BUSINESS

There are more millionaires now than ever, and they dominate “ordinary” businesses.

Michelsen, ranked No. 46 in the world, hadn’t dropped a set before the Tiafoe match.

The golf league lost funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund earlier this year, less than five years after it launched.

Shares in Bombardier lost altitude Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the Canadian aircraft manufacturer unless it makes new commitments to build in the U.S.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been one of my favorite stocks over the years. I’ve recommended it several times over the past couple of decades – and every time, we’ve sold it for a gain. We first bought the stock in November 2004 and sold it in October 2008 for a 253% gain. Then we bought it again in October 2009 and booked a 152% gain in February 2013.

Since then, we’ve largely avoided Apple, though. The consumer electronics maker simply lacked the earnings and sales momentum we require for our portfolio.

Revenue grew just 2% in fiscal 2024 and 6.4% in fiscal 2025 – solid for a company of Apple’s size, but nowhere near what we look for. My Stock Grader agreed: AAPL spent most of the past five years stuck between a C and D grade.

But that’s all about to change.

Right now, AAPL carries a B grade in Stock Grader – a real shift from where it’s spent most of the last five years. You can see that in the Grade History in the bottom section of the image below. Also note that at the end of July, the stock rose to a new high above $340.

There’s also a changing of the guard at the top. Tim Cook officially stepped down as Apple’s CEO on September 1, handing the reins to John Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran who has spent his career as the company’s SVP of Hardware Engineering.

Cook was the operations mastermind who scaled Apple into a $4 trillion company. Ternus is a hardware guy through and through, and he’s taking over at the exact moment Apple is making its biggest hardware bet in over a decade: the iPhone Ultra.

Don’t Buy on Launch Day

All of this is expected to be a big boon for Apple. In fact, since the rumor mill started buzzing about the company’s upcoming product reveal, the analyst community has raised fiscal year 2026 earnings estimates.

The current consensus estimate calls for full-year earnings of $8.81 per share and total sales of $477.68 billion, which represents 18% annual earnings growth and 14.8% annual sales growth. That would be Apple’s best growth in years. And given how these estimates have already been raised once on foldable-iPhone buzz alone, don’t be surprised if Apple ends up beating even these fresh numbers once the actual sales data comes in.

It’s time to go back to the well for more profits, but let me be clear about one thing before investors dive in and scoop up shares.

Related: Louis Navellier delivers hot take on rising bond yields

Historically, AAPL has not reacted positively to its new product launches. In fact, the stock tends to slide lower on the day the company unveils its latest and greatest new products.

Dow Jones Market Data even reports that AAPL has declined an average of 0.7% on the company’s annual product launch day since the first iPhone was released in 2007.

Take September 2025, for example.

Apple introduced its iPhone 17 lineup, including the iPhone Air, and noted that it would not raise prices despite rising cost pressures from tariffs. This should have been celebrated by Wall Street and Apple enthusiasts, yet AAPL shares slipped 1.5%.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Apple will finally introduce its first folding iPhone: the iPhone Ultra.Wengen Ling / Getty Images

The reality is that new products are typically leaked before the actual event, just like they were this year. So, excitement about the new product line is generated ahead of the unveiling, and the stock tends to rally ahead of the event rather than on the day.

After that, though, AAPL tends to meander higher in the following months when the products actually hit the shelves, and there’s more clarity on demand and actual sales data.

Dow Jones Market Data shows that AAPL has rallied an average of 12% in the six months following a product launch.

I suspect this year will be no different. AAPL is a Conservative buy below $342.

For more information about my stock grading system, click here. 

Related: Apple’s new CEO faces a staggering $14 billion iPhone test

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has long gambled on Alphabet, as artificial intelligence has grown Google’s cloud business and helped lift its stock.

Then he went away.

Pershing Square’s latest regulatory filing shows the billionaire investor sold both Alphabet (GOOGL) share classes in the second quarter. He also acquired a $934 million Netflix (NFLX) position at quarter-end. The fund had 13.08 million Netflix shares on June 30.

At first glance, the move seems odd.

Alphabet announced $119.8 billion in quarterly sales, up 24%, with Google Cloud revenue increasing 82% to $24.8 billion. Netflix has dropped precipitously from its 2025 peak, with investors now questioning how much growth remains in streaming.

