Morning News: August 5, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on August 5th, 2026 at 7:05 am

El Niño Raises Risk of Weather Shocks Across Global Economies

How Climate Change Is Priming More of the World to Burn

Why Do Data Centers Use So Much Fresh Water?

Appeals Court Says E.P.A. Cannot Block Billions in Climate Grants

Trump Borrows From Biden Playbook With Attack on High Gas Prices

Trump’s “Price-Gouging” Crackdown Could Bring Back 1970s

India’s Central Bank Holds Rates as Iran Crisis Keeps Risks High

Scott Bessent Draws on Hedge Fund Instincts to Help Rescue Yen

Carry Trade Is Powering On as Investors Sidestep Yen’s Gains

President Trump Systematically Undermines Market Efficiency and Innovation

Kevin Warsh Has Some Explaining to Do

This Stock Market Breakout Is Uniquely Promising

Circle’s Quarterly Revenue Rises as Stablecoin Circulation Accelerates

Keeping Your Bitcoin Riches Safe Has Never Been Harder

Wall Street Investment Bankers’ Bonuses to Climb as Deals Surge

JPMorgan CEO Dimon Leads New Cross-Industry Effort to Tackle AI Risks

What Amanda Staveley Knows About Taking Risks

Ken Griffin’s Citadel Jumps 6% After Situational Awareness Deal

The Wall Street and Silicon Valley Investors Who Got Burned by Situational Awareness

Anthropic Is Teaching CEOs Everywhere a Valuable Lesson

Palantir Short Sellers Sustain $3 Billion Loss Following Stock’s 30% Rally

AI Is Giving Your HR Department an Existential Crisis

‘Ted Lasso’ Is a Leadership Masterclass

Google Loses Bid to Block UK Class Action Over Search Ads

SpaceX’s AI Splurge Puts Damper on Debut Earnings After IPO

Disney’s Streaming and Parks Drive Third-Quarter Profit Growth

Disney+ Cracks Open the Door to TikTok Creator Videos

Judge Sets Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Trial for March

David Ellison: In Defense of the Paramount-Warner Deal

Eli Lilly Posts Higher Revenue on Continued GLP-1 Demand

Kraft Heinz Raises Full-Year Guidance, Increases Investment

Coca-Cola HBC Net Profit Rises on Higher Volumes

Shopify Profit Jumps as Subscriptions, Merchant Services Boost Revenues

Lululemon Is At War With Itself

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CWS Market Review – August 4, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on August 4th, 2026 at 6:32 pm

(This is the free version of CWS Market Review. If you like what you see, then please sign up for the premium newsletter for $20 per month or $200 for the whole year. If you sign up today, you can see our two reports, “Your Handy Guide to Stock Orders” and “How Not to Get Screwed on Your Mortgage.”)

It happened! Finally!

The stock market closed at another new all-time high today. We made back everything we lost in that awful, terrible…and very minor…selloff we had this summer.

In June, the stock market fell 4.5% in six sessions. Scary, I know, but it did unnerve a lot of smart people. The selling mostly hit the Tech and AI sectors. The May jobs report didn’t help.

It took nearly two months to make it all back, but we did it. As the great Jesse Livermore said, “it never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting.” Indeed, sitting has been a very good strategy on Wall Street.

Earnings from Wall Street continue to be very good. The bar was set very high this season and so far, many companies are backing it up. Palantir Technologies (PLTR) rallied 30% today after it reported — in its CEO’s description — “otherworldly” earnings.

The company’s commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million. Karp said, “to my knowledge, no businesses at our scale has even grown half this much.” During one 17-day stretch in June, shares of Palantir lost one-third of their value.

The stock market is at an all-time high, and the ISM Manufacturing Index is at a four-year high. You wouldn’t think these things wouldn’t anger people, but they do. Not only that, but consumer sentiment is also doing well (more on that in a bit).

