Canada

Oil prices climbed to their highest level in more than a month, extending gains for a fifth straight session after Yemen's Houthis said they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers, fuelling concerns that disruptions to global oil supplies could spread beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Gold prices were in the red.

Elsewhere, European shares fell as chip stocks declined and Nestle tumbled nearly 7% after its earnings, putting the stock on track for its biggest one-day drop since July 2002. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended higher with chip-related stocks tracking overnight gains in their U.S. peers.

The U.S. dollar edged lower against the euro ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting, while climbing to a fresh 40-year high against the yen.

Statistics Canada is scheduled to publish retail sales for May, forecast to rise 1.0% following a 0.5% increase previously. Sales excluding autos are seen up 1.4% in May after a 0.1% gain in April. Separately, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business releases its Business Barometer for July, which stood at 49.55 previously.

Gold miners are expected to report sharply higher second-quarter profits, buoyed by stronger bullion prices, though the Iran war's impact on energy costs likely weighed on earnings growth. The world's two biggest listed producers, Newmont and Barrick Mining, are expected to post combined profit of nearly $3.5 billion, up from $2.4 billion a year earlier.

First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL, OTC: FSTTF) announces it has negotiated a debt settlement with an arm's length creditor pursuant to which it will settle aggregate debt of $300,000 in consideration for which it will issue 1,500,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.20 per share. All shares issued in connection with this debt settlement will have a hold period expiring 4 months and 1 day after their date of issuance, in accordance with the policies of the CSE and applicable securities laws.

First Tellurium Corp.announces that its subsidiary PyroDelta Energy and PyroDelta’s Head of Engineering Michael Abdelmaseh were featured recently on The Drone Radio Show, a US–based, drone-focused podcast hosted by Randy Goers and launched in 2015. The Drone Radio Show is one of the longest-running drone-focused podcasts, and it has featured hundreds of interviews with founders, CEOs, researchers, regulators, and public safety officials with well over one million downloads.

The July 21 podcast, titled “How PyroDelta is Turning Waste Heat into Drone Power,” offers insight into why, and how, PyroDelta designed and built the drone intended for the DARPA Lift Challenge. Although the podcast was conducted prior to DARPA’s final competitor selection, the insight Abdelmaseh provides remains relevant for PyroDelta’s plans to demonstrate the drone’s capabilities ahead of the Lift Challenge.

Abdelmaseh explains how the tellurium-based thermoelectric technology provides weight and power advantages that can improve drone payload capacity and range, and why PyroDelta has focused on drones over other applications for the technology.

“We saw in drones the opportunity to showcase our technology,” Abdelmaseh says in the podcast. “We believe this is the low-hanging fruit for our technology to shine. With the wide interest now in drones, we believe that if we integrate our modules in a drone, that will bring much more attention to thermoelectric technology.”

Abdelmaseh adds, “In my opinion, drones represent the highlight of this (thermoelectric) technology, because it’s a solid-state solution, and it’s very light.”

At the time of the podcast, PyroDelta had recently changed its drone design for the DARPA Lift Challenge, opting for a higher horsepower engine that resulted in a lower combined engine-and-fuel weight.

“When you design a UAV, you try to look for the lowest amount of weight and the highest strength possible,” said Abdelmaseh. “This is one of those improvements that can make a very big difference in the design and the end product.”  www.firsttellurium.com

North Peak Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NPR) The Prospector News Interview with CEO Rupert Williams on a Major 7,000m Gold Drill Program in Nevada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4iZD2AVseQ.          

North Peak Resources is a mining company backed by a team of experienced mining investors and developers, many of whom founded Kirkland Lake Gold. The Company is focused on acquiring low cost producing gold and other metals properties, with near term production potential and 8+ year mine life in the northern hemisphere. The Team has a successful track record of financing and developing mines and has raised more than $3.5bn capex for all projects and is focused on delivering shareholder value. https://northpeakresources.com/

Alaska Energy Metals Corporation (TSXV: AEMC)(OTCQB:AKEMF) provide an update on permitting and related field activities supporting the proposed rehabilitation and extension of the existing Rainy Creek Mining Trail and associated infrastructure at its Nikolai Nickel Project, Alaska.

