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Here's a roundup of this week's key moves across global markets and finance:

Retail investors bought near-record amounts while short sellers piled into SpaceX, and blockbuster raises from SpaceX, Alphabet, and SK Hynix stirred late-cycle bubble comparisons. Earnings stayed strong, but Korea's Kospi fell into a bear market and China's growth hit a post-2022 low.

Elsewhere, bank M&A reached a seven year high, pension funds unwound dollar hedges, Goldman offered LPs loans against their fund stakes, and data center operators began shopping stakes as AI demand keeps lifting infrastructure valuations.

Let's dive in.

Mega stock sales are testing the bull market: SpaceX's $86B IPO, Alphabet's $85B raise and SK Hynix's $26B ADR sale echo prior late-cycle rallies (MSN)

Bank M&A hit a 7-year high: $15.1B in H1 2026 deals, led by smaller regional bank and wealth management tie-ups over mega-mergers (AH)

Europe heads for its best earnings quarter in 3 years: STOXX 600 profits seen up 15.3% in Q2, though ex-energy growth is a modest 6% vs 24% in the US (YF)

S&P 500 Q2 earnings tracking above 29% growth: 89% of early reporters have beaten estimates by an average 14.5% (FS)

South Korea's Kospi entered a bear market: Dropping 6.4% Thursday after the Bank of Korea's first rate hike since 2023 (Inv.)

China's Q2 GDP grew 4.3%: The slowest pace since late 2022, as a property slump and weak spending offset a surge in AI and EV exports (NPR)

Short sellers made $3.9B on SpaceX: Shares fell below their IPO price for a fourth straight day; short interest hit 28% of float, a record for a new listing (GF)

Retail investors are buying at near-record pace: July is on track as the second-strongest month since January 2020, with no net-selling days yet (YF)

Pension funds are unwinding dollar hedges: Canadian, Dutch, and Danish funds are cutting 2025 hedge ratios, helping fuel the dollar's rally (YF)

Goldman is offering LPs loans against their own funds: Large investors can buy back capital call lines at 160–210bps over benchmark (YF)

Data center operators are shopping stakes worth billions: DataBank, EdgeCore and Netrality are courting PE buyers as AI demand lifts valuations (MSN)

Stripe & Advent made a joint offer to acquire PayPal (CNBC)
Potential Deal Value: $53B+

Uber buys Delivery Hero, doubling its global footprint (TC)
Deal Value: $14.8B

Genesis & Vault Minerals merge into Aus’ 3rd-largest gold producer (AM)
Deal Value: $9B

Fairfax Financial & Emirates NBD submit revised bids for IDBI Bank (YF)
Potential Deal Value: ~$5.7B

Blackstone, Apollo and KKR take 49% stake in five Williams power plants (BW)
Deal Value: $5.3B

Indonesia’s Barito offers to buy Philippines’ geothermal firm EDC (EC)
Potential Deal Value: $5B

GCM Grosvenor’s IMCO to acquire stake in TIP Group (YF)
Deal Value: $4.6B

Eli Lilly to acquire psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley (YF)
Potential Deal Value: $3.8B

First Hawaiian to purchase TriCo Bancshares (BD)
Deal Value: $2B

KKR and Apax Partners submit offers for Logoplaste from OTPP (ECO)
Potential Deal Value: ~$2B

Aditya Birla Renewables (Grasim) to acquire Sprng Energy from Shell (UPS)
Deal Value: $1.8B

EQT makes improved offer for Perpetual (Inv.)
Potential Deal Value: $1.7B

Ferguson Enterprises to acquire FloWorks from Wynnchurch Capital (BW)
Deal Value: $1.6B

Hyundai to acquire SoftBank’s remaining stake in Boston Dynamics (YF)
Deal Value: $325M

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