admin – Page 5 – The Insightful Investing

Stock

Software stocks are back from the dead as AI fuels growth: can the rally continue?

September 6, 2026 Stock 8 Mins Read

Earlier this year, a fear psychosis had gripped investors that advances in AI would replace software firms, and the sector was all but written off.

Anthropic’s launch of new plugins for its Claude Cowork system in February sparked a global selloff in software firms, with the US markets alone losing $300 billion in market value in a day.

The pressure did not leave the sector for a while, and a new phrase called ‘SaaSpocalypse’ started being circulated, signaling the imminent doom of the software sector.

However, the latest earnings season has shown that software companies are not going anywhere.

Ironically, AI, which had seemed to sound the sector’s death knell, is helping the industry rewrite its next growth story.

Late last month, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) broke into positive territory on a year-to-date basis, powered by a particularly strong earnings beat from software bellwether Salesforce.

The ETF is up about 10% in the last one month.

The State Street Software and Services ETF, which tracks about 130 software and IT stocks, hit a new all-time high in August.

It is up 11% in the last one month and 10% year to date, after remaining under pressure until the end of July.

The recovery represents more than a simple reversal in investor sentiment.

It suggests that markets are beginning to distinguish between software companies that could be disrupted by AI and those that may actually benefit from it.

Snowflake offers a fresh signal for software investors

Snowflake shares surged nearly 25% on Thursday after the company raised its annual product revenue forecast, strengthening investor confidence that AI-related spending could become a powerful driver of growth for software firms.

The cloud data platform provider lifted its fiscal 2027 product revenue forecast to $6.07 billion from $5.84 billion and posted a 37% jump in second-quarter product revenue.

Its AI offerings accounted for “approximately half of the acceleration” in growth, according to CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy.

Snowflake’s coding assistant, Cortex Code, topped 9,100 accounts after adding more than 2,000 customers during the quarter, while enterprise chatbot CoWork expanded to 5,800 accounts.

The significance of the results goes beyond Snowflake itself.

They suggest that companies are beginning to spend more on software specifically because AI workloads require more data, automation, and computing infrastructure.

A third straight quarter of accelerating growth amid high expectations “underscore just how well AI is monetizing and driving greater consumption in the core platform,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

Salesforce challenges the ‘SaaSpocalypse’ narrative

Salesforce has provided perhaps the clearest rebuttal to the idea that AI will simply eliminate enterprise software.

Salesforce shares jumped about 12% last month after the company raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts and expanded its partnership with Anthropic through a new artificial intelligence integration.

The company also reported higher second-quarter profit and revenue on rising demand for its artificial intelligence and data offerings.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff used the results to push back against the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative.

“This SaaSpocalypse narrative has been such nonsense,” Benioff told Cramer on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

“Frontier models depend on CRM. They don’t replace it.”

According to Benioff, nine of the 10 leading artificial intelligence companies use Salesforce and Slack, with spending on the platforms increasing 435% from a year earlier.

The argument highlights one of the most important distinctions emerging in the software sector.

Companies with proprietary data, deeply embedded workflows and large installed customer bases may be harder to replace than smaller software providers whose products can be replicated by AI models.

Nicholas Frasse, product manager for thematic ETFs at VanEck, said that distinction is increasingly becoming important for investors.

“I don’t think all SaaS companies are created equal,” Frasse told MarketWatch.

“There are entrenched businesses like Salesforce that own a very proprietary set of data that make them much more formidable in this new era, and also probably a much bigger benefactor of the technology.”

That could mean the software sector is unlikely to move as one group going forward.

“Investors and the market have started to find the signal through the noise,” Frasse said.

“You’re starting to see much more nuanced activity around individual names depending on the individual business model, rather than systemic buying or selling of an entire category.”

ServiceNow and Workday show another side of the AI trade

ServiceNow has also emerged as a beneficiary of the shift in sentiment.

The company raised its forecast for annual subscription revenue for the second time in July after beating second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, driven by growing demand for its AI-powered software.

CEO Bill McDermott said he had not seen any change to sales cycles from increased hardware and AI spending.

ServiceNow said its AI platform has seen widespread adoption across the public sector, with nearly all 50 US states now using it to improve citizen services and modernize operations.

The company also crossed $1 billion in annual contract value for its AI offerings.

Workday is seeing a similar trend.

Shares of the finance and human resources software provider soared after the company reported higher profit and rising revenue in its fiscal second quarter, driven by growing adoption of its artificial intelligence agents.

Workday has been embedding AI across its platform to automate tasks ranging from payroll processing to financial forecasting, with the aim of increasing efficiency for customers.

