Good afternoon! With top researchers bolting to Meta, including names like Lucas Beyer and Xiaohua Zhai, OpenAI is scrambling to stop the talent bleed. Leadership is adjusting comp packages and rolling out new perks to keep staff from hopping aboard Zuck’s AI rocket ship.

Chief Research Officer Mark Chen compared the exits to someone breaking into their home, and now Sam Altman is in full retention mode. OpenAI is warning staff about exploding offers and pushing hard to remind them why they signed up in the first place.

MARKETS

• Markets Find Their Groove: After a shaky start to the quarter, US stocks wrapped up June with a bang. Trade talk optimism helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to fresh records, with the Dow and even the small-cap Russell 2000 tagging along.

• Big Tech Leads the Charge: Nvidia and Meta hit new highs as the Nasdaq notched its best quarter since 2020. The S&P 500 closed above 6,200 for the first time, capping its strongest quarter since late 2023.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

• Robinhood jumped 12.77% to a new 52-week high after unveiling crypto-staking in the U.S. and tokenized U.S. stock and ETF offerings in Europe. ($HOOD)

• GMS soared 11.73% after Home Depot announced plans to acquire the building products distributor for $4.3 billion. ($GMS)

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise rallied 11.08% after the DOJ settled its lawsuit, clearing the path for its $14B acquisition of Juniper Networks. ($HPE)

• Joby Aviation flew 11.76% higher after delivering its first electric air taxi to the UAE. ($JOBY)

• Juniper Networks climbed 8.75% following DOJ clearance of its pending acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise. ($JNPR)

• Cava popped 8.42% with no clear catalyst, though the stock remains down 25% year to date. ($CAVA)

• Oracle gained 3.99% on news of a cloud services deal expected to generate $30B annually starting in FY28, alongside a Stifel upgrade. ($ORCL)

• Palantir Technologies rose 4.27% after announcing Accenture as its preferred AI implementation partner for U.S. federal clients. ($PLTR)

• Solar stocks rallied across the board after the U.S. spending bill reintroduced tax credits for leased systems and imposed new tariffs on Chinese-made components. SunRun surged 10.09%, First Solar rose 8.81%, and SolarEdge added nearly 3.03%. ($RUN, $FSLR, $SEDG)

What’s down 📉

• Chemed Corp dropped 12.95% after weak Medicare admissions and soft demand at its Roto-Rooter unit hurt Q2 performance. ($CHE)

• Fortive fell more than 3.36% after spinning off its Precision Technologies business, which began trading as Ralliant and dropped 8%. ($FTV)

• Cohen & Steers lost about 3.53% after Bank of America initiated coverage with an underperform rating and a $67 target. ($CNS)

• Boeing slipped 2.34% as its Spirit AeroSystems deal faces UK antitrust scrutiny, despite a Fitch upgrade. ($BA)

• Amazon declined 1.75% after Jeff Bezos revealed plans to sell $5.4 billion worth of shares. ($AMZN)

• Tesla fell 1.89% as tax credits for EVs are set to phase out earlier under new Senate bill provisions. ($TSLA)

STOCK
Robinhood Launches Tokenized Stocks, Plans Crypto Expansion in EU and US

Robinhood is diving headfirst into crypto again, and Wall Street is paying attention. The stock jumped nearly 13% Monday to an all-time high after the company announced its launching tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs for EU customers. The offering, which will run 24/5 on Arbitrum, gives 150,000 users in 30 countries exposure to stocks and dividends minus the voting rights.

That’s just the start. Robinhood is building its own blockchain, expanding crypto features in the U.S., and rolling out perpetual futures in Europe by summer’s end. (Perpetuals are crypto derivatives that let traders make leveraged bets without expiration dates.) The company also plans to offer tokenized shares of private giants like OpenAI and SpaceX by backing them with actual equity it holds.

Staking a Claim in the Future: Robinhood is adding crypto staking for Ethereum and Solana in the U.S. a process where users lock up their coins to help secure blockchains and earn rewards in return. It’s a bold move given past regulatory heat: the SEC previously forced Kraken to shut down its staking service and issued Robinhood a Wells notice in 2024, though that case was dropped earlier this year.

