Prosper Stars & Stripes, a long/short equity fund, recently released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. The letter can be downloaded here. In Q2 2026, the portfolio delivered a strong net return of +30.1% compared to the Russell 2000 Index's +21.5% return and the HFRX Equity Hedge Index's +10.3% return. The long book drove performance, generating a 43.2% gross contribution, while average net exposure remained relatively modest at 47%. U.S. economic growth remained resilient despite inflation concerns, elevated energy prices, and geopolitical uncertainty. Markets rallied sharply after easing U.S.-Iran tensions pushed oil prices lower, supporting renewed risk appetite. Small-cap equities benefited significantly, with Information Technology, Industrials, and Health Care leading gains, while Energy declined as crude prices fell. Year to date, the Composite returned +23.7%, slightly ahead of the Russell 2000's +22.6% and well above the HFRI Equity Hedge Index's +9.7%. Additionally, you can review the Portfolio's top 5 holdings to see its best picks for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Prosper Stars & Stripes highlighted Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED). Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) is an American technology company that develops and commercializes organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in display and solid-state lighting applications. On September 14, 2026, Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) closed at $76.62 per share. Over the past month, Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) declined 9.27%, and its shares lost 44.06% over the past 52 weeks. Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, and its stock traded within a 52-week range of $76.42 to $153.38.
Prosper Stars & Stripes stated the following regarding Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"This year's market rally has pressured short returns and narrowed the windows to successfully monetize shorts, as we would expect. Certain themes and short ideas do continue to resonate, however. One theme that has had success is the ongoing pressure caused by the investment boom in AI crowding out spending in other areas. We have shorted Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED), Dolby Laboratories (DLB), and Logitech International (LOGI) on this theme. We believe cost pressures on technology components such as DRAM to result in higher prices for consumer electronics. This would have a significant impact on back-to-school and holiday spending, the key periods for these companies' end markets. We expect the forecasts that these companies are providing at this time of the year to prove optimistic, as tech cost inflation is unusual. Further, we believe the so-called K-shaped economy, where consumers have felt the pressure of rising costs of living, will continue to squeeze discretionary purchases like these. Rising prices make it nea

A $48 billion valuation and more than $2 billion in fresh venture capital would normally signal that investors have completely lost the plot.
Cognition AI, the startup behind the autonomous coding agent Devin, closed its Series E round on Sept. 8, 2026, to those exact headline figures.
The sheer size of the round drew immediate and predictable comparisons to the frothiest stretch of the 2026 AI investment cycle.
But the arithmetic behind the deal paints a different picture, one in which the ratio of investors' per-dollar revenue barely moved.
Between its May 2026 Series D and Series E close, Cognition's annualized run-rate revenue grew from $492 million to nearly $900 million, the company reported.

#round #devin

Chewy dropped 9% after free cash flow fell 15% to $89.5M despite beating revenue estimates, while Petco slid 6% on sector contagion.
Freshpet bucked the sector weakness, rising 2% on 15.5% revenue growth and a raised 2026 sales outlook.
Chewy's Autoship sales hit 84.6% of revenue with 21.7 million active customers, anchoring the bull case for its multi-quarter reinvestment cycle.
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Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) stock is down 11% midday on Wednesday to $20.68 after the online pet retailer reported fiscal Q2 2027 results that carried a free cash flow shortfall large enough to swamp a raised full-year outlook. The setup is unusual because both the revenue and the adjusted earnings landed close to where **** ysts had expected.

#enter #cash #raised #sales

OKTA offers an enterprise identity management platform, including single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, access gateway, API access management, authentication, adaptive MFA, lifecycle management, and AI agent security. OKTA's second-quarter 2027 report showed $805 million in revenue (an 11% year-over-year gain), per-share earnings of $1.05 (a 15.4% sequential gain), and offered full-year revenue and operating margin guidance of up to $3.226 billion and 26%, respectively.
No wonder OKTA shares are up 94% so far this year – and they could rise more. MoneyFlows data shows how Big Money investors are again betting heavily on the stock.
Institutional volumes reveal plenty. In the last year, OKTA has enjoyed strong investor demand, which we believe to be institutional support.
Each green bar signals unusually large volumes in OKTA shares. They reflect our proprietary inflow signal, pushing the stock higher:
Plenty of technology names are under accumulation right now. But there's a powerful fundamental story happening with Okta.

