The Public Regulation Commission's order to unwind an unlawful $400 million stock transaction between Blackstone and TXNM Energy shows New Mexico's regulatory oversight working as intended. The companies are now correcting the violation while the PNM acquisition review continues.

Trading in tokenized stocks and ETFs reached $11.3 billion in July, a 288% jump from June, but most of the activity came from Binance’s newly listed QQQB token that tracks the QQQ ETF. QQQB alone generated $9.27 billion, and Binance has offered zero maker fees for the token from June 30 through Aug. 31. Excluding QQQB, the rest of tokenized equities totaled $2.03 billion, down about 30% from June. The surge reflects short-term, incentive-driven flow on crypto platforms rather than any change to the QQQ index’s fundamentals or price formation.

Ares Management’s dry powder reached a record $170 billion as of June 30, 2026, representing about 25% of its $671.3 billion in assets under management. The firm raised more than $36 billion in new capital during the quarter, while direct lending totaled just $8.2 billion, or 16% of the trailing-year pace. Pathfinder Fund III closed at $8.5 billion, about 31% above its target.

Amazon shares surged 15% in a single session after non-recurring profits, including a $53.4 billion gain tied to its Anthropic stake, lifted EPS to $5.75. Apple reported 16% revenue growth to a quarterly record, but weak September guidance sent the stock down 9.7%, erasing about $472 billion in market value. Over the same period, the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 5.20%, its highest since 2007, with real rates accounting for 57% of the level, alongside a rare joint push for a rate hike by three Federal Reserve officials.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31 paused its earlier conditional approval for Nasdaq PHLX to list cash-settled bitcoin index options under the ticker QBTC and said it will reconsider the decision. The move follows a legal challenge filed by CME Group in June arguing that bitcoin is a commodity and that options tied directly to its value fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction. The dispute centers on how regulatory authority is divided between the SEC and the CFTC.

Visa reported fiscal 2023 third-quarter results on July 28, posting net revenue of $11.6 billion, up 14% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.32, up 11%. The company also said it will cut roughly 2,600 jobs, about 7% of its workforce, and redirect the savings into higher-growth business areas. Value-added services revenue reached $3.8 billion, up 34% year over year on a constant-currency basis.

On July 28, 2026, the US Treasury sold $44 billion of seven-year debt at a 4.473% yield, 21.3 basis points higher than the June auction, with a 2.49 bid-to-cover ratio. On July 29, the Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate target range at 3.5%–3.75%. The higher government-backed yield lifts the risk-free benchmark and increases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding, highly volatile assets such as Bitcoin, adding a macro-level headwind for crypto capital flows.

Anglo American is in discussions to sell its 85% stake in De Beers for about US$1 billion, far below the diamond company’s former valuation. The proposed structure includes US$750 million upfront and US$250 million later, with additional payments tied to future performance. Over the past three years, Anglo has written down De Beers three times, cutting its carrying value to US$2.3 billion. Global Diamond Consortium plans to invest approximately US$500 million into De Beers after the acquisition.