The Coffee Grind by Provokative AI — Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Submitted by Lars.Toomre on Tue, 07/14/2026 - 19:00
Operation Epic Fury Day 137 · Status: settled · Book: 26 active pairs · Realized: +$487,933 · ITD: $400,838 · Fed funds: 3.50–3.75% (Warsh chair)

The Coffee Grind by Provokative AI — Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Settled-close edition · the global banks open earnings season and the first Warsh-chaired policy decision lands — the tape absorbs both without drama and the book gives a little back

The storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789.
Charles Thévenin, “The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789” (ca. 1793). Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: public domain. Selected for Bastille Day: a fortress that looked impregnable until the morning it was not.
Today’s observances: National Nude Day; National Mac and Cheese Day; and Bastille Day, marking the 1789 storming of the Paris fortress. Marks: all figures are the July 14, 2026 New York settled close, day changes against the July 13 settled close.

Tuesday carried the week’s weight — the global systemically important banks before the bell and the first Federal Open Market Committee decision of the Warsh chairmanship in the afternoon — and the tape absorbed both without a tantrum. The loud setups do not always produce loud sessions.

Dashboard — July 14, 2026 Settled Close

Instrument Settled close Change vs July 13
S&P 500 7,543.59 +28.25 (+0.38%)
Nasdaq Composite 26,107.01 +233.83 (+0.90%)
Dow Jones Industrial Average 52,508.27 +9.63 (+0.02%)
CBOE Volatility Index (“VIX”) 16.50 −0.66 (−3.85%)
WTI crude (front month) 79.34 +1.20 (+1.54%)
Brent crude (front month) 84.73 +1.43 (+1.72%)
Distillate crack spread (ULSD×42 − WTI) 89.26 +6.81
Gold (front month) 4,061.10 +64.10 (+1.60%)
Silver (front month) 58.77 +1.14 (+1.97%)
U.S. 10-year Treasury (par yield) 4.58% −2 bp

All dashboard levels are July 14, 2026 New York settled closes from a single source (yfinance batch OHLC); the Yahoo v8 chart API did not confirm for this historical date, so this edition is single-source by exception. The distillate crack spread is front-month ULSD times forty-two, less front-month WTI, in dollars per barrel. Day changes are measured against the July 13 settled close.

I. Two Catalysts, Absorbed

The day was built as a double catalyst and delivered a muted one. The global systemically important banks opened financial-sector earnings before the bell; the prints were broadly in line, and the group traded without the violence the setup implied. In the afternoon the Federal Open Market Committee delivered the first policy decision of the Warsh chairmanship, holding the federal funds rate at 3.50 to 3.75 percent into a statement the market had already read as stripped of its easing bias. Neither catalyst forced a repricing.

II. Rates and the Register

The curve did little on the day and did it quietly, the ten-year holding near the prior session as the crude spike of Monday partially unwound. The vigilante posture is intact but was not tested on a session where the Federal Reserve confirmed rather than surprised. Gold recovered part of Monday’s decline as the dollar eased.

III. The Pair Book

Twenty-six active pairs per the v6 canonical book of record. Day is the July 13 to July 14, 2026 settled move; QTD is measured from the June 30 settled close per the period-baseline rule; pairs marked † (P39, P40, P41) were opened during the quarter and their QTD is inception-to-date. Exact inception share counts throughout; zero notional approximation. Ranked by unrealized profit and loss.

