop of companies. The CEO of vibe-coding startup Emergent joins Business Insider's Dan DeFrancesco for a live Q&A to discuss his company's exponential growth. Mukund Jha also shares what he looks for when hiring software engineers, and how vibe coding is changing his industry.

[200] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:27 UTC] Elon Musk Gives $5 Million to Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio Governor Bid
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/elon-musk-gives-ramaswamy-pac-5-million-for-ohio-governor-race
The billionaire’s midterm spending is ramping up, but is still a fraction of what he spent in 2024.

[201] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:29 UTC] India raises taxes on diesel and jet fuel exports
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-raises-taxes-diesel-jet-fuel-exports-2026-07-15/
India has raised windfall taxes on ​exports of diesel ‌and aviation turbine fuel as global oil ​prices surge amid ​an escalation of the ⁠U.S.-Iran conflict, according ​to a government order.

The ​duty on diesel exports has been raised to ​15.5 rupees($0.1610) per ​litre from 8.5 rupees per ‌litre, ⁠while the aviation turbine fuel duty has been increased to ​14.5 ​rupees ⁠per litre from 7.5 rupees.

The new ​rates will ​apply ⁠from July 16.

($1 = 96.2500 Indian rupees)

[202] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 18:34 UTC] IBM employees losing $400 million on the company’s stock should be a wake-up call
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ibm-workers-pay-a-400-million-price-for-investing-in-company-stock-fb02f5fa?mod=mw_rss_topstories
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

[203] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:34 UTC] Largest US electric grid ramps up warnings amid hot temperatures
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/largest-us-electric-grid-ramps-up-warnings-amid-hot-temperatures-2026-07-15/
Largest U.S. grid operator PJM on Wednesday issued a series of warnings as temperatures soared and transmission line ​congestion increased the spot price of wholesale electricity.

PJM, which serves ‌67 million people in the Mid-Atlantic, South and Midwest, issued warnings about low voltage and heavy energy loads on transmission lines. PJM data also showed ​transmission line congestion, including around northern Virginia, home to the ​largest collection of data centers in the world.

On Tuesday, ⁠PJM reported that the cost to secure enough electricity supplies to ​cover the highest-demand days on the grid would be more than $16 ​billion, according to its latest annual capacity auction results. But without price caps, the cost would have been nearly $30 billion, PJM said.

The auction fell short of ​meeting PJM's reserve margin target by about 7 GW, weakening the ​grid's buffer against wild weather and other unforeseen events.

“This year’s auction confirms an ‌unacceptable ⁠trend: data center load growth is outpacing new electricity supply, degrading reliability, and keeping prices at the cap," said Claire Lang-Ree, a climate and energy advocate at National Resources Defense Council.

For Wednesday, PJM ​forecast electricity demand would ​reach 164.1 ⁠gigawatts about 6 p.m. EDT as air conditioning use surged. Temperatures in PJM's region hovered around 90 ​degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) in Chicago, Philadelphia and ​Washington, D.C., ⁠for example. PJM set an-all time demand record of 168.2 GW on July 2.

With heavy transmission line congestion, spot electricity prices surged to ⁠more ​than $300 per megawatt hour around noontime Wednesday. ​Earlier in the day, prices were around $30 per MWH, before residents and businesses cranked ​up their air conditioning use.

[204] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 18:34 UTC] Regional Banks, Wealth Management Lead Financial Services M&A
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/regional-banks-wealth-management-lead-financial-services-m-a
Regional Banks, Wealth Management Lead Financial Services M&A

[205] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 18:36 UTC] Apple's China breakthrough on AI provides another tailwind for its stock
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/apples-china-breakthrough-provides-another-tailwind-for-its-stock.html
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. The market is slightly higher on Wednesday. The second cooler-than-expected inflation print in as many days boosted sentiment at the start of the session, bringing Treasury yields down. However, semiconductor and AI-related stocks started to slide shortly after the open, and the selling intensified as the day wore on. The flip side of the selling in those bottleneck and shortage names was a rally in the companies paying for their products — hyperscalers Amazon , Meta Platforms , Alphabet , and Microsoft were some of the biggest gainers in the market. It's unclear what specific catalyst caused this sell-off in semis, but the group has been extremely volatile over the past few weeks and is still sitting on hefty gains this year. Corning was the biggest decliner in the portfolio on Wednesday. On Monday's Homestretch , we said we were not ready to buy the dip just yet, despite positive research from Wall Street. We mentioned $162 as a level at which we would look to purchase the stock we sold in June, at progressively higher prices. Corning shares are close, but not there yet. Apple was the biggest gainer in the portfolio , and its shares hit a new record high after the company received approval to use Apple Intelligence in China. CNBC has confirmed that Apple will use Alibaba's models to power the AI features on Chinese devices. Apple is also working with Baidu. No formal launch date has been set, but Apple Intelligence's upcoming availability matters because access to these new AI features gives consumers another reason to upgrade to the latest iPhone models. Older generations don't have enough processing power to use it. The rollout could provide another tailwind in China , where Apple has already been gaining market share. Although China's overall smartphone market contracted in the second quarter due to higher prices on memory and components, Apple's market share rose to 18.1% from 13.9% a year earlier, according to IDC. United Airlines and J.B. Hunt report after the closing bell on Wednesday. Before the bell on Thursday, we'll see earnings from Taiwan Semi , GE Aerospace , Abbott Labs , UnitedHealth , Prologis , and State Street . On the data side, we'll see June retail sales and pending home sales. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

[206] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 18:36 UTC] Data center developers anxious after Hochul's construction pause
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/data-center-developers-anxious-after-hochuls-construction-pause-2026-7
New York's moratorium on data centers could serve as an opening salvo for leaders in other states looking to rein in tech infrastructure — as well as congressional Democrats hoping to seize on the issue in the November midterms.
The executive order that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Tuesday marks the first state-level pause on data center construction, following dozens of municipalities in red and blue states that have passed similar moratoriums. But industry supporters and detractors alike say it's unlikely to be the last, amid poll numbers showing growing public skepticism toward AI.
The moratorium also serves as a bridge of sorts between moderate Democrats such as Hochul and progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who have clamored for more restrictions on data centers and artificial intelligence. The party as a whole remains torn on how hard a line to draw against one of Silicon Valley's top priorities, despite a trend of Democrats from Pennsylvania to California embracing the push for new guardrails on the sprawling, energy-hungry AI hubs.
Sanders told POLITICO on Tuesday that the concept of a moratorium, dismissed just months ago as a "radical idea," is entering the mainstream.
"There is a growing understanding that maybe we better slow the process up in order to understand the extraordinary impact that AI is going to have on our economy, on our privacy rights, on the mental health of our kids, and existential threats as well," Sanders said.
The senator introduced legislation with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) this year that would impose a nationwide pause on data center construction. A month later, one of the party's most powerful moderates — Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee — endorsed a federal moratorium as well.
The moratorium call has yet to gain traction among congressional Democrats as a whole, but data center developers are expressing angst about where the trend is heading.
If a state as large as New York can put a pause on permitting, developers have to assume it could happen anywhere, said Joseph Hoefer, principal and chief AI officer at the Monument Advocacy lobbying firm.
"I wouldn't call it panic, but the concern is real and it moved fast," Hoefer said. "The real worry in the industry isn't New York specifically, it is the precedent."
Some Democrats remain unchanged in their opposition to a federal pause despite Hochul's decision. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI, warned that a moratorium risks surrendering the lead in innovation to China.
"Just having a blanket moratorium saying we're just going to pack up, go home, hand AI over to China and let them beat us makes zero sense to me," Gottheimer told POLITICO on Tuesday.
There's a similar vibe across the aisle, where Republicans are keen on protecting ratepayers from rising energy costs associated with data centers, but like Gottheimer don't want to risk giving China an edge in the AI race.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace expressed support for a data center pause in her state of South Carolina. But most in the party are unwilling to go that far, instead supporting the voluntary "ratepayer protection pledges" tech companies signed with the White House in March.
Those agreements task data center developers with buying, bringing or building their own power supply for the projects to ensure ordinary customers don't bear the brunt of rising energy costs.
Rising opposition
Energy costs, water scarcity and general unease with AI are all contributing to a surge of frustrated constituents. But governors and state lawmakers in both parties have struggled to stake out a lane on data centers.
Lawmakers in 15 states have introduced legislation that would impose a moratorium on data centers, according to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only two states — Maine and New York — had bills reach the governor's desk, and neither was signed.
State lawmakers have introduced more than 300 bills related to data center regulation overall this year.
Maine lawmakers voted in April to impose their own data center moratorium. It was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who wanted to preserve one $550 million project already under development in Franklin County, where she said a mill closure created dire need for new economic investment. (The data center developer put the project on ice anyway.)
Both Republican and Democratic candidates to succeed the term-limited Mills say they would have signed that moratorium, citing environmental and economic concerns.
Even Mills would have signed it had it exempted the Franklin County project, her spokesperson Anna Parker said.
"She is confident that the Maine Data Center Advisory Council — which the Governor recently established by Executive Order — will help lawmakers responsibly balance the benefits of data centers, especially for economically disadvantaged communities, with the risks of higher energy costs and potential environmental impacts," Parker said in an email Tuesday.
Democratic Maine state Rep. Melanie Sachs, the sponsor of her state's would-be moratorium, said New York's order responds to "the same core issues as my legislation: the rapid, unchecked development of data centers and their impact on the environment, utility rates, and communities."
Those concerns, Sachs added, have gone nationwide.
In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and lawmakers in both parties enacted a three-year suspension of tax incentives on data centers, but failed to move other legislative restrictions. A spokesperson for Hobbs declined to comment on New York's construction moratorium.
And Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has wooed billions of dollars in investments by tech giants to his state, is facing pushback from his Republican challenger, who supports a data center "pause." Shapiro signed a state budget on Monday that includes some reporting requirements for data centers but stopped short of imposing more sweeping regulations.
In Virginia, the data center capital of the world, a monthslong budget fight over data center subsidies threatened to shut down the government when Senate Democrats pushed to repeal the state's sales tax exemption for the industry.
Ultimately, the legislature compromised and kept that exemption but created a new energy tax on data centers. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is now prodding utility regulators to shift more grid costs onto the energy-hungry sector, too.
She has pushed back, however, against calls for a moratorium.
Earlier this month, she told the POLITICO Energy podcast that moratoriums aren't a good fit for the state, which is already home to nearly 700 data centers, because the supercomputing hubs "have been part of our economy for some time."
She has instead argued for local officials "to do the right thing and the best thing by their communities."
"You have to do something, or there's going to be unrest," said Chris Miller, CEO of the Piedmont Environmental Council, which has lobbied Virginia officials to pause new data centers.
Jack Bledsoe, a spokesperson for Spanberger, said in a statement Tuesday that the governor would continue to listen to communities' needs and make sure data centers adhere to "strong standards," but did not call for a statewide moratorium.
California's Democratic leadership also has resisted calls to institute a moratorium.
Despite a small Southern California city last month overwhelmingly approving the state's first-ever anti-data center ballot measure, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has refrained from bashing the facilities. His office did not reply to a request for comment on Tuesday.
California state Sen. Steve Padilla, the Democratic author of two data center bills working their way through the legislature that would establish rules for the facilities' energy and land use, argued in an interview that the state can "walk and chew gum at the same time."
"We're moving substantial legislation through California," Padilla said. "If there were no such legislation at all, and there were no guardrails, there was no one working on trying to provide any kind of regulations that protect the public interest, then perhaps a moratorium would have been appropriate."
Political scramble
Even Republican strongholds such as South Dakota and Oklahoma saw GOP lawmakers propose data center moratoriums. Both efforts died, however, in their respective chambers.
At least 20 municipalities in Florida have passed temporary or permanent moratoriums on data centers, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has championed local communities opposed to data center growth.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has changed his messaging on data centers after lauding the state as the "epicenter" of AI development last year.
Facing growing pressure from rural Republicans, Abbott laid out a set of legislative proposals to regulate data centers and ordered the state's electricity regulator to send him a list of recommendations and actions by the end of the month.
Despite the potential political opening this offers Democrats, one of the party's top leaders in Washington — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — stopped short on Tuesday of calling for a data center construction pause.
"Our caucus has taken a position that data centers must pay their fair share and promote healthy communities. But we have not said don't build data centers," Schumer told POLITICO. "We know how important they are, and we've heard the message loud and clear."
Schumer added that data centers should be encouraged to use clean energy and union labor.
Even as she issued Tuesday's executive order, Hochul has yet to indicate whether she would sign or veto a recently passed state bill that would impose a more expansive 12-month moratorium on all data centers that consume more than 20 megawatts of power.
Hochul's order sets the threshold at 50 megawatts.
Jason Plautz, Adam Aton, Gabby Miller, Josh Siegel, Ariel Wittenberg, Jacob Wendler and Noah Baustin contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on POLITICO and is courtesy of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which harnesses the resources of the company's newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces, and analysis. It allows journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet, and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms.

