A weekend of US strikes on Iran flipped the risk switch overnight. Brent traded above $78. Gold ran past $4,000. CPI on Tuesday, Warsh in front of the Senate, and six of the biggest US banks all reporting inside 72 hours. This week resets positioning for the entire quarter.

Standout Picks Now (Sponsored)

Searching for the Next Double? These 5 Stand Out

Every market cycle produces a handful of companies that dramatically outperform the rest.

Our latest screening has identified the 5 Stocks Set to Double — companies showing rare early-stage momentum traits.

These picks carry the same indicators that historically precede strong rallies.

Past reports highlighted stocks that surged +175%, +498%, and +673%.

Get the Free 5 Stocks Set to Double Report.

*This free resource is being sent by Zacks. We identify investment resources you may choose to use in making your own decisions. Use of this resource is subject to the Zacks Terms of Service.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. This material does not constitute investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Zacks Investment Research is not a licensed dealer, broker, or investment adviser.

The Big Picture

Infrastructure

The Next Race in America Is Not Chips, It Is Power

America's rapid AI expansion is creating a new challenge far beyond technology as electricity demand climbs alongside the construction of massive data centers across the country.

Every new AI facility requires enormous amounts of power, forcing utilities to expand generation, upgrade transmission networks, and rethink how electricity is delivered to support one of the fastest-growing industries in the economy.

The next phase of the AI race is no longer measured solely by computing power. It is increasingly being measured in megawatts.

Electricity Is Becoming Economic Infrastructure

Factories once determined where economic growth happened. Today, data centers are joining that list.

Communities with reliable electricity, modern grids, and room to expand are attracting billions of dollars in investment as companies race to build the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence.

Power generation is quickly becoming one of the country's most valuable economic assets. Without enough electricity, even the most advanced AI systems cannot scale.

Growth Depends on Keeping the Lights On

Artificial intelligence is expected to drive investment, productivity, and innovation across the U.S. economy for years to come. That opportunity also brings a new responsibility.

Power plants, transmission lines, substations, and grid upgrades are becoming just as important as chips and software in supporting America's next wave of growth. The latest developments show the AI economy is entering a new stage.

The challenge is no longer whether America can build smarter technology. It is whether the country can generate enough electricity to power it.

Data Centers

A $50 Billion AI Project Just Raised the Scale of U.S. Investment

A major AI data center project in Louisiana expanded, increasing its planned computing capacity from 2 gigawatts to 5 gigawatts and lifting total investment to over $50 billion.

Meta’s expansion turns one facility into one of the largest infrastructure projects connected to the AI boom.

The spending will reach far beyond servers and chips. Construction companies, power suppliers, equipment makers, utility contractors, cooling systems, and local services will all be needed to support the buildout.

Growth Is Following the Grid

Data centers are becoming large industrial projects rather than simple technology facilities. A five-gigawatt site requires enormous amounts of electricity, as well as new power plants, transmission lines, substations, and a long-term energy supply.

States with available land, reliable power, faster approvals, and enough construction workers are becoming magnets for the next wave of investment. Regional growth is increasingly following the power grid.

A New Investment Cycle Takes Shape

The U.S. economy has spent years relying heavily on household spending to support growth. AI is now creating a different source of momentum as money moves into factories, concrete, steel, electricity networks, advanced chips, and skilled trades.

The Louisiana expansion shows how quickly digital investment is becoming physical investment.

America’s next technology boom could increasingly resemble an old industrial boom, with massive projects reshaping local economies and driving demand across energy, manufacturing, and construction.

Elite Picks (Sponsored)

These 7 Stocks Just Made the Cut

This report focuses on a narrow group of stocks identified through a detailed screening process.

Analysts apply a combination of metrics to narrow down potential opportunities.

Past selections have shown strong momentum, but no outcomes are guaranteed.

The newest edition is now open for access.

Get the report now.

*This free resource is being sent by Zacks. We identify investment resources you may choose to use in making your own decisions. Use of this resource is subject to the Zacks Terms of Service.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. This material does not constitute investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Zacks Investment Research is not a licensed dealer, broker, or investment adviser.

Jobs

America’s Biggest Banks Are Moving AI Into Daily Operations

Major Wall Street banks are rolling out digital assistants across trading, wealth management, treasury services, and client checks as the industry races to improve productivity.

The systems can analyze records, prepare documents, process requests, and complete routine transactions with limited supervision. More than half of banks are already testing AI assistants, showing how quickly the technology is moving into everyday financial work.

A New Productivity Test Begins

The financial industry processes enormous volumes of payments, documents, compliance checks, and customer requests every day.

Moving repetitive tasks to digital assistants could shorten processing times, reduce operating costs, and enable employees to manage more clients without adding additional workers.

Banks have often been early adopters of workplace technology. Successful systems could quickly spread into insurance, accounting, legal services, and other large office-based industries.

The Workforce Starts to Change

Banks are maintaining human oversight in important decisions and customer interactions, but the types of work employees perform are beginning to shift.

Demand for routine processing roles could weaken as companies place greater value on judgment, relationships, technology management, and the ability to supervise automated systems.

The rollout gives the U.S. economy an early look at how AI could change white-collar employment.

Higher productivity could support growth and lower costs, but the transition will test whether companies can reassign workers to new roles as machines take on more of the day-to-day workload.

Metrics to Watch

• 📊 June CPI (Tuesday)
  Consensus at 3.8% YoY headline, down from 4.2%. Core is the tell. Anything above 3.6% core reignites the hike-versus-hold debate right into Warsh's testimony.
  

