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SpaceX is pushing deeper into AI with its largest acquisition yet, striking a $60 billion (€51.7bn) all-stock agreement to buy Anysphere, the developer of the AI coding assistant Cursor.
The purchase, announced on Tuesday, is intended to strengthen SpaceX’s position in the enterprise AI market, where rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic have found early commercial traction.
Anysphere is a San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate large parts of software development, and its Cursor tool is widely used by programmers.
According to a regulatory filing, the two sides signed a merger agreement under which a SpaceX subsidiary, X67 Inc., will merge into Anysphere, leaving Cursor as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
The deal lands barely a week after Elon Musk’s company completed a blockbuster listing, and marks an aggressive move beyond rockets and satellites into enterprise AI software.
At the time of writing, SpaceX shares were trading a few cents below $200 in premarket trading, up more than 4% from Monday’s close and roughly 50% higher than its IPO price of $135.
Tuesday’s rally could see SpaceX overtake Amazon by market capitalisation if gains hold through the session.
The acquisition follows an option SpaceX secured in April, when it agreed to either acquire Cursor for $60 billion (€51.7bn) later in the year or pay $10 billion (€8.6bn) for a narrower partnership to provide compute.
Founded in 2022, Cursor has grown quickly, reporting roughly $2.6 billion (€2.2bn) in annualised business-to-business revenue, according to company data shared with Reuters this month.
The firm had previously raised more than $3 billion (€2.5bn) from backers including Nvidia and OpenAI.
SpaceX merged with Musk’s chatbot venture xAI in February, and this new deal could hand xAI a stronger position in AI-assisted coding, an area where it has trailed competitors, while giving Cursor access to far greater computing power.
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Wall Street’s most famous market label may be outdated.
The ‘Magnificent 7’ or ‘Mag 7’ defined the first phase of the AI rally, as it included Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla, but a fresh grouping is now circulating among investors keen to capture its next leg.
In the wake of SpaceX’s blockbuster listing, analysts are looking to add Elon Musk’s company, as well as OpenAI and Anthropic, which are expected to IPO later this year, to a new market label.
Coined by the British financial firm Vanda Research, the ‘FAB 10’ stands for Frontier AI & Big Tech 10, and takes the original seven companies from ‘Mag 7’ together with the three new market darlings.
According to Vanda, last Friday’s SpaceX IPO offered the clearest signal yet that attention is widening beyond the ‘Magnificent 7’.
After Monday’s close above $192 per share, Elon Musk’s space and AI firm is now the sixth most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation.
The term ‘Magnificent 7’ was coined in late 2023 by Michael Hartnett, who wanted a single term for the megacap stocks powering the market to records.
Their combined value now sits at roughly $22.6 trillion (€19.5tn), with Nvidia alone worth more than $5 trillion (€4.33tn) as the most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation.
The three newcomers represent a different flavour of the same AI boom.
SpaceX brings aerospace and satellite connectivity through its Starlink unit, while OpenAI and Anthropic are among the leading developers of frontier AI models.
According to Vanda, the ten companies collectively map the direction of the AI and technology sectors over the coming decade.
However, a wrinkle in the label is that two of the additions are not yet listed.
OpenAI and Anthropic remain private, though both have filed to approach public markets this year, potentially at valuations surpassing $1 trillion (€861bn) and making the ‘FAB 10’ as much a shorthand as a tradable basket.
The ‘FAB 10’ is also not the only contender.
Bank of America has floated an ‘AI Big 10’ that instead adds the chipmakers Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Micron, reflecting the semiconductor rally.
Others have suggested smaller clusters, such as the rival ‘MANGOS’ label, which has surfaced and includes Meta, Anthropic, Nvidia, Google (Alphabet), OpenAI and SpaceX.
Strategists caution that none of the names signals the demise of the ‘Magnificent 7’, which still accounts for roughly a third of the S&P 500 index. Investors are not abandoning the originals but simply broadening the definition of who leads the AI era.
As Vanda frames it, the next decade’s winners may simply need a bigger tent.
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The world’s most valuable company, the chipmaker Nvidia, priced a $25 billion (€21.5bn) bond offering on Monday, marking its first issuance since 2021 and one of the largest by a technology company this year.
The deal was originally pencilled in at around $20 billion (€17.2bn) but was enlarged after demand ran more than three times the size of the bond, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
Investor appetite was the headline of the sale.
Orders reached as high as $85 billion (€73.2bn), allowing Nvidia to upsize the transaction and tighten its borrowing costs in the process.
The timing was also favourable.
The announcement of a US-Iran framework deal to end the conflict in the Middle East steadied credit markets, pushing investment-grade spreads to their narrowest levels since early February, before the Iran war began.
That backdrop helped Nvidia lock in relatively cheap long-term financing.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Robert Schiffman, inexpensive long-dated debt lowers Nvidia’s weighted average cost of capital and helps bankroll its AI investments without threatening its AA credit rating.
A company spokesperson stated that the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including repaying and refinancing existing notes.
Nvidia last tapped the investment-grade market in June 2021, when it sold $5 billion (€4.3bn) of notes across four maturities, according to a regulatory filing.
The contrast in scale underscores how quickly its financing needs have grown alongside the data centre build-out and increased demand from hyperscalers.
Nvidia joins a queue of technology giants raising vast sums to fund AI infrastructure.
Meta and Oracle have each issued $25 billion (€21.5bn) in bonds this year, while Amazon completed a single $37 billion (€31.8bn) deal, the largest US investment-grade offering of this year before Nvidia’s issuance on Monday.
