Well there goes that one [QT @Techmeme: Sources: OpenRouter has discussed a potential sale to a bigger tech company that could value it at billions of dollars, a premium to its $1.3B valuation in May (The Information)]
Hedge funds piled into bullish bets on Brent oil at the fastest pace in almost a decade as fighting between Iran and the US ramped up, dampening investors' expectations of a sustained recovery in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz
CDC: large cyclospora cluster traced to shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell restaurants; 5 US states; Taylor Farms denied association; FDA recall preparation underway
Taylor Farms虽已公开否认关联，但CDC直接点名Taco Bell供应的生菜为集群感染源，将法律与声誉风险聚焦至Yum! Brands（$YUM）及其蔬菜供应链上游；Sweetgreen因同一疫情恐慌四日内跌逾25%后出现反弹，溯源明确后若责任链条重新指向Taco Bell侧，估值调整格局或将再度变化；Taylor Farms的FDA召回程序仍在进行中。
The CDC traced a large cluster of cases to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants. Here's what to know
🚫 CLAIM: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that two oil tankers have exploded in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting mines in the international waterway. ✅ FACT: Like most IRGC claims, this is false.
A measure of Oracle's credit risk hit a new high as concerns grew about both the company's aggressive cash-burn and the future profitability of its AI Investments amid a Chinese model that could rival offerings from companies like OpenAI
Wall Street extended its decline as a pullback on stocks associated with the AI boom, which has driven many of the gains so far this year, morphed into a larger risk-off sentiment
In a week full of turning points - from Japan taking a more assertive stance on the yen, to SpaceX falling back to its IPO price - guests on the Merryn Talks Money podcast discussed the long-term outlook for wealth managers and investing.
2T parameter model; finish initial training next week; better than 1.5T in every way; speed + token efficiency ≈ Grok 4.5; may exceed Kimi
多方认为此举将重塑AI头部竞争格局，beffjezos明确喊话"Please mog Kimi 3"，将其视为美国大模型对中国竞品的直接回击。以速度与效率兼顾挑战Kimi，被视为xAI在规模扩张与部署可用性之间找到平衡点的重要信号。
This would be absolutely fire 🔥 [QT @elonmusk: Our 2T model, which is better than our 1.5T in every way, will finish initial training next week. It might be able to exceed Kimi, but with speed and token efficiency close to our 1.5T (aka Grok 4.5).]
Congratulations, Brian 🔒🔑 💰 [QT @alighodsi: We're raising funding at $188 billion valuation to double down on our AI strategy focused on three priorities: 1️⃣ Unity AI Gateway - our multi-AI governance solution that helps control costs. 2️⃣ Genie - our AI coworkers that actually understand your business data. 3️⃣ Lakebase]
The European Commission has unveiled its long-awaited overhaul of the Emissions Trading System, as the EU tries to marry the concerns of business with its climate ambitions.
Kuwait: power + water desalination facility fire confirmed by electricity ministry; Kuwait Airways most flights rescheduled; airport temporarily halted; Iranian strike
A Chinese lab says it beat every open model. The proof isn't out yet. Moonshot's Kimi K3 is a 2.8T-parameter model it claims is the largest open system on earth, built despite the US chip controls meant to prevent exactly this. The catch: the weights that would prove it don't
Kuwait; second power plant hit in 2 consecutive days; flights suspended; firefighters + workers injured; 'worst night since conflict began'; Iranian retaliatory attacks
Kuwait suffered one of its worst nights of Iranian retaliatory attacks since the conflict in the Middle East began, with a second power plant hit in as many days and flights suspended.
Iraq is sending thousands of trucks loaded with fuel through Syria to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, and the same is now happening with small amounts of crude oil
The 🇺🇸 Trump administration is considering creating an independent regulator similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to vet AI models for safety with industry input - Bloomberg
Telecom Italia SpA's board unanimously endorsed Poste Italiane SpA's €10.8 billion ($12.4 billion) takeover offer as financially fair, the company said in a statement on Saturday.
It's not the size of the debt. It's not even the size of the debt relative to the size of the potential tax base, or the economy. It's the size of the debt relative to the productive assets it might have purchased: expanded and upgraded infrastructure; healthy, educated,
US corporate executives are increasingly selling their own stock: Stock sales of corporate insiders rose +20% YoY in the first half of 2026, to $77.6 billion, the largest half-year total since H1 2021. This is also the 2nd-largest half-year total in over 20 years.