[207] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 18:38 UTC] Robot dogs could soon leave packages at your doorstep — automating delivery's 'final frontier'
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/boston-dynamics-is-using-robot-dog-as-a-delivery-worker-2026-7
Getting deliveries from a truck to your front door might soon involve a robot dog.
Robotics company Boston Dynamics is testing Spot, its canine-shaped robot, as a delivery worker that can ride along in trucks and hop out to leave packages at customers' doorsteps.
The delivery-focused version of Spot includes a conveyor belt. A video posted by the company on Tuesday shows a human worker placing packages on the conveyor belt, followed by Spot walking up to houses and rotating the belt to set them down.
Robots are already carrying some deliveries most of the way to their destinations. Spot, though, is meant to tackle the last few feet of those deliveries — the "porch gap," as Boston Dynamics calls it.
"So much of logistics is already automated, but we believe that the final frontier of logistics automation is that last 50 feet," Marco da Silva, vice president and general manager for Spot at Boston Dynamics, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Boston Dynamics said it's in talks with major logistics companies to test Spot for making deliveries. The robot has previously been used for other applications, from security to site inspections, Boston Dynamics said.
Loading deliveries into autonomous delivery vehicles and getting them from curbs to doorsteps are challenging, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said last year. It's one aspect of the delivery that human workers can navigate more easily than robots can, Xu said.
DoorDash has been using Dot, its autonomous delivery robot, for some deliveries in Arizona. The stroller-sized robot is small enough to fit through doorframes and travel on surfaces where full-sized cars can't — an advantage for picking up and delivering items directly to customers' doors, DoorDash has said.
Have a tip? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

[208] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 18:45 UTC] AI is killing the cover letter. Here’s when it pays off to send one — and when to skip it.
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ai-is-killing-the-cover-letter-heres-when-it-pays-off-to-send-one-and-when-to-skip-it-e8800ef0?mod=mw_rss_topstories
“For really everyone other than AI providers, the process is broken.”

[209] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:49 UTC] Uber nears €12.5bn deal to acquire Delivery Hero, FT reports
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uber-nears-125bn-deal-acquire-delivery-hero-ft-reports-2026-07-15/
Uber (UBER.N) is set to take over Delivery Hero (DHER.DE) in a deal valuing the German food delivery company ​at about €12.5 billion ($14.34 billion), the Financial Times reported ‌on Wednesday.

Delivery Hero confirmed it was in advanced negotiations with Uber regarding a potential takeover offer on Tuesday.

Here are a few details ​on the potential deal:

Acquiring Delivery Hero, which has ​a market value of roughly €11.6 billion, would expand ⁠the Uber Eats food-delivery network in Europe, the Middle ​East, Asia and Latin America. But the deal could ​attract scrutiny from antitrust regulators due to overlap in the companies' operations.

Delivery Hero could announce the deal as early as Thursday, with ​Uber paying roughly €41 per share, the Financial Times reported, ​citing multiple people familiar with the matter.

The terms and timing have ‌not ⁠been finalized and could still change.

Under the proposed deal, Delivery Hero will split off part of its business, selling its Turkish unit Yemeksepeti and several European operations to ​an investment ​firm, in an ⁠effort to limit geographic overlap with Uber and reduce potential antitrust scrutiny, the report ​said.

Both Delivery Hero and Uber did not ​immediately ⁠respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The discussions follow months of speculation over Delivery Hero's future. Uber approached the ⁠company in ​May with a €38 per share ​offer that investors viewed as too low, according to .

($1 = 0.8715 euros)

[210] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 18:50 UTC] Mira Murati’s AI Startup Releases First Model in Bid to Loosen AI Giants’ Grip
URL: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mira-muratis-ai-startup-releases-first-model-in-bid-to-loosen-ai-giants-grip-e042bb2b
Thinking Machines Lab CEO Mira Murati is betting on more customizable artificial-intelligence models to chip away at the lead of frontier labs such OpenAI and Anthropic.

[211] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 18:51 UTC] AI is killing the cover letter — but here’s when it still pays to send one
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ai-is-killing-the-cover-letter-heres-when-it-pays-off-to-send-one-and-when-to-skip-it-e8800ef0?mod=mw_rss_topstories
“For really everyone other than AI providers, the process is broken.”

[212] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:51 UTC] Wall Street banks enjoy record windfalls from prime brokerage business
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/wall-street-banks-enjoy-record-windfalls-prime-brokerage-business-2026-07-15/
Wall Street's prime brokerage engine is humming and delivering handsome gains ​for the largest U.S. banks.

As the largest U.S. banks reported blockbuster profits this week, financiers earned bumper fees from lending to the ‌world's most prominent multi-strategy hedge funds that rode on market volatility to produce big returns during the first half of the year.

Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs (GS.N) witnessed a record quarter for its prime business. Equity financing revenue skyrocketed 91% from a year earlier, driven by strong growth in Asia, resulting in record average prime balances for ​the bank. Across its fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) & equities businesses, financing revenues jumped 62% to $4.5 billion, accounting for about 37% ​of total FICC and equity revenues for the bank.

"Client activity was particularly strong in Asia, driven in part ⁠by robust AI capital formation and investment. This strength also extended into financing where we generated another quarter of record revenues as we ​deployed our balance sheet to support clients with average prime balances rising to another record," said Goldman CEO David Solomon.

Goldman CFO Denis Coleman said ​the bank identified Asia as a strategic growth area for its prime business.

"We made the decision to start ramping that up in the first quarter, which gave rise to questions as to (whether) we could sustain that investment," Coleman told analysts on Tuesday. "We have revenues that are resulting from those investments that we made, and we're ​entering the second half with a capital cushion that's even larger."

"In the case of prime ... there continues to be far more demand across ​the client segment than we're willing to engage when we sort of balance our objectives of serving our clients, driving market share but also being balanced, diversified ‌and ⁠focusing on risk management," Coleman added.

At JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) , revenue from its markets business surged 35% during the June quarter, driven primarily by the equity markets unit — which houses the prime brokerage business — that raked in $6 billion, up 86% from the same period last year.

"Flows were strong and trading was favorable in both derivatives and cash — and prime benefited from higher client activity and balances," said Jeremy Barnum, chief financial officer at JPMorgan, on ​a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

BLOCKBUSTER ​BUSINESS

Over the past few quarters, Wall ⁠Street's biggest prime brokerages have been buoyed by surging valuations, tailwinds from AI demand, growth in regions like Asia, and a spate of record-breaking equity issuances.

