Don’t people ever learn? Yet again, pajama traders are going crazy for meme stocks, either not knowing about or dismissive of the financial carnage similar frenzies over market has-beens or never-beens wrought both during and after the pandemic.

In mid-July, a crazed rally erupted around a cohort of beaten-down companies, including Opendoor Technologies, Kohl’s and Krispy Kreme, fueled by social-media buzz and a sudden surge of buying by retail investors. The stocks rose sharply—and, in some cases, quickly plummeted—not because of changes in their businesses, but because they became the focus of a few high-profile personalities on social media.

As before, the targets were struggling firms “influencers” hyped as underdogs—in a market controlled by Wall Street pros. Witness the original meme mania of 2021, when GameStop and AMC Entertainment soared during a burst of trading spurred by a well-known Reddit user. You might remember what happened next. So why now? And why again? Here’s the lowdown. —David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

India and the UK sealed a free trade agreement eliminating tariffs on products ranging from cars to alcohol, finalizing a deal between two major economies at a time when US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies continue to disrupt global trade.

For Modi, the trade deal with Britain reinforces his push to position India as a viable alternative for global supply chains looking to diversify. The pact—India’s first major one in a decade—signals that the South Asian nation is willing to lower its barriers to attract investments as it negotiates a bilateral trade deal with the US. It will also act as a springboard for India’s ongoing talks with European Union.

The pact comes after three years of intense negotiations touching on thorny topics such as visas, tariff reductions and tax breaks. The two nations concluded talks in May, completing Britain’s biggest trade deal since Brexit and India’s most significant such agreement to date.

With Trump due to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a visit during which he’ll meet with UK Prime Minister Starmer, the signing comes as Britain works to flesh out the trade pact it agreed to with the US. But unlike that agreement, which is exceedingly light on details, the UK-India pact is chock full of them,

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, amid growing anger over spreading starvation in Gaza. Macron said he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he said.

France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe. Thursday’s announcement came soon after the Trump administration cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar.

Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food. Reports of growing starvation in the territory are turbocharging criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian children seeking food in the Gaza Strip last week. Photographer: Eyad Baba/AFP

On Bloomberg Television, Ipsos Public Affairs President Cliff Young reveals what Americans think about Trump’s trade policy and breaks down why so much of the public says his administration isn’t telling the whole truth about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

The Associated Press reported that Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general, now faces Democratic calls to testify before Congress following a news article saying she alerted Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein sex-trafficking probe files (the administration denied the report). The Justice Department, which Bondi leads, has rejected calls to release the files despite growing furor from Trump’ far-right base. 

The US restored Chevron’s ability to pump oil in Venezuela, reversing a decision made just two months earlier when Trump was seeking to exert more pressure on President Nicolas Maduro. The timing of the reversal is of note, as it came around the same time Washington and Caracas brokered an agreement that saw the release of 10 Americans detained in Venezuela, while 250 Venezuelans deported by Trump to El Salvador were returned to their home country. 

Chevron, which has had a presence in Venezuela for more than a century, is the only major US oil company still there, and has been a vital lifeline for its battered economy. In 2022, the Biden administration granted the company a license authorizing it to keep producing and to resume crude exports, but limiting it from expanding. Following Trump’s re-election, that license became a bargaining chip in the country’s relationship with the US.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow