US Debt Crosses $40 Trillion: Every $1T in 5 Months
US public debt topped $40 trillion on Aug 18, 2026, per Treasury. The last two trillion arrived in about five months each.
capital markets
Nebius Group’s $4.5B Convertible Fuels AI Cap-Ex Push
Nebius announced a $4.5 billion two-tranche convertible senior notes offering to fund AI data center buildout after Q2 revenue jumped 454% to $582M.
Alphabet’s A$5.5B Kangaroo Bond Smashes Aussie Corp Record
Alphabet priced a four-tranche A$5.5B kangaroo on Aug 19 with orders above A$18B — more than 2x Apple’s prior AUD tech record, all to fund AI capex.
Global 30Y Yields Surge: US 5.31%, UK 5.83%, Japan 4.13%
Long-dated sovereign yields hit multi-year highs across the US, UK, Germany, and Japan in mid-August 2026 as buyers demand more term premium.
Databricks Closes $5B at $190B: Coatue, MGX, T. Rowe In
Databricks raised $5B at a $190B valuation on Aug 13, 2026 — Coatue led, with Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price and new investor Sixth Street Growth in the syndicate.
Private Credit’s $27B Six Weeks: Hayfin, Comvest, Bridgepoint
Three direct-lending mega-funds closed over $27 billion since July — Hayfin, Comvest and Bridgepoint. Inside the wave reshaping private credit.
IG Bond Buyers Yank 36% of Orders as Supply Overwhelms
US investment-grade bond issuance is on a record 2026 pace, but buyers pulled 36% of orders this week after pricing was squeezed — twice the prior week.
Nvidia’s $500B AI Consortium: 6 Titans Rewire Compute Finance
Nvidia lines up Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to raise $500B+ for AI compute infrastructure — off-balance-sheet.
Reddit Joins the S&P 500 on Aug 18: Shares Pop 8.8%
S&P Dow Jones Indices adds Reddit (RDDT) to the S&P 500 effective Aug 18, 2026. Shares jumped 8.8% after-hours as passive funds prepared to buy.
Thrive Holdings Raises $2B at $12B: AI-Native PE Model
Thrive Holdings raised $2B at a $12B valuation from OpenAI, SoftBank, D1 and Altimeter to buy legacy services firms and inject AI into their workflows.