Apple $AAPL and the US Justice Department are in early discussions about settling a 2024 lawsuit that alleges the iPhone maker violated antitrust laws - Bloomberg
Turkey 🇹🇷 is in talks to transfer a sophisticated Russian air-defense system to the United Arab Emirates in hopes of clearing American 🇺🇸 objections to its purchase of advanced F-35 warplanes - WSJ
BREAKING: Iran has accused the United States of violating the 14-point "Memorandum of Understanding" and says a statement from Iran's Supreme Leader will be released shortly.
The unexpected announcement about a powerful new Chinese AI model rattled US tech stocks Friday, as China's President Xi took the stage at the World AI Conference in Shanghai.
伊朗打击科威特国家石油公司Mina Al Ahmadi港北码头原油出口设施，设施起火燃烧已在哨兵-2卫星图像中确认，科威特90%的经济收入依赖该枢纽。
Iran struck Kuwait National Petroleum Company North Pier crude oil export facility at Mina Al Ahmadi hub; fire confirmed by Sentinel-2 satellite imagery; Kuwait relies on hub for ~90% of economy
此次打击是伊朗对科威特行动的重大升级——从已报道的电力及海水淡化设施扩展至核心石油出口基础设施，Mina Al Ahmadi是科威特乃至波斯湾原油供应的关键节点。油市分析师Josh Young指出科威特体量虽大但逊于沙特和阿联酋，正密切观察事态是否进一步扩大至海湾核心产油国。
From an oil market perspective, Kuwait is big, but Saudi and UAE are bigger. Watching to see if this escalates further.
Aggressive selling continues in tech stocks: The technology sector ETF, $XLK, posted -$8.7 billion in outflows over the last month, the largest withdrawal of any S&P 500 sector. This was followed by the energy sector ETF, $XLE, at -$1.0 billion, and the communication services
2 US service members KIA, 1 MIA; Jordan air base; July 17 2026; Iranian ballistic missiles + drones; first direct Iranian-fire US troop deaths since war opened
The U.S. military on Saturday announced its first troop deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, saying two were killed and another was missing in an attack on a base in Jordan.
For a weekend deep think, consider this. [QT @AnikaSomaia: a week ago @SemiAnalysis_ wrote that Chinese labs are "simply too compute poor to truly reach the frontier." today one of those "too compute poor" labs, a 300-person startup actually, shipped a model that compares to opus 4.8 the entire western consensus – export controls, the]
France + Germany removed Palantir from intelligence + military systems; Macron + Merz pledge joint European battlefield AI rival; spy agencies already switched to homegrown tools
France and Germany already cut Palantir from intelligence. Now the military. Macron and Merz just pledged to build a European rival to Palantir's battlefield AI, after both countries' spy agencies already swapped it for a homegrown tool. Karp called Germany's refusal to use his
China is still quietly stockpiling gold: China acquired +48 tonnes of gold in May via the London OTC market, the biggest monthly purchase in over a year, according to Goldman Sachs estimates. This is 4.8x more than the official +10 tonnes reported by China's central bank
EU + Gulf states joint statement; Hormuz 'open permanently without conditions or fees'; reject 'illegitimate sovereignty claims'; international transit freedom; source: Saudi state TV
This week, Ukraine said it struck more than 100 Russian vessels over nine days in the sea near Russian-held Crimea. I'll ask Russian journalist @zygaro about this new phase of the war & how it could be forcing a reckoning in Russia
This is ASML's most advanced chipmaking machine which costs up to $400 Million The EUV machine weighs as much as two Airbus A320s and took 250 engineers 6 months to fully install the first one $ASML says the machine is "essential" for chipmakers who want to participate in the
US small businesses are struggling with inflation: In June, 21% of US small business owners reported inflation as their single most important business problem, the highest reading since October 2024. This percentage has surged +10 points over the last 12 months.
Never before have so many Americans been outside the labor force: The number of Americans who are not in the labor force rose by +832,000 in June, to 105.8 million, an all-time high. These are people who are neither employed nor actively looking for work.
New US airstrikes on Iran; 6 p.m. ET July 18 2026; CENTCOM official statement; explicit target: Hormuz commercial shipping + IRGC punishment; material update over prior C14-sourced report
Today at 6 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began launching new airstrikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief's direction. The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Drilling in the US oil patch achieved the longest stretch without a decrease in activity in more than four years, supporting shale's expansion amid higher prices driven by the Iran war
I'd been struggling with this one icon-alignment issue in the new Omarchy Quattro menu bar. GPT 5.5 kept going in circles. Opus 4.8 was no better. Even gave Gemini a shot and it too went for bust. But GPT 5.6 Sol? 4m45s and it was done. Love how fast models are leveling up!
