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A portable desk can be useful when you need a dedicated place to work without giving up much floor space. A smaller desk that has room for work materials, while also offering storage for other items, works well in a student apartment, in a child’s room for homework, or in your remote office. If you want the option to change your setup throughout the day, a portable desk can also come in handy, working as a remote desk during the day and a crafting desk in the evening. Portable rolling desks can also be moved out of the way when you’re finished working, providing more space to do other activities. 

The Winaz Portable Standing Desk with Storage features wheels, an adjustable standing option, and tons of storage. It’s useful for all sorts of work around the house, and provides a place to store notebooks, electronics, pens, books, and more, instead of having to purchase a separate shelf. This desk is on sale for $80, saving shoppers 20% at Amazon. 

Winaz Portable Standing Desk with Storage, $80 (was $100) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at Amazon

Why do shoppers love it?

This rolling desk has an adjustable height range from 27.9 to 41.3 inches, offering sitting or standing positions for multiple heights. The five fixed settings are reinforced with a retainer that’s designed to keep the desk from slipping once the height is set, making it easier to adjust the workspace for different users. The 360-degree ball-bearing swivel casters allow it to roll in different directions, while the wheels can be secured with brakes to keep the desk in place. The option to roll the desk wherever you want it makes it flexible and convenient for any type of work.

Related: Walmart’s $195 makeup vanity with a built-in charging station is 49% off

For a smaller desk, it also provides several storage options. Two drawers provide space for smaller supplies, measuring 18 inches deep, 14 inches wide, and 4.5 inches tall, while a side pocket provides room for notebooks, magazines, or crafting accessories, and two smaller slip pockets offer even more storage for sticky notes, markers, or scissors. The desk features a larger lower shelf, measuring 7.1 inches deep and 31.5 inches wide, which is perfect for storage baskets, large school books, house slippers, and other large items.

Details to know

Storage: It includes two drawers, a large storage pocket, and two slip pockets, plus a large shelf underneath. 

Adjustable: The desk is adjustable with five different height options. 

Size: It measures 31.5 inches wide and 18.9 inches deep, providing space for laptops, desktops, books, notebooks, and more. 

“This rolling desk has held up well,” one shopper said. “The assembly went smoothly, all the parts fit correctly, and the instructions were clear. It has useful drawers and side storage, and the wheels make it easy to move around when needed. The height adjustment works as advertised.”Another buyer said, “I use this as a portable craft center. It’s nice to be able to pull it out to craft at night. The drawers are now jam-packed with tools and are still holding up.”

Shop more deals

Greenforest Folding Work Desk with Shelf, $51 (was $60) at Amazon

Bliesosfud Adjustable Standing Desk, $63 (was $80) at Amazon

Jsskeeim Adjustable Standing Desk, $54 (was $70) at Amazon

The Winaz Portable Standing Desk with Storage offers an easy alternative to a large, immovable office. With this desk, it’s easy to work off the sofa or in any other room. It can easily be moved out of the way when needed, and can hold a good amount of our office and work supplies, saving money and space. At just $80, this portable desk is a great deal that offers storage and adjustability. 

Real estate technology company Redfin is warning and informing Americans looking to buy a home about a key trend in the housing market.

Home prices continue to rise, mortgage rates are a factor, affordability is a constraint, and the reasons why people who want to buy homes are influenced by major factors.

“Despite the sluggishness of the overall housing market, home-price growth is proving to be surprisingly resilient,” Redfin’s head of economics research Chen Zhao said on August 18.

“That’s partly because today’s market is split in two: Many everyday buyers are constrained by affordability challenges,” Zhao continued. “Wealthy buyers have the means to keep competing for desirable homes. That upper-end strength is helping prop up prices even as the broader market cools, giving buyers some bargaining power.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, U.S. housing prices edged up 0.27% in July, matching the virtually flat pace of 0.28% seen in June, according to Redfin.

“Prices rose 3.4% from a year earlier, the fastest annual growth in a year,” Redfin wrote.

Mortgage rates clock in at 6.72%

On August 19, the daily 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 6.72%, Mortgage News Daily reported.

On a weekly basis, the FRM was 6.67%, according to Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates dropped on Wednesday due to a combination of lower oil prices and the announcement of changes to Treasury’s bond buyback program,” Mortgage News Daily’s Matthew Graham wrote.

“The oil price angle is easy to understand,” Graham added. “Throughout the war, higher fuel prices have caused volatility in inflation expectations and inflation is a critical consideration for bonds [and] rates.”

Mortgage News Daily explains Treasury buyback details

Graham clarifies his belief that the treasury buyback news is complicated, but he outlines the details he says are the ones that matter.

The original buyback program began in 2024 during President Joe Biden’s administration when Janet Yellen served as the Treasury secretary.

The initiative is not quantitative easing or the creation of new money. The U.S. Department of the Treasury sources funding by issuing bonds or collecting federal receipts, such as taxes and tariffs.

President Donald Trump’s administration and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent continued and expanded the program.

The department’s latest announcement increases the volume of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds that can be repurchased during scheduled buying operations.

The primary objective is to foster smooth, stable financial market operations, though it delivers indirect benefits to specific interest rates.

Because the recent expansion targets longer-term Treasury bonds, longer-term yields experienced the sharpest declines, whereas short-term rates ticked upward since funding additional long-term bond purchases inherently reduces short-term bond allocations, all else being equal.(Source: Mortgage News Daily)

Redfin reports mortgage rate, homebuyer struggles

Stagnant housing prices directly mirror the current supply and demand shifts in the market.

“Buyers are still contending with high housing costs — including mortgage rates that have sat in the mid-to-high 6% range all summer — which is keeping a lid on demand,” Redfin wrote. “At the same time, there are hundreds of thousands more sellers than buyers in the market, which caps price growth.”

