Quick Hits

• A New Era at Berkshire: Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B), deployed $23.5 billion into equities during his first quarter at the helm, marking the company's first net-buying streak in over three years.
• NVIDIA Pivots on Memory Constraints: NVIDIA (NVDA) is actively redesigning its flagship Rubin Ultra chips around severe memory supply limitations, reportedly testing configurations with as little as 192GB of HBM—down drastically from a planned 1TB—and stepping back from HBM4E to HBM4 purely to secure adequate supply.
• Historic Fed Friction: Three FOMC members dissented at the July 28-29 meeting, marking the first time in 56 years such a split has occurred. Meanwhile, futures markets are aggressively pricing out a September rate hike, even as 10-year Treasury yields push past 4.7%.
• Cannabis Consolidation: Curaleaf (CURLF) launched a hostile takeover bid for rival Aurora Cannabis (ACB), a rare aggressive maneuver in a sector that has historically struggled to find its footing.
• AI Inference Race Accelerates: Bloomberg Intelligence projects the AI inference market will double the size of the AI training market by 2032, kicking off a projected $1.3 to $1.4 trillion infrastructure boom heading into 2027.

Markets Overview

Major indices continue to grind higher, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC), Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all rallying to multiple all-time highs in 2026. However, the relentless uphill march is flashing technical warning signs. According to The Motley Fool, the market is currently exhibiting a pattern observed only once before—drawing uncomfortable comparisons to the exuberance preceding the Dot-Com bubble.

The secondary market is also seeing fresh action. SpaceX (SPCX), which went public earlier this summer in a massive IPO, has pulled back 35% from its post-IPO peak despite carrying a valuation north of $2 trillion. Wall Street remains deeply bullish, with a median analyst target suggesting 129% upside. In digital assets, analysts are closely watching an impending changing of the guard, with predictions that Solana (SOL) could eclipse Ethereum (ETH) as the world's top altcoin by 2030.

Fed & Economic Data

The macro backdrop remains incredibly tense. 10-year Treasury yields have broken past 4.7%, fueled by persistently elevated inflation and lingering geopolitical risks in the Middle East. Wells Fargo is urging clients to hedge ahead of July’s CPI print, noting their proprietary sell-trigger sentiment indicator has reached 1.4—the highest level since January 2018.

Despite soaring equities, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh faces an increasingly fractured committee and a challenging economic landscape. While odds of a September rate hike have plunged, The Motley Fool notes Warsh has two nontraditional methods at his disposal to effectively tighten financial conditions without standard rate hikes. For investors looking beyond traditional bonds, Panumre Liberum argues that copper is currently more precious than gold, offering similar inflation protection but backed by industrial demand and relative immunity to interest rate movements.

Earnings Reports

Earnings season is delivering sharp bifurcations. Marex Group (MRX) posted strong non-GAAP EPS of $1.64 (beating by $0.28) on revenue of $695.8 million. Canadian grocer Metro (MRU) also beat top-line estimates with $6.97 billion in revenue. Kontoor Brands (KTB) lifted its full-year profit guidance following solid quarters for its Wrangler and Helly Hansen brands.

Conversely, clinical-stage pharma companies struggled, with Milestone Pharmaceuticals (MIST) missing EPS estimates by a penny (-$0.21) and Acumen Pharmaceuticals (ABOS) missing by $0.12 (-$0.45). Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer emphasizes that current market buoyancy is driven by actual earnings growth rather than expanding valuations. This is evident in the SaaS space, which is staging a powerful comeback after last year's AI-obsolescence fears. Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer (SMCI) is rallying post-earnings.

Hot Sectors

The semiconductor narrative is shifting from pure performance to supply chain survival. While Morgan Stanley forecasts a massive $1.4 trillion AI capex boom in 2027, the immediate bottleneck is memory. As NVIDIA scales back its HBM requirements, global players are racing for sovereignty. SK Telecom and AI chip startup Rebellions are expanding South Korea's domestic AI infrastructure specifically to decrease reliance on NVIDIA's ecosystem.

Sony (SONY) is emerging as a classic value play with a hidden AI catalyst following news of a $6.4 billion AI chip joint venture with TSMC. Furthermore, the massive electricity demands of AI data centers are sparking a renaissance in natural gas, driving investors toward high-yield midstream pipeline stocks that offer defensive yields insulated from oil price volatility.

Stock News

Greg Abel is decisively stepping out from under Warren Buffett's shadow, pivoting Berkshire Hathaway from a net seller to a massive net buyer of stocks. In the healthcare and consumer spaces, a deep dive into Hims & Hers (HIMS) 10-Q reveals that while overall revenue skyrocketed 38% last quarter, underlying US revenue growth was a much slower 16% (up just 3% for the half-year). Elsewhere, Lionsgate (LION) continues to frustrate shareholders, missing the mark yet again despite leveraging its strongest studio publicity and box office success since the Hunger Games franchise.