American Express fined $350 million by federal regulators for anti-money laundering failures. Company missed approximately $13 billion in suspicious transactions over 11 years. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve issued concurrent enforcement actions. American Express neither admitted nor denied the findings in consent orders. Bank must overhaul compliance programs and hire […]

Morgan Stanley credit analysts Lindsay Tyler and Benjamin Guerrero said in a note titled “ORCL Credit: Lighthouse in the Fog” that delays to Oracle data center projects could defer revenue and cash flow, according to a report on the analysis [1]. The note follows reports that Oracle’s Project Lighthouse campus in Port Washington, Wisconsin, may […]

AI company Anthropic is planning an IPO at a valuation reported to be near $2 trillion, but a leaked prospectus points to heavy financial strain. The document lists a $42 billion net loss, $518 billion in unfunded spending commitments, and $20 billion in cash, according to the report. The filing also shows revenue concentration, with 24% coming from just two customers, fueling questions about whether the valuation is defensible.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said its global Food Price Index rose to 133.3 points in August, the highest since November 2022, up 1.9% from July. Extreme weather damaged crops in Europe, Asia and Brazil’s sugarcane regions, pushing sugar prices up nearly 12% in a single month. At the same time, the Black Sea conflict and tensions in the Middle East disrupted grain and fertilizer transport, lifting wheat and maize costs, while maize rose 2.5% on uncertainty over the U.S. supply outlook.

The diesel crack spread has surged to $102 a barrel, far above the January 2023 peak of $42.41. U.S. retail diesel has climbed 56% to $5.60 per gallon, lifting costs across the trucking industry that consumes more than 2.9 million barrels a day. Higher transport costs could feed into food inflation.

Spot gold fell 3.4% on June 24, 2026 to $3,978.67 an ounce, breaking below the $4,000 level for the first time since November 2025. The drop followed signals from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh that reinforced expectations of more aggressive rate hikes, lifting the dollar and increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets. Even as the U.S.-Iran conflict flared again on July 8, investors focused on monetary policy expectations over geopolitics, triggering selling pressure in gold.

The IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 says an acid supply shock has tightened the copper outlook, with the effective February closure of the Strait of Hormuz and China’s May-through-year-end ban on sulfuric acid exports constraining supply. The agency says the shortfall threatens about 2.7 million tonnes of leaching-based copper output in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile. It adds that 2025 disruptions already removed 1.5 million tonnes of mined copper, helping lift prices above $14,000 a tonne in May 2026, and it still projects a 25% supply gap in 2035.

A leaked internal memo says Meta plans to double its AI computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027, including deploying 7 gigawatts this year. The document also outlines multi-year supply agreements covering memory, flash storage and fiber-optic components. The memo frames the buildout as implying $350 billion to $700 billion in incremental capital spending and highlights roughly $1.8 trillion in off-balance-sheet purchase and lease commitments across hyperscalers. Meta shares fell 4.3% at the open after Reuters reported the memo’s contents, as investors weighed the company’s capital discipline and leverage risks.

Veteran natural resource investor Rick Rule said the artificial intelligence boom is accelerating copper demand and setting up a structural supply shortfall before 2031. He argued the project pipeline is too thin and mine approvals can take about 18 years, while major operations are aging and declining. Forecasts for 2040 point to a potential deficit of about 10 million metric tons, alongside a price rise from $3.23 per pound in 2022 to $6.20 per pound. The U.S. produces less than half of the refined copper it consumes and is expected to remain import-dependent through 2040.