Many in the sports radio industry consider the days of a good old-fashioned radio war long gone. Rarely do talents from competing radio stations throw verbal shots across the bow. This past weekend may have ignited a new battle in the City of Brotherly Love. After LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, an outpouring of emotion filled the airwaves of 97.5 The Fanatic.
Hosts celebrated the moment on air and across social media. The station, which also serves as the flagship radio home of the franchise, temporarily rebranded as 97.5 LeBron. In a moment that shifted the culture surrounding Philadelphia basketball, one talent from the station's chief competitor took a different route. That's when the first shots were fired.
"When LeBron James signs with the Sixers, Spike Eskin [94WIP afternoon drive host] comes on the air and says he's counting down the days till LeBron James leaves Philadelphia. Maybe some of its schtick, but I couldn't have been happier," said Fanatic midday host Jon Marks.
The art of a radio war begins with moments. Despite weeks of saying that he would not want LeBron James in Philadelphia, Eskin's comments in the moments following James signing hit a different tone. In today's attention economy, anything and everything can be critiqued. Knowing when to pick your spots as a competitor is the first step.
"We [Philadelphia sports fans] have a reputation, and some of it's deserved. But the way Spike handled his first comments about LeBron signing in Philadelphia, that's not the reputation I want," explained Marks. "Opening the show at two o'clock and saying it's the worst day of your life, that's going to give Philadelphia sports fans a running stereotype. WIP embraces that, and this is what you get."

#philadelphia #lebron

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The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is meeting this week. During these meetings, the committee **** ses the health of the economy and potentially adjusts the federal funds rate. Read on to learn more about the timeline for this meeting, what it involves, and expected outcomes.
The latest FOMC meeting takes place on July 28-29, 2026. This is its fifth scheduled meeting of the year.
Once the meeting concludes, the FOMC will release its policy decisions on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Then the Fed chairman will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m.
The live news conferences, held by the Federal Reserve chairman, are livestreamed and recorded. Additionally, the minutes of regularly scheduled meetings are released three weeks after the date of the policy decision.

#committee #chairman #advertiser

The U.S. dollar, euro and British pound enter a pivotal week as investors prepare for the Federal Reserve's July 29 to 30 meeting and the ECB's decision last week while new data comes through. Most **** ysts expect that the Fed will leave rates where they are, although the market will be watching out for clues from Chair Jerome Powell given that the latest US data has confirmed the strength of the economy.
June retail sales were up by 0.2% on the month, while the control group increased by 0.4%, and initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped to 208,000, a three-month low, underlining the strength of the consumer and the labour market. This week brings out the second-quarter GDP, the PCE inflation print for June and July non-farm payrolls which could alter thinking around the second half of the year.
The ECB decided to keep its deposit rate at 2.25% as it sees inflation edging toward its 2% target while remaining data-dependent. ECB President Christine Lagarde said growth remains weak, with members continuing to **** s the impact of the economic effect of trade and higher energy costs on the economic environment.
Sterling remains supported by expectations that the Bank of England will proceed cautiously after it kept Bank Rate at 3.75%, and it sees the UK policymakers juggle between curbing inflation and a steady wage-growth and a cooling labour market. UK mortgage approvals, consumer credit and business surveys are released this week as they provide evidence for the economy ahead of the next Bank of England meeting.
The U.S. Dollar Index is maintaining a healthy uptrend after bouncing off support in the 100.50 zone along the uptrend line. Currently, the index trades at 101.28, keeping the 50-day EMA (101.12) and 100-day EMA (101.01) beneath the index level. The RSI is sitting at 53.

#market #inflation #england

It seems like just yesterday, Elon Musk was anointed the world's first trillionaire by capital markets. Now, with **** e Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) stock down 43% from highs set in the days following its initial public offering (IPO), Musk's net worth is close to getting cut in half as bearish sentiment sets in.
Are we still far from intrinsic value, or is **** eX stock a screaming buy at $120 or below? When looking at the numbers, the answer is clear.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Wall Street and the tech community hyped up the **** eX initial public offering (IPO) because of the immense growth potential at play with this **** e economy and artificial intelligence (AI) stock. The key word in that statement is "potential."
SpaceX is the leader in commercial rocket launches, but it is a relatively small business, revenue-wise, given its current $1.5 trillion market capitalization. In 2025, the **** e segment only generated $4 billion in sales and actually lost money. **** eX's revenue and profit primarily come from its connectivity segment, Starlink satellite internet. This segment is growing 50% year over year and hit $11.4 billion in revenue last year.