#year #plenty #authentication

On August 12, Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) expanded its partnership with Trustly, bringing "Pay by Bank" open banking payments to customers across the US and Canada. The expansion lets payers authorize ACH and Pre-Authorized Debit transfers straight from their bank login, skipping the routing and account numbers that trip up so many cross-border payments. It is the kind of unglamorous plumbing upgrade that rarely makes headlines, but for a company built on moving money across borders, cutting payment friction is close to the whole business model.
Flywire and Trustly have partnered since 2017, first in Europe, and this expansion carries that same playbook into North America. Trustly runs a real-time balance check the moment a payer authorizes a transaction, catching insufficient funds before the payment is submitted rather than after. For cross-border transfers, Flywire manages the funds through the return window itself, which cuts down on the reversals that have long made international payments messy for clients and their customers alike. "We're applying the open banking infrastructure we've successfully scaled across Europe to North America, enabling our clients to confidently offer their payers a proven experience," said Kate Moran, Flywire's Vice President of Global Payments.
The timing lines up with a quarter of accelerating growth. On August 4, 2026, Flywire reported second-quarter revenue up 27.2% year over year to $167.7 million, while total payment volume jumped 38.2% to $8.2 billion. Management raised its full-year guidance for both revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin, and the business is no longer leaning on education alone. Flywire signed more than 200 new clients across 45 countries during the quarter, with hospitality wins spanning nearly 90 U.S. hotel properties and education revenue outside its core markets growing more than 30% year over year.
Growth came with a cost. Gross margin slipped to 53.4% in the second quarter of 2026 from 57.0% a year earlier, and adjusted gross margin fell even further, from 61.1% down to 56.6%. That is a meaningful step backward on a per-dollar basis even as the top line expanded by double digits, and it raises the question of whether faster growth is being bought with thinner margins on the payments themselves.
Flywire also still posted a GAAP net loss of $8.1 million for the quarter, an improvement from the $12.0 million loss a year earlier but a loss nonetheless. And the company's own leadership flagged caution ahead: CFO Cosmin Pitigoi said Flywire is keeping its ***** umptions for the education vertical conservative because of the current visa policy environment, an acknowledgment that the company's largest historical vertical faces headwinds outside its control.

#trustly #across #payment

OPEC+ is likely to leave its oil production policy unchanged for October when seven of its core members meet on Sunday, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing three sources close to the matter.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman are due to meet online at 11:00 GMT Sunday. The seven producers have spent much of 2026 raising their monthly production quotas, with the September increase completing the phased rollback of 1.65 million barrels per day of supply cuts first agreed in 2023.
Much of that additional supply has failed to reach the market. Actual production has lagged the higher quotas as the Iran war disrupted Gulf exports through the Strait of Hormuz, while the war in Ukraine has hit exports from Russia and Kazakhstan. OPEC production rose by 1.17 million bpd in July, but output remained well below the group's quotas.
The Iran war has also weakened OPEC+'s ability to influence the market. With Gulf exports constrained by the disruption in Hormuz, Reuters said the group's production decisions now have less impact on prices and market share than they did before the war.
Brent crude was trading near $94 per barrel Wednesday as renewed U.S.-Iran fighting and attacks on tankers kept attention on physical supply from the Gulf rather than OPEC+ production targets.

#production #Iran #supply #exports

Global, Domestic, or Hybrid: What's Right for Your Supply Chain?
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Is your current supply chain model still the right fit?
In the G3 Logistics whitepaper, Why Going Global Isn't Always the Right Call, discover how to evaluate global, domestic, and hybrid supply chain strategies based on the factors that matter across your entire network.
Download the whitepaper to learn how to:

#supply

Corn futures rallied to 3 year highs on Wednesday with contracts closing 10 to 13 ½ cents higher. Spillover strength in wheat and supply concerns over the US crop have both been supportive. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up another 13 1/2 cents at $4.85.
Export Sales data will be released on Thursday, with ******* ysts looking for net reductions of 200,000 MT to net sales of 400,000 MT for 2025/26 sales in the week ending on August 20. New crop bookings are expected to be in a range of 0.6-1.6 MMT in that week.
Coffee Prices Slump on the Outlook for Larger Brazil Coffee Supplies
Coffee Prices Plunge in Anticipation of Larger Brazil Supplies
Will this Watson Wednesday be Driven by Wheat or Whisky?

