The Street

The department store model isn’t dying. Instead, it is quietly reshaping itself. While headlines typically highlight massive retail contractions, including Macy’s closing 80 stores and Saks Global’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some of the legacy chains are executing strategic footprint adjustments instead of a full retreat.

Few retailers illustrate this survival shift better than Nordstrom. The legacy luxury retailer’s story is doubly challenging as it is not only a department store chain, but a mall retailer as well.  As such it has to deal with the following trials: 

The shrinking mall: Projections from Capital One Shopping suggest up to 87% of traditional shopping malls could close over the next decade.

Digital competition: IBISWorld data highlights accelerating market share loss from department stores to e-commerce rivals.

Cautious consumers: Shoppers are planning to further pull back spending across most discretionary categories, according to recent surveys from McKinsey & Company. 

To adapt and survive Nordstrom decided to make some major moves, including closures, layoffs, but also targeted investments. 

Nordstrom closes another store in 2026, lays off 101 employees 

Nordstrom recently confirmed the closure of its ultra-deep-discount clearance outlet store:

Nordstrom Last Chance at Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois will close for good in September, a statement from the company confirmed to NBC Chicago.

According to a WARN Act notice posted by Nordstrom on August 7, 101 employees will lose their jobs effective October 5, 2026, as part of the Nordstrom Last Chance closure. 

In a statement, the retailer said that the decision to close was “a result of successful efforts” to adjust inventory management, reducing the need for the Yorktown Center store. 

Nordstrom’s previous closures in 2026 and 2025 

 Earlier this year, I reported on previous Nordstrom full-line store closures including: 

Nordstrom full-line store, Christiana Mall, Delaware, closed on April 30, 2026. 

Nordstrom full-line store at Galleria Dallas Mall in Texas closed for good on May 16, 2026. 

These closures followed up on the January 2026 closure of a Nordstrom Rack store in Portland, Oregon, and several closures in 2025, including: 

Saint Louis Galleria Nordstrom store in St. Louis, Missouri, closed on August 24, 2025.

Nordstrom store in Santa Monica, California, closed on August 26, 2025, reported Fox Business. 

More importantly, these closures were revealed after the Nordstrom family reacquired the company in a partnership with Mexican retail giant El Puerto de Liverpool, in a $6.25 billion deal. The move was huge, as it marks the company’s return to private ownership for the first time in 55 years, writes The Detroit News. 

Nordstrom closes another store in 2026, lays off 101 employees. slobo / Getty Images

Nordstrom’s closures are part of the company’s focus on off-price retail 

In its final public earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2024, Nordstrom posted a 3.7% decline in net sales for Nordstrom stores and a 1.2% increase for Nordstrom Rack. 

Nordstrom full-line stores have around a decade longer tradition than its rack division. Nordstrom’s story commenced in 1901 with a single shoe store. In the 1960s Nordstrom expanded into clothing and became a full-line luxury department store. 

The first Nordstrom Rack, however, opened in the basement of the Downtown Seattle Nordstrom store as a clearance center, according to the company’s official history. Its original purpose was to clear out unsold inventory and end-of-season overstock from full-line department stores. 

When the 2008 economic downturn caused consumers to seek out bargain prices, corporate leadership seized the opportunity by aggressively expanding stores, doubling Rack’s revenue within four years, according to the Robin Report. 

“Off-price sales nearly doubled again by 2016, reaching $4.5 billion, and the segment’s sales topped out at $5.2 billion in fiscal 2018. By that year, Nordstrom’s off-price business contributed fully a third of the company’s revenue,” wrote the Robin Report’s Adam Levine-Weinberg. 

At a time of significant industry challenges, and shifting consumer behavior, Nordstrom is once again betting on its off-price division. The retailer confirmed its plans to open 23 Rack locations in 2026, after opening 23 in 2025 and 22 in 2024. 

Furthermore, the retailer has been heavily investing in and upgrading its online presence, which, according to experts, is one of the key moves to survive in the current environment. 

Related: Popular shoe retailer closing dozens of stores after a costly mistake

Can digital sales and Nordstrom Rack keep the retailer afloat? 