For instance, SpaceX's recent $86 billion share sale triggered big demand ​from large institutional investors and hedge funds that scrambled to lock in sizable allocations.

Morgan Stanley , which alongside ​Goldman led the SpaceX offering , ⁠also raked in big gains from its prime brokerage unit, driven by higher average customer balances and robust growth in Asia, the bank said on Wednesday.

"I can tell you that there is a lot of demand for that capital inside the four walls of our global firm," said Morgan Stanley ⁠CEO Ted ​Pick. "In macro, it's certainly coming from our equities client base in prime brokerage and ​in derivatives."

At Citi , revenues from the bank's markets business were up 17%, helping it generate more than $7 billion. Citi's equities business raked in gains of about 45%, with prime balances up ​nearly 60%, buoyed by increased demand from new and existing customers, and higher market valuations.

[213] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:53 UTC] OECD says global minimum tax boosted revenue, not job losses
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/oecd-says-global-minimum-tax-boosted-revenue-not-job-losses-2026-07-15/
Countries applying a global minimum tax on ‌multinational companies saw corporate tax revenues rise without a corresponding loss of jobs or investment, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Wednesday.

The global minimum tax was designed to curb a decades-long ​race to the bottom in corporate taxation by allowing countries to levy top-up ​taxes when profits are taxed below 15% elsewhere, reducing the benefits of ⁠booking profits in low-tax jurisdictions.

More than 60 countries and territories have implemented the rules, ​while many others are preparing to do so.

The Paris-based OECD estimated that the tax increased ​government revenue by €79 billion to €109 billion ($90 billion to $124 billion) in its first year, equivalent to 2.4% to 3.4% of global corporate income tax receipts.

The study examined how companies responded after the introduction in 2024 ​of the global minimum tax, a cornerstone of international efforts to overhaul corporate taxation and deter ​large multinational groups from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions.

Applying to multinational groups with annual revenue above €750 million, ‌the ⁠tax aims to ensure companies face an effective tax rate of at least 15% wherever they operate.

To identify the impact of the reform, the OECD compared firms just above and below the revenue threshold. It found that companies covered by the rules experienced higher effective ​tax rates, while there ​was limited evidence ⁠of any effect on investment or employment.

Unlike previous OECD estimates, which relied on modelling, the study was based on observed company behaviour ​following implementation of the rules.

The revenue estimate is below the OECD's ​pre-implementation projection that ⁠the reform could eventually generate an additional $155 billion to $192 billion a year in corporate tax revenue worldwide, reflecting that the study covers only the first year of implementation.

Since the study covers ⁠only ​2024, it does not reflect a subsequent agreement negotiated ​by the Trump administration that exempted U.S.-headquartered multinationals from key elements of the regime through a separate "side-by-side" arrangement that recognises ​the United States' existing minimum tax.

($1 = 0.8745 euros)

[214] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:56 UTC] Congo Ebola outbreak disrupts US-backed minerals talks, sources say
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/congo-ebola-outbreak-disrupts-us-backed-minerals-talks-sources-say-2026-07-15/
A worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is ‌disrupting travel and delaying meetings tied to a U.S.-backed critical minerals partnership aimed at loosening China's hold on Congo's vast copper and cobalt resources, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The outbreak has made travel ​to and from Congo increasingly difficult, with quarantine requirements and health concerns forcing officials and investors ​to postpone visits, a diplomat and two consultants advising on U.S. investments ⁠said.

Congo is the world's top cobalt producer and second-largest copper supplier, with significant deposits of germanium, ​lithium and tantalum, making it a key source of energy-transition minerals and a focus of global competition .

The ​United States and China have separately expanded minerals partnerships with Kinshasa to boost investment and secure access to its mineral deposits.

The outbreak, declared in mid-May, has infected 2,011 people and killed 754, according to government data.

The U.S. Embassy ​in Kinshasa on July 11 urged Americans not to travel to Congo "for any reason" because ​of Ebola and warned that travelers exposed to the virus could face up to 21 days of quarantine at ‌their ⁠own expense.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters that Washington "has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans."

The department said in an emailed response that the U.S. was working to contain the outbreak while advancing its minerals partnership with Congo, citing progress on the Lobito Corridor ​and Kinshasa's commitment to ​facilitating U.S. investment.

A diplomatic ⁠source said the outbreak was delaying the U.S.-Congo minerals partnership and that deal discussions had been postponed, declining to give details.

The source said a ​Washington meeting planned for last month to review U.S. companies' interest in ​Congolese projects ⁠had been postponed, though discussions have continued elsewhere, including London.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Congolese government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some ⁠investors and ​officials have shifted meetings to Paris and Brussels, a ​consultant said, adding that a planned July review of Congolese projects had been cancelled because key partners were unable to travel ​from the U.S.

[215] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 18:56 UTC] US Justice Dept says it cannot provide unredacted Epstein files for New Mexico probe
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-justice-dept-says-it-cannot-provide-unredacted-epstein-files-new-mexico-probe-2026-07-15/
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said it was prohibited by law from releasing unredacted files on Jeffrey Epstein requested by ​New Mexico, escalating a feud between the nation's top legal agency ‌and state officials investigating the late sex offender.

It came after New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez released a letter on Tuesday accusing the DOJ of deliberately obstructing the state's criminal ​probe of Epstein by failing to hand over the files.

“Federal law, ​court orders, and privacy protections for victims and witnesses do not ⁠allow us to release millions of unredacted documents," a U.S. Justice Department ​spokesperson said in a statement. "We will continue to follow federal law and the ​court orders that are in place."

In February, the Democratic-run state re-opened an investigation into activities at Epstein's former ranch, south of the capital Santa Fe, where he is accused of abusing ​women and girls for nearly three decades.

In response to the state's request that ​month for unredacted files, Torrez said the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico on July ‌10 ⁠provided 31 pages of documents that had already been made public, contained redacted material that was unusable or were photocopies of local news stories.

"It is a reflection of a deliberate choice not to cooperate," Torrez wrote in the Tuesday ​letter. His office ​did not immediately ⁠respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

New Mexico's state legislature is running a parallel investigation -- last month, it subpoenaed U.S. ​attorneys' offices in three states and the U.S. Virgin ​Islands for ⁠information on whether and why they chose not to prosecute Epstein.

The legislature's "Truth Commission" is expected to release an interim report this month. Torrez has yet to announce ⁠any ​findings.

Pressure from victims and advocates on the DOJ ​to release the Epstein files in their entirety has dogged President Donald Trump, who has said the country ​should move on.

[216] [Financial Times | 2026-07-15 18:57 UTC] Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines draws from Chinese rivals in debut AI model
URL: https://www.ft.com/content/ef486929-d2c2-480b-8b00-9cb98bda6acf
Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines draws from Chinese rivals in debut AI model
Thinking Machines Lab has unveiled its first general-purpose AI model, with OpenAI’s former chief technology officer Mira Murati leaning on cheap Chinese technology to develop its products.
The San Francisco-based “neo lab” on Wednesday said its Inkling foundation model’s architecture drew on China’s DeepSeek-V3 and has been refined post-training using data generated by Beijing-based Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2.5.
Its release comes at a time when China’s AI labs are gaining ground on US rivals. Chinese AI models have overtaken US counterparts in overall usage this year, according to data platform OpenRouter.
Leading US labs have repeatedly complained about Chinese rivals copying their models, including through so-called distillation — in which outputs from a larger “teacher” model train a smaller “student” model.
Thinking Machines’ Inkling ranks below the leading products from Anthropic and OpenAI as well as several Chinese models, according to benchmark data shared by the company.
But in contrast to the top ChatGPT and Claude models, Inkling will be open-weight, meaning users will be able to host the model on their servers and fine-tune it for specific use cases.
“Today we are advancing our mission by releasing a model we trained from scratch with the full weights available, so that people can make it their own,” the company said.
The debut model comes a year after the Thinking Machines closed a $2bn seed fundraising round at a $12bn post-money valuation, having received backing from Andreessen Horowitz alongside chipmakers Nvidia and AMD as well as hedge fund Jane Street.
The start-up has attracted attention thanks in part to Murati’s status in the AI industry, having worked on the development of several OpenAI products including ChatGPT, the Dall-E image generator and its voice mode.
She also played a leading role in the brief ousting of OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman during a board coup in November 2023. The former OpenAI CTO departed in September 2024 before founding Thinking Machines in February last year.
Thinking Machines suffered a setback earlier this year when several senior staff members departed for Meta and OpenAI and questioned Murati’s leadership.
The start-up has moved forward with several products including its Tinker platform, which allows enterprise customers to fine-tune and customise large language models for their particular business applications.
Thinking Machines in a blog post on Friday said that most AI tools were “trained in a handful of places and then frozen” rather than being shaped by users. “Extending human will and judgment calls for AIs as diverse and distributed as people themselves are,” the company said.
Rivals including OpenAI offer open-weight models that are similarly customisable, while platforms such as Amazon and Microsoft boast services that enable users to fine-tune models using their own datasets.
Murati’s AI lab has also sought to differentiate itself by developing services that work in tandem with people in their daily lives.
In May, the start-up previewed its first “interaction model”, which can take actions based on users’ audio and video inputs rather than exclusively interpreting text.

