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U.S. Bancorp (USB) shares surged in intraday trading Wednesday after the bank holding company’s second-quarter results beat analysts' expectations on the top and bottom lines.

The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97 on revenue of $6.87 billion, above Visible Alpha consensus estimates of $0.94 per share in profit on revenue of $6.79 billion. Net interest income (NII) was $4.02 billion, topping estimates of $3.96 billion. 

“This quarter we generated $6.9 billion in net revenue driven by improved linked quarter net interest income, supported by healthy deposit growth, and continued momentum in leveraging our diversified fee income platform to deepen relationships,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andy Cecere said.

U.S. Bancorp shares, which had been essentially flat for the year through Tuesday's close, traded nearly 5% higher at $45.30 as of 1:40 p.m. ET Wednesday.

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A Nigerian dad has told his daughter who warned him not to speak negatively about sending her money that she should do something positive and send it back.

The man has complained that his daughter his draining him, but the daughter told him not speak negatively but the man said she should do something positive and send back his money.

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Nvidia (NVDA), Qualcomm (QCOM), and other chip stocks tumbled Wednesday following reports of potential government moves that could negatively impact the sector.

Especially hard hit were New York Registry Shares of ASML (ASML), which makes equipment to manufacture semiconductors, following reports the Biden administration is considering tightening restrictions on exports of semiconductor equipment to China.

The news overshadowed ASML's solid results on rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, with ASML reporting second-quarter net bookings jumped 24% from a year ago to 5.6 billion euros ($6.12 billion), beating forecasts.

The White House is reportedly considering imposing what’s known as the foreign direct product rule (FDPR), that would allows the U.S. to impose controls on products made outside the country that use even a small amount of American technology.

The measure could be used to target products from companies like the Netherlands’ ASML, which made nearly half of its revenue in the second quarter from sales to China and could take a hit from the move.

Separately, former President Donald Trump said in an interview with that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense raising concerns about how geopolitical tensions could affect the chip industry.

Taiwan dominates the global market for semiconductor manufacturing, thanks to TSMC (TSM), and American depositary receipts (ADRs) of the chip manufacturing giant plunged Wednesday as well.

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Muhd, son of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has reacted to reports that his brother, Umar Zulum Umara, was allegedly arrested for k+lling a Chinese national during a f+ght over a woman at a nightclub in India.

In a tweet on X, Muhd wrote: “May Allah guide you from ev+l tongues and false accusations. #prayfortruth #stoprumours.”

According to Sahara Reporters, Umara, a student at a university in New Delhi, reportedly sm+shed a bottle of alcoholic drink on the Chinese man who showed interest in the same lady as the governor’s son.

SaharaReporters learnt that the incident happened two weeks ago, while Governor Zulum alongside the governors of Adamawa and Yobe states were in Pakistan, attending a post insurgency workshop. A source close to the family told SaharaReporters that it was history repeating itself, as according to him, the governor had while at the same age as his son h+t a man to d3ath during a fight.

The source who spoke on condition of anonymity further disclosed that the r3ckless lifestyle of the members of the governor’s family is in public domain in Borno State. “Make no mistake, Governor Zulum’s son is the Nigerian governor’s son you heard about who k+lled someone in India. What happened was that the boy engaged a Chinese national in a fight over a lady at a night club in India and Zulum’s son sm+shed a bottle on his head and it led to his d3ath.

He was arrested by the police. This happened at a time the governor alongside Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa and Governor Mai Buni of Yobe were in Pakistan some two weeks ago. Zulum was billed to travel to the United States after the Pakistani engagement, but he abruptly abandoned the trip and flew to India after receiving news of the tragic incident.

There in India, he made frantic efforts to resolve the matter with the Chinese parents of the deceased person; they actually obliged him but the Indian authorities insisted that the mrder was a crime against the Indian State and not the deceased or even his parents. He returned home to Nigeria to garner support and was able to enlist the current agriculture minister, Abubakar Kyari; together, they tried to convince the Indian embassy to wade into the matter but to no avail. Based on the information available to us, his son is currently in detention and would be prosecuted in due course.

The intriguing part of the story is that history has just repeated itself. Yes! Because Governor Zulum had a similar experience as a young lad, when he was about the same age as his son. Don’t also forget, just a few months before the tragic incident, the same biy was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives at the Maiduguri International Airport with excess hard currency.

But the matter was later watered down, with claims that he was contracted to supply vehicles,” the source added. SaharaReporters contacted one of Zulum’s media aides who simply replied, “I don’t know about this matter but when I get any information about it, I will relay same to you. However, don’t quote me please!”

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Major U.S. equities traded higher after several companies posted strong earnings results and a report showed that retail sales remained steady in June compared with the prior month, outperforming economists' predictions.

Stocks also received a boost from increasing conviction among market participants that lower interest rates are forthcoming. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders are now pricing in a 100% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut its influential fed funds rate at its September meeting.

The S&P 500 added 0.6%, notching an all-time closing high. The Dow soared more than 700 points, or 1.9%, reaching a record close for the second straight day. After spending much of the session in negative territory, the Nasdaq rallied in the afternoon to post a daily gain of 0.2%.

Health insurance firms enjoyed a strong day on the stock market after industry giant UnitedHealth Group (UNH) beat second-quarter profit estimates, driven by increased revenue from its Optum health care unit. UnitedHealth shares added 6.5% following the strong results. Peers also posted gains, with shares of Molina Healthcare (MOH) jumping 8.2% to notch Tuesday's top performance in the S&P 500.

Firmer confidence that lower interest rates are on the horizon helped lift shares of companies in the housing industry, with the promise of lower interest rates boding well for future homebuying activity. Shares of construction materials provider Builders FirstSource (BLDR) soared 8.0%. Shares of home builders also moved higher, with Pultegroup (PHM), D.R. Horton (DHI), and Lennar (LEN) all up more than 6.5%.

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shares jumped 7.6% after Bank of America pointed to numerous strategic options for the media conglomerate to create more value for its shareholders. Possible moves mentioned by the analysts include spinning off studio assets into a standalone company or merging its streaming services with another entity.

Shares of Match Group (MTCH), which operates Tinder and other online dating platforms, surged 7.5% amid news that activist hedge fund Starboard Value has acquired a stake worth approximately 6.6% of the company. In a letter to Match executives, Starboard stressed the need for improved margins and discussed the possibility of pursuing a sale to bring the company private.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares plummeted 10.2%, suffering the heaviest losses of any S&P 500 component. CEO Walt Bettinger said the financial services firm will downsize its bank to attempt to maintain profitability. According to reports, the firm plans to streamline its use of capital by relying on off-balance sheet deals with outside partners to hold customer deposits.

Other stocks in the financial services industry came under pressure following the warning from Schwab. Shares of Raymond James Financial (RJF) and Ameriprise Financial (AMP) fell 6.3% and 3.8%, respectively.

Progressive (PGR) shares slipped 3.2% after the property and casualty insurer reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings per share (EPS) exceeding estimates but revenue falling slightly short of expectations. Following the earnings release, Morgan Stanley maintained its "overweight" rating on Progressive stock, highlighting strong underwriting profitability, but analysts noted lower-than-expected personal auto policies in force (PIF) as a potential area of concern.

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