Betting on its off-price division has many potential benefits: 

Cheaper locations: Nordstrom Rack stores are typically located in open-air strip malls, meaning they are cheaper to operate. 

Lower overhead than multi-level department stores. 

Drive customer acquisition: Nordstrom Rack stores serves as a powerful force attracting new customers, according to CEO Erik Nordstrom.

“Rack stores continue to be a growth engine for our company as they are our largest source of new customer acquisition, accounting for over 40%. Growing our store count also supports long-term customer retention. In fact, roughly a quarter of retained Rack customers migrate to the Nordstrom banner within four years,” Nordstrom said during the fourth-quarter of 2024 earnings call. 

However, retail analysts warn that relying too heavily on off-price growth comes with significant risks.

While off-price rivals like TJ Maxx and Ross thrive on sheer value, Nordstrom’s reputation was built on high-touch service, prestige brands, and luxury experiences. Expanding low-margin Rack stores while closing full-line flagships risks cannibalizing the parent brand’s luxury identity and alienating key high-spending clientele, according to GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders. 

“It can be problematic with that cannibalization, but I think it’s fair game for department stores to become involved in the off-price sector, because it is a growing part of the market — and it’s also a channel through which they can clear out their own excess inventory. So it does make sense in some ways, but you have to execute very, very carefully,” Saunders told Retail Dive. 

Saunders further stressed that Nordstrom Rack is ”a very distinct proposition. It’s very different from mainstream stores.”

Moreover, IBIS World suggests that department stores like “Macy’s and Nordstrom will continue to benefit from strong brand recognition, particularly as older customers become more comfortable with online shopping. Investments in online platforms will pay off for retailers, helping department stores become more competitive in a challenging business landscape.” 

Over the recent year, Nordstrom has also been investing in converting its major distribution centers into automated, technology-driven “omnichannel centers.” Its e-commerce business accounts for 36% of total annual sales in 2024, according to the official report.  

Related: Fast-food chain quietly exits an entire state after 50 years

While it’s still early in its turnaround efforts, Target has begun shifting the narrative away from its recent controversies and back toward its actual stores.

That’s evident from the headlines on recent major stories covering its second-quarter earnings.

“A new look and fresh merch are winning customers back at Target as sales rebound,” reported the Associated Press.

Reuters took a similar, business-first approach. “Target lifts annual forecasts again as Fiddelke’s turnaround takes root,” the news agency shared.

That’s a change from the narrative that surrounded the chain’s recent struggles.

Target has recovered from more than a year of weak comparable sales. It started off 2025 with a 3.8% decline, but recorded a 5.6% jump in the first quarter of this year. The second-quarter gain followed a 1.9% drop during the same three months last year.

Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester, while happy with the progress, made it clear that the chain still has one major hurdle to clear.

Target admits a merchandise problem

Sylvester was candid that some areas take longer than others to fix.

“In some categories, we’re pleased with our progress, and we’re seeing meaningful momentum. In others, including home and apparel, our performance is not where it needs to be, and the work will continue into 2027 and beyond,” she said during the second-quarter earnings call.

More Target:

BofA sends warning on Target stock before earnings

Target makes big AI move that points to a new retail reality

Ulta joins forces with new partner after Target breakup

CEO Michael Fiddelke made it clear that while he sees the problem, he also believes Target has taken the steps to address it.

“Those are longer lead time businesses, and so change doesn’t come as quickly there as it might in a category like Food & Beverage. As we embarked on the year, we said home would be a multiyear journey,” he said.

The changes, he noted, have already begun.

“It will take some time. And where we’re making the beginnings of change, we’re seeing the green shoots of a good guest response,” he added.

Target has remodeled some of its stores.Shutterstock

Analysts see Target moving in the right direction

“While management highlighted positive guest response where changes have been made, Home and Apparel, two important high-margin categories, remain works in progress, and management was clear that both categories will require additional work extending into 2027 and beyond,” TD Cowen analysts said in a note shared with Retail Dive.

Roth’s Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst Bill Kirk said in a note that Home and Apparel, which both saw slower growth than in the same quarter last year, are key because they’re “ironically the two areas that once differentiated Target’s assortment,” added Retail Dive.