The Big Picture: CEO Vlad Tenev says this is more than a product update, it’s the future of finance. Speaking from a château in Cannes, he said tokenized assets will soon underpin everything from payments to deposits. And he’s not alone in that bet: BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Gemini are all exploring similar territory.

The U.S. remains a regulatory gray zone for now, but with crypto-friendly winds blowing from Congress and Trump’s campaign, Robinhood is building for a world where finance and crypto are one and the same and investors seem to agree.

NEWS
Market Movements

• 🛠 HPE Soars After DOJ Clears Juniper Deal: HP Enterprise surged after the DOJ approved its $14B acquisition of Juniper Networks, ending antitrust concerns and paving the way for a 2026 earnings boost from cost synergies ($HPE).

• 🧠 Apple Mulls OpenAI and Anthropic for Siri: Apple is reportedly exploring a major shift by outsourcing Siri’s AI to OpenAI or Anthropic after internal efforts underwhelmed, signaling a potential reversal in its AI strategy ($AAPL).

• 🤝 Palantir Teams Up With Accenture: Palantir jumped on news it’s partnering with Accenture Federal Services to expand its AI software footprint across federal agencies, despite rising concerns over its ties to Peter Thiel ($PLTR).

• 💰 Oracle Lands $30B Cloud Deal: Oracle spiked after announcing a record $30B annual cloud contract beginning in 2028, backing its multiyear guidance and strengthening its bid for a potential TikTok acquisition ($ORCL).

• 🚀 AppLovin Pops on AI Lead Over Google and Meta: AppLovin shares climbed after UBS raised its price target to $540, citing superior AI code deployment compared to Google and Meta and best-in-class gaming performance ($APP).

• ⚡ Plug Power Surges on Tax Credit Extension: Plug Power rallied after the Senate’s draft tax bill extended clean hydrogen tax credits through 2028, boosting optimism for cost competitiveness in the hydrogen space ($PLUG).

• 🌯 Cava Heats Up on Call Buying Frenzy: Shares of Cava spiked as call option volume tripled, with investors betting on a rebound despite the Mediterranean chain’s 26% YTD decline ($CAVA).

• 🎓 SoFi Jumps on Student Loan Bill: SoFi soared after GOP-backed legislation to cut federal student loan programs advanced, likely pushing more borrowers toward private lenders like SoFi ($SOFI).

• ⛓ BitMine Leaps on Ethereum Treasury Pivot: BitMine stock skyrocketed nearly 700% after announcing a $250M raise to build an ethereum-based treasury and staking program, citing growth potential in stablecoins ($BMNR).

• 🛫 Joby Surges on Dubai Test Flights: Joby Aviation shares soared as the air taxi company began piloted test flights in Dubai, fulfilling part of its exclusive deal to launch service there by 2026 ($JOBY).

• 🎁 Buffett Donates $6B in Berkshire Stock: Warren Buffett gave 12.36M Berkshire Hathaway shares worth $6B to the Gates Foundation and family charities ($BRK.B).

  🎬 Apple’s F1 Movie Delivers Box Office Win: Apple’s “F1: The Movie” brought in $55.6M in North America and over $88M globally, marking its strongest theatrical release yet ($AAPL).

• 🤝 Global M&A Volume Hits $1.8 Trillion: M&A activity reached $1.8T in H1 2025 as companies grew more comfortable with market uncertainty.

• 📱 Trump Says TikTok Buyer Ready: Trump claimed a group of wealthy investors is prepared to acquire TikTok’s U.S. business, though details and approvals are still pending.

AI
Meta Unveils Superintelligence Lab, Taps Top Talent from OpenAI and Google

Meta just cranked the AI dial to 1000. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Superintelligence Labs, a division laser-focused on building AI systems that don’t just match human abilities — they surpass them. At the helm: former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, now chief AI officer, with Nat Friedman (ex-GitHub CEO) leading product. You don’t assemble a lineup like that to build chatbots.

To stock his AI Avengers, Zuck has been personally wining, dining, and deal-making, poaching talent from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. The result? Eleven elite researchers onboard, with whispers of $100 million pay packages. Meta stock hit an all-time high of $747.90, reminding Wall Street that when Zuck bets big, investors tend to follow.

Billions, Brains, and a Bold Bet

Zuckerberg says this moment marks “a new era for humanity,” and he’s putting his money where his models are — pledging to spend hundreds of billions on AI over the coming years. That includes everything from massive data centers and custom chips to the next wave of language models and, yes, AI-powered friends who’ll gladly schedule your dentist appointment or pitch your startup idea back to you.