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“Still, the slowdown is very modest: Home prices are still rising, and they’re rising at only a marginally slower pace than they were late in the spring.”

Redfin also identifies what it believes is a big reason for the current housing market dynamics.

Real estate technology company Redfin warns homebuyers about mortgage rates and home price changes.Image source: Shutterstock/TS

Luxury housing market drives real estate developments

Robust activity in the luxury sector helps sustain overall price growth even as broader buyer demand slumps.

“Luxury home prices are rising faster than non-luxury prices,” Redfin wrote. “Wealthy homebuyers are having an outsized impact on home-price growth, especially in affluent markets like the Bay Area and South Florida.”

“San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. lead the nation in price growth, and West Palm Beach, Fla. comes in fourth.”

There were some declines in home prices, particulary in Texas and Arizona.

“The biggest year-over-year declines were in Texas,” Redfin wrote. “San Antonio (-2.1%) is first, followed by Fort Worth (-1.3%), Dallas (-1%), Austin (-1%) and Phoenix (-0.9%).”

“Prices are falling in those places because in each of them, there are roughly twice as many sellers as buyers. That leads sellers to price lower to attract house hunters and, in some cases, buyers are able to negotiate prices down.”

Related: Zillow predicts major mortgage rate, housing market change

For most of 2026, software investors worried that artificial intelligence would let companies build their own tools and stop paying for the software they had relied on for years.

That fear pushed many well-known names down 40% or more from their highs.

Then one report changed the mood in a single afternoon.

News broke on Aug. 13, 2026, that private equity firm Silver Lake was in talks to buy human resources and finance software maker Workday (WDAY). 

Workday stock jumped about 18% that day.

If a sophisticated buyer was willing to pay a large sum for enterprise software, the market may have been too harsh on the group as a whole.

Wall Street moved quickly to answer the obvious follow-up question. If Workday can draw a bid, who else could?

Analysts started dropping names. Four of them particularly stood out for investors trying to figure out where this leaves their money.

Why a Workday deal reset the mood for software stocks

The Silver Lake talks did something no earnings report had managed all year. They gave software investors a reason to think the selling had gone too far.

Workday was valued at about $43 billion before the news, according to Reuters. 

Shares then rose about 18% and lifted its market value to roughly $51 billion, Bloomberg reported.

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Private equity buyers look for steady, recurring revenue and customers who rarely leave. Enterprise software fits that description well.

A deal signals that these buyers see durable cash flow where public investors saw a business under threat from AI.

That sets a price floor. Once a buyer offers a premium for one company, investors use that number as a baseline for similar stocks. Prices tend to stop falling below it. 

What KeyBanc analysts told investors to watch next

Right after the Workday report, KeyBanc analysts drew up a shortlist of software companies that could attract a similar bid.

Their high-conviction names included HubSpot (HUBS), Five9 (FIVN), GitLab (GTLB), and Asana (ASAN), according to Seeking Alpha.

The logic was practical. Each company owns data and workflows that customers depend on daily, which is exactly what an acquirer wants.

KeyBanc analyst Jason Celino put a number on the idea. He said investors should value software companies at about 15 times their projected free cash flow when thinking about a buyout. 

For Workday, that math works out to a price of about $224 per share, which is a rough floor for what a buyer might pay, Investing.com reported.

That framing gave the whole group a reference point that had been missing for months.

Software stocks stabilized after a reported private-equity bid for Workday, and analysts quickly named the next possible targets.Bloomberg / Getty Images

HubSpot: the sales and marketing platform buyers already know

HubSpot sells marketing, sales, and customer service software mainly to small and mid-sized businesses. 

Once a company runs its customer records through HubSpot, switching becomes costly and slow. That is the appeal. 

A buyer would gain control of front-office customer data that is valuable for training sales and service tools.

HubSpot also showed the business is holding up. In the second quarter, revenue rose 20% to $911.7 million and beat expectations, while adjusted earnings reached $3.26 per share, according to AOL.

The stock had still fallen hard this year, which is what makes it interesting to an acquirer. 

If a private equity firm or a bigger cloud company buys HubSpot, they would likely have to pay more than today’s stock price to get the deal done.

Five9: the call-center software the market wrote off

Five9 runs cloud software for contact centers, the systems companies use to handle customer calls and messages.

Many investors assumed AI voice agents would replace human call centers quickly, so the stock went down sharply. 

Five9 recently traded well below its 2025 high.

Related: OpenAI just disclosed something genuinely alarming

That heavy discount is the opportunity. Five9 owns the routing, telecom links, and live customer data that AI agents need to work.

The company is also growing. Second-quarter revenue rose 10% to $312.4 million and beat expectations, while its AI-related revenue climbed 78%, AOL noted.

For a buyer, taking Five9 private would remove the pressure of reporting messy quarterly numbers during that shift.

GitLab: the developer platform sitting in a two-company race

GitLab offers a platform where teams write, secure, and ship software. 

As companies rush to build their own AI tools, that kind of infrastructure becomes more important.

That makes GitLab a structural AI play rather than a victim of AI. 

Analysts note that infrastructure software often draws private equity first, given its direct role in building enterprise AI.

There is a second angle that helps shareholders. GitLab competes mainly with Microsoft’s GitHub in a near two-company market.

A financial buyer could grow GitLab on its own, or a large infrastructure provider could buy it to compete harder with Microsoft. 

Either path could spark a bidding contest, which tends to lift the price a seller can command.

Asana: a lagging stock that a deal could reset

Asana makes work-management software that helps teams plan and track projects. 

Its stock has struggled under heavy competition and tighter corporate software budgets, and it recently traded near the low end of its range.

The company spent years building what it calls its Work Graph, a map of how tasks and projects connect across a company.

