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On July 22, Joseph Lavorgna, chief U.S. economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, stated that policymakers will lose hard-won credibility if inflation does not slow. In a report, Lavorgna noted that in the past 70 years, core inflation has only declined by 0.9% or more year-on-year six times. In each of those instances, the slowdown in inflation was due to the Federal Reserve tightening policy. Lavorgna said, “The longer the Fed waits, the greater the probability that interest rates will have to rise above what is necessary. That’s why so many tightening cycles have ended tragically. Chairman Warsh understands this.”

July 22 – According to the Wall Street Journal, AMD (AMD.O) and Anthropic have signed a multi-billion dollar AI server collaboration agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Anthropic will procure up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's latest generation Instinct MI450 chips for its data centers starting in the first half of 2027, and will lease some computing power through other large cloud service providers or new cloud vendors. AMD will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic upon reaching certain deployment milestones, marking its first investment in an AI company. AMD's CEO stated, "We have always been very keen to be a key partner in Anthropic's infrastructure, and the engineering teams from both companies have been working together for some time."

AMD (AMD.O) shares rose in pre-market trading, narrowing their losses to 1.6%.

The Bahraini military said it intercepted an Iranian attack on Wednesday.

Microsoft (MSFT.O): Makes a long-term commitment to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Mission Genesis program, backed by a $60 million investment, including $40 million for Azure computing and AI credits and $20 million for solutions engineering enablement services.

According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, Iran says that strategic missile production has never stopped.

July 22: Building materials transaction volume was 78,800 tons, a decrease of 18.85% compared to the previous trading day. July 21: Building materials transaction volume was 97,100 tons, an increase of 23.85% compared to the previous trading day. July 20: Building materials transaction volume was 78,400 tons, a decrease of 6.67% compared to the previous trading day. July 17: Building materials transaction volume was 84,000 tons, an increase of 9.95% compared to the previous trading day. July 16: Building materials transaction volume was 76,400 tons, a decrease of 18.2% compared to the previous trading day. Last week's average: Building materials transaction volume was 83,900 tons.

Amazon Web Services (AMZN.O) is funding Myseum.AI’s privacy-first AI media album creation agency to support its application on the Picture Party social media platform.

Manulife Financial: Five-year Microsoft (MSFT.O) deal becomes a strategic priority for AI-driven organizations.

Irish government: Economic outlook faces downside risks.

Microsoft (MSFT.O) has committed $60 million to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Mission Genesis program.

Manulife Financial Corporation: Will adopt Microsoft's (MSFT.O) cutting-edge suite and deploy Microsoft Agent 365 for enterprise artificial intelligence applications.

Ireland's Treasury: Ireland plans to introduce an €8.5 billion package for its 2027 budget, down from €9.4 billion a year ago.

Halliburton (HAL.N): Kuwait Petroleum Corporation awarded a long-term agreement to advance technology development in the Ahmadi Innovation Valley.

July 22 – From July 21 to 22, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) held a seminar for heads of central enterprises. The meeting emphasized the need for high-quality implementation of the new round of state-owned enterprise reform and to deepen the reform efforts. Regarding core business management, the meeting stressed the importance of further improving the functional classification of enterprises. Regarding restructuring and integration, the meeting emphasized the need for high-quality initial operation of newly restructured and established enterprises. Regarding corporate governance, the meeting stressed the need to strengthen the substantive oversight of pre-research discussions by Party committees (Party groups), and to improve the differentiated construction of boards of directors in second- and third-tier subsidiaries; to strengthen the rigid implementation of the tenure system and contractual management for management members, and to deepen the reform of the three systems (personnel, labor, and distribution) and the performance appraisal of all employees.

July 22 – From July 21 to 22, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) held a seminar for heads of central enterprises. Information released at the meeting showed that central enterprises adhered closely to their annual targets, solidly carried out special actions to improve quality and efficiency, and maintained a steady and orderly development momentum. Their operational situation remained stable and positive, achieving a total profit of 1.4 trillion yuan in the first half of the year. The quality of development steadily improved, with fixed asset investment increasing by 4.5% year-on-year in the first half of the year.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Karas: The Southern Star oil tanker was boarded and inspected on July 20 for flag verification.

July 22 - Bulgarian lawmakers have approved a U.S. request to deploy refueling aircraft and military personnel to an airport in the country to support military operations in the Middle East. According to a measure passed by the Bulgarian parliament on Wednesday, up to eight U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft with crews and 250 soldiers carrying weapons and ammunition can be deployed to the Bezmer military base from July 24 to early October.

Deutsche Bank raised its target price for 3M (MMM.N) from $175 to $192.