Headlines · 2026-08-11

Nvidia has officially announced memorandums of understanding with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to establish AI infrastructure financing platforms that aim to mobilize more than $500 billion in third-party capital. Nvidia said the arrangements are still subject to final agreements.

The confirmation follows an earlier Financial Times report that first surfaced the talks, and it fits a broader pattern of Nvidia turning AI buildout into a capital-markets story. Separately, Nvidia and SK Group also announced an expanded partnership centered on more than $500 billion of AI infrastructure development, including plans for AI factories and next-generation memory supply.

For the market, the deal underscores how chips, power and data centers are increasingly being financed as infrastructure rather than as isolated tech purchases. That has implications for Nvidia, whose ecosystem reach expands, and for the six financial firms, which are being positioned directly inside the AI compute supply chain.

Nvidia said the goal is to make capital-intensive AI infrastructure more accessible to customers. The company’s latest announcements suggest the AI buildout is moving into a longer-dated financing phase, with deployment timelines and supply-chain commitments extending years ahead.

President Donald Trump said he has instructed U.S. negotiators to seek compensation from Iran in all future talks, citing damage allegedly caused over the past 50 years. Multiple outlets reported that he tied the demand to attacks on U.S. targets, regional conflicts and Iranian protesters killed by authorities.

The move comes amid a broader standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has linked any reopening of shipping lanes to compensation, sanctions relief and an end to military pressure. Iranian officials told state media talks with Oman were progressing, but technical issues remained unresolved.

Markets were already responding to the deadlock, with oil prices rising on Monday as prospects for a quick deal dimmed. Traders are watching crude, tanker and shipping names most closely because any delay in reopening the strait could keep freight and energy costs elevated.

Some of Trump’s cited figures remain his own assertions and have not been independently verified in the reporting cited here. What is clear is that compensation has now become an explicit part of the U.S.-Iran negotiation track, raising the political stakes of any deal on Hormuz shipping.

Spot gold briefly climbed above $4,400 an ounce on Monday before easing back to around $4,395.64 in early Asian trading. firstsquawk.com said the metal rose 0.1% as technical buying kicked in after bullion cleared its 100-day moving average.

The rally extends a strong run that has been driven by shifting expectations for U.S. rates, softer Treasury yields and a weaker dollar. Traders are now focused on Wednesday’s U.S. CPI release, which could help shape the Federal Reserve’s next move.

Higher gold prices have also lifted sentiment across precious-metals-related assets, while silver has been moving higher alongside bullion. Zacks recently noted that easing rate-hike fears and a rebound in tech helped fuel outsized gains in some leveraged single-stock ETFs last week.zacks.com

For markets, the key question is whether the inflation print will materially alter rate expectations. A hotter-than-expected reading could keep volatility elevated across gold and rate-sensitive assets, while a softer number would likely reinforce the current bid for bullion.

Anthropic has struck a $9.1 billion, 20-year compute deal with Riot Platforms, according to Bloomberg and multiple syndications, with Riot set to supply 191 megawatts of capacity from its Rockdale, Texas campus. The reported contract covers phased AI compute delivery rather than an upfront payment.

The deal follows a broader push by Anthropic to lock in more computing power. Recent reporting has also tied the company to other long-term infrastructure arrangements, underscoring the pressure on AI developers to secure data-center capacity and chips as demand rises.

Riot shares jumped more than 25% in after-hours trading on the news, reflecting investor optimism around recurring revenue from AI infrastructure. For Riot, the agreement further validates its pivot away from crypto mining and toward higher-value data-center leasing.

The key figures in the report — $9.1 billion, 20 years and 191 MW — are being cross-referenced across Bloomberg-based coverage and the latest X signals. Neither Riot nor Anthropic has publicly denied the reported terms so far, so the deal should still be treated as media-reported until formal confirmation appears.

Anthropic is meeting with prospective investors as it prepares for a possible IPO as soon as September or October, according to multiple reports citing people familiar with the matter. The outreach is part of the company’s effort to build momentum ahead of a potential listing.