In this week’s issue, I want to take a closer look at the economy and where it stands as we head into the final few weeks of the summer. The U.S. economy continues to grow but at a slow-to-moderate pace. Nothing great, but nothing horrible either.

The stock market took last week’s Fed meeting with grace. So far, the stock market seems pleased with the Fed’s plans, but the next big test for the market comes this Friday. That’s when we’ll get the jobs report for July. We’re still stuck in the “no hire, no fire” economy. I suspect we’ll see more tepid job growth from this week’s report.

Before I get to that, let me say a few words about our Buy List. Some of our stocks also reached a new all-time high today. We did well with stocks like Allison Transmission (ALSN), which rallied on strong earnings. Henry Schein (HSIC) and Broadridge Financial (BR) also did well. In fact, HSIC made a new high today. So did HEICO (HEI).

Perhaps our biggest winner was IES Holdings (IESC). Last week, the company reported very good earnings, and shares jumped 50% in two days. IESC is another one of these stocks that’s completely ignored by Wall Street. No analyst bothers to cover it. IESC also announced a two-for-one stock split.

I’ll have more to say about our Buy List earnings reports in our premium issue (you can sign up for it here). Our overall Buy List is also at a new high. Our ETF also made a new high. First, though, we should look at the economy.

Where the Economy Stands

Let’s run through some of the recent economic news. We’ll start with last week’s Fed meeting. As expected, the Fed didn’t raise interest rates. There was, however, a late surge in speculation that the Fed might raise rates. That failed, but it was interesting to see. In fact, in the Fed’s policy statement, three members of the FOMC voted to raised rates immediately.

Those folks are a bit premature, but I think there’s a decent chance that the Fed will hike rates at its next meeting which is scheduled for September 16. Traders also think a rate cutting is coming next month. They also see one more distantly in April, but that’s too far away. Frankly, at that distance, you’re just guessing.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has significantly slimmed down the policy statement, which is a move I hope will continue. The important part of Wednesday’s statement said, “Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”

You see the long red bar at the lower left? That’s when everyone briefly panicked when the Fed statement came out. With the hindsight of a few days, we can see how pointless that was. The stock market is doing just fine.

On Thursday, the government released its initial estimate for Q2 GDP growth. The report said that the U.S. economy grew at a real annualized rate of 1.5% for the second three months of the year. That was a little bit below expectations of 1.8%, but not too bad. That’s largely within the trend that’s existed since the end of Covid-19.

The University of Michigan’s survey of consumer sentiment is also doing well. In July, the sentiment index rose to 55.2 from 49.5 in June. That’s an increase from the initial reading of 54.4. Some of this was probably aided by lower gasoline prices. Going by what I see on social media, a lot of investors would be surprised to learn how optimistic many folks are.

On Monday, the ISM Manufacturing Index came in at 55.6. That’s the highest since May 2022. The ISM has a good track record of aligning with recessions. Historically, recessions don’t line up with ISMs below 47 or so. In plain English, we’re still in the safe zone.

Tomorrow, we’ll get the ADP report on private payrolls. This report isn’t always a good omen for the government’s jobs report, but it’s interesting to note. Wall Street expects a gain of 75,000. That seems very conservative to me.

Today’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS, showed an increase in hirings and a decrease in openings. Job openings fell by 178,000 to 7.359 million. Job openings for healthcare and social assistance fell by 147,000 in June. Last week’s survey from The Conference Board’s survey said that the shares of people viewing jobs as plentiful fell to its lowest level in five years.

For Friday’s jobs report, the consensus is that the economy created 83,000 net new jobs last month and that the unemployment rate stayed at 4.2%. The unemployment rate has barely budged over the last two years. If the jobs report manages to come in well below expectations, that could set the Fed’s rate-hiking plans back even further.

That’s all for now. Stayed tuned for the July jobs report which is due out on Friday. I’ll have more for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review.

