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Germany Eyes Perfect Group Stage Record as Reserves Take On Desperate Ecuador
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After a dominating 7-1 win over Curaçao to open the 2026 World Cup, Germany needed some second-half heroics from Deniz Undav and the rest of the substitutes to overtake Ivory Coast with a 2-1 victory. Instead of fighting for a spot in the knockout round during the third and final group stage match, Germany has the luxury of resting the starters against Ecuador because Germany has already clinched first place in Group E. This is the first time Germany has advanced to the knockout rounds since winning the World Cup in 2014.
Ecuador Faces a Must-Win Scenario
Ecuador will desperately need points to stay alive. They have been scoreless in both matches thus far, losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast and gutting out a 0-0 draw with Curaçao. While it’s mathematically possible, for now, that Ecuador can still reach the round of 32 with a single point, they would be in a much stronger position with an upset win over Germany.
Match Details
The match is being played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Thursday, June 25, 2026, with kickoff at 4 p.m. local time. The match is being broadcast on FOX and Telemundo in the United States. Betting markets list Germany as the favorite at -110, with the draw at +310 and Ecuador at +260.
Significant Lineup Changes Expected
With Germany already through to the knockout stage, manager Julian Nagelsmann is expected to make wholesale changes to his starting eleven. Coming into the lineup are Oliver Baumann, David Raum, Antonio Rüdiger, Waldemar Anton, Leon Goretzka, Angelo Stiller, Deniz Undav, and Nick Woltemade. Going out are Manuel Neuer, Nathaniel Brown, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlović, Felix Nmecha, Jamal Musiala, and Kai Havertz.
Injury Concerns Factor Into the Rotation
Beyond simply resting key starters, Germany also enters the match dealing with a pair of injury absences. Nico Schlotterbeck is out with an ankle issue, while Nathaniel Brown is sidelined with an adductor injury, further necessitating squad rotation regardless of the match’s reduced stakes for Die Mannschaft.
Undav’s Remarkable Scoring Rate
Among the most notable storylines heading into the match is the continued dominant form of Germany’s super-substitute. Deniz Undav has three goals in 58 minutes, by far the highest scoring rate at the 2026 World Cup, and he also has two assists to his name — a level of efficiency that has made him one of the tournament’s most talked-about impact players, despite operating almost exclusively off the bench so far.
A Historic Opportunity for a Perfect Group Stage
Germany has not won all three group stage matches at the World Cup since 2006, when they also defeated Ecuador in the third match — giving Thursday’s fixture a layer of historical symmetry, as Germany looks to replicate that exact feat against the same opponent two decades later.
A Notably Homegrown Roster
While several other teams in this tournament have featured a majority of players who weren’t born in the country they represent, only two Germany players hold that distinction: Felix Nmecha, born in England, and Waldemar Anton, born in Uzbekistan — reflecting a squad composition that stands out as unusually domestically rooted compared to many of its competitors at this year’s tournament.
Ecuador’s Key Figures
Ecuador’s all-time leading scorer, Enner Valencia, has racked up 49 goals in 106 caps for the national team, making him the player most likely to be looked to for a breakthrough if Ecuador hopes to finally find the back of the net at this tournament. A player to watch on the Ecuadorian side is midfielder John Yeboah, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, adding an intriguing subplot to a match against the country of his birth. Ecuador enters the match with a recent form record of draw, win, win, loss, draw across their last five matches in all competitions.
The Prediction
Germany wins 3-1. Ecuador’s struggles in the attacking third will continue against Germany. Germany’s normal reserves will receive some well-deserved playing time and leave a lasting impression with a dominating 2-0 lead at halftime. Ecuador will score their first and last goal of the 2026 World Cup before conceding a breakaway goal in the dying minutes as they throw numbers forward while hoping to secure a draw.
What’s at Stake for Both Sides
For Germany, Thursday’s match offers little beyond an opportunity to complete a perfect group stage and give valuable minutes to reserve players ahead of the knockout rounds, where Die Mannschaft will need a full squad operating at peak fitness. For Ecuador, the stakes could not be higher, given the team’s complete inability to score across its first two matches and the very real possibility that the tournament could end for them on Thursday regardless of the final result, depending on how other results in the group fall.