“We had a strong Q2, with AI driving more than 25% of our new ACV and more than 5,500 customers now using at least one of our organic agents,” co-founder and Chief Executive Aneel Bhusri said.

Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe added that AI is driving Workday’s customer expansion.

Cybersecurity is emerging as another AI winner

Another category of software companies is benefiting from the heightened cybersecurity risks that AI has ushered in.

CrowdStrike shares jumped more than 9% after the cybersecurity company beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year revenue forecast, as businesses stepped up spending to protect against increasingly sophisticated threats linked to artificial intelligence.

Chief Executive George Kurtz described the quarter as a milestone for the company, pointing to the growing realization among enterprises that adopting AI also creates new cybersecurity risks.

The second quarter “was the best quarter in CrowdStrike’s history,” Kurtz said in a statement.

“The Mythos moment translated into mass-market acceptance that AI adoption needs security.”

“Every enterprise will run on AI, and securing it is the largest market opportunity in our history.”

CrowdStrike’s shares have already gained more than 66% this year, supported by expectations that rapid adoption of generative and agentic AI will expand the market for cybersecurity products.

Palo Alto Networks has also pointed to the same dynamic.

Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora said enterprises are increasingly recognizing that they need to modernize cyber defenses as AI models become more powerful, particularly following Anthropic’s release of Mythos.

“In that context, people are gravitating towards the largest players in the industry and looking at us to provide the antidotes to this development in AI,” Arora said in an interview.

The cybersecurity trade therefore offers a different way to play the AI boom.

Chip stocks see some decline as software rebounds but both reinforcing each other’s growth

The resurgence in software stocks is perhaps also coming at the cost of interest in the most red-hot trade — chip stocks.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is down more than 7% in the last one month, even as software ETFs have rallied during the same time, as mentioned earlier.

Although SOXX remains up about 60% this year, the recent divergence represents a notable change in investor behavior.

Veteran technology investor Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management, highlighted the shift in a recent post on X.

He noted that many AI investors had been bullish on semiconductors and bearish on software on the belief that AI would displace many point-solution software companies.

But the unwinding of that trade has produced a sharp reversal.

“But since the unwinding of the Momentum trade which started on 6/22 (I wrote about these concerns on 6/20), IGV has rallied 25% while the SOX Index has declined 22% through 8/28,” Niles said.

He also pointed to a potential new bullish argument for software: AI agents could access software tools far more frequently than human users.

“But a bullish twist on AI for the software sector introduced recently is that AI agents will access software tools ~10-100x more often than humans,” he said.

That could potentially create an entirely new source of software consumption, even as AI reduces the need for certain individual applications.

Can the software rally continue?

The biggest question now is whether the software rally is based on improving fundamentals or simply a reversal in positioning.

Mizuho desk-based analyst Jordan Klein argued that the latest rally has much more to do with “positioning” among institutional investors than anything particularly new in the core fundamentals.

A number of hedge funds and long-only growth managers had owned less software than the sector’s representation in the broader market, partly because of AI concerns and partly because software had become a “funding short” used to finance larger bullish positions in semiconductors and AI hardware.

That underweight positioning could leave room for further gains.

Based on this positioning, Klein believes software names could continue to climb higher well into September and October.

He expects Salesforce shares to move higher into its Dreamforce conference next month, although he cautioned that he would not “chase” the stock at current prices, instead preferring names such as ServiceNow and Microsoft.

The software sector’s comeback therefore appears more nuanced than a simple return to its pre-AI trajectory.

The post Software stocks are back from the dead as AI fuels growth: can the rally continue? appeared first on Invezz

Keep Reading

Investing

Intel (INTC) Stock Prediction: $150 Bull vs $55 Bear

September 6, 2026 Investing 12 Mins Read

Intel reported an $11.0bn net loss in its second quarter of 2026 and the business was not losing money. Those two statements are both true, and the reconciliation between them is the single most misunderstood number in large-cap semiconductors. Intel closed at $95.80 on 4 September 2026, up 4.51%, having risen roughly 289% over twelve months from a low of $24.08. The loss that dominates every summary of the company is driven by a $13.6bn non-cash mark-to-market charge on Escrowed Shares – Intel stock held in escrow for the US Department of Commerce – and that charge is measured in Intel’s own equity. It therefore gets larger when the share price goes up. Intel is the only company of its size where a rally mechanically manufactures a bigger reported loss.

This is not a technicality worth a footnote. It inverts the normal relationship between share price and reported earnings, and it will keep doing so. Intel traded at $87.48 in late August. It is $95.80 now. Everything else equal, that 9.5% appreciation makes the next quarter’s escrow charge bigger than the last one, which means the next set of headlines will describe a larger GAAP loss produced in part by the stock having gone up. Anyone screening on reported earnings, and any model that treats the loss as an operating result, is reading Intel’s equity appreciation as though it were business deterioration. The figure sits in plain sight in the company’s own cash-flow reconciliation, added straight back as a non-cash item.