For Nvidia, the raise also keeps share dilution off the table, giving it greater flexibility as capital commitments mount. The firm has invested $5 billion (€4.3bn) in Intel, pledged up to $10 billion (€8.6bn) to Anthropic and contributed $30 billion (€25.8bn) to OpenAI’s latest funding round.
Nvidia shares closed up 3.5% at $212.45 after the deal, valuing the company at about $5.14 trillion (€4.42tn).
On the other hand, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, opted for equity instead, pricing an upsized $84.75 billion (€73bn) capital raise earlier this month, after originally seeking around $80 billion (€68.9bn), according to a company filing.
The transaction, which includes a $10 billion (€8.6bn) private placement from Berkshire Hathaway, ranks as the largest equity capital raise on record and is intended to fund the group’s AI compute expansion.
Management has guided 2026 capital expenditure to between $180 billion (€155.1bn) and $190 billion (€163.7bn).
However, the equity move came on top of an already heavy borrowing run. According to its own filing, Alphabet raised more than $85 billion (€73.2bn) of debt across six major currencies and markets in the first quarter of 2026, taking its total debt balance above $100 billion (€86.1bn).
That included a US dollar bond round early in the year, leaving Google relying on both debt and equity financing to bankroll its AI ambitions.
PTC Therapeutics prices convertible notes for refinancing
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The central bank’s increase in the uncollateralised overnight rate, by a quarter of a percentage point from 0.75%, puts it at a three-decade high.
The Bank of Japan has been trying to normalise monetary policy lately after decades of keeping interest rates near or below zero. It adopted ultralow rates to try to encourage more borrowing and spending to counter deflation and pull the economy out of the doldrums.
Inflationary pressures because of the war in Iran, which has sent oil prices soaring in recent months, have hit Japan hard since it imports almost all its oil and gas.
Low interest rates had added to pressures on the Japanese yen, which has fallen lately to about 160 yen to the US dollar.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda, who has been hospitalised recently, did not attend Tuesday’s policy board meeting. Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida was expected to take his place at the news conference set for later in the day.
Before the BOJ decision, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index briefly topped 70,000 early Tuesday before giving up some of those early gains.
Additional sources • AP
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Comstock Resources (CRK) said Monday it sold a 27% equity interest in its Pinnacle Gas Services midstream subsidiary to investment firm Sixth Street for $600M, valuing Pinnacle at a $2.2B enterprise value.
Comstock (CRK) said it retained a 73% controlling
Labs are rethinking banking, as AI remains king, but human insight directs banking improvements.
So, the robot banker remains a long way off. But S&P Global estimates that up to 59% of financial institutions worldwide were actively using artificial intelligence in 2025. Beyond simply relying on technology for research (“Summarize new anti-money laundering mandates for me”), financial institutions have begun operationalizing AI processes.
This is a significant advancement. Instead of using AI like an intelligent chatbot, banks now direct systems to perform complex, multi-step tasks—saving untold human hours while both speeding up and improving operations.
How does this newer type of AI (called “agentic AI”) work?
Consider loan processing as an example. Someone applies for a loan. AI agents retrieve credit reports, verify income, calculate debt-to-income ratios, apply underwriting rules, approve or reject applications (or forward them to a human underwriter for approval), and generate documentation. In compliance monitoring, agents can read regulatory texts, map new mandates to internal policies and processes, identify where the financial institution (FI) falls short, generate remediation tasks, and track progress.
For proof of the increased operationalization of AI, look at some of the innovations germinated in the world’s best fintech labs, incubators, and accelerators.
At inovabra, a lab hosted by Banco Bradesco, innovators have developed an AI product that can generate initial drafts of legal pleadings. The Bank of Georgia’s AI Research Lab has launched Software Developer: Powered by Code2Doc.
This software can write other software. And Garanti BBVA Partners has nurtured Skymod, an AI-orchestration platform that enables financial institutions to securely delegate operational workflows to intelligent AI agents.
Then there’s TD Lab. TD Lab is now experimenting with Physical AI, or AI-embedded machines (think robots, drones, and smart devices) capable of interacting with the physical world.
“Physical AI is about convergence,” said Chris Halabecki, senior manager and lab leader. “It’s about combining AI with objects that can sense or maneuver through the real world. As a lab team, we’re exploring how we can use physical AI to integrate more intelligence into everyday scenarios to better serve our colleagues and clients today and in the future.”
The lab has already developed proprietary software for a quadruped (robotic dog) device. Using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), which is a sensing technology that uses pulsed laser light to measure distances, and AI together, the quadruped can detect and learn about objects in the surrounding area, then follow commands linked to those objects. Halabecki provided examples such as “Walk to the white couch” and “Go find Evan.”
Future use cases for these technologies may include robots that can count, sort, and verify cash.
One day, robotic relationship managers may recognize when a customer walks into a branch and guide them in making investment decisions. In the field, physical AI may be able to conduct home appraisals and complete other tasks.
With the much-ballyhooed capabilities of artificial intelligence, it’s a little surprising to hear Kadry Boutaina, chief of innovation for the digital transformation lab of Morocco’s Attijariwafa bank, say, “Sometimes, the answer is not AI.”
That doesn’t mean the lab, called Wenov, isn’t driving technological advancements. It works with external startups to offer “more and more digital services for our customers — both retail and business.” Boutaina notes that Attijariwafa faces significant competition in this field, from both established banks and newcomers — notably neobanks entering the Moroccan and broader West African markets.