#SpaceX #signal #down #flashing

Those beginning to worry about the renewed chip stock rout may find comfort in the fact that the broader markets are holding up very well.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is still trading near record highs and above all key moving averages, per Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is holding above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages, but late last week it slipped below the 50-day.
A few factors are preventing the chip stock pullback from harming the broader market, according to Charles Schwab strategist Kevin Gordon. However, investors should be on the lookout for whether these trends reverse.
'You've got essentially two-thirds of S&P 500 companies that are trading above their 200-day moving average. That's relatively healthy and still consistent with the market that is more rotational in nature and not necessarily one that is correctional," Gordon said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid.
The equal-weighted index and cyclical stocks have all signaled a strong economy, he explained. "And when you do look at the reaction of the market to some of these earnings beats, most of the pressure and most of the underperformance has been concentrated in the tech sector. Outside of that, when you look at financials or industrials or consumer discretionary, the reaction in the market has actually been positive."

#gordon

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There has long been an elephant in the Federal Open Market Committee's room as it tries to accomplish its mission of promoting maximum employment and stable prices. It's just much, much bigger now, and it's hard to ignore a $2 trillion elephant.
That's roughly how much the US government is issuing in new Treasury bills and bonds each year as the country's budget deficit swells. Its massive spending problem isn't new: The US has run a deficit for more than two decades, helped along by the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. But the economy is looking relatively healthy now, with inflation down from its decades-high record in 2022, shrinking to 3.5% in June. Weekly jobless claims just dropped to their lowest level since 1969. And yet the government is still issuing increasing amounts of debt. Economists say it's unsustainable.
Reducing the federal deficit may be Congress's job, but the central bank, led by Chair Kevin Warsh, has to contend with the economic effects of Treasury borrowing as it determines whether to hike, cut or hold interest rates steady. A committee that already is split on where interest rates should head will gather this week to decide what's next as a growing chorus of experts point to the problem the federal deficit poses.
Sign up for The Daily Upside at no cost for premium **** ysis on all your favorite stocks.

#much

The financial landscape of football continues to evolve, with transfer fees, wages, and agent commissions reaching unprecedented levels. Bayern Munich board member for sport Max Eberl recently shared his thoughts on the growing costs of the modern game and the increasingly influential role agents play in shaping the transfer market.
"The sums of money involved today are, of course, sometimes very high, and one could certainly say that the role of agents has perhaps become too large. I've already been part of commissions that tried to give the whole business a certain form, a framework, but in a free market economy, that's not so easy to implement. It's a very complex topic, we all know that," Eberl told Sport1's Stefan ****** berger (as captured by iMiaSanMia). "You have to weigh things up carefully and then say "no" when the demands are disproportionate. Of course, there are also many good agents you can work with, but also some who are somewhat more radical and ruthless. But as I said: as a club, you can always decide for yourself whether you want to do things or not."
Eberl's comments reflect one of the biggest challenges facing elite clubs today. Building a top squad is no longer just about identifying talented players. Clubs must also navigate complicated negotiations involving salaries, signing bonuses, agent commissions, and a growing list of financial considerations that can dramatically alter the cost of a transfer.
What stands out most is Eberl's emphasis on discipline. Rather than criticizing agents as a whole, he acknowledged that many are valuable partners while recognizing that others push negotiations to extremes. His point is that clubs ultimately retain the power to walk away if a deal no longer makes financial or sporting sense.
That philosophy has become increasingly important as the market continues to inflate. Bayern Munich has built its reputation on competing with Europe's biggest spenders while remaining financially responsible, and Eberl's comments suggest that approach is not changing. The club is willing to invest when it sees value, but it also recognizes that not every transfer is worth completing at any cost.

#market #bayern

BEIJING, July 27 (Reuters) - Profits at China's industrial firms grew at a solid, though slower, pace as resilient exports helped cushion sluggish domestic demand, highlighting ‌the economy's uneven recovery despite policymakers' efforts to spur consumption.
Exports and industrial production ‌have done much of the heavy lifting for the world's second-largest economy. Persistent weakness in consumption and the property sector, however, helped drag second-quarter growth to its slowest pace in more than three years, keeping calls alive for further policy support to address economic imbalances.
Industrial profit growth eased to 15.1% in June from 21.1% in May, while first-half profits rose 18.7% from a ‌year earlier, compared with an ⁠18.8% increase in the January-to-May period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.
"If this recovery can be sustained, it will ⁠be a good sign for the rest of the economy, as a return of profits growth could give companies room to resume wage growth," said Lynn Song, chief economist of Greater China at ING.
The figures add to evidence of a two-speed recovery in the world's second-largest economy, ‌where manufacturers have benefited from robust overseas demand, while sectors tied to domestic spending continue to struggle.