Key facts

Intel closed at $95.80 on 4 September 2026, up 4.51%, and 32.0% below its 52-week closing high of $140.94 – stockanalysis.com daily closes, retrieved 5 September 2026
Second-quarter revenue was $16.13bn, up from $13.65bn a year earlier, with gross profit of $6.51bn for a gross margin of 40.4% – Intel Q2 2026 results, 23 July 2026 (margin is a FinanceFeeds calculation)
GAAP net loss was $11.03bn, of which $13.62bn is a non-cash mark-to-market loss on Escrowed Shares, listed as an add-back in the cash-flow reconciliation against nil in the prior-year period – same filing
Restructuring and other charges were $3.97bn in the period, against $382m a year earlier – same filing
Research and development ran $3.37bn, equal to 20.9% of revenue – Intel Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 24 July 2026 (FinanceFeeds calculation)
Intel has approximately 5,044 million shares outstanding, for a market capitalisation of roughly $483bn at the 4 September close – Q2 2026 Form 10-Q cover, FinanceFeeds calculation
The company has removed roughly 39,700 people in two years – see our analysis of Intel’s headcount reduction

What the escrow charge actually is

Under Intel’s arrangements with the US government tied to CHIPS Act support, a block of Intel shares sits in escrow for release to the Department of Commerce. Because the obligation is settled in Intel’s own stock and carried at fair value, it behaves as a liability that tracks the share price. When Intel’s equity appreciates, the value of what Intel owes appreciates with it, and the increase runs through the income statement as a loss.

The mechanics are visible in the primary filing rather than inferred. In the reconciliation from net loss to cash provided by operating activities, Intel adds back a line reading “Mark-to-market (gains) losses on Escrowed Shares” of 13,619, in millions of dollars, against a blank for the same period a year earlier. An add-back in that statement is the accounting definition of a charge that consumed no cash.

Two consequences follow. The first is that Intel’s GAAP earnings are, for now, an unreliable guide to the operating business, and the gap is not small or seasonal – it is larger than the loss itself. The second is directional and easy to miss: because the charge scales with the share price, the better the equity performs, the worse the reported number looks. That relationship holds until the escrowed shares are released, and it means Intel’s headline results and its shareholder outcomes will keep pointing in opposite directions.

None of this makes the operating business good. It makes it separately assessable, which is the necessary first step.

What the operating business actually did

Revenue of $16.13bn was up from $13.65bn a year earlier, and management framed the quarter as an execution beat. “We delivered a strong second quarter, exceeding our financial guidance on robust demand and improved execution, including volume upside driven by higher factory yields and improved cycle times,” said Dave Zinsner, Intel chief financial officer, in the results release.

Higher factory yields is the phrase that matters for a company whose central problem for half a decade has been manufacturing. Yield is the variable that converts Intel’s enormous fixed-cost base from a liability into leverage, because the fabs are already built and paid for. Gross margin of 40.4% remains far below the company’s historical peak and far below what a healthy foundry-plus-products business should generate, but the direction is the argument.

Lip-Bu Tan, Intel chief executive, positioned the company against the demand cycle rather than against a specific competitor: “AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network.”

Note what is being sold there. Not a GPU roadmap. A CPU franchise, custom ASIC work, advanced packaging and foundry capacity. That is a deliberate repositioning away from competing head-on with Nvidia on accelerators and toward being infrastructure that other designers use. Whether the market pays for that is the entire Intel question.

Zinsner also flagged the cost of it: Intel is “meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates” to support expected growth this year and next. Restructuring and other charges of $3.97bn in the quarter, against $382m a year earlier, show the other side of the same reshaping.

Three companies, one cycle, three positions in the value chain

Intel’s 40.4% gross margin is best understood next to its peers this quarter, because the three of them map the AI supply chain from end to end.

Company	Latest gross margin	Position in the chain
Micron	84.6%	Supply-constrained memory; sets price
AMD	54% GAAP	Fabless designer; pays memory, pays TSMC
Intel	40.4%	Designs and manufactures; carries the fabs

The pattern is not about competence. It is about scarcity. Micron earns the highest margin because memory supply is the binding constraint in this cycle and only three companies can relieve it. AMD sits in the middle, capturing design value while paying the memory tax. Intel earns the least gross margin of the three and is the only one that must also fund fabrication out of that margin.

That is the bear case in one table, and it is also the bull case. Owning the fabs is what compresses Intel’s margin today and what makes it the only Western company that could supply leading-edge capacity to everyone else if the industry decides concentration in Taiwan is a risk it can no longer carry. The same asset is the drag and the option.