But providing digital services does not always entail a wholesale AI revolution.
The Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance recently formalized laws governing crowdfunding in the country. The first regulated platform of this kind is being provided by Kiwi Collecte, a fintech company. Under Moroccan law, Kiwi Collecte may not directly hold or move funds. It must partner with a licensed Moroccan bank for those tasks. A partnership with Attijariwafa empowers the bank to hold and safeguard funds, process payments, and disburse money to beneficiaries.
Fraud prevention is ever important. Sandbox CAIXA has found an old-school way to fight it. Sandbox CAIXA is the innovation lab of Caixa Econômica Federal, a major state-owned bank in Brazil. Lucas Zaccaro, Sandbox CAIXA manager, said that in his country, technologically unsophisticated people are often victimized by scammers. When the bank is closed, thieves stand near ATMs. They then offer to help patrons who are unsure how to use the machines. These criminals “help” by tricking users into revealing their PINs, then stealing their cards.
A “really great idea” from a rank-and-file Caixa employee led the bank to broadcast recorded messages at 10 of these ATMs, warning patrons about the scam. Theft at those banks has stopped.
Zaccaro says that this fraud-prevention idea was submitted through an established process designed to encourage rank-and-file employees to submit innovative ideas. Employees use Microsoft Copilot to refine their concepts and submit them to Sandbox CAIXA for review and potential testing. The lab will now assess the feasibility of rolling out its scam warning across the ATM network—potentially using cameras to detect when people are at the ATM and triggering automated messages.
At the Banking and Financial Institutions Association of Colombia (Asobancaria), the focus is less on rapidly advancing technologies and more on meeting existing societal needs. One development from the Asobancaria Social Innovation Lab is a reference framework for identifying, classifying, and reporting on the banking sector’s social portfolios. This proposal—the second of its kind in Latin America after Guatemala’s Social Taxonomy—was developed through multiple sessions of analysis, technical feedback, and sector-wide validation with member institutions. To create this framework, Asobancaria worked closely with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), which develops social-portfolio standards aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Andrea Guzmán, GGGI’s sustainable finance officer, said the problem with sustainability reporting among Asobancaria member banks was a lack of alignment on standards, with each bank setting its own measures of success for its social portfolios.
The framework addresses issues such as financial inclusion, social infrastructure, affordable housing, and services for small and medium-size businesses. A single framework to which all member banks agree “improves transparency,” Guzmán says. “It supports better decision-making by investors and helps mobilize more resources for our social sector. It’s a framework we can base bonds on. It’s a framework that helps banks avoid accusations of greenwashing.”
Consider the framework for sustainable and affordable housing. Guzmán notes that in rural Columbia, many houses lack access to water and may have only dirt floors. Therefore, a bank could claim success in affordable housing if it funded units with wood floors, fully plumbed and connected to the electrical grid. But what if those apartments are so far from public transportation that no one can get to work or school? Guzmán said that under the framework, banks agree that any affordable housing projects they fund would have access to the nation’s external infrastructure and social services.
Here’s a closer look at some of the world’s best fintech labs and the innovations they’re nurturing.
Meet the Winners
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OpenAI is facing a fresh regulatory challenge after a group of state attorneys general demanded a wide range of documents about how ChatGPT protects the people who use it, a move that arrives at a delicate moment for the company as it lays the groundwork for a potential public listing.
The investigation, which arrived just days after OpenAI filed confidential paperwork for an IPO, threatens to complicate a listing that some analysts expect will value the ChatGPT maker at roughly $1 trillion (€861bn).
According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the matter, OpenAI received the subpoena on Friday from a group of states, with the inquiry led by New York’s attorney general.
Officials are requesting material covering the company’s advertising practices, how it keeps people using its service, its handling of consumer and health data, and its policies towards minors and older adults.
OpenAI said it would engage with the offices behind the request and stressed that protections are already built into its product.
A spokesperson stated that the company takes the concerns raised by the attorneys general “seriously” and works to bring the benefits of the technology to people responsibly. However, the firm has not confirmed which other US states are taking part.
The subpoena adds to a growing list of legal headaches.
Last Thursday, a Canadian woman sued OpenAI, blaming ChatGPT for her daughter’s suicide. Earlier in June, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed suit against the company and CEO Sam Altman after two shootings in which the alleged attackers reportedly used the chatbot to plan their crimes.
OpenAI responded that its models repeatedly urged the individuals to seek help from mental health professionals and that it cooperated with the police in both cases.
These are not the first courtroom tests of the year for OpenAI.
In May, a federal jury in Oakland, California took less than two hours to reject Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing Altman of abandoning the firm’s nonprofit roots, finding he had filed too late. Musk, who called the ruling a “calendar technicality”, said he would appeal.
The clampdown also extends across the industry.
European regulators have opened investigations into Musk’s rival chatbot Grok over antisemitic and sexualised content, including deepfake images.
Anthropic, also preparing an IPO, was told by the Trump administration to restrict two of its models abroad on national security grounds, illustrating how AI governance has become an increasingly fraught political battleground.
Additional sources • AP
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Crude prices retreated on Monday as US President Donald Trump confirmed a peace agreement with Iran and both sides announced a lifting of their respective blockades of the Strait of Hormuz.
At the time of writing, the front month contract on US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down almost 6% from Friday’s close to roughly $80 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, dropped around 5% to about $83 per barrel.
