Good Morning! TikTok is prepping a brand-new app for the U.S., hoping to dodge a looming ban and keep its 170 million American users scrolling. The revamped version is set to launch on September 5, just days before Trump’s extended deadline for ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations or face a full shutdown. Under the reported deal, ByteDance would keep a minority stake, but the current version of TikTok would go dark by March 2026.

The makeover is meant to ease national security fears, but there's a catch: China still has to approve any deal, and it likely won’t include TikTok’s golden goose, its algorithm. That means potential buyers like Amazon, Oracle, and AI startup Perplexity would get the brand without the secret sauce.

(We’re currently testing out different send times for the newsletter so don’t be alarmed 🙂 )

MARKETS

• Stocks barely moved Tuesday as Trump’s tariff threats clashed with a short-term pause. The S&P 500 dipped slightly, the Dow fell 0.4%, and the Nasdaq edged just above flat.

• It was the S&P’s second-narrowest range of the year - just 0.4% between the day’s high and low. Small caps bounced back, rising 0.7% after Monday’s drop.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

• BTCS Inc. skyrocketed 111.07% after announcing plans to raise $100 million to buy Ethereum, riding a growing crypto wave. ($BTCS)

• Sequans Communications surged 44.06% after the French semiconductor company said it raised $384 million to start purchasing bitcoin. ($SQNS)

• Moderna jumped 8.83% with no clear catalyst, marking its best day since March. ($MRNA)

• Lucid gained 9% after its electric car set a Guinness World Record by traveling 749 miles on a single charge. ($LCID)

• Chemours rallied more than 9.74% after the EPA pulled back proposed chemical regulations. Huntsman also rose 5.7% on the news. ($CC, $HUN)

• EssilorLuxottica rose 5.52% after Meta reportedly acquired a $3.5 billion stake just under 3% in the Ray-Ban maker. ($ESLOY)

• GlobalFoundries climbed 6.96% after agreeing to acquire AI chip supplier MIPS. ($GFS)

• SoFi Technologies popped 3.69% to a 52-week high after expanding access to private market funds for retail investors. ($SOFI)
  Merit Medical Systems gained more than 4% on strong preliminary Q2 revenue and the announcement of Martha Aronson as the incoming CEO. ($MMSI)

What’s down 📉

• Fair Isaac Corp. dropped 8.91% after the FHFA said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow use of rival VantageScore 4.0, threatening FICO’s dominance. ($FICO)

• Hershey melted 3.2% after naming Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner as its next chief executive, replacing longtime leader Michele Buck. ($HSY)

• Royal Gold fell more than 4.76%, extending Monday’s losses, after announcing $3.7 billion in acquisitions of Sandstorm Gold and Horizon Copper. ($RGLD)

• Solar stocks slid after Trump signed an executive order rolling back subsidies. SunRun dropped 11.43%, First Solar sank 6.54%, and Enphase fell 3.58%. ($RUN, $FSLR, $ENPH)

• Datadog slipped 4.25% after Guggenheim downgraded the stock to sell, citing risks of OpenAI shifting to in-house infrastructure. ($DDOG)

• JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America dropped 3.8%, 1.7%, and 3%, respectively, after HSBC issued downgrades ahead of Q2 bank earnings season. ($JPM, $GS, $BAC)

STOCK
Tesla Analyst Urges Musk to Refocus as Political Moves Raise Concerns

Elon Musk’s political detours are now drawing fire from even his biggest cheerleaders. Longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities called on the EV maker’s board to intervene after Musk launched the “America Party” and reignited his feud with Trump moves Ives said could distract Musk from Tesla’s AI roadmap.

Ives didn’t hold back. He recommended Tesla’s board implement a new incentive-heavy pay package tied to Musk’s time spent at Tesla, create oversight on his political activities, and consider a merger with xAI to consolidate the company’s AI ambitions under one roof.

Elon’s Response? “Shut Up”

Instead of embracing Ives’ proposal which included granting Musk 25% voting control Musk clapped back with a blunt “Shut up, Dan” on X. That’s a sharp rebuke for someone who’s stuck by Musk through slumping deliveries, falling earnings, and mounting criticism from Wall Street.

Still, Ives stood his ground. “We stand by what the right course of action is for the board,” he told CNBC. His stance isn’t out of the blue: Tesla’s 2018 compensation package was already voided by a Delaware court for lacking proper board independence. The board now faces pressure to craft a plan that actually includes checks on Musk’s time and political commitments.

The Boardroom vs. the Campaign Trail

Tesla’s stock is now down 25% year to date, the worst performer among Big Tech. Meanwhile, Musk has added yet another title - political party founder - to a resume that already includes SpaceX, X, xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.

Other analysts are sounding alarms too. William Blair downgraded Tesla stock this week, citing Musk’s “distractions” and warning that political flare-ups could damage Tesla’s margins and derail the robotaxi rollout. Even a pro-Tesla ETF backed by Trump supporter James Fishback was shelved over concerns Musk had “gone too far.”

Bottom line: Tesla’s board is facing a moment of reckoning. Either set boundaries around Musk’s growing political empire or risk watching investors lose faith, one tweet at a time.

