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Wall Street spent most of July arguing about how much SpaceX stock is worth. On Friday, July 24, HSBC became the first major bank to tag it as worth slightly less than the market is already paying.The bank initiated coverage of Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) with a hold rating and a $115 price target.That target sits below July 23’s close of $118.24 and $20 under the $135 IPO price from June.Shares fell about 4% on July 24 to trade near $113, extending a decline that has taken the stock down roughly 27% in a month.What makes the note worth reading isn’t the rating; it’s what HSBC had to do to arrive at it.Why HSBC’s $115 SpaceX price target is lower than it looksHSBC reached a $115 price target after being unusually generous.The bank valued SpaceX by pricing each business separately and adding them together. Then it applied a 2x “innovation premium” on top.That premium exists to account for Elon Musk’s record of building companies that reshape industries, CNBC reported. HSBC used Tesla’s first decade as a public company as its benchmark, so the math already assumes Musk pulls off something extraordinary. Yet, it still lands under the current price.That is the troubling part for shareholders. Double the company’s worth for the founder alone, and the stock is still fully valued.HSBC did model a best-case scenario. It put a sky-high valuation at $293 per share, assuming Starship commercializes, Starlink adoption accelerates, and AI revenue arrives faster than expected.The bank simply doesn’t treat that outcome as the base case, and the $115 target is where its base case lands.

Starship Flight 13 launched on Friday evening, July 24, one of two dates that will settle the argument over SPCX stock.Walter Cicchetti / Getty Images

The $106 billion number SpaceX investors should focus onMost analyst notes fight over revenue growth. HSBC’s forecast doesn’t dispute the growth at all.The bank expects revenue to more than double to $38.2 billionin 2026 from $18.7 billion in 2025, driven by the AI segment and Starlink.The problem sits further down the page. HSBC expects SpaceX to keep posting GAAP losses through 2027 and doesn’t see free cash flow turning positive until 2030.Reaching positive free cash flow costs roughly $106 billion in cumulative cash.For a reader deciding whether to buy, that figure matters more than the price target. Free cash flow is the money left after a company pays its bills and funds its equipment, and it’s what eventually pays shareholders.HSBC is saying SpaceX will burn through more than $100 billion before it produces any.What HSBC’s forecast implies for the next 4 yearsRevenue roughly doubles in 2026, then keeps climbingLosses continue on a GAAP basis into 2027Cash usage runs to about $106 billion before it reversesPositive free cash flow arrives around 2030Why the AI business is where HSBC pushes back hardestHSBC called SpaceX the clear leader in commercial launch and credited Starlink’s lead in satellite internet.The skepticism starts where SpaceX stops being a space company.The company absorbed xAI in February 2026, bringing in the Grok model, the Colossus data centers, and the X platform (formerly Twitter).HSBC believes xAI trails the leading AI developers in both enterprise adoption and computing scale. To close that distance means spending against Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Google.Related: Morgan Stanley sends strong signal on SpaceX stock price targetThe bank also questioned whether orbital data centers can become economically viable within the next decade, and said Starlink’s addressable market is likely smaller than SpaceX’s own estimate.SpaceX told the SEC its total addressable market runs to $28.5 trillion, with $26.5 trillion of thatin AI.HSBC is essentially arguing the market has priced a slice of that $26.5 trillion into the stock before anyone has proven it can be reached.What SpaceX’s own numbers say about the burnThe filings back up the caution. SpaceX generated $4.69 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and lost $1.94 billion from operations, according to Reuters.Starlink is carrying the company. The connectivity segment brought in $3.26 billion of that quarterly revenue with $1.19 billion in operating income.More Space Stocks:SpaceX stock defies latest Wall Street forecastsCathie Wood buys more SpaceX stock after selloffSpaceX investors may be ignoring troubling trendThe AI segment produced $818 million in revenue and a $2.47 billion operating loss in the same three months.Capital spending in Q1 hit $10.1 billion, and $7.7 billion of it went to AI, CNBC reported.There’s a signal in there that’s worth noticing: SpaceX is spending the majority of its capital on the one segment HSBC says it’s least likely to win.The one metric bulls tend to skipStarlink added subscribers fast, reaching 10.3 million by the end of the first quarter from 5.0 million a year earlier, SpaceNews reported.Average revenue per user, or ARPU, fell to $66 a month from $86 over the same stretch, as SpaceX pushed into lower-priced markets in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.That trade works only if subscriber growth keeps outrunning the price decline.How SPCX stock compares to the market since its IPOThe gap between SpaceX and the broader market since June is clear.SPCX from its $135 IPO price: down about 16%SPCX from its $225.64 June 16 peak: down about 50%SPCX over the past month: down about 27%Nasdaq 100 over the past 12 months: up about 23%, Stocktwits reportedShort sellers have collected roughly $15.5 billion in paper gains since the IPO, with short interestnear 31% of the tradable float, Investing.com noted.The two August dates that matter more than any price targetSpaceX reports its first quarterly results as a public company after the close on Aug. 4. Two trading days later, on Aug. 6, the first lock-up tranche expires. Up to 911.5 million shares become eligible to sell, lifting the public float from about 4.9% to roughly 12%, CNBC reported.Musk’s stake stays locked until mid-2027.For an investor, the sequence is what counts. The earnings report gives the first clean look at cash burn, and 48 hours later, the supply of tradable shares more than doubles.If the report disappoints, the selling arrives into a market that just got a lot more sellers.The Falcon 9 decision that raised the stakes on StarshipThere’s one more development alongside HSBC’s caution.SpaceX has begun turning away satellite operators seeking dedicated Falcon 9 launches beyond 2028 and stopped taking new Falcon 9 rideshare reservations, Bloomberg reported.It has also halted production of some expendable Falcon hardware, including upper-stage components.Falcon 9 is expected to keep flying NASA and Defense Department missions, and the plans could change if Starship slips further.Starship’s Flight 13 launched on Friday, July 24, from Starbase after a July 16 abort and a weather delay, carrying 20 Starlink V3 satellites.What SpaceX investors should actually do with this noteHSBC’s hold is not a sell call, and it does not say the business is broken. It says the price already reflects the good outcome.For most investors, that means waiting until after Aug. 6 to buy, since both the first earnings report and the float expansion land inside 48 hours.Anyone already holding SPCX should size the position for a stock that has moved 50% in six weeks and carries 31% short interest. A strong quarter could push it up just as fast.The bull case needs three specific things: Starship flying often enough to cut launch costs, Starlink adding subscribers faster than ARPU falls, and xAI converting computing contracts into repeat revenue.HSBC’s $115 target is a bet that at least one of those slips. The Aug. 4 report is the first chance to find out which, if any.Related: Jeff Bezos doubles down on Blue Origin with $2B

In much of the country, the most affordable homes for sale are also the oldest. Buyers reaching for a lower price increasingly find themselves looking at houses built well before the wiring standards, materials, and layouts that exist in newer construction.As home prices continue to climb, that calculation has become even more challenging. The median existing-home price hit $440,600 in June, an all-time high and the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year increases, according to the National Association of Realtors. Total inventory slipped to 1.56 million units, a 4.6-month supply, leaving fewer cheap, newer listings for buyers to work with.On Wednesday’s episode of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast, host Dave Meyer and co-host Henry Washington took a question from an investor in Columbus, Ohio, who had spent years refusing anything built before 1964 and watched that rule wall off more and more affordable deals. The two spent much of the episode on whether a cutoff like that has quietly become its own kind of mistake.”I really like this question because I don’t think there’s a right answer,” Meyer said.What NAR’s record median home price means for buyersThe new median home price record did not arrive alongside a collapse in demand. Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in June, down 2.4% from May but up 2.8% from a year earlier, and properties went under contract in a median of 28 days. Supply is what has not kept pace, and NAR’s chief economist framed that as the variable dictating where prices go next.”The median home price has reached an all-time high,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. He added that progress on long-term affordability could stall if inventory growth does, and that prices can accelerate without consistent gains in supply.This dynamic drew national attention again Saturday, when CBS News aired a segment on buying a home during the affordability crisis.More on housing market and real estate investing:Homeowners face selling decision after housing market shiftAmericans face major decision after housing market newsAmericans are leaving their jobs for unexpected income streamThin supply at a record price does most of its damage at the bottom of the market, where the move-in-ready listings that once anchored a search have priced out of reach. What is left is older, and Meyer’s warning is that screening that stock out on the calendar alone removes a large share of what is actually available.”If your buy box starts in the 1960s, you’re filtering out a huge chunk of inventory, including some potential home runs,” Meyer said.The Columbus investor had set a personal floor at 1964, a line drawn to avoid the knob-and-tube wiring common in older builds. The rule did its job on wiring, but it had also begun closing off affordable properties, and that is the tradeoff Meyer is asking buyers to reopen. Widening the search reaches inventory a stricter cutoff would bury, but it also hands the buyer a set of risks a 2015 build does not carry, and those risks are where the decision gets uncomfortable.

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The tradeoff BiggerPockets hosts see in older homesWashington’s answer was not to avoid older houses but to price them correctly before signing anything. He works the same five systems on every older property he looks at.”I’m always looking at the big five,” said Washington. “I’m looking at plumbing, electrical, roofs, HVAC, and foundation.”Cost is what separates a bargain from a mistake, and by Washington’s estimates the range is wide. New electrical runs roughly $5,000 to $10,000. A roof lands around $10,000 to $15,000 depending on the size of the property. A routine HVAC swap runs $5,000 to $8,000, but a house that has never been ducted pushes that to $16,000 to $20,000 or more. Foundation work is the line item that worries him most, at $20,000 to $50,000 with no guarantee the house sits level afterward.”But plumbing and foundation, you can get up there into almost six figures and having to fix some of those problems,” Washington said.Meyer’s caution runs alongside it. The cheap-fixer version of the pitch, he said, tends to come apart once the renovation actually starts.”A lot of people look at these older homes and say, ‘Oh, that’s a great value-add opportunity.’ And there is if you can execute it,” Meyer said.Meyer said his own whole-house re-plumb is costing about $80,000 and has been running for roughly nine months.That leaves buyers two workable paths rather than one. The first is an older home someone else has already upgraded, where the foundation and plumbing have been handled, the electrical ideally with them, and the layout works as it stands. The second is a narrower window. Washington named 1970 to 1975 as his sweet spot, and Meyer agreed on the reasoning, pointing to construction quality in that stretch, minimal knob-and-tube risk, and less asbestos exposure than 1960s stock.”A lot of the quality of the construction was really good back in the ’70s,” Meyer added.Neither path changes the condition underneath. Yun’s caution was that prices can keep climbing Before closing on anything older, both hosts advised paying for a foundation specialist’s assessment and a re-plumb quote, the two line items most likely to reshape the math after the sale.Key takeaways for 2026 homebuyersRecord prices are pushing buyers toward older inventory: NAR put the June median existing-home price at $440,600, an all-time high and the 36th straight month of year-over-year gains, with total inventory down to 1.56 million units and a 4.6-month supply.A calendar cutoff carries a cost: Meyer said a buy box that starts in the 1960s screens out a large share of what is listed, including some of the best deals. The Columbus, Ohio investor who raised the question had held a 1964 floor and watched it shrink her options.Inspect the big five before the cosmetics: Washington, who says he has done hundreds of deals, checks plumbing, electrical, roofs, HVAC, and foundation on every older property. New electrical runs roughly $5,000 to $10,000 by his estimate, and ducting a house that never had it can reach $16,000 to $20,000 or more.Foundation and plumbing hold the six-figure risk: Washington said foundation work runs $20,000 to $50,000 and can still leave a house sitting uneven, and that plumbing and foundation together can approach six figures. Meyer said his own re-plumb is costing about $80,000 over roughly nine months.The hosts point to the early 1970s: Washington named 1970 to 1975 as his sweet spot, and Meyer cited stronger construction quality in that era, minimal knob-and-tube risk, and less asbestos exposure than 1960s builds. Before closing on anything older, both advised paying for a foundation specialist’s assessment and a re-plumb quote.Related: Homeowners face selling decision after housing market shift

