Vasha Maharaj

A TON OF THINGS HAPPENED IN THE STOCK MARKET TODAY. Here's a full recap: 1. $DELL DELL delivered another huge beat and raise, reporting record quarterly revenue of $47.0B versus $44.9B expected, up 58% YoY. Adjusted EPS came in at $7.04 versus $4.91 expected, up 203% YoY from $2.32. AI server revenue reached $16.4B, roughly doubling YoY, while Dell booked a massive $60.9B of AI server orders during the quarter. AI backlog surged to a record $95B, up from $51.3B last quarter, one of the biggest numbers in the report. Infrastructure also remained strong, with traditional servers and networking revenue up 122% YoY to $10.5B and storage revenue up 26% to $4.9B. Dell raised its FY27 revenue outlook sharply to roughly $192B, compared with its prior $165B–$169B range. If Dell's earnings are any insight into the AI trade, demand continues to be scaling rapidly. 2. Elon Musk’s G20 address today focused on one core idea: AI growth is now being constrained by power, not just chips. He said the world already faces an AI power crisis, citing a potential 15 GW shortfall by 2027, with AI chip production growing 40%–50% annually while power outside China grows only 10%–20%. Musk argued this creates a major opportunity for countries that can build new electricity capacity, host AI data centers, and monetize that infrastructure. He also said digital AI alone could lift the global economy by 20%–30%, or roughly $20T–$30T per year, with AI potentially becoming “Stockfish-level” at software and engineering within 12–18 months. On robotics, he said physical AI $TSLA $SPCX will take longer but could ultimately drive the economy up by 10x or more, especially once humanoid robots begin making more robots. 3. Two oil supertankers were reportedly hit by unknown projectiles while exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, according to maritime security firm Marisks. The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem also warned Americans in the Middle East to exercise heightened vigilance amid the risk of further regional escalation. The 10-year treasury passed 4.8%, reaching the highs from January 2025 and $WTI crude oil surpassed $90/barrel for the first time since July 23rd. 4. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Strait of Hormuz will be “bypassed” within 2 years, arguing that oil will increasingly move through land pipelines instead of the Strait. He said that in two years, Hormuz will be like a “worthless piece of water,” while also noting the U.S. has held private discussions with China on Iran. On sanctions, Bessent said the Treasury is looking at airline leasing companies and that new bank sanctions on Iran are likely coming this week and next. 5. Palantir $PLTR won a new U.S. Army TITAN production contract, with the Army awarding Palantir a prime agreement to produce and deliver 8 new TITAN ground station systems: 4 Advanced and 4 Basic. TITAN is the Army’s next-generation AI/ML-powered deep-sensing platform, combining data from space, high-altitude, aerial, and terrestrial sensors to generate targeting intelligence for mission command and long-range precision fires. Palantir will serve as the prime contractor, overseeing manufacturing, delivery, and the software powering TITAN, alongside partners including Anduril, L3Harris, Sierra Nevada, Strategic Technology Consulting, and World Wide Technology. Palantir USG President and CTO Akash Jain said, “TITAN was shaped by the Soldiers who used it, in the conditions they used it in, against the standard they set. That is the only way a system like this earns its place in the field.” 6. Meta $META is exploring whether its AI glasses can be classified as an assistive device, a move that could potentially allow Medicare and Medicaid coverage for eligible blind and low-vision users. Meta’s wearables VP said the company is “very interested” in pursuing assistive-device classification through the U.S. government. Separately, Meta made Muse Voice Transcribe available through its model API, priced at $3 per 1,000 audio minutes, expanding access to its voice transcription capabilities for developers. 7. Apple claims in a new court filing that OpenAI is actively destroying crucial evidence in a trade secrets case, according to Bloomberg. Apple’s lawyers said an initial forensic review of an Apple-issued MacBook used by a former iPhone engineer found evidence that he and others at OpenAI were aware of his alleged unauthorized access to Apple’s cloud storage providers. The filing also claims he sent instructions for destroying evidence, escalating the dispute between Apple and OpenAI around alleged trade secret misuse. 8. Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.1, with Fable 5.1 positioned as its most advanced model yet for coding, knowledge work, long-running agents, and scientific research. The biggest gains came in agentic and coding benchmarks. Anthropic says the larger step-change is in long-running work, with Fable 5.1 better at staying on task for hours, verifying its own work, and finding root causes instead of surface-level fixes. 9. Options activity is cooling, but the mix remains heavily skewed toward calls. The 5-day moving average of call volume has fallen to roughly 6.6M contracts, the lowest since early May, down 1.7M contracts or 20% since mid-July. Put volume has also declined, with the 5-day moving average falling to about 5.3M contracts, the lowest since February. As a result, the equity call-to-put volume ratio has climbed to 1.25x, near the highest level in 5 years and a reading that has been higher only 11% of the time since 2010. 10. Chevron $CVX is reportedly finalizing a deal to significantly expand its operations in Venezuela as part of President Trump’s push to increase Venezuelan oil production, according to Bloomberg. The deal would add 2 giant oil fields in the Orinoco Belt to Chevron’s operations and give the company operating rights to fields holding billions of barrels of oil. It is expected to be the largest of several agreements announced in the coming days as Trump encourages more U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil industry. The deal is separate from negotiations for the U.S. government to take a direct stake in Venezuelan oil fields. 11. The top 10 most active options today by contracts traded were $NVDA with 2.5M contracts, $AAPL with 2.1M contracts, $TSLA with 1.8M contracts, $MU with 838K contracts, $AMZN with 665K contracts, $META with 614K contracts, $SPCX with 541K contracts, $INTC with 508K contracts, $PCG with 394K contracts, and $GPRO with 372K contracts. 12. Trump said the U.S. is currently striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, calling the strikes “large and powerful” and saying they are retaliation for Iran’s failed attempt to place sea mines in the Strait and for launching 8 missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan, all of which he said were intercepted. He said the Strait currently has no mines after they were “completely removed or detonated,” and warned that if Iran retaliates, it will be hit again at a “much harder and higher level.” Trump also said he “couldn’t care less” about Iran, likes the U.S. position on the Strait, and questioned when the Iranian people will “stand up and fight.” WALL STREET IS THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.