#industrial #recovery #second

Oil prices gave up earlier gains on Friday after reports that Pakistan is trying to broker a return to U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations. China is strongly backing the effort as the conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to threaten its energy security and weigh on its economy.
Brent crude for September delivery fell 4.4% to trade at $96.36 per barrel at 1.35 pm ET while WTI crude for September delivery was down 3.6% to change hands at $88.86/bbl.
However, Standard Chartered says the latest pullback may prove temporary as Middle East oil market risk has expanded from one strategic chokepoint to two.
On Monday, Yemen's Houthi militant group imposed a targeted maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, threatening to enforce it by blocking Saudi-linked vessels from transiting the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The group claimed the blockade was a direct retaliation for a decade-long Saudi containment of Yemen as well as a recent Saudi-backed airstrike targeting Sanaa International Airport.
The threat immediately rattled oil markets, prompting multiple Saudi-linked very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to abandon planned transits through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and instead reroute around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding up to two weeks to each voyage. Two days later, the Houthis followed through. The group launched ballistic missiles and drones at two Saudi oil tankers on Thursday, damaging both vessels and igniting fires onboard. Brent crude surged nearly $20 per barrel, briefly climbing above $100.

#brent #september

Argentina's massive shale oil and gas boom is going from strength to strength. The economically crisis-prone South American country yet again reported record monthly oil and natural gas production for May 2026. This couldn't come at a better time for Argentina and South America. Rising global geopolitical risks, notably due to war in the Middle East, and domestic economic hazards hold the potential to derail the significant economic gains Argentina has made over the last two years.
Ministry of Economy data shows May 2026 oil production hit an all-time high of 887,227 barrels per day. This represents a 0.6% increase month over month and is an impressive 19% greater than the same period a year earlier. Natural gas output also rose to 5.5 billion cubic feet per day, which was just shy of the record 5.7 billion cubic feet daily reported for July 2025. Indeed, May 2026 natural gas production was 5.4% greater than a month prior and a stunning 11% higher year over year.
It is the massive shale boom underway in the 8.6-million-acre Vaca Muerta formation that is responsible for this solid production growth. For May 2026, shale oil comprised 70.6% of Argentina's total oil production, while shale gas made up 69.8% of total output. Those ratios are at record highs for shale oil and gas as a proportion of Argentina's total hydrocarbon output. This is a game changer for Argentina, which recently overtook Colombia to cement its place as South America's fourth largest oil producer.
The Vaca Muerta shale formation, which is regularly compared to the Eagle Ford shale, is in the early stages of development. Drillers in the formation are still in that phase of deciding where the core producing areas are located. The Vaca Muerta is regarded as one of the most promising unconventional oil and gas plays globally, containing an estimated 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 308 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources. This all points to tremendous future unconventional hydrocarbon production growth for Argentina.
Many of the Vaca Muerta shale formation's characteristics are superior to U.S. shales, even the prolific Permian, which is the largest oil-producing basin in the United States. The formation's shale is significantly thicker than the Permian, with it estimated to be at least double the width, allowing for more horizontal landings per pad and more frac stages per well. The Vaca Muerta's organic content exceeds that found in most U.S. shale plays, while its reservoir pressure is significantly higher.

#record

S&P Global's composite PMI climbed to 53.6 in July, its highest reading in eight months, signaling roughly 2% annualized GDP growth in Q3.
Rising input costs, supply chain disruptions, and the fastest selling-price increases in years give the Fed little reason to cut rates before 2027.
Companies with strong balance sheets, free cash flow, and pricing power are best positioned to outperform in a higher-for-longer rate environment.
Don't wait: the **** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
The biggest question facing investors today isn't whether the U.S. economy is slowing -- it's whether it's slowing enough for the Federal Reserve to finally begin cutting interest rates. New data suggests the answer may be no.

#free #whether #rising #Companies

Warren Buffett stands as one of the most celebrated investors in history. Under his leadership at Berkshire Hathaway beginning in 1965, the investment conglomerate delivered a compound annual gain of 19.7% through 2025, almost double the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) 10.5% average annual return over the same period.
That performance turned modest early investments into generational wealth for patient shareholders, validating Buffett's reputation for focusing on long-term value rather than short-term profits.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
One tool the Oracle of Omaha has long employed for gauging the health of the stock market is the aptly named Buffett indicator, which compares the total value of U.S. stocks to gross domestic product (GDP). Its currently elevated reading raises questions about whether stocks are outrunning underlying economic growth and what that could signal for future returns.
The Buffett indicator is a ratio between the aggregate market capitalization of all publicly traded U.S. companies -- typically captured by a broad index such as the Wilshire 5000 -- and nominal U.S. GDP. This metric offers a snapshot of how large the stock market has become relative to the size of the economy that ultimately supports corporate profits.

