Apple is leaning further into China’s AI ecosystem while Sony and TSMC prepare another multibillion-dollar semiconductor push. Meanwhile, weaker jobs data has shifted the market’s attention toward inflation, where the next big surprise could reshape expectations for rates.
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Figure Lending LLC dba Figure 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. 888) 819-6388. NMLS ID 1717824. For licensing information go to www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Equal Opportunity Lender
Digital currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and BIA accounts are not subject to FDIC or SIPC protections.
Crypto loans are offered to U.S. borrowers by Figure Lending LLC. This product is not available to U.S. residents of DC, ID, IL, KY, MD, MS, SD, TX, VT, or VA.
1. Terms & Conditions: https://www.figure.com/crypto-community-appreciation/disclosures/
Crypto loans are offered through Figure Markets Credit LLC to residents of the state of New York and to international customers except in the following jurisdictions: Crimea (Ukraine), Donetsk (Ukraine), Luhansk (Ukraine), Afghanistan, Albania, Belarus, Central African Republic ,Congo (the Democratic Republic), Cuba, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Pakistan, Palestine (State of), Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen, or Zimbabwe.
Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. For licensing information, go to www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Figure Payments Corporation offers self-directed investors and traders cryptocurrency services. It is neither licensed with the SEC or the CFTC nor is it a Member of NFA. Figure Payments Corporation's NMLS ID number is 2033432, and is located at 100 West Liberty Street, Suite 600, Reno, NV., 89501. You can verify Figure Payments licensing status at the NMLS Consumer Access website. Click here for Figure Crypto's state license and regulatory disclosures.
*The interest rate on Figure's Crypto-Backed Loan is 8.91% (9.999% APR) at 50% LTV or 11.50% (12.62% APR) up to 75%. The advertised Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is based on a $5,000 loan amount and contemplates the payment of 1% origination fee, which would yield a monthly payment of $42.47. Rates will be higher for applications secured by assets with a higher LTV ratio. The Figure Crypto-Backed Loan has a 12 month interest-only repayment term and allows for a maximum initial LTV ratio of 75%. Interest rates change frequently so your exact interest rate will depend on the date you apply and may depend on many factors such as LTV ratio.
Futures at a Glance📈
Futures are edging higher as traders weigh fresh uncertainty around a Strait of Hormuz deal and look ahead to this week’s inflation data. Friday’s weak jobs report has cooled rate-hike fears, while Berkshire Hathaway’s latest results add another big-name earnings read to the mix.
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What to Watch
Earnings (Premarket):
· Barrick Mining Corporation [B]
· Ferguson Enterprises Inc. [FERG]
· Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz [KSPI]
Earnings (Aftermarket):
· Simon Property Group, Inc. [SPG]
· Rocket Lab Corporation [RKLB]
· Alcon Inc. [ALC]
· Public Policy Holding Company, Inc. [PPHC]
· AST SpaceMobile, Inc. [ASTS]
· Grupo Cibest S.A. [CIB]
Economic Reports:
· None scheduled
Elite Trade Club Insider
A CEO Sold $2.4 Million After an Earnings Pop. Another Insider Put $256 Million Behind a Complex Trade.
One company just delivered stronger sales, raised parts of its outlook, and watched its stock jump into the weekend. Its CEO responded by selling more than 200,000 shares across three sessions.
The other filing is dramatically larger: 2 million shares worth nearly $256 million. But this is not a conventional open-market dump. The structure gives the seller cash exposure today while leaving open the possibility that he ultimately keeps the shares.
You’re reading the free version. Here’s what we held back.
Every day, insiders and institutions move millions before the market catches on. We surface the data behind those moves before the rest of the market sees it.
A subscription gets you:
The insider buys, options bets, and dark pool moves the free edition can't show you. Unlocked every weekday.
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The Friday Smart Money Brief: who bought, who sold, where the big options bets landed, and where institutions are hiding volume. Three data layers. One email.
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Every past Insider edition, unlocked, on elitetrade.club. Go back and see what you missed.
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Market Pulse
Wall Street’s Earnings Bar Keeps Moving Higher
J.P. Morgan raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000, citing stronger corporate profits and growing confidence that massive AI investments are translating into faster cloud revenue. More than 85% of reporting S&P 500 companies have beaten earnings expectations, giving the rally a stronger fundamental foundation than valuation alone.
The Jobs Scare Hands the Baton to Inflation
Friday’s unexpectedly weak employment report reduced expectations for another near-term Fed hike, but Wednesday’s inflation report now becomes the bigger test. Stocks are entering the week near record territory, leaving investors particularly sensitive to any evidence that persistent inflation could put tighter monetary policy back on the table.
Chips & Devices
Sony and TSMC Put $6.3 Billion Behind the Next Sensor Boom
Sony and TSMC reportedly plan to invest roughly $6.3 billion in a next-generation image-sensor venture. The partnership would combine Sony’s sensor expertise with TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities and target applications ranging from smartphones and autos to robotics and physical AI.
Apple Turns to China as the Memory Crunch Gets Real
Apple is reportedly testing memory chips from China’s CXMT for iPhones and MacBooks as AI-driven demand strains global component supplies. Using CXMT in devices sold in China could give Apple another source of memory while also deepening its reliance on a domestic Chinese semiconductor ecosystem that is becoming increasingly competitive.