A buyer would value that map as a base for AI agents that assign and track work automatically.

An acquisition would also change the story for long-term holders. 

Instead of grinding through more weak quarters in public view, Asana could restructure privately and give shareholders a clear exit at a premium.

That is why a takeover framework matters most for the names the market had already given up on.

How the 4 infrastructure software targets stack up

Here is a simple way to compare what each company brings to a buyer and what public investors have feared.

Quick comparison of the 4 names

HubSpot: Owns front-office customer data for small and mid-sized businesses. Public fear was cheap AI-built alternatives. 

Five9: Controls contact-center routing and live customer data. Public fear was AI replacing call centers. 

GitLab: Runs core developer and security workflows. Public fear was AI coding tools making it obsolete. 

Asana: Holds cross-team project data through its Work Graph. Public fear was larger platforms absorbing its market.

The pattern is consistent. In each case, a buyer sees a data asset where the market saw a business AI would erode.

This is not the first private-equity move on software this year

The Workday talks did not come out of nowhere. Private buyers have been circling software companies all year.

Thoma Bravo bought HR software company Dayforce for about $12.3 billion. The deal was completed in February. 

Shareholders got $70 per share, which is a 32% premium over the pre-deal price, according to Thoma Bravo.

That deal already showed buyers were willing to pay up for recurring software revenue in HR and finance.

The reported Workday move extends that pattern to a much larger target. It suggests the appetite is not limited to smaller names.

When two separate buyers pay premiums for the same kind of business within months, the “AI will kill software” argument starts to look overstated.

What investors should actually do here

A takeover rumor is a reason to pay attention, not a reason to buy right away. Being called a target does not guarantee a deal.

Here are the risks worth considering before acting.

Risks to weigh first

No deal is promised. Talks can break down. If the Silver Lake and Workday discussions stall, the recent gains in these stocks could fade.

Big buyouts need heavy financing. Multi-billion-dollar deals often require several investors, which can slow or sink a transaction.

Weaker names may still struggle. If companies keep cutting software vendors, second-tier names without strong data could keep falling even with M&A talk around them.

A sensible next step is to decide in advance how much a sudden 20% drop would cost you, then wait for the next round of earnings before adding money.

The bottom line for software investors

The reported Silver Lake move on Workday did more than lift one stock. It gave the whole software group a reference point after a harsh year.

By putting real money behind an enterprise software business, a major buyer signaled that public markets may have priced in too much AI damage.

KeyBanc’s shortlist of HubSpot, Five9, GitLab, and Asana gives investors four specific names to study, each with recurring revenue and data that a buyer would want.

None of them is a sure thing. Deals fall apart, and a rumor can reverse as fast as it arrived.

But the setup has changed. For the first time in months, the question around these stocks is not only how much AI might take away. It now includes how much a buyer might be willing to pay.

That shift is worth watching closely as earnings and any deal news arrive in the coming weeks.

Related: Analyst warns software stock has an $18B problem

Consumers have been hearing about “surveillance pricing” for a while, and now the Federal Trade Commission has a plan to curtail the practice.

If you have been on Instagram or TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen influencers telling you to purchase your plane tickets at the library or use a VPN to mask your location because of dynamic pricing that changes based on location and search frequency.

But now the FTC is stepping in, proposing a new enforcement policy regarding personalized pricing, which it defines as “the use of personal data to set prices according to the amount that a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend.”

While personalized pricing, which is also known by other monikers, including surveillance pricing, dynamic pricing, surge pricing, real-time pricing, and demand-based pricing, has been around for years. But it has become more invasive in recent years thanks to artificial intelligence.

“AI dynamic pricing is a process where product or service prices are adjusted in real time based on various market factors and demand,” according to IT solutions company Bull.

“Unlike traditional models that often rely on rigid assumptions or ignore competitor actions, this solution uses Machine Learning (ML) to estimate price elasticity: how quantity demanded changes relative to price shifts — to create highly accurate demand curves for every individual product.”

FTC seeks public commentary for new surveillance pricing rules

On Wednesday, August 19, the FTC announced that it is currently seeking public comment on an enforcement policy statement that would govern personalized pricing as part of its efforts to combat businesses “that mislead consumers with hidden fees and surprise charges.”

The enforcement would be against retailers that pretend their prices are static when they actually change depending on the available data of the person potentially making the purchase.

“When consumers see a listed price, they expect it to be the same price that everyone else sees, not the retailer’s estimate of how much they are willing to pay based on their personal data,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson.

But even the FTC acknowledges that it does not have the power to ban all personalized pricing practices, but it can make the process more transparent.

“The FTC does not have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances, but businesses that fail to tell consumers how their personal data is being used to set a price may be in violation of the FTC Act and other laws we enforce,” Ferguson said.

dowell / Getty Images

What happens next?

The FTC says that retailers that utilize the undisclosed collection of personal data for the purpose of personalized pricing could be violating the FTC Act, which “prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in the marketplace.”

Now that the FTC is soliciting public comment, they have 30 days to submit their comments electronically at this website.

So far, there is only one comment; it reads, “Absolutely ban personalized pricing without qualification. Allowing it would be bad for society and a nightmare for consumers. It’s bad enough that companies have so much unauthorized personal, private data about people, which is already being abused in countless ways. Personalized pricing would weaponize it even more. Naive young people, uneducated and poor people with limited access to information, and trusting seniors would be especially vulnerable to being misled and abused by personalized pricing.”

The FTC says retailers hiding their surveillance pricing activities from consumers are violating Section 5 of the FTC Act, and businesses that do utilize personalized pricing should “clearly and conspicuously” disclose not only the fact that they are doing it, but also the basis for that personalization and the types of data on which the personalization is based.

