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Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has revealed that his late mom, Veronica Hailey Imade Adeleke, was a “baddie.”

The ‘OBO’ crooner disclosed this while remembering his late mother in a recent post on Instagram.

Sharing a picture of his late mom in her academic regalia, Davido wrote: “My mom was a baddie.”

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Bitcoin-focused financial services provider Fold intends to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. (EMLD).

Fold offers a cashback debit card and enables the ability to buy and sell bitcoin directly from Fold accounts, among other services. It could be considered a small competitor to Block's (SQ) Cash App product, which also facilitates the buying and selling of bitcoin and previously has enabled cashback rewards denominated in the cryptocurrency.

The merger, expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024 after regulatory approvals, pegs Fold's valuation at $365 million and will lead to its shares being trading on the Nasdaq.

Fold also has another advantage—it will own bitcoin (BTC).

"It is anticipated that post-transaction Fold will have more than 1,000 BTC on its consolidated balance sheet. Fold expects to use the proceeds to accelerate the growth of Fold’s operations and treasury," the company said in a statement Wednesday. At Wednesday's bitcoin prices of nearly $66,000, that holding would be valued at roughly $66 million.

Once listed, Fold will join a list of storied public companies with bitcoin on their books. MicroStrategy (MSTR) is the most noteworthy, with a stash of 214,400 bitcoins as of April 26, that at current prices (assuming no change in the size of the holding) would be valued at roughly $14 billion. Block also held 8,038 bitcoin as of March 31 (currently valued at more than $530 million) on its balance sheet.

Optimism surrounding spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and bitcoin halving earlier this year, and, more recently, the U.S. presidential elections, has driven bitcoin prices higher this year, and that has translated into stock gains for some of the companies that own it. For example, bitcoin has gained about 49% year-to-date, and shares of MicroStrategy are up almost 165% over the same period.

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When Tesla unveiled its (TSLA) planned roadster in 2017, it rolled onstage in deep red with rock-and-roll blaring, CEO Elon Musk setting a target of 2020 for its availability. That didn't happen, but on Tuesday Musk said it could arrive next year.

"We've completed most of the engineering, and I think there are still some upgrades we want to make to it, but we expect to be in production with the Roadster next year," Musk said during a conference call with investors last night, a transcript of which was provided by AlphaSense.

The roadster has ambitious specs: The company is advertising a race to 60 miles per hour in under two seconds, more than 600 miles of range, a top speed above 250 miles per hour and seats for four. A reservation costs $50,000, with the vehicle expected to cost several times that.

Musk had earlier this year said to expect an "unveiling" this year and a goal of shipping vehicles in 2025.

The roadster news was part of a raft of updates Musk and Tesla offered Tuesday following the announcement of its latest quarterly results.

Tesla stock was recently down more than 10% in Wednesday trading, with the shares extending their move back into the red for 2024 after recently moving back above that line.

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For some economists, July is the new September.

That is, some economists believe the Federal Reserve should begin cutting interest rates at its next meeting at the end of the month. These economists argue recent economic data is enough evidence that inflation is falling toward the central bank's annual goal of 2%. In a recent survey of economists, 24.6% held that view.

“If the case for a cut is clear, why wait another seven weeks before delivering it?” wrote Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius in a separate commentary this week.

However, only a slim percentage of economists believe a cut is likely to happen this month: 98.5% of economists surveyed by said the Fed will make its first interest rate cut sometime after the July meeting. The majority of economists believe central bankers will cut in September, a view that's also held by financial market participants.

The Federal Reserve has held its key interest rate at a 23-year-high for the past 12 months, putting pressure on consumers and businesses, as part of an effort to cool the economy and tame inflation. Inflation trended downward since hitting its peak in June 2022, but progress has faltered some in the last year.

However, Hatzius argues, recent economic data has pointed to higher unemployment and potentially slower GDP growth, which could become an issue if the Fed lets it go unchecked for too long.

Former New York Fed president Bill Dudley added fuel to the call for July rate cuts this week citing "deteriorating labor markets."

"When jobs are harder to find, households trim spending, the economy weakens and businesses reduce investment, which leads to layoffs and further spending cuts," Dudley wrote in an opinion column for .

Central bankers, for their part, are keeping an eye on these factors. In fact, in recent weeks, members of the policy-making committee, including Chair Jerome Powell, have said they are keeping a close eye on the labor market to avoid unwanted spikes in unemployment that could signal a recession.

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U.S. equities sank at midday Wednesday as tech stocks tumbled in the wake of disappointing earnings reports. The S&P 500 lost 1.7%, and the Nasdaq sank 2.8%, while the Dow dropped close to 1%.

Tesla (TSLA) shares plunged after the electric vehicle maker missed earnings estimates as it cut prices to boost sales.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) also lost ground amid concerns about the tech giant's spending on artificial intelligence (AI) investments, despite an earnings beat.

Visa (V) shares slid after the credit card provider’s revenue came in short of forecasts amid a pullback in consumer spending.

AT&T (T) shares advanced after the telecom giant reported postpaid phone net additions and free cash flow that were better than anticipated.

Shares of Enphase Energy (ENPH) jumped as the solar power equipment manufacturer posted strong operating profit on a recovery in sales in the U.S.

Seagate Technology (STX) shares gained as the hard disk drive maker beat estimates for its profit, sales, and outlook on increasing cloud demand.

Oil and gold futures rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was down. The U.S. dollar lost ground to the euro, pound, and yen. Prices for most major cryptocurrencies were mixed.

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Despite signs of a slowdown in recent weeks, economic growth likely remained stable through the end of the second quarter.

Economists surveyed by and anticipate gross domestic product (GDP) grew to an annualized 2.1% in the second quarter. The closely watched data will be released from the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday.

If estimates hold true, that would be higher than the first quarter but still subdued from the second half of last year.

"It would also be consistent with an economy expanding at a pace modestly below its estimated potential and consistent with the disinflation observed in the first half of 2024," wrote Moody's Analytics Economist Matt Colyar.

Economic activity has moderated and inflation has declined as the Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark lending rate at a 23-year high for the past year. Expectations have grown that the Fed will soon start cutting the fed funds rate, but officials at the central bank say they are watching economic data for more evidence that inflation is clearly headed toward the Fed's 2% annual target.

A few corners of the economy are giving GDP a lift.

Inventory levels, which economists say are notoriously volatile and difficult to predict, likely boosted the second quarter's measure of economic growth. Several economists updated their estimates for GDP after Wednesday's report showed growing accumulation. Durable goods orders, such as heavy equipment for business, also showed signs of growth during that time.

However, no sector has been as influential on the economy's growth in the past few years as consumers' spending—and the second quarter will be no different, economists said.

Consumers have continued to spend despite inflationary price pressures and elevated costs of borrowing—helping the economy avoid a recession that many thought would happen last year. Economists so far this year have thought consumers would falter as pandemic-era savings ran out.

However, the second quarter was better than anticipated, culminating in a surprising June report that showed little change despite economists' expectations that spending would decline.

"Consumer spending is nowhere near a freefall," wrote Wells Fargo economists.

Consumers still have significant trends working in their favor, said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO.

"Among the most important tailwinds in our view are record-high household wealth, rising real disposable income, and still historically low levels of unemployment," Anderson wrote. "We could even see the drag of higher interest rates begin to fade over time, setting the economy up for a growth revival and a more tolerable inflation rate in 2025."

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