• 📈 10-Year Treasury Yield
  Sitting at 4.57%, up sharply from last week. The 10Y-2Y spread has flattened back to just 35 basis points. If oil holds above $75 and CPI runs hot, expect 4.70% back on the table fast.
  

• 💹 Brent Crude
  Around $78.79 with Hormuz risk fully live. Every $10 sustained move in oil translates to roughly 0.4% on headline CPI over six months. This is the single biggest inflation variable right now.
  

• 🏦 Fed Funds Futures
  Pricing 39bps of HIKES by December after the hawkish June minutes. A full re-rating from where the curve sat six weeks ago. If CPI comes in cool, expect that to unwind quickly.
  

• 🏠 Retail Sales (Thursday)
  After a wobbly consumer read last month, June retail sales will tell you whether pricier gas is already denting spending. Watch the control group.

Market Movers

🛢️ Oil Shock Redux
Brent around $78.79 and WTI at $74.03 after the weekend's US strikes on Iran and the IRGC's Hormuz closure. Energy names will lead Monday's open.

Airlines, transports, and rate-sensitive tech get hit hardest. Europe's sub-month jet fuel inventory is the story the Street hasn't fully priced in yet.

🏛️ Warsh's Senate Testimony
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh testifies Tuesday and Wednesday. The June minutes revealed unanimous agreement on inflation risk. Any hint that oil-driven inflation delays cuts into 2027 sends the front end higher fast.

💵 Dollar Strength Squeeze
DXY firm as the dollar jumped against the yen (162.08) and the euro (1.1397) on the Hormuz news.

Higher yields plus a stronger dollar is the exact cocktail that broke emerging markets in 2022. Watch the rupee, which just hit a one-month low.

🏦 Bank Earnings Kickoff
Six of the largest US banks report within 72 hours. NII guidance and consumer credit commentary will move the whole financial complex.

Regionals are lagging into the print, so any positive surprise from JPM or WFC could spark a catch-up rally.

Market Impacts

📈 Equities: S&P 500 closed Friday at 7,575, essentially at record highs, but futures are pricing a soft Monday open on the oil shock. Meta jumped nearly 6% Friday on the Meta Compute monetization pivot, unveiling plans to commercialize its AI infrastructure.

Circle climbed after the OCC granted a federal trust bank charter for USDC, reinforcing institutional confidence in the stablecoin. Energy and defense names lead pre-market.

🏦 Bonds: 10-year at 4.57%, up on the week. The curve is telling you the market believes oil-driven inflation more than it believes recession risk.

Bond funds saw $12 billion of inflows recently, but yields keep drifting higher. Supply and inflation expectations are winning the tug of war right now.

💱 Currencies: Dollar broadly firmer with DXY holding gains on Hormuz risk. USD/JPY at 162.08, EUR/USD at 1.1397, GBP/USD at 1.3374.

The rupee hit a one-month low as oil-importing EMs got squeezed. If Hormuz stays closed even in perception, expect fresh dollar strength across the whole EM complex.

🛢️ Commodities: The standout story. Brent $78.79, WTI $74.03, gold at $4,061, silver at $58.41, copper at $6.23. Natural gas is the outlier, down around $2.90 as US export capacity remains capped.

Gold above $4,000 is a genuine regime shift. Silver's move is even more aggressive. If Hormuz drags on, energy and metals both keep leading.

Banks Sound Alarm (Sponsored)

Top Banks Warn: A Strange Day is Coming to America

America's most prestigious banks are warning clients of a new crisis which could destroy your portfolio – and keep it down for 10 straight years if you do nothing.

Click here to learn how you can defend your wealth from what Wall Street's warning its clients about.

You've noticed how hard this market is to follow...

For example, one day it looks like we have peace in Iran and oil prices fall...

Only for them to spike back up days (or hours) later.

But if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are right... the oil shock is just one small part of a much, much bigger problem which could destroy any gains you've seen in recent years... and set your financial goals back by decades.

I urge you to review Wall Street's warning as soon as possible – and see what you can do right now to protect your money.

*This ad is sent on behalf of TradeSmith at 1125 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201. If you’re not interested in this opportunity, please click here.

Key Indicators to Watch

• 📅 Tuesday, July 14, June CPI (8:30 AM ET) - Consensus 3.8% YoY headline, core is the tell. This single print reprices the entire July FOMC.
  

• 📅 Tuesday, July 14, Big Bank Earnings - JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs all before the open. NII guidance and consumer credit provisions are what matters.
  

• 📅 Tuesday-Wednesday, July 14-15, Fed Chair Warsh Senate Testimony - His first major public read since the hawkish June minutes. Any hint on how oil affects the cut path moves the whole curve.
  

• 📅 Wednesday, July 15, PPI plus Morgan Stanley - BlackRock, PNC, BNY Mellon earnings. Wholesale inflation and the second wave of financials.
  

• 📅 Thursday, July 16, Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Jobless Claims - The consumer data trifecta. Watch the control group and initial claims for any softness in the labor market.

Everything Else

• 🧭 Early market trends form quietly and a free guide breaks down three small-cap stocks already showing those subtle shifts in price behavior.

• 🏭 China’s factory-gate inflation accelerated in June as geopolitical tensions and higher input costs complicated the country’s uneven economic recovery.

• 🏦 Christine Lagarde is trying to keep the ECB above France’s political turmoil as markets weigh the election fallout.

• 🇯🇵 Japan has no immediate plans to overhaul its state pension funds’ asset allocations, cooling speculation about a major shift toward domestic markets.

• 💵 The dollar jumped as renewed Middle East attacks and the claimed closure of the Strait of Hormuz revived inflation and rate-hike concerns.