*as of 7/12, Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Yet another AI chip startup is eyeing a massive fundraise, with Positron reportedly seeking a $750 million funding round that will value the company at up to $5 billion, nearly quintuple its previous valuation. This raise comes just after a similar $500 million round from Etched that valued it at $5 billion, and SambaNova’s $1 billion round that more than tripled its valuation to $11 billion. Meanwhile, the South Korean semiconductor company SK Hynik debuted on the Nasdaq (SKHYV), raising $26.5 billion and seeing its shares rise 13% on its first day of trading.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The AI sector is comprised of not just the companies building the models, but the infrastructure supporting them, with Nvidia becoming the biggest company in the world, and others like Micron seeing their shares rise significantly in the past year. Most recently, the AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems went public in May, and while its shares have fallen below the IPO price, its valuation remains well above where it was in its last fundraising round. Chipmaker SambaNova’s co-founder and CEO Rodrigo Liang said the company is considering a 2027 IPO, which will be another test of the market’s demand for more AI chip companies in what is becoming a crowded landscape.

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🏢 Construction costs climb: The average cost of construction in the U.S. is up 5% in the last year and expected to reach an 8% annual increase by the end of the year. This rise is in addition to a difficult labor market, with 61% of U.S. metros now facing construction labor shortages. It adds up to a diminishing and more expensive supply pipeline, which should push up property prices across the board in the medium and long-term.

🚀 Mercor fundraise: The AI training startup is reportedly in talks for a new fundraising round at a $20 billion valuation, double its $10 billion valuation from last October. The company’s revenue run rate has crossed the $2 billion mark and has doubled in the last four months.

🏀 Wembanyama card sale: There was another big sale of a Victor Wembanyama basketball card, with a 2024 1-of-1 Panini Revolution Green Kaboom! card selling for $1.44 million, the second-most ever for a Wemby card and the most ever at public auction.

🏡 REITs lagging market: The Morningstar US Real Estate Index is up 9.2% in the past year, well behind the broader equity market's 26.9% return, though Morningstar estimates that the sector as a whole is trading 6% below its fair market value.

🪙 Robinhood boosting Arbitrum: The newly launched Robinhood Chain, which is built using Arbitrum’s technology stack, posted $568 million in single-day trading volume, which led to Arbitrum's native ARB token seeing double-digits gains.

📈 Heritage Auctions record volume: The auction house has recorded $1.4 billion in sales through the first half of the year, a 47% year-over-year gain and a new record-high. This increase comes as the collectibles and art markets have seen strong demand across asset classes, including sports and entertainment memorabilia, coins, books, and video games.

This week: Fanatics Fest, a major sports and collectibles convention, is being held at the Javits Center in Manhattan from July 16-19, with ancillary events all around New York City.

Tuesday: Consumer Price Index (CPI) and core CPI inflation reports, NFIB Small Business optimism index released; Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia; Sotheby’s Natural History auction, featuring the T-Rex skeleton “Gus” with a $30 million high estimate.

Wednesday: Producer Price Index (PPI) and core PPI inflation reports released.

Thursday: Pending home sales report released.

Friday: Housing starts and building permit data released.

Sunday: The FIFA World Cup Final at 3 PM ET.