With Germany already secured as Group E winners, attention will largely center on how the reserve-heavy lineup performs against an Ecuador side desperate for its first goal and first win of the tournament. Should Ecuador fail to find a positive result, their World Cup campaign will likely come to an end after the group stage, marking a disappointing finish for a team that managed to keep both of its first two matches close despite its continued offensive struggles. For Germany, a comfortable, injury-free performance from the rotated lineup would represent the ideal outcome heading into the knockout rounds, where the team’s full-strength roster will need to be at its sharpest against considerably stiffer opposition.
Business
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Hyperscale Data, Inc. (GPUS) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript
Milton Ault
Founder & Executive Chairman
All right, everybody. Welcome to the conference call today. This is on Hyperscale Data in our robotics campus, Artificial Intelligence of the future of the Michigan data center and Montana sites. I apologize if anyone could hear us prior to the call. That was a technical snafu. But luckily, we didn’t say anything that we didn’t want everyone to hear anyways. So Gary, why don’t we read the forward-looking statements, and we’ll go from there.
Unknown Executive
Okay. Forward-looking statements. This presentation and other written or oral statements made from time to time.
Milton Ault
Founder & Executive Chairman
Gary, can you change the slide, please?
Unknown Executive
This presentation and other written or oral statements made from time to time by representatives of Hyperscale Data Inc., the company, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Forward-looking statements reflect the current view about future events. Statements that are not historical in nature such as forecasts for the industry in which we operate and which may be identified by the use of words like expects, assumes, projects, anticipates, estimates, we believe, could be, future or the negative of these terms and other words of similar meaning are forward-looking statements.
Such statements include, but not limited to, statements contained in this presentation relating to our business, business strategy, expansion, growth, products and services we may offer in the future and the timing of their development, sales and marketing strategy and capital outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions regarding
Business
Oracle Shares Slip Again as AI Spending Concerns and Tech Selloff Continue to Pressure the Stock Friday
Shares of Oracle continued their retreat Friday, falling 0.90% to $151.22 in midday trading, as the database and cloud-computing giant remains caught in a broader market reassessment of how much technology companies should be spending — and borrowing — to fund the artificial intelligence buildout.
The decline, while modest on its own, extends a punishing stretch for Oracle that has seen the stock fall dramatically from its highs earlier this year, even as the company’s underlying cloud business continues to post strong growth.
A stock far removed from its peak
Oracle’s current price tells only part of the story without context from where the stock has traveled this year. The stock’s 52-week high of $345.72 was set on September 10, 2025, while its 52-week low of $134.57 came on April 10, 2026. At Friday’s level near $151, shares remain much closer to that low than to the highs reached less than a year ago — a decline that reflects a dramatic shift in how investors are pricing Oracle’s aggressive AI infrastructure bet.
That volatility has been particularly pronounced in recent weeks. Oracle is on pace for its worst month since 2001, a sharp reversal following the strongest month in a generation — the stock had surged 39.9% in May, its best monthly performance since February 2000, driven by enthusiasm over the company’s AI-related order backlog.
The earnings report that triggered the slide
Much of Oracle’s recent struggles trace back to its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, which beat Wall Street’s expectations on the surface but rattled investors over the company’s spending plans. Oracle reported adjusted earnings of $2.03 per share, ahead of the $1.96 analysts had expected, on revenue of $19.18 billion versus a $19.10 billion estimate, with revenue up 21% year over year. Despite beating those numbers and raising its profit forecast, the stock still tumbled. Shares dropped 10% in extended trading after Oracle disclosed plans to raise more money to finance its AI buildout, with the company saying it foresees raising $40 billion through additional debt and equity financing, including a previously announced $20 billion share sale.
The scale of that financing push, layered on top of what the company had already raised, is what spooked investors. That $40 billion in fresh financing comes after Oracle already raised $43 billion in debt and $5 billion in equity during fiscal 2026 — a combination that has concerned investors given lingering uncertainty about whether demand for artificial intelligence can ultimately justify that much new capital.