Karp expects a $300 billion fortune. Palantir's CEO says AI could make him 20x richer while the average salary merely doubles, and he calls that gap 'a problem for society.' The catch is that his own company is one of the forces widening
Terra 5.6 high: ~40% faster overall vs 5.5; negligible quality loss; 'massively cheaper'; production use case: GitHub review bot (clawsweeper); xhigh tier: no incremental quality gain
don't sleep on terra! [QT @steipete: 5.6 Terra high is underrated. Switched @clawsweeper (GitHub review bot) to it and it's ~40% faster overall with negligible quality loss. Better than 5.5 on all counts. Massively cheaper. (Tried xhigh but that negates perf wins, didn't make a noticable difference in review evals)]
Bank of America elevated new leaders to help steer the firm's approach to crypto and artificial intelligence technology at the firm, according to memos seen by Bloomberg
Billionaire investor Leon Black, who for years paid Jeffrey Epstein for tax and financial advice, is facing scrutiny over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender after walking out of a closed-door interview with House investigators last month.
Japan's parliament enacted a historic revision to the 19th-century Imperial House Law on Friday by insisting only paternal-lineage men can become emperor, sparking concern that the measure could doom the already shrinking imperial family.
REP. BRYAN STEIL SAYS THE SENATE MUST PASS THE CLARITY ACT TO SET THE GOLD STANDARD FOR DIGITAL ASSET REGULATION, PROTECT CONSUMERS AND DRIVE CAPITAL INTO US MARKETS
In a week full of turning points - from Japan taking a more assertive stance on the yen, to SpaceX falling back to its IPO price - guests on the Merryn Talks Money podcast discussed the long-term outlook for wealth managers and investing.
Explaining to my dad that he is going to have to try to sleep through the coil whine tonight, because I set up the guest bed in the server room and I need to run a hyperparameter sweep after codex sol sped up my physics engine by 100x
Deutsche Bank is preparing to sell about $3 billion in debt markets for accounting services firm Baker Tilly to refinance private credit loans, according to sources
Pampa is green-lighting a $2.7 billion urea fertilizer plant on Argentina's Atlantic coast, marking the first new facility of this kind that the country has seen in about 25 years
The resumption of US strikes against Iran has thrust incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham into a potential day one decision on how much to support Britain's closest ally in its controversial military campaign
"Hi 👋 I'm Claude Fabl—" TOKEN LIMIT REACHED, SWITCH TO API FOR CONTINUED USE [QT @claudeai: Beginning July 20, Claude Fable 5 will be included in all Max and Team Premium plans, at 50% of limits. Pro and Team Standard users will continue to have access to Fable via usage credits, and will receive a one-time $100 credit. Demand for Fable has been challenging to]
This is why the labs have been able to offer $7k/mo of value for $200/mo so far. When the normies join that era is over. Start saving money for tokens.
Bondholders of troubled miner Sherritt International said a group of "credible" investors has crafted a plan to refinance the company in a proposal that competes with an offer from an ally of US President Donald Trump
HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIR FRENCH HILL SAYS THE CLARITY ACT WOULD BRING CRYPTO, INCLUDING MEMECOINS, UNDER LISTING, DISCLOSURE AND TRANSPARENCY RULES THAT STRENGTHEN ETHICAL OVERSIGHT
Computer use with Codex is really impressive: "I've never used Blender, download and install it using your computer control and then use it to make an otter in 3D and turn it into a little animation" I only had to click once to give Windows permission to install Blender. Neat!
China brushed off allegations that the country distills foreign technology, after US firms including Anthropic said Chinese rivals illicitly extract results from top American models to advance their own capabilities
G7 nations called on rebel forces in Sudan to halt any actions that may lead to atrocities in the city of El-Obeid, adding to growing international pressure to avoid another massacre in the North African nation.