#sales #prices #supplies #wheat

When the national debt topped $40 trillion last week, it was a round-number milestone that grabbed mainstream media attention. It also coincided with a rough week in the news for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose intervention in the bond markets was widely viewed as a failure.
Undeterred, Bessent on Thursday seemed to dismiss the ballooning national debt as a relative blip on the Treasury's radar.
Why This Week Looks to Be Fun
Dollar Moves Higher as US Ramps Up Pressure on Iran
Dollar Gains on Weak Stocks

#dollar #secretary

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have entered into reciprocal contract manufacturing arrangements designed to improve manufacturing efficiency and expand their operational flexibility. The first shipments are expected in 2027, while both companies said the agreements are not expected to have a material impact on their 2026 results.
The deal is particularly relevant for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) because it is looking to increase cigarette imports and exports and capitalize on the U.S. "double duty drawback" system. The tax mechanism allows tobacco companies to recover certain federal excise taxes previously paid on products that are later exported, potentially improving the economics of international tobacco trade.
For Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), the agreement provides access to Altria's manufacturing capabilities while allowing PMI to maintain its existing international-focused cigarette strategy. PMI has emphasized that the arrangement does not mean it plans to sell cigarettes in the U.S.
Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
The biggest positive for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is the potential to generate additional economic value from its existing manufacturing infrastructure. Rather than relying entirely on the declining U.S. cigarette market, Altria can use manufacturing relationships and international trade flows to create additional opportunities.

#altria #philip #Companies

Guinness Global Innovators, an investment management company, recently released its Q2 2026 quarterly investor update for its "Guinness Global Innovators Fund". You can download the letter here. The Guinness Global Innovators Fund focuses on investing in global companies that benefit from innovation in technology, communication, globalization, and management strategies. In the second quarter of 2026, the Guinness Global Innovators Fund returned 13.8% in GBP, compared with 13.0% for the MSCI World Index and 13.1% for the IA Global sector average. Easing Middle East tensions, falling oil prices, and renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence helped reverse much of the caution seen earlier in the year, with investors rotating back toward growth stocks and AI infrastructure beneficiaries. The Fund benefited from its overweight position in the Information Technology sector, while its overweight position in Communication Services detracted. Avoiding weaker Utilities, Materials, and Energy also supported relative performance. Also, please check the Fund's top five holdings to see its best picks for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Guinness Global Innovators Fund highlighted Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) noting it was one of the weaker performers during the quarter. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is a leading subscription-based streaming entertainment platform. On August 21, 2026, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) closed at $79.59 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $331.41 billion. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) posted a one‑month return of 13.05%, while its shares lost 34.66% over the past 52 weeks.
Guinness Global Innovators Fund stated the following regarding Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), the streaming giant, was one of the Fund's weaker performers over the quarter, following a harsh share price reaction to its last quarterly print. Shares sold off despite strong organic growth driven by strong membership numbers, higher pricing, and increased advertising revenue. There was also a boost to earnings per share from the termination fee related to Paramount's merger with Warner Bros, as Netflix had previously been in talks to acquire the latter's studio and streaming ****** ets. However, the market was disappointed by Netflix choosing to maintain guidance for 2026 despite the positive momentum seen in the first quarter. This was taken as a potential indicator of growth deceleration in future quarters, with some questioning whether Netflix can sustain pricing power given the increases it has already pushed through the subscriber base. The company also announced the departure of its Co-founder and Chairman Reed Hastings to focus on philanthropic and other pursuits. Netflix has since named its longstanding board member Jay Hoag as his successor, indicating there should be continuity in the firm's strategy. The bid for Warner Bros was a departure from Netflix's historic modus