But Ackman’s transaction may suggest something more essential than whether firm is growing faster.

He seems to be transitioning from a corporation that needs superhuman expenditure to maintain its AI edge to one that he thinks has already won the costliest competitive battle in its sector.

Bill Ackman makes dramatic reversal on Netflix

Ackman has a track record with Netflix.

Pershing Square purchased the streaming startup in early 2022, but unexpectedly sold it months later when Netflix said it had lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade. The withdrawal resulted in a loss of almost $400 million.

Four years later, Ackman is back.

He said Netflix was among six new investments Pershing Square made starting in the second quarter, including Visa, Mastercard, S&P Global, Intercontinental Exchange, and Alcon, Reuters noted, describing the adjustments as Ackman’s largest portfolio makeover in years.

Related: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square invests $1.1B in fintech giant

The Netflix position is particularly interesting because of the rapid failure of Ackman’s initial premise.

Pershing now argues that the competitive landscape has changed. The firm said Netflix has effectively “won the streaming wars,” according to commentary surrounding the investment.

Netflix brought in $12.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 13% year over year, with an operating margin of 33%. The business said it anticipates full-year sales of $51 billion to $51.4 billion and a full-year operating margin of 31.5%.

Alphabet’s AI success comes with a $200 billion problem

The company’s operational performance scarcely seems broken, which makes selling Alphabet now more appealing.

Google Cloud soared 82% as revenues hit $119.8 billion in the second quarter. Alphabet recently started making money selling its bespoke tensor processing units to outside clients, another move in the company’s effort to compete directly in AI infrastructure.

But the problem is the expense of that increase.

Alphabet increased its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion previously. Heavy infrastructure spending pushed quarterly free cash flow to negative $5.9 billion, its first negative quarter as a public company.

That raises an interesting investment issue.

AI is driving Alphabet’s quicker growth, but investors also have to determine how much cash will be needed to fuel that expansion.

Netflix setup is almost opposite. Despite slower revenue growth, streaming’s giant infrastructure and content land grab have matured, profitability has increased, and the company can focus on pricing, advertising, and live programming.

Bill Ackman walks away from Alphabet for a beaten-down stock.PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty Images

Ackman may be betting against Wall Street’s favorite narrative

That is not to say Ackman has gone bearish on artificial intelligence.

Pershing Square still has big investments in Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Amazon, according to its June filing.

It might be a value and capital intensity issue.

More Manager Buy/Sells:

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Warren Buffett reveals he broke his own investing pattern

Mark Cuban bets on MLB with Athletics minority stake

The AI gold rush has been rewarding firms offering huge AI potential even as expenditure on chips and data centers rockets upward. Thus, when a company’s competitive position improves and its stock price falls out of favor, Ackman is inclined to go elsewhere.

Netflix shares in the material were down around 42% from their 2025 top, and Alphabet had quadrupled over about 18 months.

It’s typical Ackman. A quality firm that is not popular, rather than a popular company, that’s already priced for great performance.

Ackman’s Netflix bet carries one uncomfortable reminder

The big danger is still there.

Netflix is in a tough fight for eyeballs with YouTube, social media, and conventional entertainment. Its advertising business is developing swiftly but is less than investors had earlier thought, and revenue growth has slowed from prior times.

Ackman also knows well how rapidly a Netflix thesis can crumble.

But that background makes his comeback all the more telling.

He isn’t just purchasing a beaten-down stock. He’s returning to a firm that once cost him hundreds of millions of dollars because he feels the business has evolved.

And by exiting Alphabet at the same time, Ackman is making a subtler wager. The next great investment may not be the company spending the most to win the AI boom. It may be the company that has already finished fighting its own expensive war.

Related: Billionaire Bill Ackman doubles down on these stocks in Q2

The U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services said the issues it encountered were resolved shortly after 2:30 p.m. EDT, though it acknowledged a backlog of flights.

Looking for help with today’s New York Times Wordle? Here are some expert hints, clues and commentary to help you solve today’s Wordle and sharpen your guessing game.

