BUSINESS

AMDsigned a multibillion-dollar chip and investment deal with Anthropic on Wednesday, July 22, its second major AI infrastructure agreement in three days.Two days earlier, AMD’s Azure deal with Microsoft sent shares up as much as 5%. This time, AMD shares fell 2.5% in premarket trading, according to Seeking Alpha.The reaction says more than the deal itself. Jefferies analysts had already predicted an Anthropic announcement at AMD’s Advancing AI event this week, according to TipRanks. Investors priced that in before the companies confirmed it.Anthropic’s deal goes beyond a chip orderAnthropic will deploy up to 2 gigawatts of AMD’s MI450 accelerators starting in the first half of 2027, according to the press release.That capacity runs through AMD’s Helios racks, which pair MI455X GPUs with EPYC Venice CPUs, Pensando networking, and ROCm software.Related: AMD just landed its biggest AI deal yetAMD will also invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic. That detail matters more than the chip order itself.It turns a customer into a financial stakeholder, tying AMD’s balance sheet to Anthropic’s growth instead of just its purchase orders. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.AMD is also in discussions to backstop some of Anthropic’s future data center leases, according to Seeking Alpha, which cited a person familiar with the matter. That kind of arrangement lets Anthropic secure computing capacity without carrying the full financial risk on its own books.We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Anthropic and deploy AMD Helios at gigawatt scale.The companies added an engineering partnership on top of that. AMD will use Anthropic’s Claude models to improve its own chip design, CEO Lisa Susaid.A chipmaker using an AI lab’s own models to build better chips is a feedback loop few competitors can offer.The market is grading AMD on a tougher curve nowWall Street had already raised the bar before July 22. Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Rosenblatt lifted their AMD price targets after the Monday, July 20, Microsoft news, with targets running as high as $700, as AMD’s earlier deal showed.A deal that analysts already expected does less to move a stock than a surprise would.More AMD:AMD just landed its biggest AI deal yetAMD stock gets a new reason to watch from Bank of AmericaAMD’s hidden AI weapon may finally be exposedThat is the cost of a winning streak. Every new customer raises the bar for the next one. AMD cleared the Anthropic hurdle on Wednesday, but it had already built that hurdle for itself two days earlier.That dynamic will only intensify as more hyperscalers weigh similar agreements. Investors who bought AMD ahead of the July 20 rally already captured the upside from expectations. Anyone buying now is betting on execution, not on rumor.

AMD will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic and supply up to 2 gigawatts of MI450 chips starting in 2027 under a new partnership.I-HWA CHENG / Getty Images

AMD is filling the customer list Nvidia once had aloneMeta, OpenAI, Oracle and Microsoft had already adopted Helios before July 22. Anthropic makes five major AI labs and hyperscalers running AMD’s rack scale system within about a year.Nvidia still controls more than 95% of data center GPUs, according to CNBC, a dominance built in part on the absence of a credible alternative supplier.AMD’s Venice server chips have also drawn more early customers than any earlier EPYC generation, according to my earlier reporting. That suggests the diversification away from a single vendor extends beyond GPUs alone.Anthropic benefits most directly from the July 22 deal. It gains guaranteed capacity and financial backing from the same company supplying its chips.AMD benefits, too, locking in years of demand that justifies its own spending on manufacturing capacity.The bigger shift here is not about one chip deal. It is about how AI companies and their suppliers now share risk.When a chipmaker invests billions directly into the customer buying its hardware, the relationship stops looking like a vendor contract and starts looking like a joint venture.That structure may become the norm as AI infrastructure spending climbs into the hundreds of billions.The question worth watching is not whether AMD keeps signing customers. It is how many of them become financial partners too, and what that means for who controls the next generation of AI hardware.Related: Bank of America doubles down on Micron stock after AI bombshellHow to Protect Yourself from the Soaring Number of Cyber Scams and Fraud (11:53)

Members of the sandwich generation report it can consume hours, while limiting career choices and retirement savings. Tax breaks may cover only a fraction of the cost.

When reviewing job applications from young people, Brendan Foody found this pattern.

Kirk and Jacob McKinney’s business began with a single pick-up truck.

Alphabet says it plans to throw even more money at the AI buildout. The Iran war, oil back at $100 a barrel and rising bond yields make it all the more difficult for the market to stomach.