The specific concessions made by each side are still unclear and there are questions surrounding whether the Prime Minister of Israel will respect the withdrawal of troops from southern Lebanon, which, according to the Prime Minister of Pakistan is included in the deal.
Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly address the US-Iran deal, or the issue of Lebanon, and CNN has reported that the Prime Minister of Israel is seeking an urgent meeting with US President Donald Trump after this week’s G7 summit.
Nonetheless, markets are reacting swiftly to the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz slowly reopening and the potential that the Iran war is closer to ending than reigniting.
The freshly announced peace deal is currently expected to be signed on Friday.
At the open, European markets also rose on the news that there is meaningful progress in ending the Iran war.
Both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 traded over 1% higher at the start of Monday’s session.
The UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX 30, Italy’s FTSE MIB, Spain’s IBEX 35, the Netherlands’ AEX and Switzerland’s CH20, all traded between 0.5% and 1% higher than their Friday close.
France’s CAC 40 led the pack and rose almost 1.5%.
In the US, S&P500 futures traded over 2% higher and the teach-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose more than 3%.
In other trade dealings on Monday, Asia-Pacific markets jumped overnight with South Korea’s Kospi climbing over 5%, recovering from a 4% drop on Friday, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 also traded roughly 3% higher.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped about 0.5% and Shangai’s SSE climbed over 1.5%.
Central bank bottlenecks and massive import costs delay the impact of a $4B windfall.
War-torn Libya is pumping oil at its fastest pace in more than a decade, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day in April, according to National Oil Corp. operating data.
Still, refining capacity, distribution networks, and subsidy-financed imports remain strained by years of institutional division since the 2011 conflict, when production fell sharply from about 1.5 million barrels per day to near-collapse levels during the civil war.
The imbalance reflects Libya’s fragmented downstream system, where crude oil exports continue but refining capacity, distribution networks, and subsidy-financed imports remain strained by years of institutional disruption since the 2011 uprising and the overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, when production fell sharply.
The state-owned NOC reported $2.82 billion in gross oil revenue in April, followed by nearly $4 billion in May, the highest monthly intake in over 10 years, according to local energy reports citing official data. Crude flows through Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, and Zawiya terminals into Mediterranean markets, where it is priced against Brent-linked benchmarks.
Translating stronger production and upstream earnings into direct benefits to the state and its people remains challenging, however.
The May surge coincided with a sharp increase in fuel imports; NOC Chairman Masoud Suleman confirmed the contracting of 17 gasoline tankers, the highest monthly fuel import volume in Libya’s history. Even as import activity rose, several cities in western Libya reported fuel shortages and long queues at filling stations, exposing persistent breakdowns in domestic distribution.
The cash conversion of oil earnings is still structurally uneven. In April, only $1.91 billion of $2.82 billion in gross revenue reached the Central Bank of Libya after fuel-import and settlement deductions routed through the Libyan Foreign Bank mechanism. That left roughly $910 million stuck within upstream settlement layers awaiting final transfer into the sovereign liquidity system.
On June 3, the central bank launched a $3.5 billion foreign currency allocation program to cover letters of credit (LOCs), foreign transfers, and retail foreign-currency demand, according to Libyan financial disclosures, amid persistent import financing pressure on food, fuel, and industrial inputs.
The central bank sits at the center of this fiscal roundelay. It is the sole legal recipient of hydrocarbon revenues and converts inflows into domestic liquidity for salaries, imports, and foreign exchange allocations, making it the clearing hub for the national economy.
That role has repeatedly placed it at the center of political escalation. Last August, a dispute over central bank leadership triggered a production shutdown in the eastern half of the country that quickly cut output from nearly 959,000 barrels per day to 591,000, according to NOC data. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya warned that disruption of the central bank’s clearing function would freeze LOCs and salary payments, given that hydrocarbons account for more than 90% of export earnings.
The underlying political structure remains split between the UN-backed Government of National Unity in Tripoli and the Government of National Stability based in Benghazi and Tobruk in the east; UN mediation is ongoing, but national elections remain stalled. A rare shift occurred on April 11, however, when the rival eastern and western legislative bodies signed a landmark agreement to unify public spending, creating Libya’s first consolidated budget framework since 2013.
Production recovery continues. Libya is targeting 1.6 million barrels per day by the end of 2026, supported by the rehabilitation of mature fields across the Sirte and Murzuq basins and incremental drilling gains.
Investment is also returning at scale.
In February, Libya awarded oil and gas exploration licenses for the first time in 17 years, granting acreage to Chevron, Eni, QatarEnergy, and Repsol, alongside other global operators competing for the Sirte, Murzuq, and offshore Mediterranean blocks. The round followed broader upstream agreements involving TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil, signaling renewed international exposure to Libya’s estimated 48.4 billion to 50 billion barrels of proven reserves, the largest in Africa.
Libya’s constraint is now fiscal rather than geological, the analytics firm Geopolitical Desk notes; production has stabilized, but “funding flows remain irregular, procurement cycles constrained, and fiscal authority contested across parallel administrations.”
The result is a landscape where record output, rising revenues, and partial political coordination coexist with fragmented financial execution, ensuring that Libya’s oil recovery is measured in barrels but constrained in how fully it translates into state power.