“Consumers expect prices for products and services to change based upon supply and demand, not their web surfing habits or buying history, the FTC says. “Retailers who represent or imply that a price is static when it in fact varies by individual are at risk of misleading customers.”

Related: Another state just banned a controversial retail pricing practice

Merck just delivered news that could reshape how doctors treat one of the deadliest skin cancers. 

The 135-year-old drugmaker, founded in 1891 and now based in Rahway, New Jersey, announced a milestone that oncologists have chased for years: a personalized cancer treatment that worked in a large, controlled study.

Investors took notice, sending the blue-chip healthcare stock higher by 12.6% on Aug. 19. 

Here is what happened, why it matters, and what it could mean for the healthcare giant’s next chapter.

What the cancer vaccine trial found

Merck (MRK) and partner Moderna said their Phase 3 INTerpath 001 trial hit its main goal, according to a company statement. 

The study tested a treatment called intismeran autogene, also known as V940 or mRNA 4157, alongside Merck’s blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda in patients with resected stage IIB through IV melanoma, meaning the tumor had already been surgically removed.

Patients who got the combination treatment saw statistically significant improvement in two measures: how long they stayed cancer-free, and how long they went without the cancer spreading to distant parts of the body. 

Both beat out results from patients who received Keytruda alone, the current standard treatment after surgery.

The trial matters for one simple reason. It’s the first time an individualized cancer vaccine has shown positive results in a late-stage trial. 

The therapy is built directly from a patient’s own tumor sample. Doctors sequence the tumor’s genetic mutations, then design an mRNA shot that trains the immune system to recognize and attack those specific mutations, up to 34 of them.

Related: Moderna just got a signal investors can’t ignore

Notably, no two patients get the same treatment.

Georgina Long, the study’s principal investigator and medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia, called it a landmark moment for adjuvant melanoma treatment. 

“Intismeran in combination with pembrolizumab has the potential to establish a new treatment paradigm in the adjuvant melanoma setting, helping patients remain cancer-free for longer,” Long stated.

Moderna (MRNA) CEO Stephane Bancel said the idea of a cancer treatment tailored to an individual patient had been aspirational for years and could soon be a reality. 

Safety data looked consistent with earlier trials of the combination, with no new red flags reported.

Merck & Moderna could unlock a new revenue stream with this cancer vaccine.Bloomberg/Getty Images

Why Merck stock investors care right now

Keytruda is central to Merck’s business. 

The drug and its newer formulation, Keytruda Qlex, generated $8.4 billion in sales in the second quarter, up 4% from a year earlier. It accounted for more than 50% of the company’s Q2 revenue of $16.6 billion. 

Keytruda is not just Merck’s biggest product, but also one of the best-selling drugs in the world, treating everything from lung and bladder cancer to breast and cervical cancer.

But Keytruda’s patent protection will not last forever, and Wall Street has spent years asking what comes next. 

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Chief Executive Rob Davis addressed that directly on the earnings call, telling analysts the company expects “a shallow dip with a fast return back to growth” once Keytruda faces generic competition. 

A personalized cancer vaccine that works alongside Keytruda gives Merck a fresh growth story built on its existing cancer franchise.

Chief Research Officer Dean Li called the vaccine program part of a broader push toward more personalized cancer care.

Merck and Moderna are not stopping at melanoma. The two companies are running nine total trials testing the vaccine technology across lung cancer, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer, both alongside Keytruda and on its own. 

What comes next for Merck stock

The trial results still need to clear regulators before doctors can prescribe the treatment widely.

Merck said the data will go to an upcoming medical conference and to health authorities for review, but gave no specific timeline for an approval decision.

Investors will also want to watch overall survival data, a key secondary goal of the study that researchers have not yet reported. 

Recurrence-free survival is an encouraging early signal, but showing patients live longer often convinces doctors and insurers to embrace a new treatment fully.

Merck raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $66.3 billion to $67.3 billion after the second quarter, and executives pointed to faster-than-expected clinical progress across the pipeline, including this melanoma vaccine data, as a reason for growing confidence.

For a company built in the 19th century, betting big on 21st-century mRNA science to defend its cancer franchise is a notable pivot. 

If the vaccine approach pans out in later trials and eventually wins approval, it could become one of the more important growth drivers in Merck’s next decade, extending the life of Keytruda that already treats millions of patients worldwide.

Related: From Vaccines to Targeted Therapy: The Future of Cancer Care

Bank of America is getting bullish on Zoom Communications again as the software company pushes deeper into phone, contact center, and artificial intelligence products after years of post-pandemic normalization.

Zoom Communications (ZM) was reinstated at Buy by BofA analyst Matt Bullock, who set a $130 price objective that implies roughly 24% upside from the $104.71 price used in the firm’s research.

In a note given to TheStreet, Bullock said Zoom’s setup for sustainable growth has become “much more attractive” as enterprise spending improves and newer products begin to carry more of the load.

BofA sees Zoom moving beyond meetings

Zoom became one of the defining software winners of the pandemic, but the reopening economy left the company dealing with contract reductions, a mature meetings market, and growing competition from Microsoft Teams.

That reset is beginning to ease. Zoom reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $1.24 billion, up 5.5% from a year earlier, while enterprise revenue grew 7.2%. Constant-currency revenue growth reached 4.6%, continuing a broader acceleration from the company’s post-pandemic lows.

BofA expects Zoom’s newer products to help push growth into the mid-single-digit range. Zoom Phone has surpassed 10 million paid seats, while Contact Center has crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, according to the note.

The analyst also expects enterprise net dollar expansion, which improved to 99% in the latest quarter, to climb above 100% as customers add Phone, Contact Center, Workvivo, and AI products.

