Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk.
Meta shares took a hard hit today, tumbling around ten percent after investors grew uneasy with the pace and direction of the company's artificial intelligence spending. One analyst put it bluntly, saying the strategy feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall. With AI bets consuming most of Meta's free cash flow, the market is demanding clearer returns.
Shifting to the trading floor, Robinhood posted record revenue in the second quarter, driven by a surge in volatility that sent users rushing to its platform. Prediction market revenues alone increased tenfold on the year. It's a reminder that turbulence, while painful for portfolios, can be extraordinarily profitable for the pipes that traders run through.
In the agricultural complex, soybeans collapsed Wednesday with front month contracts down as much as thirty-four cents a bushel, dragging the national cash price down nearly thirty-two cents to eleven dollars and forty-six cents. Wet weather forecasts across key growing regions are pressuring the bulls, and soymeal and soy oil futures followed lower in sympathy. Corn also retreated, giving back Tuesday's bounce on similar pressure.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
