Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
🇺🇸 White House hits 80+ countries with new tariffs
📉 Tesla drops 14% after weak earnings
💼 US jobless claims hit lowest since 1969
⚛️ Trump eyes offshore nuclear to power AI
💳 Stripe in talks to buy OpenRouter for $10B
Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 10 corporate news, 💰 8 deal flow, and 📑 4 research & reports.
| 🇺🇸 White House hits 80+ countries with new tariffs LINK |
- The US imposed new country-specific tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 nations, replacing an expired blanket 10% levy and covering 99.4% of all US imports, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Friday.
- China and 37 other countries drew the higher 12.5% rate while 17 face 10%, with the administration citing weak enforcement of forced-labor bans under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act as its legal basis.
- The measures are expected to lift the US effective tariff rate from roughly 11.8% by one to two percentage points, with China's duties set to return to 20% and further overcapacity-linked tariffs anticipated before year-end.
| 📉 Tesla drops 14% after weak earnings LINK |
- Tesla shares fell about 13.5% on Thursday, one of the biggest single-day drops in company history, after quarterly results disappointed investors and left the stock down roughly 27% for the year.
- The automaker earned 31 cents per share versus the 51 cents Wall Street expected, and though revenue beat forecasts, heavy spending on robots and self-driving cars pushed free cashflow to negative $1.1bn, its first shortfall in over two years.
- Tesla's slide made it the worst performer among the "Magnificent Seven," whose combined losses erased $767bn on Thursday, with Alphabet down 6.5% on higher spending, the Nasdaq off more than 2% and the volatility index up to 19.64.
| 💼 US jobless claims hit lowest since 1969 LINK |
- US initial jobless claims dropped to 187,000 in the week ended July 18, their lowest level since 1969, as strong corporate profit margins let companies keep staff on rather than cut jobs.
- The 22,000 weekly decline was the largest in three months, driven by a limited pool of available workers, slow hiring and few layoffs, keeping the four-week average at 207,500.
- Bloomberg Economics said the low-layoff picture, arriving before the Fed's July 28-29 meeting, leaves policymakers focused on inflation rather than employment when weighing their next move.
| ⚛️ Trump eyes offshore nuclear to power AI LINK |
- The Trump administration is studying offshore nuclear power to meet rising electricity demand from Big Tech's AI push, with two federal agencies agreeing this week to coordinate on any future development on the US Outer Continental Shelf.
- The move fits a plan to quadruple US nuclear capacity by 2050, favored because reactors run without emissions and supply constant baseload power that AI data centers need round-the-clock, a demand current battery technology cannot yet reliably meet.
- Companies are positioning for the technology: US startup Bluecore Energy is building floating small modular reactors, and Samsung Heavy Industries signed a deal with Sargent & Lundy to develop one, though the Interior Department flags national-security risks like radar interference.
| 💳 Stripe in talks to buy OpenRouter for $10B LINK |
- Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, an AI startup that connects businesses to multiple AI models, in a deal that could value the company at roughly $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The price marks a steep jump from OpenRouter's $1.3 billion valuation in May, and would push Stripe — valued at $159 billion this year — deeper into AI infrastructure beyond its core payments business, though talks could still fall apart.
- The deal lands as Stripe and partner Advent International pursue a far larger target, a $53 billion bid for PayPal at $60.50 a share, which PayPal's board rejected as too low, leaving the bidders weighing their next move.
🌍 Macro News
- Japan's 40-year bond yield jumped to 4.01% on inflation worries. LINK
- Bond market fully prices in a Fed rate hike this July. LINK
- European natural gas prices hit a four-month high, rallying fourth straight week. LINK
- ECB forecasters trimmed 2026 growth outlook, kept inflation expectations near 2.7%. LINK
- Wise shares fell 6% after US regulators rejected its banking licence. LINK
- ECB survey shows slight easing in securities-financing and derivatives lending terms. LINK
- Japan's core inflation rose to 1.6% in June on higher oil prices. LINK
- SEC to hold September roundtable on shifting to 24-hour equity trading. LINK
- Senate crypto bill unlikely to meet August 7 deadline, Thune admits. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Coinbase now lets businesses accept payments made directly by AI bots. LINK
- Intel shares rose 4% after strong second-quarter revenue beat forecasts. LINK
- Coinbase and Mubadala partner to tokenize a private markets fund stake. LINK
- Uniswap launches Permissioned Pools allowing compliant trading of regulated assets. LINK
- Bitcoin mining pool Poolin files for Chapter 11 with $173 million liabilities. LINK
- Peacock streaming posted its first-ever profit, helped by World Cup viewership. LINK
- AI chip startup Etched raised $300 million at a $10.3 billion valuation. LINK
- Brazil's B3 exchange registers loan backed by tokenized dairy cattle collateral. LINK
- SAP cut its 2026 profit forecast citing AI acquisition costs. LINK
- STMicroelectronics shares fell 15% after weak third-quarter revenue guidance. LINK
📈 Stocks
💰 Deal Flow
- Amkor shares jumped 16% after announcing NVIDIA manufacturing partnership. LINK
- AI 3D-modeling startup Meshy raised nearly $400 million at $1.5 billion valuation. LINK
- Zhibao Technology to issue shares for Bitcoin, ceding board control. LINK
- Empery Digital invests $20 million in data-center developer Cardinal Data Power. LINK
- Tesla lines up $30 billion in debt after negative free cash flow. LINK
- Optus Financial to buy M&F Bancorp, forming major Black-owned bank. LINK
- Nestlé spins off bottled-water brands into joint venture with Platinum Equity. LINK
- HSBC sells Singapore life insurance unit to Allianz for $2.7 billion. LINK
📑 Research & Reports
- Jefferies warns investors are scrutinizing tech firms' AI-driven borrowing risks. LINK
- Study links Japanese banks' dollar funding costs to US loan markets. LINK
- GSMA report warns banning Huawei, ZTE could cost Europe €40 billion. LINK
- UN report says crypto scams stole up to $114 billion in Asia-Pacific. LINK