AI gains and strong earnings support Wall Street as tariff woes linger

 With more than half of second quarter earnings reported and stocks near record highs, company results have reassured investors about the artificial intelligence trade that has energized Wall Street, even if tariff worries curtailed buying.

With results in from 297 of the S&P 500 companies as of Thursday, year-on-year earnings growth for the second quarter is now estimated at 9.8%, up from 5.8% estimated growth on July 1, according to LSEG data. 

Next week investors will get a peek at earnings from Dow Jones Industrial Average constituents Disney (NYSE:DIS), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), for a look at the broader economy. Strong profit reports for these companies could propel the Dow, trading just shy of its December record high, to a fresh peak. 

Some 81% of the companies have beaten analyst expectations on earnings, above the 76% average for the past four quarters.

"The earnings season has been unambiguously better than expected," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in Boston, said.

The strength of corporate earnings is particularly reassuring for investors after the pummeling sentiment took in the prior quarter due to the twin threats of tariffs and worries over flagging economic growth.

"The first quarter was a bit more mixed and you had some questionable economic data ... which I think gave the market some pause," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"But the second quarter seems to have just been a turnaround," Ghriskey said.

The strength of results for names linked to the artificial intelligence trade - the investment thesis that AI will be a transformative force, driving a significant portion of future economic growth and company profits - is particularly heartening, investors and analysts said. 

"Overall it has been mega caps, growth/technology/AI that is driving a lot of the results," Ghriskey said.

"This is where we want to be exposed in terms of companies ... we’re at maximum equity exposures and we’re comfortable there."

Having boosted the market for several quarters, the trade ran into rough waters at the start of the year as the emergence of Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek rattled investors, stoking concerns over heightened competition that could disrupt the dominance of established tech giants at the heart of the AI trade, including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Strong results from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) reassured investors that massive bets on AI are paying off.

Worries over AI demand appear overblown, Macro Hive research analyst Viresh Kanabar said.

The trade related tumult earlier this year prompted many investors to pare equity exposure, particularly to higher-risk growth stocks. 

Even after the market rebound - the S&P 500 is up about 6% for the year and near a record high - institutional investors have been slow to return to equities. Overall, investors’ equity positioning is still only modestly overweight, according to Deutsche Bank estimates.

Strength in earnings from AI and technology names could draw more investors and lift markets further in coming weeks, analysts said.

"If you are trying to beat your benchmark and you were underweight any of the AI names you have to chase them," B. Riley Wealth’s Hogan said.

After S&P 500’s 2.2% gain in July, the seasonally volatile months of August and September, markets might face some short-term turbulence, Hogan said. Historically, August has marked a pick-up in stock market gyrations that peaks in October.

August kicked off with stocks selling off sharply on Friday as new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s unimpressive earnings weighed on sentiment, while a weaker payrolls report added to risk aversion.

But any near-term market pullback should be seen as a buying opportunity, especially in some of the mega-cap, technology names, Hogan said.

With big AI names, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Amazon, commanding about a quarter of the weight in the S&P 500, the health of the AI trade bodes well for the market at an index level, analysts said.

"We’re not saying the weakness isn’t there in other parts of the economy," Kanabar said.

"We’re just saying at the index level, the largest companies dominate to such an extent (that) it doesn’t matter to some at the moment."

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/ai-gains-and-strong-earnings-support-wall-street-as-tariff-woes-linger-4166880

Anti-Israel protestors clash with police after attempting to storm Grand Central Terminal: cops

 Anti-Israel protesters clashed with police outside Grand Central Terminal Saturday — resulting in four arrests, cops and sources said.

The chaos erupted around 3:30 p.m. when hundreds of demonstrators that had been marching in Manhattan attempted to storm the transit hub’s doors, forcing officials to lock and barricade the iconic building.

The unruly crowd was part of a protest organized by Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime that started outside City Hall earlier in the afternoon, according to police.

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NYPD and MTA police officers confronting pro-Palestinian protestors at Grand Central Station.Luis.Documents/X

The group, waving Palestinian flags and chanting, scuffled with NYPD and MTA officers outside the station’s Vanderbilt Hall entrance, according to cops and shocking videos on social media.

One video of the melee showed protesters hurling profanities at a female officer before a group of cops tackled an agitator, while others formed a barrier to keep the hostile group from entering the terminal.

Some cops were seen using batons to fend off the protestors.