AI & Cybersecurity
OpenAI’s Next Model May Be Powerful Enough to Trigger Its Own Safety Rules
OpenAI said it cannot rule out that its upcoming Astra model could reach a critical cybersecurity threshold. That could include autonomously discovering and exploiting serious software vulnerabilities, prompting the company to pause parts of development and activate additional safeguards before the model moves closer to release.
North Korean Hackers Are Building Their Own AI Stack
Cybersecurity researchers found evidence that a North Korean-linked hacking group has assembled AI tools designed to help automate cyberattacks. The toolkit includes locally hosted language models, AI coding software, and document-search systems that could help operators analyze stolen information, develop malware, and create more convincing phishing campaigns.
Big Tech’s Bet (Sponsored)
Six of the biggest tech companies in the world just bought shares in the same small company.
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Robotics & Platforms
Unitree Gives China’s Humanoid-Robot Boom Its First Public-Market Test
Unitree is preparing to become China’s first mainland-listed humanoid-robot manufacturer, seeking roughly $900 million from its Shanghai IPO. Unlike many robotics startups, Unitree is already profitable, while its low-cost manufacturing model has made the company a showcase for China’s push into embodied AI.
Apple Brings Alibaba’s AI Directly Into the Mac
Apple has opened access to Alibaba’s Qwen AI service for eligible Mac users in mainland China, allowing it to work alongside Siri and Writing Tools. The partnership gives Apple a locally compliant AI option as it tries to defend share against Chinese PC makers that have moved faster to integrate domestic models.
Finance & Growth
Revolut Gets Another Passport Into European Banking
Revolut secured a French banking license following approval from French regulators and the European Central Bank. The license strengthens the fintech company’s European expansion strategy and gives it a larger regulated base from which to compete with traditional banks across deposits, payments, and other financial products.
Thermo Fisher Sees India Becoming a Much Bigger Growth Engine
Thermo Fisher Scientific expects its Indian customer base to expand by 15% to 20% over the next five years. Growth in biopharma research, semiconductor manufacturing, and obesity-drug development is driving demand for laboratory equipment and testing tools, making India one of the company’s fastest-growing Asia-Pacific markets.
Trivia: PayPal is one of the world's most recognized financial brands — but it started with a different name. What was the original company called?
Movers and Shakers
Seadrill [SDRL]: Premarket Move: +9%
Seadrill climbed after its contract backlog increased by another $200 million while management raised its full-year outlook. The offshore driller generated $449 million in quarterly revenue and $144 million in adjusted EBITDA, while recent refinancing also pushed out debt maturities and strengthened the balance-sheet setup.
Applied Optoelectronics [AAOI]: Premarket Move: +6%
Applied Optoelectronics rose after Royal Bank of Canada disclosed a major increase in its position, buying another 122,088 shares and bringing its stake to roughly $10.8 million. The institutional buying comes as AI data-center demand drives rapid growth in AAOI’s 800G and 1.6T optical products, with demand currently running ahead of available manufacturing capacity.
Verisk Analytics [VRSK]: Premarket Move: −4%
Verisk slipped as investors weighed a court ruling requiring the company to actively pursue its $2.35 billion acquisition of AccuLynx. The ruling revives a transaction Verisk previously tried to abandon, adding deal and integration uncertainty even as some estimate the shares are trading too cheap.
Wall Street Sounds Alarm (Sponsored)
Wall Street banks are warning that the next market crisis could be unlike anything investors have seen in decades.
If Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are right, portfolios could remain under pressure for 10 years or longer.
After repeated market shocks since 2022, some experts believe the instability could continue well into the 2030s.
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Everything Else
🤖 Seven robotics stocks are positioned to profit as physical AI moves from science fiction to operational reality, and the free report naming all of them is available now.
💳 Trading platform Plus500 climbed after half-year profit rose as its U.S. business and prediction-market offerings gained traction.
🏦 Westpac shares tumbled after the Australian lender reported a 20% drop in mortgage applications and warned of softer housing-credit growth.
🛢️ Serica Energy said its $197 million bid for Pharos is final after a rival bidder sweetened its competing takeover offer.
💰 Berkshire Hathaway ramped up share buybacks and returned to net stock buying as quarterly operating profit beat expectations.
📡 Applied Materials, Cisco and CoreWeave are among the big earnings names still to report this week as a strong earnings season keeps stocks near record highs.
You Read This Far. Here's Where the Real Work Lives.
We run three live portfolios on Autopilot, and everything about them is public: every position, every allocation, every trade, visible the moment it happens.
We keep our own money in each one, because analysis you won't fund yourself is just content.
THE UNBREAKABLE STACK
Our growth book: durable software and cybersecurity names built to compound quietly for years.
THE HORMUZ PREMIUM
Our energy thesis: built for how that sector actually pays, over quarters, not headlines.
THE SQUEEZE
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And here's the part that makes it effortless: Autopilot does the trading for you. Connect the brokerage you already use (Robinhood, Schwab, Fidelity, and more) and every move we make gets mirrored in your own account automatically.
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That’s all for today. Thank you for reading. If you have any feedback, please reply to this email.
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— Adam Garcia
Elite Trade Club
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