Hear the name Walmart (WMT), and you probably picture blue-aproned employees, football stadium-sized stores, and a company that reliably sends its shareholders a dividend check every quarter.For decades, Walmart has been a store — and an investment — for all seasons. Consumers shop there for its “Always Low Prices,” and investors appreciate its dependable cash flow and steady dividend increases.But that’s only half the story.Behind the scenes, Walmart has become one of the world’s largest adopters of artificial intelligence.Thanks to WMT’s massive cash flow — over $42 billion in 2025 alone — the company has been able to strategically adopt and integrate AI technology into nearly all aspects of its business.These initiatives started as early as 2017, before most consumers even knew the term “generative AI,” but they have since transformed Walmart’s operations and optimized its supply chain.Now, store associates use “computer vision” to monitor store inventory, while robotics have replaced conveyor belts in its distribution centers. The company’s proprietary Route Optimization software dynamically maps and reroutes delivery paths, which has sped up delivery times to as little as 30 minutes in some markets.Unlike many tech companies, Walmart doesn’t even need AI to create a new product; rather, it’s harnessing the technology to make one of the world’s largest retail operations a little more efficient.Walmart’s AI story is a new reason investors are taking a fresh look at the company. Shares have climbed 11% over the past year on its continual rollout of AI advancements, pushing the company’s valuation above $1 trillion.Now, what was once viewed as a dependable — albeit unexciting — defensive stock is increasingly becoming a “tech-adjacent” investment as well.And for dividend investors, that’s an appealing combination. Here’s what income investors should know about Walmart’s dividend. @itsmelinavega @Walmart’s Sparky AI shopping companion understood my entire fall moodboard #WalmartPartner Available in the Walmart app only, download now at the link in my bio! ♬ original sound – Melina Vega Does Walmart offer a dividend? Yes, Walmart offers a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share, totaling $0.99 per year. This amounts to a yield of roughly 0.88% to 0.9% as of this article’s last update. Walmart’s dividend yield is slightly lower than the average yield of the S&P 500, which ranges from approximately 1.3% to 1.5%. This is mainly due to the fact that Walmart’s stock price has outpaced its dividend growth rate — even though the company has consistently increased its payouts for the past 53 years.How often does Walmart pay dividends?Walmart pays dividends quarterly. On February 19, 2026, its board of directors approved an annual cash dividend of $0.99 per share for fiscal year 2027, a 5% increase from the $0.94 per share it paid in fiscal year 2026.The FY27 annual dividend is be paid in four quarterly installments of $0.2475 per share, accordingly:Walmart’s fiscal 2027 dividend scheduleDividend record dateDividend payable dateMarch 20, 2026April 6, 2026May 8, 2026May 26, 2026Aug. 21, 2026Sept. 8, 2026Dec. 11, 2026Jan. 4, 2027Source: Walmart“Dividends continue to be a part of our diversified capital returns approach,” said John David Rainey, Walmart’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, adding, “We’re proud to be increasing our annual dividend for the 53rd consecutive year. This decision is a proof point of our continued confidence in our business performance and forward momentum.”  Related: How many employees does Walmart have in 2026? Its workforce, locations & layoffs explainedIs Walmart a dividend aristocrat?Actually, Walmart qualifies as both a dividend aristocrat and a dividend king, having increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years.To qualify as a dividend aristocrat, a company must have raised its dividends for 25 consecutive years; dividend kings are an even more exclusive group of companies that have raised their dividends for 50 consecutive years.Only a few other companies, like Procter & Gamble (PG), Coca-Cola (KO), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), have done the same.Is Walmart’s dividend safe?Payout ratio and cash flow are two metrics investors can follow to gauge whether or not a company has enough money to continue to offer a stable (or growing) dividend to its shareholders — after all, dividends are a way to reward long-term investors with a slice of the company’s profits.The payout ratio is the percentage of company income distributed to shareholders. An “optimal” payout ratio is between 30% and 60%: Walmart’s payout ratio is 33% to 35%, which leaves management with plenty of cash leftover to run the business.More on dividends:Apple’s dividend explained: Yield, history & moreDoes Chevron pay dividends? When & how often?Does Intel pay dividends? History & future prospects explainedCash flow provides one of the clearest pictures of a company’s financial health. It is the money that moves into and out of its business, split between operations, investing, financing, and “free” cash flow, or everything leftover that’s used to either grow the business or be paid out as dividends. When it comes to cash generation, Walmart has a history that is both robust and consistent.The world’s largest retailer combines more than 50 years of annual dividend increases with new opportunities to improve its margins through AI. Taken together, these strengths could give management even more flexibility to continue growing Walmart’s dividend over time — something income investors are likely to appreciate.Related: History of Walmart: Company timeline & facts

The deadline to get the crypto market structure bill done before senators scatter will likely be missed, says Majority Leader Thune, though it may get a start before then.

Earnings quadrupled on paper, but an analyst says that performance was propped up by unrealized gains from equity investments.

