Today is Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

The Early Bird Index today is 91.72.

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The broader cryptocurrency market benefited on Monday from the announcement of a U.S.-Iran peace deal, but it was XRP $XRP ( ▲ 3.46% ) that saw the biggest gains.

Details: XRP jumped about 4% on Monday. Most other major cryptos also had a good Monday, but it was XRP (the native token of the XRP ledger used by Ripple) that saw the most gains.

Powering the Story: Why did XRP get the biggest bump on Monday? It was mainly a risk-on crypto move after the peace deal gave larger altcoins like XRP a bigger bounce than other major cryptos.

Also: It helped that XRP ETFs (exchange-traded funds) attracted fresh inflows and that Ripple recently announced an expanded partnership with the Latin American digital financial services company Bitso.

Background: Like most major digital assets, XRP is having a bad year. The price is down about 32% in 2026.

Early Bird’s Nest Egg Gains: The Iran peace reduces geopolitical tensions, which improves overall risk appetite and can pull money back into crypto, especially higher-beta assets such as XRP.

Final Thoughts: If the recent broader crypto rally fades, XRP could give back some of Monday’s gain, but if ETF flows and exchange demand stay strong, the move has a better chance of holding.

AI is moving from experiment… to essential.

Every major industry is integrating it.
Every major company is investing in it.

By late 2025, AI was already an $800B market — growing at a pace that could push it well beyond $1 trillion in the years ahead.

Cloud infrastructure is scaling fast.
AI-enabled devices are multiplying.
Automation is becoming standard.

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When trillions flow into this transformation — which stocks stand to benefit most?

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Notable Earnings Today: La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), John Wiley & Sons (NYSE: WLY), Vince Holding (Nasdaq: VNCE).

Notable IPOs Today: BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BMNP), Yorkville International Capital Corp. Units (Nasdaq: YICCU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: IMPOSSIBREW (Crowdcube).

Notable Economic Events Today: ADP Employment Change Weekly (8:15 a.m. ET), Import Price Index / Export Price Index (8:30 a.m. ET), Housing Starts (8:30 a.m. ET), Building Permits (8:30 a.m. ET), API Weekly Crude Oil Stock (4:30 p.m. ET).

Applied Materials $AMAT ( ▲ 3.27% ) ticked up 0.22% in after-hours trading on Monday after announcing new chipmaking systems to advance 3D chip scaling.

Details: The new systems create precision processing in increasingly deep and narrow 3D structures for chips.

Background: The announcement comes less than a week after Applied Materials expanded its manufacturing and research operations in Singapore.

Final Thoughts: Applied Materials is up 117% this year, including 34% gain in the last 30 days.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment $PLAY ( ▼ 4.72% ) plunged 11.61% in after-hours trading on Monday after the restaurant and entertainment business posted mixed financial earnings results.

Financials: Dave & Buster’s reported earnings of 76 cents per share in the past quarter, which were better than expected. But revenue was just $559.2 million, which was lower than expected.

Details: Revenue fell 1.5% year-over-year thanks to a 5.4% decline in same-store sales.

Final Thoughts: It’s another setback for a stock that had already declined by over 27% this year. 

Defense Subsidiary Development: GM in Talks to Supply Weapons Parts to Lockheed Martin (Wall Street Journal)

Media Consolidation: Fox is buying Roku. It’s a big bet on making streaming free. (Washington Post)

Big Raise: SpaceX IPO raised $10bn more than thought (BBC)

The Impact of Medicaid Cuts: Centene to offer buyouts to some employees as health insurer cuts costs (CNBC)

AI Debt Wave: Nvidia to raise $25 billion in first corporate bond sale in five years (Reuters)

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_{The contents of Early Bird are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. They do not constitute trade or investment recommendations, and they are not financial or legal advice. Readers are encouraged to consult licensed professionals for personalized guidance regarding their financial or legal situations.}