Wall Street’s biggest banks are proving that even geopolitical uncertainty and volatile markets can be highly profitable when trading desks stay busy and artificial intelligence fuels an unprecedented wave of capital raising. The six largest US banks generated a combined $55 billion in second-quarter profits, comfortably exceeding analysts’ expectations as market volatility, record AI-related fundraising
Andy Burnham will enter Downing Street on Monday with a promise that has eluded successive British prime ministers for more than a decade: reviving economic growth. But unlike his predecessors, Burnham is betting that the answer does not lie in Whitehall. Instead, the incoming Labour leader is proposing a sweeping transfer of power to Britain’s
As the second-quarter earnings season of 2026 approaches its most critical stretch, the global equity market finds itself at a pivotal crossroads. For over two years, a relentless, AI-driven bull run has propelled mega-cap technology valuations to historically elevated levels. However, the narrative on trading desks has undergone a fundamental shift. The era of rewarding
London’s FTSE 100 was little changed on Friday as gains in energy stocks, supported by higher oil prices following escalating tensions in the Middle East, offset weakness in financial shares. Investors also monitored political developments after Andy Burnham was confirmed as the UK’s next prime minister, with his term set to begin on July 20.
Bitcoin remained under pressure on Friday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and weakening institutional demand combined to keep the world’s largest cryptocurrency below key technical resistance. While the broader crypto market has shown resilience in recent months, the latest price action suggests traders are becoming increasingly cautious as macroeconomic uncertainty grows. At the
For investors seeking to pare exposure to the artificial intelligence (AI) trade amid boom-induced volatility, shifting capital toward overlooked equities offers a compelling strategic alternative. Market participants are increasingly adopting a “defensive posture” against a possible downturn – pivoting to segments where high-quality operators with solid fundamentals have fallen out of favor leading to unwarranted
Top neocloud stocks are in a freefall, erasing billions of dollars in value as concerns about AI spending emerge. IREN stock dropped to $33.61, its lowest level since April 7, and 52% below its highest point this year. Its valuation has fallen from $24 billion to $12.4 billion. CoreWeave, the biggest player in the industry,
Cardano is heading into one of its most closely watched network events in years. The Van Rossem hard fork is scheduled to go live tomorrow, putting ADA in the spotlight as traders assess whether the upgrade can provide enough momentum to reverse the token’s recent weakness. https://twitter.com/IntersectMBO/status/2077336130471485686?s=20 While the technical picture for Cardano’s token remains
Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on Friday as investors continued to pull back from semiconductor stocks, extending a broader reassessment of the artificial intelligence-driven rally that had powered markets to record highs earlier this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 486 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.1%. The Nasdaq
Gold prices remained below the $4,000-an-ounce mark on Friday, with the precious metal struggling to attract meaningful safe-haven demand despite persistent uncertainty in the US housing sector. Although construction activity rebounded sharply in June after a weak performance in May, the broader housing market continued to show signs of weakness that could weigh on economic