The Nikolai Nickel Project was accepted for coverage under the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council's ("Permitting Council" or "Council") FAST-41 transparency dashboard ("Dashboard") program in November 2025. The FAST-41 listing is intended to improve transparency and coordination amongst federal agencies and establish clear timelines for the environmental review and permitting process associated with the proposed access infrastructure. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) (OTCQB: AUIAF) (FSE: 20Q) announce that its Board of Directors have appointed Mr. Thomas Ullrich as Special Advisor to the Company, effective immediately.

"Tom Ullrich has been a highly valued member of our Board since July 2022 and brings extensive technical experience in the mining industry as well as capital markets, project evaluation and project advancement experience," said Dr. Keith Barron, Chairman, President and CEO of the Company. "As we advance our exploration and development initiatives, we believe Tom's increased involvement and support will strengthen our ability to unlock value across our project portfolio while supporting our long-term strategy."

Mr. Ullrich has over 35 years of experience in mineral exploration and geoscience. He has been the CEO and director of Aston Bay since 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Ullrich was Chief Geologist North America for Antofagasta Minerals plc, investigating the region's copper potential through extensive property evaluations and management of drill programs in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Prior to Antofagasta, he was Senior Geologist for Almaden Minerals, where he managed the drill program for the team's discovery of the Ixtaca Ag-Au deposit in Mexico. Mr. Ullrich also established the Ar-Ar geochronology lab at the University of British Columbia and studied the Candelaria Cu-Au mine, Chile, while at Queen's University. Mr. Ullrich is also on the Technical Advisory Board for American West Metals Limited.

Focus Graphite Inc. (TSXV: FMS) (OTCQB: FCSMF) (FSE: FKC0) , a Canadian advanced graphite materials company, today highlighted the strategic alignment between its long-term strategy and the White House Executive Order, "Securing America's Defense Supply Chains and Ensuring Domestic Acquisition of Critical Materials" (the "Executive Order").

Issued on July 20, 2026, the Executive Order establishes as U.S. policy that military equipment, together with the critical materials required to manufacture, maintain and sustain it, should be sourced domestically or from allied nations. It directs the U.S. Department of War ("DoW") to strengthen supply-chain transparency, identify strategic vulnerabilities, reduce dependence on unreliable foreign suppliers and accelerate the qualification of alternative sources. The Executive Order also calls for critical supply chains to be traced from raw-material origin through end use and requires contractors to actively qualify compliant domestic and allied sources where supply-chain vulnerabilities are identified. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/306223

Forge Resources Corp. (CSE: FRG) (OTCQB: FRGGF) (FSE: 5YZ) announce the completion of its Phase 1 diamond drilling program at the Alotta Project, located within Yukon's Dawson Range Gold Belt. Drilling operations were completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with the completion of four drill holes. Drilling at the Commission Zone intersected encouraging visual indicators of a high-temperature zone within the Alotta porphyry system, and the Company is now planning deeper Phase 2 drilling to test the interpreted core of the zone.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/306044

GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS)announce the successful completion of its 2026 induced polarization ("IP") geophysical survey and geological field program at its 100%-owned Three Guardsmen Project in southwestern Yukon.

The program represents another important milestone in GoldHaven's systematic exploration of an emerging porphyry copper system and was specifically designed to identify the potential intrusive source believed to have generated the magnetite-copper skarn, previously identified across the property.

The program follows GoldHaven's successful 2025 exploration campaign, during which the Company identified numerous high-grade magnetite-copper skarn occurrences, including grab samples grading 15.85% copper, 12.75% copper and 12.65% copper, with 25 grab samples returning greater than 1% copper.

CEO Commentary:

"Three Guardsmen continues to strengthen our confidence that we are vectoring toward a much larger mineralized system than originally recognized," commented Rob Birmingham, President & CEO of GoldHaven. "This year's program was specifically designed to identify the intrusive source that may have generated the previously identified magnetite-copper skarn mineralization. The completion of this work, combined with encouraging geological observations in the field, provides another important dataset as we continue advancing one of our most prospective copper projects.” www.GoldHavenresources.com

Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSXV: ZNG) (OTCQB: GRLVF) (FSE: 3GE) announce a new and robust zone of mineralization has been discovered at its 78.62%-interest Stonepark Project in Ireland, adjacent to its 100%-interest PG West Project ("PG West"), hosting the Ballywire discovery.