Microsoft remains the biggest competitive threat. BofA argues the most significant wave of customers consolidating onto Teams has largely played out, leaving Zoom with a more durable base and more opportunities to coexist alongside Microsoft’s platform.

Zoom Communications (ZM) was reinstated at Buy by BofA analyst Matt Bullock, who set a $130 price objective.Cheng Xin via Getty Images

Zoom has a multibillion-dollar asset hiding in plain sight

BofA’s bull case also includes an asset investors may not normally associate with Zoom: a sizable investment in Anthropic.

Zoom disclosed in its fiscal first-quarter 10-Q that it invested another $46 million in Anthropic preferred stock during the quarter, bringing the carrying value of that position to $1.27 billion as of April 30. The company had $1.88 billion in total strategic investments at quarter-end.

That accounting value may significantly understate what BofA thinks the stake is worth today.

Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H financing in May at a $965 billion post-money valuation, up sharply from the valuation used to determine Zoom’s disclosed carrying value.

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Using that valuation and adjusting for dilution, BofA estimates Zoom owns roughly 0.311% of Anthropic, putting the stake’s estimated value near $3 billion.

BofA incorporates that estimate directly into its $130 price target. The firm values Zoom’s core communications business using a 14.7 times calendar-year 2027 enterprise value-to-free-cash-flow multiple, then adds the estimated value of the Anthropic stake.

The bank estimates Zoom trades around 13 times 2027 EV/free cash flow before accounting for Anthropic. Stripping out the estimated $3 billion value of the investment lowers the implied valuation on the core business to about 11 times, strengthening BofA’s argument that the shares remain inexpensive.

Zoom still has risks to work through

The bull case depends on Zoom proving its newer products can offset pressure in its mature meetings business.

BofA highlighted Microsoft bundling, enterprise down-sells, online customer churn, and slower-than-expected adoption of new products as major risks. Contact Center also faces entrenched competitors, while Zoom still has to prove that growing AI usage can translate into meaningful paid revenue.

Zoom has financial room to pursue that strategy. The company ended April with roughly $7.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and generated $521.6 million in operating cash flow during the quarter.

BofA sees improving operating trends as enough to support its Buy rating after Zoom spent years working through its post-pandemic reset. The estimated value of its Anthropic investment gives the bull case another catalyst investors may have overlooked.

Related: Louis Navellier sets eye-opening Nvidia stock price target for rest of this year

An employer’s 401(k) menu could look very different within a few years, and the asset management industry is eager to explain why.

President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14330 in August 2025, directing federal agencies to smooth the regulatory path for alternative investments inside workplace retirement plans. 

The order covers private equity, cryptocurrency, real estate, and other categories that have historically been unavailable in most 401(k) and 403(b) accounts.

The Department of Labor followed with a proposed safe harbor rule in March 2026, and firms like BlackRock began building PE-infused products for retirement accounts.

Vanguard, one of the largest retirement-focused asset managers, published an investor-facing allocation framework on Aug. 14, 2026, that tells a far more cautious story. 

The firm’s recommended private equity range starts at 0%, targets ultra-high-net-worth investors, and warns of restricted liquidity and elevated costs.

Vanguard’s private equity allocation starts at zero and caps well below industry hype

The firm’s framework recommends a private equity allocation from 0% to 40% of total equity exposure, not overall portfolio allocation, Vanguard specified. 

A 10% allocation of the equity sleeve in a traditional 60/40 portfolio translates to roughly 6% of total assets, a fraction of what headlines suggest.

Vanguard lays out four tiers, and the first is explicitly zero for people with higher liquidity needs, shorter time horizons, or discomfort with uneven outcomes. 

Investors comfortable locking up capital for extended periods while accepting irregular and unpredictable cash flows occupy the upper end of that allocation range.

The firm’s disclosure adds that private equity remains generally available only to ultra-high-net-worth investors who meet accredited investor or qualified purchaser thresholds. 

An April 2026 Vanguard research paper raised a fundamental concern about whether the average private equity fund compensates investors for the illiquidity and fees it demands.

A $3.8 trillion exit backlog fuels the push for retirement money

The private equity industry’s own financial picture adds context to Vanguard’s caution and underscores what is driving the sudden interest in retirement plan assets.

Private equity firms globally are holding roughly 32,000 unsold portfolio companies valued at about $3.8 trillion, Bain & Company’s 2026 report found. 

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Average holding periods at exit have stretched to roughly seven years, compared with five to six years from 2010 to 2021, the report confirmed.

Distributions to private equity investors have remained below 15% of net asset value for four consecutive years, the longest such stretch on record, Bain noted.

“The push for private assets into retirement plans is entirely supply-driven. Sponsors, advisers, and participants are not asking for it at all,” said George Webb, chief executive officer of advice firm Pension & Wealth Management Advisors.

Defined-contribution plan assets totaled $13.8 trillion as of the first quarter of 2026, including $9.9 trillion held in 401(k) plans, Investment Company Institute data showed.

For an industry struggling to return capital to existing investors, paycheck deductions flowing automatically into 401(k) accounts create a stream no voluntary pool can match.

Private equity’s $3.8 trillion exit backlog is intensifying pressure to tap the massive pool of retirement assets held in 401(k) plans.Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty Images

How opaque pricing and layered fees affect everyday 401(k) savers

Publicly traded stocks price continuously throughout each session, but private equity holdings are valued quarterly or less frequently based on fund manager estimates, Vanguard’s framework noted. 

That valuation gap can mask true losses for months, leaving your account balance appearing stable while underlying holdings may already be declining in market terms.

More than a third of workers (34%) have taken a loan or early withdrawal from a 401(k) or similar plan, the Transamerica Institute’s 2025 survey found. 

Private equity holdings, which typically cannot be redeemed on demand, could create complications that do not exist with publicly traded investments in those situations.

