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Trump Reinstates Strait of Hormuz Blockade; Proposes 20% Transit Fee on All Cargo — Brent Crude Jumps 9.5% to $83

President Trump announced the United States will reinstate a naval blockade on Iranian ports and impose a 20% fee on all non-Iranian cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, effective Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Brent crude jumped 9.5% to above $83 per barrel, its biggest single-day gain since May 2020, while WTI settled near $78. The move follows a third consecutive night of US strikes on Iran and effectively ends the ceasefire agreement signed in mid-June.

AppLovin Drops 12.7% to $448 — BofA E-Commerce Pixel Slowdown Data and AI Trade Risk-Off Compound Insider Selling Overhang

AppLovin shares fell 12.7% to close at $447.93 on Monday, the worst performer in the S&P 500, as a Bank of America analysis found the company's e-commerce pixel installations slowed to roughly 750 new additions in June from 950 in May. The decline was compounded by a broad AI trade risk-off triggered by the Hormuz blockade escalation and persistent concern over CEO Adam Foroughi's approximately $51 million in June share sales. AppLovin reports Q2 earnings on August 5, guiding for $1.93 billion in revenue.

TSMC June Revenue Climbs 67.9% to $14.6B — Q2 Total of $39.6B Tops High-End Guidance Ahead of July 16 Earnings

TSMC reported June 2026 revenue of NT$442.68 billion, or $14.6 billion, up 67.9% year-over-year and 6.2% from May, bringing second-quarter total revenue to roughly $39.6 billion — ahead of its own high-end guidance of $40.2 billion when measured on a Bloomberg calculation basis. The figures confirm robust AI chip demand and set a strong tone ahead of full Q2 earnings on July 16, when investors will watch for any raise to TSMC's full-year outlook and CoWoS capacity commentary.

Brent Crude Rises 4% to $78.82 — US-Iran Weekend Airstrikes Reopen Strait of Hormuz Dispute and Shatter June Peace Deal

Brent crude rose more than 4% to touch $78.82 a barrel after US and Iranian forces exchanged strikes over the weekend, with Iran declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed and US Central Command asserting it remains open. The renewed conflict has all but shattered the June memorandum of understanding, with just six vessels tracked crossing the strait in a 12-hour window versus a pre-crisis baseline of 18 to 22 daily crossings. Energy stocks and airline equities face sharply divergent outlooks as oil risk premium rebuilds.

SK Hynix Raises $26.5B in Largest-Ever US Foreign IPO at $149 — 7x Oversubscribed Debut Tests AI Memory Bull Case

SK Hynix priced its US IPO at $149 per American depositary receipt, raising $26.5 billion in the largest-ever US listing by a foreign company, surpassing Alibaba's 2014 record. The offering was more than seven times oversubscribed. Trading begins today on Nasdaq under the temporary ticker SKHYV before converting to SKHY on July 13. SK Hynix holds 56.4% of the global high-bandwidth memory market and is a primary HBM supplier to Nvidia, with first-quarter 2026 revenue of $34.9 billion beating estimates by 4%.

Meta Platforms Launches Muse Spark 1.1 AI Model and Plans September 'Iris' Chip Production — Stock Up 8.3% This Week

Meta Platforms released Muse Spark 1.1, its most capable AI model for coding and agentic tasks, alongside plans to begin manufacturing its in-house 'Iris' data center chip in September, targeting 14 gigawatts of compute by 2027. The combined announcements pushed Meta shares up roughly 4.7% Thursday and 1% in Friday premarket, cutting the stock's 2026 year-to-date loss from 14.5% to 4.2%. ARK Invest added shares after the release, while analysts project monetization gains through API pricing and advertising share.

Delta Air Lines Q2 2026 Adjusted EPS Beats at $1.56 vs. $1.48 Estimate — Record Fuel Bill of $3.93/Gallon Absorbs 25% Profit Drop

Delta Air Lines reported Q2 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.56 per share on adjusted revenue of $17.7 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.48 EPS and $17.53 billion in revenue. Net income fell 25% year-over-year to $1.6 billion as fuel costs hit $3.93 per gallon — up 75% and the highest quarterly fuel expense in Delta's history. The carrier reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $6.50–$7.50 and guided Q3 for mid-teens revenue growth with $2.00–$2.50 adjusted EPS.

Vodafone Shares Rise 12% as Xavier Niel Buys 16.2% Stake for $5.9B — Telecom Consolidation Bet Dethrones e&

Vodafone Group shares jumped 12% Friday after French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel's Vega vehicle agreed to acquire Emirates Telecommunications Group's entire 16.2% stake in Vodafone for £4.4 billion, or $5.91 billion, at 112.5 pence per share. The deal makes Niel the largest single shareholder in Britain's biggest mobile operator and is seen as a signal of renewed European telecom consolidation interest. VOD stock hit a high of 110 pence in London before settling, with ADR shares surging on US markets.

Semiconductor Stocks Fall Ahead of SK Hynix Debut — Micron Slides 2.3% as Rotation and Sell-the-News Risk Emerge

Chip stocks declined in Friday's early session ahead of SK Hynix's US trading debut, with Micron Technology slipping roughly 2.3% and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF falling modestly from Thursday's 2.5% gain. Analysts attribute the pullback to rotation — investors rebalancing out of existing chip positions to fund SKHYV allocations — alongside heightened sell-the-news risk after SpaceX's June IPO created a similar dynamic. The Nasdaq composite hovered near flat as markets await the new listing's opening print.