Crypto News: Doubling down on the Fed

Good morning. Donald Trump and his allies double down on the Federal Reserve. The US Northeast sizzles as temperatures soar. And local resistance to data centers scores a win. Listen to the day’s top stories.

— Hellmuth Tromm and Emily Nicolle

Market Snapshot
S&P 500 Futures	7,550.50	+0.3%
Nasdaq 100 Futures	29,880.25	+1.1%
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index	1,217.97	-0.1%
Market data as of 06:25 AM ET. Data is subject to provider delays.	Your watchlist

Not done with the Fed. Donald Trump and his allies are renewing a push to reshape the central bank after the Supreme Court this week blocked an effort to fire Governor Lisa Cook. Top officials are exploring ways to remove members of the Board of Governors to clear the way for the president’s own picks, people familiar said. Cook remains a target, as does former Chair Jerome Powell.

Stock markets head into the holiday weekend in an upbeat mood. With US cash markets closed today, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 contracts are climbing and gold is rising for a third day. Yen traders are on intervention watch after Japan’s first currency operation since 2024 came during April’s long holiday, fueling speculation authorities could strike gain over the US Independence Day break. In China, AI-powered quant funds are drawing billions from investors. Elsewhere, the AI trade is losing one of its key signals.

Over in the Strait of Hormuz, some 8,000 sailors are still waiting for safe passage as shipping slowly returns to normal. Citi is predicting Brent may fall to $60 a barrel by year-end, even though skeptics aren’t convinced the waterway is out of danger. Meanwhile, US crude refiners are enjoying some of the best profit margins in years and Canada is building a major pipeline to meet oil demand from Asia.

The US Northeast is still wilting under triple-digit heat. Soaring temperatures are straining the region’s power grid, driving up electricity prices and prompting the biggest US grid operator to trigger a level 2 alert, one step short of forced outages.

A collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira State, Venezuela.

Venezuelans Frustrated by Earthquake Response Want New Presidential Elections

Not in my backyard. Blackstone’s QTS is walking away from plans to build its portion of a data center campus in Virginia, handing a win to residents who fought for years to topple the “Digital Gateway” project. Brookfield-backed Compass Datacenters had already pulled out in May. It’s a reminder that tech firms’ race to build AI infrastructure isn’t plain-sailing, producing bottlenecks from power shortages to supply crunches.

Deep Dive: Betting Big

Wall Street just posted its strongest first-half return since 2021, despite the geopolitical turmoil, rising energy costs and rate-swing jitters. If the first six months was all about survival, the rest of 2026 is about making hay with what remains.

A diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and commodities has been a solid bet, with buying the dip now a go-to strategy. Retail investors bought almost three-and-a-half times the average daily amount on days the S&P 500 has dropped, per Citadel Securities.
But the path forward won’t be easy. Lackluster jobs data this week dialed back expectations of an interest rate increase, while parts of the AI infrastructure rally is starting to look stretched. The Magnificent Seven — the defining trade of the past two years — has lost about 2% on a total-return basis, while gold, silver and Bitcoin all finished the period lower.
Still, expansion is likely to continue, even if at a slower pace. JPMorgan sees inventories turning higher, business confidence improving and greater AI spending. BlackRock and Invesco say the AI trade is now also visible in the physical economy.
And the shakeup won’t stop here. The second half of 2026 is likely to be “just as eventful as the first,” says Alexander Altmann at Barclays, pointing to more geopolitical shocks, stickier inflation and US midterm elections as the next potential catalysts.

The Big Take

A Soyuz rocket installed as a monument in Baikonur city — A Soyuz rocket installed as a monument in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Russia’s efforts to create its own version of Starlink are off to a rough start. Challenges include its costly war against Ukraine and competition from the US and China.

Big Take Podcast

Cashing In on the Peptide Gold Rush

Opinion

A demonstrator wears a "No Kings" shirt at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. — A demonstrator wears a “No Kings” shirt at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

America’s 250th anniversary is a good time to remember that democracy requires a robust defense against tyranny, writes Mary Ellen Klas. Protecting our rights is in our DNA and resistance takes courage.

More Opinions

Fireworks over the Lincoln Memorial during Fourth of July celebrations in Washington

Howard Chua-Eoan

The Magical Realism of the American Dream

Editorial Board

Americans Aren’t That Divided. Congress Shouldn’t Be, Either

Play Alphadots!

Our daily word puzzle with a plot twist.

Today’s clue is: Illness only affecting the upper class

Play now!

Before You Go

Gaming the charts. Spotify has asked Kalshi and Polymarket to remove its logo and make clear they aren’t partners after identifying users manipulating song rankings tied to prediction-market bets. More than 500,000 fake streams briefly turned Malcolm Todd’s Earrings into a chart hit.

One More