– Eddy

Morning News: August 4, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on August 4th, 2026 at 7:09 am

Qatar Signals Progress Toward Short-Term Deal Between US, Iran

The Iran War’s Forgotten Captives: Sailors Trapped in the Persian Gulf

Saudi Aramco Reports 33% Profit Surge Despite War’s Disruption

Aramco Sees Oil Refineries Running Flat Out as Buffers Run Thin

BP to Sell U.S. Biogas Unit as Oil Profits Surge

Jet Fuel Made From Tropical Fruit Gets $3 Billion Backing

A Cornered Trump Just Might Turn on Big Oil

It’s the Worst Time to Be John Thune

Bessent Says Yen Level Problematic for Japan, Other Currencies

Bessent’s Yen Rescue to Boost US Pressure on Japan Trade, Rates

Options Traders Cut Long-Term Bearish Bets on South African Rand

Canada Goods-Trade Surplus Widens Slightly With Record Exports, Imports

Paying Down the National Debt Will Not Shrink the National Debt

U.S. Stocks Near a Record High Amid Lull in Iran War

Why Wall Street Is Feeling So Bullish

The AI Boom Is Yet Another High-Tech Hog Cycle

Apollo Debt Deal Fees and Insurance Earnings Rise, Asset Sales Drag

US Consumer Watchdog Supervisor Warned Staff of ‘Unpleasant’ Fallout If They Go Too Hard on Firms

FBI Agent Allegedly Turns Himself in for $1 Million Crypto Theft

A 401(k) Is the Best Retirement Plan, Despite Its Inventor’s Doubts

You’re Not a Failure If You Don’t Own a Home

World’s Biggest Hedge Fund Teaches the Wealthy How to Slash Taxes to Zero

SpaceX’s First Earnings Offer a Chance to Reverse Stock’s Plunge

SpaceX Investors Should Focus on Starship, Not Earnings

The AI Boom Is Transforming the American Economy Beyond Recognition

Anthropic Inks $10 Billion Computing Deal With New Cloud Startup

China’s AI Blitz Creates ‘Death Zone’ for Rival US Model Makers

CoreWeave to Enter Asian Market With Indonesian Data Centers

Caterpillar Surges as Data Center Boom Drives Earnings Growth

Prologis to Buy U.K.’s Segro for $18.8 Billion

Pfizer’s Quarterly Results Beat Expectations on Cancer, Heart Drugs

McDonald’s Names New US President as Growth in Home Market Slows

The Company That Wanted to Make Exactly 10,011 Pairs of Jeans

Huggies Stumble in China After Social-Media Firestorm

Wayfair Swings to Loss on Lower International Sales, Despite U.S. Growth

How the Mohegan Tribe Lost a Billion-Dollar Casino in South Korea

UFC Lost $30 Million on Freedom 250 Event at the White House

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Morning News: August 3, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on August 3rd, 2026 at 7:05 am

The Global Oil Cushion Isn’t Really Hitting ‘Tank Bottoms’

Trump Adds to China Forced Labor Blacklist

Trump Currency Wars Kick Off With US Support for Japan’s Yen

Why Japan Is Propping Up the Yen With US Help

Trump’s Iran Comments Still Rally Markets

US Futures Climb as Focus Shifts Back to Earnings, Oil Slides

Bessent Seen Rebuffing Wall Street on Guidance for US Debt Sales

Sahm: The Fed Needs to Start Listening to Normal People

The Death of Forward Guidance

Kevin Warsh and Christopher Waller Are Incorrect for Different Reasons

Leveraged ETFs Need to Be Reined In

Hedge Fund’s 439% Return Should Have Been the Warning

Capital One Says It Closed Trump Organization’s Accounts After Anti-Money Laundering Probe

Hackers Hit Bitcoin’s Safest Hiding Place in Ongoing Attack

A Wall Street Troll Reinvented Himself as the Groypers’ Pick for Governor. The GOP Can’t Get Rid of Him

Mamdani’s Rent Freeze Heaps Pressure on a Teetering CMBS Deal

Marriott Says Middle East Conflict Weighed on Sales

AI Is Turning Retail Traders Into DIY Hedge Funds

Apple vs. OpenAI: How Siri AI Stacks Up Against the New ChatGPT

Washington Is Guarding An AI Lead That Is Already Melting

What Are Companies Getting for All That A.I. Spending?

