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Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter: 🛢️ Oil jumps 7% after Trump declares Iran ceasefire over 🚀 Bezos' Blue Origin raises $10B at $130B valuation 🏛️ Fed minutes reveal split over hiking or cutting rates 🇨🇦 Meta to build $9B AI data center in Alberta 💰 Crypto VC Paradigm raises $1.2B to chase AI Plus: 🌍 11 macro news, 🏢 7 corporate news, 💰 6 deal flow, and 📑 4 research & reports.
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📊 Before The Bell
 | Change over the last 24 hours · as of Jul 9, 2026, 5:43 AM ET |
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📰 Top News
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🛢️ Oil jumps 7% after Trump declares Iran ceasefire over
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- Oil prices climbed more than 7% to a two-week high after President Trump declared the interim ceasefire with Iran over, with Brent up 7.6% to $79.76 a barrel and WTI up 7.2% to $75.40.
- The spike followed Iran's attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. airstrikes on more than 80 targets inside Iran, and Tehran's formal closure of the waterway to international shipping.
- Washington also cancelled a waiver that let Iran sell oil, cutting Tehran's revenue, while Gulf tanker freight rates jumped on higher risk premiums and Asian refiners raced to source alternative cargoes from West Africa, the U.S. and Latin America.
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🚀 Bezos' Blue Origin raises $10B at $130B valuation
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- Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is raising $10 billion in its first-ever outside funding round, valuing the rocket maker at $130 billion before the new money and ending its 25-year reliance on Bezos as sole backer.
- Coatue Management is leading the round with roughly $4 billion, Bezos is adding $2 billion personally, and large institutional investors are expected to supply the remaining $4 billion, a portion the article says has drawn strong interest.
- The deal follows SpaceX's roughly $86 billion IPO, which valued Elon Musk's company near $1.75 trillion and lifted valuation benchmarks across private space firms, though Blue Origin still trails SpaceX in launch frequency and revenue.
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🏛️ Fed minutes reveal split over hiking or cutting rates
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- Minutes from the Fed's June 16–17 meeting showed policymakers split between holding rates and raising them, with some officials favoring an immediate hike at Chair Kevin Warsh's first meeting, though all agreed to hold for now.
- The Fed kept its benchmark rate in a 3.5% to 3.75% range in a unanimous vote, but nine of 18 policymakers saw a case for at least one hike before year-end, reversing March projections that had leaned toward a cut.
- The hawkish turn reflected worsening inflation, with total PCE prices rising to an estimated 4.1% in May and consumer prices up 4.2% year-over-year, a three-year high driven by a Middle East-linked energy shock.
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🇨🇦 Meta to build $9B AI data center in Alberta
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- Meta will invest more than $9.1 billion to build an AI data center in Alberta, Canada, its largest such facility outside the United States, in a bet on future artificial intelligence computing capacity.
- The site in Sturgeon County will run on its own dedicated 932-megawatt natural gas plant, expected online in the second half of 2030, because Alberta's grid cannot support multiple large AI facilities drawing from shared power.
- The plant, called Greenlight Electricity Centre, is backed by Calgary's Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor, while Meta will also spend $42 million on local roads and water systems and use water-free cooling.
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💰 Crypto VC Paradigm raises $1.2B to chase AI
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- Crypto-focused venture firm Paradigm has closed a $1.2 billion fourth fund to move into artificial intelligence and robotics, pushing its total assets under management to $11.9 billion, up from its $750 million debut fund in 2018.
- The bet pits a crypto specialist against generalist giants like Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Thrive Capital for the same AI deals, at a time when AI funding is hitting records while crypto funding stays well below its 2021 peak.
- Paradigm has already deployed capital into drone-delivery firm Zipline, valued at $7.6 billion, and orbital-defence startup True Anomaly, worth $2.2 billion, though the fund fell short of the $1.5 billion the firm originally sought, per TechCrunch.
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🌍 Macro News
- China's consumer prices grew just 1% in June, missing forecasts. LINK
- US two-year Treasury yield nears 2025 high amid global bond selloff. LINK
- Russia bans diesel exports through July after Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries. LINK
- IMF holds 2026 global growth forecast near 3%, citing AI export boom. LINK
- New York Fed survey shows more tariff-driven price hikes are coming. LINK
- US stocks fell as Iran strikes and Fed minutes pushed oil higher. LINK
- EU regulator ESMA audits crypto platforms' customer asset safeguards under MiCA. LINK
- Senator Wyden pushes to keep developer protections in crypto market-structure bill. LINK
- Sony wins conditional US approval to launch stablecoin-issuing trust bank. LINK
- Swift's blockchain-based cross-border payment network is ready for initial use. LINK
- EU plans to revise MiCA crypto rules just a week after launch. LINK
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Meet America’s Newest $1B Unicorn
It just surpassed a $1B valuation, joining private US companies like SpaceX and OpenAI. Unlike them, you can invest in EnergyX today. General Motors already has. Why? EnergyX’s tech can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. Now, they hold rights to ~13M tons of lithium across North and South America. Invest in EnergyX at $13/share by 7/16.
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
- Bain Capital exits Kioxia stake after AI-driven stock surge over 4,500%. LINK
- State attorneys general prepare antitrust suit to block Paramount-Warner Bros deal. LINK
- Bank of America extends $520 million credit line to OpenAI. LINK
- Judge approves $1.5 million SEC settlement with Musk over Twitter takeover. LINK
- Block agrees to pay $45 million settling multistate Cash App fraud claims. LINK
- Fed releases minutes from its June 2026 policy meeting. LINK
- Thought Machine raises £30 million from a bank client-investor, hits $100 million revenue. LINK
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📈 Stocks
| ▲ Biggest winners | | TeraWulf Inc. rose 13% after signing 20-year, $19 billion lease with Anthropic. LINK | | Alibaba Group Holding Limited rose 11% on pre-earnings briefing sparking Chinese tech rally. LINK | | Hut 8 Corp. rose 10% as Ctrl Wallet shuts after security exploit. LINK | | IREN LIMITED rose 8% after TTRF Capital initiated 66,800-share stake. LINK |
| ▼ Biggest losers | | Wayfair Inc. fell 7% as Galaxy delivers 133 MW to CoreWeave at Helios site. LINK | | Synchrony Financial fell 10% as consumer finance peers face rate pressure. LINK | | Moderna, Inc. fell 7% as vaccine demand concerns weigh on biotech. LINK | | Bending Spoons S.p.A. fell 7% after mobile app sector weakness persists. LINK |
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📑 Research & Reports
- JPMorgan slashes silver price forecast to $60-$65 after sharp price crash. LINK
- Morgan Stanley strategist warns Big Tech's AI debt risk is undervalued. LINK
- Survey finds 85% of financial firms plan to boost AI spending. LINK
- US banks enter 2026 stress tests in stronger, more uniform shape. LINK
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💰 Deal Flow
- Equifax to buy Mexican credit bureau Círculo de Crédito for $750 million. LINK
- Lovable in talks to raise $300 million at $13.2 billion valuation. LINK
- Prime Intellect raises $130 million Series A, reaching $1 billion valuation. LINK
- Kraken Technology Group becomes European defence unicorn after $175 million round. LINK
- QuantumDiamonds wins €76 million EU grant for Munich chip-testing plant. LINK
- Venus Aerospace raises $90 million to develop rotating detonation rocket engine. LINK
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📅 Market Calendar
 | Earnings · Economic events |
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