[217] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:00 UTC] China Has Too Few EV Plants, Not Too Many
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/china-has-too-few-ev-plants-not-too-many
China Has Too Few EV Plants, Not Too Many

[218] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:01 UTC] Airbus, Boeing fly parts on giant Antonov jet to ease supply snags
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/airbus-boeing-fly-parts-giant-antonov-jet-ease-supply-snags-2026-07-15/
Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) have in recent weeks chartered one of the world's largest cargo planes to speed up shipments of ‌aerostructures for some civil and military aircraft, a sign of lingering strains in the aerospace supply chain.

The Antonov An-124, a giant four-engine transport aircraft, has been chartered to airlift parts for Europe's A350 jetliner and the Boeing 767 airframe used for freighters or tankers, following a similar flight carrying parts for the 777 freighter earlier this year, according to ​three industry sources and two regulatory filings.

A Boeing spokesperson said it used "a variety of transportation methods to maintain stability in our production," without ​commenting directly on the An-124.

An Airbus spokesperson said "we sometimes use the Antonov," without saying whether this included the A350, ⁠its main wide-body jet that has been affected by delivery delays.

The recent use of the An-124, detailed in this story for the first time, underscores ​pressure on manufacturers to keep assembly lines fresh and tackle pockets of delays that threaten a broad recovery in production schedules.

Planemakers rely on dedicated sea freight, ​trucking networks and fleets of converted cargo jets to move large parts between production sites. Changing from one mode of transport to another adds cost and indicates that buffer stocks are scarce.

Analysts say aerospace supply chains have improved since the COVID-19 pandemic with overall deliveries rising this year , but that there are lingering concerns about the health of the ​aerostructures industry as well as other parts like seats.

GIANT PLANE SPEEDS UP PARTS DELIVERIES

Two industry sources said Airbus's decision to fly A350 parts rather than ​send them by sea reflected some deterioration at a former Spirit AeroSystems plant in Kinston, North Carolina, which Airbus took over last December as part of a joint breakup of ‌the supplier ⁠with rival Boeing.

At that time, parts were moving by sea and there was a buffer stock of four sets of parts, one of the sources said. Now air freight is needed to avoid new delays, the source added.

Reuters reported in May that Airbus had informed some customers of new delays to A350 deliveries later this decade due in part to problems in securing sections from the factory.

"Regarding Kinston, we are making progress towards separation from the previous owner ​and integration into the Airbus landscape. However ​it remains a complex multi-year ⁠journey to complete," the Airbus spokesperson said.

Airbus said in a pre-results briefing to analysts on Wednesday that it had not changed its assumptions on the drag to 2026 profits from the cost of absorbing the Spirit facilities.

According to U.S. ​filings, Boeing chartered the same Antonov in late June to transport two upper fuselage sections from a Daher ​Aerospace factory in Florida ⁠that would normally be transported by land to its plant in Everett outside Seattle.

The parts were "urgently required for the production of the 767," Boeing wrote in a June 22 letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation reviewed by Reuters, requesting to use the An-124 between U.S. cities.

"Those delays would impose a significant economic cost ⁠if not ​avoided," it added.

On July 1, Boeing wrote another letter supporting an exemption for Antonov to ​transport a similar Daher-made part.

Daher declined comment on operational matters.

The 767 airframe is no longer in production as a passenger jet but is used to build US refueling tankers and is in ​the final stages of production as a commercial freighter.

[219] [MarketWatch Top Stories | 2026-07-15 19:11 UTC] This isn’t a plan to save Social Security. It’s a plan to have a plan.
URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-isnt-a-plan-to-save-social-security-its-a-plan-to-have-a-plan-d55860af?mod=mw_rss_topstories
A bipartisan group of senators, most of whom are retiring, is trying to move the ball forward just a little.

[220] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 19:12 UTC] Munis are having a solid 2026. Investors can still grab 'generationally attractive yields'
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/munis-are-having-a-solid-2026-.html
Investors should still be able to grab attractive yields in municipal bonds the rest of this year. The bonds issues by state and local governments and thousands of various borrowing authorities had a strong showing in the first half of 2026. Both investment-grade and high-yield tax-exempt munis were "clear outperformers," with the former seeing a 2.16% total return and the latter returning 3.74% in the first half, Bank of America said in a note last week. That translates into 3.7% and 5.59% tax-adjusted total returns, respectively, the bank pointed out. Bond yields move inversely to prices, and total returns incorporate both capital appreciation and income. Muni income is exempt from federal taxation, and state and local taxes too if you live in the state of issuance. Investors gravitated to munis because they were looking for stability in their portfolios, said Tom Kozlik, head of public policy and municipal strategy at HilltopSecurities. He expects that to continue, although perhaps returns may not be quite as healthy as in the first half. "[A]s I see this on again, off again volatility with regard to what could happen in the Middle East, what could happen with energy prices, I still think that these … generationally attractive yields are still going to be available at least for the next couple … of months," Kozlik said. The Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF , for instance, has a 30-day SEC yield of 3.5%. It has an expense ratio of 0.03%. VTEB YTD mountain Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF year to date The strong performance of muni bonds in the face of the Iran conflict, elevated interest rate volatility and record-setting supply makes Barclays somewhat optimistic about the second half outlook. "We remain constructive on the asset class and believe munis can deliver solid returns through year-end," Mikhail Foux, head of municipal research and strategy at Barclays Investment Bank, said in a note last Friday. "However, we continue to expect a challenging backdrop characterized by elevated supply, uncertainty about interest rates and richer valuations than at the start of the year." In fact, that environment caused the UBS chief investment office to downgrade munis to neutral from attractive on Monday. "While we maintain a constructive outlook for munis in 2H26, renewed U.S.-Iran strikes, rate volatility and inflation risks could pose near-term challenges," UBS fixed income strategist Sudip Mukherjee said in a note to clients. "We expect the 10-year Treasury yield to decline by year end. However, near-term rate volatility and curve steepening are key risk factors." AllianceBernstein is more hopeful, expecting demand to meet the record levels of bond issuance. "With demand where it is — supply probably waning a little bit during the summer, but picking back up in the fall time — we do think municipals will continue holding in there and probably end with a fairly nice return by the end of the year," said Daryl Clements, municipal bond portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein. 'Post-golden age realignment' When looking for opportunities, investors should increasingly focus on credit selection as local governments adjust to tighter budgets, according to Kozlik. While credit quality continues to remain healthy overall, there has been a "post-golden age realignment" underway — with state and local governments readjusting their spending to align with recurring revenues after receiving federal pandemic aid for years, he said. "They're now having to buckle down and they're having to figure out what they are going to have to be able to spend in the next couple of budget cycles," Kozlik said. Kozlik sees opportunities in general obligation and essential service revenue bonds. Specifically, he likes airports and water and sewer, as well as housing — especially the large, single-family state housing agencies. High quality He prefers to stay up in quality with AAA- and AA-rated munis, but said ratings alone are insufficient. Investors should make sure that issuers have structurally balanced budgets and sustainable spending relative to recurring revenues, he said. "Credit selection, even in those categories, is going to be very important," he warned. MUB YTD mountain iShares National Muni Bond ETF year to date There is also value as farther out on the yield curve, said Matthew Norton, AllianceBernstein's chief investment officer for municipal bonds. "For the rest of the year, investors can buy municipal bonds at really attractive yields, particularly if you go out long on the yield curve, or you buy municipal credit, which is also very attractive, mid-grade or high-yield municipal bonds," he said. "Also, given the relative value and how longer municipals are cheap in our view, we do think you additionally will probably get some price appreciation from the long end of the municipal bond," he added. Still, Norton maintains a barbell strategy, holding both short- and long-dated bonds. Within sectors, Norton and Clements like prepaid energy bonds and affordable housing bonds. They also find alternative-minimum- tax airport bonds attractive for investors who aren't subject to the levy. In addition, they see opportunity in high-quality hospital bonds and senior living bonds, which will benefit from favorable demographics and limited new construction. The team also continually invests in general obligation bonds.

[221] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:26 UTC] US Launches Fresh Strikes on Iran as Peril in Strait Deepens
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/us-launches-fresh-strikes-on-iran-as-peril-in-strait-deepens
US Launches Fresh Strikes on Iran as Peril in Strait Deepens

[222] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:26 UTC] Brazil retailer Assai to launch pharmacy operation with Sao Paulo store
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/brazil-retailer-assai-launch-pharmacy-operation-with-sao-paulo-store-2026-07-15/
Brazilian retailer Assai (ASAI3.SA) is set to launch its ​own pharmacy operation on Thursday, the ‌firm said in a statement, opening its first unit in Sao Paulo state ​and marking its entry into ​the pharmaceutical sector.

The launch of Assai ⁠Farma follows a Brazilian law ​enacted this year that allows pharmacies ​to operate inside supermarkets in separate spaces with pharmacist presence.

Assai plans to open 25 ​pharmacies in Sao Paulo state ​during the second half of 2026 as a ‌pilot ⁠phase to evaluate performance before expanding to other states, it said.

The product mix will include regulated medicines ​for continuous ​use and ⁠prescription drugs, plus over-the-counter items, dermocosmetics, vitamins, supplements ​and personal care products.

Pharmacies will ​operate ⁠during the same hours as Assai stores, offering services including blood pressure ⁠checks, ​glucose monitoring, injections and ​rapid tests.

[223] [华尔街日报 | 2026-07-15 19:28 UTC] Conagra’s ‘Show-Me’ CEO Says Every Product Needs to Earn Its Keep
URL: https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/conagras-show-me-ceo-says-every-product-needs-to-earn-its-keep-962b54c5
John Brase, who took over the company in June, is plotting a turnaround for the food giant.

