Former Treasury Secretary Downplays Economic Recession Concerns, Calls Stock Market Pullback a Natural Phenomenon

According to Axios, the U.S., Iran, and Oman are nearing a provisional agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. officials aiming to announce the arrangement as early as Wednesday. Two regional sources and a U.S. official disclosed that the deal, negotiated over weeks, aims to restore a U.S.-Iran ceasefire and advance the resumption of nuclear deal talks. Trump had previously considered launching a large-scale military strike on Iran but decided to pause the operation last Saturday to make room for diplomatic negotiations. The proposed agreement would establish a 60-day provisional arrangement that could be extended based on conditions. Under the plan: Vessels entering the Persian Gulf will sail through the northern lane of Iran’s territorial waters; Vessels exiting the Strait of Hormuz bound for the Arabian Sea will use the southern lane of Oman’s territorial waters in coordination with Iran; No transit fees will be charged during the provisional period; All parties will clear mines from the strait’s central lane within 30 days; once completed, the central lane will open for two-way traffic, laying the groundwork for long-term arrangement negotiations. Sources said Qatar, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia are also involved in mediation besides Oman. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi have held multiple rounds of communications recently. Araghchi reportedly agreed to the deal in principle over the weekend, but it still needs approval from Iran’s top leadership and Supreme National Security Council. A U.S. official and a regional source stated Iran completed the approval process on Tuesday. If finalized, the deal could ease Middle East shipping risks, reduce global energy supply uncertainty, and significantly impact oil prices and risk asset sentiment. Earlier, escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz had sparked market concerns over disruptions to global oil supplies.

The U.S., Iran, and Oman are nearing a 60-day interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Under the proposed plan, vessels entering the Persian Gulf will navigate through Iranian waters, while those exiting the Strait of Hormuz bound for the Arabian Sea will use Omani waters. No tolls or transit fees will be charged during the initial 60-day period. All parties have also agreed to clear naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz region to restore safer shipping conditions and pave the way for subsequent negotiations on long-term transit arrangements.

Is Michael Saylor's @Strategy dumping $BTC again? Wallets linked to #Strategy transferred out 1,030 $BTC($66.14M) again 2 hours ago.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a wallet address linked to Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy transferred 1,030 BTC two hours ago, worth approximately $66.14 million. The transfer has drawn market attention, with investors speculating whether Strategy founder Michael Saylor is initiating a new round of Bitcoin sales. Previously, Strategy has repeatedly transferred BTC via associated wallets, sparking market discussions about its asset management strategy. However, no official information has yet confirmed whether this transfer represents an actual sale.

Hawkish sentiment within the Federal Reserve is growing, with 5 of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents publicly signaling their preference for interest rate hikes after the July policy meeting. They contend that current monetary policy is not restrictive enough and inflation risks have not fully faded. Among these officials, Cleveland Fed President Hamrick said she favored a rate hike at the latest meeting, citing the current policy stance is "not sufficiently restrictive"; Dallas Fed President Logan noted that even excluding recent shocks, core inflation remains near 2.5%, backing tighter policy. Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari stated that to prevent high inflation from becoming entrenched, policy should be gradually tightened while awaiting more inflation and employment data, adding that "small, consecutive actions" are better than being forced to take more drastic measures later. Kansas City Fed President Schmid argued that given the continued strength in U.S. demand and investment, current monetary policy has not reached a sufficiently restrictive level, and tighter policy is needed to achieve the 2% inflation target. St. Louis Fed President Musalem also supports rate hikes, warning that the recent sell-off in the U.S. Treasury market reflects market concerns about the Fed’s credibility, and ongoing supply shocks are driving broader price pressures on businesses and households. In total, 5 of the 12 regional Fed presidents have now clearly signaled their leaning toward rate hikes. Meanwhile, 7 Federal Reserve Board governors, New York Fed President Williams, and Philadelphia Fed President Harker previously backed keeping interest rates unchanged, highlighting significant divisions within the Fed over its future policy path.

According to Finance Magazine, multiple deal sources have revealed that large language model (LLM) firm DeepSeek has restarted its second round of financing. The round targets 50 billion yuan in capital, with a pre-money valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan, and is scheduled to finalize signings in late August. Several investors noted that DeepSeek’s second round financing was launched as early as mid-July, but was suddenly paused at the end of July. At that time, some investors on the negotiation waiting list were informed that the signing of financing agreements was put on hold. Earlier media reports on July 26 stated that DeepSeek suspended its second round financing, with one reason being founder Liang Wenfeng’s dissatisfaction with widely circulated online remarks, which centered mainly on the allegedly leaked "investor-facing meeting minutes". DeepSeek and the investors currently in talks hope the restarted financing round will proceed quietly. As of now, some investment institutions that had actively engaged with DeepSeek previously said they have not received news of the restart, and the financing channel remains on hold.