• Stocks: Investors turned their attention to the US debut of SK Hynix (more on that later), propelling the rest of the market higher as they bought back into the AI trade. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq managed to eke out a positive week following several days of choppy trading.
• Commodities: With negotiations between the US and Iran continuing despite the recent escalation, oil prices continued to sink slowly but surely.

Finance

Shannon May, Photos: Adobe Stock

For any rising juniors still hunting for a banking internship after missing the bulge-bracket recruiting window, Circle may have an opening: The stablecoin issuer just got the OCC’s approval to operate as Circle National Trust Bank, officially joining the banking club. Well, sort of.

The charter doesn’t let Circle operate like a traditional bank—it still can’t take deposits or make loans. But it does let the company directly manage the reserves backing its USDC stablecoin, reducing its reliance on third-party banks and custodians. It also brings Circle under a single federal banking regulator instead of navigating a patchwork of state-by-state rules, simplifying compliance as it expands.

Shares rose 4.99% on the news.

Banking backlash

Today’s approval gives crypto a much bigger foothold in the traditional financial system—and big banks aren’t thrilled. Stablecoins compete with one of banks’ most valuable assets: deposits. Banks use those deposits to fund loans and generate profits. But if consumers increasingly park their cash in stablecoins instead, banks have less money to lend and less interest income to earn.

That threat becomes even greater if stablecoins can pay users interest, a question currently at the center of the CLARITY Act. While the bill would ban stablecoin issuers from paying a yield, banks argue the ambiguous legal language leaves a loophole by allowing crypto companies to offer rewards through loyalty or membership programs instead. If stablecoins effectively become interest-bearing cash alternatives, consumer, small-business, and farm lending could fall by more than 20%, while community bank lending alone could drop by as much as $850 billion, banks warned.

It’s also why traditional financial firms are increasingly embracing similar technology themselves. The largest US banks are planning to launch a tokenized deposit network next year, while firms like Citigroup and BNY have already disclosed live deployments on their own blockchain-based platforms.

The next act

For crypto companies, though, today’s approval is a much-needed win. Bitcoin, the industry’s poster child, is down 27% this year as enthusiasm for crypto has faded, with investors piling into AI and other technology stocks instead.

And Circle may not be alone for long. The OCC has received applications from Coinbase, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple, and Paxos, suggesting more crypto firms could soon enter the banking system.

Investors will now turn back to Washington, where a new CLARITY Act draft could emerge as soon as next week. Now that Circle has its charter, it needs Congress to make the rules of the road ahead a little less circular.—SY

      

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Stocks

🟢 What’s up

• Meta Platforms rose 5.97% on a Bank of America report that AI infrastructure costs could come in below Wall Street forecasts.
• WD-40 gained 10.65% as strong demand for its flagship lubricant helped the company beat earnings expectations.
• Vodafone Group jumped 12.54% after French billionaire Xavier Niel disclosed a 16% stake, becoming the company’s largest shareholder.
• Seagate Technology climbed 2.28% following a Wells Fargo upgrade that cited a more attractive valuation after the recent pullback.
• Solaris Energy Infrastructure surged 4.85% on news it will join the S&P SmallCap 600 index on July 15.

🔴 What’s down

• Netflix fell 2.78% after reporting it’s exploring live TV channels and streaming bundles to boost engagement.
• Delta Air Lines slipped 1.81% as investors looked past an earnings beat and focused on the company’s pricing outlook.
• Moderna tumbled 10.83% after JPMorgan reiterated its Sell rating, arguing investors have already priced in the potential success of its personalized cancer vaccine with Merck.
• Energy and infrastructure developer Fermi dropped 9.97% after expanding its convertible senior notes offering to $375 million.

Stock of the day

Thanks for the memory (stocks)

Shannon May, Photos: Adobe Stock

Carrying the fate of the entire AI trade on its shoulders is no easy task, but SK Hynix seems up to the challenge.

The South Korean memory chip maker enjoyed a strong US debut on the Nasdaq today, with its American depository receipts popping 12.76% in the largest ADR offering in market history. That should help the company raise an estimated $26.51 billion, money it can use to build out its manufacturing capacity and better compete with domestic rival Samsung and US challenger Micron.