The depreciation line is the real constraint

There is a number in Intel’s cash-flow statement that explains the gross margin better than any commentary about competitiveness. Depreciation in the quarter was $5.89bn. Against revenue of $16.13bn, that is 36.5% of every dollar of revenue consumed by the amortised cost of plant Intel has already built (FinanceFeeds calculation from the Q2 2026 results).

That single line is the difference between Intel and a fabless designer. AMD’s cost base scales with what it buys from TSMC; if demand falls, its purchases fall. Intel’s does not. The fabs depreciate on schedule whether or not wafers move through them, which is why utilisation, not pricing, is the dominant variable in Intel’s margin and why yield improvements translate so directly into profit.

It also explains why the company can post a 40.4% gross margin and still generate substantial operating cash flow: depreciation is a non-cash charge, so a large share of what depresses reported margin is added back before cash is measured. Intel’s cash generation has always looked materially better than its earnings, and in a period when its earnings also carry a $13.6bn non-cash equity charge, the divergence between the two is about as wide as it has ever been for a company this size.

The forward risk is that Zinsner’s “meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates” adds to that fixed base. New capacity raises future depreciation before it raises revenue. If the AI demand Tan describes arrives on schedule, that timing gap is a rounding error. If it slips by a year, the depreciation lands first and the margin gets worse before it gets better.

The sovereign shareholder changes the risk shape

Intel is now partly owned by the state that regulates it, and that is a genuinely different kind of security to analyse. A government shareholder is a backstop against the disaster scenario, which is why Intel’s downside is arguably better protected than any peer’s. It is also a constituency with objectives that are not shareholder returns: domestic capacity, employment, supply-chain security.

Those objectives usually argue for building more fabs in more places than a purely commercial operator would choose, and for building them on a timetable set by politics. Investors buying Intel for the foundry option are buying a business whose capital allocation has a second decision-maker. In a downturn that is protection. In an upturn it is a ceiling on returns on capital.

The escrow charge is the visible accounting expression of that relationship, and it will remain in the numbers until the shares are released.

What happens next

First, expect the GAAP loss to persist or grow while the stock does well. This is arithmetic, not forecasting. If Intel’s shares appreciate over the next quarter, the escrow charge grows and the reported loss widens. The signal to watch is non-GAAP earnings and operating cash flow, and the risk is that headline-driven selling on a “wider loss” print creates a gap between the reported number and the business.

Second, gross margin is the scoreboard for the manufacturing turnaround. Zinsner attributed the quarter’s upside to higher factory yields and improved cycle times. If that is durable, it shows up as gross margin climbing from 40.4% toward the mid-forties over the coming quarters, with no change in revenue required. If margin stalls near 40% while capital spending rises, the turnaround thesis weakens regardless of what revenue does.

Third, the foundry proof point is an external customer at leading edge. Tan’s framing rests on a “vast wafer foundry network” serving other designers. The market will not pay for that until a named, high-volume external customer commits publicly. Until then Intel is valued as a products company with a very expensive manufacturing arm, and the fabs are counted as a cost rather than an asset.

Our numbers: bull $150, base $112, bear $55, against a spot of $95.80. What would change our mind on the bull case is a second consecutive quarter of flat gross margin alongside rising capital expenditure, which would suggest the yield improvement was a mix effect rather than a process win. What would change our mind on the bear case is a leading-edge foundry commitment from a customer with real volume, which would re-rate the fabs from cost centre to strategic asset overnight. For the manufacturing benchmark Intel is measured against, our TSMC analysis sets out what a fully utilised leading-edge foundry actually earns.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Intel report an $11bn loss if the business is improving?
Because $13.62bn of non-cash mark-to-market loss on Escrowed Shares runs through the income statement. The shares are held in escrow for the US Department of Commerce and are carried at fair value, so the obligation grows with Intel’s share price. It appears as an add-back in Intel’s cash-flow reconciliation, which is the accounting confirmation that it consumed no cash.

Does the escrow charge get bigger if Intel stock rises?
Yes. Because the liability is measured in Intel’s own equity, appreciation in the share price increases the value of what Intel owes and produces a larger charge. This is why Intel’s reported results and its shareholder outcomes can move in opposite directions, and it persists until the escrowed shares are released.

What is Intel’s gross margin and how does it compare?
Gross margin was 40.4% in the second quarter of 2026, calculated from gross profit of $6.51bn on revenue of $16.13bn. That compares with 54% GAAP at AMD and 84.6% at Micron in their most recent quarters. Intel earns the least of the three and is the only one funding leading-edge fabrication from that margin.