Alicia Munnell, a MarketWatch columnist and senior advisor of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, warned that private equity’s valuation structure introduces risks that retirement savers are not equipped to navigate.

…private equity is not a transparent investment. Moreover, it takes years for returns to be realized, and participants who leave early will have paid higher fees for nothing.  Private equity simply adds unnecessary risk to retirement savings.

Robert Morris, CEO of Olympus Partners, warned that layered fees inside retail private equity products make it unlikely that net returns will outpace an index fund. 

Morris, in a warning to Olympus investors cited in a Better Markets analysis, said routing 401(k) savings into private markets “bodes to be the successor to the 2008 mortgage crisis.”

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project reviewed 15 large private equity evergreen funds marketed to retail investors and found they delivered a median return of 11.97% in 2025.

That was roughly half the 22.34% return of the MSCI ACWI Index, while median expenses reached 3.76% across the funds.

Vanguard’s conclusions matter for 401(k) savers reviewing private equity options

Vanguard’s midyear private equity research from July 2026 reinforced a conclusion with direct relevance to this debate.

Without consistent access to top-tier fund managers and broad diversification across strategies, the premium over public stocks is not reliably capturable, the analysts wrote.

The executive order opened a regulatory pathway, but cost structures, liquidity constraints, and valuation opacity flagged in Vanguard’s framework remain unchanged for everyday retirement savers.

For workers building retirement savings through these plans, the question is whether their employers will apply the selectivity that Vanguard demands for its wealthiest clients.

Related: Private equity in your 401(k) raises red flags

A familiar fashion name is quietly reshaping its retail footprint, with another store now shutting its doors permanently.

The latest closure comes as the company reassesses how its stores fit into a changing retail landscape, making the shutdown part of a larger story that extends well beyond a single location.

Founded in 1967 as a neckwear line under the name Polo, Ralph Lauren has grown into a global corporation focused on the design, marketing, and distribution of luxury lifestyle products, including apparel, handbags, footwear, accessories, fragrances, home, and hospitality.

The company has also developed multiple brands across different price tiers, including Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Double RL, Polo Ralph Lauren, Lauren Ralph Lauren, RLX Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, and Chaps.

Polo Ralph Lauren outlet is closing

Ralph Lauren (RL) is closing its Freeport Village Station Polo Ralph Lauren outlet store at 76 Main St. in Freeport, Maine, on Aug. 21, 2026.

The location has begun advertising significant discounts and clearance sales as it works to liquidate merchandise ahead of the shutdown.

The closure will end the company’s presence at that shopping center, but it will not eliminate Ralph Lauren’s retail presence in Maine. The Polo Ralph Lauren store at Kittery Premium Outlets in Kittery will remain open.

It is also worth distinguishing between Ralph Lauren Corporation and Polo Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren is the overall corporation and designer name, while Polo Ralph Lauren is one of the company’s core lifestyle brands, with products sold through department stores, outlet locations, and online channels.

Ralph Lauren store closures

The Freeport closure is part of a broader adjustment to Ralph Lauren’s retail network.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which ended June 27, 2026, the company closed six outlet stores in North America and three in Europe, leaving it with 306 outlet stores worldwide, according to its earnings report.

Ralph Lauren has also reduced its concession presence, closing one concession in Europe and 32 in Asia during the period.

At the same time, the company continued opening directly operated Ralph Lauren stores. It ended the quarter with 600 directly operated locations, compared with 560 a year earlier.

The figures suggest that the company’s retail strategy is not a retreat from physical stores. While Ralph Lauren has reduced its outlet and concession footprint, it has continued investing in directly operated locations across North America, Europe, and Asia.

This distinction is important because concessions and directly operated stores, which include outlets, represent different parts of Ralph Lauren’s distribution strategy. The company ended the quarter with 635 total directly operated stores and concessions combined, down from 665 a year earlier, largely reflecting a reduction in concessions and outlets.

Ralph Lauren closes another store.Antoine Boureau / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

Why Ralph Lauren is closing stores

The recent changes are part of Ralph Lauren’s broader multi-year strategic growth plan called “Next Great Chapter: Drive,” which the company introduced in September 2025.

The plan is designed to deliver sustainable long-term growth and value creation through fiscal 2028. Its priorities include elevating the lifestyle brand’s positioning, strengthening its core products, and expanding the company’s presence in key cities worldwide.

Here’s some of my previous coverage of store closures:

Famous designer-created retailer closes dozens of locations

200-year-old retailer shares its fate after shutdown warning

Retail shoe giant closes 41 stores under multiple big-name brands

Ralph Lauren expects revenue to increase at a mid-single digit compound annual growth rate in constant currency through fiscal 2028, while operating margin is expected to expand by approximately 100 to 150 basis points. The company also expects capital expenditures to represent about 4% to 5% of revenue annually.

A central part of the strategy is raising Ralph Lauren’s position as a luxury lifestyle company.

“Ralph founded this company as a luxury company, and what we needed to do was go back to this mindset,” Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet told Fortune.

The shift follows years in which Ralph Lauren expanded its reach through a wider range of distribution channels and price points. Fortune reported that the company had become more widely available at discount retailers, while its collection of overlapping brands created additional complexity for consumers.

Under Louvet, who was appointed Ralph Lauren CEO in 2017, the company has pulled back from more than 1,000 U.S. department stores, according to Fortune. It has instead focused on stand-alone stores and a product assortment that is more heavily weighted toward higher-priced merchandise.

The strategy reflects a broader effort to protect the brand’s positioning while concentrating its physical presence in locations where Ralph Lauren believes it can build stronger relationships with consumers.

Ralph Lauren is seeing results

The changes to Ralph Lauren’s network are taking place as the company reports stronger financial and operating results.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Ralph Lauren reported:

Net revenue increased 13% in constant currency year over year.

