Wednesday links: signs of life

Quote of the Day "AI technology may exceed our expectations, while many investments fail to meet them." (Ted Seides) June 2026 - The S&P 500 fell 0.95% in June 2026. The Smallcap 600 was up 7.29%. (on.spdji.com) - How major asset classes performed in June 2026. (capitalspectator.com) - Technology stocks now make up a record share of the S&P 500. (morningstar.com) - Semiconductor stocks had their best quarter ever. (axios.com) Strategy - Do we need to be worried about stock market leverage? (awealthofcommonsense.com) - The math behind Bobby Bonilla Day. (ritholtz.com) IPOs - Bending Spoons ($BSP) is now public. (axios.com) - Signs of life in SPAC land. (pitchbook.com) - Lime ($LIME) is now public. (ft.com) Companies - Meta ($META) now wants to sell compute. (semafor.com) - Nippon Steel isn't exactly investing bigly in US Steel. (axios.com) - Microsoft ($MSFT) is making bank in Ireland. (wsj.com) Finance - How BDC managers dealt with Medallia before its bankruptcy. (ft.com) - Corporate pensions are fully funded again for the first time in almost two decades. (apollo.com) Hedge funds - Paul Singer's Elliott Management has recently spawned a slew of offshoots. (giftarticle.ft.com) - AI lab, EquiLibre Technologies algorithms are being used to trade stocks. (techcrunch.com) Conflicts of interest - Donald Trump cleaned up on crypto in 2025. (nbcnews.com) - Trump cut a deal with Kazakhstan over minerals. The Lutnick and Trump families will benefit. (nytimes.com) - Suspicious timing for another Trump stock purchase. (cnbc.com) Economy - Manufacturing is holding up headed into the second half of the year. (bonddad.blogspot.com) - Is AI adoption actually driving more hiring?!? (bigtechnology.com) - Why has labor share fallen since Covid? (libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org) Earlier on Abnormal Returns - Personal finance links: playing status games. (abnormalreturns.com) - What you missed in our Tuesday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com) - Research links: symmetric deviations. (abnormalreturns.com) - Don't miss a thing! Sign up for our daily e-mail newsletter. (abnormalreturns.com) - Are you a financial advisor or in the wealth management business? Sign up for our exclusive, weekly Talking Wealth newsletter. (talkingwealthpod.com) Mixed media - The Bicentennial was a nationwide phenomenon. The semiquincentennial seemingly is not. (theatlantic.com) - DOGE cut funding for localities to celebrate America 250. (notus.org) - How a missing comma changes the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. (experimentalliving.substack.com) - Pride in America, among Americans, is falling. (flowingdata.com)