[224] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:29 UTC] Trump fires judges' pick for top federal prosecutor in Seattle
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-fires-judges-pick-top-federal-prosecutor-seattle-2026-07-15/
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday swiftly fired the new court-appointed top federal prosecutor in Seattle, setting up a potential legal battle over his power to terminate judges' picks to serve as U.S. Attorneys.

Roger ​Rogoff, a former federal prosecutor and state court judge, told Reuters he was considering pursuing legal ‌action after he was fired on Wednesday morning less than an hour after the chief judge in the Western District of Washington swore him in as the district's new U.S. Attorney.

He said he is working with lawyers and may sue over his removal, a potential ​first following clashes between the executive branch and the federal judiciary in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and ​other states after the Trump administration similarly fired court-appointed U.S. Attorneys it did not favor.

“To me, ⁠the rule of law is everything for the way these things work," Rogoff said.

Rogoff, an attorney at the law ​firm Osborn Machler & Neff, had previously been appointed by former Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, to serve first ​as a King County Superior Court judge and later as director of the state’s Office of Independent Investigations.

He applied to become the U.S. Attorney after Trump failed to secure U.S. Senate confirmation for his choice for the position, Neil Floyd, and the district's 17 active ​judges began looking for a candidate in January.

Trump appointed Floyd to lead the prosecutors' office as first interim U.S. ​Attorney and later "first assistant," roles that do not require Senate approval.

The judges unanimously selected Rogoff, according to an order issued on Wednesday ‌before Trump ⁠fired him. The order noted the district had been without a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney for three years, justifying the judges exercising their authority under a federal statute to appoint one who would serve until the vacancy is finally filled.

"Mr. Rogoff has deep ties to the Western District of Washington and has devoted his career to serving its citizens," ​Chief U.S. District Judge David ​Estudillo, an appointee of Democratic ⁠President Joe Biden, wrote in the order.

Rogoff said he was only the U.S. Attorney for less than an hour when an email arrived from the presidential personnel office notifying ​him Trump had fired him. The email came while he was waiting in a ​lobby to ⁠meet with Floyd, Rogoff said.

"We are considering our options and have a group of lawyers who have agreed to help," Rogoff said.

Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, in an email said Floyd continues to lead the office. The ⁠White House ​did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more:

Rhode Island judges ​who clashed with Trump opt against naming new top prosecutor

Court names New Jersey federal prosecutor, ending standoff with Trump administration

Trump administration moves to fire ​new US attorney appointed by judges

New England courts become a battleground for challenges to Trump

[225] [Tech Insider | 2026-07-15 19:34 UTC] Emergent's CEO shares what he looks for in developers in the AI era
URL: https://www.businessinsider.com/emergent-ceo-vibe-coding-software-engineer-ai-2026-7
As AI reshapes software engineering, the CEO of a buzzy vibe-coding startup is betting that developers will become more valuable, not less.
During a live Q&A with Business Insider, Emergent CEO and cofounder Mukund Jha said he doesn't see AI as a competitor to developers. He said he expects demand for software to "exponentially increase," and the need for developers, designers, and product builders to also grow.
Emergent is an AI-app building platform that launched in 2025. It announced on Wednesday that it raised $130 million in Series C funding, raising its valuation to $1.5 billion. That's a steep increase from its $300 million valuation six months ago.
"We see a new class of builders coming online, and our belief is that the need for automation, the need for software generation, is going to rise," Jha said during his conversation with Business Insider's Dan DeFrancesco.
Even if developer jobs aren't going away in the near future, they're evolving rapidly — as are employers' expectations. Many executives have told Business Insider that AI is changing the skills they prioritize in employees.
Jha said he is looking for candidates who are "really, really curious about problem solving." He also said he wants to see workers who are "hard-charging, hungry, and looking for impact."
In the AI era, employees are often expected to wear more hats, as traditional roles merge. At Emergent, "our designers actually write code; our engineers now do designing; our PMs are able to ship a feature themselves," said Jha.
'Jumping on that bandwagon'
As the role of software engineers evolves, Jha said aspiring developers should focus on becoming experts at using AI.
"Use AI as much as possible," Jha said, adding that "jumping on that bandwagon is really, really important."
Jha said workers who use AI "really well" have increased their capabilities tenfold. However, that doesn't mean developers should abandon traditional degrees or expect AI to solve every problem, he said. Learning problem-solving and collaboration skills are still crucial, he said.
"That's what I feel like colleges are about," Jha said.
Jha, who started programming with his twin cofounder at age 12 and later dropped out of a PhD program, said that technical disciplines teach people how to solve problems. Learning how to solve and decode is what's important, he said, rather than the specific engineering track. These abilities will equip aspiring engineers to contribute as the technology rapidly evolves.
"We are barely scratching the surface of what is going to happen with AI," Jha said.

[226] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:36 UTC] Chile Bracing for Intense Storm as Floods, Power Outages Loom
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/chile-bracing-for-intense-storm-as-floods-power-outages-loom
Chile Bracing for Intense Storm as Floods, Power Outages Loom

[227] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 19:39 UTC] Trump blasts New York AI data center ban, says state should change policy 'immediately'
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/trump-blasts-new-york-gov-hochul-over-ai-data-center-moratorium.html
President Donald Trump slammed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday, saying in a Truth Social post that the state should change its new data center moratorium "IMMEDIATELY" after becoming the first in the U.S. to impose a ban of its kind.
"One of the biggest Driving Forces in the Future for Jobs, are Data Centers," he wrote. "They are big, strong, bold, and Money Machines for the State in which they are built. Governor Kathy Hochul, for political reasons, has terminated all Data Centers being built, or to be built, in New York State."
The new state executive order, signed by the governor on Tuesday, bars the construction of large-scale data centers that use 50 or more megawatts of power for up to a year.
"New York State has made a terrible decision," Trump wrote Wednesday.
A national backlash has grown around data center fresh water and power consumption, as utility prices continue rising while artificial intelligence demand booms, fueling a breakneck infrastructure buildout.
"As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it's my responsibility to take action and lead," Hochul said in a press release announcing the moratorium.
Concerns over how data centers could shoulder their own power costs have been making the rounds ahead of the midterm elections, as Democrats take aim at affordability issues and residents' anger lingers against the new builds.
Trump's post also urged that data centers "must pay" for their own water and power, with any leftover going back to state and local communities.
CNBC has reached out to Hochul's office for comment.

[228] [TechCrunch AI | 2026-07-15 19:41 UTC] Amid hardware legal battle, OpenAI releases a $230 keyboard for Codex
URL: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/15/amid-hardware-legal-battle-openai-releases-a-230-keyboard-for-codex/
OpenAI is officially entering the hardware market with the launch of a $230 light-up keyboard designed to pair with its AI coding assistant, Codex.
The Codex Micro, co-designed with specialty keyboard designer Work Louder, is being advertised as a fancy new way for ChatGPT users to manage their fleets of AI coding agents — the semi-autonomous bots that can write and execute code with little human input.
The device comes equipped with light-up “Agent Keys” that show agent status, customizable Command Keys that act as shortcuts for frequent Codex actions, and a joystick for launching common workflows. It also has a dial that adjusts how much “reasoning” — essentially, how much time and computing power — an agent uses on a given task (agent reasoning level).
The idea is that, instead of managing your agents through your phone or desktop app, you can now use the Micro as your “command center for agentic work,” as OpenAI put its. It’ll also probably just look really cool sitting on your desk. The device is controllable and customizable via the ChatGPT desktop app.
OpenAI told TechCrunch in an email that the Micro is a limited-run collaboration, signaling that it’s more of a novelty item than a product designed for mass appeal. It seems like a flashy bauble designed to herald the company’s entrance into the hardware market.
The more consequential hardware news arrived Tuesday. A yet-to-be-released OpenAI device that Bloomberg revealed sounds like it is being designed for the long haul. It’s described as a portable, screenless smart speaker that integrates with ChatGPT and involves “mechanical elements that can move on their own.”
At this juncture, it’s difficult to imagine how all of those disparate details — screenless, portable, moving parts — will come together into a coherent product (OpenAI isn’t saying). But it leaves an intriguing picture, to say the least. It also sounds like it’s not done yet. The Bloomberg report highlights that the item is still in development and subject to change.
This new device is also reportedly being designed by former engineers from Apple — a company that is currently suing OpenAI for trade theft.
That connection hasn’t gone unnoticed, least of all by Apple. Apple last week sued OpenAI, accusing the company’s senior leadership of a deliberate strategy to extract its confidential information; it alleges OpenAI used that information in developing its own hardware device. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing.

[229] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:45 UTC] White House weighs releasing controversial intel on China and US elections, sources say
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/white-house-weighs-releasing-controversial-intel-china-us-elections-sources-say-2026-07-15/
The White House is considering releasing sensitive intelligence related to China and its ability to interfere in U.S. elections that some Trump officials worry could be misleading, according to four people with ​knowledge of the deliberations.

Trump may disclose the intelligence, which was collected and analyzed during his first term, in a speech that he is due to deliver on ‌Thursday night, when he is expected to outline information about alleged vulnerabilities in the voting infrastructure that could allow for foreign interference in U.S. elections, the sources said.

Reuters could not determine the details of the intelligence, but sources said it is classified and related to whether China had the intention or ability to disrupt U.S. elections in 2020. The sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss classified material, said the intelligence did not show Beijing had manipulated or changed ​votes.

Trump has continued to repeat the debunked claim that the 2020 election was rigged, suggesting a foreign actor was involved in flipping votes despite legal rulings that Democrat Joe Biden ​won.

His speech on Thursday may reveal new information about a year-long effort by the Trump administration to collect and review material on what the White ⁠House says are vulnerabilities in the nation’s voting infrastructure.

The effort is part of a wider campaign to exert federal control over the administration of U.S. elections — a role that rests solely with the ​states under the U.S. Constitution.