NEWS
Market Movements

• ⚡ Lucid Breaks EV Range Record: Lucid’s Air Grand Touring set a Guinness World Record by traveling 749 miles on a single charge, beating Mercedes’ previous mark by 100 miles. The luxury EV starts at $110,000 and made the trip from St. Moritz to Munich. ($LCID)

• 📉 Apple COO Jeff Williams to Retire: Apple announced that longtime Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams will step down later this year after 27 years with the company. Sabih Khan will take over the COO role later this month as part of a planned succession. ($AAPL)

• 🛫 Boeing Closes Gap With Airbus in Deliveries: Boeing delivered 150 commercial jets in Q2, bringing its H1 total to 280 just 26 short of Airbus’ 306. That’s a 60% YoY rise for Boeing, while Airbus deliveries declined 6%. ($BA)

• 📉 Amazon Slides on Weak Prime Day Start: Amazon shares dipped nearly 2% after early Prime Day sales reportedly fell 14% YoY, per Momentum Commerce. Tariff pressures may be prompting sellers to raise prices instead of offering deals. ($AMZN)

• ⚙️ Trump to Impose 50% Tariff on Copper Imports: President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper imports and hinted at a 200% tariff on pharmaceutical products. Copper prices jumped 13%, and Freeport-McMoRan shares rose 5% as investors expect U.S. miners to benefit.

• 🚀 SoFi Launches Private Market Funds for OpenAI, SpaceX: SoFi is offering new private-market funds with exposure to startups like OpenAI and SpaceX, with minimum investments as low as $10. Shares rose nearly 4% following the announcement. ($SOFI)

• 📉 Samsung Forecasts 56% Profit Drop: Samsung expects Q2 profit to fall to $3.36B, missing estimates due to weak foundry demand and Nvidia certification delays.

• 🕹 Epic Games Drops Samsung Lawsuit: Epic Games has dropped its antitrust case against Samsung after reaching a confidential settlement related to app store practices. ($KRX:005930)

• 💊 WeightWatchers Expands into Menopause Care: WeightWatchers will launch a hormone therapy program for menopause and named Kim Boyd as its new chief medical officer. ($WW)

• 🦟 Novartis Wins Malaria Drug Approval: Swiss regulators approved Novartis’s malaria treatment for infants and young children, the first of its kind globally. ($NVS)

TRAVEL
TSA Ends Mandatory Shoe Removal , Clear Secure Stock Takes a Hit

After nearly two decades of forcing travelers to go barefoot in security lines, the TSA is finally lacing up a new policy: no more mandatory shoe removal at standard checkpoints. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the shift, effective immediately, is thanks to better screening tech and a “layered” security approach. Rejoice, weary travelers, this means smoother screening for most, though select airports may still ask some to remove footwear. The change applies only to travelers with Real IDs, and takes effect immediately

Clear Loses a Step

The decision could deal a blow to services like Clear+, which charge $200+ annually for faster screening. Clear Secure’s stock ($YOU) dropped over 3 percent overnight as investors recalibrated expectations for the company’s future growth. Even though Q1 revenue rose 18 percent year over year to $211.4 million, the moat is shrinking. Without the shoe-removal edge, Clear has to lean more heavily on biometric check-ins, airport partnerships, and perks at stadiums to justify its premium price tag.

PreCheck Perks Shrinking?

Frequent fliers aren’t sure what they’re still paying for. With the biggest selling point, keeping your shoes on now public domain, TSA PreCheck’s value proposition is under review. Still, PreCheck members can smugly keep their belts on and laptops zipped up, at least for now. Rumors are swirling that TSA might eventually fold PreCheck into a private provider like Clear, part of a broader shakeup under the Trump administration.

Bottom line: The TSA is finally catching up to global airport norms. And while investors in travel shortcuts may be sweating, travelers’ socks can stay putfor now.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Today

Wednesday keeps the low-stakes vibe alive with just two things on the docket: wholesale inventory data and the latest FOMC meeting minutes.

The inventory report offers a peek behind the curtain are wholesalers sitting on piles of unsold goods, or is product flying off shelves? Meanwhile, the Fed minutes might be old news on paper, but they’ll show whether central bankers are marching in rate-hike harmony or quietly disagreeing behind closed doors.

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

• 🔫 Russian Transport Minister Found Dead: Roman Starovoit was found dead hours after being fired by President Putin. Officials suspect suicide, though the sudden timing and political backdrop have raised eyebrows.

• 📺 Netflix Becomes a Global Anime Leader: More than half of Netflix users now watch anime, up 3x from five years ago. With titles like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Sakamoto Days topping charts in 50+ countries, Netflix has overtaken legacy players like Crunchyroll as the dominant anime streamer.

• 🎬 Scarlett Johansson Becomes Top-Grossing Lead Actor: Jurassic World Rebirth helped push Scarlett Johansson to the top of the box office leaderboard. With a career haul of $14.8B from film, she leapfrogged MCU co-stars Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr., thanks to both Marvel and Jurassic franchises.

• 🌎 Trump Delays Tariffs, Reveals New Rates: The White House pushed the tariff deadline to August 1 but began threatening steep new levies: 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea, 30% on South Africa, and 40% on Laos and Myanmar. The move gives trade partners time to strike deals—but raises global trade tensions.

• 🌊 Texas Flood Death Toll Tops 100: Flash floods killed over 100 people across Texas, including 27 at a girls' summer camp. Ten remain missing. The disaster prompted criticism over weather service staffing cuts, but Trump denied the issue impacted forecasting. More rain is expected as searches continue.

• 🇮🇱 U.S., Israel Work Toward Gaza Ceasefire: President Trump met with Netanyahu to advance a 60-day truce in Gaza and facilitate the release of 19 hostages. Back-to-back meetings at the White House marked renewed diplomatic urgency amid continued tensions.

• 📵 Apple Fights $580M EU Fine: Apple is appealing a €500M ($580M) EU fine tied to its App Store policies under the Digital Markets Act. The company argues the penalty is disproportionate and sets a dangerous legal precedent.

• 🪖 National Guard Deployed in L.A. Immigration Operation: A surprise military-style sweep in MacArthur Park, L.A., drew backlash as federal agents and California National Guard troops carried out immigration enforcement. Critics called it excessive and warned of damage to community trust.

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