What would make Intel’s foundry business worth something?
A named external customer committing high volume at the leading edge. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan describes a “vast wafer foundry network” as central to the strategy, but the market currently prices Intel’s fabs as a cost rather than an asset, and only a credible third-party commitment changes that.

How much has Intel stock risen over the past year?
Intel closed at $95.80 on 4 September 2026 against a 52-week low of $24.08, an increase of roughly 289%. The shares nonetheless remain 32.0% below their 52-week closing high of $140.94.

This article is analysis and information, not investment advice. Scenario levels are the author’s estimates based on company filings and are not price targets or recommendations. Trading and investing carry risk, including the total loss of capital. Figures were verified against primary sources on 5 September 2026 and may have moved since.

Keep Reading

Politics

39-year-old major bullet manufacturer files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

September 6, 2026 Politics 4 Mins Read

The firearms industry, including rifle, handgun, and ammunition manufacturers and retailers, have faced financial distress in 2026 that has led to bankruptcy filings.

Filings come as the industry has experienced declining sales over the last two years which have been major problem for companies trying to stay afloat.

Key firearms bullet manufacturer files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Shutterstock

Mead Industries files for bankruptcy

39-year-old ammunition manufacturer Mead Industries Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to reorganize its business, as it faces disputed lawsuit and contract claims.

The Wood River, Neb.-based bullets manufacturer filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska on Sept. 2, listing over $7.1 million in assets and over $6.4 million in debts.

The debtor’s largest creditors include Kentucky’s Best Hemp Inc., owed over $1.85 million in a disputed lawsuit claim; Hiawatha National Bank, owed over $1.3 million; FNBO, owed over $544,000; Gunwerks LLC, owed $346,000 in a contract dispute; company owner Gregory A. Mead, owed over $521,000 of a promissory note; and AMDG Enterprises, owed over $304,000.

Mead Industries founder Greg Mead, an avid hunter, established the company in 1977 to manufacture high-quality precision hunting bullets, as well as machinery, equipment, and components for many of the world’s leading ammunition manufacturers, according to the company’s website.

Helps produce 50 million bullets a month

The company occupies a 15,000 square-foot facility in Wood River with an on-site ballistics lab, welding shop, and full machine shop and is responsible for supplying the machinery and equipment that produces over 50 million bullets per month to the shooting industry.

Mead Industries has faced a steady decrease in gross revenue over the last three years, declining from over $2.4 million in 2024 to over $1.3 million in 2025. The debtor had generated over $1.1 million by its Sept. 2, 2026, filing date, according to the petition.

Declining revenue trend

The debtor’s decreased revenue follows a national trend of declining revenue in the firearms industry.

Firearms sales declined 4.1% to about 14.6 million in 2025, compared to over 15.2 million in 2024, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman reported.

New firearm unit sales declined by 7.6% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, and revenue declined by 2.6%, while average selling price increased by 5.4%, according to Tactical Wire.

Total firearms unit sales declined by 3.8% year over year in the second quarter of 2026 and dealers also cut inventory by 9.2%, with rifles down 12.3%, shotguns declining 9.4%, and handguns falling 7.7%, according to Gearfire’s RetailBI Q2 2026 Shooting Sports report on sales and inventory.

New rifle sales grew by 8.1%, while new handgun sales declined 5.6% and shotgun sales plummeted 17%.

Firearms sold for higher prices

While overall sales declined, revenue increased by 4.5% as the average firearm sold for 8.7% more than in the previous year. The report noted that consumers were focused on buying high-end rifles and handguns instead of entry-level models.

Several firearms retailers have filed for bankruptcy this year, including firearms and ammunition retailer White Oak Armory LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 24 to reorganize its business, owing a disputed tax debt to the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

Hutco Corporation, the owner of the Delta Hawk Sportsman Gun & Pawn chain of stores, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10 to reorganize its businesses, facing multiple civil claims.

Other firearms companies filing for bankruptcy in 2026 include firearms maker and dealer Custombilt Firearms Manufacturing LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Feb. 8, 2026, after battling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives over its license in 2023 and 2024.

Keep Reading

Sport

Guerrero Jr. hustles home as Blue Jays capitalize on Royals error

September 6, 2026 Sport 1 Min Read

var adServerUrl = “”;
var $el = $( “#video_container-764155” );
var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’).data(‘permalink’);

$el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js” %3E%3C/script%3E”) );

$( document ).one( ‘ready’, function() {
$( “#video_container-764155” ).SNPlayer( {
bc_account_id: “1704050871”,
bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”,
//autoplay: false,
//is_has_autoplay_switch: false,
bc_videos: 6404661319112,
is_has_continuous_play: “false”,
section: “”,
thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/6404661319112-1024×576.jpg”,
direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/video/guerrero-jr-hustles-home-as-blue-jays-capitalize-on-royals-error/”
});
});

Keep Reading

Stock

Dow closes 270 pts lower as strong jobs report lifts September Fed rate-hike bets

September 5, 2026 Stock 3 Mins Read

US stocks ended lower on Friday after stronger-than-expected August employment data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its September meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% or 279.20 points, while the S&P 500 declined 0.38% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3%.

