Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the tape this hour.
BlackRock has crossed a threshold no asset manager has ever reached, reporting fifteen point three trillion dollars in assets under management for the second quarter. That milestone cements Larry Fink's firm as the undisputed gravitational center of global capital markets, and investors will be watching whether the stock's valuation finally reflects that dominance.
Shifting to energy, NextEra and Dominion have formally filed for regulatory approval of their proposed combination with commissions in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This is a consequential deal for the utility sector — NextEra brings clean energy scale, Dominion brings regulated rate base, and together they'd reshape how the Southeast thinks about grid investment and power procurement for decades.
And on the corporate side, Jamie Dimon is pushing back on the AI spending frenzy in measured but pointed terms. The JPMorgan chief says businesses are getting sharper about what they're actually paying per token and negotiating harder with vendors. That's a signal worth watching — when the largest bank CEO starts talking discipline, the broader market tends to listen, and it could add pressure to data center and infrastructure valuations already stretched thin.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