MSL pulls together Meta’s top AI assets: the FAIR research group, the Llama model team, and applied AI products, plus a brand-new lab tasked with building the next generation of foundational models. It's part moonshot, part talent land grab — and all-in on beating OpenAI and Google at their own game.

A Checkbook and a Chess Move: Zuck isn’t just throwing money at the problem — he’s throwing charm. He’s reportedly courted hires at his homes and made aggressive plays to snap up talent. Meta tried to buy Safe Superintelligence (it failed), then hired the co-founder Nat Friedman anyway. It’s now eyeing more than 50 hires for the group. When your AI team is staffed like a Formula 1 pit crew, expectations are clear: build fast, win faster.

Bottom line: This is more than just Meta’s next act — it’s Zuckerberg’s moonshot to own the future of intelligence. Whether that future looks like helpful assistants or humanity’s AI overlords is TBD. Let’s just pray for Zuck’s sake this doesn’t end up like the metaverse.

Also when are we changing Meta to something AI-esque? :)

Calendar
On The Horizon

Tomorrow

Earnings may be on pause, but the labor market is stepping into the spotlight. Tuesday kicks things off with the JOLTS report, a deep dive into how many jobs are available, how many people are getting hired or fired, and where workers are heading. It’s a go-to read for economists watching how tariffs might be influencing hiring decisions.

Also on deck: construction spending and the latest manufacturing PMI. Together, they’ll offer a snapshot of the housing sector’s momentum and how US factories are holding up in a tricky economic climate.

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

• 💸 Musk Slams GOP Tax Bill as “Destructive”: The Senate advanced the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a $4.5 trillion tax-cut package that includes extensions of Trump-era cuts and new deductions for tips and overtime. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk blasted the bill for gutting green energy incentives, calling it a “handout to industries of the past.” The bill would slash EV credits and tax wind and solar projects, prompting fears of job losses and higher power costs. A Senate vote is expected today amid internal GOP tension and a $3.3 trillion projected deficit hit.

• 👗 Google’s New App Lets You Try on Clothes with AI: Google launched Doppl, a virtual try-on app that lets users upload photos and see themselves wearing different outfits. The app generates photos and even short videos, though it may distort body proportions and add unexpected AI feet.

• 💍 Bezos Wedding Generated $1.1B for Venice: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s $55M wedding reportedly injected over $1.1B into Venice’s economy through luxury spending, tourism, and global exposure. Locals, however, saw it as a symbol of extreme wealth inequality.

• 🌭 July 4th Travel and Chestnut Day: AAA projects a record 72.2M Americans will travel this week, most by car. July 2 and 6 will be peak traffic days. Meanwhile, Joey Chestnut defends his hot dog crown at Nathan’s contest—even as gas prices fall to 4-year lows.

• 🎾 Wimbledon and Tour de France Kick Off: Wimbledon opens without human line judges for the first time, with Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic headlining. Meanwhile, the Tour de France rolls out Saturday, offering peak European summer sport energy.

• 🚪 Thom Tillis Won’t Run in 2026: Sen. Thom Tillis announced he won’t seek reelection after opposing Trump’s tax bill, citing Medicaid concerns. Trump had threatened to back a challenger. Mitch McConnell called the move a “setback” for the GOP.

• 🚗 Tesla Completes First Autonomous Delivery: A Model Y drove itself from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas to a customer’s home, reaching speeds of 72 mph. Verge called it a bigger milestone than Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi plans.

• ⛈ Delta Cancels 2,800+ Flights: After severe storms hit its Atlanta hub, Delta was forced to cancel thousands of flights. The airline is working to stabilize operations amid ongoing inspections and scheduling chaos.

• 🏀 Malik Beasley Under Federal Investigation: NBA guard Malik Beasley is being investigated over alleged gambling on prop bets during the 2023–24 season. Suspicious betting patterns triggered a probe, though no charges have been filed.

• 🔥 Europe Scorches Under Heat Wave: Southern Europe is baking under a brutal heat wave, with temps topping 104°F in Italy, Spain, and Greece. Health warnings and wildfire alerts are in place as the region braces for more extreme weather.

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