Australia Retail Sales Grow Slightly Below Expectations In May

Nvidia stock is back in the market's good graces after plunging earlier this year. Despite reassurances from management, investors were worried about the company's future when China's DeepSeek chatbot came out and further concerned about impact of new tariffs. As Nvidia continues to report stellar earnings results and upgrade its technology amid a pause on many of the new tariffs, investors are feeling more love toward Nvidia stock.

As of this writing, Nvidia stock trades just north of $150, and it's back to beating the market. Can it reach $200 before the end of the year?

AI is a huge opportunity

Nvidia makes the semiconductor chips necessary to drive generative artificial intelligence (AI), or the apps that "think" and create. There are two basic stages to that process: training and inference. The large-language models that run the data and produce output need a tremendous amount of power for these processes, training on millions of data points that are constantly updated and running through tons of algorithms to create accurate content and images. Nvidia's chips make that happen.

Since so many tech companies want to use generative AI in their operations today, Nvidia's chips are in great demand. Although there are alternatives, Nvidia has between 70% and 95% of the market, depending on who you ask. Even at the lower end, that's a huge lead over the competition. As the gold standard, Nvidia is relied upon by the biggest companies like Microsoft and Amazon as a partner. This is where the greatest opportunity is. Amazon, for one, has its own line of budget options for smaller companies, but the large, brand-name clients it services need Nvidia's powerful chips.

The demand is only expected to increase. According to Statista, the AI opportunity is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 26.6% over the next five years, reaching $1 trillion. A huge portion of that is likely to go to Nvidia.

Management continues to launch new products that can handle higher data loads, making them more attractive to clients. Its Blackwell technology, which launched last year to replace the Hopper architecture, is already moving into Blackwell Ultra, and management is planning to release a new range of chips next year under the Rubin name.

Nvidia is unstoppable

In the near term, Nvidia continues to report phenomenal results despite serious setbacks. U.S. regulations mean it can't ship its best chips to China, stymying progress in that market, and Nvidia took a hit to its earnings in the fiscal 2026 first quarter (ended April 27) related to a charge for orders it couldn't fulfill.

Yet the first-quarter results were outstanding. Revenue increased 69% year over year, and earnings per share (EPS) were up from $0.60 last year to $0.76 this year, inclusive of the one-time charge.

Management is guiding for growth to decelerate in the second quarter but remain high at a 50% increase year over year. Wall Street is looking for EPS of $1, up from $0.68 last year. For the full year, Wall Street is expecting $200 billion in revenue and $4.29 in EPS, up from $130 billion (a 54% increase) and $2.99 (a 43% increase) over last year.

The valuation can handle it

If the valuation remains constant, Nvidia stock will rise along with its earnings. If it rises 54% from where it started out this year, it will reach $212. If it rises 43%, it will reach $197. If nothing much changes and Nvidia meets Wall Street's expectations, the stock should surpass $200 by the end of the year.

However, Nvidia tends to beat expectations. If that happens, it could rise further. High-growth stocks can also carry higher valuations. If Nvidia's valuation rises, the price could also rise further. At the current price, Nvidia stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 50 and a price-to-sales ratio of 26. Those aren't cheap numbers, but they're pretty reasonable for Nvidia's growth.

The likelihood is that Nvidia hits at least $200 before the end of the year, or shoots 27% higher than the price at the time of this writing.

Source: The Motley Fool

• U.S. Senate passes Trump's tax bill with Vice President's tie-breaking vote.

• House of Representatives faces deadline for bill approval by July 4.

• Crypto market observant but no immediate reactions noted.

The U.S. Senate approved President Trump's tax and spending bill on July 1, local time, following a 51-50 vote where Vice President Vance broke the tie. The bill now awaits approval from the House before the July 4 deadline.

The Senate's Narrow Passage with Vice President's Decisive Vote

The Senate passed President Trump's tax cut and spending proposal with a vote split of 51-50. Vice President Vance's decisive vote showcased a tight partisan division. Reactions among senators were varied, with some Republican members opposing the bill alongside Democrats. Notably, Rand Paul remarked, "The big not so beautiful bill has passed."

Fiscal Moves Stir Market Speculation, Crypto Vigilant

Bitcoin (BTC) recently experienced a minor decline since July 1, 2025. CoinMarketCap data shows its current price at $105,713.29, with a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume saw a modest gain of 6.73%. Its price over the last day decreased by 1.60%, though Bitcoin maintained a notable 27.18% rise over 90 days.

Coincu analysts suggest the current fiscal move may cause caution in crypto investments, potentially leading to shifts in BTC and ETH trading volumes. Long-term historical trends indicate macroeconomic uncertainty often influences market hedging behavior, yet the immediate response remains muted within cryptocurrency spheres.

