Posts by Amelia Frost
Wall Street’s AI Boom Has Powered Stocks For Years. Now Investors Want Proof Before Pouring More Money.
The US stock market enters the second half of 2026 after a strong first six months, with investors now turning their attention from the rapid pace of artificial intelligence investment to whether companies can translate those billions of dollars into earnings growth. The benchmark S&P 500 has risen more than 8% this year, while the…
Read MoreThe AI Boom Has Sent Major Stock Indexes Soaring. But The Magnificent Tell a Different Story.
Roughly $2.3 trillion has been erased from the combined market value of the so-called Magnificent Seven technology companies in June as investors reassess the scale and timing of returns from artificial intelligence investments across the sector. The group, comprised by Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla, has been under pressure as markets react…
Read MoreEstablishment Democrats Have Suffered Heavy Blows In Recent Primaries. They Fear It Could Happen Again In Colorado.
In Colorado, veteran Rep. Diana DeGette is fighting to hold off progressive challenger Melat Kiros in a race that has become part of a wider trend of a growing divide in the Democratic Party between its establishment and more left-wing factions. The primary is drawing attention far beyond Colorado after a series of upset victories…
Read MoreBIS Warns that The Ongoing AI Boom Echoes Painful Historical Investment Busts
The artificial intelligence boom is fueling one of the largest investment waves in modern history, but a new report is warning that history suggests the boom could come with painful consequences before the promised economic rewards materialize. In its latest annual report, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) cautioned that the extraordinary spending on AI…
Read MoreHSBC Warns Markets Are Ignoring the Biggest Risk Heading Into the Second Half of 2026
Investors celebrating record highs in U.S. stocks may be overlooking the possibility that consensus trades unwind violently if economic or geopolitical conditions change in the second half of 2026, HSBC warned. In a new report, the bank said that markets have become increasingly vulnerable to so-called “pain trades,” unexpected moves that go against the prevailing…
Read MoreAI Deepfake Scams Tricking Americans Out Of Dozens Of Billions. And It’s Not Just The Elderly.
Americans lost an estimated $68 billion to scams in 2025, with 15 million people (about 6 percent of U.S. adults) personally falling victim, according to a new poll. The results, disclosed by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance, found an additional 4 percent of adults lived in a household where someone else was scammed, putting…
Read MoreRipple Moves $16 Trillion a Year. Is XRP Price Really Going 100x?
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse dropped a figure on CNBC that XRP holders have been screenshotting all week. On June 26, he said Ripple now processes roughly $16 trillion in annual payments and clearing activity across the businesses it acquired, and that digital assets account for “close to zero percent” of that volume. That gap is…
Read MoreVenezuelan Deportees Were Sent To a Hotel When Returned To Their Country. Then The Earthquakes Hit.
Dozens of Venezuelans who were deported on June 24 were killed when successive earthquakes hit the country just hours after they landed. 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and seven children, had just arrived in the country, CNN reported. While the deportees were still being processed at the Hotel Santuario La Llanada, twin earthquakes measuring 7.2…
Read MoreMichael Saylor Signals Another Bitcoin Buy. The Same Week Strategy Filed to Sell $1.25 Billion
On Sunday, June 29, Michael Saylor posted Strategy’s Bitcoin acquisition tracker to X with the caption “We’re gonna need more charts,” his by-now-famous tell that a Monday 8-K and another purchase are coming. It arrived with Strategy roughly $13 billion underwater and Bitcoin trading below $60,000, its weakest level since October 2024. Here’s the catch…
Read MoreA Senate Committee Cleared Ruben Gallego Of Campaign Finance Violations. The DOJ Is Investigating Him Still.
Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego faces a Department of Justice probe into campaign finance violations despite having been cleared earlier by a Senate committee that reviewed his expenditures, according to a new report. Axios detailed that the investigation originated from a “whistleblower complaint” from Southern California and could weigh on Gallego’s political future as he…
Read MoreSmall-Cap Index Russell 2000 Headed For Best First Half In More Than 30 Years
Small-cap stocks headed for best first half of the year in decades. CNBC detailed that the Russell 2000 has so far climbed more than 21%, putting the index on track to notch the highest gain since 1991, CNBC noted. The outlet went on to detail that the climb has been largely driven by the AI…
Read MoreExplosive Device In Monaco Reportedly Hits Ukrainian Mogul And His Family
An explosion in Monaco hit a Ukrainian magnate and his family, according to different reports. The incident took place in an apartment building, with the suspected attacker fleeing on foot into France. Monaco’s Prince Albert II said the explosion was an “odious act,” adding that the country’s services had been mobilized. Monaco’s most senior government…
Read More