AstraZeneca Shares Fall on Deal Talks With Bristol-Myers

Employers Are About To Pay Twice For the Same Price Transparency

KKR to Buy Integer Holdings for $4.3 Billion

Summertime Blues Hit China’s Factories

Reshoring Invites Robots Into US Car Plants

SpaceX Investors Are Ready to Quiz Musk Over Ever-Closer Ties With Tesla

The Sheer Wonder and Meaning Found in a Tesla Ride

Under Amazon, Whole Foods Is Shedding ‘Whole Paycheck’ Reputation

Tyson Cuts Profit Outlook as Beef Recovery Remains Elusive

America’s Lettuce Crisis Has Shoppers Ditching Supermarkets for Farmers Markets

Americans Are Rethinking Their Love Affair With Plant Milks

Chinese Tea Chains Are Brewing a New US Obsession

New ‘Spider-Man’ Movie Scores Hollywood’s Second-Biggest Debut Ever

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Morning News: July 31, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 31st, 2026 at 7:03 am

Historian Peter Frankopan: ‘Powerful Men Often Miscalculate’

Iran War Drives Oil Profits to Highest Levels in Years

Europe Is Caught Between Low Gas Reserves and Rising Prices From Iran War

Drones Are Reshaping the Soundscape of War

ExxonMobil Posts Slight Miss as Repairs Dogged Refining Results

BP Puts Its North Sea Drilling Business Up for Sale

Vitol, Cargill Cut Ties With Radiant World Amid Fake Invoice Concerns

Plug-In Solar Panels Are Starting to Sprout in U.S. Backyards

Yen at Levels When Top Gun Topped Box Office Sparks Currency Dogfight

BOJ Data Point to Yen Intervention of Around $53 Billion

Takaichi’s Vision for a Stronger, More Assertive Japan Is in Danger of Unraveling

In Another Wild Day for South Korean Stocks, Market Surges 15 Percent

Inflation Worries Prompted Fed Officials to Dissent on Holding Rates Steady

Life Insurers’ $8.4 Trillion Bet On the U.S. Economy

Why Wall Street Is Getting Angry

Texas Stock Exchange Heralds Debut With Sights on NYSE, Nasdaq

Tokenmaxxing Is Dead. Now Comes the Belt Tightening

New York Sues Kalshi, Says Its Prediction Markets Are Illegal Gambling

A Slow-Motion Regulatory State Could Even Slow the U.S.

Home Insurance Is the Stealth Political Issue of 2026

New York Will Regret Going Into the Grocery Business

The Age of Unstoppable Wildfires Has Reached Europe

Where to Invest Now as El Niño Hits the Global Economy

Larry Ellison Bet It All on the A.I. Boom. Will He Be the Face of the A.I. Bubble?

The 24-Hour Race to Salvage Situational Awareness’ AI Bets

Citadel’s Big Buy Halts Downward Spiral in Still-Frothy AI Trade

AI Bots Are Excellent Financial Advisers. And They’re Free

AI’s Wildest Spenders Are Hitting the Accelerator

Mark Zuckerberg Articulates the Brilliant AI Future Ahead

Apple Slides After Supply Shortages Hurt Sales Forecast

AbbVie Sales Beat Estimates as Botox Shows Signs of Revival

Tesla Weighs Sale of China Business to Pave Way for Potential SpaceX Merger

Ford and GM Attempts to Go Beyond Cars Deserve Skepticism

Blowing the Whistle on World Cup Piracy

FIFA Protest Spreads With Real Madrid, Juve Opposing Plan

There’s a Scramble Underway Over a ‘Barbie’ Sequel

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Morning News: July 30, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 30th, 2026 at 7:06 am