China urged stronger cooperation with Kyrgyzstan across the green minerals industrial chain, while calling for the protection of the rights and interests of Chinese companies in the country
I am moving from the Ethereum Foundation to Ethlabs @ethlabs_org, joining the team to accelerate protocol work in the age of Ethereum adoption. In 5 years at EF Research, I have worked on research and specification of a wide range of Protocol R&D: mev, consensus,
For anyone watching the 25%+ premium in $SKHY versus SK Hynix's Korean shares: The ADRs and local shares become convertible on July 29. Should open the door for arbitrage and likely compress the ADR premium. Maybe lifting Korean shares or pressuring US shares. 2.5% currently
China warned its flood-control situation remains "severe and complex" as the country's main rain belt shifted south again, prompting authorities to step up disaster preparedness.
South Korea's stock market is up about 200% year-on-year, fueled by retail investors and an AI chip rally. But with such a heavy reliance on AI stocks, can it last?
Spain's Deoleo, the world's largest olive oil company, says a period of unprecedented volatility has unequivocally given way to more stable market conditions, citing an unlikely catalyst in helping to lift U.S. sales.
German security authorities are rushing to ensure sensitive information is kept safe in the event that the country's far-right party takes government control for the first time in an eastern region later this year.
BOARD CHAIR OF THE BLOCKCHAIN ASSOCIATION KRISTIN SMITH SAYS THE CLARITY ACT IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE CRYPTO LEGISLATION YET AND COULD UNLEASH ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, MODERNIZE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LOWER COSTS AND SPEED UP TRANSACTIONS
Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched the country's first privately developed orbital rocket, a key test of national efforts to compete for a bigger share of the global commercial launch market.
Thor Björgólfsson quit the UK and cut jobs at his investment firm after recent tax changes. He argues the non-dom regime was ripe for change, but the UK will now struggle to attract the wealthy.
Nigerian stocks posted the world's top returns this year, vaulting past Korea's Kospi. Our reporters discuss what investors should know and what opportunities exist in African markets
The release and later withdrawal of a film about a Sikh human rights activist in India has become a flashpoint in the debate over a rising tide of censorship under Narendra Modi in the world's biggest movie-producing nation
2,000 kids were studied. Only 7% use VPNs to dodge age checks. The UK was about to restrict VPNs to enforce its teen rules, then its own research killed the plan. Far more kids just enter a fake birthday than use a VPN, so ministers dropped the ban and put the job on platforms
Vietnam; Lai Chau province; flash flood; 4 killed, 4 missing; Saturday July 18 2026
At least four people were killed and four others were missing after a flash flood swept through a mountainous village in Vietnam's northern province of Lai Chau, state media reported on Saturday.
THIS WEEK IN MEDIA - 7/10-7/17 Read The Street: SBI Holdings Teams Up With Solana on a New Onchain Market in Japan Crypto Briefing: SK Hynix Surges in Nasdaq Debut After Raising $26.5B in Share Sale, as Tokenized Versions Launch on Solana
Coinbase just dropped the ball again massively with $BRIAN and Vlad has essentially set the stage for Robinhood Round 2.0 here. Main things I'm watching: $CASHCAT $WALLET $KITSU $NOCK (Nock Finance on RH)
KraneShares launched a new Photonic and Optical ETF trading under the ticker $LUMA on the @NYSE. AI datacenters are scaling rapidly. Moving vast amounts of data between chips, servers, and facilities requires light-based infrastructure that can keep pace.
Germany raised its threat level over the risk of terrorist attacks as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government prepares to expand the operational powers of the country's intelligence.
Just updated the daily $TMDX flight tracker... last night was strong... flights back above 36+ per day... currently tracking at +7.8% MoM and +67.4% YoY With the stock down -39% YTD... $TMDX is now trading at 2.5x CY2027 revs (using my estimates) with net income margins
China formally urges Britain to protect Chinese investor rights; British Steel nationalized; Jingye Group; China 'will take measures'; diplomatic escalation from prior warning
China urged Britain to protect the rights and interests of Chinese investors after the UK government nationalized British Steel, previously controlled by China's Jingye Group.
Donald Trump has made Boeing aircraft sales an important transactional tool, using orders as a way to tighten relations with other governments or trade deals.
"The market was completely unhedged." On the latest First Principles, @dampedspring breaks down the options market extremes he saw before the latest sharp pullback in semis. We also discuss why the AI boom has a pie problem, what could change at the Fed under Warsh, and the
🇺🇸🇲🇽🇨🇦 Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to the US to attend Sunday's World Cup final on President Donald Trump's personal invitation - Bloomberg
Jens Spahn, a senior leader in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative party, resigned after coming under pressure for fathering a child through a surrogate in the US despite previously opposing legalization of the practice in Germany.
