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Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter: 🛢️ Oil jumps 4% as US-Iran strikes threaten Hormuz 🍎 Apple sues OpenAI over stolen hardware secrets 🏭 TSMC posts record quarterly revenue on AI demand 🇦🇪 US eases chip export curbs on UAE 🏦 Circle wins US trust bank charter and stock jumps 13% Plus: 🌍 9 macro news, 🏢 7 corporate news, 💰 7 deal flow, and 📑 5 research & reports.
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📊 Before The Bell
 | Change over the last 24 hours · as of Jul 13, 2026, 5:43 AM ET |
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Give everyone an AI coworker in Slack
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📰 Top News
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🛢️ Oil jumps 4% as US-Iran strikes threaten Hormuz
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- Oil climbed roughly 4% after US airstrikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation revived fears over the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude up 3.9% to $78.96 a barrel and US benchmark crude rising 4% to $74.26.
- Prices had recently sunk back to pre-war levels after an interim truce reopened Hormuz shipping, but fresh US strikes over an Iranian attack that set a container ship ablaze reversed that calm and reignited energy-cost concerns.
- The renewed conflict pressured stocks and clouded the inflation outlook, as pricier oil could push the Fed and other central banks toward higher rates; S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% and Seoul's Kospi dropped 5.6%.
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🍎 Apple sues OpenAI over stolen hardware secrets
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- Apple has sued OpenAI and its hardware chief for trade-secret theft, alleging a coordinated effort to obtain confidential details on unreleased products as the AI firm builds its own hardware line ahead of a planned IPO in coming months.
- The suit says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, including hardware chief Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu, who allegedly downloaded dozens of confidential files on unreleased products before leaving; Apple wants OpenAI to destroy the materials and redesign products.
- The two firms were recent partners on Siri and Apple Intelligence, but tension grew after OpenAI hired designer Jony Ive and bought his device startup io Products for $6.5 billion, positioning both to compete for a post-smartphone AI hardware market.
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🏭 TSMC posts record quarterly revenue on AI demand
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- TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said June sales jumped 67.9% from a year earlier, driven by demand for artificial intelligence chips, ahead of its second-quarter earnings due Thursday, July 16.
- First-half 2026 revenue reached NT$2.4 trillion ($74.99 billion), up 35.6% from the same period in 2025, while June alone brought in NT$442.68 billion, a 6.2% rise from May.
- The company, which held a 73% share of the global chip-manufacturing-for-clients market in early 2026, counts Nvidia, Apple and AMD as key customers and plans two additional advanced chip-packaging plants in southern Taiwan.
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🇦🇪 US eases chip export curbs on UAE
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- The U.S. Commerce Department will loosen chip export controls on the UAE, pledging to "favorably review" license applications from state-backed investment firm MGX for semiconductors and servers, in a rule set to publish July 14.
- The change grants the UAE government, AI group G42 and its Core42 cloud unit license-free access to some advanced computing gear, and streamlines equipment used by Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI in UAE data centers.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren called the rule "corrupt," noting MGX used USD1, a stablecoin from Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial, for its $2 billion Binance investment, and citing a $263 million windfall to Trump; the rule shows no evidence those dealings influenced Commerce.
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🏦 Circle wins US trust bank charter and stock jumps 13%
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- Circle Internet Group shares jumped 13.17% in pre-market trading to $71.25, rebounding from the prior close of $63.01, after US regulator the OCC granted final approval for it to run a national trust bank.
- The charter lets Circle launch a federally supervised entity, branded Circle National Trust, focused solely on safekeeping digital assets for institutions rather than taking consumer deposits or lending, initially serving Circle and its affiliates.
- Circle plans to eventually bring oversight of its USDC stablecoin reserves under the trust bank, a move that could give regulators clearer visibility as lawmakers worldwide develop stablecoin rules; rivals including Ripple, Coinbase and Paxos are seeking similar charters.