The selling came ahead of the three-day Labor Day weekend as investors reassessed the outlook for monetary policy following the latest labor market data.

The August jobs report showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000, nearly three times the consensus estimate of 56,000 cited by Reuters.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, while employment figures for June and July were revised higher by a combined 55,000 jobs.

Strong jobs data raises Fed hike expectations

The stronger employment figures increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its Sept. 15-16 meeting.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets were pricing in a 58.4% probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase, up from 49.4% on Thursday.

Treasury yields also moved higher following the jobs report, with the two-year Treasury yield reaching its highest level since January 2025.

The stronger labor market data has complicated the Fed’s policy outlook.

While resilient employment supports economic activity, it could also make it more difficult for policymakers to ease inflationary pressures, particularly as energy prices remain elevated amid the US-Iran conflict.

Attention now turns to upcoming inflation data, including consumer and producer price reports, which could provide additional guidance on the Fed’s next policy decision.

The latest move also followed a weaker session in the bond market earlier in the week.

On Thursday, the major US indexes gained after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated support for keeping rates within the current 3.5%-3.75% target range at the September meeting.

Adobe, Lululemon falls

Despite Friday’s losses, the three major indexes posted mixed weekly performances. The Dow had a 0.3% weekly decline, while the S&P 500 was broadly flat and the Nasdaq posted a 0.3% gain.

Sector performance was mixed. Semiconductor stocks outperformed on Friday, although the sector remained down about 18% for the quarter. Software and services stocks lagged after gaining about 25% over the same period.

Individual stocks also contributed to the market’s decline.

Lululemon Athletica dropped after cutting its full-year revenue and profit forecasts. Adobe fell following the announcement that longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen would be succeeded by company insider Anil Chakravarthy.

Credit firms slide as housing policy changes

Credit reporting companies also declined after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said he had directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to approve all lenders to use VantageScore’s credit scoring system.

Shares of Fair Isaac, TransUnion and Equifax all closed sharply lower following the announcement.

The broader market remains focused on how incoming economic data could influence the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

The latest employment report provided evidence that the labor market remains resilient despite a slowdown in hiring momentum earlier in the summer.

For investors, the combination of stronger employment, higher Treasury yields and shifting rate expectations has increased the importance of next week’s inflation readings.

US markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday, with trading resuming afterward as investors continue to assess the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

The post Dow closes 270 pts lower as strong jobs report lifts September Fed rate-hike bets appeared first on Invezz

Keep Reading

Investing

Zcash Breakout: Bulls Target $1,100 After Clearing $1,000…

September 5, 2026 Investing 2 Mins Read

Zcash cryptocurrency can be expected to rise further to the next resistance level 1100.00 (target price for the completion of the active intermediate impulse wave 3).

Zcash broke round resistance level 1000.00.
Likely to rise to resistance level 1100.00

Zcash cryptocurrency recently broke through the resistance zone lying at the intersection of the resistance level 900.00 (which stopped earlier impulse wave i at the end of August, as can be seen from the daily Zcash chart below) and the resistance trendline of the daily up channel from June. The breakout of this resistance zone accelerated the active minor impulse wave 3 of the intermediate impulse wave (3) from the start of June – which then broke above the round resistance level 1000.00.

Given the sharp daily uptrend which is accelerating in the last few weeks, Zcash cryptocurrency can be expected to rise further to the next resistance level 1100.00 (target price for the completion of the active intermediate impulse wave 3).

The subject matter and the content of this article are solely the views of the author. FinanceFeeds does not bear any legal responsibility for the content of this article and they do not reflect the viewpoint of FinanceFeeds or its editorial staff.

The information does not constitute advice or a recommendation on any course of action and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial situation, or individual needs. We strongly recommend you seek independent professional advice or conduct your own independent research before acting upon any information contained in this article.

Keep Reading

Politics

Walmart, Target, and Kroger face growing retail crime issue

September 5, 2026 Politics 5 Mins Read

When people talk about shoplifting and organized retail crime (ORC), they tend to focus on the bottom-line impact on businesses. That makes sense because the numbers aren’t small, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) The Impact of Theft & Violence 2026 report.