"Today's results represent the most significant progress at the Stonepark Project since we acquired the license block in 2017," stated Bart Jaworski, CEO. "Out of the seven step-out holes within the vicinity of the Stonepark MRE drilled by Group Eleven since acquisition, this is by far the most mineralized. Specifically, to find massive to semi-massive sulphide in a previously untested area this far away from the MRE, is quite important, especially based on our experience at Ballywire. Together with the next closest hole, 150m away and also mineralized, potential for resource growth in this immediate locality has drastically improved. Subject to board approval, follow up drilling is likely to be conducted here as part of the larger (12,800m) drill campaign, expected to start in late 2026 or early 2027, while still primarily targeting the 'mirror-image' of Glencore's Pallas Green zinc-lead deposit² on the south side of the Limerick Volcanic Complex. In the interim, we look forward to completing the current 2,700m drill campaign at Stonepark over the coming months.”

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/306195

Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSXV:LG, OTCQB:LGCXF, FSE:Y2F) announce the first drill results from its 2026 Sonic core drilling program at the Santa Fe Mine Project. The Sonic drilling campaign is evaluating historic heap leach pads and stockpiles to define gold and silver resources that may be suitable for future reprocessing at substantially lower cost than mining and processing fresh rock. The initial results below are from a historic "low-grade" stockpile located adjacent to Heap Leach Pad two at Santa Fe (see map below). The drilling confirms significant gold and silver mineralization within the stockpile and indicates grades substantially higher than anticipated based on the historic stockpile classification.

Notes: Au Eq equals Au (g/t) + ((Ag g/t/60)*0.70). Silver grade for calculating Au Eq is adjusted to consider historic metallurgical recovery as described in the Santa Fe Project Technical Report*. All drill holes are vertical, true thickness of the intercepts are approximately 100% of the drilled interval. Numbers may not total precisely due to rounding. Website: www.lahontangoldcorp.com

McFarlane Lake Mining Limited (CSE: MLM, OTC: MLMLF, FRA: W2Z) announce further results from its diamond drilling exploration campaign being conducted on its 100%-owned Juby Gold Project, located west of Gowganda, Ontario, within the southern part of the “Abitibi Greenstone Belt”. Drilling was initiated on the property in December 2025, commencing at the 826 Zone, and is now at the Golden Lake Zone (see Figure 1).

Highlights

Golden Lake Deposit continues to show excellent potential to add significant gold mineralization. From recent exploration drilling the strike length of gold mineralization has now extended to 1.9 kilometers in length from a previously announced 0.75 km (See Figure 2). Further holes GL26-83 and GL26-83A demonstrate a widening of the mineralization from the existing open pit shell (see Figure 3), this not only increases revenue potential but also favourably affects the economics of extraction.

Most Western drilled holeextends strike to 1.9 km: Assays from hole GL26-87 (93 m of 0.89 g/t gold) have confirmed a significant intersection on the most western hole drilled in the program on the Golden Lake deposit. This intersection not only extends the strike length to 1.9 km but demonstrates the deposit remains open to the west and at depth in this area. To learn more, visit: https://mcfarlanelakemining.com/.

Midland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: MD), in partnership with Barrick Gold Inc. (“Barrick”) is pleased to announce the start of an exploration program on its Lewis project, in the Abitibi region. The Lewis project is subject to an option agreement signed with Barrick in November 2025 (see press release by Midland dated November 17, 2025) and consists of 154 exclusive exploration rights (“EER”) covering an area of about 86 square kilometres.

The exploration program, designed by Barrick as project operator, aims to refine the geological and structural knowledge on the Lewis project to further evaluate its potential for gold mineralization at the project scale. This field data will aid in targeting for orogenic and magmatic-hydrothermal style gold mineralization. Systematic geological mapping traverses are planned to cover the project with an emphasis on the known deformation corridor, with a planned total of about 76 linear kilometres of traverse coverage. The Red Giant and Golden Nest Showings will also be revisited (see press releases by Midland dated October 15, 2020, and August 19, 2021).

A second phase of exploration consisting of a till sampling survey is planned for September. A total of 167 till sample sites are planned at a spacing of 300 metres along lines spaced at 1,000 metres and oriented perpendicular to the regional southwest glacial ice flow direction. The till sampling will evaluate the deformation corridor for signatures or dispersal trails for gold mineralization.

Osisko Metals Incorporated  (TSX: OM, OTCQX: OMZNF) announce new results from the 2026 drill program at the Gaspé Copper Project, located in the Gaspé Peninsula of Eastern Québec.

