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Business & Markets

Business and financial news covering markets, banking, fintech, accounting and cash-flow pressure, with analysis of economic risks and company distress.

Screenshot of Kalshi's promo code CLEVELAND offer showing $25 deposit plus $25 bonus for new users, restricted to college and NFL event contracts.

🎰 Kalshi's $50 Promo Is Volume Bait, Not Seed Capital

Kalshi offers new users $50 ($25 deposit + $25 bonus) via code CLEVELAND — but that's less than 0.00002% of its single-day volume of $217.98M. 🎰 The $50 is gated to binary sports-event contracts where one loss wipes 25–50% of capital. Robinhood and Webull offer cash

Smartphone screen showing a minimalist booking interface with a single "Go" button against an abstract travel background

🎒 BackBySunday Bets Spontaneity Beats Overplanning

$4.8T global travel market, and BackBySunday wants to win on fewer options, not more. 🎒 The startup's bet: trade choice for speed—book a spontaneous weekend with one tap. Hard part? Two-sided marketplace with no natural gravity. Organizers need guests, guests need trust. Pilot tests whether "

🧠 On's Cloud 6 holds price while rivals discount — heel lift test looms

On's Cloud 6 holds at $160 while Brooks discounted the Ghost Max to $119 by week three. 🧠 That's atypical for footwear—most shoes peak fast and fade. Podiatrist-backed ergonomics and zero pressure-point complaints at 8-12 mi/day. The catch: mild heel lift after

Underground tunnel with LED lighting and a Prufrock tunnel-boring machine in operation

🚇 The Boring Company Raises $3B at $23B Valuation

The Boring Company just closed a $3B Series D, valuing it at $23B — up from $5.7B in 2022. 🚇 Dubai's RTA led the round, betting 150+ km of underground tunnels on a company that's carried 4M riders in Vegas but still hasn't shared its

DEA seal in an office hallway with a glass door to a pharmaceutical lab in the background

🧪 DEA Approves Three Cannabis Research Licenses in Two Months

DEA just approved three new cannabis research licenses in ~2 months — down from over a year as recently as spring 2026 🧪 More manufacturers and importers mean shorter wait times, replicable studies, and lower costs for university budgets. No dispensaries. No retail. Just more supply for legitimate clinical trials. If you&

Chart showing UniCredit’s rising ownership stake in Commerzbank from 9% to 48% between March and July 2026

🇪🇺 UniCredit Sidesteps Takeover Rules to Grab 48% of Commerzbank

UniCredit held 48% of Commerzbank by July — just below the control threshold — after a takeover bid the German government rejected. 🇪🇺 That's not a minority stake. It's a foreign bank owning half a systemic lender while Berlin negotiates terms of a merger it claimed to oppose. Commerzbank

ECB headquarters in Frankfurt with a chart overlay showing rising interest rates and bund yield curve steepening

🇪🇺 ECB Raises Rates Again as Consumer Costs Surge

ECB hikes deposit rate to 2.50% — second hike of 2026. 🇪🇺 Danish borrowers now pay 160 krone more per month per million borrowed. German heating costs projected to rise €400/year. Bond markets aren't buying it: 10-year bund yields above 3.2%, a record. Household energy costs