Global comparable store sales grew 12%, with balanced contributions from digital and brick-and-mortar channels.

Global wholesale revenue climbed 13%.

North America revenue rose 13%.

The company also reported higher full-price selling and continued progress across brand equity measures, including net promoter scores and luxury perception scores.

“We will continue to invest in our key strategic priorities to deliver the sustainable growth, including harnessing the power of our iconic brand to drive desirability and lifetime value, creating timeless products with a strong value proposition,” said Louvet during the company’s latest earnings call.

The company’s latest results suggest that the store closures are occurring alongside, rather than because of, a current collapse in sales. Ralph Lauren’s first-quarter revenue, comparable-store sales, and operating income all increased year over year, while the company described its first-quarter results as better than expected.

The broader fashion industry remains challenging, however. According to the McKinsey & Company State of Fashion 2026 Report, the global fashion industry is projected to grow only in the low single digits in 2026 as macroeconomic volatility, tariff pressures, and weaker consumer sentiment weigh on the sector.

Louvet has said Ralph Lauren’s position gives it an opportunity to perform differently from the broader market.

“I think that’s reflected both in our consumer base and our performance and the type of consumers that we’re bringing into the Ralph Lauren family,” said Louvet during the earnings call.

“We also occupy a very distinct space within luxury, what we call inclusive luxury, spanning categories and price points across our lifestyle portfolio. Consumers continue to tell us that they see unique value in our offerings.”

For now, the Freeport closure represents another reduction in Ralph Lauren’s outlet footprint, but the company’s broader strategy points toward a more selective retail network rather than a wholesale retreat from physical stores.

Its continued investment in directly operated locations suggests that the company is seeking to put its stores in markets and formats that better support its long-term luxury positioning.

Related: 79-year-old fast-fashion retailer closes 128 stores

Home Depot has been struggling to reverse a concerning customer trend that continues to impact sales, despite recent efforts to boost demand.

In the second quarter of this year, the home improvement chain’s comparable U.S. sales increased by 1.3% year over year, according to its latest earnings report.

However, its in-store foot traffic declined during the quarter. Recent Placer.ai data indicate that average visits per Home Depot location dipped 0.6% year over year, steeper than the 0.4% decrease its top rival, Lowe’s, faced. 

Weak consumer demand at Home Depot comes as it sharpens its focus on enhancing the customer experience to lift sales. For instance, in March, it launched a real-time delivery tracker that customers can use for big and bulky orders. It also expanded its free Pro Xtra Rewards program in July by adding four new discount perks for members.

Home Depot CFO warns housing market is impacting customer behavior

During an earnings call on Aug. 18, Home Depot Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said that while the company saw “broad-based demand” across its business, “consumer uncertainty and housing affordability continue to pressure demand for larger home improvement projects.”

Instead of taking on these projects, more customers are opting to tackle smaller ones that focus on repair and maintenance amid economic pressures. 

Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director of GlobalData Retail, said in a recent Associated Press report that the number of large home improvement projects that Home Depot customers pursued during the quarter was lower than last year. 

“The number of bigger-ticket projects undertaken remains down, falling by 2.1% over last year,” said Saunders. “Concerns around financing and a previous lack of moving activity both remain major drags on the bigger-ticket segment.”

Related: Home Depot struggles to reverse a concerning customer trend

McPhail said on the earnings call that low housing turnover has contributed to this growing consumer trend. 

“Housing turnover, just as one point in the economy that we watch, has been at historical lows,” said McPhail. “It has never been lower as a percentage of the housing stock.”

“Every time we have seen it hit the sort of 3% of the housing stock changing hands, over history, it has always bounced up relatively quickly,” he continued. “We have seen housing turnover at these low levels for four years now.”

Over the past four years, 30-year U.S. mortgage rates have averaged between 6% to 7%. Amid this trend, the housing turnover rate dropped to 2.8% (28 out of every 1,000 residences changed hands) last year, the lowest turnover rate in at least three decades, according to Redfin data.

McPhail said he doesn’t see the housing market improving dramatically any time soon amid recent increases in mortgage rates. 

“I do not think that we have seen much volatility from the recent increase in rates,” he said. “We do know that when we see step-downs, we begin to see a little bit of life come into housing, but there is just no sign of an inflection point at this moment.”

In July, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 6.54%, up from 6.49% in June, according to Freddie Mac data. 

Existing-home sales decreased by 1.7% month over month in July as the median existing-home price reached $434,100, up 2% from a year ago, recent data from the National Association of Realtors found. 

Home Depot continues to see customers pull back on large home improvement projects.Jeff Greenberg / Getty Images

Home Depot bets on major store changes to win over customers

As Home Depot continues to face housing market headwinds, it expects comparable sales to remain flat or increase by up to 2% in fiscal year 2026. 

McPhail said Home Depot expects to continue navigating “unplanned and rising cost pressures throughout the year,” relating to fuel, energy, and other product input costs. 

More Retail:

Target sees unexpected shift in customer behavior

Publix faces consumer boycott threat after store policy change

Ross Stores CEO eyes a change that could drive away shoppers

“We have a lot of volatility,” he said. “We have unplanned cost pressure that is significant in the market, and we have frozen housing conditions. With all of that, we are focused on controlling what we can control. We do think that the range remains appropriate.”

Despite these mounting pressures, Home Depot is betting big on its strategy to improve the customer experience to boost sales. 

“Our teams are focused on ensuring on-shelf availability remains at record levels, on introducing new and innovative products, and deploying technology across the stores to enhance the customer experience,” said Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vice president, during the call. 

“This, coupled with all of our investments into our associate experience through technology-enabled tools, makes it easier than ever for associates to serve customers,” she continued. “We have seen greater associate engagement, better customer satisfaction scores, and stronger sales.”