New analytical results from the 2026 drill program are presented below (see Table 1), including 25 mineralized intercepts from 12 new drill holes. Reported “infill” intercepts are located within the 2026 MRE model (see April 14, 2026 news release), and will be focused on upgrading Inferred Mineral Resources to Measured or Indicated categories, as applicable. “Expansion” intercepts are located outside the 2026 MRE model and comprise either A) in-pit expansion, which offers potential to convert in-pit waste into additional resources within the 2026 MRE Whittle pit, or B) out-of-pit expansion, consisting of mineralization located out of the 2026 MRE Whittle pit, which may potentially lead to the definition of new resources. Some of the reported intercepts may have contiguous shallower infill as well as deeper expansion (noted as “Both”). Maps showing hole locations are available at www.osiskometals.com.

Osisko Metals Chief Executive Officer Robert Wares commented: “Drilling at the Gaspé Copper Project continues to advance with seven drills currently active at site, and our work continues to expand the known deposit to the south and southwest, both within and beyond the 2026 MRE Whittle pit volume. The new drilling is showing excellent potential for conversion of currently categorized in-pit waste rock to new mineralized zones in the direction of Needle East and Needle Mountain.  We are also seeing good intercepts of mineralization outside the 2026 MRE resource model with copper grades exceeding the current average, such as in holes 30-1198, 30-1201, and 30-1208.”

Power Metals Corp (TSXV: PWM) (FRANKFURT: OAA1) (OTCQB: PWRMF) provide a corporate update on the global cesium market and the strategic position of its Case Lake project in Ontario, Canada.

The importance of cesium continues to rise as demand grows across established industries and emerging technologies. Its inclusion on the United States' 2025 List of Critical Minerals highlights its essential role in economic and national security applications, as well as the growing need to strengthen a vulnerable and highly concentrated supply chain.

Historically, global supply has been controlled by a small number of producers and processing facilities, much of it located outside the Western world.

One of the most important established Western sources is the Sinomine-owned Tanco Mine at Bernic Lake in Manitoba, Canada, which hosts a globally significant lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite. Supply from Tanco appears to be reducing with the recent move towards treatment of waste material at the facility.

Global cesium supply has traditionally been concentrated among a small number of producers and processing facilities, largely outside North America. Within the region, the Sinomine-owned Tanco Mine at Bernic Lake in Manitoba has long served as a cornerstone of the cesium supply chain, supported by its globally significant lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite.

The oil and gas industry remains the largest market for cesium, accounting for a reported 55.7% of global demand in 2025, primarily through the use of cesium formate brines in high-pressure drilling operations. This sector has long represented a significant component of Sinomine's cesium business. (Source: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/cesium-market-104889)

Purecore Metals Inc. (CSE: PURE) (FSE: J8Y) announce geologists from HEG & Associates have completed the initial phase of boots-on-the-ground exploration as part of the Company's 2026 field program at the Bankier Property ("Bankier" or the "Project").

The Company holds a 100% interest in Bankier, an early-stage critical minerals exploration project characterized by prospective alteration signatures and multi-element Mobile Metal Ion ("MMI") anomalies in copper, molybdenum, gold, zinc, silver, lead and uranium.

Peter Berdusco, President and CEO of Purecore, commented:

"We are pleased to have completed the initial phase of boots-on-the-ground exploration at Bankier as we systematically evaluate the broader mineral potential of the Project. This field program has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the geology, alteration and structural controls on mineralization across the property. It is particularly encouraging to have identified additional areas of alteration outside the historical MINFILE occurrences, highlighting new targets for follow-up exploration.” Company's website at www.purecoremetals.com

Stallion Uranium Corp. (TSXV: STUD; OTCQB: STLNF; FSE: B76) announce the successful completion of an expanded ground gravity survey at its flagship Coyote target. The survey has delineated multiple new high-priority uranium drill targets while significantly extending the prospective strike length of the Coyote exploration corridor within the Moonlite Project, part of the southwestern Athabasca Basin Joint Venture (“JV”) with Atha Energy Corp. (“Atha Energy”)(TSX-V: SASK).

Matthew Schwab, CEO of Stallion, said, “Through every step of this exploration program we continue to strengthen our confidence in the Coyote corridor. The expanded gravity survey has materially increased the number of high-priority drill targets while further validating the geological model we have been building over the past several years. As we continue integrating each dataset, we're seeing a larger and more compelling exploration system emerge.”

“The integration of multiple independent geophysical datasets continues to refine drill targeting while systematically reducing geological risk across the Coyote Corridor.”