#total

BEIJING, July 27 (Reuters) - Profits at China's industrial firms grew at a solid, though slower, pace as resilient exports helped cushion sluggish domestic demand, highlighting ‌the economy's uneven recovery despite policymakers' efforts to spur consumption.
Exports and industrial production ‌have done much of the heavy lifting for the world's second-largest economy. Persistent weakness in consumption and the property sector, however, helped drag second-quarter growth to its slowest pace in more than three years, keeping calls alive for further policy support to address economic imbalances.
Industrial profit growth eased to 15.1% in June from 21.1% in May, while first-half profits rose 18.7% from a ‌year earlier, compared with an ⁠18.8% increase in the January-to-May period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.
"If this recovery can be sustained, it will ⁠be a good sign for the rest of the economy, as a return of profits growth could give companies room to resume wage growth," said Lynn Song, chief economist of Greater China at ING.
The figures add to evidence of a two-speed recovery in the world's second-largest economy, ‌where manufacturers have benefited from robust overseas demand, while sectors tied to domestic spending continue to struggle.

#profits #economy #exports

Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, whose company commands a market capitalization near $154 billion, told his social media followers this week that a tax-tiered voting system—one that would strip voting rights from anyone who pays no income tax—would be a "good system."
That two-word endorsement, dropped into a viral thread, has reignited a debate over wealth, power, and democracy that most Americans thought was settled more than a century ago.
The proposal would invert the founding American principle of "no taxation without representation" into something closer to "no representation without taxation"—and specifically, high taxation. Reactions online split sharply: Some framed it as a provocative thought experiment about aligning fiscal responsibility with political voice, while others called it a naked attempt to legitimize plutocracy by giving billionaires and multimillionaires a formal, multiplied vote over the laws that govern everyone else.
But it also revealed that America is grappling with a political economy debate, as a frozen housing market and an entrenched wealthy baby boomer demographic have many, not just Lütke, arguing that something big needs to change.
The exchange began with a provocation from Lütke: Pension recipients should have their financial futures "locked in and guaranteed," but in return would be reclassified as "dependents" and lose the right to vote—the same way minors can't vote. A reply from "Eric Thor," who claimed to be a retired banking executive as well as "armchair economist and policy wonk," proposed a sliding scale: zero votes for anyone who pays no income tax, one vote for those earning $1–100K, two votes for $100–200K, scaling up in that pattern to a hard cap of five votes for anyone earning $500K or more. The pitch was framed as fairness—reward "representation" for those who "foot the bill" through taxation.

#taxation #representation #votes

Markets were recalibrating after the European Central Bank kept its benchmark rates unchanged. It maintained the deposit rate at 2.25%, the main refinancing rate at 2.40%, and the marginal lending facility rate at 2.65%. "Decisions next time will be meeting by meeting and data dependent," Christine Lagarde said. "As regards the inflationary effects of higher energy prices in view of the Middle East escalation, this adds to the uncertainty of the path of inflation over time."
The dollar continued to be supported by strong fundamentals, and Treasury bonds were also higher. Attention turned to today's S&P Global flash PMI surveys with US manufacturing seen at 54.5, services at 51.5, and the composite above the 50 threshold for expansion. A good set of numbers will provide more evidence of the US economy's resilience ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week. Investors will also hope the Fed keeps rates on hold with officials signaling their cautious approach.
The euro was less focused on the outcome than on the ECB's communication. Policymakers noted that inflation was easing in the euro area. But they said inflation might not return sustainably to the 2% target for some time due to fluctuating energy prices and noted that there is still room for more hikes.
Sterling focused on June retail sales and the flash PMI data for July this afternoon. The manufacturing PMI is projected at 52.0 and services PMI at 50.0. Stronger sales figures will provide more proof of the resilience of the domestic economy, supporting the Bank of England's approach as the focus turns to fighting inflation.
The USD Index remains positive after bouncing off the 100.50-100.60 support area and recapturing the 101.20 level. Current quotes around 101.33 sit above the 50-EMA (at 101.06) and the 100-EMA (at 100.97), which indicates buyers have been taking charge. The DXY's rising trend line is continuing to act as support, and the current reading at RSI 60 suggests there is room for further upside, with no imminent signs of overbought conditions.