Eagle Capital Management, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, Eagle Capital Management discussed how enthusiasm around AI capital spending has driven strong S&P 500 earnings growth while also increasing risks from elevated valuations, concentrated demand, and aggressive investment ******* umptions. Eagle remains a strong believer in AI but prefers constructing a portfolio that can perform across multiple outcomes rather than relying on one forecast. The firm believes current earnings can overstate underlying economics because semiconductor equipment is depreciated over several years, while free cash flow growth remains much weaker. It also expects competition and additional capacity across AI labs, hyperscalers, and semiconductors to eventually create winners and losers. These dynamics are encouraging Eagle to recycle capital toward attractive opportunities outside the most crowded AI trades while maintaining selective exposure to high quality beneficiaries. The portfolio trades at a 20% market discount with faster expected EPS growth. Please review the Strategy's top five holdings for key selections.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Eagle Capital Management highlighted Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU). Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) provides financial management, payments and capital, compliance, and marketing products. On August 18, 2026, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) closed at $350.41 per share. One-month return of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) was 23.18% and its shares gained -49.88% over the past 52 weeks. Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) has a market capitalization of $95.85 billion.
Eagle Capital Management stated the following regarding Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Software is controversial due to fears of Al-driven disruption. Al makes it easier to build software and will change workflows in how it is used. We believe there will be heightened competition and greater separation between winners and losers over the coming years. The industry is deservedly trading at a higher risk premium, but within the market there are plenty of mispricings.
Intuit Inc.'s (NASDAQ:INTU) QuickBooks, the dominant bookkeeping software for small and midsize businesses in the U.S., exists in a market that is difficult to serve profitably, given the low average selling price. Intuit's brand, scale, and network effect through the accountant channel give it formidable competitive advantages. It is well-placed to deliver Al solutions to this hard-to-reach customer. TurboTax, a relatively smaller part of the business, will likely adapt its business model to an Al world, but we have more modest expectations for its growth. We expect EPS growth in the high teens, driven by revenue growth, operating leverage, and share buybacks."

#management

Gemini ***** e Station (NASDAQ: GEMI) stock is selling off in Monday's trading. The company's share price was down 9.1% as of 11:30 a.m. ET and had been off as much as 13.8% earlier in the session.
Gemini stock is losing ground today in response to a slew of downward price target revisions from ***** ysts. As of this writing, the company's share price has fallen roughly 64.5% year to date.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Investment firms weighed in with new coverage on Gemini ***** e Station stock today, and each newly published note delivered a downward price target revision. Rosenblatt lowered its price target from $9 per share to $6 per share, Mizuho lowered its target from $8 per share to $7 per share, Needham lowered its target from $8 per share to $6 per share, and Goldman Sachs lowered its target from $4 per share to $3.50 per share.
Rosenblatt, Mizuho, and Needham each reiterated the equivalent of a buy rating on the stock, but each firm issued a significant downward adjustment for its valuation forecast. Meanwhile, Goldman maintained its sell rating on Gemini.

#lowered

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Achieved record Q2 revenue of $21.5 million, a 65% year-over-year increase, primarily driven by the integration of CDM and new installations across the legacy business.
Completed the majority of CDM integration, realizing approximately 75% of the targeted $10 million in annualized synergies to date.
Attributed service revenue growth to the inclusion of $7 million from CDM and positive momentum in legacy CRI installs, despite the expiration of some high-margin contracts.
Reported hardware gross margin compression to 17.2% due to product mix, while service margins remained robust at 50.1% despite competitive pricing pressures.

#million #year #legacy #service

The main physical hurdle for the 2026 artificial intelligence boom has shifted from semiconductor supply to power infrastructure and grid capacity. Hyperscalers, utilities, and data center developers are investing unprecedented capital to build power-dense facilities with 1.5x to 2x the electrical and mechanical capacity of traditional data centers. With regional electric utility networks struggling to keep up with increasing load growth, major players in specialized engineering and contracting, such as EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) and Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR), hold enormous pricing power, multi-year backlog visibility, and structural advantages that go beyond standard macroeconomic cycles.
On July 30, EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) provided an example of this strong secular tailwind when it reported record second-quarter 2026 results, sparking an 18% stock jump. Quarterly revenue rose 19.8% year-over-year to $5.15 billion, far exceeding the **** yst forecast of $4.71 billion. Diluted earnings per share hit $9.06, crossing expectations of $7.23 by 25.3%. The report's most noteworthy metric was remaining performance obligations, which increased 44% year-over-year to a record $17.14 billion, with broad-based growth across all five operational areas.
With visibility stretching across its project portfolio, EMCOR's management increased full-year revenue projection for 2026 to $20.0-$20.5 billion and full-year EPS forecast to $32.00-$33.25. EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) also increased its regional size by completing five bolt-on acquisitions totaling $625 million in trailing revenue, which were aimed at major tech hubs like Austin, Texas, and manufacturing regions in Wisconsin.
Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) had an equally strong Q2 result, with the stock rising about 14% after crossing expectations across key operational parameters. Revenue increased 41.1% year-over-year to $9.56 billion, exceeding expectations of $8.53 billion by 12.1%. Adjusted EPS rose 71% year-over-year to $4.24, surpassing expectations by approximately 29%. Quanta's core Electric Infrastructure division led the performance, delivering $7.84 billion in revenue and $898 million in operating income, considerably above Wall Street's expectations of $707 million.
Looking at valuations, the two high-flying infrastructure compounders are trading at very different multiples, with Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79x. Hedge fund support continues to be robust, with Insider Monkey's database showing an increase in hedge fund ownership from 90 in Q4 2025 to 94 in Q1 2026, reflecting strong smart-money sentiment.