ALSO READ: Popular men’s fashion retail chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks Fiddelke and Target have made good progress when it comes to the chain’s turnaround.

“Target spent two years getting dragged over culture-war noise. They flipped the script by dropping the fluff and focusing on why people actually walk into their stores every week: groceries and essentials,” he told TheStreet.

The chain, he noted, has improved in many areas.

“Foot traffic is back, food sales are up, and same-day fulfillment is carrying the load. They stopped trying to be a fancy department store alternative and started acting like a reliable everyday hub,” he added.

A quick look at Target’s second-quarter results

Target pushed the idea that it has made changes to the core of its store as part of a plan to focus on meeting customers’ daily needs, it shared in a press release.

“We transformed nearly half of our center-store grocery experience, adding more space for fresh, snacks, bakery and emerging categories. Post-transition, snack sales were up 15% year-over-year,” according to Target.

Net sales in all six core merchandising categories grew versus a year ago, with double-digit growth in Fun101 and high single-digit growth in Food & Beverage and Beauty.

Store comp sales were up 2.7%, and digital comp sales grew 8.7%, driven by more than 25% growth in same-day delivery.

Non-merchandise sales grew more than 20%, reflecting continued strength in Roundel, Target Circle 360, and Target Plus.

Toys, which the chain calls “Fun101,” were a major driver for Target.

“Within Fun101, Lego, plush, and Heyday electronics led the way with double-digit comps. At the end of Q2, we completely reinvented the shopping experience to cement our position as a destination for busy families in key areas like toys, gadgets, and pop culture,” the chain added.

Related: Kroger has a customer problem that may be its own fault

Jim Cramer has a reputation for caution when a stock has already run hard. This time, he is telling investors to ignore that instinct entirely, arguing that the usual rules of chip investing may no longer apply.

On a recent Mad Money segment, Cramer argued that some of the market’s biggest winners this year still have room to climb, even after gains that would normally make him nervous about chasing a rally this late.

Cramer says these four memory chip stocks are indispensable

Cramer named four memory and storage chip makers he calls “indispensable” right now: Micron, SanDisk, Seagate, and Western Digital. “While I acknowledge that I am not early, I do not think I am late,” he told viewers, according to CNBC. The numbers behind that call are striking. August 18, SanDisk has surged 653% in 2026, Seagate has climbed 261%, Micron has gained 254%, and Western Digital has risen 211%. Figures that would normally make a value-conscious investor wary of chasing further upside.

Cramer tied the rally directly to comments from Elon Musk. “Musk is right: Memory has become the bottleneck,” Cramer said, referencing Musk’s remarks on SpaceX’s second-quarter earnings call about memory supply constraining AI data center buildouts, Yahoo Finance reported.

More Micron:

Michael Burry increases his bet against popular chip giant

Bank of America doubles down on Micron stock after AI bombshell

Micron stock jumps as investors look beyond GPUs in AI chip trade

Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio behind CNBC’s Investing Club, recently opened a new position in Micron during a pullback tied to a selloff among South Korean semiconductor stocks. Cramer called Micron his top pick of the group, and he plans to visit the company’s Idaho research facility to interview CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

Why Micron and other memory stocks keep climbing

The bull case rests on a genuine shift in the market structure. Memory chips have historically been a boom-and-bust business, since high upfront manufacturing costs push producers to keep making memory chips even after prices fall. Eventually flooding the market and crushing margins.

AI data centers appear to be breaking that old pattern, at least for now. Micron’s HBM and DRAM memory capacity is sold out through 2027. And AI data centers are projected to now consume roughly 70% of global memory chip production, according to TheStreet report, which also noted that Micron has committed $22 billion in advance cash deposits under customer agreement just to secure future supply –– underscoring how aggressively major customers are locking in future memory supply.

Billionaire investor George Soros has taken notice. His fund increased its Micron stake nearly eightfold in the second quarter, another sign that some major investors still see room for the memory trade to run on Cramer’s broader case for the stock, which noted Micron shares reclaimed the $1,000 mark on August 17 for the first time since July.