Oil Prices Wobble as Middle East Veers Toward Wider Conflict

Texas Can Teach Democrats How to Disagree on Israel

Amid the Tariff Barrage, a Chance to Settle Softwood Lumber

How Climate Change and Tariffs Help China Raise More Cattle

German Inflation Accelerates to Three-Month High on Energy

Andy Burnham Has Borrowed a Neat Trick From Zohran Mamdani

BOE Holds Rates in 6-3 Vote as War Clouds Inflation Outlook

Warsh’s Performance Falls Flat With Markets as Fed Holds Rates Steady

Is a ‘Credibility Shock’ the Fed’s Next Challenge?

Bond Yields at 19-Year High Send Warsh Credibility Warning

The Fed Chair’s 2% Inflation Rhetoric Is Starting to Feel Empty

Trump Crypto Tie-Up Fueled Family Windfall, Investor Losses

Low-Income Cardholders Will Suffer Credit Card Price Controls Most

Uninsured Patients Rise Sharply, Hospitals Report, Citing Obamacare Cuts

How a Few Hundred Dollars Could Manipulate Election Prediction Markets

The Million-Dollar Talent Wars for 20-Something Math Geniuses

Gavin Newsom’s Wealth Tax Would Punish a Brilliant Future

NYSE Parent ICE Agrees to Buy MarketAxess for About $6 Billion

We Can’t Fix America’s Schools Without Data

Microsoft’s Cloud Accelerates to Fastest Growth Since 2022

A.I. Data Centers in Space? A System to Cool Chips Could Help.

Samsung Chip Profit Soars 250-Fold During Relentless AI Buildout

Apple’s Siri Got an A.I. Brain Transplant. Try These 5 Prompts to Get Acclimated

Biometric Scans, Outlet Checks: How Employers Are AI Proofing Hiring

To Know What Your Customers Think, Just Ask Their A.I. Twins

A16z-Backed Biotech Braveheart Seeks $318.8 Million in US IPO

A Robotics Startup Wants to Make Any Truck Go Electric

Chinese EVs Are Everywhere in Argentina Despite Milei’s MAGA Ties

China Threatens Retaliation as U.S. Moves to Block Robot Imports

Latest Perk for Videogamers: Chance to Crowdfund a Solar Farm

The Paramount Deal Is in Trouble. It’s Not About the Movies.

Disney Overhauls Streaming Services to Jumpstart Subscriber Growth

EU Warns FIFA Investment Plan May Spark Competition Concerns

Adidas Plunges After World Cup Marketing Outlay Dents Profit

Reformation Just Went Public. Here Are Four Secrets to Its Success

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Morning News: July 29, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 29th, 2026 at 7:08 am

A New Age of Missiles Reshapes Battlefields Around The World

Global Oil Prices Jump as Attacks Resume in the Middle East

How China Went From Dream Customer to a Nightmare for Big Oil

Oil’s Curse Is Hanging Over the World’s Fastest-Growing Economy

New Mexico Is Divided Over What to Do With $75 Billion in Oil Cash

Trump’s Tariffs Are Sending Some Companies Back to China

Korean Stocks Plunge 16% in Two-Day Burst of Retail Selling

UBS and European Peers Left in Wake of Wall Street Trading Boom

What to Watch at the Federal Reserve’s July Meeting

Sahm: Making a Statement

BlackRock Sets Out for Private Credit Glory After Year of Upheaval

StanChart Lifts Income Target After Wealth Boom Powers Earnings Beat

How Blackstone Put Jersey Mike’s on a Fast Track to This Week’s IPO

Beware the Experts Who Tie Prosperity to Consumption

Trump Will End Subsidies for Medicare Drug Premiums

The No Surprises Act Needs a Dose of Sunlight

The Spread of Concrete Is Wrecking the Planet. And Saving It

We Need Data Centers To Substantially Improve Our Living Standards

Big Tech Turmoil Casts Doubt on A.I.’s Payoff Potential

The Chips That Will Decide A.I.’s Future

South Korea’s Memory Chip Giant Defies A.I. Market Jitters

Orbital Data Centers Are a Crazy Idea. Go For It.