Pair Tr Long leg (sh · entry → close · %) Short leg (sh · entry → close · %) Day QTD Unrealized
P39 T9 AVGO 530 · 377.75 → 389.11 · +3.0% INTC 1,433 · 139.63 → 107.76 · +22.8% −$3,967 +$51,691 +$51,691
P18 T3 GTLB 5,338 · 18.73 → 32.98 · +76.1% TEAM 1,740 · 57.47 → 89.08 · -55.0% +$9,704 −$6,567 +$21,065
P41 T10 MPC 374 · 267.65 → 303.40 · +13.4% TSLA 240 · 416.96 → 396.18 · +5.0% +$2,098 +$18,358 +$18,358
P36 T7 CVX 527 · 189.71 → 181.76 · -4.2% AVGO 209 · 479.23 → 389.11 · +18.8% −$1,289 +$6,058 +$14,645
P40 T10 VLO 373 · 268.08 → 301.43 · +12.4% AAPL 317 · 315.29 → 314.86 · +0.1% +$2,880 +$12,576 +$12,576
P11 T2 BRK-B 211 · 474.66 → 491.09 · +3.5% MURGY 8,170 · 12.24 → 11.70 · +4.4% −$1,624 −$6,047 +$7,879
P30 T6 SCCO 523 · 191.30 → 182.38 · -4.7% TECK 1,511 · 66.16 → 60.09 · +9.2% +$1,658 +$3,295 +$4,507
P24 T4 GOOGL 289 · 345.98 → 359.51 · +3.9% JBLU 18,975 · 5.27 → 5.33 · -1.1% +$7,146 +$8,208 +$2,772
P26 T5 GEV 93 · 1,072.27 → 1,066.01 · -0.6% XLE 1,703 · 58.73 → 56.95 · +3.0% +$1,820 −$16,663 +$2,449
P9 T2 BX 925 · 108.07 → 124.56 · +15.3% KBWB 1,167 · 85.76 → 96.96 · -13.1% +$1,164 +$1,729 +$2,183
P4 T2 XYL 836 · 119.56 → 121.55 · +1.7% RONB 4,372 · 22.87 → 23.16 · -1.3% +$1,115 +$8,214 +$396
P33 T7 STNG 1,311 · 76.28 → 77.87 · +2.1% ICAGY 8,718 · 11.37 → 12.13 · -6.7% +$2,256 +$16,170 −$4,541
P10 T2 BLK 107 · 934.06 → 1,025.44 · +9.8% XLF 2,039 · 49.05 → 56.18 · -14.5% −$879 +$1,595 −$4,760
P15 T3 FCX 1,500 · 66.65 → 61.95 · -7.1% APTV 1,706 · 58.61 → 58.06 · +0.9% +$4,966 +$4,254 −$6,112
P38 T5 PKX 1,196 · 63.00 → 51.61 · -18.1% SLX 686 · 109.91 → 101.25 · +7.9% −$864 −$1,673 −$7,682
P25 T5 CLF 9,634 · 10.38 → 9.79 · -5.7% NUE 442 · 226.00 → 234.16 · -3.6% +$258 −$1,190 −$9,291
P5 T2 ERII 9,930 · 10.07 → 8.66 · -14.0% MMT 22,006 · 4.5443 → 4.43 · +2.5% −$220 −$4,235 −$11,486
P32 T6 CVX 548 · 182.50 → 181.76 · -0.4% AXP 316 · 316.47 → 355.06 · -12.2% −$440 +$3,456 −$12,600
P3 T2 PHO 1,495 · 66.86 → 68.76 · +2.8% BEDZ 3,223 · 31.03 → 36.22 · -16.7% −$976 +$2,941 −$13,887
P12 T2 MET 1,476 · 67.73 → 92.54 · +36.6% CVS 1,427 · 70.08 → 106.18 · -51.5% −$1,123 +$7,809 −$14,895
P8 T2 APO 922 · 108.42 → 119.93 · +10.6% GSIB 2,044 · 48.93 → 62.59 · -27.9% −$917 −$4,644 −$17,317
P31 T6 XME 799 · 125.21 → 104.42 · -16.6% DAL 1,212 · 82.48 → 85.51 · -3.7% +$2,686 +$7,872 −$20,284
P21 T4 GLW 567 · 176.30 → 187.64 · +6.4% INTC 1,195 · 83.67 → 107.76 · -28.8% −$2,976 −$352 −$22,358
P29 T6 CENX 1,516 · 65.97 → 46.08 · -30.2% BA 433 · 231.15 → 217.11 · +6.1% +$323 −$171 −$24,074
P17 T3 SBSW 10,525 · 9.5 → 8.57 · -9.8% HMC 4,159 · 24.04 → 28.09 · -16.8% +$539 −$3,234 −$26,632
P16 T3 AA 1,424 · 70.20 → 49.06 · -30.1% BA 458 · 218.00 → 217.11 · +0.4% −$249 −$4,679 −$29,696
BOOK — 26 active pairs +$23,085.45 +$104,769.63 −$87,094.77

Quarter-to-date the book stands at +$104,769.63; active unrealized is −$87,094.77 against the frozen realized register of +$487,933.25, for an inception-to-date result of $400,838.48. The book’s strength continues to rest on the June 30 harvest rather than on the open positions.

IV. Harvest Shadow — the Edge Stands at $323,611.26

The standing counterfactual: the ten pairs closed at the June 30 settled-close sweep, marked forward as though the harvest had never happened, exits frozen at their actual June 30 prints. Through the July 14, 2026 close the harvest decision is +$323,611.26 better than holding would have been. The decay remains concentrated in Corning (“GLW”), which anchored three of the eight profit closures.

Pair Structure Realized (6/30) If still held Harvest edge
P1 L GLW / S MSFT +$245,728.34 +$158,951.46 +$86,776.88
P19 L AMD / S EWY +$97,602.78 +$101,675.22 −$4,072.44
P13 L GLW / S MSFT +$94,789.90 +$38,726.39 +$56,063.51
P6 L GLW / S META +$85,664.91 +$18,401.93 +$67,262.98
P2 L GNRC / S NVDA +$66,542.97 +$19,285.40 +$47,257.57
P28 L MU / S DELL +$37,629.00 −$11,177.44 +$48,806.44
P14 L GNRC / S NVDA +$36,740.44 −$6,829.02 +$43,569.46
P34 L GNRC / S DELL +$33,254.19 −$28,363.18 +$61,617.37
P35 L SOXS / S INTC −$76,654.01 −$30,608.70 −$46,045.31
P37 L SOXS / S AVGO −$25,706.95 +$11,918.25 −$37,625.20
TOTAL — ten June 30 closures +$595,591.57 +$271,980.31 +$323,611.26

V. What to Watch

Whether the bank tape produces a second-day follow-through now that the prints are in. Whether crude holds the Monday gap or gives it back as the strait claim is adjudicated. And whether the Federal Reserve’s confirmation of a higher-for-longer stance keeps the long end bid to sellers.

The Coffee Grind by Provokative AI is published daily by Brass Rat Capital LLC, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Written by Lars Toomre.

Build note: all dashboard and pair-book figures are marked to the Tuesday, July 14, 2026 New York settled close, with day changes against the July 13 settled close. Marks are single-source (yfinance batch OHLC); the Yahoo v8 chart API did not confirm for this historical date, so this edition is single-source by exception rather than the usual two-source confirmation. The ten-year yield is the Treasury daily par yield. Pair entry data is the v6 canonical book of record (26 active pairs); Harvest Shadow inception fills are the v5 canonical book of June 30. SOXS legs in the Shadow are computed on the pre-July-15 reverse-split basis to match the v5 fills. Exact inception share counts throughout; zero notional approximation. Realized register frozen at +$487,933.25.