The push comes after Anthropic raised $6.5 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation, cementing its status as one of the world’s most valuable private companies. That funding round also sharpened comparisons with OpenAI and other private AI peers that are weighing public-market timelines.

If the company proceeds, investors will likely use the deal as a fresh benchmark for generative AI valuations, with spillover interest for cloud providers, AI-chip suppliers and enterprise software names tied to the AI spending cycle. Reports also say Anthropic told some investors it plans to expand further into healthcare and biotech applications.

Anthropic has not publicly commented on the listing plans. The timing and structure of any offering could still change before formal filing and roadshow steps begin.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a roughly 6,500-word essay on Aug. 10 arguing that AI should be distributed widely as “personal superintelligence,” not concentrated inside a few institutions. The message lands alongside Meta’s latest open-weight model release, turning a philosophy piece into a clearer company strategy signal.

The essay extends Zuckerberg’s long-running pitch that wider access to AI could lower the barrier to entrepreneurship and innovation. He also said some risks, including biosecurity, will require more coordination with governments and other institutions, underscoring that the company’s open-access stance is not absolute.

For markets, the key read-through is Meta Platforms and the broader competitive set that includes OpenAI and Anthropic. The bigger question is whether Meta can use its consumer reach and infrastructure spending to make free, widely available AI services a durable advantage.

There is no new earnings guidance or regulatory ruling attached to the essay, but it sharpens the debate over open versus closed AI. In practice, the announcement keeps Meta at the center of the industry’s distribution-versus-control argument.

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Michael Burry said on X, as relayed by several accounts, that he bought more March 2027 $100 put options on Palantir and believes the stock is worth “under $1” in the long run. The statement marks a more aggressive version of his bearish view on the software and AI name.

Palantir’s latest quarterly report is the backdrop. The company posted 93% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 2026, with U.S. commercial revenue up 149%, and lifted full-year revenue guidance to roughly $8.15 billion to $8.158 billion. That surge had already fueled a sharp post-earnings rally and a fresh debate over valuation.

For equity investors, the significance is straightforward: PLTR remains a battleground stock. Bulls point to accelerating commercial demand and stronger margins, while bears argue the multiple leaves little room for any slowdown.

No formal company response was visible in the materials reviewed. The only confirmed new development is Burry’s renewed bearish positioning and his unusually blunt long-term valuation call.

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Rocket Lab reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $234 million, topping the roughly $231 million to $232 million consensus cited in market chatter, and posted a backlog of $2.36 billion. The company also reported a loss of $0.08 per share and guided third-quarter revenue to $250 million-$265 million, with adjusted EBITDA expected to be a loss of $17 million-$23 million.

The update extends a strong run for the space company. In its first quarter, Rocket Lab posted record revenue of $200.3 million, and in May it had guided for second-quarter revenue of $225 million-$240 million with backlog near $2.2 billion, underscoring continued growth across launch and space systems.

Investors are still focused on Neutron, Rocket Lab’s medium-lift reusable rocket, after earlier reporting suggested the program could slip further. That keeps the stock’s trading setup tied not only to revenue and backlog growth, but also to development milestones, margin trends and the company’s ability to convert demand into launches.

For now, the headline numbers point to a business that is still expanding, even as execution risk around Neutron remains a major part of the investment debate. RKLB shares will likely stay sensitive to management’s commentary on launch cadence, defense contracts and capital intensity.

BlackRock told Bloomberg that Bitcoin ETF investors have been buying the dip and holding for the long term. The comment comes as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in about $853.5 million last week, one of their strongest weekly inflows since mid-April.

On-chain data also points to accumulation by large holders. Santiment said wallets holding at least 10,000 BTC climbed to a six-month high of 90, while wallets in the 10 BTC to 10,000 BTC range have added more than 20,000 BTC since July 29.

The combination matters for market structure because it suggests demand is being driven more by institutions and larger holders than by retail momentum. For BlackRock, IBIT remains the key beneficiary, as net creations translate directly into asset growth and fee revenue.

