The Open Bell — Ep. 026 — 28 Jul 2026

Today on The Open Bell: South Korea had to hit the pause button on its entire stock market this morning as the global bet on AI spending started looking a lot shakier than it did last week. A Chinese memory chip company you've almost certainly never heard of briefly became worth more than Walmart on its very first day of trading, and that tells you something important about where Beijing thinks the real war in tech is being fought. While everyone was watching chips crater, Europe's economy quietly crossed back into growth for the first time in months, which is either a genuine turning point or the most poorly timed piece of good news in recent memory. If this helped you make sense of a genuinely strange day in markets, a quick rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps the next listener 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 00:14 Korea halts trading as Kospi plunges 9% on AI spending doubt 03:00 China's CXMT IPO surges 535% on Shanghai debut, valued at $4 05:09 Eurozone and UK PMIs return to expansion, lifting European s 07:07 Closing thoughtsSupport the show