Bitcoin price trades at $115,316 today, having gained 40% against gold since April. This situation has prompted fresh chatter about BTC catching up to gold’s $22.58 trillion market cap. Given Bitcoin’s current $2.3 trillion market cap, a leap to $22 trillion would be quite a feat, but if it did happen, what would the BTC
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The BTC price has declined by 3% over the past 24 hours. This comes after Galaxy Digital recently sold off $1.18 billion worth of Bitcoin. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars were erased in leveraged positions as cryptocurrency investors rushed to reduce their losses. Bitcoin Price Slides Amid Galaxy Digital Sell-Off The Bitcoin
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Alphabet reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat on revenue and earnings, but the company said it would raise its capital investments by $10 billion in 2025.
Here’s how the company did, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:
Wall Street is also watching several other numbers in the report:
The company’s overall revenue grew 14% year over year, higher than the 10.9% Wall Street expected, but Alphabet is going to spend more on artificial intelligence in 2025 than it anticipated.
In February, the company said it expected to invest $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 as it continues to expand on its AI strategy. That was already above the $58.84 billion Wall Street expected at the time.
The company increased that figure on Wednesday to $85 billion, saying it was raising it due to “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services.” The company expects to further increase capital expenditures in 2026, Alphabet finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said on an earnings call.
The company reported revenue of $13.62 billion for its cloud computing business, which is a 32% increase from a year ago. Last week, OpenAI announced that it expected to use Google’s cloud infrastructure for its popular ChatGPT service. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said “we are very excited to be partnering with them.”
Alphabet’s net income increased to $28.20 billion, up nearly 20% from the previous year.
The company’s search and advertising units still showed growth in the second quarter despite AI competition heating up. The company’s search unit brought in $54.19 billion during the quarter, and its advertising revenue grew to $71.34 billion — up about 10.4% from $64.61 billion the year prior.
YouTube advertising revenue came in at $9.8 billion, higher than Wall Street expected.
The company said its “Other Bets” segment, which includes its self-driving car unit Waymo and life sciences unit Verily, brought in $373 million — up from $365 million a year ago. Other Bets reported a loss of $1.25 billion, up from the $1.13 billion a year ago.
AI Overviews, Google’s AI search product that summarizes search results, now has upward of two billion monthly users across more than 200 countries and territories, Pichai said during Wednesday’s earnings call. That’s up from 1.5 billion monthly users last quarter.
The Gemini app, which has the company’s AI chatbot, now has more than 450 million monthly active users, Pichai said.
When asked about large spending on AI talent, Ashkenazi said Alphabet makes “sure that we invest appropriately to have the best and brightest minds in the industry.”
Google made a splash in the AI talent wars, announcing earlier in July that it would bring in Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan and other top researchers at the AI coding startup as part of a $2.4 billion deal that also includes licensing the company’s technology.
Total operating expenses increased 20% to $26.1 billion, Ashkenazi said on Wednesday. The biggest driver of growth was expenses for legal and other matters due in part to a $1.4 billion charge related to a settlement, she said on Wednesday’s earnings call. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in May announced a $1.37 billion settlement with Google related to a data privacy rights lawsuit it made against the company in 2022.
Ashkenazi said Alphabet’s third-quarter revenue “could see a tailwind” due to several reasons. That includes a negative impact for advertising, which benefited from “strong spend on U.S. elections” in late 2024, particularly on YouTube, she said.
Uber announced a new feature Wednesday that pairs women drivers and riders, in its latest move to address safety on the ride-hailing platform.
The new tool, which the platform will begin piloting next month in the U.S., allows women passengers to match with women drivers when booking or pre-booking rides, and create a preference in their app settings. Women drivers can also choose to drive women.
“It’s about giving women more choice, more control, and more comfort when they ride and drive,” Camiel Irving, Uber’s vice president of U.S. and Canada operations, said in a release.
The company said the rider’s preference isn’t guaranteed but the feature increases the chances women will be paired in the app.
Uber will pilot the program in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. The company also said it tested the feature in countries such as France, Germany and Argentina.
This isn’t Uber’s first foray into gender preferences on its platform.
In 2019, Uber rolled out a women rider preference feature for female drivers in Saudi Arabia after women won the right to drive in 2018. That offering later expanded to about 40 countries. A survey from the company in 2015 found that about a fifth of its U.S. drivers were women.
Over the years, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft have faced safety concerns and questions over the roles these platforms have played in various sexual assault and harassment incidents.