Market Impacts and Future Outlook

Did you know? Historical tax policies in the U.S., like the 2017 Trump tax reform, often induced market rallies, including within the cryptocurrency sector, highlighting the interplay between fiscal decisions and investment behavior.

Speaker Mike Johnson is tasked with advancing the bill through the House to meet the holiday deadline, while crypto and financial markets watch for further cues.

Bitcoin(BTC), daily chart, screenshot on CoinMarketCap at 00:19 UTC on July 2, 2025.

Reactions among senators were varied, with some Republican members opposing the bill alongside Democrats. Notably, Rand Paul remarked, "The big not so beautiful bill has passed."

Source: CryptoSlate

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the conditions needed for a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, and urged the Palestinian group to accept the deal.

Trump said his administration held a “long and productive meeting” with Israel on Gaza, with Israel agreeing to “the necessary conditions to finalize the 60-Day CEASEFIRE.”

“The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal. I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” Trump said in a post on Truth.Social.

Trump’s comments on Gaza come after his administration brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, after seemingly wiping out Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The ceasefire ended 12 days of fighting and appeared to be holding as of Tuesday evening.

Israel and Hamas continued to clash over Gaza in recent weeks, with Jerusalem showing few signs of de-escalating its strikes against the Palestinian group.

A tenuous ceasefire between the two had failed to hold earlier this year, despite intervention and threats from Trump. The president had issued several ultimatums to Hamas to pause the fighting and release more hostages, in exchange for more aid to Gaza.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had expressed hope for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire by next week.

Source: Investing

Source: Cryptoslate

President Donald Trump said he is not considering delaying his July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume and renewed his threat to cut off talks and impose duty rates on several nations, including Japan.

“No, I’m not thinking about the pause,” Trump said Tuesday when asked whether he would extend the negotiating period with trading partners. “I’ll be writing letters to a lot of countries.”

US stocks pulled back after Trump’s comments to reporters aboard Air Force One. The S&P 500 Index quickly dropped 14 points on the headlines after trading was steady earlier in the day. The benchmark was down 0.1% as of 3:36 p.m. in New York. The Cboe VIX Index jumped above 16.8 before paring its advance.

A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar changed little after Trump’s remarks, while the yen held onto gains versus the US currency, outperforming all of its Group-of-10 peers.

Investors are closely watching how the president decides to handle the current pause on his April tariffs, which he put on hold for 90 days to allow time for talks.

Trump for weeks has sought to exert leverage over trading partners with threats to set high levies on governments he sees as being difficult. His top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, a day earlier signaled agreements would be announced after the July 4 holiday and the signing of the tax and spending bill the US Senate approved.

Since the president put his country-by-country tariffs on hold, he and his team have repeatedly promised a flood of agreements that would rebalance trading relationships that he has long decried as unfair. But the only two such pacts thus far have been broad frameworks with the UK and China, which left several key issues unresolved and many specifics to be negotiated later.

The president on Tuesday deepened his criticism of Tokyo for not accepting US rice exports. He also said that auto trade between the two nations is imbalanced. Japan should be forced to “pay 30%, 35% or whatever the number is that we determine, because we also have a very big trade deficit with Japan,” Trump said.

Trump proposed a 24% tariff on Japanese goods in April. Those have been subject to a 10% charge during the negotiating period.

“I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal. I doubt it with Japan, they’re very tough. You have to understand, they’re very spoiled,” Trump said.

Earlier: India’s Foreign Minister Sees US Trade Deal as Possible in Days

The president sounded more optimistic about reaching a deal with India. When asked about the prospects for an agreement over the next week, Trump said: “possibly. That’s going to be a different kind of a deal.”

“It’s going to be a deal where we’re able to go in and compete. Right now, India doesn’t accept anybody in,” he said.” I think India is going to do that, and if they do that, we’re going to have a deal for much less tariffs.”

India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said this week his country is close to finalizing an agreement with the US, as they work through thorny issues including coming industry-specific tariffs and market access for genetically modified crops from America.

Talks have intensified, with India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal extending his stay in the US to iron out disagreements.

Other negotiations have proved even more difficult — and Trump has been keen this week to make an example out of Japan. That could be seen as a warning to other countries to get in line or face prohibitive tariffs. Yet the president also showed his penchant for quick reversals last week with Canada, initially cutting off talks but then restarting them days later after Ottawa scrapped a digital-services tax.

Japan’s efforts under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to maintain a steady, friendly approach to negotiations have put to the test by Trump’s efforts to ramp up pressure for deals. Tokyo has pushed for relief for its crucial auto sector, as well as other tariff exceptions, but the deliberate approach risks backfiring as Trump looks for quick wins on trade.

“I love Japan. I really like the new prime minister,” Trump told reporters. “But they and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30, 40, years that it’s really hard for them to make a deal.”

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Source: Reuters