WORD ON THE STREET 

• White House Stunned By Debt Disaster – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House strongly disagreed with the decision of Fitch Ratings to downgrade America’s long-term debt rating to AA+ from AAA. She also blamed Republican “extremism” for creating the problem. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also said Republican “brinksmanship” had led to “negative consequences for the country.”

• Trump Indicted – Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted former president Donald Trump on four felony counts, accusing him of trying to undo the 2020 election. Former president Trump called on his supporters to rally to him to defeat what he called a never-ending witch hunt. Support was not forthcoming from former vice president Mike Pence, who accused ‘45 of putting himself above the Constitution. 
• Job Numbers Getting Better – Available positions in the United States fell to 9.582 million, the lowest point in more than two years. The number of people quitting and being laid off also declined. It’s a good sign for the labor market, showing that some of the pressure driving inflation may be lessening.  

• Uber Crushes Earnings Expectations, Falls Anyway – Uber was down more than 5% during the trading day and more than 1.2% in after-hours despite reporting earnings well above expectations. Even reporting its first operating profit and a relatively favorable forecast wasn’t enough to turn the tide. Tough crowd.

HOT SPOTS: What’s Going on in Geopolitics

• Russia Hit With Another Drone – Moscow was hit by a second drone attack, despite reportedly shooting down several other Ukranian drones. No one was injured in the attack. Ukraine has called for spreading the war to Russia as its own counteroffensive struggles to gain ground.
  

• China Limits Drone Exports – In another tit-for-tat trade battle, China is restricting exports of drones, anti-drone defenses, and other electronics. China called it only a “modest expansion” of “drone control.” More than 50% of drones sold in the United States are made in China.

• Bank of England Expected To Raise Rates… Again – The rate of headline consumer price inflation in Merry Olde England fell from 8.7% to 7.9% from May to June. That has the majority of analysts expecting just a 25 basis points hike today… but a sizable minority is expecting another half-point increase. The good news – the UK is not expected to fall into a recession.

CUTTING EDGE: What‘s Happening In Tech

• X Lets You Hide The Checkmark – The thing about a status symbol is that it goes away once it becomes affordable. X, formerly Twitter, now allows people to purchase a checkmark to become a verified user. That has earned mockery from former verified users, especially journalists, who once got it for free. Now, X will let verified users hide the checkmark – while still letting them benefit from features.

• I Thought This Was A Free Country? – America has fallen. A ban on incandescent light bulbs went into effect. The ban had been briefly halted by the Trump Administration, but now the sale and manufacture of such bulbs is banned. Of course, if you still own them, you can use them. FOR NOW.

• Nintendo Planning New Console – The console wars are about to heat up. Nintendo is reportedly planning a next-gen console for 2024. However, it may be targeting a different market than PlayStation 5 and XBox Series S/X, featuring a cheaper LCD screen and cartridges. How charming.

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