NextEra, Brookfield to Build $100 Billion Kentucky Data Campus

A.I. Companies Are Recruiting Electricians and Carpenters by the Thousands

Trying to Make a Buck Off a Data Center, One 6-Pack at a Time

Sick of A.I.-Generated Content? The ‘Slop Janitor’ Is Here to Help.

The Argument for Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern Is Only Improving

Could the Most Radical Plane Design Since the Concorde Take On Boeing?

Ford’s Sales and Revenue Are Down. The Automaker Isn’t Sweating It.

Speed Cameras Work, Which Is Why Motorists Hate Them

Bausch + Lomb Upgrades Full-Year Outlook on Strong Quarter

How P&G Is Trying to Sell Tide and Bounty to Inflation-Squeezed Consumers

Anglo Said to Be in Talks to Sell De Beers for About $1 Billion

Hermès Plunges as China Weakness Hits Leather Goods Sales

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CWS Market Review – July 28, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 28th, 2026 at 5:41 pm

(This is the free version of CWS Market Review. If you like what you see, then please sign up for the premium newsletter for $20 per month or $200 for the whole year. If you sign up today, you can see our two reports, “Your Handy Guide to Stock Orders” and “How Not to Get Screwed on Your Mortgage.”)

The stock market closed higher today for the third day in a row. Despite that, this was the fourth day in a row that the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average. That hasn’t happened since April, and it can be an omen of rough days ahead.

The Federal Reserve meets today and tomorrow, and this could be an interesting meeting. At least, interesting for a meeting of government economists. This time, we really have no idea what the Fed will do. The Wall Street Journal called this week’s meeting “one of the most unpredictable in years.”

Let me explain. Going into this meeting, it had been widely assumed on Wall Street and elsewhere that the Fed wasn’t going to raise rates. Well, that view suddenly changed, and traders now think there’s a decent chance of a Fed hike this week. One week ago, the odds for a rate hike were at 10%. Yesterday, the odds got to 36%. We’ll find out tomorrow afternoon when the Fed releases its policy statement.

Personally, I’m a doubter. In fact, the odds for a hike fell back to around 30% today. In plain terms, the market sees a hike as possible but not probable. That sounds about right. I’ll add that if the Fed does hike, the market will not be pleased. Not at all.

What changed? That’s hard to say but I think the market has been confused by the on-again, off-again news for a break in hostilities in the Middle East. More fighting means less oil. Last week, the price for a barrel of oil jumped back over $90. One month ago, oil was going for less than $70 per barrel. As frustrating as it is, I don’t see how higher rates will bring oil back down. Kevin Warsh, the new Fed Chairman, has taken a very tough line on inflation.

I also think it’s likely we’ll see some dissenting votes inside the Fed. The Powell Fed preferred policy by consensus. Kevin Warsh doesn’t appear to be so inclined. In fact, we really don’t have an idea which way Mr. Warsh is leading. For now, I applaud Mr. Warsh’s efforts to bring transparency to the Fed.

Some of this conflict within the Fed may be exaggerated because we’re really talking about moving a rate hike forward by a few weeks. Traders had already been expecting a rate hike in September. The odds for a rate hike by then are currently near 75%.

This means the debate is really about 25 basis points over a seven-week period. I don’t think that’s enough to do too much damage to the economy. We won’t get the next jobs report until Friday, August 7.

I’m still expecting the Fed to hold rates steady this week, but it will be interesting to see if there are any dissenting views from inside the Fed. Still, the Fed is leaning towards higher rates. There’s a good chance that rates will be 50 basis points higher by the end of the year.

An interesting fact about this earnings season is that the S&P 500 is reporting its highest net profit margins in 15 years. A lot of investors don’t realize how unusual this is. We still have a lot more earnings to get through, but the net profit margin is currently running at 15.7%. That’s the highest FactSet has on record.

