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Good Afternoon. Markets came in hot Thursday on three colliding catalysts: a stunning Apple-Intel chip alliance, the official signing of the U.S.-Iran peace treaty, and an oil price now back below where it traded before the conflict began.
—Rosie, Wyatt, Evan & Conor
💰 Markets
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🔍 Section Focus
🔥 What’s Hot: 🔥
Semiconductors: It was a banner day for chips. Intel surged about 10% to a new all-time high near $135 on the Apple manufacturing partnership, Micron added more than 5%, and Marvell Technology gained a similar amount. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit a fresh record after sitting 12% below it just six days ago — a remarkable round-trip even by 2026 standards.
🥶 What’s Not: 🥶
Crypto: Bitcoin dipped to around $64,000 and Ethereum mirrored the move as Wednesday's hawkish Fed signals continued to drag on risk assets that depend on cheap money.
The 10 Best AI Stocks to Own in 2026
AI is moving from experiment… to essential.
Every major industry is integrating it.
Every major company is investing in it.
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AI-enabled devices are multiplying.
Automation is becoming standard.
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🇺🇸 U.S. News
1. Trump Says Apple Picks Intel for U.S. Chips — Intel Soars to Record High
The News: President Trump announced on Truth Social Thursday morning that Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture semiconductors inside the United States. The post sent Intel shares up roughly 10% in early trading to about $135 — an all-time high and a ~240% year-to-date gain. The deal validates Intel's 18A-P process node and its commercial foundry strategy, and analysts at Stifel and Bloomberg Intelligence flagged the news as a multi-billion-dollar revenue unlock over the next several years. Apple shares rose only slightly on the news. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit a fresh record on the announcement.
Why It Matters: This is the biggest reshoring win in years and the most material moment yet in Intel's turnaround story. Apple is the most prized customer in semiconductors, and the company has spent more than a year working with Intel to bring chip production back to U.S. soil — partly in response to White House tariff threats on Taiwan-made chips. The federal government's 10% stake in Intel from last year is now worth roughly $60 billion. For Apple, splitting some production away from TSMC reduces supply-chain risk; for Washington, it is the headline policy validation of the year.
What to Watch: Apple's next earnings call and any disclosed supply commitments, Intel's August foundry update for Apple-specific volume guidance, and TSMC's response — Taiwan's largest exporter cannot lose Apple share quietly.
Source: Bloomberg / WSJ / Motley Fool
2. Trump Signs U.S.-Iran Peace Treaty as Hormuz Officially Reopens
The News: President Trump and Vice President Vance formally signed the U.S.-Iran peace treaty at a White House ceremony Thursday, ending the 107-day conflict that began in February. The signing follows last weekend's framework deal in Switzerland and confirms that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened to commercial tanker traffic, with the U.S. Fifth Fleet returning to peacetime patrol patterns. Iranian state media has begun describing the deal as a "comprehensive understanding" rather than a defeat. Brent crude fell to $77.87 a barrel on the news — its lowest level in three months and back below where it traded before the conflict started.
Why It Matters: The energy market's war risk premium has now fully unwound, and the question shifts from "how high?" to "how low?" Lower oil is unambiguously good for American drivers — pump prices could drop another 15-20 cents a gallon in the next month — and it's a meaningful disinflationary force at exactly the moment the new Warsh Fed is talking up hikes. The geopolitical risk does not disappear, of course, but the market has voted: war is over, normal is back.
What to Watch: Strait of Hormuz transit numbers next week (still well below historical averages), any U.S. moves to restart the Strategic Petroleum Reserve refill, and OPEC+'s August meeting — a defensive output cut is increasingly likely if Brent slides toward $70.
Source: PBS / CNBC / Straits Times
3. Apple Plans Higher Prices to Offset Rising Memory and Storage Costs
The News: Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal Thursday that the company plans to raise prices on selected products this fall to offset rising costs of memory and storage chips, which have climbed sharply over the past year on AI server demand. Cook did not specify which products would be affected, but analysts expect iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks with higher RAM configurations to see the steepest increases. The stock added a small gain in response, with most of the day's Apple-related excitement going to Intel.