#inflation #rate #higher

By Alun John, Dhara Ranasinghe and Sophie Kiderlin
LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Renewed hostilities in the Gulf have revived stagflation talk, dimming hopes the interim deal between the U.S. and Iran had come in time for the world economy to avoid elevated inflation alongside stagnant economic growth.
Instead, oil prices are back at $100, European gas prices ‌are set for their biggest monthly jump since March and government borrowing costs are at multi-year highs on inflation angst as tensions escalate once more.
Trade frictions are adding ‌to the uncertainty facing consumers, businesses and investors. The U.S. on Friday imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union and China, likely raising prices further.
"Stagflation risk has been very much there for each economy since March, in different ways," said Alessia Berardi, head of global macroeconomics, Amundi Investment Institute.

#john

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street Friday as oil prices slipped for the first time in a week.
Every major index lost ground overall for the week amid increasing pressure from a sharp escalation in the U.S. war with Iran. Investors are also contending with new tariffs from the Trump administration and worries about the economy suffering under the weight of stubborn inflation.
The S&P 500 barely budged in a day of uneventful trading. It rose 3.68 points, or less than 0.1%, to 7,411.98. The index notched its second consecutive losing week, which hasn't happened since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.60 points, or 0.5%, to 51,947.25.
The Nasdaq fell 161.87 points, or 0.6%, to 24,975.82. It was weighed down by sharp losses from several big tech stocks.

#sharp

During the Tuesday episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer discussed the major credit card networks as he noted that consumer spending remains resilient. He began by highlighting the broader economic data and noted that roughly 81% of Americans hold a credit card, averaging three to four cards per consumer, with cardholders using about 29% to 30% of their available balance. Even though the median household holds approximately $8,000 in cash, consumers continue to prefer credit over drawing down savings. Explaining how these consumer habits feed into the major card networks, Cramer noted:
All this is to say that the three big credit card companies, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have a tremendous read on the state of the economy, and after a very rocky first quarter, these stocks have been steadily chugging higher since April.
Examining the daily chart of market leader Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) with the help of Bob Lang's (founder of Explosive Options) **** ysis, Cramer highlighted how the stock's recent technical breakout contradicts theories of a struggling consumer:
Why don't we start with Visa? That's the most used credit card. 60% of cardholders have one... Check out the daily chart. Visa's been roaring higher on terrific relative strength lately. I mean, this is not what Visa's chart looks like when the consumer's being squeezed. When you look at the moving average convergence divergence, that's the MACD… That's an important momentum indicator that can detect changes in the stock's trajectory before they happen… This isn't a coincidence; this is predictive. It made a bullish crossover mid-June. That's what really got people excited... And it's one of the most positively reliable patterns there is out there. Sure enough, the stock's been on fire ever since the cross...
Cramer also pointed to the volume indicator at the bottom of the chart to highlight the influx of big-money accumulation:

#credit #card #chart #networks

African countries must open up their power markets in order to court the private investors needed to supply the electricity that AI will demand, a data center executive told Semafor, as a new report warned the continent risks seeing little economic benefit from the technology.
Africa's economy is barely expanding on a per capita basis, and household living standards are stagnant across the continent. With the labor force projected to almost double by 2050, many African governments fear growing unemployment in the next few years. AI, as in other parts of the world, offers an opportunity to drive economic growth. But Africa only hosts about 160 data centers — around 5.5% of the global total — and aging grids in many African countries mean access to power, the key driver of AI infrastructure expansion, is limited.
In Africa, independent power producers typically sell electricity to state utilities under long‑term power purchase agreements. But private‑to‑private supply — in which a private generator sells directly to an industrial or commercial buyer using the grid, a practice that is commonplace across the West — remains rare on the continent.
In an interview, Robert Skjødt, CEO of Raxio, a data center company that operates in six African countries, said that in many nations, regulatory reform was needed to "allow a private supplier of electricity to supply to a private buyer" while using the grid.
The potential upside is significant: The International Monetary Fund, in a paper published on Tuesday, said AI could make sub-Saharan Africa's economy around 4% bigger over the next decade than its baseline projection — but that requires better ‌electricity supply, internet access, and digital skills. Policymakers and business leaders have long warned that Africa's power shortfall in particular, if left unaddressed, would starve energy-hungry data centers of the electricity needed to digitize economies.