SpaceX (SPCX) gave investors something of a spectacle on Friday.Reuters reports that Starship’s 13th test flight lifted off from Texas, released 20 Starlink V3 satellites, endured the reentry with its cleanest heat-shield performance yet, and completed an upright splashdown in the Indian Ocean. According to The Washington Post, CEO Elon Musk talked about the data haul, arguing SpaceX got everything it needed from the heat-shield experiment “and then some,” while engineer Kate Tice called it “lucky flight 13.” The management’s imagery and cheering made it seem like the mission was a clean sweep.In reality, though, it wasn’tThe satellites were temporary test articles on a suborbital path, burning up as planned instead of joining the Starlink network. Perhaps more importantly, five Super Heavy engines failed to relight during descent, which sent the booster into the Gulf of Mexico quicker than intended.SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot even said that SpaceX targeted a much softer return. The flight advanced upper-stage reentry, payload deployment, and communications testing, but problems with booster reliability and full reusability dampened much of the enthusiasm. The mixed showing is unlikely to go much for the stock that’s experienced a ton of headwinds of late. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jones, though, feels the market is overlooking a critical part of SpaceX’s future value amidst greater scrutiny on launch setbacks, capital spending, and near-term selling pressure. 

SpaceX shares fall as investors question the value of its AI business Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

Why Morgan Stanley say SpaceX’s AI business is worth nothing at $100Jones believes that the market is beginning to value SpaceX almost entirely as a launch-and-connectivity company, assigning little or no value to its AI assets as reported by Bloomberg.More SpaceX:Elon Musk’s startling claim to SpaceX investorsCiti sends powerful sign to SpaceX investorsBeaten-down stock lets you buy SpaceX below market priceAccording to Jones,”Many ascribe zero or even negative value for AI given the high capex requirements relative to Space & Connectivity, largely uncertain economics, and the high degree of management time devoted to the business.”Consequently, he believes that the disconnect offers a far more attractive entry point with investor sentiment deteriorating sharply.SpaceX shares approached $110.85 on the back of concerns of an upcoming insider lockup expiration, elevated AI spending, and macro uncertainty, along with a broader rotation away from high CapEx technology companies. Yet Morgan Stanley feels the company’s operating fundamentals remain “largely unchanged.”Morgan Stanley applies a sum-of-the-parts framework, where basicallySpace and connectivity value + AI value = SpaceX equity valueJonas’s $300 price target (one of the highest on Wall Street) accounts for over 50% of SpaceX’s valuation to AI. That shows Morgan Stanley values the company’s AI operations at over $150 per share, with the rest coming from launch services, Starship, satellite connectivity, and related space infrastructure.Not surprisingly, all four banks that helped underwrite SpaceX’s offering agree with Morgan Stanley. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan have all issued buy ratings. How has SpaceX stock performed since its IPO?As of the latest available Yahoo Finance data, SpaceX (SPCX) stock closed Friday, July 24, 2026, at $115, down 2.7% for the session. For perspective, according to Forbes, SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11, 2026, closing the first day at a gain of about 19.2% from the $135 IPO price. Moreover, SpaceX reached its all-time intraday high of $225.64 on June 16, 2026, only two trading sessions after its debut. At that level, the shares were up 67% from the $135 IPO price and 50.4% from their $150 opening trade. Additionally, Yahoo Finance lists SpaceX’s all-time and 52-week intraday low at $110.85. That was 17.9% below the IPO offer price and 26.1% below the first public trade of $150. How high could SpaceX stock go?According to Seeking Alpha data, Wall Street’s consensus puts SpaceX’s average 12-month target at $236.71, implying 105.7% upside from roughly $115. Forecasts range from $62 to $800, indicating a remarkably wide spread, underscoring disagreement over execution and valuation.Morgan Stanley carries one of the more audacious mainstream $300 targets on SpaceX. Its bull case assigns substantial value to SpaceX’s orbital AI opportunity.Goldman Sachs rates SpaceX a Buy with a $205 target, reflecting growth across launch, connectivity, and AI, but offers a far more restrained valuation than Morgan Stanley.Bernstein’s $239 and Citi’s $200 targets sit nearer the broader consensus, while Macquarie’s recent $250 target suggests roughly 117% upside.Raymond James’ Street-high $800 target assumes exceptional Starship and AI execution, according to Barrons.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Barron’s, Seeking Alpha.
What does Morgan Stanley’s AI valuation mean for SpaceX investors?The AI debate matters a ton because it’s the bulk of Morgan Stanley’s SpaceX valuation.Hence, if the AI business generates the value the bank’s analyst expects, SpaceX stock might appreciate substantially even without a major re-rating of its launch, Starship, and satellite-connectivity operations.Morgan Stanley believes that the traditional space businesses offer a valuation foundation, while Grok, Cursor, and the wider AI platform offer most of the potential upside. At $100 per share, investors might be assigning little or no positive value to that AI opportunity.Nevertheless, it seems investors aren’t discounting the AI side of its business on the back of massive capital requirements, uncertain long-term margins, intense competition, and the risk of consuming cash for years without offering meaningful returns. That disagreement essentially defines the investment case. Morgan Stanley sees a valuable AI platform that investors might receive for free. Bears, on the other hand, see a capital-intensive operation that deserves a negative value, as it’s likely to absorb cash generated by SpaceX’s stronger businesses.That is perhaps the clear weakness in the “free AI” framing. An unprofitable business isn’t genuinely free if it requires multiple capital injections, raises borrowing, causes shareholder dilution, or weakens execution elsewhere. In that scenario, slapping a zero value on AI could actually be generous.The bull case thesis, therefore, depends on two conditions.SpaceX’s launch and connectivity businesses must independently support something close to a $100 share value, and the AI division must eventually produce returns above its cost of capital. If either of those assumptions doesn’t come to fruition, $100 might not represent a valuation floor. For investors, the question is not simply whether AI has potential, but whether that potential could create quicker value than it consumes cash.Related: Bank of America says Alphabet stock investors are missing the bigger signal

