AlphaScala Daily: NKE insiders buy $2.17M, RBA on deck

Good morning.

Four Nike insiders bought a combined $2.17M over the last 30 days, the loudest name on today's signal tape, while a ten-insider cluster showed up at TSM. Crypto firmed overnight, with ETH up 0.91% to 1,890 and BTC near 64,325, and gold held around 4,391. The RBA is the day's timing risk, with the cash rate decision and policy statement out of Australia. FLYW tops the model at 84, and Congresswoman April McClain Delaney logged purchases in CHRW and FWONK. Let's dive in.

Markets

• ETH/USD 1,890.13 ▲ +0.91% (ETH)
• BTC/USD 64,324.7 ▲ +0.55% (BTC)

Today's calendar

• Australia: RBA Rate Statement
• Australia: RBA Monetary Policy Statement
• Australia: Cash Rate

Deal Flow

M&A

• RPSG's Purvah Green to buy 1.4 GW solar plants from ReNew for ₹4,859 crore (Hindu) Purvah Green, the renewable arm of CESC, will acquire 1.4 GWp operating solar portfolio from ReNew Solar for ₹4,859 crore. The deal adds immediate scale to its 3.4 GWp pipeline,…
• Mastercard Buys BVNK for $1.8B in Stablecoin Infrastructure Bet (Coincu) Mastercard's $1.8B acquisition of BVNK brings stablecoin settlement in-house, positioning the card network for faster cross-border payments.
• eToro to Buy TradeZero for Up to $231M in US Brokerage Push (Crypto Briefing) eToro is acquiring TradeZero for up to $231 million, gaining a regulated US broker-dealer with options trading and international operations. The deal fills eToro's options gap and…
• Boehringer Ingelheim buys Evax AG for equine allergy vaccines (Financialpost) Boehringer Ingelheim acquired Evax AG to develop therapeutic vaccines for equine allergies, targeting a large unmet need in horse health.

Funding Rounds

• Bank of India to Raise $1B via MTN to Tap RBI Swap Window (BL) BoI's board meets Aug. 14 to approve the dollar bond plan. The lender has already pulled in $207M of NRI deposits through the RBI's swap window, but its $1B target leaves room for…

Headline Roundup

Macro

• Fitch Affirms India at BBB- With Stable Outlook, Sees 6.4% Growth (BL) Fitch Ratings kept India at the lowest investment grade with a stable outlook, projecting 6.4% GDP growth for FY27 and citing resilience to energy shocks.

Stocks

• JioMart Orders Surge 116%; Reliance Retail Margin Falls to 7.9% (Mint) JioMart's average daily orders doubled. The cost of growth is showing in the retailer's earnings. The next three years will test whether stores can drive profit.
• Rémy Cointreau Taps Monika Alcobev for India Distribution (BL) Rémy Cointreau picks Monika Alcobev as its exclusive India distributor, folding a portfolio of cognacs, liqueurs and whiskies under a single national platform to accelerate…
• Tax Software Choice Hinges on Business Return Type, Not Price (Fitsmallbusiness) Tax software choice depends on business return type. TaxAct leads for affordability across structures. TurboTax for expert help. FreeTaxUSA for DIY Schedule C under $20. H&R Block…
• Deterministic Automation Hits a Ceiling, Itential CTO Argues (Forbes) Chris Wade of Itential argues that deterministic automation fails on unanticipated variance. AI reasoning completes the 80% deterministic path, solving the 20% that always broke…
• NYSE tests tokenized settlement; DTC pilot clears live trades (Crypto news) NYSE confirms participation in DTC's July tokenization pilot alongside BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Martin frames live production tests as a critical turning point…
• For Top Creator Earners, Instagram Beats TikTok, Survey Finds (BI) A CreatorIQ survey of 5,000 creators found 60% of top earners pick Instagram over TikTok for brand deals, a split talent agencies say shapes their 2027 plans.
• Europe Ransomware Attacks Jump 29% in First Half of 2026 (Prweb) TicTac Cyber Security logged 1,115 European ransomware attacks in H1 2026, up 29% year over year. Business services are on pace to overtake manufacturing as the top target.
• Digital Minimalist Cuts Screen Time to Under an Hour Daily (BI) One user cut digital media to under an hour daily for six months. The experience shows that breaking addiction requires lifestyle change, not cheat days.

Crypto

• SEC to Vote on Tailored Crypto Offering Rules Aug. 14 (Coinspress) The SEC will vote Aug. 14 on whether to propose a tailored offering regime for crypto investment contracts. The vote could start a rulemaking process that gives crypto projects a…
• North Korea's Crypto Laundering Now Tied to Crime Networks, RUSI Says (Decrypt) RUSI research finds North Korea funnelled $2.8B in stolen crypto through scam syndicates and Chinese OTC networks. Bybit recovered just 5% of its $1.5B haul.
• KuCoin Secures ISO 22301 Certification for Business Continuity (Crypto news) KuCoin's ISO 22301 certification requires procedures for maintaining services during disruptions and restoring operations after incidents, adding to its existing SOC 2 Type II and…
• White House Sets Sept. 15 Deadline for Senate Crypto Clarity Act Vote (The Currency Analytics) The White House gave the Senate until September 15 to pass the Clarity Act. Seven Democrats need to flip for the 60-vote cloture threshold. Polymarket odds sit at 25%.
• KuCoin Earns ISO 22301 Certification for Business Continuity (Crypto Briefing) KuCoin secures ISO 22301:2019 certification for business continuity, adding to its compliance stack as MiCA and DORA raise operational resilience standards for crypto firms.
• MEXC Adds Auto-Funding, Recurring Buys to RealStocks Stock Platform (Crypto news) The crypto exchange's RealStocks product now auto-funds from Spot wallets and supports recurring buys, targeting users who treat stock purchases as a regular allocation.
• White House Sets Sept. 15 Deadline for Crypto Clarity Act (Bitcoin) The White House gives the Senate until Sept. 15 to advance the Clarity Act after a blocked procedural vote. Polymarket odds sit at 25%.
• Broadridge processes $8 trillion in July through blockchain repo platform (Crypto news) Broadridge's DLR platform hit $8 trillion in July as institutions scale distributed ledger repo. The milestone comes as DTCC and European exchanges build tokenized settlement…