#private #african #needed #many

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With inflation running above the Federal Reserve's target for 64 consecutive months, Moody's ****** ytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi says higher consumer prices are not an accident but a direct result of government policy decisions.
By breaking down the underlying economic math, Zandi points to trade tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration and restrictive immigration laws as the primary culprits preventing price stability in the current economy.
Americans largely view "persistently high inflation and the resulting higher cost of living their number one financial problem." Zandi agrees with this public sentiment, noting that top-line inflation sits at no less than 3.5%, which is well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
Don't Miss:

#inflation #higher #chief

Giverny Capital ******* et Management, LLC, an investment management company, recently published its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The model portfolio returned 13.70% this quarter, compared to the S&P 500's 15.20% return. YTD, the portfolio gained 5.89%, while the index increased by 10.21%. The long-term link between stock appreciation and earnings growth is strong; Benjamin Graham described the market as a "voting machine" in the short term and a "weighing machine" in the long term. Despite the S&P 500's 10.2% rise in the first half of the year, 210 stocks lost value, indicating market anomalies. High-quality earnings compounders that benefit from AI capabilities are likely to maintain their competitive edge. Recently, the market has increasingly chased momentum. Tech giants are taking advantage of the optimism of investors amid fears of an AI bubble. Despite strong profit margins, reliance on "moonshot" investments raises sustainability concerns. The author recommends investing in both emerging tech leaders and established firms. In addition, please check the Strategy's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Giverny Capital ******* et Management highlighted Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) as one of its leading performance contributors. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) is a high-speed switching and cloud networking solutions provider for hyperscale users. On July 21, 2026, Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) closed at $174.58 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $219.82 billion. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) posted a one-month return of 7.94%, while its shares gained 54.44% over the past 52 weeks.
Giverny Capital ******* et Management stated the following regarding Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
"Our two largest positions are Alphabet and Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET), which I believe have strong positions in the emerging AI economy. Arista is the leading provider of networking equipment for hyperscale data centers. As AI traffic grows exponentially, data center owners increasingly need signal to move seamlessly not only within a given data center, but between data centers. The demands on the routers and switches that direct the flow of traffic are considerable. As the most sophisticated networking provider, Arista's growth may accelerate in coming years. As for portfolio activity for the quarter, we trimmed Alphabet and Arista. We sold about 20% of our position in Arista in April in two tranches at an average price of about $160. The stock finished the quarter higher than our sale price. Arista and Alphabet remain our largest positions as of June 30. The valuations on both are high enough that future returns likely will be lower than we're used to, even if the businesses continue to grow."

#NYSE #anet #capital

Updated July 22, 2026 8:58 am ET
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(3 min)
1248 GMT – The dollar could remain little affected by the latest bout of U.S. trade uncertainty in the near term, MUFG Bank’s Derek Halpenny says in a note. President Trump’s plans for new tariffs should broadly replicate the Section 122 tariffs which are due to expire on Friday, meaning the currency implications should be limited, he says. Moreover, it comes at a time when markets are pricing in U.S. interest-rate rises and Middle East risks are higher, providing some support to the dollar, he says. However, if trade uncertainty becomes more ***** ounced, dollar selling could re-emerge as investors become more concerned over unpredictable policies and the damage to the U.S. economy, he says. The DXY dollar index trades flat at 101.135. (renae.dyerwsj.com)
0940 GMT – U.S. Treasury yields trade steady on the day, with the 10-year yield close to an earlier two-month high, while the dollar is marginally lower. Investors remain cautious as oil prices rise and Middle East tensions continue, leaving a risk that yields and the dollar could rise. “The pullback [in the U.S. dollar] could prove limited, however, as Treasury yields remain at elevated levels and geopolitical tensions could continue to fuel safe-haven demand,” DHF Capital S.A’s Bas Kooijman says in a note. Brent crude rises 3.5% to $94.19. The 10-year Treasury yield is last up 0.2 basis points at 4.630%, having earlier hit a high of 4.642%, according to Tradeweb. The DXY dollar index falls 0.1% to 101.102, having hit a one-week high of 101.210 overnight. (emese.barthawsj.com)

#treasury #east

Gas prices have been front and center this year. United States retail gasoline has jumped in 2026, with the Retail Fuel Price Index showing regular gas at $3.86 per gallon in mid-July, while diesel in some states has pushed above $5 and climbed more than 2% in just a day.
That spike has fed straight into the wider economy: gas costs helped push U.S. inflation to a three-year high in May, with energy making up over 60% of that month's price increase after Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off about a fifth of global oil supply.
Crude Oil Prices Rally on Global Supply Risks
Nat-Gas Prices Fluctuate on Tropical Storm Risk
Fervo Energy Just Scored a New 'Buy' Rating. Here's Why.