The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to requests for comment. The CIA declined to comment.

NO EVIDENCE CHINA MANIPULATED VOTES

The China intelligence ​was integral to the first Trump administration’s debate about foreign interference in the 2020 election and was reviewed as part of the official intelligence community’s assessment on the issue, the four sources said.

Trump officials said publicly during the first administration that Chinese hackers were targeting election infrastructure ahead of the 2020 election.

Former officials have repeatedly said there is no evidence to suggest China or any other foreign adversary manipulated votes in 2020. A 2021 U.S. intelligence community assessment found ​no indications that any foreign actor attempted or succeeded in altering “any technical aspect” of the 2020 presidential election vote, including voter registrations, ballots, tabulations or results.

But former intelligence analysts, including Christopher Porter, who ​served as a national intelligence officer on cyber at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, wrote a dissent to that report, saying China had the ability to interfere in the elections and could be trying ‌to do ⁠so.

A version of that dissent was included in the public release of the 2021 intelligence community assessment.

Porter also wrote a highly classified paper on the subject, expanding on his original argument, two sources said.

Two of the sources who reviewed the paper described it as detailed, outlining specific details of Beijing’s thinking on U.S. elections. Two others said the paper pulled from a small subset of raw intelligence and did not necessarily represent Beijing’s official viewpoint.

Porter has since publicly accused the intelligence community of covering up his dissent reports during Trump's first term.

Porter declined to comment.

The sources expressed concern that the Trump administration could ​exaggerate the significance of Porter's dissent and use it ​to argue that China did have influence ⁠over the outcome of the 2020 vote.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DEBATE OVER DECLASSIFICATION

Current Trump officials have debated in recent weeks whether to declassify the intelligence, with some inside the intelligence agencies worried that doing so could reveal sources and methods of collection ​and insinuate that Beijing successfully interfered in past elections, two of the sources said.

A White House task force led by conservative journalist John Solomon ​recently asked the intelligence ⁠community for documents outlining the intelligence and has spent the past several weeks reviewing them in anticipation of Trump's speech, one source familiar with the group’s work said.

The White House did not respond to questions about Solomon's efforts.

The text of the speech has not been finalized and may still change, the source said.

The White House may also release information related to a years-old allegation that China gained access to U.S. voter data ⁠in 2020, a ​source familiar with the White House’s debates said.

Two people familiar with that issue said that voter data is not confidential, ​is already available to political consultants for use in targeting election materials, and cannot be manipulated.

The Trump and Biden administrations both reviewed intelligence about China’s potential access to voter data, but two former officials said the intelligence community largely believed that China ​did not gain entry to U.S. voter systems but instead accessed the information online.

[230] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:48 UTC] Short-Sellers Swarm SpaceX With Paper Profit Nearing $4 Billion
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/short-sellers-swarm-spacex-with-paper-profit-nearing-4-billion
Short-Sellers Swarm SpaceX With Paper Profit Nearing $4 Billion

[231] [CNBC Top News | 2026-07-15 19:48 UTC] Trump's pick to head national intelligence, Jay Clayton, won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/15/trump-dni-jay-clayton-senate-2020-election.html
Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, claimed not to know his predecessor Tulsi Gabbard took part in a raid of a Georgia election office earlier this year and defended subpoenaing New York Times journalists in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Clayton, the former Securities and Exchange Commission chair and current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence more than a month after Trump announced his nomination and weeks after the president then abruptly sabotaged a planned confirmation hearing in June.
While it appeared a month ago that Clayton would have a relatively smooth path to confirmation, Democrats challenged Clayton's election comments and time as U.S. attorney. He is still likely to be confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who spoke with MS NOW on Tuesday ahead of a Thursday night speech Trump is scheduled to deliver on foreign attempts to subvert the 2020 election, grilled Clayton on whether he was aware of Gabbard's presence earlier this year at a raid of a Fulton County, Georgia, election office.
Clayton said he only learned of Gabbard's involvement, which was widely reported, from Ossoff during a private meeting earlier this week.
"Is it appropriate for the director of national intelligence to oversee the execution of domestic search warrants at sensitive election facilities? Yes or no?" Ossoff asked. Clayton did not answer.
"Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility," Ossoff said.
On multiple occasions during the roughly two-hour hearing, Clayton declined to answer who won the 2020 election, instead saying: "I am not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified."
Ossoff, at one point, called Clayton's responses "disqualifying."
The committee is expected to vote on Clayton's nomination next week. If advanced by the committee, the full Senate will weigh in.
The process of Clayton's nomination as DNI, a role that would grant him access to the country's most sensitive secrets and authority over 18 intelligence agencies, has been marred by controversy, thanks to Trump's actions and the interim appointment of Bill Pulte, a close Trump ally and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Bipartisan lawmakers have questioned whether Pulte — who from his perch atop the FHFA launched mortgage-related inquiries into Trump opponents — was fit for the job.
"I can't think of any other instance in history of this committee where a president sends a nominee up, and then in a bipartisan way, we say we really want to move heaven and earth to get this nominee moving quickly because of the importance of the position, and then the president decided that the Senate was moving too fast on his own nominee, and holds that nominee," Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., said Wednesday at Clayton's hearing.
The DNI job opened up in May when then-Director Gabbard announced plans to step away. Pulte took the helm later that month and has carried out Trump's orders to fire dozens of high-ranking intelligence officials.
The morning of Clayton's original hearing, Trump took to TruthSocial and directed him not to appear, saying he was pausing the nomination. Trump said he balked in part because he wanted Congress to attach a controversial election bill — that would impose photo identification rules and proof of citizenship to register — to the renewal of an unrelated foreign surveillance law.
Subsequent to Trump's appointment of Pulte, negotiations over that foreign surveillance law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, fell apart. The program lapsed in June, as Democrats protested Pulte's appointment to the position.
In the wake of Pulte's interim appointment, support for Clayton seemed widespread. But he was grilled on Wednesday by Democrats on the Senate panel.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, questioned Clayton about a statement he made on CNBC about California elections, in which he seemed to entertain the possibility of voter fraud.
"We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America," Clayton said during a June appearance on "Squawk Box." "On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it."
King requested clarification.
"That meant that the audit trail we have available for our elections in a number of places is not the kind of audit trail that you would expect in something that is this important," Clayton said.
Asked by King whether voter fraud was a problem in American elections, Clayton said, "I don't think we can say definitively whether there is, or is not, until we have better processes."
Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., both pressed Clayton on subpoenas served to New York Times reporters last week on the heels of reporting on security concerns related to a new Air Force One that was gifted to Trump by Qatar.
Clayton issued the subpoenas, which The New York Times said were delivered Friday, in some cases to the homes of the reporters in question. Those reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury on Wednesday to testify "in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law."
Clayton said he was not able to get into the specifics of the investigation.
"Let me say that I am confident that the procedures that we have in place to protect the First Amendment and protect the freedom of the press, and not result in intimidation of journalists," Clayton said.

[232] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:52 UTC] Brazil to Offer Billions in Debt Relief for Struggling Farmers
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/brazil-to-offer-billions-in-debt-relief-for-struggling-farmers
Brazil to Offer Billions in Debt Relief for Struggling Farmers

[233] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:54 UTC] Busiest US container port sets cargo record in June
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/busiest-us-container-port-sets-cargo-record-june-2026-07-15/
The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest U.S. container seaport, said on Wednesday it ​set a June cargo record as shippers ranging from ‌retailers to data center builders rushed in goods to avoid higher fuel costs and new U.S. import tariffs.

The Southern California port handled ​1,002,734 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month, 12% more than ​in June 2025, marking the third time the ⁠118-year-old trade gateway has topped the 1 million TEU mark, ​executive director Gene Seroka said. June imports increased 13% to ​530,558, while exports inched up 0.2% to 126,365, port data showed.

The adjacent Port of Long Beach said on Tuesday it processed 779,331 TEUs ​last month, marking its third-busiest June volume on record, ​bolstered by an 11% jump in imports.

Overall, U.S. container imports surged 8.2% in ‌June ⁠from a year earlier, data from supply chain technology provider Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) showed.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping in the Middle East and around the world. Marine fuel costs have ​soared and some ​retailers and ⁠manufacturers also worry that key raw materials and factory goods could become scarce or too ​expensive to ship.

The administration of U.S. President Donald ​Trump ⁠plans this month to implement its new tariff strategy , which relies on Section 301 of U.S. trade law, a provision that authorizes ⁠investigations ​into unfair trade practices. Those new ​duties are designed to help rebuild Trump's emergency tariffs, struck down by the U.S. ​Supreme Court in February.

[234] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:56 UTC] 2nd Florida judge who ruled for Trump in Pulitzer case confirmed to federal bench
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/2nd-florida-judge-who-ruled-trump-pulitzer-case-confirmed-federal-bench-2026-07-15/
A Florida state appeals court judge who was nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump to serve as a federal judge after ruling in the president's favor in a ​defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board was confirmed to the federal bench by ‌the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

The Republican-led Senate voted 51-46 in favor of Jeffrey Kuntz becoming a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, marking the second time the chamber approved the appointment of a ​judge who had sided with Trump in the Pulitzer case.

The other judge, Ed Artau , was ​confirmed to the same federal district court in September 2025 after previously serving ⁠with Kuntz as a judge on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, where Kuntz had been ​the chief judge.

Kuntz was the author of a three-judge February 2025 opinion , that Artau joined, that upheld ​a decision allowing a lawsuit Trump filed in 2022 against members of the Pulitzer Prize Board to move forward.

