Dow sets third straight record high before closing 0.3% lower

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[1] Markets News, July 7, 2026: Major Indexes Close Lower, Chip Stocks Drop; Oil Prices Jump as US Revokes Iran’s License to Sell Oil Following Attacks (https://www.investopedia.com/stock-market-tod ...)[2] Stock market news for July 7, 2026 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top-stocks/st ...)[3] How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday 7/7/2026 (https://www.seattlepi.com/business/how-major- ...)[4] Dow trades at all-time highs in pre-market (https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dow-t ...)

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Jul 16 2026, 17:27

CFTC probes White House aide for $100K in insider bets on Trump speeches

**A White House teleprompter operator with advance knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches allegedly made more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say, in the first known insider trading case involving a federal employee on prediction markets.** The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating Gabriel Perez, a deputy assistant to the president who has operated Trump's teleprompter since 2016, for placing bets on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, where users wager on whether specific words or phrases appear in public speeches, according to two sources familiar with the matter. "Even his teleprompter guy is corrupt," one user wrote on Bluesky after the investigation was reported. Kalshi alerted the CFTC after its surveillance team flagged suspicious trading patterns linked to Perez, who made more than $90,000 in profits from the trades, according to one source. The profits have been frozen. Kalshi's head of enforcement, Robert DeNault, said in a statement that the company "promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators." The investigation covers bets placed on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including the February State of the Union address, a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and Trump's March remarks during a Medal of Honor ceremony. In certain instances, investigators found that Perez would back out of bets mid-speech when Trump skipped over portions of prepared remarks, the sources said. Perez, whose official title is deputy assistant to the president and technical advisor, earns a $175,000 annual salary, according to a White House report submitted to Congress. He sat for an interview with CFTC regulators in recent months and acknowledged some of the trades, sources said. The CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who declined to open a criminal investigation. **White House Response and Broader Crackdown** The White House issued an internal memo on March 24 warning staff against using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets, saying "the misuse of nonpublic information by government employees for financial benefit is a very serious offense and will not be tolerated." White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the staffer "is fully cooperating with the CFTC." CFTC Chair Mike Selig, a Trump appointee, has pledged to crack down on insider trading on prediction markets, including if it came from the White House. The Trump-era CFTC has broadly championed prediction markets as a regulatory category, even as state gambling regulators have challenged their legality. The case marks a significant test for prediction market oversight. The Department of Justice in recent months brought the first two criminal cases of insider trading on prediction markets — against a special forces soldier who allegedly bet on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and a Google employee who allegedly bet on user searches using internal company data. Both pleaded not guilty. Kalshi has since updated its policies to require users to disclose their place of employment. "If you have information by virtue of your job or your employment, something that you have a legal duty surrounding, and you have an obligation not to take that, misappropriate it for yourself," DeNault told ABC News in May. Regulators at the CFTC have expressed a willingness to settle with Perez and have discussed terms requiring him to return his profits and refrain from making similar trades, according to sources familiar with the ongoing discussions. Perez continues to serve in his White House role. Trump has occasionally criticized prediction markets but said in April he supports them because the United States could be "left out in the cold" if it does not allow companies like Kalshi and Polymarket to operate. His social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group, announced last October it was exploring launching its own prediction market offering. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Jul 16 2026, 17:07

