The Open Bell — Ep. 016 — 15 Jul 2026

Today on The Open Bell: US inflation posted its biggest monthly drop in six years, which sounds great until you find out the main reason it fell is already going into reverse. IBM just lost a quarter of its stock market value in a single day, and the warning underneath that number is that big companies are gutting their software budgets to fund AI hardware, which is bad news for a lot more than just IBM. China's economy grew at 4.3% last quarter, well short of its own targets, and the uncomfortable reality is that the world's largest middle class has stopped spending, while Beijing is still figuring out whether it wants to admit that's actually the problem. If today's episode helped you cut through the noise, a five-star rating takes about ten seconds and genuinely helps more people find the show. Hosted by Alex Monroe. New episodes every weekday morning at theopenbell.co Not investment advice. For informational purposes only. --- Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:16 US June CPI Tumbles to 3.5%, Biggest Monthly Drop Since Apri 03:03 IBM Plunges 25% on AI Budget Shift Warning, Dragging Enterpr 05:13 China Q2 GDP Growth Slows to 4.3%, Missing Target on Weak De 06:51 Closing thoughtsSupport the show