Trump alleged the journalism awards panel defamed him in a statement it issued when it rejected his request to rescind ​a prize awarded jointly to the Washington Post and the New York Times in 2018 for ​their coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 election and connections to the Trump campaign.

Two weeks after the appeals ‌court ⁠ruled, the White House counsel's office first interviewed Kuntz in connection with a potential nomination to the federal court, according to the nominee's responses to a questionnaire .

During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April, Kuntz said he had spoken with Republican Senator Rick Scott's office about a potential nomination in November ​2024, the month Trump ​was elected. Scott, when ⁠he was Florida's governor, appointed Kuntz to the state appeals court in 2016.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware at the hearing pressed Kuntz on when he ​was assigned the Pulitzer case and why he did not recuse himself ​from hearing it.

Kuntz ⁠responded that he only learned he would be hearing the case in January 2025, after he had spoken to Scott's office, when the case was randomly assigned to him. He said Florida judicial ethics rules did not call ⁠for his ​recusal.

"I had not heard from the White House until after ​the opinion was final," Kuntz said.

Read more:

US Senate panel weighs 2nd judge nominee who ruled for Trump in Pulitzer case

Florida ​judge who ruled for Trump in Pulitzer case confirmed to federal bench

[235] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 19:57 UTC] US Labels Two More Mexican Gangs as Terrorists in Latest Anti-Crime Push
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/us-labels-two-more-mexican-gangs-as-terrorists-in-latest-anti-crime-push
US Labels Two More Mexican Gangs as Terrorists in Latest Anti-Crime Push

[236] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 19:58 UTC] Concerns grow about tariffs in US sanctions bill on Russia
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/concerns-grow-about-tariffs-us-sanctions-bill-russia-2026-07-15/
Potential tariffs ​in a U.S. bill imposing sanctions on Russia drew concern from Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday who said it could give ‌President Donald Trump new powers to impose trade measures on India, Japan and some countries in the EU.

Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday released a bill , championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham and supported by President Donald Trump, that allows the U.S. president to place 100% tariffs on goods coming from the top five buyers of Russian oil ​and natural gas. The legislation, which has been pending for about a year, is meant to cut revenues from the sale of ​Russia's energy for its war on Ukraine.

Lawmakers eased the tariff level in the legislation to 100% from a blanket ⁠500% included in a previous version of the bill, in order to win support. But it still spiked concerns in Congress about potential new powers ​for Trump.

The top five purchasers of Russian crude are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan, and the top importers of Russian natural gas are China, ​France, Japan, Hungary and Belgium, Senate aides for supporters of the bill said.

The bill allows tariff exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of Russia's natural gas exports and take significant steps to reduce those imports. That exempts Japan, France, Hungary and Belgium, the aides said.

Any country could be exposed to the tariffs if it takes more ​than 15% of Russia's gas and does not take steps to reduce its imports, said the Senate aides.

OUTSOURCING RESPONSIBILITY

Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat ​on the Senate Finance Committee, and Representative Richard Neal said the tariffs in the bill could result in higher prices for U.S. consumers.

“Congress must stop outsourcing responsibility for ‌trade and ⁠tariffs to a runaway executive who is more interested in consolidating his own power than in the welfare of the American people,” they said in a statement.

Separately, a document prepared by the Democratic staff on the Finance Committee, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, listed concerns. "Additional countries can continually be brought into scope, and vague scoping criteria give Trump far too much opportunity to abuse these powers," the document said.

There is no mechanism for congressional ​disapproval of any tariffs, and the ​authority for the president never ⁠expires, it said.

Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised sanctions in the bill on Russia's shadow fleet and energy infrastructure, but expressed concerns about the tariffs.

"This is not so much a sanctions ​bill as it is a massive backdoor authority for President Trump to impose more tariffs, including on our ​European allies, that hurt ⁠American families," Meeks said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the legislation. It is not certain when it will come up for votes in Congress.

Fernando Ferreira, the director of geopolitical risk service at consultancy Rapidan Energy Group, said he expected that Trump could use the threat ⁠of tariffs in ​the bill as a bargaining chip in trade talks with countries including India. But ​he expected the sanctions to be more effective.

"Any vessel, insurer, reinsurer, or senior crew tied to Russian sanctions evasion becomes sanctionable," he said, adding that the bill pulls the EU's much ​larger list of sanctioned vessels "straight into U.S. enforcement without requiring a fresh case for each one."

[237] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:00 UTC] Global Hegemons Shouldn’t Rewrite the Rules at Sea
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-07-15/don-t-let-china-rewrite-the-rules-at-sea
Global Hegemons Shouldn’t Rewrite the Rules at Sea

[238] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:04 UTC] United Lifts Outlook as Travel Demand Buffers Higher Costs
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/united-lifts-outlook-as-travel-demand-buffers-soaring-fuel-costs
United Lifts Outlook as Travel Demand Buffers Higher Costs

[239] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:06 UTC] Trump’s Gains in Office Prompt Big Ethical Questions
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/no-blind-trust-for-trump-prompts-big-ethical-questions-on-financial-disclosure
What President Donald Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure reveals about the money he’s made since taking office a second time — and the ethics concerns it’s raising.

[240] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 20:07 UTC] Death toll from Venezuela quakes rises to 4,829, government says
URL: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/death-toll-venezuela-quakes-rises-4829-government-says-2026-07-15/
The death toll ​from twin ‌earthquakes in Venezuela ​last ​month has risen to ⁠4,829, ​according to ​figures released by top lawmaker ​Jorge ​Rodriguez on Wednesday.

The ‌number ⁠of injured in the June ​24 ​quakes ⁠was unchanged ​at 16,740, ​while ⁠17,907 people remained ⁠homeless.

[241] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:11 UTC] King Street Restricts Client Withdrawals From Its Hedge Fund
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/king-street-restricts-client-withdrawals-from-its-hedge-fund
King Street Restricts Client Withdrawals From Its Hedge Fund

[242] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:20 UTC] What to Know About US Emergency Alerts That Guard Against Blackouts
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/here-s-what-to-know-about-us-emergency-grid-alerts-that-guard-against-blackouts
What to Know About US Emergency Alerts That Guard Against Blackouts

[243] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 20:22 UTC] US Senate undecided on bill to make daylight saving time permanent
URL: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-undecided-bill-make-daylight-saving-time-permanent-2026-07-15/
The U.S. Senate is reviewing a bill passed by the House to make daylight saving time permanent but it is unclear if it ​has enough support to become law, the top Senate Republican said Wednesday.

Senate Majority ‌Leader John Thune said it was not clear whether the daylight saving bill could garner the 60 votes needed for passage in the chamber.

"We're looking at it. You know the House had a big vote. There's ​a lot of interest in it from members on our side over here. Some ​for, some against," the South Dakota Republican told reporters. Asked whether he ⁠could support the legislation, Thune replied: "I'm from a northern clime. I voted against it in ​committee."

The House of Representatives passed the measure in a 308-117 vote to end the twice-yearly practice of ​changing clocks observed across most of the nation since the 1960s.

If enacted, clocks would no longer return to standard time in November, although states could opt out of year-round daylight saving time if they do not ​currently observe it or voted to adopt permanent standard time before the law was changed.

Supporters ​say changing the clocks disrupts sleep, increases workplace injuries and contributes to more road accidents. They argue keeping ‌clocks ⁠an hour ahead year-round would provide more evening daylight and boost economic activity during the winter months.

Critics note the change would mean the sun rises an hour later on winter mornings, leaving more children traveling to school and commuters, construction workers, farmers and others heading to work before ​daylight. In some places ​the sun would ⁠not rise until nearly 9 a.m. or later at the height of winter.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the twice-yearly ​clock changes and strongly supports the measure.

The bill faces opposition from ​Senator Tom Cotton, ⁠an Arkansas Republican, and others. Cotton has argued that permanent daylight saving time would result in very late winter sunrises and force children in many parts of the country to go to ⁠school in ​darkness.

The U.S. used year-round daylight saving time during World ​War Two and enacted it again in 1974 to reduce energy use. But it proved deeply unpopular and Congress repealed ​it later that year.

[244] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:22 UTC] Pool Stocks Sink as Consumers Cautious Despite Scorching Summer
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/pool-stocks-sink-as-consumers-cautious-despite-scorching-summer
Pool Stocks Sink as Consumers Cautious Despite Scorching Summer

[245] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 20:33 UTC] US aviation industry urges Congress to provide $20 billion for air traffic control upgrades
URL: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-aviation-industry-urges-congress-provide-20-billion-air-traffic-control-2026-07-15/
The U.S. aviation sector urged ​Congress on Wednesday ‌to provide $20 billion to complete a massive ​effort to ​modernize America's aging air ⁠traffic control system ​and reduce systemic ​flight disruptions.

An aviation coalition including airlines, airplane manufacturers, ​unions and others ​said the $20 billion is ‌needed ⁠to replace or upgrade hundreds of aging air traffic ​control facilities, ​deploy ⁠state-of-the-art technologies for controllers ​and to develop ​advanced ⁠airspace traffic management tools to improve ⁠safety ​and reduce ​delays.

[246] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 20:36 UTC] State bar, FTC back Ohio proposal to limit ABA role in lawyer admissions
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/state-bar-ftc-back-ohio-proposal-limit-aba-role-lawyer-admissions-2026-07-15/
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, several conservative legal groups, and the Ohio State Bar Association are among the organizations supporting a proposal in Ohio to end the state's requirement that lawyers graduate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school.

Ohio is poised to become the ​next Republican-led state to curtail the ABA’s longstanding role in lawyer admissions, following Texas , Florida and Alabama . The move comes amid a ‌wider backlash to the ABA's law school oversight role in President Donald Trump's second term, largely fueled by the organization’s diversity efforts. Tennessee is weighing a similar change.