#billion #Services

A covered call ETF is a fund that owns a portfolio of stocks — often an index like the S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100 — and simultaneously sells (or "writes") call options — either on those individual holdings or on the index itself — against that portfolio. The premiums it collects from selling those options are passed through to shareholders as income, typically paid monthly. That option income is what powers the eye-catching yields these funds advertise.
The strategy is called covered because the fund actually owns the underlying stocks it's writing options against as opposed to a naked call, where the seller doesn't own the shares. Owning the stock covers the obligation, capping the risk of the options position itself.
To understand the yield, you need to understand what a call option is. When you sell a call option, you give the buyer the right to purchase a stock from you at a set price (the "strike price") at or before a set date. In exchange, the buyer pays you a fee upfront, known as the premium.
If the stock stays below the strike price, the option expires worthless, the buyer walks away, and you keep the premium as pure profit. A covered call ETF does this over and over, month after month, across its entire portfolio, collecting a steady stream of premiums that it distributes to shareholders. That's the income engine.
The premium is larger when the underlying stock is more volatile — which is why covered call funds on volatile **** ets (tech stocks, or single names) can advertise dramatically higher yields than those on the broad, steadier S&P 500.

#call #income #price

Deciding between Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Arm (NASDAQ:ARM) requires understanding their roles in the hardware ecosystem. One builds the chips, while the other provides the blueprint for others to manufacture them.
Advanced Micro Devices designs high-performance processors and graphics chips, while Arm licenses the foundational architecture that powers most mobile devices. Comparing these two allows investors to weigh a hardware manufacturer against an intellectual property specialist. Both companies are central to the future of computing, but they operate with different business models and growth profiles.
AMD designs and sells semiconductor products, including processors and AI accelerators. It is a prominent player among semiconductor stocks, serving hyperscale data centers and the gaming market. Strategic partnerships with OpenAI, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) highlight its focus on artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure.
In the fiscal year ended Dec. 27, 2025, revenue reached nearly $34.6 billion compared with roughly $25.8 billion in the prior year. That equaled a 34.3% increase, driven by strong demand in the data center segment. The company reported net income of approximately $4.3 billion, resulting in a net margin of 12.5%.
As of its December 2025 balance sheet, AMD's debt-to-equity ratio was roughly 0.1. This ratio divides total debt by shareholder equity to show how much a company relies on borrowed money. The current ratio, which measures the ability to cover short-term debts with ****** ets, stood at approximately 2.9. Note that stock-based compensation represented roughly 21.2% of operating cash flow, which inflates reported cash generation since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.

#roughly

Updated July 27, 2026 12:23 pm ET
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The latest Market Talks covering Basic Materials. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0919 ET – Lundin Mining’s Caserones operations guidance could be at risk after the company found damaged powerline towers that need repairing following a storm. TD Cowen’s Craig Hutchison figures that the two-to-three weeks downtime on top of the nine days since a power outage on July 18 will hit production by 8,000 to 10,500 tons of copper. Hutchison now estimates that operations will reduce to 125,000 to 127,000 tons of copper in the year, bringing total annual production to 312,000-314,000 tons from all its operations, in line with guidance of 310,000-335,000 tons. (adriano.marchesewsj.com)

