Yesterday was a pretty good session, all things considered. Early strength didn’t attract buyers but held, and right now, that’s a win.

Companies that posted strong earnings and guidance got belated love; Moderna Inc (MRNA) is still riding the cancer vaccine high, and fintech is edging higher ahead of the Jackson Hole Summit.

Consumer Weakening

I’m not a huge fan of some of the decisions Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) has made in recent years, but they survived the purge of national sporting retailers. I didn’t get a chance to dig into the details (the company removed earnings slides from its website two years ago), but they missed it by a mile and paid a huge price.

Was it the ‘Foot Locker’ takeover (or a rotten shopping experience), or the consumer?

Shares of Dick’s were already lurching lower on increased volume, so maybe someone knew something.  The shares were hammered down by 30%. I’m not sure any company deserves that kind of haircut on earnings news.

Biggest Decliners

Dick’s dragged several retailers down in the session. This followed a weak retail sales report, slower Redbook trends, and Apple’s (AAPL) App Store quarterly sales declining for the first time in a decade. 

According to the Conference Board Consumer Survey, people expect to spend less on restaurants, streaming and internet services, beauty and health care, and we are all bracing for higher utility bills.

Oil Must Come Down

Crude oil came down in the session, and a seven–handle drop would be cheered by markets. Perhaps this happens if the latest ceasefire really works out.

Jensen Knows to Sell

Jensen Huang has been great at buying, but his job after the close is to sell. Whatever the results are, he will have to convince investors that all their investing is more than a replay of dot.com era shenanigans to inflate demand. I admire his achievement, but I am not a big fan of the man. Still, I think the stock price is extremely undervalued.

Moreover, I think the relentless campaign to derail the artificial intelligence (AI) trade is a dangerous political gambit.

The options market is pricing a 4.6% move, the lowest in almost two years.

Speaking of earnings after closing, software names were hit after posting results:

• Intuit Inc (INTU)
• NCNO
• Zoom Communications (ZM)

Active traders have been arbitraging, with buyers shifting into anti-AI niches, including software (and consulting and data-based businesses), but that is not a substitute for fundamental investing. That lesson can be driven home over the next 24 hours. Of course, that would mean good earnings could move the needle, but that hasn’t been the case.

Main Street investors have remained confident in the market, and that gives me confidence – even if Wall Street will never give so-called “dumb money” proper respect.

Today’s Session

This morning we learned personal income came in at +0.4%, double consensus and twice the pace of spending, helping lift the savings rate.

Headline PCE was slightly above consensus, but core edged down to 3.3% on a year-to-year basis.

Core PCE is the key, and it's moving in the right direction.

Meta Platforms (META) settled its case with California and other states, and the stock is climbing.

Otherwise, it's all quiet on the Western Front…for now.

We'll have more on Nvidia (NVDA) reporting after the close in the afternoon note.

Comments

Why aren’t you a big fan? David Ramella on 8/26/2026 9:16:05 AM

I have several questions that could affect the answer dramatically. First, how much will be saved annually from the massive fraud that has been uncovered if it is eliminated? Next, instead of viewing problems as a zero sum game, how much could our tax system be improved through proper tariffs and increased corporate tax revenue from the AI boom actually begin to reduce the blance. ? Could those items dramatically start to reduce the deficits if we were to cap spending? Seems to me we are approaching this the wrong way if we truly are a country that is based on capitalism. C. Raymond Weldon on 8/26/2026 10:35:55 AM

ENtitlements as currently structured are a trap to those getting low income svcs such as foodstamp or housing etc.. If the make money past certain limits they loose all of a particular benefit. A rethink of this scheme needs to allow individuals on assistance to do better but not lose all of a benefit at the arbitrary cutoff. If you exceed by $200 you lose $100 in benefit. Thus you are doing $100 better than before. Currently if you have a $500 dollar benefit you exceed by $200 the recipient loses the whole $500 dollar benefit. THis leaves them $300 worse of each month/period of benifit. It is a trap and without some more intelligent thinking lower income individual find them selves in a trap. This is not rocket science. Build a system that allows for a person to slow grow out of the support system and get off the entitlement ...over a period of time and growth. Warren Curry on 8/27/2026 10:00:11 PM

If it reduces long term debt, and also brings the market into equilibrium, not inflated. I will. Real estate is very inflated. John Karnes on 8/28/2026 11:40:15 AM

Would you vote for the party that cuts entitlements and, in the process, sends markets lower, including lower assessments of homes? I'm in favor of DOING SOMETHING to address this cliff we're approaching... not sure when it will be but there's a point where NO ONE will want our debt...and then what happens? [Total collapse?]. just think if we had invested a portion of the Social Security Trust Fund in the S&P 25 years ago... think the total return would have been over 700%. our politicians don't want to solve anything. so frustrating! planning on selling my house in the next year or 2 and renting... collapse is coming chip huntley on 8/31/2026 12:55:05 PM

Possibly, as long as they first did everything they could to root out fraud, corruption, and wasteful spending and were smart about things! Chris H. on 9/2/2026 9:14:35 AM

I would not vote for a party that cuts entitlements based on a single assumption that it would be detrimental to the market Carl Kolenda on 9/4/2026 10:43:51 PM

I hope you are not including Social Security and Medicare as entitlements! I paid into both for over 60+ years on the promise that they would be there after I retired! So if you think I’m going to want these two programs cut my answer is hell no! If the government can’t find cuts elsewhere or correct all the fraud that’s been uncovered then they need to suffer the consequences not us hard working Americans! Let the chips fall where they will 🫵 Randy Ochs on 9/8/2026 11:40:52 AM

I am interested in keeping Social Security solvent. I don't cater to the fear that it will run out or be discontinued in the near future. We have many levers to pull to provide for the future. One suggestion to help combat fear of AI taking over emplyee jobs, thus reducing amounts contributed to the Social Security fund. Just have all employers replacing humans with robots take 15.3 % of hourly guaranteed wage ( no maximum cut off ) and contribute that to the Social Secutity fund. This way employers are obligated to maintain at least the current level of Social Security contributions. John on 9/9/2026 12:07:03 PM

Yes I would vote for someone who would be willing to control spending. Rick Witthus on 9/14/2026 12:29:54 PM

Tweet

 

Home | Products & Services | Education | In The Media | Help | About Us | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | All Rights Reserved.