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Rocket Lab USA (RKLB) shares popped Friday, a day after the company posted record revenue and a narrowing of its second-quarter loss.

The aerospace company reported revenue of $106.3 million, up 71% year-over-year and ahead of estimates from analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Its second-quarter net loss also beat forecasts, narrowing to $41.6 million from $45.9 million last year.

"This 71% year-on-year revenue increase demonstrates the strong and growing demand for our launch services and space systems products, and importantly, our team's ability to execute against it," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Beck said. 

Rocket Lab is projecting third-quarter revenue between $100 million and $105 million. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expect $102.8 million.

Meanwhile, Rocket Lab announced that it successfully hot fired its Archimedes engine, which will be used in the company's medium-lift rocket, Neutron.

Shares of Rocket Lab surged 12% to $5.35 as of 12:50 p.m. ET but are still down around 3% this year.

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The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were little changed at midday Friday, heading to the close of a volatile week for markets that began with a global sell-off.

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the tech firm beat profit and sales estimates and raised its earnings guidance as it saw higher demand for its security and cloud computing offerings.

Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) gained after the video game maker also posted better-than-expected results and gave an upbeat outlook as net bookings rose.

Sweetgreen (SG) shares soared after the salad restaurant chain cut its losses, exceeded revenue forecasts, and raised its guidance as it added locations.

Intel (INTC) shares dropped as the chipmaker reportedly canceled an event scheduled for September after reporting wider-than-expected losses and announcing layoffs.

Shares of Insulet (PODD) slumped as the manufacturer of the Omnipod insulin delivery system missed earnings estimates amid concerns about the number of new products reaching the market.

Mondelez International (MDLZ) shares dropped as the snack food maker missed revenue estimates as consumers turned to lower-priced brands.

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

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Muslim faithfuls across Kano State on Saturday, August 10, observed the national special prayer and Qur’anic recitation against hardship and hunger in the country.

Daily Trust reports that the session was observed at decentralized locations across the state.

📷: @daily_trust

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Bitcoin (BTCUSD) briefly rose above $61,000 early Friday, riding on the heels of Thursday's stock market rally, but the cryptocurrency gave up some of those gains to trade on either side of the $60,000 mark depending on where stocks were trading.

This comes after the cryptocurrency crashed below $50,000 for the first time since February on Monday amid one of the worst days for stocks in recent history.

Much like Monday's price drop came in the midst of global market turmoil more generally, the price recovery and eventual reversal has mimicked what has taken place in traditional equities markets.

Notably, bitcoin's correlated movements with traditional equities markets have shown that the cryptocurrency can still act as a risk-on asset at times, despite the hope that it can operate as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty.

According to Pearson correlation data from , bitcoin moved more in tandem with the S&P 500 than gold this week, despite the "digital gold" nickname that has been frequently applied to the asset.

That said, many bitcoin holders were not phased by this week's price action. "In crises, markets sell what they can, not what they want," Strike CEO Jack Mallers posted on X on Monday. "#Bitcoin is down because it was the only market open to sell on Sunday night, not because the only fixed supply money we have is now less valuable."

The U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-trade fund (ETF) market also saw strong inflows of $194.6 million on Thursday, according to Farside Investors. However, flows are still negative on net this week, with $77.3 million leaving the funds.

Things have looked better for the spot ether ETFs this week, with $120.6 million of inflows, as outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) have slowed down, even as ether prices (ETHUSD) continue to fall. Ether is trading close to $2,500.

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said most of those at the helm of affairs should be behind bars.

Obasanjo spoke at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while receiving six members of the House of Representatives who are co-sponsors of bills on single term of six year, rotational of presidency between the north and the south as well as rotation of governorship slot among the three senatorial districts of each of the 36 states.

According to DailyTrust, he said: “Our main problem is ourselves and until we take care of ourselves it doesn’t matter we may have one term of four years one term of six years, one term of seven years if it’s the same people and same mentality and way we do things then it won’t change.

Yes, the system; yes, democracy. We have to rethink democracy. We have to rethink form of government. But what about the character of the people in government? With all due respect most of them should be behind the bar, some should even be in the g@llows and that is the truth.

Now if these are the people that are ruling us then what do you expect? It doesn’t matter whether you or whatever you make it, it will not, so the point is the character of the people that are coming to government. Their attributes, the sort of people they truly are.

So, we need to really think about how we select leaders, what should be the character of a leader we select? What should be their track record ? Where should we find them? Are they role models? And I think those are the first things we have to think about.”

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