For years, Amazon was my default option when I wanted quick delivery.As a Prime member, I get free two-day delivery, and in many cases, the online giant actually delivers the next day, sometimes even before 8 a.m.That’s a bar Walmart wants to raise. Fast Company writer Elizabeth Segran shared how she dropped Amazon for Walmart after her husband got a free Walmart+ membership through American Express.”When our 4-year-old announced she would eat nothing but Uncrustables for the foreseeable future, a box arrived within the hour. The prices were lower than on Amazon, and we got them faster, with no delivery fee. It turns out that my husband had gotten hooked on Walmart — all without ever setting foot in a store,” she wrote.Walmart hasn’t mounted a big ad campaign or even really touted its ability to deliver faster than Amazon, but the retail giant has leveraged its one advantage over its rival to win over Prime customers.Walmart has one edge over AmazonWhile Amazon has invested billions in delivery, it has struggled to build a brick-and-mortar retail operation. Aside from Whole Foods, which the company purchased, it has largely failed as a physical retailer, having closed its bookstores and 4-Star stores, while scaling back its efforts to build a low-priced Amazon Fresh grocery chain.Walmart has invested heavily in digital and delivery, but it has also leveraged its store network to get customers products quickly. That’s something Chief Growth Officer Seth Dallaire spoke about at the 6th Annual Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference.”We have a unique position where our stores sit close to over 90% of U.S. households. We can get products to people quickly and like really fast,” he said.That’s an edge Walmart has over Amazon.”We know that as you bring items closer to the customer and you shrink the amount of time it takes to deliver those items, the conversion rates on those items and the purchase frequency increase,” he said.More Walmart:Walmart’s 7,200 price cuts land heaviest in one categoryWalmart makes another move to win higher-income shoppersWalmart makes unusual nuclear power betThat has also helped Walmart expand its product offering. “So when we talk with the seller about bringing their product catalog into our store, it’s not just about getting the catalog and making it available and shipping it to you in two weeks. That wouldn’t be good enough. That item might sit. When we bring that item into one of our fulfillment centers, and we’re delivering it to you same day or next day, we see the conversion rates go up,” he added.The bar for delivery, he noted, has gone from two-day to even faster.”Speed is what our customers want, and that fast fuels the frequency,” he added.

Amazon has been the leader in fast delivery. Shuttershock/Charles-McClintock Wilson

Walmart has a lot to overcomeWhile Walmart arguably can deliver many products faster than Amazon, the company has a major hill to climb when it comes to competing with Prime.As someone who orders from Amazon nearly every day, Walmart has some catching up to do. I’m not a Walmart+ member and see little reason to join when Amazon gets me most items the next day, and when Uber Eats can bring me same-day items from Target, albeit at a slight markup.RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks Amazon has an edge, but perhaps not an insurmountable one.”On one hand, people are used to the diversity, but they’re kind of ingrained with Amazon,” he told TheStreet. “Amazon has basically all the products people are used to, but on the other hand, the internet’s rather fickle, and when a new thing comes along after a while, that can become the go-to move.”Miserandino believes Walmart could win customers over.”So, I think time will tell. [As] more people use Walmart, do they find it starts to change and readapt their behaviors?” he added.Amazon continues to evolveWhile Walmart has leaned on its retail stores, Amazon has built out its distribution network in order to offer near-instant delivery (for a price).”If the item is needed urgently, most people will pay a premium for it to be delivered quickly. Amazon knows this, which is why it has put in place the faster delivery option. And that is exactly what it is: one delivery option among many, including same-day delivery that remains free. For Amazon, this is part of ensuring they are the go-to destination for all types of purchases,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders wrote on RetailWire.Scott Benedict, a retail consultant with 30 years of experience, sees it as an arms race where Amazon and Walmart keep raising the stakes.”The implication for retailers is that the competitive bar has risen. Offering faster delivery options is important, but the real opportunity lies in orchestrating speed, cost, and reliability based on the customer’s mission. The retailers that win will be those who give customers choice — fast when they need it, affordable when they don’t, and consistently reliable across every touchpoint,” he posted.Georganne Bender, a retail author and consultant, thinks delivery speed is more about protecting its turf than actual customer need. “Super-fast delivery speed might be critical for a small segment of consumers, but it works magic on everyone else’s perception. This is just another way that Amazon is making itself indispensable. Even if you never use this service, it’s comforting to know that it’s there,” she posted.Related: Costco cuts products, and most members find out too late

Nobody hands you a certificate when you graduate from beginner to veteran investor. There’s no test, no badge, no minimum account balance that makes it official.