While the name was born out of a 2010s-era internet joke about slapping misbehaving tourists with an extra fee, the “tourist tax” has in the ensuing decade become a presence in many cities and destinations seeing large numbers of foreign visitors.The name itself is a bit of a catch-all term that refers both to the entry fee that some countries charge arrivals at the airport and the daily levy that many European cities add to the price of the nightly hotel or rental property rate.The city of Amsterdam just raised the latter to, at 12.5% of the cost of one’s room rate, one of the highest in the world. Other cities with this type of tourist fee include Paris in France, Berlin in Germany as well as most major cities in Italy and Spain. In the U.S., New York City and Los Angeles also charge a similar levy that is presented as a hotel occupancy and sales tax.Edinburgh starts charging travelers to Scotland a daily hotel taxThe latest city to start charging a visitor levy is the Scottish capital of of Edinburgh. Voted in by the city’s councillors in 2025, the 5% addition to the cost of the nightly stay at any hotel, hostel, bed-and-breakfast or property rental in the city came into effect on July 24 for all visitors booking accommodation in the city.The good news is that this tax is capped after five nights spent at the same location and does not rise during peak periods of the year like in certain other European cities.Related: Australia will make it easier for everyone to visitCity councillors presented the fee as a way to redirect funds to keep the city clean, maintain infrastructure and otherwise mitigate the effects of rising numbers of tourists amid limited resources to manage them.

Those who book a hotel in Edinburgh now need to pay an additional nightly tax of 5%.The Edinburgh Grand

“The city’s popularity comes at a cost”: What else to know about the new Edinburgh city taxReports from city authorities show that the numbers of international visitors to Edinburgh increased by approximately 10% in the first part of 2026 compared to the previous year.This is the first such tax put in place in Scotland and does not apply to Glasgow or other destinations in Scotland; when similar efforts to put in place first started being pushed forward in Wales, many tourism industry representatives worried that it would drive visitors away from more rural destinations that rely on tourism.More Travel News:Airline to launch unusual new flight to Cayman Islands from the U.S.There is a very cool Irish version of swimming pigs in the BahamasUnexpected country is most luxurious travel destination for 2026Low-cost airline launches easier way to get to Sri LankaThe hotel tax is also sometimes presented as a way to encourage tourists to go beyond major cities and come to other parts of the country.”We know that the city’s popularity comes at a cost through the pressure it puts on our services and on the people who live and work here all year round,” Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher said in a statement on the new levy. “This small new contribution from overnight visitors will help improve the services and public spaces we all depend on, while better managing the effects of tourism and major events.”Related: Popular cruise, tourist destination will triple entry tax

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Food storage is a household essential. It’s perfect for everything from meal prepping lunches for school or work to storing leftovers after dinner. Being such a necessity, you’d think it’d be easier to find long-lasting containers, but the quality can range from set to set. Many affordable food storage options are made of plastic with pieces that can warp and stain over time. Not to mention you risk getting microplastics in your food. That’s why many opt for glass food storage. They don’t stain or hold onto odors, and there are options versatile enough to not only store food, but also be safely used in microwaves, ovens, and even dishwashers. And if you’re looking for containers that cover all of these bases, you can’t go wrong with a Pyrex storage set, like this 18-piece set from JCPenney.What makes Pyrex so special?Pyrex is an iconic kitchenware brand that has been around for more than a century. It’s known for its durable pieces, from measuring cups to food storage, and even its colorful, vintage mixing bowls and casserole dishes that are still highly sought after to this day.The brand has a long history of being a staple in kitchens, but believe it or not, Pyrex has changed over the years, and even though there’s a trade-off, it may be for the better. Vintage Pyrex was made of borosilicate glass, a durable material that’s highly resistant to thermal shock, which is stress or breaking from sudden and extreme temperature changes. In the ’90s, Pyrex made in the United States switched over to tempered soda-lime glass. The material is more susceptible to thermal shock, but it’s still durable, particularly from physical impact from everyday bumps and drops, making it long-lasting for everyday use. With new Pyrex that you can use in the oven, there are precautions you should take, like pre-heating the oven before putting in the dish and not putting Pyrex that was just in the refrigerator or freezer directly into a hot oven. However, not all modern Pyrex is oven safe, so make sure to check with each individual product for proper usage.Pyrex sale at JCPenneyPyrex 18-Piece Storage Set

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Check price at JCPenneyIf you’re on the lookout for a good Pyrex deal, JCPenney has an 18-piece set with glass containers and plastic lids on sale right now for only $45. When you use the code POPQUIZ at checkout, you get 42% off its regular price of $78.The set includes six round bowls with lids, including 2-cup, 4-cup, 7-cup, and 1-cup sizes; two 3-cup rectangular containers with lids; and one 6-cup rectangular container with a lid. With colorful lids and different sizes, you can stay organized in your fridge and color-code your food to know what’s inside with a quick glance rather than digging around to find what you need. The glass containers are not only non-porous and not prone to stains or odors, but they’re also safe to use in the dishwasher, refrigerator, and microwave. The plastic lids are BPA-free, and they’re also safe to use in the refrigerator, microwave, and the top rack of a dishwasher.For only $45, this Pyrex set can store your snacks, leftovers, and meals with ease. And with the Pyrex name, you’ll likely have it for years to come.More Pyrex food storage setsPyrex Simply Store Tinted 6-Piece Storage Set

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Check price at TargetCheck price at WalmartPyrex Freshlock 10-Piece Glass Storage Set

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Check price at WalmartPyrex Simply Store 14-Piece Glass Storage Set

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Check price at WalmartPyrex Freshlock 10-Piece Square Glass Food Storage Set

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Check price at AmazonTheStreet Shopping is your guide for shopping insights and advice. We look beyond the price tag to find the best value in home, tech, and wellness gear based on product features and real-world use. Read more about our Editorial Standards and How We Choose Our Shopping Deals. 

