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🔔 The Opening Bell
Good morning. Big day today.
Yesterday, CNN asked Nancy Pelosi about her insider trading allegations—and her response was “Why’d you have to read that?”
Markets saw fireworks after hours: Meta knocked its earnings out of the park, and the stock responded in kind. Not to be outdone, Microsoft joined the exclusive $4 trillion club on news of its exploding Azure cloud revenue. Both hit new all-time highs—but there’s another stock that’s rising in their wake.
Meanwhile, Figma’s IPO hits markets today—the business was marked by a failed acquisition in the past but now strikes out on its own as a public company.
And Trump has inked a mysterious oil deal with Pakistan and a general trade deal with South Korea. Details below.
Former PepsiCo Exec Invented A Plastic That Dissolves in Water
If anyone knows a thing about plastic’s impact on the planet, it’s Manuel Rendon. The former PepsiCo executive and environmental engineer is using his 20 years of expertise to solve one of the world’s biggest problems with Timeplast.
Up to 450 million metric tons of plastic are wasted each year. Microplastics seep into our bodies, and mountains of bottles pile up in the ocean. But Timeplast has patented a water-soluble, time-programmable plastic that vanishes without harming the environment.
Major players are already partnering with Timeplast for its patented technology—their sales grew 6,000% in the first month.
You have just a few days left to invest as Timeplast scales in its $1.3T plastic market, from packaging to 3D printing. Become a Timeplast shareholder by midnight, 7/31.
This is a paid advertisement for Timeplast’s Regulation CF Offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.timeplast.com.
📰 Market Headlines
US stocks finished mixed on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth straight meeting.
The Dow fell 0.4%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%.
Mark Zuckerberg outlined his "personal superintelligence" vision in a letter released Wednesday, giving investors insight into Meta's AI strategy. Zuckerberg positions his approach as distinct from competitors focused on automation, emphasizing AI as a tool for "personal empowerment." Some are worried though—because a key change in Zuckerberg’s wording signaled that Meta will likely now pick and choose what parts of their AI is open source or not.
Meta stock catapulted 12% after hours following a blowout earnings report. The company posted $47.5 billion in revenue, crushing expectations. Meta also delivered a stronger-than-anticipated Q3 outlook.
Figma’s IPO has been priced at $33/share, higher than expected—and the stock is hitting markets today. Retail and institutional investors alike will be watching to see if market reject $FIG’s initial price or raise it. Adobe tried to buy Figma in 2022, but the deal fell apart—and Adobe still had to pay $1B to the design platform company.
Microsoft joined the $4 trillion market cap club after hours, surging 8% after reporting 18% revenue growth. This marks its fastest expansion in over three years. The company revealed Azure cloud revenue topped $75 billion in fiscal 2025, up 34% from the previous year.
Citi switched CoreWeave to a buy after Microsoft’s earnings yesterday, and it’s up 12% pre-market. AltIndex has been calling $CRWV a buy for months, and still is →
Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated "no decisions" have been made on September rate cuts during his press conference, defying President Trump's demands for immediate action. There was a huge point of tension, however: Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented, preferring a quarter-point cut. This marks the first time two Fed governors opposed a monetary policy decision in over three decades.
President Trump struck a deal with Pakistan, announcing the countries will work together to develop Pakistan's "massive oil reserves." Key detail: the US is apparently in charge of "choosing the oil company that will lead this partnership," according to a social media post from Trump.
The US has also reached a deal with South Korea, following the now-standard framework of requiring South Korea to invest billions in the US, adding tariffs (15%) to its imports to the US, and putting no tariffs on US exports to South Korea—who will also make $100 billion in “energy purchases” from the US.
This is absolutely insane:
Microsoft, $MSFT, and Meta, $META, have added a combined $550 BILLION in market cap since 4 PM ET yesterday.
That's ~$140 billion more than the entire market cap of Costco and ~$50 billion more than Netflix is worth.
We are so early in the AI
— #The Kobeissi Letter (#@KobeissiLetter)
11:57 AM • Jul 31, 2025
Is the Figma IPO overpriced?
😱 Fear and Greed Index
🧠 The Missing (Market) Links
High Noon recalled some packs of the alcoholic drink because they may accidentally contain Celsius cans filled with hard selzer.
Ever wonder what the best-paying job for your personality type is?