A South African app that links households with domestic workers is reeling, delivery drivers are fleeing, and a key textile hub has lost workers as anti-migrant protests push tens of thousands of people to leave the country, sending tremors through a strained economy.
Shocking stat of the day: The 3-week volatility of momentum stocks relative to the S&P 500 volatility is up to a record 4.0x. This group includes high-growth technology stocks at the center of the AI boom like Nvidia, $NVDA, Super Micro Computer, $SMCI, Palantir, $PLTR, D-Wave
CFM International, which provides engines to Boeing Co. and Airbus SE for their single-aisle airliners, aims to deliver 15% more units this year to support aircraft production.
President Donald Trump tried to influence the conversation around election security just months before the midterms in a primetime address on Thursday. Armed with newly declassified files, his central target was a familiar foreign adversary: China. The president painted a dark
Claims covers only the insured eligible — roughly 28% of unemployed Americans. Gig workers, exhausted-benefit cases, the ineligible: invisible. Fed loves it because it's timely, not comprehensive. The gauge stays clean right up until it doesn't. That's the design flaw.
"We replaced Salesforce with a vibe-coded CRM built for our own workflows. The custom system integrated our AI agents more effectively, worked better for the team, and made Salesforce unnecessary. That decision cut a $600,000 annual software bill to zero." Is this an anomaly
Here are the current best and worst performing stocks in the NASDAQ 100 so far this year 👑 Sandisk $SNDK +471%🟢 🥈 Micron $MU +197%🟢 ......... Almost last: Intuitive Surgical $ISRG -39%🔴 💩 Intuit $INTU -56%🔴
❌ CEASEFIRE VIOLATION: IDF forces identified and struck a Hezbollah terrorist cell that had been operating drones and taking cover near IDF soldiers in the Security Zone. The cell was struck following the identification of a Hezbollah drone in the area of Tebnit.
Ukrainian drones struck two sprawling warehouses, one of them just east of Moscow, as part of attacks overnight and on Saturday afternoon that killed nine people and wounded more than 60, Russian officials said.
"Flexible," a.k.a. gig workers set to reach 320 million this year in China -- almost as many gig workers as another great, big global economy's entire population...
What's the true unemployment rate if the survey response rate has fallen to south of 70% from north of 90% in the 1990s? (Number of continuing claimants being only 1-in-4 of unemployed measures against those reported as being unemployed reflected in questionable @BLS_gov data.)
Walmart Inc. said it has removed four bagged iceberg lettuce salad products manufactured by Taylor Farms as recalls tied to a cyclosporiasis outbreak expand.
Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment ending his presidency, capping Prime Minister Péter Magyar's effort to dismantle pillars of the Viktor Orban era.
Earlier today, a Lebanese Army vehicle drove over an explosive device in southern Lebanon. As a result, a Lebanese Army soldier was killed, and two additional soldiers were injured. Following a review, it can be determined that the explosive device did not belong to the IDF and
2026 has been a historic year for well-diversified investment portfolios: The Permanent Portfolio is on track to gain +16% in 2026, its best annual return in 30 years. This strategy consists of equal weights of US stocks, 10-year Treasuries, commodities, and cash.
The Copper-to-Nasdaq ratio is on the verge of a major breakout. I'd rather own the irreplaceable materials powering AI than chase tech companies priced for perfection.
The jacket costs $10,000 new. Someone paid $960,000. That's 96x retail for a used jacket, because Jensen Huang wore it and signed it. Zuckerberg once said a used Huang jacket is 'worth more' than a new one.
Private credit has exploded into a $1 trillion market. Yet its resilience is increasingly being tested. Bloomberg Originals examines whether this massive boom is built to last and what comes next for one of finance's fastest-growing sectors
The company's Anthropic bill has grown 6x every month because they keep finding more ways to use AI across the business. What started as tens of thousands of dollars in monthly spend has scaled into the millions as AI becomes embedded in more workflows. The challenge now isn't
The Interior Department has canceled a rule meant to protect plants and animals that are determined to be threatened with extinction, the latest step by the Trump administration to dismantle key provisions of the landmark Endangered Species Act at the behest of industry.
zcash becomes mathematically counterfeit proof and quantum recoverable in 10 days trillions [QT @ebfull: Ironwood goes live in ten days. The possibility of counterfeiting bugs in our project has kept me awake at night. No more. Mathematical proof that undetectable counterfeiting bugs don't exist in Ironwood changes how even *I* feel about Zcash, as a protocol dev of ~10 years.]