Multiple brokerages including JPMorgan Chase have raised their year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 8,000 points.

A government record shows that Federal Reserve Chair Walsh has sold all the financial assets he pledged to divest. Walsh signed a compliance certification for an ethics agreement with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) last Thursday, and the document was published on the agency’s website on Saturday. Walsh had previously submitted a divestment certification to the OGE, indicating he had sold most of the assets he committed to divest. The latest disclosure document confirms he has sold the remaining holdings covered by the agreement. Walsh is one of the wealthiest officials in Federal Reserve history. He pledged to divest his stakes in multiple investments; the underlying assets of these investments were not disclosed due to non-disclosure agreements, with some valued at at least $100 million. (Source: Jin10)

Storage chip maker SanDisk recently saw its stock price pull back after its earnings guidance missed expectations, but institutions believe AI-driven storage demand will underpin the company’s long-term growth. Argus Research analyst Jim Kelleher upgraded SanDisk’s rating from “Hold” to “Buy” and set a 12-month target price of $1,600. He explained that when his team initiated coverage in July, they were waiting for a better buying opportunity, and now that the stock has dropped sharply from its peak, the investment window has opened. SanDisk hit an all-time high of $2,335 on June 25 and has since declined, currently down roughly 47% from that peak. Last week, following the release of its quarterly results, the stock fell 6.8% in a single day as future performance guidance fell short of market expectations, with an additional 3.7% drop afterward. Kelleher holds that SanDisk is in the early stages of a multi-year cycle of accelerating revenue growth and expanding profit margins. As AI data center construction drives a surge in storage demand, major cloud computing firms including Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) continue investing hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure, widening the supply-demand gap for storage components. He projects that the company’s profit margins will rise further, as its revenue growth significantly outpaces cost increases. To date, SanDisk’s stock has gained about 422% year-to-date and 2,757% over the past 12 months. Despite the recent sharp pullback, institutions believe the AI infrastructure investment cycle will provide new growth momentum for the company.

According to Bitget market data, WTI crude oil gained 5.00% intraday, now trading at $80.17 per barrel. Brent crude oil rose 5.00% intraday, at $85.58 per barrel. On the news front, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed that the U.S.-imposed maritime blockade on Iran constitutes an act of aggression against the country. The U.S.-Iran conflict has recently reached an impasse.

August 10 Update: #Bitcoin ETFs: 1D NetFlow: +1,731 $BTC(+$111.94M)?? 7D NetFlow: +12,354 $BTC(+$798.68M)?? #Ethereum ETFs: 1D NetFlow: +29,914 $ETH(+$56.78M)?? 7D NetFlow: +118,521 $ETH(+$224.97M)??

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the US-listed optical communications sector saw broad declines, with Corning down 1.22%, Nokia down 1.14%, AAOI down 2.26%, LITE down 5.54%, MRVL down 0.14%, and POET down 2.19%.

Base has announced the launch of its Builder Grant Program, designed to support teams building products on the Base network. Eligible projects will receive seed funding of up to $5,000, along with go-to-market (GTM) and product support. The program’s focus areas include: prediction markets, token launchpads, consumer apps for new asset creation, AI Agent applications (covering business use cases, x402 payment implementation, and autonomous trading), and DeFi applications (including lending, revolving leverage, yield generation, vaults, and tokenized stocks). Selected projects will get up to $5,000 in funding, monthly GTM and product feedback, expedited technical support, and access to Base ecosystem resources. Applicants must meet the following criteria: have a live product, focus on Base ecosystem development, and seek support for product optimization and go-to-market efforts. The initiative aims to further boost the growth of applications and developer innovation within the Base ecosystem.