#states #global

Giverny Capital **** et Management, LLC, an investment management company, recently published its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The model portfolio returned 13.70% this quarter, compared to the S&P 500's 15.20% return. YTD, the portfolio gained 5.89%, while the index increased by 10.21%. The long-term link between stock appreciation and earnings growth is strong; Benjamin Graham described the market as a "voting machine" in the short term and a "weighing machine" in the long term. Despite the S&P 500's 10.2% rise in the first half of the year, 210 stocks lost value, indicating market anomalies. High-quality earnings compounders that benefit from AI capabilities are likely to maintain their competitive edge. Recently, the market has increasingly chased momentum. Tech giants are taking advantage of the optimism of investors amid fears of an AI bubble. Despite strong profit margins, reliance on "moonshot" investments raises sustainability concerns. The author recommends investing in both emerging tech leaders and established firms. In addition, please check the Strategy's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Giverny Capital **** et Management highlighted Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services, including online search and advertising, cloud solutions, and artificial intelligence, and is a significant contributor to the Strategy's performance. On July 21, 2026, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) closed at $347.15 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) posted a one-month return of 0.54%, while its shares gained 82.49% over the past 52 weeks.
Giverny Capital **** et Management stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
"Our two largest positions are Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Arista, which I believe have strong positions in the emerging AI economy. Alphabet has a near monopoly in search, a robust cloud data center business, a leading computer chip used in AI data centers, a highly profitable **** et in YouTube and the premier autonomous driving platform in Waymo. It has built a tremendous collection of **** ets.
As for portfolio activity for the quarter, we trimmed Alphabet and Arista. We sold 17% of our position in Alphabet in April at about $380. Management subsequently sold $80 billion of stock in a secondary offering at $350 to raise money to fund more investment in data centers. I feel we did the responsible thing in trimming Alphabet as it got to nearly 12% of our portfolio. Arista and Alphabet remain our largest positions as of June 30. The valuations on both are high enough that future returns likely will be lower than we're used to, even if the businesses continue to grow."

#googl #management #Portfolio

Arrakis, a seven-month old London- and Paris-based startup building what it calls an AI "operating system" for industrial companies, is emerging from stealth with $38 million in venture capital funding. It says its goal is to bring agentic AI to sectors such aerospace, energy, logistics, and manufacturing.

The company's latest funding is a $30 million Series A led by Blossom Capital, with participation from venture capital firms Accel, GFC, MainObject, and Rerail. Accel led an earlier $7.5 million seed round, and individual backers include Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel and OpenAI's head of business products, Olivier Godement.

The latest round values the company at $140 million post-money, cofounder and CEO Rafael Quintanilla told Fortune.

Quintanilla is a former vice president at Accel. While there, he spent the better part of a year crisscrossing the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East to develop the firm's thesis on defense and industrial resilience. What he found convinced him to quit and become a founder himself.
"I realized that there was a huge gap between what I was seeing at Accel and in the Valley, with us investing in companies like Anthropic and Lovable in Europe," he said, "and what I was seeing in the more industrial parts of the economy."

He said that most AI has targeted so-called knowledge workers who complete their jobs using software, but that many more jobs in the economy involve the production and movement of physical goods. "Most AI investment to date has targeted the 30% of workers behind a desk. The real ROI lies in the 70% running industrial operations," he said.
Sonali de Rycker, the Accel partner who backed Arrakis's seed round, said she is betting on the founder as much as the market. "Rafa has a rare combination of curiosity, hustle and tireless drive," she told Fortune. "After working closely with Rafa during his time at Accel, it's an honour to be working with him again as an entrepreneur."
But Arrakis is hardly alone in going after manufacturing and industrial firms. Consulting giants such as Accenture and Boston Consulting Group are racing into industrial AI, as is Palantir, and Jeff Bezos-backed Prometheus—now valued in the tens of billions of dollars—is pouring capital into automating the engineering of physical products. The frontier labs are circling too.
Quintanilla argues Arrakis is carving out a distinct niche from each of these competitors. If Prometheus worked with Airbus, he said, it would build AI for "the core engineering of building an aircraft." He said Arrakis, by contrast, "want[s] to take care of everything around it… We want to be the AI layer for key operations of those companies."

#arrakis

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Despite — or maybe because of — volatile markets and increasing consumer costs, the nation's largest banks continued to post strong profits in their second-quarter earnings, showing that the banking sector remains resilient even as concerns about the economy persist (1). But JPMorgan Chase, at least, is still preparing for a possible recession.
During JPMorgan's earnings call earlier this year, Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon declined to predict whether the U.S. was heading for a recession (2); however, he has repeatedly warned that whenever the next credit cycle arrives, losses on leveraged lending are likely to be "worse than people expect relative to the scenario."
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA. Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold

#jpmorgan #recession #wealth

This is a crucial time of the year for retirees who receive Social Security benefits. Each fall, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to account for inflation's impact on living expenses. What happens in the economy this summer will determine what next year's COLA looks like.
The latest forecast from The Senior Citizens League calls for a 3.8% COLA this year. That's not an official number, but it does signal that retirees may see a larger increase than last year's 2.8%. Here are some factors retirees should watch before the formal COLA announcement later this year.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
The SSA bases the COLA on the performance of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, in July, August, and September of each year. The SSA averages the CPI-W's value over those three months and compares it to the same months of the prior year. In 2025, the index averaged 317.265 in the third quarter, which drove that 2.8% COLA.
Rather than focusing on headline inflation numbers in the news, retirees should keep their eye on the index. To get a 3.8% COLA, the CPI-W would need to average approximately 329.321. The SSA will announce the index's July average next month, kicking off that crucial three-month window. It was at 327.075 in June, the most recent number at the time of writing this article.

#time #security

The initial deal behind the American AI boom seems to be: private investors would help finance it, taking on the risk; private companies would initially own the benefits of the breakthroughs, then distribute them to public markets later; and the government would help regulate the industry after the fact. In China, by contrast, the deal is that companies still have to compete for investment and customers, while the government provides the compute.
That bargain is showing signs of collapse — on the U.S. side. As costs soar, Chinese competitors gain ground and Washington increasingly considers AI to be a national-security **** et, President Donald Trump is considering taking a governmental stake into AI companies. While both the populist left and the right, and the AI companies themselves, have lauded the proposal, one person isn't cheering: Billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
In an opinion column published in Bloomberg Opinion on Monday, the media company's founder attacked the proposal, arguing that it would turn Washington from an industry regulator into an investor with incentives for profit, leading to "cronyism."
"Somewhere, Karl Marx is smiling," Bloomberg wrote of the centrally planned economy on offer, while the propaganda possibilities would "make George Orwell blush."
The former New York City mayor argued that Americans do not need their governments to own AI companies in order to share in the technology's gains. For one, once they go public, they could just buy shares. But also, consumers and businesses already benefit from AI through fraud detection, medical research, bookkeeping and other helpful applications, he wrote, while the resulting economic growth could eventually generate more tax revenue for public services.

#opinion

The artificial intelligence boom has created an era of unprecedented uncertainty in the global economy. Large language models are evolving as quickly as they are being integrated, creating a major headache for anyone trying to project their future impact or even their current energy footprint. But while we don't know exactly how much energy will be needed to power the tech sector in coming years, we do know that it will be a whole lot, and the market is already reacting accordingly.
"Energy companies are raising money at IPO at their fastest pace this century, taking advantage of investors' hunt for new ways to bet on the boom in power-intensive AI data centres," states a recent report from the Financial Times. In the first half of this year, the money raised in initial public offerings for energy startups was the highest since 1999, when the first dot-com boom spurred a similar gold rush. And the rate of growth is staggering: in 2025, energy companies raised a total of $4.3 billion for the entire year. The total for 2026 is already at $12.6 billion, and we still have another half year to go.
"Investors started by buying AI-linked names like Nvidia. Then they said, 'hold on, every chip needs energy to power it'," RBC clean energy ******* yst Chris Dendrinos was quoted by the Financial Times. "That's put a huge tailwind behind these companies."
This spending spree includes a wide range of energy companies, including unproven and next-gen energy technologies that are enjoying a windfall of funding that they may not otherwise have achieved. The tech sector is investing heavily in pie-in-the-sky energy research like nuclear fusion, enhanced geothermal energy, and ******* e-based solar power. Earlier this year Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, signed a deal with startup Overview Energy to develop as much as 1 gigawatt of ******* e-based solar power.
The market is particularly bullish about nuclear fusion, which has finally broken through on Wall Street after years of struggling to go private. Historically, nuclear fusion research is so expensive and seen as so experimental that it's been funded by governments and huge public projects. But now fusion startups are popping up in astonishing numbers and seeing successful IPOs.

#power #boom

TSMC's $265B US manufacturing pledge and Alphabet's 9.6 GW data center leases represent the hyperscaler firepower driving Europe's 20x AI investment deficit.
AI-driven labor restructuring remains isolated to high-exposure occupations, with broader impact on healthcare, logistics, and finance not projected until 2029.
Act now: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Google didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
A recent Thoughts on the Market roundtable hosted by Seth Carpenter highlighted two major realities shaping the AI economy. Just seven U.S. hyperscalers plan to spend 20 times more on AI than all of Europe, while AI's broader impact on employment may not emerge until 2029 or later.
The episode discussed that Europe's total planned AI investment is "A factor of 20 below what we see in the US by just the 7 hyperscalers." That comparison shows that a small cluster of America's cloud and platform giants alone dwarfs what the entire European bloc is committing.

#broader #hyperscalers #grab