Here are the major earnings before the open Monday
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Key deals this week: GSK, Incyte, Ingredion, OpenAI, and more
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Bulls vs. Bears: SpaceX valuation in focus after record-setting IPO
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Notable tech headlines for the week: Apple, Oracle, Intel in focus
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The moment that Wall Street had anticipated all year arrived on Friday as SpaceX, the AI and aerospace company controlled by Elon Musk, began trading publicly on the Nasdaq in the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the history of financial markets.
In a speech before the New York session opened for trading, Musk stated that SpaceX’s goal is to “take the fiction out of science fiction.”
SPCX opened at $150, over 10% above its $135 IPO price, and it was already at more than $160 after the first few minutes of live trading.
The company confirmed on Thursday that it had priced 555.6 million Class A shares at $135 each, valuing the firm at roughly $1.78 trillion (€1.54trn) and targeting a raise of $75 billion (€64.5bn) that instantly eclipsed Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion (€25.4bn) listing, which had stood as the global record for almost seven years.
Only around 3% to 4% of SpaceX shares are currently available for public trading.
The company earmarked as much as 30% of its offering for retail investors, including 10% dedicated to European buyers, but the final amount was set at 20%. As for options contracts on SPCX, they are scheduled to begin trading next week.
The IPO has also brought Elon Musk closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
Forbes valued his pre-IPO SpaceX stake, estimated at around 42% of the company, at about $500bn (€435bn). At the IPO valuation, those holdings are worth roughly $690bn (€600bn), adding nearly $190bn (€165bn) to his fortune and pushing his net worth closer to the $1tn (€870bn) milestone.
Along with Musk, thousands of SpaceX employees are benefitting from the IPO and becoming millionaires.
The listing will give millions of savers indirect exposure to SpaceX as the company is expected to qualify for major stock market indexes shortly after its debut, meaning its shares could be automatically purchased by index-tracking funds.
SpaceX is estimated to be fast-tracked into the Nasdaq-100 in less than a month, as opposed to a typical wait of as much as a year.
Nasdaq’s new fast-entry rule, introduced in May, now sees it evaluating newly listed stocks for potential entry by ranking their market capitalisation on the seventh trading day and assessing whether they would rank within the top 40 index members.
SpaceX is already in the top 10.
Among other changes announced, the rule that requires companies to float a minimum of 10% of their shares was also scrapped.
Analysts estimate that funds tracking the Nasdaq-100 will be required to purchase at least $7bn (€6bn) worth of SpaceX shares around the inclusion date, creating a wave of mechanical demand.
SpaceX has also already become eligible for inclusion in both the Russell US Equity Indexes and the FTSE Global Equity Index Series under the newly announced fast-entry rules from the index provider FTSE Russell.
The S&P 500, however, will not adopt a similar fast-track approach.
S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed in early June that it would maintain its 12-month seasoning requirement and GAAP profitability test, meaning SpaceX will not join the index before mid-2027.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This article does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research and invest according to your specific circumstances.
IF you’re looking to travel on the cheap this summer, we’ve got some of the best lesser-known destinations that offer the same (or better) holidays, with fewer crowds and much less money.
I’m a travel expert, mum of two and influencer with 335,000 followers on Instagram, where I share tips on my page @thetravelmum on how to travel the world without spending a fortune.
It’s totally possible to discover a more authentic experience, friendlier prices, and a slower pace that actually suits families far better in destination dupes.
And you don’t have to forgo the convenience and reassurance of things like budget-friendly flights, easy airport transfers, family-friendly dining options, and good quality healthcare.
I am on a mission to help families travel more and not spend too much doing it.
So I’ve rounded up some great options from across Europe, some of which are not many miles away from the very well-known resorts…
Santorini is known for its picture postcard views, but it comes with high prices and crowds.
Hop on one of the regular ferries from Santorini (one hour 15 minutes) or Mykonos (35 minutes), and find yourself in Naxos.
Naxos still has all the charm and style of the better-known Cycladic islands – think white-washed hilltop villages, clear blue waters and traditional tavernas, but with lower cost accommodation, food and activities.
The other huge plus for families is that Naxos has stretches of sandy beaches gently sloping into the sea, which you won’t find in Santorini.
Staying here, I’d recommend checking into the Golden Sun Hotel.
I’ve stayed at this hotel myself, and it’s in a great setting right on the beach.
The rooms have large balconies, which are perfect for sitting out in the evening once the kids are in bed.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A seven-night break for a family of four from August 11 in a Family Suite with a Sea View starts from £2,268 – or £81pppn.
You can get this deal on Booking.com.
The Algarve region in Southern Portugal, with its popular resorts such as Albufeira and Vilamoura, attracts 5 million tourists annually.
Of course, most of which is concentrated in the peak summer months – sending prices skyrocketing during school holidays.
Instead, take a flight into the capital city of Lisbon or Porto, and within as little as an hour’s drive, base yourself on the Silver Coast – or Costa de Prata in Portuguese.
The region stretches along the country’s Western coastline, offering a varied mix of beautiful beaches, fresh seafood, picturesque fishing villages and medieval towns.
Places like Nazare, Obidos and Peniche offer a more local feel than some of the Algarve’s heavily developed resort areas, and it is a great choice for families wanting a more traditional Portuguese experience, without giving up beach days or reliable sunshine.
Perhaps check into the Ohai Nazare Outdoor Resort, which has a free waterpark and activities like basketball and volleyball for the kids.
There’s even a food shop service, as well as an on-site supermarket for essentials.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A seven-night stay for a family of four from August 12 in one of the Bungalows which comes with a double bed and two single beds starts from £2,483 – or £88pppn.
