Soon after the market opened Monday, a block trade sold almost 116,000 SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) 420-strike call options for $202 million in premium and bought the same amount of 430-strike calls for $144 million. The structure created a $58 million net credit with a breakeven of $425. With GLD around $427, the positioning implies expectations that near-term upside in gold is limited. GLD also saw about $60 million in negative net money flow on the day, according to Nigam Arora, founder of the Arora Report.

Japan’s 30-year government bond yield climbed to an intraday 19-year high of 5.33% on Tuesday, underscoring market unease about fiscal policy. In the U.S., a $1.8 trillion fiscal-year deficit has pushed total government debt to nearly $40 trillion, while private investors’ share of Treasury holdings has risen to 73%. Japan, which imports about 90% of its energy, posted 1.1% year-on-year GDP growth in the second quarter versus an expected 2.0%. The short-term policy rate remains 1.0%, and the yen has fallen to a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar.

The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed above 5.33% on Tuesday, the highest level in 19 years, as concerns about persistent inflation and the U.S. fiscal outlook grew. Tech shares slid, with the Nasdaq Composite down 1.3%, while AI-themed ETFs fell broadly, including a 4.1% drop in a semiconductor ETF and a 5.7% decline in a generative AI ETF. Fed funds futures show traders expect the Federal Reserve could raise rates this year for the first time since 2023.

Appaloosa Management increased its Amazon stake by more than 15% in the second quarter to nearly $1.2 billion, and boosted Meta Platforms by almost 55% to about $380 million, according to the latest 13F filing. The fund also added nearly 7% to its Alphabet position to more than $661 million and initiated an Apple stake worth more than $241 million. At the same time, it trimmed Micron Technology by more than 41% to around $1.125 billion, though Micron remained its second-largest holding. Micron shares surged more than 240% during the quarter, their biggest quarterly gain on record.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told investors that the company’s enterprise business is growing faster than its consumer business, with enterprise now generating more revenue. The company’s annualized revenue run rate has reached $40 billion, rising 20% month over month in July, while business customers grew 32%. Friar also said advertising is nearing a $1 billion run rate, and cited a 54% efficiency gain on agentic coding tasks alongside recent price cuts across its model suite.

OpenAI has seen a wave of senior departures, including Denise Dresser, Fidji Simo and Brad Lightcap, adding to leadership turbulence as the company prepares a landmark IPO at an $852 billion valuation. The company appointed former Wiz COO Dali Rajic as chief revenue officer and said July run-rate revenue rose more than 20% month over month, including 32% growth from business customers. OpenAI has confidentially filed its IPO prospectus but has not provided a timeline for the offering. The shake-up is fueling investor concern about governance and stability heading into the public listing.

Generator maker ERock surged 23% on Wednesday after disclosing that its order backlog jumped 1000% year over year to $1.7 billion. A major driver was an agreement with AI company Anthropic to buy 470 megawatts of power. Bank of America raised its price target on ERock to $19 from $16 and reiterated a buy rating. ERock priced its June 10 IPO at $21.50, and Anthropic is expected to go public later this year at a valuation well above $1 trillion.

The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.1% in July from June and increased 3.4% from a year earlier, matching market expectations. U.S. stocks strengthened after the release, as inflation came in without an upside surprise and eased worries about tighter Federal Reserve policy. CME FedWatch showed the odds of the Fed holding rates steady in September rising to 62% from 52% a day earlier, while Kalshi traders priced a 69% probability. Analysts said the report removed a major inflation surprise even after oil prices jumped more than 20% in July.

Eli Lilly has filed six lawsuits against U.S. businesses it alleges illegally sold black-market versions of its experimental obesity drug retatrutide, which remains in Phase 3 trials. The U.S. FDA has said selling retatrutide and other unapproved versions of GLP-1 products to consumers is illegal and cannot lawfully be compounded. Lilly said it has referred more than 200 individuals and entities to regulators and law enforcement, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted over 690 illicit GLP-1 drug shipments in fiscal year 2025. The company said it is stepping up efforts to curb unauthorized sales through online channels and other outlets.