financeThursday, July 16, 2026
A teleprompter operator allegedly made six figures betting on Trump's speeches using inside knowledge, and that's not even the biggest market-moving story today. SpaceX stock dipped below its IPO price, Elon Musk lost his trillionaire status, and a potential PayPal takeover bid is brewing.
The most striking financial ethics story today involves a White House staffer allegedly using advance access to Trump's words to profit on prediction markets.
Federal regulators are investigating whether Trump's teleprompter operator used advance access to prepared remarks to bet on 'mention markets' on Kalshi, netting nearly $100,000. It's the first known case of alleged insider trading on a prediction market.
ABC News names the operator as Gabriel Perez and says he's in settlement talks with the CFTC. The White House has placed him on unpaid leave, adding a political dimension to the financial scandal.
SpaceX's stock slide erased its post-IPO gains, and Elon Musk's personal fortune took a hit, plus Wisconsin wants him investigated.
Elon Musk lost his trillionaire status as SpaceX stock deflated, while Wisconsin officials are calling for an investigation into his voter incentive programs as alleged election 'bribery.' Two stories, one headline.
SpaceX stock briefly dipped below its $135 IPO price in intraday trading, erasing the 50% surge it saw in its first days on the market. Investor enthusiasm is cooling fast.
A potential PayPal takeover and a broader market selloff driven by AI stocks and rising oil prices round out the day.
PayPal stock jumped on news that Stripe and Advent International are circling with a joint offer worth over $53 billion. The unusual pairing aims to own PayPal whole rather than break it up.
AI stocks, especially chipmakers, are sliding again while oil prices keep climbing due to Iran tensions. The S&P 500 is now within 0.5% of its all-time high despite the pullback.
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley has fully rolled out spot crypto trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, charging 50 basis points. It's a big step for a traditional brokerage into digital assets.
2027 Zano Overhaul Could Cut Confirmations to 60 Seconds With Zenithnews.bitcoin.com
The Men Who Get Off on Giving Their Money to Strangerswww.thecut.com
Education Department Begins Notifying Student Loan Borrowers They Have 90 Days To Switch Planswww.forbes.com
To ETH or not to ETH — is SOL the better diversifier?www.coindesk.com
Solana Hits 300,000 RWA Holders as Ethereum’s $16.3 Billion Value Lead Starts to Slipnews.bitcoin.com
NAHB Housing Market Index and Single Family Startscalculatedrisk.substack.comLNG Canada owners attract bids from PE-owned insurerswww.theglobeandmail.com
Shell PLC and Mitsubishi Corp. are selling portions of their stakes in the $18-billion LNG Canada export facility in Kitimat, B.C. Private-equity-backed insurers, particularly New York-based Apollo Global Management Inc., are emerging as aggressive bidders for the infrastructure
Trump Media launches paid data service to help Wall Street track Trump’s postswww.cnbc.com
Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, is launching a paid API service that provides Wall Street and other paying customers with licensed, real-time access to posts from President Donald Trump and other top accounts. The service is designed to help trade
US government sends $288M to Coinbase putting Bitcoin reserve rules into questioncryptoslate.com
The U.S. government transferred approximately $288 million worth of cryptocurrency (3,941 BTC and 30,007 ETH) to Coinbase Prime, raising questions about whether this constitutes a sale or merely a custody move. The transfer tests the government's newly established crypto reserve
OCC Announces Enforcement Actions for July 2026occ.gov
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced its enforcement actions for July 2026, detailing regulatory measures taken against banks and institution-affiliated parties to correct deficient practices, violations, and unsafe or unsound banking activities.
Federal officials probe whether White House teleprompter profited off Trump's wordsn.pr
Federal regulators are investigating President Trump's teleprompter operator for allegedly making nearly $100,000 on Kalshi, a prediction market site, by betting on "mention markets" — wagers on words and expressions the president would use during public events. The probe centers
Foreign investors sweeten on Indian government bonds as equities see a sell-offwww.cnbc.com
Foreign investors are shifting from Indian equities to Indian government bonds ahead of a likely inclusion in the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index. India recently scrapped taxes on overseas bond investors to facilitate this inclusion, expected in early 2027. India could rece
Devcon Archivearchive.devcon.org
Archived content to learn from the leading minds in the Ethereum eco-system.
space exploration roundup
medical research roundup
geopolitics roundup
inspiration roundup
ethics roundup
economics roundup