You’ll find this deal here on Expedia.
Croatia has firmly cemented itself as a great destination for families – it’s one of our favourite European countries to visit.
With its rise in popularity, flights are now widely available from many UK airports, but the downside is that tourist hotspots quickly become crowded.
Split, Croatia’s second-largest city, draws crowds wanting to experience its mix of beautiful beaches, historic streets and easy connections to other parts of the country.
But, just a 30-minute drive from Split, you can find Trogir – a UNESCO World Heritage town.
Trogir offers many of the same benefits as Split – beautiful Adriatic scenery, historic streets, waterfront restaurants and easy access to island boat trips, but in a much more manageable setting for families.
While Split can feel crowded, busy and expensive during the summer months, Trogir has a calmer atmosphere that makes travelling with children far less stressful.
Its compact old town is easy to explore on foot, the promenade feels more relaxed, and there’s less traffic and noise.
I’d recommend a stay at Amadria Park Camping Trogir, which has sea views, a huge swimming pool and three on-site restaurants.
This is another one I’ve stayed in, and I’d say don’t discount a lodge holiday, this site has fab facilities and is in a really pretty setting.
It has great transport links too.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A seven-night stay in a Standard Mobile Home from August 27 for a family of four starts from £2,924 – or £104pppn.
This includes return flights from Birmingham Airport, luggage and transfers.
You can get this deal with Jet2Holidays.
The Canary Islands are a family go-to for year-round sun without the long-haul flight. When other European options can’t guarantee the weather, the Canaries are usually a safe bet.
This means there isn’t really a low season, and while demand is high, so are the prices.
So, admittedly, this one might take a little more effort to get to, but we think it could be worth it.
La Palma – nicknamed ‘La Isla Bonita’, is reachable directly from a few UK airports, and actually, as of 2026, you can now book a package holiday there through Jet2Holidays, or the alternative is a short 30-minute flight or a 2-and-a-half-hour ferry from Tenerife.
While Tenerife has huge resorts known for lively nightlife and giant waterparks, La Palma is quieter, greener and better suited to families looking for a more peaceful escape.
Check into La Palma Princess, which has all-inclusive packages with TUI.
The hotel itself has spacious rooms as well as six swimming pools for kids to splash about in, and there’s a kids’ club for little ones too.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A seven-night stay at La Palma Princess for a family of four in August starts from £869pp or £124pppn.
This is for a Twin Room with balcony or terrace and includes return flights to Manchester Airport.
You can get this deal with TUI.
The Amalfi Coast is a bucket list destination for many, synonymous with luxury and romance, not necessarily things that go hand in hand with family travel.
That said, there are plenty of places along the Amalfi Coast that are great for families – but they’ll come at a premium price.
If you’re dreaming of la dolce vita but have children in tow and a more conservative budget, take a look at Puglia – along the southeastern coast. Puglia tends to be better value across the board, from accommodation to restaurants.
The region is easy to reach too, with flights from the UK into Bari or Brindisi, both offering straightforward transfers to coastal towns such as Otranto, Vieste, and Monopoli.
Instead of tight cliffside roads, families get open countryside, historic sites, and some of Italy’s best sandy beaches.
It’s not the same as the Amalfi Coast, but it still delivers on Italian beauty and culture, and you’ll have more space to enjoy it.
If you’re looking at where to stay, can you really go wrong with Eurocamp?
Centro Turistico San Nicola Eurocamp sits right on the seafront and even has a private beach for guests.
Steps away from the sand is a restaurant, bar and pizzeria – there’s also lots of activities, a big kids’ playground too and evening entertainment.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A Comfort Lodge at the Eurocamp sleeps up to six people.
For a seven-night stay from August 28, this works out at £753 per party – or £18pppn.
You can book this deal with Eurocamp.
For families looking for an Alpine experience – be it for winter sports or an alternative summer break, instead of the high-cost, premier resorts across the Swiss Alps, we’d recommend considering Slovenia’s answer – the Julian Alps.
Still delivering on dramatic mountain scenery, crystal clear lakes and fresh Alpine air, you can take your pick of adventures – hikes, cycle trails, watersports and snow sports – depending on when you visit.
Take a flight from the UK to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital; from there, the towns of Bohinj or Bled both make great bases to explore.
Bled is known for Lake Bled, with its striking church and castle sitting on a tiny island. It’s also doable on public transport if you don’t fancy hiring a car.
Along with mountain views, Apartments Vitranc has family rooms with a separate sleeping and dining area as well as a kitchenette.
One major plus here is that children stay free – and don’t forget to check out the hotel pool.
We’ve got a Slovenia trip on our agenda for this year, and this place looks like it’s well placed to be a great base to explore this beautiful area, and it has a pool for the kids to enjoy too.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A four-night stay from August 17 for a family of four at these apartments starts from £784 – or £49pppn.
This is for a one-bedroom apartment that has a balcony and a mountain view.
You can book this deal with Hotels.com.
Italy’s capital, Rome, home to some of the world’s most famous sites and ancient ruins, is a tourist hotspot all year round.
The crowded attractions, their sprawling size and long queues, can make it tricky to navigate with younger travellers in tow.
Whereas in Verona you can still experience Roman history, meander across beautiful piazzas, take in the riverside views and enjoy the incredible Italian cuisine, without the intensity of the capital city.