Forex / Commodities

• RBA Holds at 4.35%, Signals One More Hike Possible (Forex Live) RBA held at 4.35% with Bullock keeping a hike on the table; Aussie whipsawed on the decision. Oil fell on Iran-Oman Hormuz progress. US CPI lands Wednesday.
• Logicbroker Nabs Fourth Inc. 5000 Nod (Prweb) Logicbroker ranked 351 in the software category on the 2026 Inc. 5000, its fourth appearance. The commerce platform powers $10B+ in GMV for clients including Home Depot and…
• Create Something Amazing Hits No. 632 on Inc. 5000 With 541% Revenue Growth (Prweb) Create Something Amazing ranked No. 632 on the 2026 Inc. 5000 with 541% three-year revenue growth. The women-owned event agency now produces conferences and activations globally…
• Montage Gold Koné project on track for Q4 2026 gold pour (Manilatimes) Montage Gold's Koné project is on budget and ahead of schedule for Q4 2026 first gold. 2.7M hours worked in Q2, satellite resources up 1.1Moz. $75M Macquarie loan funds Didievi.
• Salzgitter Returns to Profit, Keeps Guidance on Cost Cuts and Aurubis (Yahoo) Salzgitter swung to H1 2026 net profit of €43M on revenue of €4.6B, kept 2026 guidance for €10B revenue and €725M-€825M EBITDA, and completed HKM acquisition.
• US small business optimism hits 99.8, strongest since August 2025 (Forex Live) NFIB small business optimism index rose to 99.8 in July, above the 52-year average of 98.0. Hiring plans and capex intentions drove the increase.
• Brent Rises for Fourth Session as Dollar Awaits CPI (Action Forex) Brent rose for the fourth time in five sessions. The dollar recovered from last week's jobs-report slide. Wednesday's CPI will test the inflation outlook.
• UK June GDP, Not Q2, Will Decide Sterling's Next Move (Action Forex) BoE hawkish dissent widens at three straight meetings. June GDP data will show whether the economy can handle another hike, setting EUR/GBP and GBP/CHF direction.

Smart Money

• April McClain Delaney (D-MD): PURCHASE CHRW
• April McClain Delaney (D-MD): PURCHASE FWONK
• April McClain Delaney (D-MD): PURCHASE LTH
• April McClain Delaney (D-MD): PURCHASE BWXT
• Insider cluster: TSM: 10 insiders bought in last 30 days, net $45K (90d)
• Insider cluster: NKE: 4 insiders bought in last 30 days, net $2.17M (90d)
• Insider cluster: SPG: 3 insiders bought in last 30 days, net $139K (90d)

On the Radar

• Alpha Score top: FLYW (Flywire Corp), Alpha Score 84/100, top of AlphaScala model. Alpha Score of 84 reflects strong overall profile with strong momentum, strong value, moderate quality, strong sentiment.
• Alpha Score top: HBM (Hudbay Minerals Inc.), Alpha Score 79/100, top of AlphaScala model. Alpha Score of 79 reflects strong overall profile with strong momentum, strong value, moderate quality, weak sentiment.
• Alpha Score top: KGC (KINROSS GOLD CORP), Alpha Score 79/100, top of AlphaScala model. Alpha Score of 79 reflects strong overall profile with strong momentum, strong value, strong quality, moderate sentiment.
• Alpha Score bottom: BJGPY (Beijing Geekplus Technology Co., Ltd./ADR), Alpha Score 0/100, bottom of AlphaScala model
• Alpha Score bottom: AZULQ (AZUL SA), Alpha Score 0/100, bottom of AlphaScala model
• COT extreme: Canadian Dollar (CAD): hedge funds net short 179,095 contracts, 49.1% of open interest
• COT extreme: New Zealand Dollar (NZD): hedge funds net short 41,203 contracts, 40.4% of open interest
• COT extreme: Mexican Peso (MXN): hedge funds net long 76,543 contracts, 35.2% of open interest

This Week's Briefings

• Sp500: SPY gains 2% as Nasdaq leads; gold jumps 7%; insider buys MSFT
• Nasdaq: Nasdaq 100 adds 3.3% as NVDA scores 76; QQQ outruns SPY by 120bp
• Crypto: Crypto decouples as QQQ slides 2.3%; ETH leads majors with 3.9% weekly gain
• Forex: Pound gains 0.79% vs dollar; yen shorts hit 35.9% open interest
• Oil: Oil data absent; SPY slips 0.8%, QQQ drops 2.3% on the week

See you tomorrow before the bell.