Market Snapshot
| Index | Close | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,748.50 | +20.30 | +0.26% |
| NASDAQ | 26,588.49 | +143.04 | +0.54% |
| DOW | 53,770.27 | -21.58 | -0.04% |
| Russell 2000 | 3,045.48 | +18.36 | +0.61% |
| VIX | 14.55 | -0.73 | -4.78% |
A quiet tape hiding a decisive session. July CPI landed on the soft side of expectations, and the market’s response was to buy breadth rather than chase the index: the Russell outperformed the S&P, the NASDAQ led on an AI-infrastructure re-rating, and volatility broke to 14.55 — the lowest close in weeks. The Dow’s fractional loss is the only red on the board, and it is noise.
Breaking News & Macro Events
July CPI cools to 3.4% annual, headline up 0.1% on the month — Yahoo Finance / BLS
The July print came in at +0.1% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year, with core CPI at +0.2% and 2.5% annually. Both headline and core ticked down from June. The important caveat: this data covers July, which means it predates the August energy shock entirely — the Strait of Hormuz closure that added roughly 7% to crude in the first half of this month will not show up until the August report lands in September. Markets treated the print as removing near-term pressure for another hike; odds of the Fed holding at the September meeting rose on the release.
Intel prices upsized $20 billion common stock offering at $95 — Intel Investor Relations
Intel priced 210,526,315 shares at $95, upsizing from the $15 billion originally proposed and netting approximately $19.7 billion. The deal closed today, and the stock finished at $100.95 — 6.3% above the offer price and up 3.3% on the session. A dilutive raise of this size that leaves the stock well through the strike is the market telling you it wants Intel to have the capital more than it minds the dilution. Proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes including capital expenditures.
Nvidia signs MOUs with six firms to mobilize $500 billion for AI infrastructure — Benzinga
Confirmed August 10: memoranda of understanding with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to mobilize more than $500 billion of third-party capital for AI infrastructure over time. Combined with Supermicro’s guidance tonight, this is the second data point this week arguing that the funding layer beneath AI capex is deepening rather than tightening.
Economic Calendar
Key Data:
| Indicator | Latest | Previous | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fed Funds Rate | 3.63% | 3.63% | 2026-07-01 |
| CPI (index) | 332.813 | 332.568 | 2026-07-01 |
| Unemployment | 4.1% | 4.2% | 2026-07-01 |
| 10Y Yield | 4.70% | 4.72% | 2026-08-11 |
| Breakeven Inflation | 2.27% | 2.29% | 2026-08-11 |
Breakevens slipped two basis points and the 10-year barely moved on the day. The bond market did not treat this CPI as a regime change in either direction — it took the print, shrugged, and left the September question open.
Next FOMC Meeting: 2026-09-15 to 09-16 (34 days away)
Upcoming Releases (Next 7 Days):
| Date | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-13 | Producer Price Index (July) | 8:30 a.m. ET — the pipeline read on the same disinflation |
| 2026-08-13 | Initial Jobless Claims (weekly) | 8:30 a.m. ET |
| 2026-08-14 | Advance Retail Sales (July) | 8:30 a.m. ET |
Watchlist
Dividend Stocks
COST — Costco Wholesale ($949.58, +0.56%)
- Earnings: 2026-09-24 (43 days away)
- Ex-Dividend: 2026-07-23 (passed) | Yield: 0.62%
- 52W Range: $844.06 — $1,096.50
- News: No significant developments.
NKE — Nike Inc. ($40.51, -1.96%)
- Earnings: 2026-09-29 (48 days away)
- Ex-Dividend: 2026-08-31 (19 days) | Yield: 3.97%
- 52W Range: $40.00 — $80.17 (1.3% above the 52-week low) ⚠️
- News: Nike declares $0.41 quarterly dividend — the payout holds while the stock sits on its floor, which is how a 3.97% yield gets built. Shares are down roughly 49% from the 52-week high.
PFE — Pfizer Inc. ($26.31, -1.16%)
- Earnings: 2026-11-03 (83 days away)
- Ex-Dividend: 2026-07-23 (passed) | Yield: 6.46%
- 52W Range: $23.58 — $28.75
- News: No verified developments today.
UPS — United Parcel Service ($103.91, -0.50%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-27 (76 days away)
- Ex-Dividend: 2026-08-16 (4 days) ⚠️ | Yield: 6.28%
- 52W Range: $82.00 — $122.41
- News: No significant developments.
Growth Stocks
AAPL — Apple Inc. ($302.25, -0.87%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-29 (78 days away)
- 52W Range: $223.78 — $344.57
- News: Third straight down session, extending the slide that began with the July 31 gap lower.
