Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
🔍 Google says EU rules will worsen its search
🛢️ Oil tops $100 after US strikes Iran tankers
🤝 Amazon taps Qualcomm for custom AI chips
💳 Visa's stablecoin settlement tops $20B
✈️ GE Aerospace deal targets engine parts bottleneck
Plus: 🌍 10 macro news, 🏢 10 corporate news, and 📑 6 research & reports.
| 🔍 Google says EU rules will worsen its search LINK |
- Google says new EU-mandated changes to its European search results, rolled out yesterday to satisfy antitrust regulators, mark the biggest quality drop in the engine's 29-year history and will favor price-comparison sites like Expedia and Booking.com.
- The overhaul stems from a $534 million fine the European Commission levied in July for Google favoring its own shopping, hotel and transport results, with 60 days to comply or face periodic penalties of up to 5% of global turnover.
- Google, which will now rank specialized search engines above listings for hotels, airlines and restaurants that lose features like real-time prices, says earlier compliance moves cut free direct booking traffic to European businesses by 30%.
| 🛢️ Oil tops $100 after US strikes Iran tankers LINK |
- Brent crude climbed 2.25% to $100.12 a barrel today, its highest since July 24, after US forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, dimming hopes for US-Iran talks and a swift return to normal supply.
- The rally followed US Central Command's strikes on five Iranian crude carriers in the Gulf of Oman and near Kharg Island, with Iran and its Houthi allies targeting energy sites in the region, including Saudi Arabia yesterday.
- WTI, the US benchmark, rose 1.80% to $94.67, as ING strategists said markets will keep pricing in a sizeable risk premium given how far the two sides remain from restarting negotiations.
| 🤝 Amazon taps Qualcomm for custom AI chips LINK |
- Qualcomm has struck a partnership with Amazon Web Services to co-develop several generations of custom chips for Amazon's AI data centers, marking its deeper push into the market dominated by Nvidia and AMD.
- Under the deal, the chips will target AI inference and use Qualcomm's optical links inside Amazon's data centers, while Amazon received a warrant to buy 25 million Qualcomm shares at $161.26 each, vesting as it purchases Qualcomm's server chips.
- The agreement follows Qualcomm's earlier tie-up with Meta and its Modular acquisition, and comes as quarterly revenue slipped 4% to $9.95 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.21 a share missed estimates by a penny.
| 💳 Visa's stablecoin settlement tops $20B LINK |
- Visa said its stablecoin settlement volume has passed a $20 billion annualized pace, more than 15 times higher than a year earlier, as digital-dollar-linked card programs multiply across its network.
- More than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were live globally in Visa's fiscal second quarter, with payment volume on them up nearly 200% year over year, though issuers now face daily funding needs before cardholders pay.
- To ease that squeeze, a Credit Coop credit line backed by settlement receivables has cut borrowing costs up to 30%, financing over $2.5 billion since 2023 and helping travel card issuer Karta raise $140 million in June.
| ✈️ GE Aerospace deal targets engine parts bottleneck LINK |
- GE Aerospace is buying casting manufacturer Consolidated Precision Products for $11.75 billion, its largest deal since splitting from General Electric, aiming to expand supply of precision-cast turbine and jet engine blades that have become a production bottleneck.
- The price values CPP at roughly 26 times projected 2027 earnings before interest, taxes and one-off items, dropping to 18 times with expected cost savings; GE will fund it with cash and debt, and shares slipped 0.6% in premarket trading.
- The deal follows Elon Musk's remarks that turbine blade casting is a critical constraint for AI data center power, and GE is betting demand will outstrip supply, keeping CPP's third-party clients rather than restricting rivals' access.
🌍 Macro News
- US will ban Canadian dairy, most alcohol and motorcycles within three weeks. LINK
- China imposed tariffs up to 99.2% on Japanese chip-chemical imports. LINK
- China's factory-gate prices rose 3.8%, beating forecasts, while consumer inflation matched estimates. LINK
- UK borrowing costs hit their highest since 1998 for 30-year debt. LINK
- US agencies accuse Chinese AI firms of industrial-scale knowledge theft. LINK
- European gas prices reached their highest since the energy crisis amid supply concerns. LINK
- Market firms urge EU to raise proposed €100 billion blockchain trading cap. LINK
- Treasury sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines and other entities, widening economic pressure. LINK
- India warned 15 offshore crypto platforms over anti-money-laundering violations. LINK
- US-Saudi nuclear deal cleared a Vienna step granting watchdog monitoring powers. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Block applied for a trust-bank charter to custody digital assets. LINK
- Google plans €13 billion Finnish AI data-center investment through 2028. LINK
- Cognition raised $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation for coding AI. LINK
- Chime will buy Stride Bank for $590 million, gaining its charter. LINK
- Robinhood will invest in Crypto.com and OG.com while outsourcing bet settlement. LINK
- Circle will acquire Tazapay for $400 million in stock. LINK
- DOJ deepened scrutiny of Fox's $22 billion Roku acquisition. LINK
- Huawei faces trial in New York over fraud and trade-secret charges. LINK
- Stoke Space raised $1 billion to develop larger reusable rockets. LINK
- NextEra secured $1.9 billion loan to restart Iowa's Duane Arnold reactor. LINK
📈 Stocks
| ▲ Biggest winners |
| Lumentum Holdings rose 11% after announcing stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and guidance. LINK |
| Bloom Energy rose 10% after JP Morgan raised its price target to $346 from $267. LINK |
| Intel rose 9% after Bloomberg reported Apple held exploratory discussions with Intel about producing main processors for its devices. LINK |
| ▼ Biggest losers |
| Expedia Group fell 8% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight. LINK |
| Shopify fell 8% after the company predicted growth slowdown. LINK |
| Gartner fell 7% after third-quarter 2025 results showed operating margin plunged to 5.7% from 16.6% and free cash flow margin dropped to 17.6% from 38.1%. LINK |
📑 Research & Reports
- Job sentiment improved while financial pessimism deepened; inflation expectations stayed unchanged. LINK
- BIS began testing Ripple's XRP Ledger for verifying official data. LINK
- Morgan Stanley sees India's growth upcycle, forecasting Sensex 89,000 by June 2027. LINK
- UBS says global exports are 19% above last year's levels. LINK
- Deutsche Bank says bond selloff reflects higher-rate normalization, not fiscal crisis. LINK
- UBS expects Fed to raise rates in September and December. LINK