U.S. Senator: If Powell Is Fired by Trump, It Will Trigger a Market Collapse

Skepticism toward AI was fully laid bare in the market reaction to this quarter’s large-cap tech earnings. Tech giants’ post-earnings performances diverged sharply: Meta tumbled as much as 8% in after-hours trading after issuing disappointing quarterly revenue guidance and posting its lowest free cash flow in years, a signal of surging expenses from its AI bets. On the other hand, Microsoft’s stock closed nearly 16% higher post-earnings, lifting its market cap by a staggering $450 billion in a single day — the largest one-day gain for any individual stock on record. The catalysts: the fastest cloud business growth in four years, and the company’s indication that it will rein in new capital expenditures this year. Amazon’s stock rose 15% post-earnings, as its upbeat cloud revenue — with growth hitting a four-year high — eased market concerns over returns on massive AI spending. Bob Lang, founder and chief options analyst at Explosive Options, said investors will eventually grow weary of the relentless spending by mega-cap firms, so it’s no surprise to see a company get a lift for reining in expenditures. Global stocks linked to the AI supply chain, as well as firms that power or adopt AI technology, also appear to be back in favor. (Jinshi)

Prediction market platform Polymarket puts the probability of Bitcoin rising to $70,000 in August at 26%. Additionally, the probability of Bitcoin hitting $65,000 is 80%, while the probability of it falling to $60,000 is 56%.

This week, the combined market capitalization of six U.S. tech giants that have released earnings reports has shifted nearly $2 trillion, as investors pick winners based on cloud business growth and returns on AI capital expenditures. Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft together added nearly $1.5 trillion in market value, with Microsoft rising by over $600 billion, and both Amazon and Alphabet gaining more than $400 billion each. Meanwhile, Apple’s market cap shed over $350 billion, Meta fell by around $85 billion, and Tesla dropped roughly $7 billion. Although Apple exceeded expectations for revenue, earnings, and iPhone sales, it projected this quarter’s revenue growth at 9% to 11% — below analysts’ forecast of 12% — and noted that storage chip shortages and competition for wafer manufacturing capacity will continue to limit supply. Its stock closed down more than 7% on Friday. Amazon’s second-quarter AWS revenue rose 37% year-over-year, marking its fastest growth rate since 2021, driving its stock up over 15% on Friday. The company also raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast from $200 billion to $220 billion. Microsoft rose 15% on Thursday, while Meta fell 8%, reflecting a clear divergence in the market’s assessment of the two firms’ AI investment returns. Jefferies stated that U.S. tech giants’ AI spending over the next 12 months is approaching $800 billion. The current market debate is no longer over whether real demand for AI exists, but whether long-term profits can support such large-scale investments.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, roughly 4 hours ago, a Hyperliquid trader’s long position of 47,610 BRENTOIL was liquidated, incurring a loss of approximately $277,600. Six days earlier, another BRENTOIL position held by the same trader was also liquidated, resulting in a loss of about $288,500. The combined loss from these two liquidations totals roughly $566,100, while the trader’s cumulative historical losses stand at around $2.86 million.

Well-known crypto trader Killa stated in a post that when Bitcoin (BTC) enters a new monthly cycle, the market has built up a strong bearish narrative, making a bullish reaction at the start of this month highly probable. He pointed out that based on past price action, BTC typically sees a counter-move when entering a new phase amid pronounced bearish sentiment. This pattern only tends to fail ahead of a major trend shift, such as last November and February and June this year. Killa argues BTC is currently still in range-bound trading, near bear market lows, leaving two possible outcomes: either the price makes one final break below $57,000, or it starts a rally this month and continues trading within the range. Even if BTC declines later, a 2% to 4% rise at the start of this month would better align with the current market structure.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 100 BTC from BitMEX, valued at approximately $6.34 million. Another wallet linked to the same entity received 5.055 BTC, worth around $318,530. Combined, the two withdrawals total 105.055 BTC, with a total value of roughly $6.66 million.