But there are markers. Most of them have nothing to do with how much money you’ve made and everything to do with how you think and behave when markets do what markets do.

The late Jonathan Clements, the longtime Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist and founder of HumbleDollar, wrote about the traits that separate seasoned investors from newcomers. His framework inspired this list. Clements spent decades teaching people that good investing is mostly about temperament, and these 10 signs reflect that idea.

1. Falling Prices Look Like Opportunity, Not Emergency

Nobody enjoys watching their account balance shrink. But if you’re still buying for another decade or more, a market decline means the shares you’ll purchase next month cost less than they did last month.

Seasoned investors also temper their enthusiasm when markets soar. A big run-up feels great, but it often means some of tomorrow’s returns arrived early. The veteran response to both directions is the same: Keep buying on schedule.

2. You Buy Funds You’d Hold for a Decade, and Then You Actually Hold Them

Anyone can say they’re a long-term investor. The proof is in your transaction history.

If you own broad, low-cost index funds or a target date fund and your account activity consists almost entirely of automatic contributions, you’re doing it right. Money expert Clark Howard has long recommended target date funds for exactly this reason. They remove the temptation to fiddle.

3. Return Is the Last Thing You Evaluate, Not the First

Beginners ask one question about an investment: How much can it make? Veterans dive deeper, asking:

What’s the risk?

What does it cost to own?

How will it be taxed?

Where does it fit in the overall plan?

An investment with a slightly lower expected return, lower fees and better tax treatment often beats the flashier option once you account for everything.

4. You Can Explain Every Holding in One Sentence

Pull up your portfolio and go line by line. For each position, can you state why you own it and what job it does?

If the answer for any holding is some version of “it was hot a few years ago” or “my brother-in-law swore by it,” that position is a candidate for the exit. A seasoned investor’s portfolio has no mystery holdings.

5. Losses Never Catch You Off Guard

Before veterans buy anything, they understand how badly it could perform. Stocks can fall 30% to 50% in a bear market. Entire sectors can go nowhere for 10 years. Bonds can lose value when rates rise.

Because they know this going in, a bad stretch doesn’t feel like a betrayal. It feels like the deal they signed up for. And critically, their financial plan still works even if part of the portfolio delivers a lost decade.

6. You Don’t Care What You Paid

The price you paid for an investment is history. It has no bearing on whether that investment is worth holding today.

Beginners refuse to sell losers because selling would “make the loss real,” and they hesitate to sell winners because they’re anchored to the gain. Veterans ask one forward-looking question: If I had this money in cash today, would I buy this investment at this price?

7. You’ve Stopped Trying to Beat the Market

At some point, most investors learn the humbling math. The majority of professional fund managers fail to beat a simple index fund over long periods, and they do this full time with teams of analysts.

Once that lesson sinks in, you stop making concentrated bets on individual stocks and narrow sectors. You own a diversified mix of stocks and bonds, keep costs low, and let compounding do the heavy lifting.

8. Checking Your Balance Never Leads to a Trade

How often you look at your portfolio matters less than what happens after you look. Most investors check more when markets are up and less when they’re down. Behavioral researchers call it the ostrich effect, and it’s close to universal.

The real marker of a seasoned investor is that looking and acting are completely disconnected. You can watch your balance drop 4% on a bad day, close the app and change nothing, because nothing that happens on any single day changes a 20-year plan. Beginners check to decide whether to do something. Veterans check the way you’d check the score of a game you have no money on.

9. You’ve Automated Every Decision That Can Be Automated

Willpower is a terrible investment strategy. Seasoned investors build systems instead.

Contributions come out of every paycheck automatically. Contribution rates escalate annually without a decision. Rebalancing happens on a calendar or inside a target date fund. The veteran’s edge isn’t superior discipline in the moment. It’s designing a plan that doesn’t require discipline in the moment.

10. Your Only Benchmark Is Your Own Plan

Beginners measure themselves against the S&P 500, their coworkers and whatever a cousin claims to have made on crypto. Veterans measure one thing: Am I on track for my goals?

If your plan calls for a 6% return and your balanced portfolio delivers it, you’re winning, even in a year when stocks returned 25% and someone at the office doubled their money on a single stock. Comparison pushes investors into risks they don’t need to take.

A Bonus Sign: You’re Never a Forced Seller

Behind every seasoned investor’s portfolio sits a boring pile of cash. An emergency fund covering several months of expenses means a job loss or a busted water heater never forces you to sell stocks in a downturn.

Bear markets don’t hurt investors who can wait them out. They hurt investors who have to sell at the bottom. Cash is what buys you the ability to wait.
The post 10 Signs You’ve Become a Seasoned Investor appeared first on Clark Howard.