Another great selling point of Verona is its accessibility, served by its own airport, or easily reachable from Milan or Venice, it opens up more options to snap up cheap flights, and even incorporate a couple of cities into one trip.
If staying in Verona, check Dimora Giardino di Giulietta, a family-run hotel with a pretty patio area and spacious family rooms.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A four-night break for a family of four from August 18 in a Family Room at Dimora Giardino di Giulietta starts from £372 – or £23.25ppn.
You can book this deal on Booking.com.
Fancy some French city culture without the crowds of Paris – then why not give Lille a go?
Not only is it reachable in just one hour and 20 minutes on the Eurostar from London, but its compact layout and fab public transport system make navigating, especially with a pushchair, much more manageable.
Known for its art and food scenes, there are plenty of fun, family-friendly attractions to fill a few days of slower-paced exploring, too.
Such as Cita-Parc, an amusement park with rides, or Lille Zoo, within walking distance from the city centre, which is home to over 400 animals, and entry is a very budget-friendly €6 (£5.19) for adults, €3 (£2.60) for children aged 5-17.
Wear kids out running around the huge Grand-Place square, before enjoying a stroll through the Vieux-Lille (old town) and stopping for a chocolat chaud and pastries.
Another added bonus is that dining and accommodation are much more affordable than in the capital, too.
This place is basic, yet a practical choice for visiting the city as it’s next to the station – and within walking distance of all the main sights.
Make sure to book a Prestige Room for a family of four.
*If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue.
A four-night stay in a Prestige Room at the Rosa Hotel right in the city centre from August 11 starts from £369 – or £23pppn.
You can book this deal with Expedia.
Jen Carr, the family travel expert and founder of The Travel Mum, shares the best affordable holiday deals for families throughout the week – here.
Jen’s new book ‘Yes You Can Travel With Kids’ is available now on AMAZON.
*Price correct at time of publication.
SpaceX is set for the largest stock market debut ever.
Elon Musk’s rocket company begins trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SPCX. The company priced its shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion (€64.5bn) and valuing the business at $1.75 trillion (€1.5trn) in the biggest stock market flotation on record.
The deal would comfortably eclipse Saudi Aramco’s previous record of $29.4bn, set in 2019 and later increased through an overallotment option.
SpaceX made an unusually strong push to attract retail investors, including those in Europe. According to Bloomberg, individual investors placed roughly $100bn (€86.6bn) in orders through trading platforms including Robinhood, Fidelity and SoFi during the IPO process.
That demand alone exceeded the company’s $75bn (€64.5bn) fundraising target, underscoring the level of interest from smaller investors ahead of the stock market debut.
Yet beneath the hype, several warning lights are flashing. Here are five risks investors should weigh before the SpaceX IPO goes live.
At a valuation of $1.75tn (€1.5trn), investors would be valuing SpaceX at roughly 94 times its annual revenue, which was $18.7bn (€16.1bn) in 2025. By comparison, Nvidia — one of the market’s most highly valued technology companies — trades at less than a quarter of that level.
The investment research firm Morningstar, which values the company at $780bn (€675bn), called it “significantly overvalued” while Goldman Sachs data suggests sustaining the share price would require revenues above $100bn (€86.6bn) by 2030, implying a compound annual growth of more than 40%.
History offers a note of caution. Research by University of Florida professor Jay Ritter, often referred to as “Mr IPO”, found that while IPOs between 2012 and 2021 rose an average of 23.6% on their first day of trading, they returned just 10.6% over the following three years.
SpaceX’s expected inclusion in major stock indexes has become a point of controversy. Investment officials from four large US states have urged Nasdaq and FTSE Russell to explain recent rule changes that could accelerate the company’s entry into widely tracked benchmarks.
Critics argue the move could expose passive investors to a highly valued stock sooner than expected, while the index providers say the changes reflect broader market developments.
The debate matters because relatively few SpaceX shares will initially be available for trading. Although SpaceX is valued at $1.75tr (€1.5trn), only around 3% to 4% of its shares will initially be available for public trading.
That means the company’s market value will be determined by trading in a relatively small portion of its equity. Reports suggest more than 75% of the $75bn (€64.5bn) offering has already been allocated to existing investors and insiders, leaving fewer shares available on the open market.
According to Morningstar, the limited float and strong demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks could help support the share price in the early stages of trading, even if the company is valued above what the research firm considers fair value. The firm argues that a clearer picture of investor demand may emerge once lock-up restrictions expire and more shares become available for trading.
Some analysts, however, believe the limited float could continue to support the stock. Estimates suggest between $22 billion (€19bn) and $27 billion (€23.4bn) of passive investment could flow into SpaceX once it joins the Nasdaq 100, creating additional demand from index-tracking funds.
SpaceX’s financial results may also give investors pause.
The prospectus shows that the company is growing rapidly but still losing money.
The company owns the Starlink satellite internet service, which generates most of its revenue and is its only profitable business. It also owns the artificial intelligence company xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February.
According to the filing, SpaceX carried an accumulated deficit of $41.3bn (€35.76bn) as of 31 March and reported a net loss of $4.27bn (€3.7bn) in the first quarter of 2026.
This compares with $528mn (€457mn) in the same period a year earlier.
Much of the recent loss stems from xAI. According to SpaceX’s IPO filing, the AI business recorded an operating loss of about $6.4 billion (€5.5bn) in 2025. The filing also showed xAI spent heavily in the opening months of 2026 as it expanded its AI infrastructure.
