Trump vs Big Oil: the profit backlash no one saw coming
Bosses can watch your Kalshi trades after new partnership
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Palantir CEO warns AI companies want to addict you like drugs
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Trump turns on Big Oil over “too much” profits
President Donald Trump on Monday criticized ExxonMobil and Chevron for sharply higher profits during the Iran war, saying they are making too much money based on a shortage and should cut consumer prices.
Exxon doubles quarterly earnings: ExxonMobil reported $14.5 billion in second-quarter 2026 earnings, double the amount from the same period last year while oil prices rose above $100 a barrel at times.
Chevron posts highest earnings: Chevron pulled in $12 billion, posting its highest quarterly earnings in at least six years according to reports on the companies’ results last week.
Demands giveback and cuts: Trump said the companies ought to give some of that back to the public and better cut the retail price, the consumer price, stating he is not happy about it.
Prices fall as tensions ease: Oil prices fell again Monday as signs emerged that U.S.-Iran tensions were easing, with Trump predicting gasoline prices would drop through the floor when the war ends.
How Mamdani’s tax mistake could empty New York buildings
New York City homeowners received an extra month to prove primary residency after Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax public roll of more than 960,000 properties caused confusion, as a developer warns of backfire on everyday residents.
List exceeds estimates thirtyfold: The Department of Finance published full names and addresses for more than 960,000 properties, about 30 times larger than the original estimate of 13,000 to 31,000 affected by the tax.
Targets non-primary residences: The tax approved by state lawmakers in May under Gov. Kathy Hochul applies to non-primary residences valued above $5 million and condos or co-ops valued at $1 million or more.
Developer warns of backfire: Aria Development Group founding partner David Arditi said if high-earning taxpayers leave, the impact shows up much more prominently in the budget of those who will stay behind.
Miami outsells New York luxury: Miami has already outsold New York in ultra-luxury deals this year as sales teams field more calls from motivated New York buyers and the Florida exodus gains traction.
Apple Price Hikes Reveal Mode’s Big Opportunity
Apple will potentially raise prices on Macs and iPads by $200 or more, another reminder that the devices we rely on keep getting more expensive.
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Mode Mobile received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
Mode revenue and EBITDA numbers include full year revenue and EBITDA of businesses acquired by Mode Mobile in 2025.
Palantir CEO warns AI companies want to addict you like drugs
Palantir CEO Alex Karp on Monday renewed attacks on frontier AI labs including OpenAI and Anthropic for trying to drug addict enterprises to a future they control, urging companies to keep data and IP in-house.
Enterprises should own models: Karp said enterprises should control their own models and work with companies like Palantir that offer an application layer allowing the business to keep the data in-house.
Skeptical of security claims: Although OpenAI and Anthropic said customer data is secure and is not used to train their models unless users opt in, Karp said he is not buying it.
Defends open-weight approach: Karp argued Chinese models cannot be blamed for distilling U.S. models when the frontier labs distilled all the value of intellectual property everywhere.
Palantir reports strong growth: Overall revenue grew 93% over last year and the AI software company’s U.S. commercial business jumped nearly 150% in the second quarter.
Commercial boom sends Palantir shares soaring 16%
Palantir shares surged nearly 16% in premarket trading Tuesday after reporting second-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion that rose 93% year-over-year and beat estimates of $1.8 billion, powered by 149% U.S. commercial growth.
U.S. commercial sales climb: Commercial revenue climbed 149% year-over-year to $764 million while government revenue advanced 90% to $809 million, driving overall results well above the $1.8 billion consensus.
Full-year revenue guidance raised: The company lifted its 2026 revenue outlook to the $8.15 billion to $8.16 billion range from prior estimates near $7.65 billion, with commercial revenue guided above $3.424 billion.
Record deal activity reported: Palantir closed 220 deals of $1 million or more including 73 exceeding $10 million, while adjusted free cash flow reached $1.22 billion versus expectations of $1 billion.
Sovereign AI demand drives: CEO Alex Karp called the quarter otherworldly and credited the sovereign AI revolution as customers seek independence to keep data private from frontier labs like OpenAI and Google.
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Caterpillar stock explodes after $20.5B record revenue
Caterpillar stock jumped 10% in premarket trading Tuesday after the heavy equipment maker reported second-quarter sales and revenues increased 24% to a record $20.5 billion.
Record sales milestone hit: CEO Joe Creed said this is the first time in company history that Caterpillar generated over $20 billion in sales and revenues in a single quarter.
Backlog climbs to record: The company’s backlog rose to $72.1 billion, up 92% from the same time last year, powered by strong order rates across all three primary segments.
AI infrastructure demand wins: Caterpillar has become a winner of the AI trade by providing the massive power infrastructure required to keep data centers running.
Margins and yearly gains: Operating profit margin was 20.9% for the second quarter of 2026 compared with 17.3% for the second quarter of 2025, with the stock up 38% year to date.
Your boss can now track every Kalshi prediction bet you make
Kalshi is announcing a Tuesday partnership with compliance technology company Comply, whose software for more than 5,000 firms will monitor employee trades on event contracts and perpetual futures.
Compliance data integration: Comply is adding Kalshi’s prediction markets trade data to its regulatory software so employers can see employees’ event contract trades and enforce policies.
Institutional visibility demand: Kalshi vice president Max Crowley said firms seeking institutional trading expect the same compliance visibility they have for traditional securities and digital assets.
Monitoring avoids bans: Kalshi chief compliance officer Sudhir Jain said without data companies may ban all event contract trading, but technology now allows monitoring instead.
Prior partnership expansion: The deal follows Kalshi’s June partnership with StarCompliance and Comply’s existing Polymarket coverage through ZenLedger for prediction market trades.
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