Trump sets tariff rates on Japan, S Korea in letter spree; China vows payback:

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China warned President Trump on Tuesday against restarting trade tensions and that it will hit back at countries that make deals with the US to exclude China from supply chains.

Last month, the US and China agreed on a trade framework to ease tensions, but many details remain vague. Investors are now waiting to see if this agreement will hold or collapse.

"One conclusion is abundantly clear: dialogue and cooperation are the only correct path," the official People's Daily said in a commentary, referring to the exchanges in the current round of China-U.S. trade tension.

China's latest warning comes after Trump posted a flurry of letters warning world leaders, threatening to impose tariffs similar to those he announced in April. The most significant were letters to the leaders of Japan and South Korea that informed them of 25% tariffs on imports from their respective countries. Yahoo Finance reports.

📊 The 'new normal' of growth stock dominance: It pays to be big. And it's a good time to be on team growth.

A key insight from recent years - from the pandemic crisis through the "Liberation Day" turmoil - is that the most well-capitalized and growth-oriented names are outperforming their counterparts. Investors who tend to favor small-cap and value stocks, because of their time horizon, risk appetite, or other preferences, might point to earlier periods of trading to show the merits of their strategy.

However, the performance gap between US large and small caps has widened considerably over the last two-and-a-half years, according to a new analysis by DataTrek co-founder Nicholas Colas, who wrote in a recent note to clients that the duration of the relative outperformance suggests it's structural rather than cyclical. Yahoo Finance reports.

🤖 OpenAI sticks with Nvidia, holds off on Google's AI chips: OpenAI has clarified that it has no active plans to use Google's in-house artificial intelligence chips, known as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), to power its products, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise.

The statement comes after a report from The Information indicated that the ChatGPT-maker was exploring the use of Google’s TPUs to meet rising demand for AI computing.

A spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that while the company is in “early testing with some of Google’s TPUs,” it currently has “no plans to deploy them at scale.” Business Today reports.

🚙 Tesla short sellers to earn nearly $1.4 billion in profits amid Elon Musk's political ambitions: In the wake of Elon Musk‘s political aspirations, traders who bet against Tesla Inc. are projected to earn approximately $1.4 billion due to a resultant drop in the company’s stock.

What Happened: Elon Musk's plan to launch a new U.S. political party has sparked doubts about his focus on Tesla's future. Coupled with his ongoing public clash with President Donald Trump over the tax-cut and spending bill, this led to nearly a 7% drop in Tesla's shares during early trading on Monday.

With the shares valued at $296, those who bet against the electric vehicle maker are poised to make around $1.4 billion, according to data from analytics firm Ortex.

This follows a $4 billion profit made by short sellers on June 5, after Tesla’s largest single-day market value drop, also due to the Musk-Trump social media spat.

By the close of trading, Tesla’s shares had dropped 6.8% to $293.94, marking a total loss of 22.5% year-to-date. Benzinga reports.

📊 Wells Fargo gears up for Q2 print: Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts: Wells Fargo & Company will release earnings results for the second quarter, before the opening bell on Tuesday, July 15.

Analysts expect the San Francisco, California-based company to report quarterly earnings at $1.40 per share, up from $1.33 per share in the year-ago period.

On July 1, Wells Fargo said it expects SCB to decrease to 2.5% from 3.8% and intends to raise dividend by 12.5% to 45 cents per share.

Wells Fargo shares fell 1.5% to close at $82.34 on Monday. Benzinga reports.

🤖 IBM rolls out new chips and servers, aims for simplified AI: International Business Machines on Tuesday announced a new line of data center chips and servers that it says will be more power-efficient than rivals and will simplify the process of rolling out artificial intelligence in business operations.

IBM introduced its new Power11 chips on Tuesday, marking its first major update to its "Power" line of chips since 2020.

These chips have traditionally vied against offerings from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in data centers, particularly in specialized sectors such as financial services, manufacturing and healthcare.

Like Nvidia's AI servers, IBM's Power systems are an integrated package of chips and software. MarketScreener reports.

📊 Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures stall as Trump amps up tariff pressure in spur to trade talks: US stock futures were muted on Tuesday after President Trump laid out stiff tariffs on imports from more than a dozen countries and delayed the return of sweeping April levies.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hovered just below the flat line, while S&P 500 futures nudged 0.1% higher. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.2%.

On Monday, stocks fell as Trump posted to Truth Social letters addressed to the leaders of 14 countries threatening 25% to 40% tariffs starting Aug. 1.

Key US trading partners Japan and South Korea were among the group, as well as Malaysia, South Africa, and Indonesia. Yahoo Finance reports.

(All pricing and percent gains are based on Early Pre-Market from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM Eastern Time)
Benzinga reports.

1) $PROK: ProKidney

Total gain: +134.13%

2) $NDRA: ENDRA Life Sciences

Total gain: +119.29%

3) $SQNS: Sequans Communications

Total gain: +37.06%

4) $BSLK: Bolt Projects Holdings

Total gain: +33.59%

5) $BSGM: BioSig Technologies

Total gain: + 31.6%

The closing price of the top three market percent gainers trading near or above $3 on July 7.
Benzinga reports.

*All pricing and percent gains are based on regular market trading hours from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time

1) $MBIO: Mustang Bio

Total gain: +184.45%

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug designation to its MB-101 treatment for recurrent diffuse and anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma, rare forms of brain cancer. The designation provides Mustang Bio with several benefits, including tax credits for clinical trials and seven years of market exclusivity if the treatment receives regulatory approval. The FDA’s designation covers a broader indication than what was originally proposed by the company. Investing.com reports.

2) $ASST: Asset Entities

Total gain: +62.04%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

3) $SVRE: Saverone 2014

Total gain: +46.81%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

Time (ET) / Report / Period

6:00 am - NFIB optimism index - June

3:00 pm - Consumer credit - May

*Estimate and Actual numbers represent Earnings Per Share in US Dollars

KRUS: Kura Sushi USA
3Q 2025

After Market Close
Estimate: -0.010
Actual: N/A

PENG: Penguin Solutions
3Q 2025

After Market Close
Estimate: 0.330
Actual: N/A

AEHR: Aehr Test Systems
4Q 2025

After Market Close
Estimate: -0.010
Actual: N/A

"The stock market is a giant distraction to the business of investing."

- John C. Bogle

Sourced in: "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns”, by John C. Bogle, published in 2007.