Silicon Valley... truly hardwired?

BEFORE THE OPEN

Markets:

• S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures dip 0.19% and 0.39% Tuesday night; Dow futures were relatively steady.

• Dow registers its first positive session in seven on Tuesday, closing 0.63% higher.

• S&P 500 and Nasdaq jump over 1% each, propelled by tech stock resurgence.

• Nasdaq set to close best first half in 40 years on AI optimism; S&P 500 and Nasdaq year-to-date up by 14% and 29%.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell set to speak Wednesday morning at ECB Forum, watchful markets seek economic policy hints.

• Powell joined by BOE's Bailey, ECB's Lagarde, and BOJ's Ueda.

• Markets anticipate Powell's view on future rate increases to tackle inflation.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Today: General Mills (GIS), Micron (MU)

• Thursday: Acuity Brands (AYI), McCormick (MKC), Nike (NKE), Rite Aid (RAD)

• Friday: Constellation Brands (STZ)

• Full calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

• Russia’s FSB ends probe into Wagner group’s armed insurrection Hours after Putin accuses them of betrayal (more)

• US dollar to maintain dominance over next decade, say central banks (more)

• U.S. consumer confidence approaches 1-1/2-year high in June (more)

• China's Baidu claims Ernie AI chatbot outperforms OpenAI's ChatGPT in key areas (more)

• Google violated its atandards in ad deals, research finds (more)

• Ford plans to lay off at least 1,000 contract and salaried workers (more)

• Bank of America to expand in four US states, closing gap with JPMorgan (more)

• Delta lifts profit forecast thanks to strong demand and premium tickets (more)

• Citi raises Meta price target to highest on Wall Street, cites strong Reels ads (more)

• Y Combinator’s latest batch Is 35% AI startups (more)

• New York is buying a supercomputer to understand and regulate AI (more)

• Amazon’s driverless robotaxis take to Las Vegas streets (more)

• Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy, sues Foxconn over $170 million funding deal (more)

• Costco begins cracking down on membership sharing (more)

• In the war over remote work, companies are turning full-time jobs into low-paying gigs (more)

• Google cuts jobs at Waze as it continues to merge mapping products (more)

• UBS preparing to cut over half of Credit Suisse workforce (more)

• Ryan Seacrest to succeed Pat Sajak as ‘Wheel of Fortune’ host (more)

DEALFLOW

• UBS completes Credit Suisse takeover to become wealth management behemoth (more)

• Brookfield values American Equity at $4.3 bln in takeover offer (more)

• PE firm Creador to buy 40% stake in Malaysia's Pet World International (more)

• Jalen Hurts signs deal with Keurig Dr Pepper-Backed Energy Drink (more)

• Gusto reaches $500M in trailing revenue, teams up with Remote to support international hires (more)

• Morgan Stanley-backed Durango to explore $1 billion sale (more)

• Faraday Future investors commit $90 million in funding (more)

• Socure acquires Berbix for approx. $70M (more)

CRYPTO

• BTC price metric warns that Bitcoin speculators may sell past $33K (more)

• Nevada files to place crypto custodian Prime Trust into receivership (more)

• Crypto exchange OKX goes live with ‘Nitro Spreads,’ allowing one-click basis trading (more)

• ADA, SOL underperform as Robinhood gets set to delist them amid SEC crackdown (more)

• Riot platforms to add 33,000 Bitcoin miners ahead of 2024 halving (more)

SHARES

That’s a wrap! Stay safe out there and see you tomorrow… -mb