This strategy also includes offering more convenience to customers. Campbell said 65% of Home Depot’s deliveries of in-stock parcel products are same-day or next-day. 

The company plans to make deliveries even faster, having recently confirmed the launch of Express Delivery at more than 2,000 U.S. locations, allowing customers to receive Pro and DIY essentials in 3 hours or less for a small flat fee. 

Additionally, Home Depot recently updated its appliance delivery approach, which is so far yielding positive results. 

“We’ve evolved our appliance delivery model to better serve direct purchases,” Campbell said. “We now stock a select assortment of appliances that can reach our customers next day in certain markets. We are seeing a sales lift in these markets and will continue to lean in to broaden these efforts.”

Related: Home Depot alters rewards program as customer behavior shifts

Uber (UBER) is one of those stocks that honestly generates strong opinions from everyone. From drivers, riders, regulators, and investors, because most of us have interacted with its variety of services at some point.

But for shareholders, the point is not whether Uber is popular or controversial. The real point is whether the business is compounding.

Jim Cramer clearly revealed his position on Monday, Aug. 17, in the “Mad Money” Lightning Round.

“I do say Uber is one great long-term stock. I am not backing away from that. The stock is turning here at 22 times earnings,” Jim Cramer said.

I am a buyer of Uber, not a holder, not a seller.

UBER trades at $74.66, down 8.63% year-to-date and 20.56% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance.

The stock has significantly underperformed the S&P 500 in 2026, which is precisely why Cramer’s language was specific about the word “buyer.” 

Thinking about it, a stock that has lagged the market while the business accelerated is the setup Cramer is identifying as a value opportunity.

Also Read: Uber Technologies Inc. Latest News and Stories

The business case Cramer is pointing to

Uber reported second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5, showing a business operating from genuine strength.

Gross bookings grew 24% year-over-year (YOY) to $58.0 billion, and 22% on a constant-currency basis

Trips grew 18% YOY to 3.9 billion

Revenue grew 12% YOY to $14.2 billion

Adjusted EBITDA grew 33% to $2.8 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 4.9%, up from 4.5% a year ago

Free cash flow was $2.8 billion. Non-GAAP EPS grew 35% year over year to $0.81Source: Uber Second Quarter 2026

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said a specific data point in the earnings release that I found more compelling than the headline numbers.

Related: Jim Cramer doubles down on Tim Cook and Apple verdict

“We’ve added more first-time users over the past twelve months than in any period over the past five years,” Khosrowshahi said.

Uber is a platform still in an active customer acquisition phase. It’s actually not a mature business harvesting an installed base.

For Q3 2026, Uber guided gross bookings of $58.25-$60.25 billion, representing 18% to 22% growth YOY on a constant-currency basis.

What 22 times forward earnings actually means for Uber at this stage

Cramer’s specific mention of 22 times earnings is the valuation call embedded in his buy recommendation. 

The Forward P/E of 22.37 times on a $2.8 billion quarterly free cash flow company and growing gross bookings at 22% is a specific and defensible argument for undervaluation.

Uber has a market cap of $153 billion, according to Yahoo Finance, against trailing twelve-month revenue of $55.23 billion. Return on equity is 37.16% on a trailing basis.

More Jim Cramer:

Jim Cramer reveals 6 AI stocks to watch in 2026

Jim Cramer’s 5 investing themes for the rest of 2026

Jim Cramer says surging defense stock is a sensational buy

I don’t see these metrics in an underperformer. Neither are they metrics of a money-losing startup.  I see them as metrics of a maturing platform business that the market has been pricing for its past controversies rather than its current earnings trajectory.

In fact, the market share picture reinforces the platform advantage. Uber holds approximately 34.78% of total market revenue in its competitive set and 47.84% of professional services market share in ride-hailing, according to CSIMarket data through Q1 2026. 

The closest competitor in the U.S. professional services category is Didi at 29.81%, and Lyft holds 5.77%. According to late 2025 Statista data, Uber’s U.S. brand awareness is 89%.

Uber records a forward P/E of 22.37 times, with $2.8 billion in quarterly free cash flow and gross bookings growing at 22%.Bloomberg via Getty Images

The autonomous vehicle strategy that extends Uber’s long-term runway

The partnership pipeline Uber has built in 2026, alongside prior ones, is the forward-looking element that gives credibility to Cramer’s long-term framing.

In August alone, Uber has announced autonomous partnerships with Wayve for London, Pony.ai to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis in Europe, Hinomaru Kotsu for a Tokyo robotaxi pilot, and Zipline for drone delivery to millions of Americans

Earlier in the year, partnerships with Ulta Beauty, Ace Hardware, GameStop, and Ahold Delhaize expanded the Uber Eats platform.

The autonomous vehicle strategy is the reason Uber’s stock has been depressed despite strong fundamentals.

Why? Investors are debating whether Waymo, Tesla, and other AV players will eventually route around Uber’s platform entirely or whether Uber’s network advantage makes it the indispensable distribution layer regardless of who builds the car. I see Cramer betting on the latter.

My read of the autonomous evidence is that every new AV partnership Uber signs — whether Waymo‘s exclusive deal in Austin and Atlanta or the European Pony.ai expansion — actually reinforces the platform thesis. 

Also Read: History of Uber: Timeline and Facts

We both can fairly say that each partner choosing Uber’s network is evidence that building consumer distribution from scratch is harder than leveraging Uber’s existing 3.9 billion quarterly trips.

I think that at $74, down 20% over the past year, while the business generated $2.8 billion in quarterly free cash flow and added first-time users at a five-year record pace, Cramer’s “buyer, not a holder, not a seller” call has a clear and strong fundamental foundation behind it.

Related: Waymo and Uber make critical robotaxi move in major U.S. market