Completed in two phases, the expanded gravity survey significantly increased coverage across the interpreted Coyote conductive corridor. The expanded survey builds upon the Company's previously announced gravity results dated July 14, 2025 and provides substantially greater coverage across the interpreted conductive corridor.

The new data further enhances Stallion's understanding of the structural architecture controlling uranium mineralization and has identified several additional gravity low anomalies spatially associated with conductive trends interpreted from MobileMT and ground TDEM surveys.

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX: TECK) beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, helped by higher copper prices and increased production. Teck Resources, which is in the process of merging with Anglo American, said realized copper prices averaged $6.05 per pound in the second quarter, up from $4.32 per pound a year earlier. Production rose nearly 24.6% to 135,900 tons. The miner reported adjusted earnings of C$1.93 per share for the quarter ended June 30, above analysts' average estimate of C$1.25.

ECONOMIC DATA
0830 Retail Sales MM for May: Expected 1.0%; Prior 0.5%
0830 Retail Sales Ex-Autos MM for May: Expected 1.4%; Prior 0.1%

World Markets

US

U.S. futures are lower as renewed concerns over hefty AI spending resurfaced following the first round of Big Tech earnings. Shares of Alphabet and Tesla were down in premarket trading following their earnings on Wednesday.

Advanced Micro Devices & Intel Corp: The U.S. chipmaking giants are signing longer-term purchase commitments with Chinese server customers for data-centre processors as prices surge, two people familiar with the talks said. The move highlights a broader consequence of the AI boom: demand has spread beyond AI accelerators to memory, networking gear and server processors, giving suppliers greater leverage to seek long-term purchase deals. The agreements under discussion typically lock in purchase volumes but not prices, the people said. Separately, AMD is set to launch a raft of AI hardware that will rival Nvidia at an event at a downtown convention center in San Francisco.

Alphabet Inc: The Google parent on Wednesday reported its best-ever quarter of growth for its cloud computing division, but faced investor scrutiny after concerns about continued delays to its flagship AI model were aggravated by a $15 billion increase in capital spending plans for 2026. The search giant now expects to spend between $195 billion and $205 billion in capital expenditures. Revenue at Google Cloud rose 82% to $24.8 billion during the quarter ended June. Advertising revenue came in at $81.6 billion compared to estimates of $81.1 billion. And the company reported negative free cash flow for the first time in its history, burning $5.9 billion this quarter. Separately, CEO Sundar Pichai used Wednesday's earnings call to mount a robust defence of Google's AI strategy, pushing back on concerns that the company has fallen behind rivals after delaying a flagship model and ceding ground in AI coding. Meanwhile, Google was fined a total of $1 billion for flouting European Union rules aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech, the European Commission said.

Ford Motor Co: The U.S. automaker and China's Geely have struck a landmark deal under which Ford will sell part of its Almussafes plant near Valencia, paving the way for Geely to manufacture electric vehicles in Spain, ABC newspaper reported on Wednesday. Citing sources familiar with the matter, ABC said the announcement was expected during a visit to the Almussafes plant on Thursday by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Ford Europe President Jim Baumbick. For Ford, the deal would cut fixed costs through the shared use of factory infrastructure while helping to safeguard jobs and production at Almussafes, the future of which has been clouded by the phasing out of several models and its dependence on its Kuga model.

Honeywell Technologies Inc: The company posted a higher second-quarter profit, benefiting from resilient demand in its industrial and building automation segments in its first earnings report since completing a historic breakup of the industrial conglomerate. Quarterly adjusted profit came in at $1.95 per share, compared with $1.77 per share a year ago.

International Business Machines Corp: IBM cut its annual revenue growth forecast on Wednesday, days after shocking Wall Street with a warning that corporate spending was shifting toward AI-focused data-center gear at the expense of its software and mainframe computers. The company also missed profit and revenue expectations for the second quarter ended June 30. IBM expects 2026 revenue growth between 4% and 5%, down from its previous expectations of more than 5% growth.

Kinder Morgan Inc: The pipeline operator raised its full-year outlook and beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, driven by higher natural gas volumes and rising power demand. Kinder Morgan now expects adjusted EBITDA 5% higher than what it had originally planned and adjusted earnings per share to be more than 12% higher. The company said its project backlog stood at $9.6 billion at the end of the second quarter ended June 30, down $500 million sequentially. On its post-earnings call, the pipeline operator said it expects to bring $1 billion of projects into service in the second half of 2026.

