Latest / Key Markets & Headlines / Key Markets & Headlines — Monday, June 22, 2026
Transcript
- Key markets and headlines for today. The most market-moving story this morning centers on rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and their impact on oil prices. Oil advanced after President Donald Trump threatened strikes on Iran if Hezbollah continues attacking Israel, raising concerns about the progress of peace talks between Washington and Tehran. Brent crude climbed as much as two percent at the open, reaching eighty-two dollars and thirty cents a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose above seventy-eight dollars. Negotiations in Switzerland got off to a rocky start on Sunday after Iranian media reported that the Islamic Republic had halted talks following Trump’s latest threat, but people familiar with the situation said discussions were still ongoing. Tehran has accused Israel of violating a truce in Lebanon, and the high-level meeting in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock is happening at the start of a sixty-day window for negotiations, after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding last week to begin the process of deescalation. Despite Iran claiming to have closed the Strait of Hormuz again, millions of barrels of oil continued to flow through the waterway over the weekend. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said there had been “major progress” in all-night discussions with the United States, as both sides try to reach a peace deal within two months. The countries began technical talks in Switzerland over the weekend, following their interim agreement last week that led to a ceasefire extension and Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. However, plenty of obstacles remain, including Israel’s ongoing war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. At one stage on Sunday, Iran said it would suspend talks after Trump threatened military action over Iran’s funding of proxy groups in the Middle East, but the talks ultimately continued. Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan reportedly helped ease some of the tensions over Lebanon. Iran is beginning to see financial benefits from last week’s memorandum, including waivers of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports and the unfreezing of assets in countries such as Qatar. Talks are set to continue throughout this week, with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance leading Washington’s delegation in Switzerland, joined by Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Turning to equities and corporate news, there’s a flurry of developments across the tech, entertainment, and sports sectors. Amazon’s movie arm is abandoning an upcoming film, “Artificial,” about Sam Altman and his journey to becoming the chief executive of OpenAI. Amazon, which announced plans to invest fifty billion dollars in OpenAI this year, said in a statement on Friday that the film would “be better served if it were released by a different studio,” and that the company is “working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home.” The decision came as a shock to the filmmakers, who had been told as recently as Tuesday that Amazon was supportive of the project. The company had already spent around forty million dollars on the film and tested it in four markets, with the team working to determine a release date. Mike Hopkins, the head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, made the decision, according to people familiar with the process. The film was intended to premiere at the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival and had been slated for a two thousand twenty-seven release. In artificial intelligence, Google DeepMind Vice President John Jumper is leaving the company to join Anthropic PBC. Jumper’s departure is a blow to Google’s efforts to build the most powerful AI models and sell AI coding tools to businesses. Jumper, who won the two thousand twenty-four Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on artificial intelligence, including the creation of the AlphaFold model, will now be contributing his expertise to Anthropic. Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios scored a major box office win this weekend. Toy Story 5 debuted as the highest-grossing movie in U.S. and Canadian theaters, delivering one hundred sixty million dollars in ticket sales. This haul surpassed that of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie from Universal Pictures in April, making it the best debut of two thousand twenty-six. Boxoffice Pro had forecast sales of at least one hundred sixty million dollars. It’s also the most successful opening weekend in the Toy Story franchise, which began in nineteen ninety-five, and Pixar’s second-best opening weekend ever after Incredibles 2 in two thousand eighteen. Disney also announced that Shanghai Disneyland hit one hundred million cumulative visitors in two thousand twenty-five, marking a significant milestone for the relatively new park. Former CEO Bob Iger traveled to China to celebrate the park’s tenth anniversary. Shanghai Disneyland is a key part of Disney’s global expansion strategy and is bucking the trend of a broader pullback among Chinese consumers. Getty Images announced a display agreement with OpenAI. Under the partnership, Getty Images’ licensed content libraries will appear across OpenAI search and discovery