AMZN — Amazon.com Inc. ($267.28, -1.83%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-29 (78 days away)
- 52W Range: $196.00 — $287.20
- News: Zoox launching paid robotaxi service in Las Vegas — the autonomy unit moves to commercial revenue.
CRCL — Circle Internet Group ($71.28, +0.17%)
- Earnings: 2026-08-05 (reported)
- 52W Range: $49.90 — $164.64
- News: Flat on the day. Still 57% below the 52-week high.
GOOG — Alphabet Inc. ($342.37, -0.18%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-28 (77 days away)
- 52W Range: $197.46 — $404.47
- News: Steady after yesterday’s 3.6% decline.
HIMS — Hims & Hers Health ($29.97, -1.77%)
- Earnings: 2026-11-09 (89 days away)
- 52W Range: $13.74 — $65.30
- News: Q2 revenue $753.2M, up 38.2% year-over-year — top line beat, but the company swung to a quarterly loss and the stock has stayed heavy since.
INTC — Intel Corporation ($100.95, +3.32%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-10-22 (71 days away)
- 52W Range: $21.36 — $142.35
- News: $20 billion offering priced at $95, closed today — see Breaking News above. Shares cleared the offer price by 6.3%.
LUNA — Luna Innovations (no current data)
- Note: No quote returned for today’s session; last available close was $1.27 on 2026-08-11 on thin volume. The data provider flags the listing as possibly delisted. This name warrants a manual status check.
META — Meta Platforms ($578.85, -3.38%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-10-28 (77 days away)
- 52W Range: $520.26 — $796.25
- News: Meta stock falls on privacy complaint and China setback — a German advocacy group filed a criminal complaint over the smart glasses, and the planned acquisition of Chinese startup Manus collapsed. Underneath both: investors are increasingly unwilling to fund $125–145 billion of 2026 capex without a clearer revenue path. The recovery above $600 has now failed.
MSTR — Strategy ($94.83, -1.31%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-29 (78 days away)
- 52W Range: $81.81 — $399.44
- News: No significant developments. Trading 76% below the 52-week high.
NNE — Nano Nuclear Energy ($19.01, -1.91%)
- Earnings: 2026-08-12 — reporting today ⚠️ (consensus -$0.24)
- 52W Range: $14.71 — $60.87
- News: Q3 FY2026 results and business update webcast scheduled for today.
NVDA — NVIDIA Corporation ($224.09, +3.03%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-08-26 (14 days away) ⚠️ (consensus $2.08 EPS, $91.8B revenue)
- 52W Range: $164.07 — $236.54
- News: $500 billion AI infrastructure capital MOU with six major firms — momentum building into the print. Now 5.3% below the 52-week high.
OKLO — Oklo Inc. ($45.13, -4.00%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-08-07 (reported)
- 52W Range: $36.61 — $193.84
- News: Analysts including Citi cut price targets after Q2 showed a wider-than-expected loss and raised cash-burn guidance. The company did book its first revenue — $1.21 million — but the market is focused on the burn. Down 77% from the 52-week high.
RKLB — Rocket Lab USA ($81.17, +1.45%)
- Earnings: 2026-11-09 (89 days away)
- 52W Range: $37.57 — $151.00
- News: Recovering after last week’s Q2 report, which showed record revenue and a larger backlog but drew questions on the Neutron timeline.
SMCI — Super Micro Computer ($37.61, +19.02%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-11-03 (83 days away) — Q4 FY2026 reported last night
- 52W Range: $19.48 — $58.78
- News: Record Q4 FY2026 results and a $72 billion FY27 revenue ceiling — the day’s standout. Gross margin nearly doubled to 17.5% from 9.5% a year ago, crushing guidance of 8.2–8.4%. EPS came in at $1.70, far above consensus. Revenue of $11.12B actually missed, but nobody cared: the company guided FY2027 revenue to $65–72 billion against roughly $53 billion consensus and disclosed $60 billion+ in new orders booked in the quarter. Volume hit 164 million shares, well above the prior session’s 96 million.
SMR — NuScale Power ($9.59, -3.03%) ⚠️
- Earnings: 2026-11-05 (85 days away)
- 52W Range: $7.21 — $57.42
- News: Down in sympathy with the broader nuclear complex on Oklo’s analyst cuts. No company-specific catalyst identified.
SOFI — SoFi Technologies ($17.94, -0.22%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-27 (76 days away)
- 52W Range: $14.88 — $32.73
- News: Quiet session following the early-August Q2 beat and raised revenue guidance.
TEM — Tempus AI ($54.61, -1.94%)
- Earnings: 2026-11-03 (83 days away)
- 52W Range: $40.77 — $104.32
- News: Still digesting the announced all-stock acquisition of Personalis from earlier this month.