#july #updated

July 23 (Reuters) - Mobile phone tower group Cellnex is studying strategic options including ‌taking the company private or ‌a merger with a competitor, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Spain-based Cellnex's market capitalisation has more than halved since its peak of about 40 billion euros ($45.54 billion) in 2021, as investors ‌worried about its ⁠debt levels and potential consolidation among its customers.
The company's shares jumped ⁠over 5% after Bloomberg News report.
Cellnex was not immediately available for comment.
In the past year, Cellnex management held early talks with an ‌investor group backed by DigitalBridge Group Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG about the possibility of a deal, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

#group #bloomberg #spain

Dodge & ***** Fund, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for "Dodge and ***** Stock Fund". A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Despite volatile oil prices and rising inflation, U.S. equities reached record highs in Q2 2026, driven by a technology-led rally, particularly in memory semiconductors. The Fund's Class A shares returned 5.57%, underperforming the S&P 500 Index's 15.20% return and the Russell 1000 Value Index's 13.84% gain, mainly due to underweighting in Information Technology and weak performances from several holdings. Concerns over AI disruption negatively impacted companies with strong franchises. The Fund's bottom-up investment approach allowed it to acquire shares in industry leaders with strong long-term fundamentals. The firm believes that increased exposure to high-quality businesses and a diversified portfolio positions the Fund well for future growth. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Dodge and ***** Stock Fund highlighted Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) as a newly added position. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is a life science company focusing on providing life sciences solutions, ***** ytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services. On July 21, 2026, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) closed at $523.46 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $194.53 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) posted a one-month return of 6.35%, while its shares gained 12.16% over the past 52 weeks.
Dodge and ***** Stock Fund stated the following regarding Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
"During the second quarter, concerns about AI disruption led to declines in a number of companies with strong franchises and solid profitability. Our bottom-up approach led us to establish several new positions in industry leaders whose shares have lagged, and where we believe the long-term fundamentals are not fully reflected in their current prices. We initiated a position in Visa, a leader in global payments, an industry characterized by strong network effects and high barriers to entry.
We also started a position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO), a leading global provider of life sciences tools, scientific instruments, and laboratory products and services. The company's shares recently declined to their lowest valuation in a decade as the industry navigates cyclical weakness due to customers' post-COVID inventory destocking. Despite this near-term pressure, Thermo Fisher generates substantial recurring revenues and has a track record of successful acquisitions. We believe the company's long-term prospects remain attractive and took advantage of the lower share price to establish a position."

#fisher

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Silver (SI=F) September futures opened at $56.71 per ounce on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, down -0.6% from Monday's closing price. The silver price moved highe this morning, reaching $59.38 as of 8:53 a.m. ET.
Unlike gold, silver's price is driven by two primary forces, industrial demand and investor demand. Both have waned. High silver prices earlier in 2026 have contributed to double-digit declines in factory demand in some sectors. Many investors have moved away from silver also, amid expectations that inflation could keep interest rates high.
Adding complexity to silver's price dynamic is a multiyear silver shortage — 2026 will be the sixth year silver mining hasn't supported the usage. Silver is primarily produced as a byproduct of mining other metals, so production levels hinge on demand for gold, copper, lead, and zinc more so than silver's price.
Silver may be oversold, but many investors are likely awaiting definitive news on the U.S. interest rate outlook before driving the metal's price up again.

#mining

By Ragini Mathur
July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were mixed on Wednesday, as weakness in chip shares soured sentiment ahead of the first batch of Big Tech earnings that could decide the durability of Wall Street's AI-driven rally.
After ‌months of gains that pulled the major indexes up from their March lows, momentum has faltered as volatility in heavyweight ‌semiconductor shares has dented risk appetite.
Investors are now looking to second-quarter results from Alphabet and Tesla, the first of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" megacap companies to report after the bell for fresh evidence that these companies' multibillion-dollar investments in AI are paying off.
Alphabet will be under particular scrutiny after a delay in the launch of a model central to its AI ambitions intensified concerns. Its shares were flat.