experiences within ChatGPT. The agreement enables the use of Getty Images’ content for display within ChatGPT, enhancing the richness of visual responses. Getty Images CEO Craig Peters said, “High-quality, licensed visual content makes AI-powered search and discovery more useful and more trustworthy. This partnership with OpenAI reflects a shared recognition of that, and together we will deliver richer visual experiences to ChatGPT users.” Major League Baseball has proposed a new collective bargaining framework to the MLB Players Association featuring separate twelve-round Domestic and International Drafts, each with identical two hundred million dollar signing bonus pools. The domestic proposal aims to shift focus toward college-developed talent by setting a minimum draft age of twenty and making high schoolers ineligible, while the international plan raises the signing age to eighteen to combat systemic corruption and keep prospects in school longer. The MLB Players Association strongly rejected the proposals, arguing that the changes would eliminate over a billion dollars in player compensation and destroy fundamental player rights. Morgan Stanley is actively pitching data center developers on using broadly syndicated leveraged loans to fund infrastructure. Driven by the massive capital required for the AI boom, the bank is expanding financing beyond traditional project finance and high-yield bonds to tap into the same institutional loan markets that typically fund leveraged buyouts. Microsoft’s chief executive is joining a growing effort to challenge artificial-intelligence giants OpenAI and Anthropic, outlining his vision for the next wave of the AI boom. He envisions cheaper models, more user control, and political messaging that wins the public’s trust. In an interview, Satya Nadella offered a critique of how the race for AI supremacy has taken shape, with a small group of companies capturing the value of the technology while making dire prophecies about safety risks and job losses, and insisting they need vast resources for limitless expansion. Nadella predicted the public wouldn’t tolerate just a few models and companies “doing all of the learning for the world.” While he didn’t directly name OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, he made clear that Microsoft is seeking to steer the AI race away from a future dictated by frontier model-builders. In a related move, Chevron signed a twenty-year deal with Microsoft to provide natural-gas fired power for a proposed West Texas data center, which could become one of the largest in the United States. Project Kilby, as the power plant is named, is expected to provide first power by two thousand twenty-eight and will ramp up to two point six seven gigawatts over time. Microsoft is doubling down on building data centers as it competes with Alphabet and Amazon to expand in artificial intelligence. Chevron’s plant will feed cheap gas from the Permian Basin to several large GE Vernova turbines that will power a data-center campus Microsoft plans to build near Pecos, Texas. The National Basketball Players Association is revamping its commercial arm and opening a new training facility in Los Angeles. The new business will be called PLYRS UNTD, replacing the existing for-profit Think four fifty business. The NBPA’s commercial arm is tasked with partnerships and financial opportunities for players. The union required licensing rights for players in two thousand seventeen, and existing partners include Take-Two Interactive’s 2K, Fanatics Collectibles, and Enjoy Basketball. The new training facility in Los Angeles was developed and designed with input from NBA players Fred VanVleet, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, and Chet Holmgren. The facility will also serve as a location for players to host their own brand activations. Former Golden State Warriors executive David Kelly will become PLYRS UNTD’s new chief executive officer, having been elected the NBPA’s new executive director in February, taking over from former NBA player Andre Iguodala. In the world of emerging sports, billionaire businessman Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, has led a funding round through Apollo Sports Capital to raise two hundred twenty-five million dollars for Pickleball Inc. This capital injection boosts the holding company’s valuation to seven hundred fifty million dollars as it seeks to professionalize and capitalize on the sport’s explosive growth of twenty-five million players over the last five years. While some of the funds will go toward restructuring debt and delivering returns to existing shareholders, one hundred million dollars is earmarked to fuel future sport expansion. TD Cowen has named Pinterest as a best smid-cap idea for two thousand twenty-six, reiterating a Buy rating on the shares with a thirty-eight dollar price target. The analyst believes Pinterest is well positioned for growth due to ramping Performance Plus adoption, which is driving “lower funnel” advertising revenue. Pinterest’s user growth remains strong, and measurement improvements are helping to generate returns. A Wall Street Journal investigation has found that Polymarket paid mostly college-age creators to film fake trades and wins on lookalike versions of its platform, making the prediction market seem more popular and profitable than it really was. The videos, often presented as organic social posts, were designed to go viral and