Issue 007 is here — the weekly business newsletter brought to you by Pretus. The free platform that helps you master the finance recruiting cycle with AI-driven interview prep for IB, CRE, WM, AM, & more + networking, behaviorals, and an exclusive ecosystem with 1 on 1 coaching and insights you can’t get anywhere else.

The S&P 500 ended the week at 7,543, up roughly 9% on the year and roughly flat on the week. That number does not capture what actually happened in between.

Mid-week, Iran escalated. Trump declared the ceasefire over, US strikes resumed, and three commercial vessels were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude spiked 6% in 48 hours, hitting $78.53 per barrel. WTI reached $74.60. The Dow shed 600 points in a single session. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.59% as traders priced in renewed inflation risk from energy.

By Thursday, markets had decided neither side actually wants full-scale war. Oil pulled back to $73.50. Equities recovered. The week ended almost exactly where it started.

While that was happening, SpaceX became the fastest company ever added to the Nasdaq-100. It IPO'd on June 12 and joined the index on July 7, 15 trading days later, under Nasdaq's new fast-track rules for large new listings. JPMorgan estimated the inclusion triggered $4.3 billion in automatic buying from ETFs like QQQ and QQQM. That buying had to be funded somehow, which is why semiconductors sold off 4.5% in the same session. The stock did not move because of earnings or a product launch. It moved because of index mechanics.

Bank earnings kicked off this week and set the tone for what is ahead. More on that below.

Prologis $PLD ( ▼ 0.32% ) is the world's largest industrial REIT, and they just made an unsolicited £12.6 billion ($16.6 billion) all-stock offer for Segro, the UK's biggest logistics real estate investment trust. Segro's board rejected it "immediately and unequivocally." Prologis went public with the offer anyway.

That is what makes it hostile. When a company bypasses the board and takes its case directly to shareholders after a rejection, the bid becomes hostile. The goal is to apply enough pressure, through public disclosure, share price movement, and investor expectations, that the board is forced back to the table or shareholders override them.

Under UK Takeover Panel rules, Prologis has until July 22 to either make a formal offer or walk away entirely. Under the proposed terms, Segro shareholders would receive a 24.6% premium to their current share price and would own approximately 10.5% of the combined company.

Why Prologis wants Segro: the two companies have complementary European warehouse portfolios, and Prologis has flagged data center development as a core part of the combined strategy. This is not purely a real estate story. Logistics facilities and data centers share the same core constraint, power and land near population centers, and Prologis is positioning itself to play both. The e-commerce and AI infrastructure buildout is the macro thesis driving the bid.

Segro investors are already pushing Prologis to raise the offer. Whether it gets done or not, this deal is a live case study in hostile M&A mechanics, cross-border real estate transactions, and the convergence of logistics real estate and digital infrastructure.

Goldman Sachs reported earnings of $20.98 per share for Q2 2026. Analysts expected $14.46. That is a 45% beat. Revenue came in at $20.34 billion against expectations of $16.40 billion. Goldman's Global Banking and Markets division, which houses its investment banking, trading, and markets businesses, generated $15.52 billion in revenue, up 53% from the same quarter last year. Record results across every major business line.

JPMorgan reported $7.70 per share against expectations of $5.55, a 39% beat, on revenue of $57.35 billion. Profit jumped 41%. Strength was broad: investment banking, trading, consumer, and wealth management all contributed.

Two of the largest banks in the world just reported among the strongest quarters in their history. The deal recovery is real. Trading desks ran hot all quarter: Iran, index inclusions, rate volatility, and the M&A rebound all generated activity. Fee pipelines are full.

Then Jamie Dimon said this: the economy is "resilient," supported by AI-driven capital investment, fiscal stimulus, and more efficient regulation. But risks are "shifting below the surface like tectonic plates," geopolitical conflict, sticky inflation, large fiscal deficits, and elevated asset prices. "No one can predict how those forces play out. They could stay manageable. Or collide into something worse."

Record profits. Real warning. Both things are true at the same time. That is the environment right now.

More next week. Forward this to someone who needs it.

— Clip’d by Pretus