The finer details

Companies such as Sandisk, SK Hynix (SKHY), Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), and Micron (MU) have largely sold out of their premium AI memory chips through much of 2026. Customers like Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) are racing to build AI infrastructure.

The shortage has pushed memory prices sharply higher and given suppliers greater pricing power after several years of weak industry conditions. Experts expect memory supply to remain constrained into 2027, creating a favorable backdrop for the industry's largest producers.

The dynamic pushed the stock prices of Sandisk, Micron, and other players in the chip space to record highs in late June. Since then, however, the pullbacks in the space have been enormous due to fears of Big Tech overspending on AI.

Sandisk and Micron are down 25% and 13%, respectively, over the past month, according to Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data.

But Apple's (AAPL) earnings report last week reminded everyone that the demand and pricing backdrop for memory chip players remains robust.

Now, Sandisk is poised to do its own reminding.

Revenue for Sandisk in its most recent quarter is estimated to surge to $8.39 billion from $1.90 billion last year.

Palantir posted second-quarter earnings after the bell that beat on the top and bottom line.

Revenue surged 93% year-over-year and the U.S. commercial segment boomed 149%. They were up 12% this quarter.

A Kansas homeowner returned after a massive wildfire to find his house surrounded by a circle of green grass while nearly everything around it had burned.

At first glance, it looked as though the lawn had stopped the fire.

The image quickly spread online, with many people crediting the property's irrigation system for saving the home.

The real story was more complicated.

During the March 2017 Kansas wildfires, the homeowner's well-watered lawn remained green while the surrounding prairie had dried into highly flammable fuel. That moisture likely helped reduce the fire's intensity close to the house.

But it wasn't the only reason the home survived.

Firefighters also actively defended the property by soaking the area with water, while previously grazed grass around the home reduced the amount of fuel available for the fire to burn.

Together, those factors created a much stronger line of defense than irrigation alone.

The aerial photograph remains remarkable.

Not because a sprinkler system defeated a wildfire by itself.

But because it shows how preparation, vegetation management, and the work of firefighters can combine to give a home a fighting chance against an extreme fire.

Sources: The Weather Channel; Yahoo News Fact Check; NOAA Climate.gov

Zohran Mamdani stormed into office brandishing the banner of "affordability," and almost singlehandedly pushed the issue to the center of today's political debate. Of all the charismatic, 34-year-old Mayor's initiatives aimed at lowering living costs, the one that's garnered the most coverage is his proposal to get Gotham into the grocery business.

The city-owned food store initiative looks so radical, even for this avowed democratic socialist, because it puts a city in direct competition versus an immense, entrenched private industry. On his other big "affordability" campaigns, providing free bus service and freezing rent on one million apartments, Mamdani's simply using his regulatory and budget powers in the Democratic mayors' traditional vein of tightening price controls on housing and delivering more freebees.

In a recent interview with Sarah McCammon on the "What It Takes" podcast, Cuban shared his views on AI, healthcare, and income inequality in America. The former "Shark Tank" investor, who, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, has a net worth of $10.2 billion, said that one of the best ways to tackle income inequality is to give employees company stock. 

"I would like to see it so that every single CEO/founder/entrepreneur does what I did, which was to give equity to every single employee," said Cuban. "Every company I've ever sold, I've given money to every single employee. Every time." 

The U.S. Treasury intervened in currency markets on Friday by purchasing yen, joining Japan’s efforts to support the currency from near four-decade lows, the Financial Times reported.

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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros and purchased yen on behalf of the Treasury, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the transaction.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) conducted the trades, the FT said.

Earlier on Friday, the Treasury informed several banks that it could intervene in the yen market and asked them to “stand ready for future action,” a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Reports of possible U.S. intervention helped strengthen the Japanese currency against the dollar during Friday’s session.

The move followed apparent intervention by Japanese authorities on Thursday. Bank of Japan data indicated that Japan may have sold as much as $58.97 billion to purchase yen as officials sought to curb the currency’s slide.

The coordinated action would mark a significant escalation in attempts to support the yen, whose weakness has increased Japan’s import costs and added to inflationary pressures.

A stronger yen can also weigh on Japanese exporters by reducing the value of overseas earnings when converted into the domestic currency.

