Good afternoon! AOL is finally pulling the plug on its dial-up internet after 34 years, ending an era of screeching modems and “You’ve Got Mail.” At its 2000 peak, AOL had 26 million subscribers and a $125B valuation now, just a few thousand still log on this way, mostly in rural areas.

As broadband dominates, dial-up’s exit joins other early-internet farewells like Skype and Internet Explorer. It’s a reminder that the web’s moved from slow and quirky to fast and always-on—though some might say it was a bit more fun at 56 kbps.

MARKETS

• Stocks hit fresh records Tuesday after July inflation came in as expected, boosting odds of a September Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed at new highs, while the Russell 2000 jumped nearly 3%, with all 11 sectors ending higher.

• Short-term yields dipped on the rate-cut buzz, and oil prices fell on slowing demand—despite one wild (and very wrong) $118,000-per-barrel rumor making the rounds.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

• Hanesbrands skyrocketed 27.95% after reports said it’s close to being acquired by Gildan Activewear in a deal valued near $5 billion including debt. ($HBI)

• Mercury Systems jumped 26.95% after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that crushed expectations. ($MRCY)

• Sinclair surged 19.19% after launching a strategic review that could lead to a merger or spinoff of its Ventures business. ($SBGI)

• Hillenbrand rose 18.45% after beating Q3 estimates and raising the lower end of its full-year guidance. ($HI)

• On Holding gained 8.95% after posting 32% revenue growth last quarter, topping expectations, and raising full-year sales guidance. ($ONON)

• AST SpaceMobile climbed 8.36% after confirming it has funding to launch 45–60 satellites by next year. ($ASTS)

• Sonos popped 13.45% after a filing showed its CEO purchased 92,300 shares. ($SONO)

• Intel advanced 5.46% after CEO Lip-Bu Tan met with President Trump, who praised him days after calling for his resignation. ($INTC)

• Opendoor rose 6.93% after crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano disclosed he bought a stake. ($OPEN)
  

What’s down 📉

• Spirit Airlines cratered 40.68% after warning it may not be able to continue operations without new funding. ($FLYY)

• Eastman Kodak tumbled 19.91% after issuing the same “going concern” warning as Spirit. ($KODK)

• BigBear.ai plunged 15.80% after missing Q2 earnings estimates and posting weak revenue. ($BBAI)

• Celanese dropped 13.07% after warning of softening demand across most key markets in the second half. ($CE)

• Cardinal Health fell 7.21% after missing revenue expectations despite an earnings beat, and announcing the acquisition of Solaris. ($CAH)

• Gildan Activewear slipped 3.57% on news it may acquire Hanesbrands. ($GIL)

EV
Tesla Slashes Prices as EV Sales Surge Ahead of Tax Credit Deadline

US electric vehicle sales just had their second-best month ever, topping 130,000 in July, as buyers rushed to take advantage of record incentives before the $7,500 federal tax credit disappears on October 1. According to Kelley Blue Book, the average EV price fell to $55,689, down 4.2% from last year, with incentives averaging 17.5% of the sale price. Analysts say this urgency, triggered by the Trump administration’s decision to end the IRA-era subsidies, is likely to make Q3 a record-breaker for EV sales.

Tesla leads the markdown pack

No automaker cut deeper than Tesla, which dropped its average transaction price 9.1% year-over-year to $52,949. The discounts were helped along by a higher share of sales from the lower-priced Model 3 and Model Y, plus a buffet of incentives. While these moves boosted sales compared to June, they still fell short of last year’s figures. The company’s all-in approach makes sense given its exposure — as an EV-only brand, losing the tax credit could threaten more than half of its profits, according to JPMorgan.

Industry-wide discount fever: Tesla isn’t alone in the price war. Automakers across the board have been piling on deals to move inventory before incentives vanish, pushing EV discounts up more than 40% from last year. The strategy appears to be paying off, with Cox Automotive data showing July as the second-strongest month for EV sales ever recorded. Analysts expect this buying frenzy to continue until the deadline, after which sales could face a sharp pullback.

The high-stakes pivot ahead

For Tesla, the bigger challenge comes after the tax credit expires. Without federal incentives to cushion the price tag, the company may have to lean even harder on cost cuts and production efficiencies to maintain momentum. And for the entire industry, the post-October landscape could mark a turning point — either a test of whether demand for EVs can stand on its own, or a reality check on how much government support has been driving the boom.

NEWS
Market Movements

• ☁️ CoreWeave Beats Estimates But Slumps on Lockup Expiry Risk: AI cloud company CoreWeave posted Q2 revenue of $1.21 billion and adjusted operating income of $199.8 million, both above expectations, with backlog swelling to $30.1 billion. Shares fell 7.2% after hours as investors eyed the August 14 expiration of a lockup on 84% of shares. The company also faces scrutiny over its all-stock deal to acquire Core Scientific amid reports of shareholder pushback.

• 🛍 Five Below Pops on Another Upgrade: Discount retailer Five Below jumped 4.6% after Loop Capital upgraded the stock to “buy” and hiked its price target to $165. The call follows earlier upgrades from UBS and JPMorgan as analysts cited sharper merchandising, refreshed marketing, and tighter inventory control. Shares are now up more than 38% year to date.

• 🔗 Chainlink Hits Record Adoption Milestone: Chainlink’s total value secured reached a record $93 billion, sending its token up 8.6% in 24 hours and 45% over the past week. Trading volumes jumped to $1.9 billion after last week’s launch of the Chainlink Reserve to fund network growth. The milestone underscores growing adoption across both enterprise and DeFi.

• 💰 Perplexity Makes $34.5 Billion Bid for Google Chrome: AI startup Perplexity made an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer to buy Google’s Chrome browser, more than double Perplexity’s own valuation. The bid comes as Google faces a federal antitrust trial that could lead to divestitures, including Chrome. While unlikely to succeed, the move highlights startups seizing on regulatory pressure against Big Tech.

• 🇨🇳 Nio Falls on Weak Sales and Investor Exit: Chinese EV maker Nio slid nearly 9% after early August registrations for all three brands dropped by double digits, with its main brand plunging 37% week over week. Citigroup also disclosed it cut its Nio stake by 6.5% last quarter after a massive increase earlier this year. Nio recently launched its Onvo L90 SUV, priced well below Tesla’s Model Y in China.

• 📉 Recession Talk Fades on Earnings Calls: Mentions of “recession” on S&P 500 earnings calls dropped to 278 this quarter from 862 in Q1, Bloomberg data shows. The decline reflects stronger earnings, upbeat market sentiment, and optimism over potential Fed rate cuts. Analysts say the shift signals easing fears of an imminent downturn.

• 🤖 Anthropic Offers AI Access to Federal Agencies for $1: Anthropic will provide its Claude AI products to U.S. federal agencies for $1 per agency in a one-year deal through the General Services Administration. The strategy mirrors OpenAI’s recent government offer, aiming to build reliance before charging full price. Major AI firms have each secured up to $200 million in Department of Defense contracts for AI applications.

• 📱 Musk Accuses Apple of Favoring OpenAI in App Store: Elon Musk alleged Apple is blocking AI rivals from reaching the No. 1 spot in its App Store, calling it an “unequivocal antitrust violation” without providing proof. His xAI app Grok has previously topped the charts but now sits at No. 5 behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s OpenAI partnership has drawn scrutiny, though other AI apps have also claimed the top spot in recent years.

FED
Markets Brace for September Rate Cut as Inflation Holds Steady

Markets Eye September Rate Cut After Tame Inflation Report

The Federal Reserve may have just gotten the green light it’s been waiting for. July’s Consumer Price Index came in largely in line with expectations, with headline inflation holding steady at 2.7% year-over-year and core CPI ticking up slightly to 3.1%. That’s below forecasts for headline inflation but a hair above for core, and well within the range markets were hoping to see. The muted price gains have investors betting more than 90% on a September rate cut, even as tariffs continue to loom in the background.

The breakdown showed little evidence at least for now of tariffs feeding directly into higher consumer prices. Goods tied to trade policy, like new vehicles, furniture, and apparel, saw only modest changes, with grocery prices actually dipping 0.1%. The real driver was services, particularly housing, which rose 0.2%, and airline fares, which jumped 4% in their biggest monthly gain in over three years. Dental services also made headlines with a record 2.6% monthly spike.

Dollar Dips, Sterling Rallies

The softer inflation reading sent the U.S. dollar sliding, with the DXY dollar index hitting an intraday low of 98.196. Sterling took advantage, climbing to a 2.5-week high after pairing the dollar weakness with better-than-expected U.K. employment data. The pound also got a boost from strong wage growth, which may prompt the Bank of England to tread carefully on rate cuts. Meanwhile, the euro traded lower, with analysts warning it could drop further if the upcoming U.S.-Russia summit fails to produce meaningful progress on geopolitical tensions.

Global Currencies React to Trade Headlines

Beyond the dollar and pound, the Swiss franc gained ground after President Trump confirmed that imported gold would not be subject to tariffs—an important reprieve for Switzerland, a major refining hub. The move helped calm fears of a major disruption in gold flows to the U.S., which primarily come from Canada, Mexico, and Switzerland. Analysts say keeping these flows stable serves U.S. market interests, even as broader tariff policies continue to rattle trade-sensitive sectors.

Overall, the inflation data gave markets exactly what they wanted: cover for a September Fed rate cut. But economists caution that the real test will come in the months ahead as tariffs begin to bite more sharply. If companies start passing on higher costs once inventories run low, the Fed’s policy path could get far more complicated by year’s end.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s looking like a snoozer on the economic front—no big data drops to jolt the markets. But earnings season still has a few tricks up its sleeve, with fresh results on the way from Cisco, D-Local, and Venture Global. And one well-loved restaurant operator is stepping back into the spotlight.

Brinker International has been serving up more than just fajitas lately, its stock has sizzled over 120% in the past year. The parent company of Chili’s and Maggiano’s has been riding a wave of menu simplification, restaurant refreshes, and tighter cost controls, all while keeping customers happy with strong value. Management has tossed in a cautionary note about potential tariff headwinds, but any post-earnings dip could be the kind of pullback investors might want to chew on. Analysts are expecting $2.45 in earnings per share on $1.44 billion in revenue.

Data Just Made Palantir Worth $250B

Palantir just rocketed to $250 billion by helping companies extract value from user data.

The big data gold rush is here, but the company that stands to profit the most may not be Palantir…

A new disruption to smartphones gives users a share in the data profits, already facilitating +$325M in earnings and generating +$75M in revenue.

With 32,481% revenue growth, this company is gearing up for a potential Nasdaq listing (stock ticker: $MODE), and pre-IPO shares are available at only $0.30/share.

It’s a $1 trillion industry, and their disruptive EarnPhone is now being distributed by Walmart and Best Buy.

⚠️ The window to invest at $0.30/share is closing — act now.

Invest in the Mode Pre-IPO Today

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

• 📊 Trump Taps Heritage Economist to Lead BLS, Raising Concerns: President Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, to become the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni has criticized the agency’s data methods, calling for replacing monthly jobs reports with quarterly releases for accuracy. His nomination has sparked criticism from economists who say the role must remain apolitical to preserve trust in economic data. The decision sets the stage for potential changes in how key economic indicators are measured and reported.

• 🇨🇴 Colombian Senator and Presidential Hopeful Dies After Assassination Attempt: Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a conservative presidential candidate, has died at 39 after being shot during a campaign rally in June. He remained hospitalized for more than two months before succumbing to his injuries. His death highlights the ongoing risks of political violence in Colombia. The loss leaves his party without a prominent candidate just months ahead of the election.

• 🏈 NFL Orders Security Enhancements After NYC HQ Shooting Scare: The NFL is requiring teams to boost security following a shooting incident near its New York City headquarters in July. The league’s guidance includes adding armed security, installing weapons screening, and conducting updated threat assessments. Officials say the measures are meant to protect both league and team staff as the season approaches. The incident has raised concerns about targeted threats to major sports organizations.

• ⚖️ Kim Davis Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Ruling: Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 Obergefell decision. She argues the ruling violated her First Amendment rights to religious freedom. This marks one of the most direct legal challenges to same-sex marriage since it was legalized nationwide. The petition has reignited debate over LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. legal system.

• 🎟 StubHub Restarts IPO Plans After Tariff Concerns Ease: StubHub is reviving its initial public offering plans, targeting a September listing after pausing earlier this year. The company had delayed its debut due to uncertainty over the impact of tariffs on market conditions. Executives now believe the fall offers a favorable window for public entry. The move signals renewed optimism for consumer tech IPOs despite ongoing trade tensions.

• 🥇 Trump Clarifies Gold Imports Will Not Face Tariffs: President Trump confirmed yesterday that gold imports will be exempt from tariffs, easing market concerns after earlier speculation about a potential 39% rate. The clarification calmed bullion markets that had seen brief volatility. Traders had feared restrictions could disrupt the global gold supply chain. The announcement reinforces gold’s role as a stable safe-haven asset in uncertain times.

• 🥊 UFC Pins Down Paramount+ in $7.7B Streaming Deal: Skydance has secured exclusive U.S. rights to stream UFC fights on Paramount+ in a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal—double what Disney currently pays for ESPN+. The agreement, starting in 2026, ends the pay-per-view model by offering 13 marquee events and 30 “Fight Nights” each year for just a standard subscription fee. Some fights will also be simulcast on CBS, with the year-round schedule helping reduce subscriber churn.

• 📺 Cable’s One-Two Punch: ESPN and Fox Sports will launch a joint streaming package in October, bundling all their channels for a single subscription price. The move marks another step away from traditional cable as sports networks consolidate their streaming presence. For viewers, it could mean easier access to live sports without juggling multiple services. For the industry, it’s another nail in the coffin for the old cable model.

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