During a Cabinet meeting, Trump vowed to hit Iran "very hard," authorizing a strike on its energy infrastructure this weekend. CBS and the WSJ report the move could lift oil prices and spark war‑crime accusations over targeting civilian power plants and refineries.
Governor Hochul and AG Letitia James filed a Manhattan lawsuit accusing Kalshi of running an unlicensed gambling platform through its prediction‑market contracts. The suit seeks an injunction, fines, forfeiture of illegal gains and restitution, and highlights that Kalshi allows users under 21 to bet, violating state gaming laws.
AWS posted $42.2 billion in Q2 revenue, a 37.6% year‑over‑year jump and its fastest growth in 18 quarters. Jassy says the shift from on‑prem servers to cloud‑based AI could lift AWS to a $1 trillion annual business, a claim that’s already spurring a stock rally.
Three Fed policymakers who voted for a hike said inflation has lingered above 2% for over five years and won’t recede without tighter policy. Their statements argue swift action is needed to avoid entrenched price pressures and restore the Fed’s credibility on price stability.
The official manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in July, the first contraction since February and the weakest reading in 38 months. The drop, driven by slumping domestic orders and typhoon‑hit plants, erodes the export‑fuelled rebound that lifted growth in Q2 and raises doubts about China’s near‑term growth outlook.
Dallas Fed’s trimmed‑mean inflation gauge fell to a 1.4% annualized rate in June, the lowest since November 2020, while the 12‑month measure slipped to 2.2%, unseen since July 2021. The drop, highlighted as a more reliable barometer of price trends, could shrink pressure on the Fed to keep rates high as Chair Kevin Warsh pushes for broader data in policy decisions.
Kevin Warsh floated trimming the Fed’s eight‑yearly policy meetings, a shift that would make monetary policy less responsive as inflation stays high. The move signals a broader push to curb guidance and could leave markets guessing on rate moves, raising volatility for bonds and equities.
Intesa Sanpaolo launched a €30.6 billion unsolicited cash‑and‑share offer for Italy’s 550‑year‑old Monte dei Paschi di Siena, creating a merger that would make Italy’s largest bank the second‑largest lender in the euro zone. The deal, if approved, would reshape Italian banking competition and tighten the gap with Spain’s Santander.
Companies are sealing multibillion‑dollar mergers, NextEra‑Dominion, Sysco‑Jetro, Stripe‑Advent, before the Trump term ends, exploiting a souped‑up antitrust stance that trims review hurdles. The wave lifts global M&A volume to $3.2 trillion, but state challenges and political backlash keep the upside risky.
The $16 billion public equities portfolio of AI‑focused fund Situational Awareness, run by ex‑OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, was sold to Ken Griffin’s Citadel after heavy tech losses forced a forced unwind. The deal, brokered by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, leaves the fund with a reduced $10 billion book and signals Citadel’s willingness to snap up distressed AI assets.
Larry Ellison has raised over $100 billion in debt to power Oracle’s AI transformation, aiming to spend $500 billion on AI data centers. The gamble threatens his personal wealth and could expose the broader tech market if the AI boom stalls.
You’re caught up.
That was all 11 stories in the 1 August issue.