Author: Da

The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.44%, its highest since 2004, as inflation fears revived. In IPOs, British fintech Revolut is exploring a New York-London dual listing, Nscale filed in the U.S., and Oura aims to raise up to $2.2B, while SB Energy delayed its offering after valuation pushback. Data-center expansion also hit resistance: local opposition…

The Federal Reserve’s first rate hike in three years lifted its benchmark range 25 basis points to 3.75%–4%, keeping borrowing costs elevated. On policy, the Senate stalled the Clarity Act’s crypto rules, while the House passed a bill to shield households from data-center electricity costs. In tech, Apple began rolling out Siri AI in English…

Trade and regulation set the tone: U.S. and Chinese officials may discuss AI cyberattacks and chip controls at September 24 talks, while DOJ examines Nvidia’s 2025 Groq deal and Google blames EU rules for weaker search. Regulators also sought more information on Fox’s $22B Roku takeover. Corporate activity included Bending Spoons’ $1.36B Miro acquisition, Chime’s $590M Stride Bank purchase, Nasdaq’s $100M investment in…

Markets opened on a fresh rate scare after U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in August, nearly triple forecasts, while unemployment held at 4.1%, pushing Treasury yields higher as investors reassessed the Fed’s next move. Washington, meanwhile, imposed drone tariffs of up to 100%, Britain opened £100M of sovereign-AI procurement, and the FTC and 22 states…

August extended the scale-first AI cycle as monetization gains were matched by larger compute and infrastructure commitments. OpenAI said ChatGPT surpassed 1B weekly active users and 2M businesses, while Ads reached a $1B annualized run rate; it also completed a ~$7B employee tender at an $852B valuation and prepared to wind down Cursor model access…

President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney failed to reach a trade deal, leaving tariffs and strained U.S.-Canada relations unresolved. Technology’s geopolitical reach widened as Britain gained access to Ukrainian combat data used to train AI systems. In markets, Nvidia warned that some Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell systems will cost at least 15%…

AI’s expansion is testing infrastructure, capital markets, and the way people work. Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is backing Hong Kong venture WorldClaw, which offers models from restricted Chinese companies; 43 of 90 come from entities flagged as security risks. Costs are mounting: 60 planned US data centers could emit 101.5M tons of CO2 annually, while…

Capital kept flowing into the AI buildout even as markets and policy grew more complicated. July core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was 4.2% YoY, easing near-term pressure for a Fed rate hike and supporting stocks and bonds. U.S. tariff refunds are boosting earnings, with 40+ S&P 500 companies reporting $9.6B in recoveries, led by Apple…

🍂Now Accepting Internship Applications for Fall 2026!Stepmark Partners is excited to welcome a new cohort of Fall Analysts beginning Mid-August. If you’re passionate about the intersection of AI and deal-making, we invite you to apply. To learn more, please email da@stepmark.ai Corporate earnings and dealmaking offered a counterweight to a week of mounting regulatory and…

July underscored accelerated agent deployment, surging compute commitments, and greater market/cyber risk. OpenAI released GPT-5.6 and ChatGPT Work to 10M combined users, agreed to acquire Northslope, lifted projected 2030 compute spend to ~$750B, and planned a $20B, 3.2GW Georgia data-center campus as SoftBank explored a $10B loan and IPO timing slipped toward 2027. Anthropic expanded…