🚨 Banks Surge, AI Gets Tested, Winners Are Changing 💡
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Edition #166
Investing Unlocks: How to Capitalize on the Hot Topics From The Last 7 Days
We analyze recent trends and opportunities, offering strategic insights that help you manage risks and identify growth opportunities for your portfolio.
💰 Banks Boom as Chips Wobble
Last week, the big banks stole the show, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan posting record profits on booming trading and a busy AI deal pipeline. Tech was rougher as chipmakers like Nvidia and Micron swung on doubts about whether massive AI spending will pay off, and a shock warning from IBM sent its shares tumbling. Still, the rally kept broadening into energy, industrials and speculative corners. A jump in oil after fresh Strait of Hormuz tension, plus tough Fed talk on rates, kept nerves on edge.
This week, the spotlight swings to Big Tech, with Tesla and other giants reporting as investors hunt for proof that heavy AI spending is paying off. It is also the final stretch before the Fed’s next meeting, so every inflation read matters, especially with high oil keeping a rare rate hike, not a cut, in play. Strong, broad results could lift the record run further, while soft guidance or another oil spike would test nerves fast. For investors, watch whether earnings strength spreads beyond a few big names.
Hot Topics
Burberry's Europe sales hit by Iran war while US and China grow
Trump Media’s Truth API Launch Signals a Strategic Shift in Revenue Generation
The AI boom just found two new winners: Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase
Recent Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF Inflows Indicate Market Recovery
Beat And Still Fell
Second-quarter earnings season showed how high the bar has become for large US companies. Between July 14 and 16, several names beat forecasts and still saw their shares fall.
TSMC - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE: TSM) reported a 77% jump in profit and dropped about 5%. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) came in line with expectations, guided slightly lower for the current quarter, and fell 10% after hours to a one-year low. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) posted a record quarter and fell around 4%. Only Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), which beat by wide margins, rose. The one clear miss, International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM), fell 25% in its worst day on record.
The pattern is that expectations, not results, are driving the market, and a beat is no longer enough when the price already assumes it.
Not All AI Bets Are Equal
Returns across the AI value chain are diverging, so which layer an investor picks matters more than it used to. Software application stocks have varied the most. Returns have been more uniform among hyperscalers and chip and semiconductor makers, with most names moving up together so far.
That uniformity is now being tested. Last Friday, July 17, chip stocks fell broadly, and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) led the declines among the largest technology names. The trigger was not weak earnings but valuation. Investors are asking whether the hundreds of billions of dollars that AI hyperscalers are spending will earn a high enough return to justify current chip prices. Even after the drop, a leading gauge of chipmakers is still up 68% for the year, so the fall is small next to the rally before it. Santander Asset Management described the move as a positioning problem rather than a fundamental one, since earnings momentum has stayed strong.
Explore AI Stocks Beyond the Big Names
Earnings Performance
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK)
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) posted another record quarter in Q2 2026, supported by strong client inflows and rising assets under management. ETFs remained the main growth engine, attracting $178 billion of net inflows during the quarter and accounting for most of BlackRock’s $192 billion in total net inflows. Assets under management reached a record $15.3 trillion, while the quarterly dividend increased to $5.73 per share.
Other Earnings Updates
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Posts Record Revenue, EPS
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM): Reports $21.2B Q2 Profit
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS): Reports Q2 EPS of $20.98
Analyst Strong Buy Ratings This Week! 📈
Looking for stocks with strong analyst backing? These companies have earned top-tier "Strong Buy" ratings from analysts, signaling potential upside for investors.
Whether you’re eyeing small-to-mid cap opportunities in the U.S. and Canada or want to stick with trusted S&P 500 blue-chip picks, this list highlights stocks that experts believe could outperform.
🔍 Do your research and see if any of these fit your portfolio!
Retail Keeps Buying
Retail investors are still the biggest structural buyers of US stocks, and they are putting more money to work than usual this month, according to Citadel Securities. Citadel says July 2026 is on track to be its second-strongest month for retail net buying since January 2020, and the strongest July in its records.
Separately, Citadel notes that retail investors sold semiconductor and hardware stocks on the two most recent down days for the SOX (the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index), a rare departure from the buy-the-dip pattern that has characterized this cycle. Both of those down days were followed by a sharp rebound.