GoKawiilThis is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Happy Friday. Microsoft added nearly $450 billion to its market cap yesterday as the stock climbed 15% — its best day since 2008. Stock futures are rising before the bell following Thursday's rally on Wall Street. Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Big Tech finale
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., left, and John Ternus, incoming chief executive officer of Apple Inc., during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, US, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
2. Situational Awareness
Leopold Aschenbrenner Photo: Josh Edelson
One of the AI trade's most closely watched investors is unwinding his public stock portfolio. Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund, Situational Awareness, suffered steep losses as AI infrastructure stocks fell and short positions in software names moved against it, people familiar with the matter told CNBC's David Faber. The fund was left scrambling to raise cash to meet margin requirements, and Citadel agreed to buy the fund's publicly traded assets, according to people familiar with the deal. The fund founded by Aschenbrenner — a 25-year-old former OpenAI researcher — had grown to as much as $45 billion before the losses hit.
3. Crude results
The ExxonMobil and Chevron company logos are displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on July 24, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Rising crude prices led to surging second-quarter profits for ExxonMobil and Chevron , which both reported earnings this morning. Chevron's net income for the period jumped nearly 400% from the same time last year to $12 billion, while Exxon's profits nearly doubled. As CNBC's Spencer Kimball reports, the average closing price of U.S. crude futures from April through June was 27% higher than the previous quarter, as the Iran war caused major supply disruptions. "We're kind of firing on all cylinders, which is good, because the world needs it," Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC's Becky Quick.
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