Thursday's Final Takeaways: UBER & BIDU Robotaxi Partnership, Bitcoin Above $70K

**Marley Kayden** (0:02)
Welcome back to Market on Close. I'm Marley Kayden here in Chicago, alongside Sam Vadas at the New York Stock Exchange. We'll close out the show with our final thoughts on this session. Bitcoin, of course, top of mind, surging about 14% over the past two days, climbing from around 63,000 earlier this week to above 72,000, its highest level since the beginning of June, as investors respond to a renewed push in Washington to pass the Clarity Act. President Trump is urging Congress to advance the legislation, which would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets and classify Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as commodities rather than securities, with a key Senate procedural vote set for September 15th. Coinbase was the best performer in the S&P 500 today, jumping about 7.5% after a 10% gain yesterday, while Strategy and Circle are also rallying as CryptoLink stocks rebound. This move follows a broader risk on shift and roughly $2.7 billion crypto short squeeze, but the legislation remains a key catalyst for the sector, with Bitcoin still about 42% below its October 2025 record. I love sports, so this one stuck out to me. Arktos Partners has agreed to buy a 10% stake in the Atlanta Falcons at a $10.6 billion valuation that's adding another major NFL franchise to the private equity firm's growing sports portfolio. The deal, which is subject to NFL approval, would mark Arktos' fourth NFL investment, following stakes in the Chargers, the Bills, and the Browns. The valuation is notable, given that the Falcons were valued at about $8 billion last year, underscoring the continued surge in NFL franchise prices, even as Atlanta has struggled on the field. The team has never won a Super Bowl, and it last made the playoffs back in 2017
Team performance aside, though, this deal is another sign of the growing institutional appetite for professional sports as investors bet on rising media rights, sponsorship, stadium, and other revenue opportunities. Sam, let's talk out to you during the trading session today.

**Sam Vadas** (1:57)
It just seems like there's been this massive rush of sports deals lately, and I guess it's tied to your other love, Marley, and that is how people are watching TV these days and the media.
A couple of stories that stood out to me were ones that sort of flew under the radar today. Australia has passed a law that will require big tech companies to pay millions of dollars unless they sign commercial deals with local news outlets. Companies could be slapped with a 2.5% tax on their ad revenues under the news bargaining incentive. If they fail to get deals, the money will then be directed to local media. This applies to companies with local ad revenue of over $178 million and could apply to TikTok, Meta, Google and LinkedIn.
Baidu's driverless robotaxis are now available on Uber in Dubai. From today, anyone who wants to book an UberX or a Comfort can be matched with an Apollo Go that is without a human at the wheel. The company is trying to position itself as the go-to platform for autonomous vehicles. This is expected to be expanded to other parts of the world. Shares in Baidu were down today along with the broader Chinese ADRs, except for Alibaba, of course, after disappointing earnings this week. But shares in Uber traded slightly higher. They are still down though, 20% year over year. I don't know, would you get in a Robotaxi without a human, Marley?

**Marley Kayden** (3:20)
I haven't yet, Sam, and I don't know what will happen the day one arrives for me. But I can't say I'm looking forward to it. I prefer an actual driver.
As far as tomorrow goes, though, we do have more retail earnings. We'll hear from BJ's Wholesale Club tomorrow morning. Wall Street expecting $1.16 and adjusted EPS on $5.89 billion in revenue. That's as investors focus on comp sales, traffic, membership growth and fee income and merchandise margins. The key question for BJ's is whether they can maintain that strong membership momentum they saw last quarter when membership fee income rose nearly 10% while managing margin pressure and expanding its footprint. These results of course matter beyond BJ's because they offer another read on the American consumer, particularly whether these warehouse clubs are continuing to take share as consumers look for lower prices, Sam. But what will you be watching for?

**Sam Vadas** (4:09)
Looking at the macro tomorrow, we've got a bunch of global flash PMIs that are going to be coming out from some major economies, Marley. So we've got Japan tonight, we've got the US, we've got the Eurozone, France, Germany. Obviously, it's all about the yields. I mean, if these come in stronger, it could push yields higher across the globe. But if it comes in weaker and yields stay higher, that could be a big question mark. It's also going to, of course, start to inform what happens next as far as central bank policy moving forward. So keeping an eye on some of those flash PMIs tomorrow.