Uber has rolled out several features in recent years to improve safety on the platform, including teen accounts and rider and pin verification.
Competitor Lyft launched an option in late 2023 that pairs women and nonbinary drivers and riders.
UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it is facing a Justice Department investigation over its Medicare billing practices.
It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the health-care giant over possible Medicare fraud. In response at the time, the company said it stands “by the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program.”
In July, the Journal also reported that the DOJ interviewed several doctors about UnitedHealth’s practices and whether they felt pressured to submit claims for certain conditions that bolstered payments from the Medicare Advantage program to the company.
That marked the second time this year that the insurer’s Medicare Advantage business has come under federal scrutiny. The Journal also reported in February that the DOJ is conducting a civil investigation into whether the company inflated diagnoses to trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans.
But in March, UnitedHealth moved a step closer to ending a yearslong legal battle with the DOJ that began with a whistleblower who alleged the company illegally withheld at least $2 billion through the Medicare Advantage program. A special master assigned to the case by the judge issued a recommendation in favor of UnitedHealth, saying the DOJ lacked evidence.
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and retirement segment, which includes the Medicare Advantage business, is UnitedHealth Group’s largest revenue driver, raking in $139 billion in sales last year.
The update in the probe comes after a tumultuous last year for UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest and most powerful private health insurer. Shares of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, are down more than 42% for the year after it suspended its 2025 forecast amid skyrocketing medical costs, announced the surprise exit of former CEO Andrew Witty and grappled with the reported probe into its Medicare Advantage business.
The company’s 2024 wasn’t any easier, marked by a historic cyberattack and the torrent of public blowback after the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson.
UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it is facing a Justice Department investigation over its Medicare billing practices.
It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the health-care giant over possible Medicare fraud. In response at the time, the company said it stands “by the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program.”
In July, the Journal also reported that the DOJ interviewed several doctors about UnitedHealth’s practices and whether they felt pressured to submit claims for certain conditions that bolstered payments from the Medicare Advantage program to the company.
That marked the second time this year that the insurer’s Medicare Advantage business has come under federal scrutiny. The Journal also reported in February that the DOJ is conducting a civil investigation into whether the company inflated diagnoses to trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans.
But in March, UnitedHealth moved a step closer to ending a yearslong legal battle with the DOJ that began with a whistleblower who alleged the company illegally withheld at least $2 billion through the Medicare Advantage program. A special master assigned to the case by the judge issued a recommendation in favor of UnitedHealth, saying the DOJ lacked evidence.
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and retirement segment, which includes the Medicare Advantage business, is UnitedHealth Group’s largest revenue driver, raking in $139 billion in sales last year.
The update in the probe comes after a tumultuous last year for UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest and most powerful private health insurer. Shares of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, are down more than 42% for the year after it suspended its 2025 forecast amid skyrocketing medical costs, announced the surprise exit of former CEO Andrew Witty and grappled with the reported probe into its Medicare Advantage business.
The company’s 2024 wasn’t any easier, marked by a historic cyberattack and the torrent of public blowback after the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson.
Markets don’t usually hit record highs, risk falling into bearish territory, and spring back to new highs within six months. But that’s what happened in 2025.
In this special mid-year recap, Grayson Roze sits down with David Keller, CMT, to show how disciplined routines, price-based signals, and a calm process helped them ride the whipsaw instead of getting tossed by it. You’ll see what really happened under the surface, how investor psychology drove the swings, and the exact StockCharts tools they leaned on to stay objective.
If you’re focused on protecting capital, generating income, and sleeping well at night while still capturing the upside, this is a must-watch. Discover which charts deserve your attention now, what to ignore, and how to prep for the back half of 2025.
This video premiered on July 23, 2025. Click on the above image to watch on our dedicated Grayson Roze page on StockCharts TV.
You can view previously recorded videos from Grayson at this link.
Oil prices fell sharply during the second quarter, after reaching year-to-date highs early in the year.
Between January and the end of June, Brent shed 18.26 percent from US$81.69 to US$66.77. West Texas Intermediate made a similar decline falling 16.94 percent from US$78.86 to US$65.50, over the same time period.
The contraction was largely attributed to OPEC+ easing production cuts and increasing output.
Global supply was further bolstered by China’s strong import volumes and rising domestic output, giving refiners room to delay purchases and adding to a mild US inventory build, both of which added downward pressure.
Conversely, seasonal demand from the US summer driving season and solid Q2 GDP growth in China offered some support.