In fact, SK Hynix’s US debut gives it an advantage over Samsung, which only trades in South Korea—making its shares available to the massive American market could help SK Hynix draw in more investor attention and money. Meanwhile, SK Hynix trades at a cheaper valuation than Micron while commanding a larger portion of the dynamic random-access memory market.

None of that matters if investors come to believe that the roaring memory stock run is ready to end. Memory manufacturers have buoyed the rest of the AI trade (and therefore the rest of the stock market) this year, though the rally has fizzled lately as investors rotate out of tech and into safer options. But today’s successful debut proves that investors haven’t forgotten how much they love memory stocks.—MR

Investing

Shannon May, Photo: Adobe Stock

Step aside Mag 7, the little guys are taking over the market.

While shares of the biggest stocks on the market have failed to impress in 2026, their smaller peers have had a banner year: Small-cap stocks just wrapped up the best first half of a year since 1991. The Russell 2000 has rocketed to a 19.16% gain this year, lapping the S&P 500’s 10.66% climb.

Whereas once investors focused their money on a handful of mega-cap hyperscalers, their search for stronger returns has taken them further afield. That’s brought new attention (and money) to smaller companies in areas such as quantum computing, nuclear energy, and of course, AI. It’s been particularly lucrative for semiconductor and semiconductor equipment companies, which accounted for five of the 10 best-performing stocks on the Russell 2000 through the end of June.

Small steps forward

While everyone loves an underdog, the good times for small-cap stocks may not last forever.

The Russell 2000, at least, might not be able to keep up the pace. Every June the index is rebalanced, with the stocks that have outgrown their small-cap status pushed over to large-cap focused Russell 1000. This year, 43 stocks made the leap from 2000 to 1000, and considering those were the best-performing stocks of the bunch, the Russell 2000 will likely lose some steam in the second half of the year.

But the biggest problem is interest rates: Given higher inflation in the face of higher oil prices, most of Wall Street is pretty sure the Fed will raise interest rates at least once, and maybe even three times, this year. Higher interest rates hurt smaller companies in particular since they tend to rely more heavily on borrowing than their larger competitors.

Still, for now at least, it’s nice to see the little guys get a win.—MR

      

News

• In a good sign that the AI trade will soon turn around, tech execs are purchasing their own stocks at record rates.
• President Trump will not sign a new housing affordability bill today, but it’s about to become a law anyway.
• At least now you can feel better about your buy-now, pay-later addiction: The US Treasury has borrowed $155 billion every month of this fiscal year.
• Hollywood is in a rush to find the next Backrooms-style hit, and it’s turning content creators into millionaires.
• JPMorgan has built AI agents capable of outperforming the traditional 60/40 portfolio.
• Meet the private chefs making $300,000 per year catering to the fabulously wealthy.
• The negotiation deadlock for the Strait of Hormuz all comes down to this one clause.

Calendar

Monday: A quiet day to start what some on Wall Street believe to be the most important stretch of the year for the stock market.

Tuesday: It’s a big day across the board. First, we’ve got a slew of bank earnings from the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup to kick off the new season. Then, we’ll get a look at the state of inflation with the June CPI reading.

Wednesday: The hits keep coming with numbers from ASML, Johnson & Johnson, Morgan Stanley, Blackrock, Progressive, and Bank of New York Mellon. It’s worth watching June PPI as well.

Thursday: An absolutely ridiculous day of economic reports, featuring US July NAHB housing market index, New York Fed services business activity, Philadelphia Fed business outlook, June retail sales, pending home sales, May business inventories, and of course, initial jobless claims. As for earnings, we’ve got TSMC, UnitedHealth, General Electric, Netflix, Abbott, Intuitive Surgical, Prologis, State Street, United Airlines, ConAgra Foods, Cintas, and Alcoa.

Friday: Reports include the import & export price indexes, housing starts and building permits, plus the July University of Michigan consumer survey end the week with a bang. We’ve also got numbers from Travelers Co, Truist Financial, Regions Financial, and Fifth Third Bank.

recs

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