Morningstar argues the AI unit “poses a material threat of value destruction”, noting that Grok has yet to win meaningful market share against rival chatbots.
Supporters counter that the losses are a choice, not a structural flaw.
Revenue climbed 33% to $18.7bn (€16.2bn) in 2025, up from $14.1 billion (€12.2bn) a year earlier. The underlying launch and satellite business was profitable as recently as 2024. The deficits largely reflect heavy investment in AI infrastructure, spending that supporters say is already beginning to be offset by new compute contracts.
Supporters argue investors are paying for future growth rather than current profits.
Starlink remains the company’s main source of revenue, while its artificial intelligence business is expected to play a larger role in the years ahead.
Bulls also point to SpaceX’s dominant position in rocket launches and satellite communications, arguing the company is uniquely placed to benefit from growing demand for connectivity, computing power and AI infrastructure.
SpaceX conducts more rocket launches annually than the rest of the world combined and counts over nine million Starlink subscribers, but its newest growth driver is the AI data-centre business acquired through the xAI merger.
Last Friday, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million (€796.6mn) per month for compute capacity at xAI data centres, in a 32-month deal running from October 2026 through June 2029, and covering access to roughly 110,000 Nvidia GPUs.
That followed a May agreement under which Anthropic pays $1.25 billion (€1.08bn) a month to rent the entire output of the Colossus 1 data centre until May 2029, putting combined annualised compute revenue at around $26 billion (€22.5bn).
Bulls argue this contracted income, won in under four months, shows how quickly the company can monetise its infrastructure. Sceptics note that both contracts carry 90-day termination clauses after December 2026, and that Google itself has framed the arrangement as “bridge capacity” rather than a permanent commitment.
SpaceX’s success is closely tied to Elon Musk, whose profile and track record have helped attract investors, customers and business partners. That creates what investors call “key-person risk” — concerns about how the company would fare if he were no longer leading it.
The company’s governance structure reinforces that dependence. Musk’s super-voting Class B shares give him around 85% of voting power, leaving outside shareholders with little influence over major corporate decisions. In practice, that means no one but Musk himself can determine whether he remains chief executive.
Critics also point to SpaceX’s incorporation in Texas, where only investors holding at least 3% of shares can bring derivative lawsuits. The Danish academic pension fund AkademikerPension has blacklisted the stock, describing the governance structure as “catastrophic”.
Supporters argue that dual-class share structures are common among US technology firms, including Meta and Alphabet. They say concentrated voting control allows founders to pursue long-term goals without pressure from short-term investors.
Musk’s prominence also brings political risk. US Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to scrutinise the listing, warning that future index inclusion could expose millions of passive investors to the stock without them actively choosing it.
Others note that the SEC completed its review faster than expected, allowing the IPO process to move ahead without delay and suggesting regulators see no immediate obstacle to the listing.
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances. Also remember, we are a journalistic website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information here, then you do so entirely at your own risk.
Earnings Call Insights: Adobe (ADBE) Q2 FY 2026
“We achieved $6.62 billion in revenue in Q2” and “non-GAAP earnings per share was $5.96,” Chairman & CEO Shantanu Narayen said, adding that “strong revenue growth was driven by subscription bookings to revenue conversion” and EPS benefited from “disciplined investments across
Seeking Alpha’s Disclaimer: This article was automatically generated by an AI tool based on content available on the Seeking Alpha website, and has not been curated or reviewed by humans. Due to inherent limitations in using AI-based tools, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such articles cannot be guaranteed. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
U.S. becomes world's top oil exporter, breaking Saudi-Russian decades-long grip
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Wall Street ended higher on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced that the planned military action against Iran was called off. Semiconductor stocks were front and center among the top gainers.
The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) closed +1.7%, while the tech-heavy
WASHINGTON — First Lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday the launch of Fostering the Future Accounts, a spinoff of the Trump Accounts investment funds meant to give $1,000 to every newborn whose parent opens one.
Building on her work helping foster children, Trump said the new federal guidance will give child welfare agencies the ability to act as a guardian for children in foster care for the purposes of opening an account.
At a news conference at the Treasury Department, the first lady said the move “gives foster children the same chance at asset ownership and long-term wealth as every other child.”
The accounts will be open for contributions July 4. To qualify for an account, a child must also be a U.S. citizen born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that a Trump Account balance for a baby born in 2026 will be $5,800 by age 18 and $18,100 by age 28 if no other contributions are made.
The first lady said 23 governors, all Republicans, have pledged to allow state agencies to begin the process of enrolling children in the program. “I urge every governor and business leader to help fund these accounts,” she said.
There are roughly 330,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, according to the National Council for Adoption. One in five of them is at risk of homelessness after aging out of foster care, and only half gain employment by the time they are 24, according to the National Foster Youth Institute.
“Those outcomes are unsettling, but we refuse to accept them as inevitable,” Bessent told the news conference. “We are affirming that the American dream belongs to every child.”
A provision of Trump’s tax and spending legislation that he signed into law last summer created Trump Accounts. Under them, the Treasury Department gives $1,000 to babies so long as their parents open an account. That money is then invested in the stock market by private firms, and the children can access the money when they turn 18.
Employers and billionaires across the country have pledged to make matching Trump Account contributions for employee benefits. Among them are Michael and Susan Dell, who announced a $6.25 billion donation, and hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife, Barbara, who pledged $75 million for kids under 10 in Connecticut, where the Dalios live.
Hussein writes for the Associated Press.
