AI-fueled earnings sent stocks and banking moves into overdrive — Dell's stock jumped nearly 40% on blowout AI server sales forecasts (Dell surge) — even as economists warn of recession risks that could hit the middle class hard. [P]Crypto and payments are evolving: SoFi launched a bank-backed stablecoin to its 15M users, signaling mainstream crypto integration (SoFiUSD), while junk debt and data-center financing are fracturing, per Pimco, creating fresh credit risks. Regulators and taxes also matter — from EU fines for Temu to state-level millionaire-tax fights — so the finance playbook is expanding beyond rates and earnings.

Leadership headlines ran from the boardroom to the ball field: Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the Fed’s 17th chair, reviving talk of market volatility and policy direction (Warsh at the Fed), while BP’s ousted chairman Albert Manifold publicly denounced claims about his firing, spotlighting governance drama (Manifold statement). [P]At companies, executive churn at Walmart and rising cyber threats (77% of leaders worried) show that succession, culture, and security are now board-level strategy — and yes, firing a coach can get Congress writing rules, so strong decisions have strange afterlives.