Stocks are rising along with crude oil and gold in early trading. Meanwhile, interest rates and the dollar are largely flat.
Silicon Valley titans headed to Washington yesterday for a White House summit on Artificial Intelligence. Tech companies and President Trump signed a document that leaves AI oversight largely in the hands of companies rather than federal regulators – despite growing concerns in Congress and on Main Street about AI safety and the technology’s impact on jobs.
The meetings included Elon Musk of SpaceX (SPCX), Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms Inc. (META), and Dario Amodei of Anthropic, among others. SpaceX stock is down 2.9% in the last three months, while Meta stock is up 30.1%.
SPCX (Black), META (Green), SFTBY (Black) – 3 Mo. % Change
Source: TradingView
Meanwhile, Silicon Valley (and Wall Street) executives have a new development to worry about – a recent slump in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Yesterday’s delay of the $2.2 billion Oura Inc. IPO reportedly stemmed from valuation concerns. But several other stock sales are getting pushed out, too.
Among the casualties: The data center play SB Energy that is majority owned by SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY), Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands, and the mega-deals for Anthropic and OpenAI. There’s still a chance for full-year activity to set a new record...but likely only if Anthropic launches its IPO before December. SoftBank stock, for its part, is still up 12.4% in the last three months amid a broader tech rally.
Lastly, the fallout from rising bond yields is spreading. US 30-year fixed mortgage rates jumped 18 basis points to an average of 7.3% in the most recent week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That’s the highest in almost three years.
Some borrowers turn to adjustable-rate mortgages to save money when fixed rates climb. But even rates on products like the 5/1 ARM are the highest in more than two years. Result: A separate MBA index that tracks applications for home purchase mortgages fell to its lowest since April 2025.
