MARKET WRAPS

STOCKS: Stocks were mixed as President Trump's declaration of an end to the ceasefire with Iran was offset by a rebound in tech stocks.

TREASURYS: Treasury yields rose and the yield on the two-year Treasury closed at its second highest level of the year after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

FOREX: The U.S. dollar ticked down against rivals, but remained close to its highs of the year due to inflation concerns.

COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose sharply in New York, topping $73 a barrel and spiking by 8% at their high, amid fears of a return to war in Iran.

HEADLINES

U.S. Launches New Strikes on Iran After Trump Declares Ceasefire Over

American military forces launched new strikes on Iran Wednesday night, according to the U.S. Central Command, hours after President Trump pronounced the end of an eight-week ceasefire.

The strikes were designed to "further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," according to a Centcom statement.

"The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway."

Fed Officials Flagged Risks That Would Warrant Higher Rates

Federal Reserve officials broadly agreed at their meeting last month that they would need to raise interest rates if inflation stays elevated this year. They also agreed that they could stay on hold if price pressures fade soon, according to minutes of that meeting released Wednesday.

Which of those paths they take depends on something they haven't resolved: whether the forces pushing up prices will last.

The minutes showed how they are increasingly focused on a source of inflation that barely figured in their debates a few months ago: the boom in artificial-intelligence investment. It was one of the forces, along with the war in the Middle East and tariffs, that could keep prices elevated and tip the Fed toward a rate hike, according to the written account.

JPMorgan Plans to Target Small-Company Deals as Part of M&A Push

JPMorgan Chase is setting its sights on small-company deals for its next leg of growth in investment banking.

The firm is establishing a new team of investment bankers focused on small-cap companies valued at between $100 million and $500 million, executives said.

The effort builds on JPMorgan's work on deals for middle-market companies with valuations of roughly $500 million to $2 billion. That initiative now brings in over $1 billion in revenue for the bank each year, with year-over-year growth of more than 20%, according to John Richert, who leads the bank's midcap investment banking initiative and will help oversee the small-cap team.

Apple to Spend $30 Billion on U.S.-Made Chips From Broadcom

Apple is ramping up its investment in U.S.-made chips, with plans to spend more than $30 billion with Broadcom in the next five years.

The iPhone maker said Wednesday that it has forged a new deal with its longtime partner that will spur the production of more than 15 billion chips on U.S. soil.

The investment is the largest Apple has specified as part of its pledge to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over four years, a pledge that helped the company secure an exemption from proposed Trump administration tariffs. Apple said the investment will enable Broadcom to expand a manufacturing facility in Fort Collins, Colo.

Bezos' Space Venture Blue Origin Seeks $10 Billion in Funding Round

Jeff Bezos' space company is raising outside capital for the first time ever, looking to reel in billions to fuel its growth.

Blue Origin is working on a $10 billion funding round that would value the company at $130 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Investment firm Coatue is leading the funding round, one of the people said.

Bezos founded Blue Origin more than 25 years ago, looking to channel his fascination with space into a private company that would help advance humanity's future beyond Earth.

NATO Sets a Lower Bar for Success: Keeping Trump Happy

ANKARA, Turkey-When President Trump landed here earlier this week for an annual summit of NATO leaders, U.S. allies weren't sure which side of the president they would get: friend or foe.

In the end, they got a little bit of both-and that is just fine with NATO leaders, who count it as a win that Trump didn't threaten to abandon the alliance altogether.

The widespread relief among U.S. allies that Trump stopped short-for now-of undermining NATO shows the new reality facing the alliance. Instead of pushing for breakthroughs on the myriad issues facing the group, its members now see keeping Trump happy as their new, lower bar for success.

IMF Drops Recession Warning in Wake of June Ceasefire

Three months ago, economists at the International Monetary Fund worried that a prolonged Iran conflict could push the world into a recession.

June's ceasefire largely took that risk off the table, the IMF's forecasters said in their latest round of quarterly projections released Wednesday. The upshot of the four-month war for the global economy: slightly weaker growth, but limited long-term damage.

On Wednesday, President Trump said the ceasefire is over. That followed renewed attacks by Iran on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iran. Trump stopped short of saying the U.S. would restart the war.

TALKING POINT Fake Advisor Promised a Guaranteed 10% Return, but Spent a Chunk of the Money at Casinos

A Washington woman who posed as an investment advisor has pleaded guilty to fraud for orchestrating a scheme that targeted elderly members of the Korean American community. Jenni Yoon Jeong Lee, 53, entered her plea to three counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud on Thursday.

Prosecutors say that Lee created a set of shell companies that appeared to be legitimate financial operations and described herself as an advisor affiliated with those entities. She raised more than $3 million from at least 28 clients, telling them that their money would be placed in funds with guaranteed returns of up to 10%. She told some victims that their principal would be fully protected so the investments would entail no risk, according to the Justice Department.

In reality, she spent a substantial portion of that money-at least $900,000-gambling at casinos, prosecutors say. She made some Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors, with the victims collectively losing more than $1.5 million, the Justice Department says.

Lee's lawyer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on what penalty she will argue for at Lee's sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 18. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

In a civil case involving the same scheme brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal court barred Lee from the industry last September. The SEC alleged that Lee used her family relationships and her own Korean American identity to gain the trust of her victims, many of whom prosecutors say were elderly and reliant on their funds for retirement.

Lee, who acknowledged in a court filing that she had a gambling problem, convinced some of the investors to write checks to the shell companies, whose bank accounts she controlled. With other victims, she instructed them to create a self-directed IRA at a legitimate financial company and give her access to manage the account.

"Lee would sometimes provide the financial services company with a promissory note to make it appear the client was loaning money to one of Lee's shell companies," the Justice Department says. "In this way she gained control of the investor funds."

--Kenneth Corbin, Barron's

Expected Major Events for Thursday

06:00/GER: May Foreign Trade

06:00/JPN: Jun Preliminary Machine Tool Orders

12:30/US: 07/04 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims

12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves

14:00/US: Jun Existing Home Sales

14:30/US: 07/03 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

16:00/US: Jun Monthly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index

20:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

20:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings

23:01/UK: Jun BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor

23:50/JPN: Jun Corporate Goods Price Index

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Thursday

Aritzia Inc (ATZ.T) is expected to report $0.79 for 1Q.

Bank of South Carolina Corp (BKSC) is expected to report for 2Q.

Byrna Technologies Inc (BYRN,BYRN-L) is expected to report $-0.12 for 2Q.

Educational Development Corp $(EDUC)$ is expected to report for 1Q.

Frequency Electronics Inc $(FEIM)$ is expected to report $0.24 for 4Q.

Hingham Institution for Savings $(HIFS)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Northern Technologies International Corp $(NTIC)$ is expected to report $0.03 for 3Q.

PepsiCo Inc $(PEP)$ is expected to report $2.16 for 2Q.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd (PLG,PTM.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Postmedia Network Canada (PNC.A.T,PNC.B.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Richelieu Hardware Ltd (RCH.T) is expected to report $0.47 for 2Q.

Simply Good Foods (SMPL) is expected to report $0.31 for 3Q.

Velan Inc (VLN.T,VLNSF) is expected to report for 1Q.

WD-40 Co $(WDFC)$ is expected to report $1.58 for 3Q.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 08, 2026 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

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