target U.S. users, even though the company’s offshore crypto platform has been barred from U.S. customers since two thousand twenty-two. The Journal found widespread use of simulated trading environments, undisclosed paid promotions, and content that appeared to encourage risky or potentially improper trading behavior. Polymarket said it remains committed to fair and transparent markets and plans to audit active promotional content. Reddit is introducing several new ad products built around its “community intelligence.” Chief operating officer Jen Wong told Axios that Reddit is “a trove of human intelligence,” and that even as people use AI more, they still seek information from humans as a companion. Shopping List Ads, Reddit’s first multi-advertiser format, surface products alongside relevant conversations where users are already comparing options and seeking advice. The company reported ad revenue of six hundred twenty-five million dollars for the first quarter, up seventy-four percent year-over-year. Reddit draws from more than twenty-five billion posts and comments, using signals like community structure, moderation, rankings, and conversation quality to understand what constitutes a useful discussion. Lime, the electric bike and scooter network, plans to name ride-hailing firm Uber as an anchor investor in its U.S. initial public offering, according to The Information. Uber is expected to invest a meaningful amount in the deal and be named as an anchor investor on the cover of an updated IPO prospectus that Lime plans to file today. Lime, which is backed by Uber Technologies, intends to use the IPO proceeds to fund operations, repay all its debt, and invest in or acquire complementary technologies, assets, or intellectual property. Lime also plans to start talks with IPO investors on a road show this week to raise about two hundred million dollars at a one point eight billion dollar valuation. UTA and its private equity partner EQT have been removed from the bidding process for The Team, formerly known as Wasserman, with sources citing a disagreement over the price, including demands for non-compete and non-solicitation agreements from founder Casey Wasserman. Despite UTA’s exit, other interested parties remain in contention. New Mountain Capital, founded by Steven Klinsky, is among the remaining bidders. Initially, several other entities, including Excel Sports Management with Goldman Sachs, the United Kingdom’s Primera, and Swiss private equity firm Partners Group, were reported to be in the running after submitting letters of intent last week. The final decision on the sale, whether full or partial, rests with founder Casey Wasserman and majority owner Providence. Shifting to macro and policy developments, China has imposed export controls against two U.S. rare earth producers that are part of Washington’s effort to reduce its dependence on Beijing by establishing an alternative supply chain for critical minerals. MP Materials and USA Rare Earth have been added to China’s export control list to “safeguard national security and interests,” according to the Commerce Ministry. The curbs are mostly symbolic, as both companies say they have largely cut off supplies of equipment and materials from China. The decision ends a months-long lull in China’s use of such restrictions against U.S. companies following last October’s summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. In a separate statement, the Commerce Ministry said the move was in response to the Pentagon’s decision this month to add some of China’s biggest companies to a roster of firms it accuses of supporting the Chinese military. In Colombia, conservative lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was elected president on Sunday, signaling a swing back to business-friendly and pro-U.S. policies after four years of leftist rule. De la Espriella’s narrow victory over Senator Iván Cepeda, barring any surprise from the official judicial review of the vote, capped a bitter campaign between radically different visions of the economy, the war on drugs, the oil industry, and relations with U.S. President Donald Trump. The preliminary count was immediately challenged by Cepeda’s ally, President Gustavo Petro, highlighting the nation’s polarization. Both Petro and Cepeda said they would only recognize the slower, legally binding process. If upheld, De la Espriella, age forty-seven, will have little margin for error as he grapples with a gaping fiscal hole and a security crisis fueled by record cocaine production. He will face a fractured congress and a risk of unrest from Cepeda’s most radical supporters. With ninety-nine point nine percent of polling stations reporting, De la Espriella had forty-nine point seven percent of the vote to Cepeda’s forty-eight point seven percent, making it one of the closest results in the nation’s history. In the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer announced he would step down as Britain’s prime minister, marking a precipitous fall from favor just two years after leading the Labour Party back to power with a landslide majority. Starmer’s departure paves the way for Andy Burnham, the long-time mayor of Manchester, to attempt to take over as successor after winning a parliamentary seat last week. Starmer’s exit opens the door to Britain’s fifth premier since two thousand twenty-two, a jarring milestone for a political system that once prided itself on stability. Starmer