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🌍 Macro News
- A four-year ban on a Federal Reserve digital dollar takes effect Saturday. LINK
- UK regulators will now oversee four major cloud providers to banks starting Monday. LINK
- IMF cuts 2026 global growth forecast again, now projecting just 3 percent. LINK
- Japan may let its $1.8 trillion pension fund raise private-market holdings toward 5%. LINK
- US Treasury borrows $155 billion monthly, paying $23.8 billion weekly in debt interest. LINK
- Analysts warn a forming super El Niño could trigger a severe food price shock. LINK
- US senators reach deal with Trump administration to advance updated Russia sanctions legislation. LINK
- China temporarily bans helium exports to protect chipmakers amid Iran war disruptions. LINK
- European intelligence report calls Russia's economy an illusion propped up by debt. LINK
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Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (“EnergyX”) has engaged Beehiiv to publish this communication in connection with EnergyX’s ongoing Regulation A offering. Beehiiv has been paid in cash and may receive additional compensation. Beehiiv and/or its affiliates do not currently hold securities of EnergyX.
This compensation and any current or future ownership interest could create a conflict of interest. Please consider this disclosure alongside EnergyX’s offering materials. EnergyX’s Regulation A offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers and sales may be made only by means of the qualified offering circular. Before investing, carefully review the offering circular, including the risk factors. The offering circular is available at invest.energyx.com/.
Comparisons to other companies are for informational purposes only and should not imply similar results. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Market shortfall are forward‑looking estimates and are subject to substantial uncertainty.
🏢 Corporate News
- EU warns Meta to remove engagement-boosting features or face major DSA fine. LINK
- SK Hynix shares dropped 13.2% in Seoul, a day after its Nasdaq debut. LINK
- Volkswagen will cut its model range in half and shrink production capacity. LINK
- Empery Digital sold 1,400 bitcoins for $87.1 million to fund AI infrastructure. LINK
- Anthropic and Airbnb are expanding in New York despite billionaires' warnings. LINK
- Alphabet shares slipped as Google doubles its Austria data center investment past €1 billion. LINK
- Wall Street's AI trade is shifting from big spending hype to scrutinizing returns. LINK
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📈 Stocks
| ▲ Biggest winners | | KB Financial Group Inc rose 7% after SK Hynix shares plunged 15% in Seoul, triggering profit-taking across Korean financials. LINK | | Meta Platforms, Inc. rose 6% on Meta Compute, a plan to rent AI infrastructure to external customers. LINK | | Vodafone Group Plc rose 13% after announcing a $2.5 billion sale of its Italian operations to Swisscom. LINK | | Cerebras Systems Inc. rose 8% as CEO Andrew Feldman said AI chip demand remains 'almost unlimited' despite enterprise cost-cutting. LINK |
| ▼ Biggest losers | | Moderna, Inc. fell 11% after CFO Jorge Gomez disclosed planned stock sales and Piper Sandler cut its price target. LINK | | Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. fell 9% after reporting a wider-than-expected Q2 loss and pausing enrollment in a pulmonary disease trial. LINK | | DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc. fell 7% after Q2 revenue guidance fell short of analyst estimates. LINK | | Okta, Inc. fell 7% after billings growth slowed to 9% in Q2, missing the 15% consensus estimate. LINK |
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📑 Research & Reports
- HORAN's investor letter tracks a volatile year from an oil shock to a record rebound. LINK
- Guggenheim survey finds most firms use AI agents, but job cuts remain modest. LINK
- Goldman Sachs expects AI to push up US inflation more than elsewhere. LINK
- Jefferies' Christopher Wood turns bullish on India and China amid AI fatigue. LINK
- Most banks rate instant B2B payments' return on investment as high, survey finds. LINK
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💰 Deal Flow
- German startup Helsing raised $1.8 billion, reaching an $18 billion valuation. LINK
- Quantum startup Oratomic raised $300 million betting on far fewer qubits than rivals. LINK
- Ollama raised $65 million as its AI tool nears 8.9 million monthly users. LINK
- Israeli fintech deals this week spanned AI, cross-border payments, and Mastercard partnerships. LINK
- Bitdeer broke ground on its first US mining rig factory in Nevada. LINK
- NextEra Energy proposed a $67 billion merger with Dominion Energy to form a giant utility. LINK
- Vinod Khosla agreed to buy the Seattle Seahawks for $9.612 billion. LINK
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📅 Market Calendar
 | Earnings · Economic events |
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