In public comments to the Supreme Court of Ohio, which released the proposed accreditation reform in May, supporters of the change argued that the ABA’s political advocacy has undermined its ​law school oversight role. Reform backers also said the ABA's accreditation standards are too onerous and increase student costs and that ​reliance on ABA accreditation by states narrows the pipeline of new lawyers.

The proposal, which would pave the way for ⁠alternative accreditors, “creates opportunities for innovation without compromising educational quality or professional standards,” the Ohio State Bar Association said in its comment to the ​court.

The FTC, echoing its earlier comments related to similar changes in Texas and Florida, said ABA accreditation is a monopoly that limits the supply of ​lawyers. The agency also said, however, that fully eliminating reliance on the ABA as a nationwide accreditor would place a significant burden on states.

The Ohio Supreme Court received twice as many letters in support of the proposal as it did from opponents during the public comment period, which ended Friday. A court spokesperson said Wednesday ​there is no timeline for a decision.

Opponents of the proposal, including the Law School Admission Council — the organization that administers the Law School ​Admission Test and supports admissions offices — said ABA accreditation provides a critical consumer protection function for law students by ensuring they receive a quality legal education and ‌that ⁠it enables graduates to practice across jurisdictions.

In its comment to the court, the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar — the largely independent arm of the ABA that accredits law schools — asked the court to work with it to develop alternative pathways to licensure that work alongside ABA accreditation instead of ending its recognition of ABA accreditation altogether. It cited the value of a national system of ​accreditation to law schools and graduates.

“We ​believe it is in the ⁠best interests of Ohio law students and the public for the Court to collaborate with the Council to promote quality legal education so Ohio law students can competently and ethically serve their clients and the public,” ​Council President Daniel Thies said in a statement.

The Ohio proposal comes after the state’s high court in ​July convened an ⁠advisory committee to review its law school accreditation process, citing a need to ensure “excellence and innovation.” It replaces multiple references to the ABA with “an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or a state accrediting agency subject to the guidelines established by the Supreme Court of Ohio.”

Graduates of ⁠ABA-accredited law ​schools would remain eligible for licensure in the state — the ABA is still the ​federally recognized accreditor of U.S. law schools — but graduates of schools that meet Ohio’s forthcoming requirements would also be eligible.

Read more:

Ohio proposal would limit ABA role in lawyer admissions

Debate over ​ABA law school accreditation intensifies as states push changes

Trump executive order says ABA's role as law school accreditor may be revoked

[247] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 20:45 UTC] Trump Urges Faster Submarine Production, Singles Out General Dynamics at Summit
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/trump-chides-general-dynamics-says-us-needs-submarines-faster
Trump Urges Faster Submarine Production, Singles Out General Dynamics at Summit

[248] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 20:56 UTC] Syngenta sues BASF for infringing US herbicide patent
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/syngenta-sues-basf-infringing-us-herbicide-patent-2026-07-15/
Agricultural company Syngenta has sued German chemical giant BASF (BASFn.DE) , alleging in a Delaware lawsuit that BASF's new corn ​herbicide Ridivex infringes a patent related to Syngenta's competing herbicide ‌Storen.

Syngenta said in the complaint , filed Tuesday and made public on Wednesday, that Ridivex misuses its patented chemical formula for a weed killer combined with ​a crop "safener" to protect crops from damage.

Syngenta said that Ridivex ​is expected to be approved by the U.S. Environmental ⁠Protection Agency "within days," which would clear the way for BASF to ​begin selling it, and asked the court to block BASF from ​launching its herbicide in the United States.

Syngenta told the court that BASF could siphon away important sales of its Storen herbicide if allowed to begin selling ​Ridivex before the autumn planting season.

"The June–September distributor purchasing window ​is a critical inflection point that largely determines sales outcomes for the entire ‌year," ⁠Syngenta said in the lawsuit. "If a competing product enters the market during or before this distributor purchasing window — particularly one positioned as a direct alternative to Storen — it can displace Syngenta’s product before ​sales to growers even ​begin."

Syngenta also ⁠requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages.

A BASF spokesperson said that the company was aware of ​the complaint and reviewing it. Spokespeople for Syngenta ​did not ⁠immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint.

The case is Syngenta Crop Protection AG v. BASF Agricultural Solutions US LLC, ⁠U.S. District ​Court for the District of Delaware, ​No. 1:26-cv-00859.

For Syngenta: Jeremy Anderson, Toni-Junell Herbert, Charles Carson, Leif Sigmond and Jennifer Kurcz of ​Baker & Hostetler

For BASF: not yet available

[249] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 21:00 UTC] Young Japanese Who Rode AI Boom Flaunt Wealth With Luxury Buys
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/young-japanese-who-rode-ai-boom-flaunt-wealth-with-luxury-buys
Young Japanese Who Rode AI Boom Flaunt Wealth With Luxury Buys

[250] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 21:00 UTC] Hedge Fund Giants Have a New Profit Engine: Their Smaller Rivals
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/hedge-funds-turn-to-smaller-independent-firms-for-trade-ideas
Giant managers are sourcing trade ideas from smaller rivals to aid a multibillion-dollar profit machine.

[251] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 21:08 UTC] JPMorgan Leads $3 Billion Financing for Warburg’s Pantherx Buy
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/jpmorgan-leads-3-billion-financing-for-warburg-s-pantherx-buy
JPMorgan Leads $3 Billion Financing for Warburg’s Pantherx Buy

[252] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 21:18 UTC] Zelenskyy Picks Energy CEO for Premier as Kyiv Steels for Winter
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/zelenskyy-picks-energy-ceo-for-premier-as-kyiv-steels-for-winter
Zelenskyy Picks Energy CEO for Premier as Kyiv Steels for Winter

[253] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 21:22 UTC] US Mint will produce $1 coin with Trump's image, Treasury Secretary says
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-mint-will-produce-1-coin-with-trumps-image-treasury-secretary-says-2026-07-15/
The U.S. Mint will begin producing $1 coins with President Donald Trump's face on the front ​as part of its commemoration of the nation's ‌250th anniversary, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.

The design, which also features the words "Liberty," "In God We Trust" and "1776-2026" ​on the front and an image of ​the bald eagle from the presidential seal on ⁠the back was a revision from a draft made ​public in October . The rear face of that design ​showed Trump holding a raised clenched fist framed with the words "fight, fight, fight," a reference to the 2024 assassination attempt ​against him.

Trump said he was "honored" by the coin.

"They ​gave me a coin," Trump said in an interview with ‌Fox ⁠Business. "That's very unusual from what I understand."

Critics have raised questions about the design's legality. An 1866 U.S. law mandates that no living person's portrait can be ​used on ​U.S. currency, ⁠but that refers to paper money produced by the Bureau of Engraving and ​Printing. Coins are minted by the U.S. ​Mint.

Congress ⁠in 2020 passed a law allowing the Treasury Secretary to mint $1 coins to mark the 250th anniversary, but ⁠that ​law forbade designs portraying a ​living person.

The U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.

[254] [Bloomberg | 2026-07-15 21:24 UTC] Ex-Fed Adviser Gets Three Years in Prison in China Secrets Case
URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/ex-fed-adviser-gets-three-years-in-prison-in-china-secrets-case
Ex-Fed Adviser Gets Three Years in Prison in China Secrets Case

[255] [Reuters | 2026-07-15 21:33 UTC] Trump administration puts up new panels on slavery at George Washington's Philadelphia home
URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-administration-puts-up-new-panels-slavery-george-washingtons-philadelphia-2026-07-15/
President Donald Trump's administration put up new information panels on slavery at George Washington's ​Philadelphia home on Wednesday, following a federal appeals court ruling that opened the way to ‌changing how slavery is portrayed at the national historical site.

While the Department of the Interior said the new panels had historical context, Philadelphia's mayor said the Democratic-led city intends to seek a rehearing of legal issues in the case. The Republican ​president has sought to reshape historical institutions and the portrayal of U.S. history .

"Overnight, under the cover of darkness, ​the federal government removed panels at the President's House that told a thorough history ⁠of Philadelphia," Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement.

Last month, a federal appeals court overturned a judge's ​ruling that prevented the Trump administration from replacing a slavery exhibit in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

HEADLINES ​CHANGED

The new panels, while retaining references to slavery and those enslaved by George Washington, removed some headlines in the earlier panels, such as "The Dirty Business of Slavery." The new panels instead read: "Celebrating Independence Throughout the Years." They also exclude a map of ​slave trade routes.

"These new panels are full of historical context and highlight the momentous events that took ​place in the President's House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park," the Department of the Interior said in ‌a ⁠statement.

The department said the new panels "acknowledge the evils of slavery."

The change concerned Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association.

"This appears to be an effort to soften or sanitize the way the history of slavery is interpreted at Independence National Historical Park," Spears said.

"And I have grave concerns about how ​this impacts the ability ​of our national parks ⁠to fulfill their role as honest brokers of our shared national narrative."

Trump's declarations and executive orders in his second term have led to the dismantling of slavery exhibits, ​the restoration of Confederate statues and other moves that civil rights advocates say ​could reverse ⁠decades of social progress and undermine the acknowledgment of critical phases of American history. He has said he aims to remove "anti-American" ideology.

The White House has targeted the Smithsonian Institution over its portrayal of history. Groups such as the Organization ⁠of American ​Historians have condemned Trump's actions, saying they serve his political agenda.

Trump ​has been widely rebuked by civil rights groups for citing " reverse discrimination ," for saying civil rights have hurt white people, and for saying museums ​focused too much on "how bad Slavery was."