“The 2026 report demonstrates a concerning shift as criminals move beyond traditional shoplifting to more sophisticated external theft schemes, with retailers reporting higher rates of repeat offenders (50%), ORC-related incidents (40%), and walkout or pushout theft (37%). Fraud is also rising, with phone scams (69%), loyalty fraud (51%) and gift card theft or fraud (42%) increasing,” the data showed.

The NRF, however, does not focus on how theft and thieves impact frontline retail workers.

A new report from HALOS, a bodycam company used by Walmart, Target, Kroger, TJ Maxx, H&M, and Aldi, shows that it does, and that the impact is quite severe.

Here’s why frontline retail workers might quit

“Two-thirds of frontline workers have experienced customer aggression acutely enough that they’ve considered leaving their job,” according to HALOS’ study of 2,500 frontline employees.

The report found that nearly two in five of the surveyed workers said customer abuse is treated as “just part of the job” where they work. And nearly 40% say customer aggression has increased over the past 12 months.

In addition, the study found that 57% of frontline workers experienced customer abuse or know a colleague who had during a typical four-week period.

Other key findings included:

Nearly 30% of survey respondents said they did not report the last serious customer aggression incident they experienced.
Of those, 32% said they did not believe the incident was serious enough, 28% believed nothing would happen if they reported it, and 13% worried about potential repercussions.
When incidents were reported, only 43% said action was ultimately taken.

“The research also found weaknesses in reporting processes themselves. Nearly one-third of respondents said reporting takes too much time during an active shift, and only 55% believe reporting leads to meaningful action,” according to HALOS.

Technology can help prevent aggression against workers.

Shutterstock

Management has to play an active role in worker safety

Back when I ran a large toy store in Manchester, Conn., I occasionally had to deal with aggressive customers. Usually, it was older male shoppers making inappropriate comments to younger, female workers.

In one case, an older man became quite abusive and told multiple workers they were “stupid” because we did not sell the items he was looking for.

As the manager, I stepped in, spoke to the customer, and told him that if he spoke to my employees that way, he would be asked to leave the store. He calmed down for that visit, but then on a future trip repeated his abusive comments and was escorted out of the store.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, in 2024, changed how it handled aggressive customers. Under the past policy, every effort was made to appease the customer.

In the past, Dick’s managers would respond to customer conflicts by apologizing to the customer “whether or not we did anything wrong,” Dick’s Chief People Officer Julie Lodge-Jarrett told HRM Executive Network’s People + Strategy Podcast.

“Step two would be to remove the front-line employee from the situation and do anything possible to please the customer,” she added.

That was not a popular policy with workers, and the company now uses a new script.

“Sir, I can tell you’re unhappy, and I would like to do everything I can to help you get what you came in here for today. But I want to start by saying that at Dick’s Sporting Goods, we don’t tolerate a lack of respect, and we expect that everyone’s treated with the dignity that they deserve. And how you’re treating my teammate is unacceptable. So we’ve got two choices. You can choose to be civil, and if you do, I’d love to help you get what you came here for. Or if you don’t think you can do that, I’d politely ask you to leave.”

That’s a change from apologizing to the customer “whether or not we did anything wrong,” Lodge-Jarrett said, and the move helped improve worker satisfaction.

Losing workers is expensive

A study conducted by The Josh Bersin Company and UKG showed that while 80% of all jobs are frontline workers, 75% of the people in those positions felt “burned out,” and 51% felt “like a number, not a person.”

That’s an opportunity companies are missing out on because even small improvements have a big impact on the bottom line.

“For example, the report reveals that even a 1% improvement in retention can yield up to 100X savings in cost, training, and performance — a powerful case for investing in a truly frontline-first technology platform that delivers a seamless, positive worker experience,” the data showed.

UKG showed two key ways companies can cut down on frontline worker churn.

Leading companies recognize the importance of this workforce segment. They offer above-average wages, high degrees of flexibility, safe and productive workplaces, and career development opportunities.
Invest in frontline management. Top companies prioritize developing new leaders and equipping them with the tools to lead effectively. This includes workforce planning, work scheduling, recruiting, development, engagement, and lots of peer support so managers can learn from one another. They also establish carefully defined management principles that everyone can follow.

Protecting workers from aggressive customers goes a long way toward worker retention, according to HALOS CEO Alan Ring.

“Customer aggression is no longer simply a security issue. It’s affecting whether frontline employees feel safe, supported, and willing to remain in their jobs. Employers need to make incidents easier to report, respond consistently, and give staff clear evidence that their concerns lead to action,” he said.

Walmart, Target, Kroger, TJ Maxx, H&M, and Aldi did not confirm that they use HALOS or any other bodycam technology. None of the chains contributed to this article.