Imagine a world where Walmart only has five stores left.It’s unthinkable because the company has dominated retail for so long, and it survived the pivot from pure brick-and-mortar operations to an omnichannel retailer.Even if it sells explosive diarrhea lettuce, replaces its greeters with unsupervised raccoons, or puts the people behind Fyre Festival in charge of grocery pickup, the chain would suffer, but survive.Sears, arguably the chain that served as the Walmart of its day, did not make any single mistake quite as epic as any of the silly ones listed above. Instead, the chain, which was bigger than Walmart by sales until 1990, according to Business Insider, made thousands of little mistakes.The once-dominant retailer, founded in 1886, even survived the pivot from its catalog business to a store-based model.Since 1990, however, the chain has slowly dwindled, selling off assets such as its Craftsman, DieHard, and Lands End brands and using the proceeds for ill-fated ideas that did not reverse the slide.Now, while Sears has not shut down, the chain has five locations left and appears to have abandoned any realistic hopes of a comeback.Sears Chapter 11 was the beginning of the endSears actually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, according to court documents filed on PacerMonitor.At the time, Global Data Managing Director Neil Saunders released a strong statement on the company.“Today is a day that will live in retail infamy. That a storied retailer, once at the pinnacle of the industry, should collapse in such a shabby state of disarray is both terrible and scandalous in equal measure. However, it is not surprising because this is a destination that Sears has been headed towards for many years, with virtually no serious attempt having ever been made to change the trajectory,” he wrote.Saunders called on the company to make big changes and made it clear that its current strategies were not working.“Over the longer term it is still unclear what Sears hopes to accomplish. We believe there is no clear path to success. The group has tried to shrink its way to profitability for years to no avail, so it is hard to see why pursuing the same strategy under the auspice of Chapter 11 would result in a different outcome,” he added.More Retail:Coca-Cola quietly hints at reinventing previously failed flavorBath & Body Works quietly gains a competitive advantageDollar General brings back old pricesHe also foretold what would happen down the road with many of the company’s owned-and-operated brands, which had not yet been sold. “Further asset sales may reduce debt, but they would not put the company on a sound financial footing nor would they solve the operating losses the group is racking up,” he shared.Many analysts trace the true beginning of the chain’s downfall not to its Chapter 11 filing, but to its post-bankruptcy purchase by hedge fund operator Eddie Lampert in 2004.Lampert merged the company with KMart in 2005, which Saunders also saw as a problem. “The solution to Sears’ problems was to buy another retailer not doing well, and that was Kmart. Then they got a bigger bad business,” Saunders told CNBC. “Sears wasn’t investing or changing, and they started to suffer because of that.”And while other retailers were investing, Sears was cutting back.A report from Susquehanna Financial Group had said Sears in 2017 was spending roughly 91 cents per square foot to make upgrades both online and in stores, while J.C. Penney spent $4.13, Kohl’s was paying $8.12, and Best Buy was forking out $15.36 per square foot to make enhancements, CNBC reported.“I think if it was any other retailer they probably would’ve already filed for bankruptcy,” Retail Metrics founder Ken Perkins told CNBC in 2018. “But in Sears’ case, someone with deep pockets is able to influx cash, extract real estate and sell off assets … the cupboard is running very bare and there isn’t a lot left.”At its peak, Sears operated more than 2,700 locations.Sears was sold off for partsSears did raise cash selling off its well-known brands.Craftsman went to Stanley Black & Decker, which now sells it at Home Depot and other chains. DieHard was sold to Advance Auto Parts, and Lands’ End was spun off and still runs independently.Some analysts have argued that Lampert’s only goal was to sell off Sears’ massive real estate holdings. Lampert also used those holdings to protect his investment in the company should it fail.“If they go bankrupt, he remains in control of the company because, though he loses his equity stake, he’s their principal creditor,” former Sears Canada CEO and Columbia Business School Professor Mark Cohen told CNBC. But Lampert has cordoned “off an enormous amount of assets through the loans he’s made, which have essentially protected him from what is eventually (going to) occur,” added Cohen.Sears’ owner sold off hundreds of the chain’s properties to Seritage Growth Properties, a company he controls.The problem is that “then you end up signing leases” and saddling the company with lease liabilities, Neil Stern, senior partner at retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle, told CNBC.

Sears only has five locations left. Shutterstock

Lampert was sued over Sears’ salesSears creditors sued Lampert and other investors, a case which was ultimately settled. The settlement could resolved years-long litigation filed against Lampert and other defendants over allegations of asset stripping and “rank” self-dealing in the years leading to Sears Holdings’ 2018 bankruptcy, according to Retail Dive.The settlement paid plaintiffs $175 million, including $125.6 million from insurers, $41.9 million from the defendants, and $7.5 million from shareholding funds, reported News.Law.”By the time it filed for bankruptcy, many of Sears Holdings’ stores had closed, major assets — including property, beloved products brands and retail banners such as Sears Canada — had been sold or spun off,” the legal website shared.How those sales were conducted were the heart of the lawsuit against Lampert and other defendants. “Lampert and his hedge fund, ESL Investments, invested in and often took controlling stakes in many of the divested assets, including Sears Canada, Lands’ End, and Seritage Growth Properties (which included a large portfolio of Sears Holdings’ real estate),” the site reported.Sears has 5 locations leftFive Sears stores are still operating in the country, but they won’t be around much longer, industry experts predict, The New York Times reported.”Neither will Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust created to cash in on the value of the retailer’s properties. It abandoned its somewhat audacious plan to turn Sears’ rich real estate holdings into dazzling mixed-use properties. Today, Seritage is offloading the last of its assets as it pays down a $1.6 billion term loan from Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway,” the newspaper shared.That process will end soon, which could mean the formal end of Sears as a retailer.“The goal is to sell the remaining Seritage assets as quickly and profitably as possible, but we are also very open to an alternative transaction that could enhance shareholder value,” Adam Metz, chief executive of Seritage, said in an interview with the paper.RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino sees Sears’ saga as a sad tale that could have been avoided. “The Sears story is one of the biggest cautionary tales in retail history. It’s almost hard to comprehend how many wrong turns a company had to make to go from being America’s most iconic retailer to having only five stores left,” he told TheStreet.It was a demise that required a lot of mistakes, he shared. “The issue wasn’t one bad decision — it was a series of decisions that slowly disconnected Sears from its customers, its employees, and the future of retail. They had the brand, the real estate, the trust, and the history. In the end, it just wasn’t Amazon that killed them but a series of unfortunate events and decisions,” he wrote.Related: Costco drops a surprising new exclusive snack