#alphabet #indexes #ragini #july

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) provided additional information about its second-quarter operations to help Wall Street prepare for its actual earnings release. That isn't a normal event, but then these aren't normal times in the energy sector. Here's what investors need to know.
The geopolitical conflict in the Middle East broke out late in the first quarter. The price of oil rocketed higher, but the financial benefit was minimal in the first quarter. The second quarter will see most of the impact from the energy price spike caused by the conflict. Exxon's pre-earnings update is meant to clarify the potential impact, with some estimates suggesting it could add as much as $5 billion to the company's bottom line.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
That said, investors need to take the update with a grain of salt. Oil prices have already fallen materially from their peak levels. So the second-quarter benefit could be huge, but at this point it is hard to get a read on what that might mean for the third quarter. This speaks to the real issue investors need to keep in mind when they buy an energy stock like ExxonMobil.
The current geopolitical conflict is headline-grabbing, so investors are closely watching its impact on oil and natural gas prices. However, the energy sector has a long history of volatility. The current price swing isn't an outlier; it is the norm. That means that Exxon's earnings swing isn't abnormal, either. It is just par for the course.

Asset management giant BlackRock (BLK) crossed $15 trillion in ******* ets under management in the second quarter, propelled by strong investor interest in the firm's exchange-traded fund (ETF) products.
BlackRock stock advanced 7% on Wednesday following the release of its earnings report.
Driving ******* ets across the $15 trillion mark was $192 billion in new net client cash in the door during the quarter, with $53 billion in new money added to the firm's actively managed funds.
The firm also set a record for net inflows over the first half of the year, bringing in $321 billion. Net flows into long-term investment funds came in at $199 billion, outperforming ******* yst expectations of $170 billion, per Bloomberg, while BlackRock's ETF arm brought in $178 billion.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) shares are slipping ahead of the company's much-anticipated fiscal Q2 earnings scheduled for Thursday, July 16.
Consensus is for the world's largest semiconductor contract manufacturing company to post about $39.6 billion in revenue on $3.80 in earnings per share, up roughly 54% on a year-over-year basis.
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For years, people have been telling Lucy to buy a home. And she can certainly afford to. Seven years ago, she inherited about $400,000.
Instead of spending it, she invested the money and left it alone. Today, that inheritance has grown to roughly $900,000, thanks to a strong stretch in the markets. But at 28, Lucy isn't convinced buying property is the obvious next step.
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Apple (AAPL) is suing OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), accusing the AI lab of trade secret theft as part of its effort to develop its own AI hardware devices.
"OpenAI and its cohorts have been engaging in a coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level," Apple claims.
In its suit, filed in the US District Court for Northern California, Apple alleges that OpenAI's hardware chief Tang Tan, who previously served as vice president of product design at Apple, and Chang Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer who now works at OpenAI, colluded to steal information from the iPhone maker that would help it build its AI products.
According to the suit, Tan began emailing himself information about Apple's suppliers before leaving his position at the company and moving on to OpenAI.
The lawsuit also states that Tan would use internal Apple codenames when interviewing candidates for positions at OpenAI who worked at Apple, in an effort to dig up further information. Tan, the suit says, also requested candidates who still employed by Apple to bring "actual parts" to interviews for "show and tell" sessions.

WD-40 Company shares traded as much as 14.5% higher in Thursday overnight trading via Blue Ocean ATS. The household lubricant maker beat Wall Street's revenue and profit estimates by wide margins.
WD-40 also raised its full year guidance. The company pointed to stronger than expected demand for its core spray lubricant business.
WD-40 reported $195.1 million in sales, a 24.3% jump from a year ago. That easily beat the $173 million Wall Street expected. Profit per share also beat expectations. WD-40 earned $2.24 for every share, well above the $1.57 ******* ysts had penciled in.
Two other numbers show how efficiently WD-40 turned sales into profit. Operating margin, the share of revenue left after covering core costs, rose to 20.7% from 17.4% a year ago. That means the company kept more of every dollar it made.
Free cash flow margin, the actual cash left over after running the business, dipped to 15% from 21.6%. Even with that dip, it still beat WD-40's average over the past two years.

Morgan Stanley raised its quarterly dividend by 15% and reauthorized a $20 billion stock buyback shortly after clearing the Federal Reserve's 2026 stress test, according to the Morgan Stanley press release.
The announcement arrived alongside similar capital return moves from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo, but Morgan Stanley's stood out.
Shares climbed more than 3% on the news, pushing the stock into territory that some Wall Street **** ysts now consider fully priced.
The capital return numbers grab the headlines, but the real question is what's generating this cash and how much upside remains.
The capital return rests on a business fundamentally different from the Morgan Stanley of a decade ago, built on recurring fee income.