This tells us that companies are operating more efficiently. The downside is that we may want to see more companies spend freely on their plans for expansion.

I should add that a lot of the big rise in margins is due to Google’s massive quarter. If we were to exclude Google, then the net profit margin for the entire S&P 500 would fall to 14.4%. For the rest of this year, Wall Street sees net profit margins around 15%. That’s quite high.

Looking at the Sector Rotation

Recently, I’ve been talking a lot about the market’s sector rotation. It’s a challenge to convey just how sharply the market has changed. From late March until early June, all kinds of high-risk stocks and sectors led the charge. This includes growth stocks, tech stocks, high beta stocks, the Nasdaq; any kind of measure of higher risk did very well.

That all came to an end on June 2. Since then, the more conservative areas are getting their revenge.

Here’s a table that helps explain what I mean. I’ve listed several indexes and ETFs. The first column shows how well they did from March 30 to June 2. The second column shows returns from June 2 to yesterday.

“So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

All the stuff that has been doing well is lagging now, and all the stuff that had been lagging is now leading. The Chip ETF (SMH) got beaten up for another loss of 3.5% today. All this has been happening even though the overall market has been fairly subdued. I noticed that SpaceX has gone from a high of $225 following the IPO to a low of $107 earlier today.

When these rotations happen, they often last a few years, but it’s not always clear that a rotation has begun. There are often false starts.

40-Fold Profits at Nathan’s Famous

I often talk about stocks that aren’t widely followed on Wall Street. One of my favorites is Nathan’s Famous (NATH). The hot dog stand is in the process of being bought out by Smithfield Foods which is a subsidiary of China’s WH Group.

Nathan’s started as a Coney Island hot-dog stand in 1916. It’s known for its annual July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The deal values Nathan’s at $102 per share or about $450 million. In 2000, Nathan’s was going for as little as $2.50 per share. That means the stock has soared more than 40-fold in about 25 years, and that doesn’t include dividends. Not a single Wall Street analyst follows the stock.

The Nathan’s deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. I have to admit that I’m a little sad to see the market lose this extraordinary performer as an independent stock.

Some investors are still hungry for stocks. The coming IPO for Jersey Mike’s (JMKE) is said to be 10 times oversubscribed. The company is looking to sell 43.5 million shares at $21 to $25 apiece. The IPO price hasn’t been determined yet. Once it starts trading, Jersey Mike’s could be worth as much as $8 billion.

This week, Apple (AAPL) was briefly worth $5 trillion, and it surpassed Nvidia (NVDA) as the most expensive company in the world.

That’s all for now. The Federal Reserve’s policy statement will be out tomorrow afternoon. On Thursday, we’ll get our first look at Q2 GDP growth. I’m expecting something low but positive. I’ll have more for you in the next issue of CWS Market Review.

– Eddy

Morning News: July 28, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 28th, 2026 at 7:07 am

Don’t Rebuild the Tariff Wall. Demolish It.

Germany Is Quietly Preparing for an Economic Showdown With China

Private Equity Targets America’s War Machine and Its $1 Trillion Budget

Western Powers Race to Bring the Production of Explosives Back Home

Amazon Data Centers Hit in Iran Strikes, Satellite Images Show

UAE’s Fertiglobe Eyes Truck, Rail Exports to Reduce Hormuz Risk

Public Control or ‘20th-Century Socialism’? U.K. Debates a Different Way

Bank of Japan Set to Hold as It Assesses Impact of June Increase

Kevin Warsh Wanted a ‘Good Family Fight’ at the Fed. He’s Getting One

The Costly Campaign to Politicize Bank Charters

US Treasury Trims 84 People, Firms from Its Sanctions List as Review Continues

World’s Biggest Crypto Exchange Has Made It Harder to Fight Crime, Police Say

Trump’s Grifting Is a Sidenote Instead of a Scandal. Why?