McDonald’s revolutionized fast-food breakfast with the creation of the Egg McMuffin in 1971 and the item’s national rollout in 1975. Herb Peterson, a McDonald’s franchisee in Southern California, created the breakfast sandwich, which was meant to be a portable version of Eggs Benedict.”It was breakfast in a sack, and just the kind of finger-food that busy American consumers had been missing in the morning,” according to NPR.Bob Goldin, a food industry consultant with Technomic, shared how the seemingly simple product was actually revolutionary.”I don’t think there were a whole lot of products that fit that need at that point in time,” he told NPR. “Breakfast tended to be a sit-down occasion, eggs and bacon, cereal. And here comes this Egg McMuffin that people could eat on the go.”And while McDonald’s expanded the Egg McMuffin line to include bacon and sausage versions, the English muffin remained the chain’s signature sandwich bread offering. That changed in 1986 when the chain added biscuit-based sandwiches.Now, the fast-food giant has quietly borrowed from one of its biggest rivals for morning supremacy with its new biscuit sandwich.McDonald’s adds honey butterWhile biscuits aren’t new to McDonald’s, honey butter is. The chain has introduced the new Honey Brown Butter Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit at participating restaurants nationwide. “This breakfast sandwich is the perfect spin on the classic bacon egg and cheese, taking those ingredients and nestling them between two freshly baked biscuits with creamy, toasty Honey Brown Butter,” according to the McDonald’s website. Honey butter has long been a staple at Chick-Fil-A. It’s brushed onto every biscuit the chain sells, and at some locations, you can add even more as a dipping sauce. It’s not an official side item or sauce packet, so whether a store will give you extra depends on local management.For McDonald’s, the new biscuit continues its long-term innovation policy of offering new takes on familiar items. The Honey Brown Butter Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit was launched July 21 and will be available for an unspecified limited time.

McDonald’s has expanded breakfast well beyond the classic Egg McMuffin.Shutterstock

McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A battle over breakfastMcDonald’s does not break out its sales by daypart, and Chick-fil-A, as a privately held company, does not share financial information regularly. As both chains have faced increased competition from convenience stores, they appear to be winning that battle, according to Ian O’Neil, director of consumer intelligence for Rubix Foods.He said that while competition is intense, breakfast has been a bright spot for QSRs.“We’re seeing some interesting shifts in visitation by daypart, with QSRs gaining share at breakfast from C-stores,” O’Neil told Food Institute (FI).More Restaurants:74-year-old fast food giant closes 207 U.S. restaurantsIconic burger chain closes 89-year-old restaurant for good86-year-old nationwide ice cream chain closes 46 storesFast-food chains such as McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A do have room to grow breakfast sales.”Despite a recent focus on the daypart, QSRs only represent roughly 23% of the market, while casual dining claims nearly 28%, suggesting its position as a growth lever in the year ahead,” FI noted, based on a report from Menu Data.McDonald’s admits the breakfast challengeMcDonald’s CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski, during the chain’s second-quarter earnings call, talked about the challenge in selling breakfast when consumers are worried about the economy.”You’re seeing people either skip occasions, so they’re skipping a daypart like breakfast, or they’re trading down either within our menu, or they’re trading down to eating at home,” he said. The morning meal, he noted, has been hit harder than the rest of the chain’s offerings. “The breakfast daypart is the most economically sensitive daypart because it’s the easiest daypart for a stressed consumer to either skip breakfast or choose to eat breakfast at home. And we, as well as the rest of the industry, are seeing that the breakfast daypart is absolutely the weakest daypart in the day,” he added.McDonald’s faces another key headwindIn addition to cost concerns, fast-food chains also face the growing number of Americans taking a GLP-1 weight loss drug.As one of those Americans, I can say my personal reaction to the medicine mimics what the data show. I’m skipping breakfast most days and replacing it with a protein drink.”The pullback in restaurant visits isn’t spread evenly across times of day, according to Dana Baggett, executive director of restaurant client strategy at RRD, which works with more than 200 restaurant brands,” CNBC reported.The morning meal has been hit hardest.”Lunch, so far, hasn’t been impacted,” she said. “But breakfast has taken a hit, particularly from high-income GLP-1 users, who represent a bigger percentage of current patients, she said. In practice, that means fewer sugary coffee drinks and doughnuts, although options like Starbucks’ protein cold foam could encourage those consumers to return.”A few years ago, before taking the medication, I probably would have tried McDonald’s new Honey Brown Butter Biscuit. Today, I’m the kind of breakfast customer the chain is trying to win back.Related: Taco Bell and Chipotle face a problem bigger than lettuce