Why It Matters: This is the first real consumer-level signal of the AI infrastructure boom. The same memory shortage that has powered Micron and SK Hynix to record highs is now reaching the wallets of regular shoppers. For Apple, pricing power is a luxury few competitors share — and the company has historically used it sparingly. The bigger story is the macro one: if Apple is raising prices, expect Samsung, Lenovo, and Dell to follow, and expect goods inflation in the consumer-electronics basket to surprise to the upside in the back half of 2026.
What to Watch: Apple's iPhone 18 launch event in early September for any new pricing tiers, the consumer-electronics component of the August CPI report, and the next quarterly DRAM contract pricing — the leading indicator for tech-sector input costs.
4. Jabil's AI Boom Lifts Earnings, Guidance — Shares Approach a Record
The News: Contract electronics manufacturer Jabil reported a strong fiscal third quarter after the bell Wednesday, with revenue of $8.8 billion (above the $8.6 billion consensus) and core earnings per share of $3.16 (above the $3.10 estimate). The company raised its fiscal-2026 outlook to roughly $35 billion in revenue and $12.70 in core EPS, and now expects AI-related revenue to hit $13.6 billion this fiscal year — a 50% jump from last year. Shares climbed about 10% Thursday to $413, approaching the 52-week high of $429. Stifel raised its price target to $460.
Why It Matters: Jabil is one of those companies most investors don't think about much, but it sits inside almost every AI server you've heard of — assembling boards, cabling, and cooling systems for Nvidia, Dell, HPE, and the hyperscalers. The raised guidance is a clean read-through that demand for AI infrastructure is still accelerating, not plateauing — directly answering the bears who have been calling the AI capex cycle over since spring. The fact that it's coming from a contract manufacturer, not a chip designer, makes the signal less hyped and more credible.
What to Watch: Nvidia's August earnings for AI server demand confirmation, Jabil's Intelligent Infrastructure segment margins (currently 6.1%), and any new hyperscaler customer announcements at the next industry conference.
Source: Nasdaq / MarketBeat / Benzinga
5. Adobe Touches an Eight-Year Low Despite Creative Agent Expansion
The News: Adobe shares slipped further Thursday, briefly touching their lowest level in more than eight years, even as the company announced a major expansion of its AI-powered creative agent across Firefly and the broader Creative Cloud suite. Freedom Broker downgraded the stock to Hold with a $250 price target, joining a chorus of recent analyst cuts citing concerns about pricing power and the threat from AI-native challengers like Canva and Midjourney. The stock is now down roughly 10% over the past week and more than 25% year-to-date.
Why It Matters: Adobe is becoming the case study for "good company, broken stock." Revenue keeps growing and the new AI tools are genuinely useful, but investors are pricing in a future where Photoshop and Illustrator face the same kind of disruption that GitHub Copilot brought to coding tools — and where Adobe's monopoly pricing simply does not hold. Today's bounce in the broader software sector did not extend to Adobe, and that divergence matters more than any single news headline.
What to Watch: Adobe's next earnings call for retention and ARPU detail, any pricing-tier changes for the new AI agent, and competitive moves from Canva (rumored to be filing for an IPO before year-end) and OpenAI's image tools.
Source: Financial News / MarketBeat
Physical AI is coming to agriculture.
Everyone talks about AI software. Few are paying attention to AI machines operating in the real world. Greenfield Robotics is building autonomous machines that remove weeds at commercial scale, targeting one of agriculture's largest recurring costs.
Greenfield Robotics is Testing The Waters under tier 2 of Regulation A. No money or other consideration is being solicited, and if sent in response will not be accepted. No offer to buy the securities can be accepted and no part of the purchase price can be received until the offering statement filed by the company with the SEC has been qualified by the SEC. Any such offer may be withdrawn or revoked, without obligation or commitment of any kind, at any time before notice of acceptance given after the date of qualification. An indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. “Reserving” shares is simply an indication of interest. There is no binding commitment for investors that reserve shares in this manner to ultimately invest and purchase the shares reserved of the company, or to purchase any shares of the company whatsoever.