Despite that backdrop, the five top-performing oil and gas stocks on the TSX and TSXV have seen share price growth over Q2 2025. All year-to-date performance and share price data was obtained on July 16, 2025, using TradingView’s stock screener, and oil and gas companies with market caps above C$10 million at that time were considered.
Year-to-date gain: 43.75 percent
Market cap: C$127.55 million
Share price: C$0.115
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Falcon Oil & Gas is an international oil and gas company incorporated in BC, Canada. The company specializes in the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas assets, with interests in assets in Australia, South Africa and Hungary.
On January 24, Falcon issued its first corporate update of 2025, announcing the launch of a well stimulation campaign for two wells for the Shenandoah South pilot project in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin, located in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The company has a 22.5 interest in the Beetaloo joint venture, with Tamboran Resources (NYSE:TBN,ASX:TBN) owning the remaining 77.5 percent.
Falcon’s share price spiked several times in June, reaching a year-to-date high of C$0.14 on June 17, which it maintained through late June. The stock movement coincided with Beetaloo updates, including “stellar” flow test results on June 17.
“The IP30 flow rate results announced today of 7.2 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), are truly stellar and marks another major data point in the Beetaloo Sub-basin again demonstrating that it compares to the best shale wells in the United States,” CEO Philip O’Quigley wrote in the press release.
Year-to-date gain: 25.67 percent
Market cap: C$57.37 billion
Share price: C$112.70
Calgary-based Imperial Oil is a prominent Canadian energy company involved in the exploration, production, refining and marketing of petroleum products. With a history spanning over 140 years, Imperial operates diverse assets across Canada, including oil sands, conventional crude oil and natural gas assets.
On January 31, Imperial released its Q4 2024 results, reporting an estimated net income of C$1.23 billion in Q4 2024, slightly down from C$1.24 billion in Q3. The decline was attributed to lower price realizations, partly offset by higher production and improved refinery utilization in the Downstream segment.
On May 2, the company announced a Q2 2025 dividend of C$0.72 payable on July 1.
Imperial shares reached a year-to-date high of C$113.05 on July 13. The rally occurred after Scotiabank raised its share price target for Imperial from C$100 to C$110 on July 11, citing stronger refining margins and earnings outlook.
Year-to-date gain: 10.07 percent
Market cap: C$6.7 billion
Share price: C$26.35
MEG is an energy company solely focused on in-situ thermal oil production in the southern Athabasca oil region of Alberta, Canada. Utilizing innovative enhanced oil recovery projects, including steam-assisted gravity drainage extraction methods, the company aims to increase oil recovery responsibly while reducing carbon emissions.
In mid-May, Strathcona Resources (TSX:SCR) made an unsolicited C$4.1 billion offer for MEG, a move company executives quickly denounced.
In a subsequent press release on June 16, MEG called the offer “inadequate, opportunistic, and NOT in the best interests of MEG or its shareholders.”
Chairman of the Board James McFarland stated in the release, ‘A combination with Strathcona would expose shareholders to inferior assets and significant capital markets risks, including a C$6 billion overhang resulting from Waterous Energy Fund’s 51 percent ownership in the combined company.”
MEG has launched a strategic review and welcomed alternative bids from other companies.
Shares of MEG rose to a year-to-date high of C$26.14 on June 20, on the heels of the statement and alongside news that operations at the company’s Christina Lake operations in Alberta would resume at full capacity following wildfire interruptions.
Year-to-date gain: 3.75 percent
Market cap: C$1.65 billion
Share price: C$6.92
Headwater Exploration is a Canadian oil and gas company focused on developing high-quality assets in Alberta’s Clearwater play and low-decline natural gas in New Brunswick’s McCully Field.
In March, Headwater reported strong 2024 results, with annual production up 13 percent year-over-year to 20,310 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and net income rising 20 percent to C$188 million.
Headwater released its Q1 2025 results and a company update in May, highlighting the receipt of TSX approval for a normal course issuer bid, allowing it to repurchase up to 10 percent of its public float over the next year.
Additionally the company reported record production of 22,066 boe/d during Q1 and adjusted funds flow of C$92.4 million. Net income for the period came in at C$50 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.11 per share during Q1 and ended the quarter with no debt and C$63.6 million in adjusted working capital.
Company shares spiked to a year-to-date high of C$7.43 on January 9, and reached a Q2 high of C$7.22 on June 19, which coincided with a broader surge in the oil market.
