The Finimize Daily Brief

Brits didn’t buy much in July, especially clothes or shoes, but consumers and businesses alike are looking better this month – and the flush-with-cash South Korean memory maker just announced record shareholder returns. Today’s stories: The UK Economy Had a Gloomy July – But August Is Looking Brighter Samsung’s Trying To Buy Back Shareholders’ Love Try Finimize Pro

The mega retailer beat expectations almost everywhere, except on the one number that investors actually came for: growth at its existing US business – while the OG cryptocurrency’s sudden surge caught traders who’d bet against it off guard. Today’s stories: Walmart’s Earnings Were Good – But Not Good Enough Bitcoin Rallied After The US Showed Crypto Some Love Try Finimize Pro

The humanoid-robot-maker’s IPO was wildly popular with investors, and it might just herald the robot apocalypse – while beer sales the world over have been sinking, and Carlsberg’s latest results are a case in point. Today’s stories: Investors Backflipped For Unitree’s Robot – And Its Stock Carlsberg’s Beer Sales Dried Up Last Quarter Try Finimize Pro

With more exchanges operating nearly around the clock, the possibilities for trading are growing (and so are the risks) – while Home Depot’s sales grew on small-ticket items, as US home buying – and, therefore, big remodels – remained sluggish. Today’s stories: The Nasdaq Is Moving To Nearly Non-Stop Weekday Trading Home Depot Beat Forecasts, As Americans Kept Shopping Try Finimize Pro

China’s push for tech and AI self-reliance has lifted stocks sky-high, while also making its firms globally unavoidable – and investors are demanding a higher return on US government debt as everyone from Big Tech to Uncle Sam ramps up borrowing. Today’s stories: China’s Tech Stocks Are Pricier Than America’s Right Now The US Government’s Borrowing Costs Just Hit A 25-Year High Try Finimize Pro

The Claude-maker’s upcoming listing might leave SpaceX’s record-setting one rocking in its wake – while the UK economy actually grew in June, thanks to the World Cup and endless sunny days. Today’s stories: Anthropic’s Eyeing An October IPO – At A Huge $2 Trillion Valuation Sunshine And Soccer Fueled The UK Economy In June Try Finimize Pro

The AI infrastructure company’s share price shot up, disappointing short sellers (including an iconic one) who’d bet against it – while traders looking for a steadier AI ship have been flocking to mega semiconductor firm TSMC, but don’t count the memory makers out just yet. Today’s stories: Neocloud Nebius Posted Stratospheric Sales Growth Investors Have Been Decamping From South Korea To Taiwan Try Finimize Pro

The chipmaking giant is teaming up with some Wall Street heavy hitters to finance its customers’ AI build-outs, heavily featuring its own hardware – while the Stoxx Europe 600 has hit a series of record highs, as European companies have delivered serious growth. Today’s stories: Nvidia Wants To Bankroll AI Builds – So It Called Up Some Friends With Earnings Tempting, Investors Have Been Flocking To European Stocks Try Finimize Pro

Warren Buffett’s hand-picked successor is shrinking Berkshire’s giant cash pile, buying stocks, and making a $10 billion bet on Alphabet and AI – while TSMC’s July sales jumped 45%, giving investors reason to believe that the AI spending boom’s still sailing on. Today’s stories: Greg Abel’s Having A Whale Of A Time At Berkshire Hathaway AI Demand Has TSMC Running A Tight Chip Try Finimize Pro

May and June’s figures were worse than originally reported, too, so the Fed’s job just got a little messier – and crude prices are falling, but refined oil products like diesel and gasoline are staying high. Today’s stories: The US Economy Unexpectedly Lost 23,000 Jobs In July US Oil Refiners Are Feeling Finer Try Finimize Pro

China’s major AI startup warned users that it’s raising prices, giving American AI companies a bit of breathing room – and WPP’s results weren’t quite as bad as everyone thought they’d be, which sent its stock soaring. Today’s stories: DeepSeek’s Upping Its Prices, Signaling A Shift In Strategy Ad Agency WPP Reported Falling Profit – But Investors Rewarded It Anyway Try Finimize Pro

Some of Wall Street’s biggest lenders are refinancing loans linked to AI data centers, as concerns about whether their cost is justified persist – and the S&P 500 is posting some record numbers amid strong earnings, but some worry that US stocks are riding for a fall. Today’s stories: Big Banks Are Offloading Their AI Risk Strong Earnings Propelled The S&P 500 To Record Highs Try Finimize Pro

The region’s major rivers – transport arteries for some of its biggest industries – are hitting record lows, while costs are rising. And Europe’s indexes are on the up, with investors looking for a place to park their money that – for once – isn’t tech. Today’s stories: Severe Drought In Europe Is Wreaking Economic Havoc With Tech Stocks On The Rocks, Investors Took A European Vacation Try Finimize Pro

Chinese tech titan Alibaba is making its latest and greatest model available open-weight, and making a bid for AI dominance – while AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb are reportedly considering joining forces, but it’s proving a bitter pill for investors to swallow. Today’s stories: Alibaba’s Latest Model Might Spell Trouble For American AI Giants This Massive Merger Could Be Biggest Pharma Deal In History Try Finimize Pro

China’s rival to the big-time US model makers will reportedly build its own infrastructure, reducing reliance on others and gaining more control – while higher energy prices are feeding into inflation in Japan and the eurozone, but the real question is how to keep an acute pain from becoming a chronic one. Today’s stories: AI Startup DeepSeek Might Be Building A Massive Data Center With Inflation Mounting, Japan And Europe Are Eyeing Interest Rate Hikes Try Finimize Pro

The two Big Tech companies both opened up their books, but each one had something quite different to say – while the tech sector has been suffering lately, and banks that helped back hedge funds’ bets on it are asking for a bit more assurance. Today’s stories: Apple And Amazon Showed Us What’s In The Box Hedge Funds Are Reeling From Tech Losses – And Their Lenders Are Circling Try Finimize Pro

Microsoft is starting to see some return on its AI investment, with strong results in Wednesday’s second-quarter earnings report – but it was a different story for Meta, and the US Federal Reserve Committee voted 9-3 in favor of holding interest rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75% on Wednesday. Try Finimize Pro

With Europe blanketed by an intense heatwave and buffeted by severe wildfires, the economic toll keeps growing – and German automaker Mercedes-Benz beat expectations last quarter, but it doesn’t have high hopes for the rest of the year. Today’s stories: Wildfires Are Adding Insult To Heat Exhaustion In Europe Mercedes-Benz Thinks Its Sales Will Come In Low For The Year Try Finimize Pro

After CXMT’s shares went through the roof during its debut listing in Shanghai, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron might want to watch their backs – while ChatGPT’s creator wants in on a huge data center being built in Ohio, and the biggest company in the world is reportedly helping. Today’s stories: China’s Big Memory Maker Blasted Off In A Blockbuster Debut Nvidia Might Back OpenAI’s Massive Data Center Deal Try Finimize Pro

America hit its trading partners with new tariffs on Friday, after its global 10% import tax expired – and this year is on track to see more exchange-traded funds listing than ever before, but these new ETFs aren’t your plain-vanilla variety. Today’s stories: The US Is Building A Tariff Wall ETFs Are Being Launched At A Record Rate Try Finimize Pro