Lockheed Martin Corp: The defense giant lifted its 2026 sales and profit forecasts as the Pentagon looks to replenish weapons stockpiles amid a wave of global conflicts. Lockheed's total backlog grew to $230.4 billion, up 38.3% from $166.5 billion last year. It expects 2026 revenue between $79.75 billion and $81.75 billion, higher than the previous forecast range of $77.5 billion to $80 billion. Analysts on average expect $79.14 billion.

NVIDIA Corp: The AI chip leader and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) on Wednesday said that Nvidia has donated a supercomputer with its latest chips to a nonprofit linked to the institution. The NPS is operated by the U.S. Navy and offers masters and doctoral degrees in fields such as computer science and aerospace engineering, among others, with an emphasis on their applications in warfare. Nvidia donated a system based on its GB300 "Grace Blackwell" servers, its most advanced AI computers, to the NPS Foundation, a nonprofit connected to the school.

Pfizer Inc: The drugmaker said on Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted priority review to its application seeking expanded approval for its prostate cancer treatment combination. The company had sought expanded approval to use a combination of two approved drugs — branded as Talzenna and Xtandi —in men with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, whose tumors have gene changes, known as HRR mutations.

ServiceNow Inc: The company on Wednesday raised its forecast for annual subscription revenue for the second time after beating second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, driven by growing demand for its AI-powered software. ServiceNow is expanding its AI agent portfolio across domains like IT and customer service, helping enterprise clients to automate complex, time-consuming workflows. The company stock has fallen about 38% so far this year. The company now expects 2026 subscription revenue of $15.760 billion to $15.780 billion, up from its earlier projection of $15.735 billion to $15.775 billion. Separately, ServiceNow has acquired roughly 5% of BusinessNext in a deal that values the software provider at $700 million, as the Indian company looks to expand its autonomous banking tools through a partnership with the U.S.-based software giant.

RTX Corp: The company raised its 2026 sales and profit forecasts, betting on sustained demand for commercial aircraft maintenance and military systems, as airlines keep older jets flying and governments replenish weapons stockpiles. The Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace and defense company said its backlog rose 22% from a year earlier to $289 billion, including $170 billion in commercial aerospace orders and $119 billion in defense.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp & Tesla Inc: CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday left the door open to the EV maker merging with his other trillion-dollar-plus-valued firm SpaceX, declining to dismiss the possibility and citing growing overlap between the companies. “As you can tell from the many collaborations on so many fronts with SpaceX, there’s more and more overlap,” Musk said on Tesla's earnings call. “We can't talk about, you know, combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call," he added. "It’s got to be done with the appropriate process.”

Southwest Airlines Co: The company lowered the floor of its 2026 profit forecast and projected third-quarter earnings below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as volatile fuel costs blunted gains from higher fares and new revenue initiatives. The carrier now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $3.25 to $4.25 per share, replacing its previous forecast of at least $4. The low end of the new range, however, exceeds analysts' average estimate of $3.17. Jet fuel prices more than doubled after the Iran war began, driving U.S. airline fuel bills up 85% from a year earlier in May to nearly $6.7 billion.

Tesla Inc: As Elon Musk pivots to robots and AI, he wants investors to stop thinking of Tesla as simply an automaker. Tesla missed analysts' profit forecasts for the April-to-June period and, for the first time in more than two years, reported negative free cash flow as the EV maker accelerated spending on infrastructure for its AI and robotics ambitions. The profit miss and cash burn come despite record vehicle deliveries in the quarter as a fuel-price surge sparked by the Iran war drove EV demand, especially in Europe, and Tesla deployed more energy storage products. Average revenue from each Tesla sold in the quarter dropped to $42,730, from $45,345. Tesla made capital expenditures of $5.8 billion in the second quarter, more than double the amount of the year-ago period and the first quarter. That pushed free cash flow to negative $1.1 billion.

ECONOMIC DATA
0830 Jobless claim 4-week average: Prior 214,250
0830 Continued jobless claims: Expected 1.807 mln; Prior 1.805 mln
0830 National Activity Index for Jun: Prior -0.10
0830 Initial jobless claims: Expected 212,000; Prior 208,000
1100 KC Fed Manufacturing for Jul: Prior 19
1100 KC Fed Composite Index for Jul: Prior 11

Europe / Asia

Source (but not limited to) AP, CNBC, Dow Jones, Financial Post, Financial Times, Globe & Mail, KITCO, LSEG, Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv.