Good morning investors! US-Iran tensions continue as investors focus on big earnings.
Today we cover:
What to expect this week
What' Trump’s investing in
The Facebook trial
📊 Economy and News
What to Expect in This Week
Here’s what to keep an eye on this week:
Monday, Aug. 24
Earnings include PDD Holdings and XPeng.
Tuesday, Aug. 25
Consumer confidence and new home sales data.
Earnings: Intuit (INTU) after the close (TurboTax/QuickBooks parent; recently beat expectations and announced workforce reductions). Zoom and Dick’s Sporting Goods also report.
Wednesday, Aug. 26
8:30 a.m. ET: July Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index (Fed’s preferred inflation gauge; recent readings showed cooling). Also second Q2 GDP estimate and durable goods orders.
Earnings:
Nvidia (NVDA) ~4:20 p.m. ET + call at 5 p.m. (stock has sold off after recent reports; analysts expect strong data-center growth, roughly $2.09 EPS / ~$92B revenue).
CrowdStrike (CRWD), Salesforce (CRM).
Kohl’s (KSS), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Bath & Body Works (BBWI).
HP, Synopsys, Okta.
Thursday, Aug. 27
Weekly jobless claims; Jackson Hole Symposium opens (theme around financial innovation/payments/policy).
Earnings: Best Buy (BBY), Dollar General (DG), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Burlington Stores (BURL), Gap (GAP), Marvell Technology (MRVL — AI chip designer recently added to S&P 500; Huang has highlighted it), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Autodesk, Workday, SentinelOne.
Friday, Aug. 28
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote at Jackson Hole (~10 a.m. ET). Markets will listen for comments on inflation, rates, bond yields, and fiscal-monetary interplay after recent long-term yield spikes and Treasury buybacks.
Chicago PMI and final University of Michigan sentiment also due.
Global hits:
Canada retail sales falls 0.8% in July after strong Q2 gains.
U.S. and Canada seek agreement to avert 50% tariffs on imports.
Ethiopia moves closer to exiting default as creditors back bond deal.
Reminder: Trump to allow import of 300,000 metric tons of ground beef without tariff that will be sold at 25% below market prices.
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📈 Stocks
S&P 500 7,674.37 (+0.43%)
DJIA 53,277.01 (+0.98%)
NASDAQ 26,180.46 (+0.43%)
BRENT CRUDE 93.14 (-0.73%)
* Prices as of Aug 23rd, 12:20 AM UTC
Trump Reshuffles Portfolio in June, Selling Meta and Buying Berkshire
President Donald Trump disclosed more than 1,000 financial transactions for June in a broad reshuffling of stocks, bonds, and ETFs. The deals totaled between $78.1 million and $263.1 million, with purchases exceeding $49 million and sales at least $28.5 million, according to his Aug. 22 filing.
The largest move was a $5 million to $25 million sale of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF shares on June 22. That day he also bought $1 million to $5 million each of Fidelity National Information Services and Home Depot.
On June 18—one day after a market selloff tied to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s first meeting—he sold $1 million to $5 million of Meta and Motorola while buying the same range of Berkshire Hathaway, Cintas, Visa, and Mastercard.
Other buys included Treasury bond, technology sector, and commodity ETFs plus municipal bonds. Sales covered short-term bond, consumer discretionary, and Europe ETFs.
He traded defense names including Palantir (bought small, sold larger amounts around a U.S.-Iran peace deal), RTX, and Northrop Grumman. Coinbase shares were sold then partially bought back amid Bitcoin’s decline.
The filing shows ranges rather than exact amounts and does not reveal total holdings. The White House has said Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that there are no conflicts of interest.
Interesting: Meta says it could face $1.2 trillion in damages in its latest social media trial in California.
The social media giant could be forced to remove addictive features such as infinite scrolling.
The California Attorney General signaled that other social media platforms will also be held to account.
Surprising: Tesla recalls 3 million vehicles in China over doorhandle safety, driver monitoring. Also, Nvidia said it will raise prices for some of its largest customers by at least 15%.
💵 Personal Finance
Tariff Refunds Enrich Companies, Not Shoppers
US businesses received a windfall of tariff refunds after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration’s global tariffs illegal. As of July 31, Customs and Border Protection had returned about $100 billion of the $168 billion collected from 330,000 importers.
Big names cashed in: Walmart $2.9 billion, Apple an estimated $2.2 billion, Ford $1.3 billion, Target $994 million, Home Depot $730 million, Nike $684 million, and Amazon $640 million.
Consumers who paid higher prices to cover those tariffs are unlikely to see much of the money. Pricing depends on many factors beyond costs—demand, algorithms, and competition. Companies often treat the refunds as a buffer against rising energy expenses or soft sales rather than direct customer rebates.
Walmart and Target said they plan price cuts linked to the refunds, but both also cited weak consumer spending and high gas prices. Shipping firms like FedEx and UPS are returning shares to customers who paid the duties. Amazon noted only limited cases where it would pass refunds along.
An estimate puts the average household’s extra cost at about $1,700 in 2025–2026, with just 15–20% expected to return via lower prices or refunds.
Smaller firms faced a tougher path. Many could not raise prices without losing sales and simply absorbed the tariffs. One Minnesota baby-products maker received a $50,000 refund—far less than the losses that forced staff cuts and heavy credit-card debt. The money is going toward survival, not customers.
Most Americans who paid more at the register will not get a matching refund.
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