Every generation of investors gets handed a story it is told not to question.For your parents, it might have been blue chips that could not fail. For your older siblings, it was probably a website with a good domain name.For a lot of you reading this, it has been the idea that anything touching artificial intelligence deserves whatever price the market decides to put on it.Stories are how money gets moved. They are also how money gets lost.The complicated part is that a great story and a great investment look identical for a while. Both climb, both pull in new buyers, and both get covered relentlessly.The difference only shows up when the buying finally stops. And by that point, the early money has almost always finished selling to the late money.That is roughly where the year’s most celebrated listing sits right now. Shares of SpaceX (SPCX) have surrendered every post-debut gain, and economist Peter Schiff just used that collapse to send an uncomfortable message about the rest of your portfolio.Peter Schiff turns the SpaceX selloff into a broader market warningSpaceX closed at $115.26 on July 22, down 6.7% on the session and roughly 49% below its record high, according to Seeking Alpha.That close put the stock below the $135 price institutions paid for it in June.Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, did not treat that as a SpaceX problem. He treated it as a preview.The decline “could be a harbinger of things to come,” he wrote in a post on X, pointing at other overhyped stocks and cryptocurrencies.More Wall Street:Wells Fargo revamps S&P 500 target for rest of 2026Cerebras Systems Q1 2026 Earnings Call: Updates on $CRBS outlookJPMorgan drops blunt verdict on stock market rallyHe had been building to this for two weeks. “AI isn’t a bubble, but AI stocks are,” he said earlier in July, per Benzinga.One correction is worth making, because the number matters. Schiff described the close as nearly 20% below the offering price.Run the math and $115.26 against $135 works out to about 14.6%, not 20%. The 49% drop from the high is accurate, but the gap from the IPO price is smaller than advertised.Several outlets repeated his figure without checking it. I flag that not to score a point, but because this is precisely how a market narrative hardens into a fact.What the SpaceX bond market saw before the stock didHere is the part almost nobody outside credit desks is discussing, and it is why my analysis takes this particular warning more seriously than Schiff’s usual output.SpaceX sold $25 billion of debt in June across five maturities, and the longest slice has been repriced hard. Yields on the 2056 notes reached a record 7.6% this week, reported TipRanks.Bond investors do not get paid for optimism. They collect a fixed coupon and they get their principal back or they do not.So when they demand more yield, they are quietly telling you what they think of the odds.Related: Peter Schiff: U.S. stocks are a ‘ticking time bomb’ — what to buy before the crashBy early July, SpaceX debt traded at an average spread of 1.62 percentage points over Treasuries, wider than the 1.55-point average for junk-rated corporate bonds, according to 24/7 Wall St.The company carries an investment-grade rating from all three major agencies. Credit markets were pricing it as a speculative borrower anyway.The stock has now caught down to the bonds. That sequence, credit first and equity second, is the one worth memorizing.Here is the timeline that got the stock here:Shares were sold to institutions at $135 apiece on June 11 in the largest offering on record, according to Seeking Alpha.The stock peaked at $225.64 on June 16, five trading days after its debut, per Seeking Alpha’s summary of exchange data.SpaceX joined the Nasdaq-100 before the open on July 7 under the exchange’s new fast-track rule, as TheStreet reported.Roughly 196 million shares sat short by late July, about 31% of the free float, according to Ortex Technologies.Short sellers held an estimated $15.5 billion in paper gains as of July 22, per Ortex data cited by Reuters.Why the August calendar matters more than the SpaceX headlinesThe next two weeks decide a lot.SpaceX reports its first quarterly results as a public company on Aug. 4, and roughly 911.5 million insider shares become eligible for sale on Aug. 6, reported the Motley Fool.That is a supply event landing two days after an earnings event, into a stock with nearly a third of its float already sold short.Every insider on the roster last transacted on June 11, at $135. None of them has had a chance to sell a share since.The company posted a first-quarter net loss of $4.28 billion on $4.69 billion in revenue. That arithmetic sits behind the bond repricing and behind TheStreet’s earlier coverage of its debt sale.

Peter Schiff says the SPCX selloff and junk-like yields signal trouble for AI, crypto.CFOTO / Getty Images

What SpaceX repricing means for the hyped stocks you ownYou probably do not own SpaceX directly. You may well own it anyway.If you hold a Nasdaq-100 index fund in your 401(k), SpaceX entered your portfolio automatically on July 7. You did not buy it. You did not price it.A rules change put it there, and your contribution bought some of it on the way down.That is the quiet cost of index investing during a hype cycle. The index does not ask whether a stock is expensive before adding it, and it will not ask before it adds the next one.Schiff’s record on timing is poor, and anyone trading off his calls has the losses to prove it. The mechanism he is describing this time, though, shows up in the data rather than in his rhetoric.So here is the practical move. Stop watching the share prices of your most exciting holdings and start watching what their lenders charge them.Bondholders were early on SpaceX by roughly three weeks. Credit desks repriced the risk while equity investors were still paying a premium.If the companies driving your returns are paying junk-like rates on investment-grade paper, the market has already reached a verdict your stock screen has not shown you yet.The first domino has a name and a ticker. The question worth asking before August is which of your holdings is standing directly behind it.Related: Tesla record revenue masks cash burn, $1B SpaceX swing