ALSO READ: Costco shuts down member service with no notice

Keep Reading

Sport

‘They’re going’: Why Blue Jays have the inside track to wild-card spot

September 5, 2026 Sport 1 Min Read

var adServerUrl = “”;
var $el = $( “#video_container-260469” );
var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’).data(‘permalink’);

$el.after( unescape(“%3Cscript src=”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js” %3E%3C/script%3E”) );

$( document ).one( ‘ready’, function() {
$( “#video_container-260469” ).SNPlayer( {
bc_account_id: “1704050871”,
bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”,
//autoplay: false,
//is_has_autoplay_switch: false,
bc_videos: 6404615283112,
is_has_continuous_play: “false”,
section: “”,
thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/6404615283112-1024×576.jpg”,
direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/video/theyre-going-why-blue-jays-have-the-inside-track-to-wild-card-spot/”
});
});

Keep Reading

Stock

Dow closes 600 pts higher as Fed Rate hike bets ease and stocks rally

September 4, 2026 Stock 3 Mins Read

US stocks rallied on Thursday as investors reduced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike this month following comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also gained more than 1%.

Dow leads broad market rally as rate bets fall

The Dow climbed 627.37 points, or 1.18%, to close at 53,689.32, marking its best session since Aug. 4.

The S&P 500 gained 81.67 points, or 1.07%, to 7,748.27, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 366.39 points, or 1.4%, to 26,584.21.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield pulled back to around 4.77% after reaching its highest level since November 2023 on Wednesday.

The decline came as Waller indicated that he would favor keeping interest rates unchanged if upcoming data confirms that inflation pressures are easing.

Fed funds futures traders subsequently lowered the probability of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting to 50.4%, from 63.2% a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The pullback in yields came despite elevated oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate crude traded above $91 a barrel, while Brent crude remained above $95. Higher energy prices have recently contributed to concerns about inflation and the possibility of tighter monetary policy.

The Japanese yen also strengthened sharply against the US dollar, gaining about 2% to 155.51 yen. The yen’s rise contributed to broader declines in Treasury yields.

AI stocks drive gains as Nvidia and Snowflake rally

Technology and AI-related stocks helped support the broader market advance. Nvidia shares rose after the company announced a $12.9 billion agreement to acquire developer platform Hugging Face.

The deal represents Nvidia’s second-largest acquisition and expands its presence across the AI ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Snowflake shares surged more than 20% after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue and issued strong guidance.

ServiceNow, Salesforce and Adobe also ended higher, adding to gains across the software sector.

Broadcom moved in the opposite direction, falling 2% after its latest quarterly results included a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for the fiscal fourth quarter.

The decline highlighted the differing reactions among companies linked to the ongoing AI investment cycle.

The major indexes were on track for weekly gains following Thursday’s advance. The Nasdaq also benefited from gains among the so-called Magnificent Seven group of megacap technology stocks.

Jobs report next as investors watch inflation

Investors are now turning their attention to Friday’s US employment report for further clues about the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

The Labor Department is expected to report that the US economy added 56,000 jobs in August, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.1%.

Thursday’s economic data was generally positive, with jobless claims remaining low and activity in the services sector accelerating.

However, services input prices reached their highest level since October 2022, while the international trade gap widened 24.4%.

Oil prices remained another potential source of inflation pressure.

Elevated crude prices have contributed to concerns that inflation could remain persistent and limit the Federal Reserve’s ability to ease monetary policy.

Crypto-linked stocks also advanced as Bitcoin rebounded after two sessions of losses. Strategy, Coinbase Global and Robinhood Markets posted sizeable gains alongside the broader recovery in digital assets.

The post Dow closes 600 pts higher as Fed Rate hike bets ease and stocks rally appeared first on Invezz

Keep Reading

Investing

Chainlink Ready to Rally: Key Support Holds for Push to…

September 4, 2026 Investing 2 Mins Read

Chainlink cryptocurrency can be expected to rise further to the next resistance level 12.500 (top impulse wave C from the middle of August).

Chainlink reversed from pivotal support level 10.80
Likely to rise to resistance level 12.500

Chainlink cryptocurrency recently reversed from the combined support zone between the pivotal support level 10.80 (former multi-month resistance high which stopped earlier correction 4 in May, as can be seen from the daily Chainlink chart below), 20-day moving average and the 38.2% Fibonacci correction of the sharp upward impulse wave C from May. The upward reversal from this support zone stopped the previous minor correction from the middle of August.

Given the strongly bullish sentiment that can be seen across the cryptocurrency markets today, Chainlink cryptocurrency can be expected to rise further to the next resistance level 12.500 (top impulse wave C from the middle of August).

Keep Reading