Year-to-date gain: 3.72 percent
Market cap: C$2.84 billion
Share price: C$5.57
Athabasca Oil is focused on developing thermal and light oil assets within Alberta’s Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The company has established a substantial land base with high-quality resources. Its light oil operations are managed through its private subsidiary, Duvernay Energy, in which the company holds a 70 percent equity interest.
On March 5, Athabasca Oil released its 2024 year end results, highlighting strong production and significant cash flow increases. The company averaged 36,815 boe/d during 2024, marking a 7 percent year-over-year increase.
Its Q1 2025 results released on May 7 reported further production growth, with average petroleum and natural gas production of 37,714 boe/d and average thermal oil output of 34,742 barrels per day.
Athabasca Oil generated C$130 million in adjusted funds flow and C$71 million in free cash flow. The company returns capital to shareholders through annual share buybacks, and at the time of the release, it had completed C$94 million in buybacks since the start of 2025.
Broad market positivity in mid-June pushed shares of Athabasca Oil to a year-to-date high of C$6.16 on June 20.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The chart of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) has completed a roundtrip from the February high around $740 to the April low at $480 and all the way back again. Over the last couple weeks, META has now pulled back from its retest of all-time highs, leaving investors to wonder what may come next.
Is this the beginning of a new downtrend phase for META? Or just a brief pullback before a new uptrend phase propels META to new all-time highs?
Today we’ll look at two potential scenarios, including the double top pattern and the cup and handle pattern, and share which technical indicators and approaches could help us determine which path plays out into August.
The double top scenario basically means that the late July retest of the previous all-time high was the end of the recent uptrend phase. The double top pattern is literally when a major resistance level is set and then retested. The implication is that a lack of willing buyers means the uptrend is exhausted, and there is nowhere to go but down.
While the 21-day exponential moving average is currently in play for META, I would say that a break below the 50-day moving average could confirm this as the correct scenario. If that smoothing mechanism does not hold, then the price action would imply less of a pullback and more like the beginning of a real distribution phase.
What is META pulls back but then resumes an uptrend phase, leading META to another new all-time high? That would result in a confirmed cup and handle pattern, created by a large rounded bottoming pattern followed by a brief pullback. The key to this pattern is the “rim” of the cup, which sits right at $740 for META.
Given the pullback META has demonstrated so far in July, I would say that a break above the $740 level would basically confirm a bullish cup and handle pattern. That would suggest much more upside potential for META, as the stock would literally go into previously uncharted territory.
So how can we determine which scenario is more likely to play out? This is where we need to incorporate more technical indicators into the discussion, as a way to further validate and confirm our investment thesis.
Just to review, I think a break above $740 would confirm a bullish cup and handle pattern. I would also say that a break below the $680 level, which would represent a move below the 50-day moving average as well as the June swing lows, would basically confirm a bearish double top pattern.
We can also use the Relative Strength Index (RSI) to help determine whether META remains in a bullish trend phase. During bull phases, the RSI rarely gets below 40, because buyers usually step in to “buy the dips” and keep the momentum fairly constructive. So if the price would break down, and the RSI would not hold that crucial 40 level, that could mean a bearish outlook is warranted.
Finally, we can use volume-based indicators to assess whether moves in the price are supported by stronger volume readings. Here I’ve included the Accumulation/Distribution Line, which tracks the trend in daily volume readings over time. We can see that the high in July resulted in a divergence, as the A/D line was trending lower. If the A/D line would break below its June and July lows, marked by a dashed red line, that would represent a bearish volume reading for META.
Technical analysis is less about predicting the future, and more about determining the most probable scenarios based on our analysis of trend, momentum, and volume. I hope this discussion shows how the outlook for META can be easily determined and tracked using the best practices of technical analysis!
RR#6,
Dave
PS- Ready to upgrade your investment process? Check out my free behavioral investing course!
David Keller, CMT
President and Chief Strategist
Sierra Alpha Research LLC
https://www.youtube.com/c/MarketMisbehavior
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.
The author does not have a position in mentioned securities at the time of publication. Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.
Joe Cavatoni, senior market strategist, Americas, at the World Gold Council, explains that market risk and uncertainty are driving gold, with H1 2025 seeing multiple record highs.
‘Think strategically when you think about gold, and keep that allocation in mind,’ he said.
He also shares thoughts on the importance of central bank allocations and the potential impact of tariffs and US economic conditions on gold during the second half of 2025.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.