📊 South Pacific, Heat Deaths, and OPEC Expansion

Missile test-launch, climate change casualties, and production boost.

Jul 06, 2026

Greetings! Happy National Air Traffic Control Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe to PM Daily below:

SPONSORED SECTION

Sponsor PM Daily! Unlike other free daily newsletters, PM’s ad model works differently: 1. one single sponsor slot per issue; 2. 100% share of voice (SOV) guaranteed; 3. higher return on ad spend (ROAS) from your first placement.

No-brainer, little risk, high upside. Q3 slots are filling up quickly! Reach our rapidly scaling, high-intent, vetted premium audience by replying to this email right now.

🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇨🇳 China tests Pacific missile. China’s navy test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Pacific. The missile carried a dummy warhead. The launch happened at 12:01 p.m. local time. Beijing called it routine annual training. It said the test complied with international law and targeted no country. Australia, Japan, and New Zealand criticized the launch. New Zealand said it received only hours of notice. The missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. That zone was created by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the test destabilizing. Japan urged China to rethink tests that could pose regional risks. Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said it was China’s first publicly acknowledged submarine-launched dummy-warhead test to travel that far into the Pacific. He said notices appeared to go to Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, but not America. The Pentagon estimated China had around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024. The signal was simple: Beijing wants a deterrent that can move, hide, and be seen.

🇪🇺 NATO demands spending plans. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte demanded credible defense spending plans Monday. He spoke in Ankara before the alliance’s two-day summit. The meeting starts Tuesday in Turkey. It comes as the United States scales down its security role in Europe. The 32 allies agreed last year to invest 5% of gross domestic product in defense-related needs. That includes 3.5% for defense budgets. It also includes 1.5% for roads, bridges, and ports to move troops faster. Spain endorsed the goal but said it can meet NATO requirements without spending that much. Some countries still struggle to meet the old 2% target. Asked what happens to allies without clear plans, Rutte said NATO has ways to convince them. American Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said President Trump expects allies to move urgently toward 5%. Rutte said European allies and Canada will invest $258B more in defense in 2025 and 2026 than before. The numbers still may not satisfy Washington. Trump has also demanded loyalty after some allies declined base access during the Iran war. NATO’s ritual slogan became a ledger.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

🌡️ Jersey heat kills. Several days of punishing heat are suspected in at least 19 New Jersey deaths. Officials said the deaths began appearing Thursday. Most occurred in central and northern New Jersey. State Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington said many victims were found in homes without air conditioning. Some were outside their residences. Others were found on streets or in parked cars. Governor Mikie Sherrill called it the hottest stretch in more than 14 years. LaGuardia Airport in New York hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday. That broke its 1966 record of 101 degrees. Trenton reached 101 degrees and broke a record set in 1901. Newark hit 105 degrees. Atlantic City reached 106 degrees Saturday. Storms then moved in with heavy winds. About 900K utility customers lost power across the central, eastern, and southern United States. The heat dome left receipts on bodies.

🗳️ McMorrow exits race. Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow suspended her Senate campaign Sunday. McMorrow is a state senator from Royal Oak. Her exit abruptly reshaped the Democratic primary one month before the election. The race now turns into a two-person contest. Representative Haley Stevens is the moderate candidate. Abdul El-Sayed is the progressive candidate. The seat is being vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters. Democrats view it as necessary to hold if they want to reclaim the Senate majority. The primary winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers. Rogers lost to now-Senator Elissa Slotkin in 2024. McMorrow announced the decision in a statement and video. Ballots had already gone out. She thanked volunteers, donors, and staff. Political pundits cited outside spending boosting Stevens as a major factor. Every faction suddenly had less room to hide.

🗂️ MISC

🛢️ OPEC+ opens taps. Seven countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed Sunday to raise output. The increase will begin in August. The combined expansion totals 188K barrels per day. It is the fifth straight month of production increases. The countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman. Producers said they would keep monitoring market conditions. They also said they would remain cautious. The move comes as fuel prices slide. Market optimism has pushed crude lower since the American-Iranian interim deal. That deal reopened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. It also ended the American blockade of Iranian ports. More commercial vessels have since crossed the strait. Traffic remains below prewar levels. Brent crude was near $72 a barrel Sunday night. The waterway still carried politics in every barrel.

📈 AI stocks rebound. AI stocks rebounded Monday and lifted American indexes. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) rose 0.7% by midday. Most stocks inside the index still fell. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 40 points, or 0.1%. AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks. Investors are questioning whether data centers and chips can earn back the money being spent. Broadcom ($AVGO) rose 3.8%. It announced long-term silicon agreements with Apple ($AAPL). Micron Technology ($MU) climbed 3.5%. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) jumped 9.2%. SK Hynix ($000660.KS) is planning a $28B Nasdaq share sale. TeraWulf ($WULF) jumped 12.3%. Anthropic agreed to a 20-year data center deal with the company in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects about $19B in revenue from that contract. The market still asked whether the engine earns its fuel.