A handful of the rowdy flag-waving demonstrators, shouting “Free Palestine” and banging on drums, made it into the main concourse, but were removed by authorities, a video shared by WOL showed.

None of the arrested protesters were publicly identified by cops. Two of them were arrested by the NYPD, charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct and issued Criminal Court summonses, a police spokesperson said.

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NYPD officers detaining protestors at Grand Central Terminal.Luis.Documents/X

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Some cops were seen using batons to fend off the protestors.Luis.Documents/X

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Footage of a scuffle between NYPD officers and protestors at Grand Central Terminal.Luis.Documents/X
MTA officers took two other demonstrators into custody, but no details about what charges may be facing were immediately made public.

Train service didn’t seem to have been disrupted after the wild skirmish.

A heavy police presence remained hours later, blocking off the area where the tussle erupted.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/02/us-news/mob-of-anti-israel-protestors-clash-with-police-after-attempting-to-storm-grand-central-terminal-cops/

Orbán Says Visegrád Four Can Block EU Budget With United Front

 by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared that a reinvigorated alliance of Central European nationalist leaders — including Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki, Slovakia’s Robert Fico, and the Czech Republic’s Andrej Babiš — could collectively stop the European Union’s next long-term budget in its tracks.

In a televised interview with Polish journalist Michał Karnowski for Telewizja wPolsce24, Orbán stated that the Visegrád Group — made up of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia — has the power to block the upcoming EU financial framework if they act together.

“The next European budget must be approved unanimously by EU member states,” Orbán said.

“We have elections in April next year. President Kaczyński and Prime Minister Morawiecki will return to power [in Poland]. Andrej Babiš will win in the Czech Republic in October, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is strong enough to stay. Then the four of us, as the Visegrád Group, will be able to stop the crazy ideas contained in this project.”

Orbán’s opposition to the EU’s proposed 2028–2034 budget is rooted in his fierce resistance to what he calls its “Ukraine-centered” focus. Nearly one third of the proposed spending, he argues, would either go directly to Ukraine or be used to service EU debt accumulated to support Kyiv. In a recent speech, Orbán described it as “not a European budget, but a Ukraine budget,” and warned that its approval would divert vital resources away from EU member states.

He also reiterated that Hungary will not support the new EU budget unless frozen funds owed to his country are released. Those funds have been held up by Brussels over concerns about alleged rule-of-law violations in Hungary, which Budapest insists are fabricated because the Orbán administration will not conform to Brussels’ liberal agenda.

“Hungary will block the European Union’s proposed seven‑year budget unless the EU releases suspended funds,” Orbán told reporters earlier this month.

The Hungarian premier also repeated his warning that EU efforts to bring Ukraine closer to membership could drag Central Europe into direct conflict.

“If we admit Ukraine, we admit the war,” he said, arguing that current foreign policy thinking in Brussels is a threat to Hungary’s survival.

Speaking about Poland, Orbán praised former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and expressed hope that he would soon return to power.

“During the Law and Justice government, you achieved fantastic economic results,” Orbán said. “Prime Minister Morawiecki was one of the best Polish prime ministers I’ve ever known, also an excellent financial expert. Therefore, the Polish government has all the tools to build the greatest era of Polish success in history. If I were Polish, thinking about the future, I would be optimistic.”

He added that Poland’s size and political strength under the Law and Justice Party had helped shield Hungary from EU pressure in previous years. “Poland is larger than Hungary. Its political strength during the rule of President Jarosław Kaczyński’s party and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government helped, for a time, reduce pressure from Brussels on Hungary. I remember this very well.”

Orbán also spoke positively about Czech politics, predicting a return to power for Andrej Babiš and his ANO party. The Czech Republic will hold parliamentary elections on October 3 and 4, and polls currently show Babiš’s party well ahead of its rivals. ANO has consistently led national surveys by double-digit margins, and Babiš, a former prime minister, is expected by many analysts to regain the premiership after the vote.

With a Law and Justice revival in Poland, Fico maintaining power in Slovakia, and Babiš likely to win in the Czech Republic, Orbán believes the Visegrád alliance could be reborn. “This election opens up an opportunity to renew Central European cooperation,” he said. “We call it the Visegrád Group, but we can call it whatever we want. The key is the cooperation, which has been a great success.”