🌎 World News
6. Bank of England Holds at 3.75% in 7-2 Vote — Two Members Pushed for Hike
The News: The Bank of England held its policy rate steady at 3.75% Thursday in a 7-2 vote, with external member Megan Greene and Chief Economist Huw Pill dissenting in favor of a quarter-point hike to 4%. Governor Andrew Bailey explicitly flagged that risks to inflation remain to the upside but said the recent fall in energy prices is "encouraging." The peak-inflation forecast for Q4 2026 was trimmed to 3.25% from 3.6%. Sterling weakened slightly to about $1.32 — its lowest since early April.
Why It Matters: Bailey is doing his best impression of Powell circa 2023 — sitting on his hands while inflation runs hot and waiting for a clearer picture before moving. The two dissenters are notable because they reflect a hawkish wing that's quietly growing on the committee. The bigger question is whether Britain's economic softness can hold off the inflation impulse from the new Starmer fiscal package later this year. The pound's mild reaction suggests markets don't expect a hike anytime soon, but the door is no longer fully closed.
What to Watch: The BoE's next meeting on July 30 (the new bellwether date for any 2026 hike), Friday's UK retail sales data, and Bailey's comments at the next ECB-BoE policy panel.
Source: Bloomberg / Central Banking / Reuters via MarketScreener
7. Yen Tumbles to a 23-Month Low as Fed-BOJ Gap Widens
The News: The Japanese yen fell to 161 per dollar Thursday — its weakest level since July 2024 and a 23-month low — as the gap between Wednesday's hawkish Fed signals and the still-modest pace of Bank of Japan tightening pushed Japanese investors back into the carry trade. Japan's vice finance minister told reporters Tokyo is prepared to "act at any time" against speculative moves, the standard warning before any intervention. The Nikkei 225 hit a new all-time high earlier in the session before paring gains, helped by exporters benefiting from the weaker currency.
Why It Matters: Yen weakness above 160 is becoming a chronic policy headache for Tokyo. It boosts Japanese exporters and is great for tourism, but it also imports inflation through energy and food and squeezes household purchasing power. The political pressure to defend the currency is real, but actual intervention has become harder to justify when the underlying driver — the U.S.-Japan rate differential — is moving against Japan. Expect verbal pushback first, intervention only if 162-163 breaks decisively.
What to Watch: Any sudden moves in USD/JPY (intervention typically arrives in the Tokyo or London session), the BOJ's next policy meeting in late July, and Japanese inflation data due Friday — a hot reading would intensify the political squeeze.
Source: Nikkei Asia / Straits Times / Japan Times
8. IEA Warns of Massive Global Oil Glut in 2027 — OPEC Pushes Back
The News: The International Energy Agency released its monthly oil report Thursday morning warning of a potential 5 million barrel-per-day surplus in 2027 as supply rebounds from the U.S.-Iran peace deal and U.S. shale producers ramp up. The forecast assumes Iranian exports rise from roughly 1 million barrels per day during the conflict back toward the pre-war 2.5 million, OPEC+ holds current output, and U.S. production grows modestly. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais immediately dismissed the projection as "critical" and unrealistic, calling for output discipline.
Why It Matters: A 5 million barrel-per-day surplus would be one of the largest in modern history and would almost certainly push Brent into the $60s by mid-2027. That would be a meaningful tailwind for inflation-fighting central banks and a serious problem for U.S. shale economics, where the marginal break-even sits in the high-$60s. OPEC's job is now to keep that scenario from playing out, but the cartel's track record of defending prices during glut periods is mixed at best.
What to Watch: The next OPEC+ ministerial in early August, U.S. weekly rig count trends, and any signals from Saudi Arabia or the UAE about defensive output cuts.
Source: CNBC / Seeking Alpha / Khaleej Times
🥸 Dad Joke of the Day
Q: What has four wheels and flies?
A: A garbage truck.
📖 Vocab Word of the Day
Forward Guidance:
A central-bank communication tool — written or spoken — that tells the market what policymakers expect to do with interest rates in the future, even before they actually do it. Think of it as a weather forecast for monetary policy: "We expect to keep rates steady" or "We anticipate hikes ahead" let markets price in moves gradually instead of getting shocked on decision day.
Usage: "By skipping the usual dot-plot detail and shortening the policy statement, the new Warsh Fed is dialing back forward guidance in favor of letting actual data drive the conversation — a sharp break from the Powell era."
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