Derrick Morgan Jr. channels over $12,000 monthly into diverse investments, including real estate, aiming to retire by 45.
ChatGPT favored Apple over Tesla for long-term stability, citing its steady returns and less volatility.
Homicides in US cities plummeted 17% in the first half of 2025, with major cities leading the decline.
🚚 Market movers
Palo Alto Networks sealed a $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk, marking its largest deal to date and expanding into identity security.
Shares of Albemarle rocketed over 7% after posting a surprise second-quarter profit, driven by strong lithium demand.
Indian drugmaker JB Chem saw an 8.9% rise in Q1 profit, fueled by robust domestic demand for its pharmaceuticals, particularly in chronic condition treatments.
Warner Bros Discovery is cutting 10% of its film group staff as part of a restructuring before splitting into two companies.
🪙 Crypto
Bitcoin tumbled nearly 2% after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish inflation remarks. Ether and Solana each slid almost 4%.
Cboe moved to auto-list crypto ETFs, aiming to bypass case-by-case SEC approval for qualifying funds.
Marti, a NYSE-listed Turkish mobility company, earmarked 20% of its cash for Bitcoin and may boost crypto holdings to 50%.
Teucrium CEO Sal Gilbertie, whose 2x Long Daily XRP ETF is up 96% since April, said there is “no animosity anymore” from regulators toward crypto innovation under President Trump.
Germany’s finance ministry proposed new rules requiring crypto service providers to report user transactions to tax authorities starting January 1, 2026.
💰 Alternative Investing News
EQT launched a $2.7 billion tender offer at 5,700 yen per share to take Fujitec private, while the founding family will retain a 15% stake.
Fourteen executives at United Group sent a letter to BC Partners’ board voicing 'deep concerns' after the management shake-up.
🤖 AI/Future/Tech News
Alphabet agreed to sign the EU's AI code of practice despite concerns it could slow European AI development and harm competitiveness.
Italy unveiled an AI assistant to help citizens assess landslide risks on 9.5% of the land.
PlayerZero secured $15 million to develop AI systems that detect bugs in AI-generated code before deployment.
Startup Germ launched end-to-end encrypted messaging for Bluesky.
Google's NotebookLM rolled out Video Overviews that create AI-narrated slideshows from saved content, pulling in images, diagrams, quotes, and data to explain complex concepts visually.
🌍 International Markets
🇨🇱 Chile's central bank cut interest rates by a quarter-point to 4.75% as inflation eased more than forecast.
🇧🇷 Brazil maintained its benchmark Selic rate at a two-decade high of 15%, and annual inflation jumped to 5.3% in mid-July.
🇨🇦 The Bank of Canada maintained its interest rate at 2.75%, citing an unpredictable economic outlook and trade tensions with the United States.
🇿🇲 Zambia's economy bounced back with 4% growth in 2024 despite severe drought impacts.
🎤️ What you said last time
“Meta always feels like its playing catch up to the other tech giants. Its only unique product is VR which has languished for years and cost billions.”
📊 Earnings
Humana raised its annual profit forecast after beating quarterly estimates by keeping medical costs in check. Shares rose 6% in early trading.
Hershey Q2 operating profit fell 33% year-over-year, but stocks rose 1.4%.
Generac surpassed Q2 earnings expectations with a 22.2% surge in adjusted EPS, and shares rallied 16.2%.
Carvana sold more than 143,000 used vehicles in Q2 but fell 0.86%.
Altria delivered an 8.3% increase in adjusted diluted EPS for Q2, stock rose 3.58%.
Robinhood’s revenue rose 45% and net income popped 105% YoY.
Arm reported record Q1 revenue, crossing the 1 billion mark for a second straight quarter; stocks stayed steady.
Ford reinstated its full-year guidance, which now includes a 2 billion hit from tariffs. Its stock dropped more than 3% in after-hours trading.
Harley-Davidson announced it would sell stakes in its financing arm to unlock 1.25 billion in cash, which overshadowed a 19% drop in Q2 revenue. Shares climbed 12%.
Kraft Heinz took a noncash impairment charge of 9.3 billion, citing a sustained decline in its share price, which fell 0.25%
Qualcomm beat fiscal Q3 earnings expectations and provided a strong guide for the current quarter, but shares slid 1.86%.
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📺 What to watch today
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Brandon with Stefan & Wyatt
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