UBS Wealth Management USA has raised its forecast from one rate hike to two and expects the first to come later in September. 

But a more hawkish Fed doesn’t necessarily imply a deteriorating investment outlook, according to UBS Executive Director and Senior U.S. Economist Andrew Dubinsky.

“Investors should maintain diversified exposure and use market volatility around economic data and Fed decisions to rebalance portfolios toward their long-term targets,’’ Dubinsky said in a Sept. 7 note.

Strong employment and inflation data have reinforced the case for tighter policy, and “we now expect two rate hikes in 2026” in September and December, the UBS note said. 

“Investors should maintain diversified exposure and use market volatility around economic data and Fed decisions to rebalance portfolios toward their long-term targets,’’ the UBS note said.

Resilient economic activity, AI investment, strong employment and healthy profits support “our constructive view on global equities, even if higher yields create short-term volatility,’’ the UBS note added.  

UBS revises forecast to 2 Fed rate hikes this year

The persistently high inflation of the last five years is haunting not only your household budget, but also your investment portfolio and other financial matters.

Escalating oil and energy prices from the Iran war and tariffs from the last trade war — the newest ones don’t count yet — are top of mind for Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh and other key Fed policymakers.

But with the newest inflation data coming later this week, Fed watchers are divided as to whether the central bank will vote to raise benchmark interest rates later this month to tamp down the sticky inflation that Warsh has vowed to tame.

“If the Fed moves onto a hiking path, the relative advantage of short-duration bonds over cash would likely narrow. But recent moves higher in yields may be opening up portfolio diversification opportunities in medium- to long-maturity high-quality bonds,’’ the UBS note said.

TheStreet

Fed rate hike path tied to looming inflation data

As I’ve reported, Fed officials are divided over how the central bank should act in the short term but agree that new evidence of sticky price pressures could shift the Federal Open Market Committee into a rate hike Sept. 15-16.

Warsh displayed a noticeable hawkish shift during an Aug. 28 speech at Jackson Hole in which he pledged the central bank would work to tame elevated inflation, which has been above the Fed’s 2% target for five years.

“We have work to do,” Warsh said.

The CME Group FedWatch Tool calls for the probability of a 25 basis-point hike this month at  60.4%, a 70% chance in October, and an 86% likelihood in December, the FOMC’s final meeting of the year.

Fed’s dual mandate focuses on jobs, prices

The Fed’s dual mandate from Congress requires maximum employment and stable prices.

Lower interest rates support hiring but can fuel inflation. This risks fueling further inflation, potentially leading to an inflationary spiral.

Higher rates cool prices but can weaken the job market. This increases the cost of borrowing and further stifles economic activity.

The Sept. 4 blowout jobs report demonstrates the U.S. labor market is plowing through the economic uncertainty and financial jitters from the Iran war, despite higher gas and other energy prices. 

Related: Fed rate-hike threat heats up as August inflation data looms 

U.S. job growth surged in August and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, topping all estimates and hinting that the labor market has more momentum than previously thought.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release August data for the Producer Price Index on Sept. 10 and the Consumer Price Index Sept. 11.

Cool PPI and CPI headlines could keep the Federal Funds Rate on hold at 3.50% to 3.75%.

How Fed monetary policy affects you

The rate-setting FOMC voted 9-3 in July to hold the benchmark Federal Funds Rate target in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The three dissenters wanted to raise rates by 25 basis points because of inflation concerns.

Policymakers had cut rates by 25 basis points at its last three meetings of 2025 to shore up the softening labor market. 

These “insurance” cuts stopped after the majority of policymakers decided the risk from higher prices was outweighing signs that the jobs market was stabilizing.

The funds rate is the interest rate at which banks lend balances at the Federal Reserve to other banks overnight. 

A change in the funds rate triggers moves in short-term borrowing costs ranging from credit cards to student loans and home equity loans. 

Higher interest rates also increase the yield on fixed income and alter how equity markets value future corporate earnings.

“We expect the growth effects of two rate hikes to be modest and still see economic growth remaining near trend,’’ the UBS note said.

Related: Investors drop two-word verdict on Warsh’s Fed rate shift

Anthropic might soon test how much Wall Street actually believes in the artificial-intelligence boom.

