Market Minute ⏱️ 7/15/26: Morgan, BlackRock Feast on Wall Street Boom!

Mike Larson | Editor-in-Chief

Stocks, crude oil, and Treasuries are all up a bit in early trading. The dollar is flat along with gold and silver.

The earnings flood is continuing, with Morgan Stanley (MS) and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) becoming the latest “Big Finance” players to trounce estimates. Morgan beat sales and profit estimates, with earnings up 58% year-over-year in the second quarter. Meanwhile, BlackRock topped $15 trillion in assets under management (AUM) in the quarter – while also reporting a 15% rise in adjusted earnings per share and a 31% jump in revenue.

2026 Stock Issuance (IPOs, Secondaries, Convertible Bonds)

Investment banking activity has been particularly strong – and that raises an important issue. Just last week, I weighed in on “IPO Overload” risk in a video Market Minute. Then I covered the “It’s all relative” counterargument in a Chart of the Day piece. Now, the Wall Street Journal is weighing in with a front-page article called “Blockbuster Stock Sales Are Threatening to Overwhelm the Bull Market.”

It chronicles how companies have sold almost $345 billion in new stock so far in 2026. That’s more than companies sold each year from 2022-2025. Elm Wealth estimates a net $500 billion in equity and debt will get dumped on the market over the next year. That’s a big swing from the $1 trillion drained, on net, in recent years via things like stock buybacks, according to the Journal.

Finally, the AI trade got an extra boost from ASML Holding NV (ASML), the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant. It beat sales and profit forecasts, raised its full-year guidance, and said “ongoing AI-related investments and continued progress in AI technologies are driving demand for advanced Logic and Memory chips, further strengthening the semiconductor industry's growth outlook.” Already up 66.5% year-to-date, ASML stock rose modestly on the news.

MoneyShow Roundtable: The Latest on AI Stocks, the Tech Sector, IPOs, and the Fed

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• NVDA: Buy with the Billionaires as Profits Soar
  👉️ TICKERS: NVDA, QQQ
  We are in the midst of the strongest economic environment in decades, and that is generating robust corporate profits. The truth of the matter is we cannot stop the current technology train, so we must get on board the train, invest with the billionaires, or get left behind, advises Louis Navellier, founder and chairman of Navellier & Associates.

• CRWD: Dominating the Cybersecurity Business with its Falcon Platform
  👉️ TICKER: CRWD
  As a youth, my father taught me to walk with confidence, and to never look down while walking through a crowd. I’ve never forgotten this, as it applies to many things in life, even companies whose name includes “crowd.” I am referring here to cybersecurity stalwart CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD), writes Jim Woods, editor of Forecasts & Strategies.

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