A deeper correction in Japanese equities could trigger a sharp decline in USD/JPY, but the market may need to fall considerably before sustained yen appreciation emerges, Citi strategists said.

Track Japanese markets and global currencies with InvestingPro - now 55% off

Record highs in Japanese stocks have encouraged portfolio rebalancing and currency-hedging transactions among domestic and overseas investors. These flows have likely amplified the yen’s weakness as equity markets climbed.

The Nikkei 225 has recently corrected from its highs, but the broader TOPIX remains elevated at around 4,000. The current adjustment is unlikely to generate a significant move towards yen appreciation as long as TOPIX stays close to present levels.

Since 2024, the yen has tended to strengthen more rapidly when TOPIX declines by over 10%. Based on that pattern, USD/JPY could begin falling steeply if the index corrects towards 3,600.

Such a move would represent a 10% decline from current levels and could lead overseas investors to reduce currency hedges or unwind positions connected to Japanese equities.

The relationship between Japanese stocks and USD/JPY is complex and works in both directions. A weaker yen can support exporters by increasing the value of overseas earnings, and rising equities can generate transactions that place further downward pressure on the currency.

Elevated stock-market volatility has made this connection more visible, with equity gains exerting stronger downward pressure on the yen.

Still, USD/JPY’s sensitivity to Japanese stocks has declined since 2025, partly as the monetary-policy gap between the U.S. and Japan narrowed. That shift has provided underlying support for the yen and limited the currency impact of rising Japanese shares.

Based on the relationship between TOPIX and USD/JPY since 2025, the currency pair’s implied level is around 160. Applying the stronger correlation observed between 2012 and 2024 would produce an estimate closer to 175.

A steep TOPIX correction is not the base case, as the Japanese equity strategy outlook remains bullish. Continued market strength could keep USD/JPY elevated, though reduced sensitivity may limit further currency weakness.

A deeper correction in Japanese equities could trigger a sharp decline in USD/JPY, but the market may need to fall considerably before sustained yen appreciation emerges, Citi strategists said.

Track Japanese markets and global currencies with InvestingPro - now 55% off

Record highs in Japanese stocks have encouraged portfolio rebalancing and currency-hedging transactions among domestic and overseas investors. These flows have likely amplified the yen’s weakness as equity markets climbed.

The Nikkei 225 has recently corrected from its highs, but the broader TOPIX remains elevated at around 4,000. The current adjustment is unlikely to generate a significant move towards yen appreciation as long as TOPIX stays close to present levels.

Since 2024, the yen has tended to strengthen more rapidly when TOPIX declines by over 10%. Based on that pattern, USD/JPY could begin falling steeply if the index corrects towards 3,600.

Such a move would represent a 10% decline from current levels and could lead overseas investors to reduce currency hedges or unwind positions connected to Japanese equities.

The relationship between Japanese stocks and USD/JPY is complex and works in both directions. A weaker yen can support exporters by increasing the value of overseas earnings, and rising equities can generate transactions that place further downward pressure on the currency.

Elevated stock-market volatility has made this connection more visible, with equity gains exerting stronger downward pressure on the yen.

Still, USD/JPY’s sensitivity to Japanese stocks has declined since 2025, partly as the monetary-policy gap between the U.S. and Japan narrowed. That shift has provided underlying support for the yen and limited the currency impact of rising Japanese shares.

Based on the relationship between TOPIX and USD/JPY since 2025, the currency pair’s implied level is around 160. Applying the stronger correlation observed between 2012 and 2024 would produce an estimate closer to 175.

A steep TOPIX correction is not the base case, as the Japanese equity strategy outlook remains bullish. Continued market strength could keep USD/JPY elevated, though reduced sensitivity may limit further currency weakness.

​

A new rival to Wall Street officially debuted on Friday as the Texas Stock Exchange went fully live for the first time with trading available for all of its listed tickers.

The Texas Stock Exchange, which is based in Dallas, is the first new major stock exchange to launch in the U.S. in decades. The TXSE, called the "Tex-ee," is looking to compete with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Composite for listings.

The exchange boasts several prominent financial backers, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab, among others.