Silver sinks Rs 5,600 per kg as oil rally delays Fed rate cuts

Silver prices tumbled Rs 5,600 per kilogram on the MCX on Wednesday, the biggest drop in three months, as rising oil prices reshaped inflation expectations and delayed bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. The selloff came as fading hopes for a US-Iran peace deal fueled inflation worries and strengthened expectations of sustained high interest rates from the Federal Reserve, according to Goodreturns data. MCX silver futures posted a significant decline, while gold futures also fell, the data showed. Gold prices fell Rs 1,300 per 10 grams alongside silver, with 24-carat gold in India settling at Rs 1,42,590 per 10 grams and 22-carat gold at Rs 1,32,290, according to Goodreturns. The declines came despite recent soft CPI, PPI and jobs data that had initially fueled expectations of a September rate cut. The precious metals selloff was broad-based, with silver bearing the brunt of the decline. Silver's higher industrial demand exposure makes it more sensitive to rate-hike expectations than gold, as tighter monetary policy typically slows manufacturing activity. COMEX silver futures tracked the MCX move lower, extending losses from the previous session. Gold has already been under pressure in recent weeks. The 22-carat gold price in India fell 9.6% in June alone, sliding from Rs 14,481 per gram at the start of the month to Rs 13,085 by month-end, according to Goodreturns data. The weekly trend for the period ending July 16 showed 22-carat gold flat at Rs 13,059 per gram, reflecting a pause after the June selloff. The divergence between soft inflation data and rising oil prices creates a dilemma for the Fed, as higher energy costs threaten to keep headline inflation elevated even as core measures moderate. The US dollar strengthened on the shifting rate outlook, adding further pressure on dollar-denominated commodities including silver and gold. Silver at current levels remains down from its June highs, with the metal tracking the broader precious metals complex lower. Compared to gold, silver has underperformed year-to-date, reflecting its dual role as both a monetary and industrial metal. The gold-to-silver ratio has widened as a result, signaling silver's relative weakness. Silver and gold face continued selling pressure if crude prices remain elevated, with the Fed chair's upcoming speech seen as the next trigger for direction. Analysts have advised investors to wait for clarity on the rate path before initiating new positions in the volatile precious metals market. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Jul 16 2026, 17:02

D-Wave lifts 2026 system sales outlook on record bookings

**D-Wave Systems Inc. raised its system sales outlook after record bookings, showing accelerating commercial adoption of quantum annealing systems.** D-Wave Systems Inc. raised its system sales outlook after record bookings and surging customer demand, with larger deal sizes and recurring revenue expected to support growth through the second half of 2026. The Burnaby, British Columbia-based company cited strong adoption across commercial and government clients as the primary driver of the improved forecast, without disclosing specific revenue or percentage figures. The raised outlook reflects a shift toward larger, multiyear agreements and a growing share of recurring revenue from cloud-based quantum services, the company said. D-Wave has been expanding installations of its Advantage quantum computer, which uses more than 5,000 qubits, and its Leap cloud platform, which allows customers to access quantum annealing systems remotely without purchasing hardware. The company reported that customer demand has accelerated as organizations move from pilot programs to production deployments. D-Wave's guidance upgrade comes as the quantum computing sector gains traction among enterprises exploring optimization, machine learning and materials science applications. The global quantum computing market is projected to reach $8.6 billion by 2030, according to McKinsey, up from an estimated $1.2 billion in 2025, as industries from logistics to pharmaceuticals test quantum algorithms for real-world use cases. D-Wave's focus on quantum annealing positions it to capture a portion of the optimization segment, which analysts estimate could represent 30 percent to 40 percent of near-term quantum computing revenue. The company competes with IBM's Quantum Network, which offers gate-based systems with more than 1,000 qubits, Google's Sycamore processor and IonQ's trapped-ion architecture, though D-Wave specializes in quantum annealing — a technique suited for combinatorial optimization problems rather than general-purpose quantum computing. This differentiation has helped D-Wave secure customers in logistics, manufacturing and financial services where optimization challenges are prevalent. The company has also been investing in hybrid quantum-classical computing solutions that combine its annealing systems with traditional high-performance computing infrastructure. The improved sales outlook is likely to boost investor confidence in QBTS stock, which has gained about 15 percent year to date but remains volatile as the sector navigates the transition from research to commercial deployment. D-Wave's ability to convert pilot programs into production contracts will be key to sustaining the momentum through 2027, with the company targeting positive operating cash flow as recurring revenue from cloud services scales. The raised guidance suggests that quantum computing is beginning to deliver measurable business value for early adopters, a milestone that could attract broader enterprise investment in the technology. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.