The Finimize Daily Brief

Apple’s plotting its AI comeback, with an ambitious new lineup of in-home smart tech, while Bullish’s stock more than doubled on its IPO day… but the clue was in its name the whole time.

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AI startup Perplexity made a $34.5 billion swing for Chrome, registering its interest in the browser just as Alphabet may be forced to sell – while the IEA predicted that oil supply will greatly outstrip demand next year, and the price of Brent crude slipped even lower.

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Fund managers are moving toward emerging market stocks, with a record share of them calling US ones prohibitively pricey, while the US and China extended their time-out by another 90 days, but the resulting lower levies will still cost American firms.

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Nvidia and AMD will be allowed to sell chips in China – but they’ll be paying the US government for the privilege – while investors piled into lithium and related stocks after news broke of a major mining shutdown.

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The US president just let 401(k) plans invest in crypto, real estate, and private equity – and if you’re aiming to spend your golden years on a yacht, this could be sink or swim – while Meta teed up another massive AI investment, choosing Pimco and Blue Owl Capital to help finance a $29 billion data center buildout.

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The US president will stamp a 100% tariff rate on the world’s chipmakers… unless they pledge allegiance to the flag, while SoftBank shot the lights out last quarter, and the Japanese tech investor largely has AI to thank.

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The US president ousted America’s chief number‑cruncher – and now investors fear the math might start taking sides – while OpenAI has a tactic to keep staff from straying to Meta… and the ChatGPT-creator might snag a $500 billion valuation in the process.

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SoftBank placed huge bets on AI earlier in the year – and they’ve come good since – while Aramco ramped up its oil production, but the Saudi-owned firm’s profit still wouldn’t budge.

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Sales fell at luxury brands LVMH, Prada, and Moncler, as currency swings encouraged foreign shoppers to keep their wallets closed, while the US president is expected to make two very important hires this week – and they could help make or break the American economy.

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American investors paid a record premium for TSMC’s US-listed shares, while Goldman Sachs issued a warning about “speculative” trading, and Switzerland, Canada, and Taiwan were handed steep tariffs after America’s deal-making deadline passed them by.

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Apple and Amazon both slammed down better-than-expected results for last quarter – but their forecasts for this one weren’t quite as reassuring – and with America’s August 1st tariff deadline fast approaching, countries rushed to strike last-minute trade deals.

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Stockpicking hedge funds are finally seeing results – and, after years of rejection, investors are giving them another chance, while Anthropic’s latest funding round could cement its place among the world’s most valuable startups.

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Investment management firm Fidelity read gold’s tarot cards – and they were full of fortune – while German software startup n8n could fetch a $1.5 billion valuation in its latest funding round.

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The US and the European Union struck a last-minute trade deal, but one side probably walked away with a little more pep in its step than the other, while Samsung landed its biggest-ever chipmaking deal, signing a Texas-sized contract with Tesla.

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Volkswagen was forced to hit the proverbial brakes, downgrading its profit forecast in line with the impact from tariffs, while Chinese investors pushed a record-breaking wad of cash into Hong Kong’s markets.

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Deutsche Bank reported its best second-quarter profit in nearly two decades, and investors rewarded the lender’s hard work, while Blackstone made 25% more profit last quarter than the same time last year – a testament to the private equity firm’s new strategies.

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Retail investors selected the next moonshot stocks – and then sent them to space themselves – while the US and Japan struck a trade deal, spurred on by the promise of a $550 billion investment.

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 celebrated record highs on Monday, while South Korea’s FuriosaAI just won a chip contract with LG – which might make Nvidia look over its shoulder for once.

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The Federal Reserve is refusing to cut interest rates, despite peer pressure from other central banks and the US president, while the London Stock Exchange might start letting traders pull all-nighters.

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The crypto industry hit a new milestone, as US lawmakers approved the first major piece of crypto legislation, while China’s carmakers are flooding foreign markets with cheap EVs, driving global rivals into a pricing panic.

