Tom Lee: S&P 500 Index Could Rise to 8,000 Points in August

According to court documents, the New York State Gaming Commission has filed a petition with the New York State Supreme Court, New York County Branch, to compel Kalshi to comply with an investigation subpoena issued on July 31 under Section 104(7) of the state’s Horse Racing Law. The subpoena relates to sports event contracts, operations targeting users under 21, advertisements that characterize products as bets, and equity and corporate structure. The commission said the move is intended to decide whether to impose civil penalties on Kalshi and other parties, as well as the amount of such penalties. Kalshi has not yet publicly responded. Earlier, the New York State Attorney General and Governor sued Kalshi on July 31, seeking at least $36 billion in damages. Federal Judge Torres rejected Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction on July 7; appeals courts hold conflicting stances, with the Third Circuit Court ruling in Kalshi’s favor, while the Ninth and Sixth Circuits support state regulators.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has formally approved Ripple National Trust Bank, enabling Ripple to support its stablecoin RLUSD via a federally regulated banking platform and offer digital asset custody services for enterprises.

Y Combinator-backed US perpetual contract trading platform Mochatrade has raised a total of $5.56 million in funding. The seed round was led by CoinFund, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, while its $690,000 pre-seed round was supported by Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund. Targeting Indian traders, the platform allows rupee deposits via UPI, enabling leveraged long or short positions on US stocks including Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple—no requirement to hold actual equities or open a US securities account. Currently in testing, Mochatrade has a waitlist of over 20,000 people and is slated for public launch in the coming weeks. The funding will be used for trading technology development and user growth; future plans include US stock options, additional trading assets, and social trading features, with no immediate token issuance plans. (Source: The Block)

Overnight to early this morning, Anthropic filed for an IPO, reigniting short-term AI hype in the market. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose around 3% in a single day, driving the S&P 500 up 0.70% and the Nasdaq up 0.82%, both ending their two-day losing streak. On the other hand, ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision, the U.S. Treasury market remained calm. Oil prices edged lower, but Middle East risk premiums persisted. Additionally, market turmoil in Brazil has drawn global attention. With Lula's surprise election victory, Brazil's stock market, bonds, and the real all slumped simultaneously; multiple stocks dropped over 30% in a single session, with some falling more than 50%. Investors worry the new government will expand fiscal spending, stoking inflation expectations, leading to a sharp spike in Brazil's 5-year credit default swap (CDS) spreads. For equities, per data from BIT Stock Platform, star stock Nvidia rose 2.4%, Micron gained 2.98%. CoreWeave reversed its pre-market decline to close up 1.76%. The optical communications sector stayed strong: LITE rose over 8%, AAOI over 6%. Neocloud, which was bearish on by Musk, showed relative resilience; only NBIS fell 3.48%, while other major stocks closed higher. The storage sector was flat: SNDK rose 1.42%. Crypto-related stocks fell broadly: MSTR dropped 4.21%, the previously standout NEAR Treasury Company fell 10.48%, BMNR down 6.52%, CRCL down 7.07%. Separately, per HTX market data, ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, market sentiment was cautious, with Bitcoin trading in the $80,000 range, currently at $80,094.20.

According to a report by The New York Times on the evening of the 26th Beijing time, as widespread concerns mount that the U.S. and Israel may soon launch a new round of strikes against Iran, senior representatives from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday. The visit is the latest step in a series of intense diplomatic efforts by regional mediators in recent times. Gulf officials said Monday’s talks aim to support the mediation work of Qatar and Pakistan, with the goal of urging Iran to demonstrate sufficient flexibility to reach a diplomatic solution with the U.S. Two diplomats noted that Qatari mediators have been pushing for a U.S.-Iran agreement under which both sides will make a series of concessions within five days. Under part of the proposed concession terms, Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to allow commercial vessels to transit, while the U.S. will lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports. The main obstacle to reaching an agreement is determining the timing of each side’s respective concessions. They added that mediators have been pressing Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program in the early phase of the agreement’s implementation.

Intel has announced the acquisition of Israeli quantum computing startup Classiq, with the transaction expected to be completed in the first half of 2027. The deal will integrate Classiq’s quantum algorithm software platform with Intel’s silicon-based qubit hardware capabilities to build a full-stack quantum computing business spanning both hardware and software, filling Intel’s gap in quantum software. CEO Chen Liwu stated that the merger will transform Intel’s quantum computing division into a "full-stack quantum computing business".