The cash flow picture behind the spending
The financial commitments tied to Oracle’s AI expansion have shown up clearly in its cash flow statements. For the fiscal year, Oracle reported $23.7 billion in negative free cash flow, with depreciation nearly doubling to $7.62 billion, while capital expenditures jumped 162% to $55.7 billion. Looking ahead, the company has signaled spending will remain elevated. Oracle’s new chief financial officer, Hilary Maxson, said the company’s net cash outlay for capital expenditures in fiscal 2027 will be around $70 billion, excluding $20 billion to $25 billion in prepayments from customers and timing impacts.
A workforce reshaped around AI priorities
Alongside the spending increases, Oracle has been making significant changes to its workforce as it reorients the business toward AI and cloud infrastructure. Oracle’s recent regulatory disclosures show a notable restructuring that reduced its workforce by 13%, alongside a record $638 billion in remaining performance obligations. Coverage of the filing put a more specific number on those job losses. Oracle disclosed in its latest annual report that it cut about 21,000 jobs over the past fiscal year, shrinking its workforce roughly 13% as the company reshapes its business around AI.
Where the demand is coming from
Despite the financial strain, Wall Street has pointed to one customer in particular as the anchor behind Oracle’s massive backlog of future business. Bank of America analysts, who recommend buying Oracle shares, said over 50% of the company’s remaining performance obligation comes from OpenAI. Oracle’s leadership has also emphasized the physical scale of the infrastructure buildout underway. Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk said on a conference call with analysts that the company is looking to bring online almost one gigawatt worth of computing power in the current quarter alone, roughly matching the total brought online for all of fiscal 2026.
That data center expansion has continued to draw outside investment as well. Related Digital and Blackstone said they secured funding for a $16 billion Oracle data center site in Michigan.
Mixed signals from analysts
Not all of Friday’s pressure traces back to the broader AI spending debate — some of it appears tied to company-specific financing mechanics. One recent analyst note warned that preferred stock conversions and at-the-market equity issuances may dilute shareholders and pressure Oracle’s stock price.
Even so, some independent analysis has pushed back on the idea that Oracle’s long-term growth story is in jeopardy. Investment firm Evercore said Oracle’s 10-K filing further strengthens the view that the company’s outlook for fiscal 2027 remains intact, despite ongoing investor concerns about the scale of its spending.
Part of a broader sector retreat
Friday’s dip in Oracle shares is unfolding alongside declines across much of the rest of the technology sector, as investors reassess AI-related valuations more broadly following a long rally. Several of the market’s largest technology names were trading lower in the same session, reflecting a pattern of selling that has spread well beyond any single company’s specific circumstances.
What investors are watching next
With Oracle’s next earnings report not expected until September, investors are likely to spend the coming weeks parsing the company’s spending disclosures, its OpenAI-anchored backlog, and broader sentiment around AI infrastructure investment for clues about where the stock goes from here. Oracle delivered more than 1.2 gigawatts of data center capacity in fiscal 2026, underpinning 77% year-over-year growth in its cloud infrastructure business — a figure bulls point to as evidence that demand remains robust even as the stock continues to struggle. Whether that underlying growth can eventually outweigh concerns about Oracle’s ballooning capital needs remains the central question hanging over the stock as it searches for a floor well below its highs from less than a year ago.
Business
Outlook For AI Chip Sector: The Party Goes On, Bigger Than Ever (NASDAQ:SOXX)
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Three unusual things about the King’s tax bill
Another thing not detailed in the report is what proportion of the Privy Purse income has been spent by the King personally and what proportion of it has been spent for official royal duties.
This matters because the King only voluntarily pays tax on income spent personally, meaning the King can effectively deduct royal business from his tax bill.
The King also does not pay tax on the Sovereign Grant, which is money paid from the Treasury to the Royal Household to pay for official duties.
This system is a bit like how a self-employed person can file expenses on their self-assessment tax return for things like uniform or training.
Except that the King has two tax-free ways in which he can he can fund official duties.
Also, what counts as official duties is very different from what a regular self-employed taxpayer can expense.
For example, the untaxed Sovereign Grant can be used to fund the staff costs and running expenses of the King’s official household while untaxed official duties that can be paid by Privy Purse include the personal income of working members of the Royal Family.
The Keeper of the Privy Purse, James Chalmers, said: “While Royal finances can sometimes appear complex, the underlying system is clear in principle, structured in law and refined over time to ensure the Monarch can serve with independence, accountability and in the long-term interests of the nation.”
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