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AI startup Anthropic isn’t actively raising cash – but with chatbot Claude growing like crazy, investors are throwing money at it anyway – chipmaker TSMC revealed a record profit and raised its forecast, even while warning about two key risks.

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ASML beat expectations for now – but with next year looking less sunny than the chipmaking firm originally thought, investors ditched its stock – while America’s biggest rare earth producer just landed a major government contract – and it’s aiming to loosen China’s grip on the global supply chain.

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Meta’s forged a plan to build AI megastructures so big that they’ll make New York City look small, while JPMorgan and Citigroup made a mint in trading, but both banks’ CEOs seemed more reserved than elated.

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Elon Musk is using SpaceX’s rocket cash to fuel his AI goals, with a $2 billion bet on xAI, while the EU’s prepping for a tariff breakup with the US – and lining up rebound trade partners just in case.

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Bitcoin flew to new highs, topping $118,000 as traders piled in ahead of US “Crypto Week”, while the president threatened new tariffs – adding to a growing list of surprise taxes.

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TSMC had another record-breaking quarter, soothing investors’ nerves and proving that chip demand is still red-hot, while Revolut’s in talks to raise $1 billion from investors – a funding round that would value the fintech at $65 billion.

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The US president threatened to slap a 50% import tax on copper, sparking a buying frenzy that sent the metal’s price to a record high, while China's factory prices fell by the most in nearly two years, deepening deflation worries.

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Samsung forecast its worst quarterly performance in a year and a half, while Amazon’s Prime Day might be full of prime cuts – and we’re not talking about steaks.

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The US president extended his tariff truce – but warned trade partners backing “anti-American policies” that they could be next in line for extra duties – while Hong Kong became the world’s busiest IPO market, after Chinese firms ditched the mainland and the US.

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The US economy was takin’ care of business in June, creating a lot more jobs than expected, while OpenAI signed a $30 billion-a-year deal with Oracle.

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The US set a trade deadline and told Japan to shake hands or face a tariff shakedown, while a Chinese tech brand released the world’s thinnest foldable phone, showing Samsung what’s what.

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Robinhood’s stock broke its own record, after the platform unveiled tokens for OpenAI and SpaceX, and Apple’s considering swapping in-house AI projects for deals with OpenAI or Anthropic.

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China just approved a local drugmaker’s weight-loss medicine, effectively ending Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s two-horse race, while US utility firms are set to make record infrastructure investments – but Big Tech may still go entirely off-grid.

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The US and China signed a deal to make rare earth minerals… well, a little less rare – while Xiaomi’s decision to branch out from smartphones to smart cars continued to pay off.

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Nvidia’s stock notched a record high for the first time since January, giving the chipmaker back the title of “world’s most valuable company”, while crypto could soon be used to qualify for federal home loans, with US housing regulators moving toward recognizing digital assets like bitcoin.

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Carmakers are driving off without Apple’s CarPlay upgrade, choosing to stick with in-house dashboard software instead - while Novo Nordisk dumped telehealth platform Hims & Hers over  weight-loss drugs, and heartbroken investors sent both stocks down.

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The UK wants to bring Google to heel, using new rules that could force the tech giant to make big changes, while crypto platform Circle’s stock fell on Tuesday after surging 750% – and now the hype around stablecoins is being brought into question.

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Tesla rolled out robotaxis in Texas, and investors whipped the firm’s stock higher, while America’s housing market showed a flicker of light – but it’ll need more gusto to properly brighten up again.

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SoftBank’s dreaming up a trillion-dollar AI empire in the desert, for an industry that’s already feeling all kinds of heat, while Pop Mart’s creepy-cute Labubu dolls have sparked a global craze – and with shares up sixfold, the $20 toy is delivering luxury-level returns.

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Big firms like Microsoft and Amazon are cutting office jobs faster than you can say “artificial intelligence” – and, up against economy-busting deflation, Switzerland cut interest rates to a flat zero: zilch, nil, nada.

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