He added that past V4 cooperation had served as a counterweight to the dominance of France and Germany in EU affairs, and said he welcomed recent developments, including Karol Nawrocki’s presidential election victory in Poland, as signs that the regional alliance is on the brink of revival. “We’ve opened a huge, powerful bottle of champagne. This is a historic victory,” he said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/orban-says-visegrad-four-can-block-eu-budget-united-front

'A Living Skeleton Buried Alive': Hamas Releases Images Of Hostages In The Tunnels

 After it became clear this past week that ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have totally collapsed once again, with little hope of getting the warring sides back to the negotiating table, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have released more proof of life videos showing they still have captives who are alive.

Hostage Evyatar David appeared very emaciated in a clip that his family approved for publication (in Israeli media) on Saturday, which his family says is evidence that he is being deliberately starved.

Evyatar David: before and amid captivity

David was kidnapped Reim-area Nova music festival during the Hamas/PIJ terror onslaught of October 7, 2023. This means he's been in captivity over 660 days.

Times of Israel describes, "In the new footage, David is seen in a tunnel with a ceiling roughly as high as he is tall, crossing off dates on a calendar on the tunnel’s wall. He is unkempt and unshaven, and appears skeletal even in comparison with the February video, which was filmed during the last ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas, as Israel increased the flow of aid into Gaza. That deal collapsed in March."

The prior aforementioned video shows that in comparison to the newest images his health and nutrition has declined rapidely. Probably his captors are deliverately starving him in order to 'make a point' about the mass hunger currently gripping the Gaza Strip.

Hamas featured David in a propaganda video saying "They eat what we eat, they drink what we drink."

Separately, days ago Isalmic Jihad published a video of hostage Rom Braslavski, who has been held just as long as David, showing him looking pale and extremely thin while addressing the camera in an unknown location in Gaza.

Alarmingly, Islamic Jihad said the video was taken just before command leadership lost contact with those immediately in charge of Braslavski's captivity. This suggests his fate is currently uknown, despite the proof of life video.

The same hostage was featured in an April video where he described experiencing "hell" - in which which he looked sickly.

From the newest video released showing Braslavski lying down, appearing in pain:

These newly released videos, clearly intentionally timed for maximum political and psychological impact, have spurred new outrage among hostage victims' families, who have been demanding meetings with PM Netanyahu and top Israeli leadership, in order to pressure the government to make a deal for an exchange.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/living-skeleton-buried-alive-hamas-releases-images-hostages-tunnels

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/uk-threatens-jail-for-people-smugglers-who-advertise-on-social-media-ce7c5edad98df52d

Steve Moore Says Don’t Act Surprised If ‘Gigantic Errors’ By BLS Appointee Become Public

 Economist Steve Moore appeared on Fox Business Friday to criticize a key Biden administration appointee at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), describing her tenure as marked by “gigantic errors” in the reporting of U.S. job data.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he has ordered the firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of manipulating job numbers after a disappointing July jobs report. During an appearance on “The Bottom Line,” Moore said that the BLS has revised its job creation numbers multiple times. The downward revisions, he added, could reach as high as 500,000.“I am also told by my sources at BLS that they are going to, you know, they do all these re-estimates over time. There’s a good sense that they may revise downward the jobs created by Biden by another 500,000 or so. So those are gigantic errors. And so I think she needed to be fired just because of incompetence,” Moore said.

Moore criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the BLS, including removal of key reforms instituted by Bill Beach. Moore said that Beach’s firing paved the way for the current leadership to dismantle procedures aimed at improving data accuracy and transparency.

“We had a good friend of mine, Bill Beach, was running the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and then he got fired by Biden. And all of the reforms that were put in place to have a better procedure were eliminated under this woman,” Moore said. 

Moore criticized McEntarfer’s ability to estimate job numbers, saying that under her leadership the data was inconsistent and unreliable.

“I can’t really comment on that, whether she was playing politics, but what I can tell you is that she isn’t a very good estimator of the jobs because the numbers have been all over the place,” Moore said.

The U.S. economy added 73,000 non-farm payroll jobs in July, falling short of expectations for 100,000 job gains. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, while the economy recently posted a 3.0% GDP growth rate for the second quarter of 2025.

Ahead of the release of Friday’s job data, analysts had estimated the U.S. economy would see a gain of around 100,000 jobs in July, following a 3.0% growth in GDP for the second quarter of 2025. At the same time, the nation’s manufacturing output saw a modest increase in June, while jobless claims continued to decline, with President Trump pledging to strengthen the economy through his America First policies in his second term.

https://dailycaller.com/2025/08/01/steve-moore-bls-erika-mcentarfer/