Dimitris Plessas @plessas: "𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 | 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟬𝟲..."

Greece

𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 | 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟬𝟲 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 Asia closed split. KOSPI -4.58%, Hang Seng -1.61%, Nikkei 225 -0.93%; Shanghai +0.57%, ASX 200 +0.47%. Europe is higher across the board. Stoxx 600 +0.42%, DAX 40 +0.17%, CAC 40 +0.69%, FTSE 100 +0.30%, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.49%. 𝟯 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 1. The AI build-out is hitting its financing and power limits. Banks are preparing to offload $15bn of debt tied to a Google-backed Anthropic data centre, and Texas has halted new data-centre grid connections pending audits. $AMD (Advanced Micro Devices Inc) grew revenue 50% with data centre sales up 107% and still fell around 8% premarket. For $NVDA (NVIDIA Corporation) and $GOOG (Alphabet), capex is no longer priced as a free option. 2. Gold +1.76%, the cleanest move of the session. Fed officials have publicly floated a hike if disinflation stalls, and the 10Y UST sat at 4.62% at Wednesday's close, yet bullion is bid anyway. That is a hedge against policy error, not a rate-cut trade. $GLD (SPDR Gold) $GDX (VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF). 3. Iran and Oman are near a deal to manage the Strait of Hormuz. Brent +0.24%, WTI -0.03%, after crude round-tripped a roughly 4% slide on reopening headlines. $USO (United States Oil Fund) $XLE (State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF). Watch refined product spreads, not the crude print, for the real pass-through. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 $EBAY (eBay) posted 15% Q2 growth on luxury, collectibles and AI. Washington has refunded some $100bn of tariffs, with $ELF (elf Beauty Inc) flagging a $50m windfall and profits up 100%. $AAPL (Apple) escalated its trade-secrets fight with OpenAI, filing for a preliminary injunction. Korea's drop makes $EWY (iShares MSCI South Korea ETF) the risk gauge into the US open. 𝗨𝗦 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 S&P futures +0.14%, Dow +0.24%, Nasdaq -0.26%. DXY +0.05%, EUR/USD +0.12%, USD/JPY +0.10%. Semis, not the index, are setting the tone. Two tapes are trading at once: equities grinding higher on breadth outside tech, and a funding market quietly signalling that AI capex is meeting balance-sheet and grid ceilings. Gold at these levels with yields above 4.5% is the tell. Position for dispersion, not direction. Not investment advice.

Not investment advice. The author may have financial interests in the mentioned instruments.