The Ellisons Discover the Hard Way That Trump Is the Anti-Midas

The Father of the 401(k) Has a New Savings Plan

To Recruit Teachers, School Districts Are Building Homes

Why You’re Paying More for Your Amazon Order than You Realize

Visa to Cut 7% of Workforce as CEO Seeks to Revamp Payments Firm

PayPal Lifts Profitability Guidance, Says Turnaround is Progressing

The Chips Rout Goes Global

Tech Stocks Tumble on Worries About A.I. Spending and China’s Chip Competition

Samsung, SK Hynix Leveraged ETFs Lure Investors Into Boom-And-Bust Cycle

SK Hynix’s $600 Billion Selloff Shows Cracks in Memory-Chip Boom

Chinese A.I. Start-Up Shows the World What It Has Built

Crippling American Startups Won’t Stop Chinese AI

Even China’s A.I. Powerhouses Can’t Figure Out How to Profit Off A.I.

Meta, BlackRock Plan to Invest in $14 Billion Data Center

Boeing Beats on Cash Flow, Books New Charge on Air Force One

Boeing Pours Into Factories to Speed Air Force One, Commercial Jet Production

From Cracker Barrel to Boeing, Companies Are Turning to Retired CEOs

Cracker Barrel’s CEO Ouster Surprised Wall Street But Not Women

Coca-Cola Profit Rises on Higher Concentrate Sales and Pricing

Luxury Titan Bernard Arnault Is Changing the Playbook for His Own Image

Runners Are Splurging on $350 Shorts and $140 Moth-Hole Tees to Look Good

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Morning News: July 27, 2026
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on July 27th, 2026 at 7:09 am

Iran War Forces Energy Buyers to ‘Unshackle’ From Global Markets

Shipping Upheaval Suggests Oil’s Selloff Won’t Last

First US LNG Shipment to China in a Year to Be Re-Exported

Poland Considers Reviving Fuel-Price Caps as Pump Prices Remain Unstable

Quagmire of the Vanities

China Vows Response to US Sanctions Threat Against AI Firms

What Trump’s Latest Tariffs Mean for the American Economy

What the American Tin Can Reveals About Trump’s Volatile Tariff Policy

Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud

From US to Japan, Policymakers Aim to Get Capital Moving Where They Want

The Fed Wants Markets to Lead. CFOs Should Listen

The Fed’s New Chairman Faces His Biggest Test Yet

Warsh’s Twist Could Be Higher Fed Rates and Lower Mortgage Rates

Traders Are Getting a New Tool to Wager on the Biggest US Stocks

How to Make Corporate Income Taxes Work for America Again

State Capitalism Is Back in Fashion. That’s Not Good

The AI Industry Is Trying to Fix Its Image Problem

Chip Maker Soars 466% on Debut to Become No. 1 in China Stock Market

Six Networks: Inside China’s Trillion-Dollar Bet to Wire Its Economy for an AI Era

Nvidia’s $750 Billion Deals Revive Fear of AI Circular Financing

5 Things to Know About Meta’s Giant Data Center in Louisiana

How Meta Got Everything It Wanted in a Secret Louisiana Data Center Deal

Waymo Is Racking Up Thousands of Dollars of Parking Fines in Austin

How the Prius Traces Its Lineage to a 1900 Car From Ferdinand Porsche

Inside Modi’s Decision to Cave to India’s ‘Cockroach’ Protesters

This Lawyer Upended ‘Big Law’ Once. He Has a Plan to Do It Again.

The Case for Making Your Life Harder

AstraZeneca Sees 2030 Goal on Track as Cancer Drugs Drive Growth

The Life-Threatening Harm of Barriers to Harm Reduction

Paramount Wanted to Close Its Warner Deal Quickly. Now It’s in Limbo

Why Paramount Paused Its Blockbuster $111 Billion Deal for Warner Bros.

Shein Posts Loss as Planned Hong Kong IPO Approaches

A Different Kind of Grocery Store Magnate

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