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealCamping isn’t for everyone, but sometimes the right product can make the most outdoor-averse person want to get outside and enjoy the fresh air for a few days. These days, “glamping” has become an ever-popular option, combining the pastime of sleeping and eating outdoors with a few extra adjustments like air conditioning or electricity to make the experience a bit more palatable. For those folks who need the accessories to actually enjoy their time outdoors — and we’re certainly not judging — then the Aescod Portable Camping Fan is one product you absolutely are going to want to buy.The cordless device, which operates on a rechargeable battery, is a must for outdoor adventures where the temperature gets a bit too toasty or for those who need a bit more white noise than the great outdoors can provide. Now that it’s on sale for a limited time for 34% off, you can get it for just $19 and try it out yourself to see how it compares to your handy fan at home. Aescod Portable Camping Fan, $19 (was $29) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?It might seem a bit strange to go camping with a fan. Afterall, you have access to fresh air 24/7 which can provide a bit of heat relief and refreshment when it gets a bit stifling. But many folks need that extra blast of cool air when your surroundings feel stagnant or when it comes time to wind down at night. The extra air makes all the difference in your sleep and can just make your overall surroundings far more enjoyable. Now that there’s a cordless portable model designed to travel easily, who wouldn’t pack it to go camping?Weighing only 1.96 pounds, the fan is very lightweight, and measures just 8.2 inches long, 3.5 inches wide, and 10 inches high. It runs on a rechargeable 20000 milliampere-hour (mAH) lithium-ion battery which can run between eight to 36 hours total on a full charge depending on the selected speed settings. You can charge it and disconnect it from the USB Type-C port for standalone use or keep it plugged in via a wall adapter, computer, or power bank and run it in order to maintain a consistent full charge. The fan has four adjustable wind speeds so you can customize it to your needs and preferences, and because it has a built-in brushless motor, it operates more efficiently and quietly than similar models. In fact, it makes so little noise — less than 30 decibels — that you can easily sleep with it on. Related: Amazon’s highly rated long-lasting, portable fan with a cooling plate is just $18The fan also has three LED light levels which provide helpful illumination in dark environments and a 270-degree rotating fan head which can be manually rotated to provide directed air in a precise direction. There’s even a helpful foldable hanging hook that allows you to attach the fan onto tents, hammocks, or branches so that it’s not on the ground and in the way. Since it’s made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), even if it does drop or get knocked off, it’s durable and sturdy enough not to break or crack. Details to knowDimensions: The fan measures 8.2 inches long, 3.5 inches wide, and 10 inches high.Weight: 1.96 pounds.Material: ABS.Features: This fan has four fan speeds and three LED light options. Shoppers find this fan great for camping as well as other outdoor activities. It’s perfect for the lake, the beach, or even the soccer field where your kid is playing. “The perfect outdoor travel fan,” one shopper said. “It’s really lightweight while still being sturdy enough to stand up without falling over.” Others are super impressed with how long the battery lasts. “Hell of a battery life,” another shopper said. “It ran about six hours on high nonstop.”Shop more deals Odoland 15-Piece Camping Cookware Kit, $32 (was $36) at AmazonHikenture Camping Pillow, $22 (was $26) at AmazonFire-Maple Fixed Star Backpacking and Camping Stove System, $42 (was $50) at AmazonWith products like the Aescod Portable Camping Fan, even those who far prefer spending time indoors can’t argue with getting out every once and a while. 

Prairie Farms, a farmer-owned cooperative, has spent nearly nine decades building a business whose products reach 30% of the U.S., with a particularly strong presence across the Midwest and South.Its products, including milk, cheese, cottage cheese, butter, sour cream, yogurt, and ice cream, are carried by major U.S. retailers such as Target and Walmart.The company’s products have also earned recognition at major dairy competitions.At the 2025 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest, Prairie Farms and affiliated Hiland Dairy collected 55 awards, with cheeses from Prairie Farms’ manufacturing network taking top honors in several categories.Now, the 88-year-old Illinois-based dairy company is shrinking part of that network.Prairie Farms Dairy is closing two cheese-making operations in Shullsburg, Wisconsin, eliminating 97 jobs as it reevaluates its long-term manufacturing needs.The closures affect Shullsburg Creamery, a historic and award-winning Wisconsin cheese operation whose roots date back to 1934, and the nearby White Hill Cheese facility.Together, the two operations produce products including cheddar, Colby, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, cheese curds, Swiss, and Baby Swiss cheese.Prairie Farms said the decisions followed a careful review of its manufacturing network and long-term operational needs.“Like many manufacturers, Prairie Farms continually evaluates its operations to ensure it is well positioned to serve customers efficiently and support long-term growth,” the company said in a statement to TheStreet.Prairie Farms closes Shullsburg Creamery productionPrairie Farms ended production at its Shullsburg Creamery facility at 208 W. Water St. on July 20, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing.The permanent closure affects 43 employees across production, packaging, maintenance, sanitation, warehouse, administrative, and management positions.More Layoffs:Meta layoffs take disturbing turn in new lawsuitMajor snack brand closes plant, cuts 345 jobsJPMorgan Chase pushes fraud division layoffs, despite rising revenuesThe two largest affected groups are 15 packaging employees and 15 workers in production and cheese operations. Most workers were scheduled to lose their jobs on July 20, while several employees are being retained temporarily to help wind down the facility.The closure does not affect workers employed at the separate Shullsburg Creamery retail Cheese Store, according to the notice.Prairie Farms also said there will be no disruption in supplies for Shullsburg Creamery customers.Shullsburg Creamery has been part of Wisconsin’s cheese industry for more than 90 years.Related: Grocery chain makes final major business closureThe operation dates back to 1934, when it began producing handmade cheddar cheese. It later became known for Colby, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, smoked cheeses, cheese spreads, and flavored cheese curds.The creamery’s recognizable products include longhorn-style cheese and specialty flavors such as Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar.Several Shullsburg products have also earned industry honors. Cranberry Chipotle Cheddar previously took first place at the World Dairy Expo, while its smoked cheese curds and Colby Jack Longhorn have received awards at other dairy competitions.

Prairie Farms is closing two facilities in Wisconsin.Helen Camacaro / Getty Images

White Hill Cheese closure eliminates another 54 jobsPrairie Farms is also permanently ending operations at its White Hill Cheese facility at 110 Miner Way in Shullsburg.The facility will continue operating through August 14, when most of its 54 employees are expected to be laid off.Twelve employees will remain temporarily to help close the plant, with their eventual layoff dates depending on operational needs.The cuts include 23 employees in production and cheese operations and 13 packaging workers.Other affected positions span maintenance, warehouse operations, quality control, administration, and plant management.White Hill Cheese specializes in Swiss and Baby Swiss cheese, including grass-fed varieties.The facility began as a joint venture, with Prairie Farms assuming full ownership in 2020, the same year it also acquired Shullsburg Creamery.Prairie Farms said it expects to complete the pending sale of the White Hill property to an interested party after production ends.The company did not identify the potential buyer.The company did not publicly disclose details of any severance arrangements for affected employees, but said it remains committed to supporting workers through the transition.“We are grateful to the employees at both facilities for their years of service and to the Shullsburg community for its longstanding support,” said Matt McClelland, Prairie Farms CEO.“While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary to strengthen Prairie Farms for the future. Our immediate focus is supporting our employees through this transition.”Related: Sportswear giant continues store closures nationwide