said, “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question. I accept that answer with good grace.” Nominations for a contest for a new leader of his party will open on July ninth and be completed by September first, with Starmer remaining in post until the process is done. The winner of the Labour Party’s contest would then become prime minister without the need for a fresh general election. Turning to event-driven corporate activity, building materials group CRH is close to its biggest deal ever, as it nears an agreement to acquire competitor Arcosa. According to the Financial Times, Arcosa currently has a market capitalization close to seven billion dollars, and with its debt, the company’s price could be more than eight billion dollars. The Irish-based CRH is in advanced discussions to purchase Dallas-based Arcosa, which operates across segments including construction products and engineered structures. U.S.-listed Arcosa has about two point nine billion dollars in sales and more than six thousand employees, with projects spanning aggregates, crushed concrete, power utilities, telecommunications towers, and lighting poles. AbbVie is nearing a deal to buy Apogee Therapeutics for almost eleven billion dollars to bolster its anti-inflammatory portfolio, according to a Financial Times report. The all-cash deal could be announced as soon as today and reflects a roughly sixty percent premium to Apogee’s closing price of ninety dollars and thirty-eight cents on Thursday. Apogee, a U.S. biotech company, has several promising treatments, including one for atopic dermatitis, a painful condition that causes itchy and inflamed skin. The drug, zumilokibart, is seen as a potential competitor to Sanofi’s blockbuster drug Dupixent. In May, Blackstone provided as much as one point three billion dollars in financing to Apogee to help advance the treatment in exchange for royalties on future sales. Danone is expanding its high-protein portfolio with the acquisition of Australian drinks and dairy producer Made Group from private equity firm TPG Capital. Made sells popular Australian health products including Cocobella coconut water, Rokeby protein shakes, Impressed cold pressed juices, and NutrientWater fortified waters. The deal was worth about two billion Australian dollars, or roughly one point four billion U.S. dollars, according to a report published Sunday in Australia’s Financial Review. Danone also said it was buying the remaining forty-nine percent stake in its fresh dairy joint venture with Saputo Dairy Australia, with both transactions expected to be completed in the second half of this year. EasyJet has rebuffed three separate offers from Castlelake, prompting the investment firm to take its latest proposal, which values the budget carrier at about four point seven four billion pounds, or six point three billion dollars, directly to shareholders. The U.K. airline rejected the most recent bid of six hundred twenty-five pence, saying Castlelake is trying to buy the company “on the cheap.” As a U.S. entity, Castlelake cannot take majority control of a European aviation asset and would need a partner. The firm said it teamed up with aviation veterans Mark Breen and Peter Bellew, who was an executive at EasyJet before his acrimonious departure at the start of the decade. Castlelake said EasyJet’s board has shown “unwillingness to engage meaningfully,” prompting the move to go to shareholders. Charles Schwab is working with Cboe Global Markets to roll out prediction market contracts that allow customers to place yes-or-no wagers on the performance of the S&P five hundred, according to the Wall Street Journal. The contracts differ slightly from those offered by Kalshi or Polymarket, which list futures contracts rather than options. Schwab will make the contracts available to customers in the coming months. Board members of Vale, the world’s top iron ore producer, voted against a proposal by one of the company’s largest shareholders to remove Daniel André Stieler as chairman. While the proposal will still go to a shareholder vote, the board decision could influence the recommendations of proxy advisory firms and institutional investors. The chairman’s mandate is set to expire in April two thousand twenty-seven if he’s not removed early. Investor Previ, which has a seven percent stake in Vale, asked on June eleventh for an extraordinary meeting to vote on Stieler’s removal. The demand followed a shakeup of leadership at Previ, Brazil’s largest pension fund, which manages retirement savings for employees of state-controlled lender Banco do Brasil. The majority of directors saw the reasons Previ presented for the dismissal as insufficient. Looking at key market levels and technicals, margin debt in equities jumped eight and a half percent in May to a new record high, according to Bloomberg. Despite this surge in margin debt, the weekly bull-bear ratio remains modest and well below the extremes seen at the start of the year, as reported by Strategas. Meta, which is down twelve percent year-to-date, continues to look vulnerable from a technical perspective, also according to Strategas. In commodities, despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, West Texas Intermediate futures are trading below eighty dollars early Monday morning, putting to rest any speculation about two hundred dollar oil for now. That wraps up the major headlines and market-moving stories for today. Thanks for listening.