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Comprehensive cross-platform coverage of the U.S. market close on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and YouTube with Romaine Bostick, Katie Greifeld, Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.

Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu reports on "Bloomberg Deals" about the number of activist campaigns during the first six months of 2026 increased 20% from the same period last year to 184, a record that is 38% above the five-year-average, according to a report by Lazard Inc. The jump was largely driven by campaigns in the U.S. and in the Asia-Pacific region Japan in particular while Europe saw a slowdown, Lazard found.

Jamie Turturici, head of TMT equity capital markets at Barclays, joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Moonshot AI is preparing to begin discussions in August on a final round of fundraising before listing in Hong Kong, capitalizing on the excitement around its latest model to raise capital at a valuation of as much as $50 billion.

Ron Kruszewski, Stifel chairman and ceo, says artificial intelligence will lead to productivity gains. He says financial advisers are still valuable and AI can help them. He speaks on "Bloomberg The Close."

Bloomberg's Loukia Gyftopoulou joins Dani Burger and Scarlet Fu on "Bloomberg Deals." Blackstone is unveiling new funds to bring private markets to main street investors. This comes ahead of its earnings out Thursday morning.

Bloomberg's Siddharth Philip joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." AerCap Holdings is in discussions to buy Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft, people familiar with the matter said, potentially adding to a slate of leasing-company deals at the upcoming Farnborough International Airshow.

Carmen Lu, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Shaun Mathew, partner and head of shareholder activism and hostile takeover defense at Kirkland & Ellis, join Dani Burger  on "Bloomberg Deals." Campaigns by activist investors have hit an all-time high this year even as the portion of them leading to proxy battles continues to fall. The number of activist campaigns during the first six months of 2026 increased 20% from the same period last year to 184, a record that is 38% above the five-year-average, according to a report by Lazard.

Scott Sperling, Co-CEO of THL Partners, joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Private equity company Thomas H. Lee (THL) Partners over 50 years has managed or deployed $50 billion of equity capital, worked with over 175 partner companies around the world and fueled more than 700 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value of over $260 billion.

Bloomberg Intelligence's Jibril Lawal joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." Utz Brands agreed to be taken private in a $2.9 billion deal with Intersnack Group, giving the European snacking powerhouse its first foothold in the US market.

Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu joins Dani Burger on "Bloomberg Deals." This week Disney's ESPN began a round of layoffs tied to its takeover of the NFL Network. The job cuts also hit Pixar and National Geographic.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning a vote on President Donald Trump's crypto market structure legislation as soon as next week, with the outcome expected to determine where the industry deploys its massive political warchest ahead of November's midterm elections. Senate Republicans released the updated bill text on Wednesday even though bipartisan talks have so far failed to reach a final deal. They would need at least seven Democrats to overcome procedural hurdles to ultimately pass the measure. Thune said he expected to vote on the legislation even if no deal with Democrats can be reached. We get reaction from Patrick McHenry, former Republican Congressman from North Carolina and former House Financial Services Committee Chairman.

Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, talks about hosting the World Cup this year and how the city hopes to attract the women's World Cup in 2031. She speaks to Bloomberg's Julie Fine in Dallas.