TSM — Taiwan Semiconductor ($429.15, +1.68%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-15 (64 days away)
- 52W Range: $223.70 — $479.00
- News: July revenue up 44.7% year-over-year — NT$467.58 billion, with year-to-date sales up 37% and capex guidance raised. The cleanest monthly confirmation available that AI demand is still accelerating at the foundry level.
UNH — UnitedHealth Group ($405.59, +0.85%)
- Earnings: 2026-10-27 (76 days away)
- 52W Range: $255.97 — $461.62
- News: Grinding higher; no material developments.
Commodities & FX
| Asset | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | $4,468.00 | +$85.00 | +1.94% |
| WTI Oil | $82.85 | -$0.35 | -0.42% |
| Brent Oil | $88.61 | -$0.30 | -0.34% |
| EUR/USD | 1.1526 | -0.0020 | -0.18% |
| USD/JPY | 159.46 | +0.30 | +0.19% |
| 10Y Yield | 4.682% | -0.002 | -0.2 bp |
| US Dollar (DXY) | 100.01 | +0.19 | +0.19% |
Gold’s advance is the week’s quiet story — up roughly 5% over five sessions to a new high near $4,468, with a cooler CPI and a Fed that cannot agree on direction doing the work. Crude finally paused after the Hormuz-driven run, with WTI and Brent each easing a fraction of a percent. The dollar reclaimed 100.
Notable Voices
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warns dollar dominance depends on being “the strongest military” — Jamie Dimon, Fortune (2026-08-11)
Dimon argued the dollar’s reserve-currency status is at genuine risk within 25 years if the US fails to maintain both military and economic primacy — “If we’re not the strongest military in 25 years and the strongest economy, we won’t be the reserve currency either.” It is a long-horizon argument, but it lands in a week when gold is making new highs and the DXY is scraping the 100 line.
Tech Awakens, Tom Lee Makes August Call — Tom Lee, Fundstrat (2026-08-09)
Lee remains constructive on equities coming out of earnings season, pointing to roughly 21% earnings growth even after stripping out investment gains. His case rests on corporate fundamentals rather than positioning or technicals — a view today’s Supermicro and TSMC numbers did nothing to undermine.
Market Outlook
A benign July CPI — 0.1% monthly, 3.4% annual, with core easing to 2.5% — let equities grind higher on improving breadth, and Supermicro’s guidance shock did the rest, pulling NVDA, TSM and INTC along with it while the VIX broke to 14.55. The more useful read is what did not happen: breakevens fell two basis points and the 10-year sat still, meaning the bond market extracted no new information from the print and the September FOMC remains genuinely contested, with at least one voter having already dissented in favor of a hike. Investors should hold that disinflation read loosely — July’s data predates August’s energy shock entirely, and the roughly 7% crude move of the past two weeks will not appear until the September release. Meanwhile the AI-infrastructure complex is re-rating on funding and order-book evidence rather than sentiment, which is a sturdier foundation than the one it stood on in the spring, though it raises the bar for what counts as a beat. The next two sessions bring PPI and retail sales, and the setup into Nvidia’s August 26 print now carries materially higher expectations than it did a week ago.
This digest is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
References
- Yahoo Finance, “Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq edge higher on cooler inflation data, strong earnings,” 2026-08-12
- Intel Corporation, “Intel Announces Upsize and Pricing of $20 Billion Common Stock Offering,” Intel Investor Relations, 2026-08-11
- CNBC, “Intel upsizes stock offering to $20 billion at $95 per share as AI demand accelerates,” 2026-08-10
- Benzinga, “What’s Going On With Nvidia Stock on Wednesday?,” 2026-08-12
- Vantage Markets, “NVDA Holds $217 as Nvidia Lands $500B AI Deal,” 2026-08-12
- Super Micro Computer, Inc., “Form 8-K — Q4 FY2026 Business Update,” SEC EDGAR, 2026-08-11
- Invezz, “Meta stock plunges 3% today: here’s why,” 2026-08-12
- The Motley Fool, “Taiwan Semiconductor’s July Revenue Rose 45%,” 2026-08-12
- StockStory, “Hims and Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS) Exceeds Q2 CY2026 Expectations But Stock Drops,” 2026-08-10
- The Motley Fool, “Huge News for Amazon Stock Investors,” 2026-08-08
- Yahoo Finance, “Nike Inc. Declares $0.41 Quarterly Dividend,” 2026-08-11
- Fortune, “JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warns dollar dominance depends on being ’the strongest military’,” 2026-08-11
- Fundstrat, “Tech Awakens, Tom Lee Makes August Call,” Fundstrat Direct, 2026-08-09
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Schedule of Releases for the Producer Price Index,” 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau, “Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services,” 2026
- Federal Reserve, “FOMC Calendars,” 2026