The Claude maker is nearing decisions on key banking roles for an IPO that investors expect to value the company at $2 trillion or more, according to the Financial Times. Morgan Stanley (MS) seems likely to take the “lead left” position, while Goldman Sachs (GS) will oversee stabilization after trading.

That would be an amazing price, even by AI norms.

Anthropic raised $65 billion in additional cash in May, when it was valued at $965 billion. That would mean a public value of $2 trillion, a gain of almost 107% in a few months.

And that’s the whole tale.

Anthropic isn’t only getting ready for an IPO. It may be asking public investors to bless one of the quickest valuation increases in business history.

Anthropic’s $2 trillion number changes the IPO stakes

Morgan Stanley has been discussing share prices with potential Anthropic investors, according to the Financial Times, but its lead role is still unclear. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Barclays (BCS) should also gain significant positions after financing Anthropic.

The “lead left” position is important because the bank in the position often has considerable influence on the price, the allocation of investors, and the overall marketing of the offering.

But the banks are vying for more than status.

Related: Anthropic sends clear message to Wall Street ahead of IPO

Anthropic’s $2 trillion valuation would beat the $1.77 trillion value SpaceX obtained when it went public in June, establishing a new record for the IPO market. SpaceX priced its initial offering at $75 billion, but that later grew to $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised their overallotment option.

Anthropic itself has moved with surprising speed.

The corporation raised $30 billion at a value of $380 billion in February, Reuters reported. A $65 billion round in May put its valuation at $965 billion. At the time, Anthropic estimated its run-rate revenue at more than $47 billion.

That implies Anthropic’s private value has tripled more than three times since February.

Wall Street is betting AI can support another historic IPO

The IPO would come at a crucial time for equities in artificial intelligence.

SpaceX’s blockbuster launch demonstrated investors’ appetite to sustain a huge value partially based on aspirations for AI. Anthropic could now be able to take that excitement even further.

There’s a second award for Wall Street, too.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are also seen vying for top spots in OpenAI’s eventual IPO, the Financial Times said. Landing a high berth on Anthropic might bolster either bank’s status as one of the major advisors to the nascent generation of trillion-dollar AI startups.

But Anthropic’s value is a hard bar to clear.

It’s been just a few months, yet investors would be paying more than double the company’s May value of $2 trillion.

That means growth forecasts matter.

Anthropic’s revenue in July was at an annualized pace of approximately $65 billion, below some investors’ more bullish estimates of nearly $80 billion. The competition is heating up, too, as OpenAI has unveiled a new flagship model, with both businesses racing to snatch corporate and developer clients.

Anthropic prepares for a massive IPO as Wall Street fights for a piece.Bloomberg / Getty Images

Anthropic’s IPO timeline is already shifting

One significant element has changed since the Financial Times first reported the story.

The FT indicated Anthropic might publish its prospectus as early as September and begin trading around late September or early October, but Reuters later reported that the timing had slipped.

Anthropic is now scheduled to file its prospectus in late September, start promoting the offering around mid-October, and perhaps finish the listing just ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.

More Tech:

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The corporation is also closing on an around $15 billion revolving credit facility that includes Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citigroup, according to Reuters.

It provides the banks with additional financial ties to Anthropic even before the IPO begins.

Anthropic could become Wall Street’s biggest AI test yet

The temptation is to see Anthropic’s IPO as another marker of the AI boom.

That’s what makes the value something other than that.

The $2 trillion price tag would require public market investors to back a corporation that was valued at $380 billion in February and $965 billion in May.

But that doesn’t mean investors will pass it up. Anthropic’s revenue growth, its technology being adopted by companies like Amazon’s AI unit, and the fact that it is able to raise huge sums of cash all point to unusually high demand for its technology.

But an IPO transforms the crowd.

The private investors are counting on years of growth ahead and can pay high prices. At some point, public investors want to see on a quarterly basis that those expectations are being fulfilled.

That’s why Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs could be pushing so hard for the top spots.

Anthropic may be one of Wall Street’s most renowned transactions. It might also be the most transparent test yet of how far investors will drive the AI boom until pricing itself becomes the danger.

Related: Anthropic makes quiet move Nvidia investors must consider