BlackRock’s message was about investor behavior, not a price call. The latest ETF and wallet data add to evidence that institutional demand has remained resilient even after the market absorbed recent security-related headlines.

Trump Media & Technology Group reported a second-quarter net loss of $238.1 million, sharply wider than the $20 million loss in the same period a year earlier. The company also said Truth API, its first data-licensing product, launched on Aug. 1 for institutional customers.

The new service gives clients millisecond access to posts from Donald Trump and other high-ranking Truth Social accounts. The move marks a shift toward monetizing the platform’s real-time political content rather than relying solely on crypto-related assets.

Shares of DJT fell about 8% in Monday trading to roughly $9.39, as investors absorbed another quarter of heavy losses and a still-small revenue base. The company reported just $1.7 million in revenue and said it ended the quarter with about $2.0 billion in total assets.

Trump Media has also been under pressure from the swing in the value of its bitcoin holdings and related digital assets. The company is betting that paid data access can become a more durable business line, even as the stock continues to react to each new filing and product update.

Fresh market data show S&P 500 second-quarter EPS is tracking roughly 32% growth, after about 30% in the first quarter. Analysts also now expect full-year 2026 EPS growth of 32%, more than double the roughly 15% estimate at the start of the year.

The upgrade has been powered in part by outsized results from AI-linked winners. AP reported that Palantir’s second-quarter revenue jumped 93% and that the company raised its full-year revenue outlook, reinforcing the view that corporate profits remain the key pillar behind the rally.

Still, Bank of America is cautioning that the pace may cool sharply from here. The bank sees S&P 500 earnings growth slipping below 20% by the first quarter of 2027 and easing to the mid-teens for full-year 2027, a reminder that elevated expectations can become harder to clear.

For markets, the issue is less about whether profits are improving and more about whether they can keep outrunning already-stretched valuations. Recent gains in the S&P 500, along with strong moves in names like Palantir, Amazon and Meta, show how tightly the rally has become tied to earnings delivery.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its Small Business Optimism Index climbed to 99.8 in July from 97.4 in June, slightly above the 97.5 consensus. It was the highest reading since last August.

NFIB said the improvement was driven by stronger hiring plans, compensation plans, capital spending intentions and better readings on the economic outlook. The group also noted that its Uncertainty Index rose, underscoring that small firms are still cautious about expansion decisions.

The report matters for U.S. small-cap stocks, regional banks and domestically oriented sectors because it offers a timely read on hiring, pricing and investment appetite among small employers. Labor quality or availability remained the top reported problem in July.

NFIB’s June survey had shown optimism at 97.4 and uncertainty at 89, so the July data point to a rebound in sentiment rather than a clean breakout. The combination of higher optimism and higher uncertainty is the key takeaway from the latest release.

X posts from crypto traders and prediction markets point to a sharply divided near-term setup for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kalshi Crypto said its traders are forecasting Ethereum to fall to $1,480 this year, while Ted Pillows said a $93.6 million ETH buy hit Binance even as he argued that spot demand for Ether is weakening.

Bitcoin is also under pressure in the same stream of posts. Ted Pillows said BTC has lost the $65,000 level and needs to reclaim it quickly or sellers could push it toward $62,000, while bitcoinarchive said BTC dropped $1,500 in 10 hours and $46 million in leveraged longs were liquidated.

The broader backdrop is a renewed debate over crypto cycle structure and how much downside this market can absorb. Separate media coverage of Fidelity macro chief Jurrien Timmer’s X comments noted that he rejects the “diminishing returns” thesis and views Bitcoin as still early in a larger adoption curve, though that is a framework discussion rather than a confirmed market turn.

For traders, the immediate market impact is less about a single forecast and more about positioning. A sustained break below $65,000 in Bitcoin could pressure miners, leveraged products and Bitcoin-linked equities, while Ethereum holding or losing the $1,850 area may help determine whether spot bids can offset derivative liquidations.

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