WORD ON THE STREET 

• Norfolk Southern Still Suffering From East Palestine Crash – Norfolk Southern has been hit with charges of $416 million in the second quarter and $387 million in the first quarter due to expenses from the train derailment in East Palestine. According to CEO Mark George, the company has also lost about $200 million in revenue. That’s about a billion dollars for one derailment.

• MSFT Faces Antitrust Troubles – The European Commission is investigating whether Microsoft’s Teams app is violating antitrust laws by being packaged with other items in its productivity suite. The complaint began after accusations from Slack, which obviously has a lot to gain if the EU rules against Teams.

• 

   

• Trump Charged With More Crimes – Special Counsel Jack Smith added more charges against former president Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified information. Specifically, Smith argues that the former president attempted to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence” by deleting video footage.

• KLA Corp. Crushes Earnings Expectations – KLAC was up 5.35% during the trading day and more than 3% in after-hours. Adjusted earnings were $5.40 a share while expectations were for just $4.86 a share.

HOT SPOTS: What’s Going on in Geopolitics

• KLA Corp. Crushes Earnings Expectations – KLAC was up 5.35% during the trading day and more than 3% in after-hours. Adjusted earnings were $5.40 a share while expectations were for just $4.86 a shareBank Of Japan Says It Will Handle Things Differently – The Bank of Japan said it would use greater flexibility in the future in managing the yield curve. However, it will still keep interest rates extremely low, even as it raises its estimate for inflation in fascial 2023 to 2.5%.
  

• Russia Meets With North Korea – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Kim Jong Un in a regional security meeting. Both Russian and Chinese officials were present at a major North Korean military parade, which included the country’s new ICBM’s.

• Ukraine Claims Military Success – Russian president Vladimir Putin admitted that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had “significantly” intensified as Ukraine claimed territory near Zaporizhzhia. The village of Staromaiorske is reportedly under Ukrainian control, marking a notable breakthrough in Russian defenses. However, the counteroffensive generally has met with slow progress, frustrating some Western observers.

CUTTING EDGE: What‘s Happening In Tech

• X Goes Emo – Twitter, I mean X, will soon just be in dark mode. Elon Musk posted that “this platform will soon only have ‘dark mode.'” Disagree? Too bad. “It is better in every way,” says the TecnoKing.

• The Doctor Is In – Amazon Web Services has created a new service called AWS HealthScribe that will use AI to generate transcripts and summaries of patient visits. The goal is to save doctors time, what health care professionals supposedly call “pajama time.” It generally costs doctors about one to two hours outside of office hours a dayEV Makers Join Up For Charging Network – Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, BMW, Honda, and General Motors are joining forces to create a new EV charging network. The goal is to install – at minimum – 30,000 EV chargers by 2030. The network will tap government funds to help make it happen.

• Intel Is Back Baby – Earnings per share hit 13 cents as opposed to a loss expected by analysts, while revenue also topped expectations. Intel has returned to profitability after reporting losses in the last two quarters. A better than expected forecast also cheered investors.

The information in this email is intended for informational purposes only and does not guarantee specific results as there is a high degree of risk involved with trading. Also, our traders are real traders and may have financial interests in the companies discussed. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information