Not everyone agrees the old cycle is truly gone, though. Micron remains fundamentally a cyclical business, and its stock has already shown it can drop in a matter of days on nothing more than fears that the AI-driven memory boom could be peaking. Wall Street analysts remain split on how much further the rally can run, with New Street’s Pierre Ferragu recently issuing a dramatically higher price target on Micron, arguing investors are still underestimating how structurally different this memory cycle looks compared to prior ones.

Not everyone agrees the old cycle is truly gone, though. Micron remains fundamentally a cyclical business.Michael/Getty Images

The AI bubble risk investors can’t ignore

The bigger question hanging over this entire trade is how it gets funded. AI companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into data center construction, and a growing share of that spending comes from borrowed money rather than free cash flow.

Nvidia illustrates the scale involved. The company announced financing partnerships with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR on August 10, aiming to mobilize more than $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure, with Nvidia agreeing to backstop a portion of the cost itself, according to CNBC. The arrangement effectively treats Nvidia’s chips as a new kind of investable asset, similar to how Wall Street has historically financed toll roads or commercial real estate.

That kind of leverage has already made some investors nervous. TheStreet reported famed short seller Michael Burry published a note in July predicting the AI trade would “die a death by a thousand cuts.” Several AI-linked stocks have begun underperforming the broader S&P 500 as investors question whether infrastructure spending will pay off fast enough. Bank of America has pushed back on that pessimism directly, arguing the recent selloff in memory names is a buying opportunity rather than a warning sign.

Public opposition is adding another layer of risk to the broader AI infrastructure story. A Gallup poll conducted in March 2026 found that 71% of Americans opposed having an AI data center built near them. That’s more than the level of opposition ever recorded against local nuclear power plants, as reported by Gallup.

What should investors watch next?

That backlash has already reached Washington. Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced federal legislation in March aiming to pause new data center construction, and warned that unchecked AI infrastructure growth threatens jobs and the environment. Multiple state legislatures have introduced similar measures of their own this year, even though most remain pending rather than enacted.

If politicians or communities succeed in slowing data center construction, or if the market simply stops rewarding new AI infrastructure spending, memory chip manufacturers could quickly find themselves back in familiar territory, overproducing chips into a market that no longer needs them at current prices.

For now, Cramer’s case rests on demand outrunning supply and manufacturers showing new capital discipline through share buybacks rather than reckless expansion. Investors weighing that bet should watch data center construction data, state and federal legislation, and quarterly capex commitments from hyperscalers just as closely as they watch memory chip earnings themselves, since any one of those threads could shift the calculus quickly.

Related: Jim Cramer sends strong verdict on where the market is headed

When Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management puts capital to work, Wall Street pays attention.

The billionaire investor’s firm just disclosed a brand new stake in one of the biggest names in payments. And the size of the bet is hard to ignore.

Regulatory filings show Pershing Square initiated multiple positions in companies across the financial segment. Let’s dive deeper. 

Bill Ackman goes big on Visa stock

Pershing Square’s latest 13F filing, covering holdings as of June 29, 2026, shows a fresh position in Visa Inc.

The fund now owns 3.27 million shares of Visa (V) worth roughly $1.12 billion, accounting for 5.4% of the hedge fund’s portfolio. 

It places Visa stock among Pershing Square’s larger holdings, just behind names like Uber, Brookfield Corp, Microsoft, and Amazon in overall portfolio weight.

Visa wasn’t the only new addition.

The same filing shows Pershing Square also opened a position in Mastercard, buying 2.12 million shares worth about $1.09 billion, or 5.26% of the portfolio.

More Manager Buy/Sells:

Michael Burry increases his bet against popular chip giant

Warren Buffett reveals he broke his own investing pattern

Mark Cuban bets on MLB with Athletics minority stake

The fund also started a position in S&P Global, a company that plays a major role in credit ratings and financial data, worth roughly $1.06 billion.

All three positions show up as completely new in the filing. 

Ackman built exposure across the broader financial infrastructure space in the same quarter, putting more than $3 billion combined into Visa, Mastercard, and S&P Global.

For a fund known for concentrated, high-conviction bets, opening three related positions at once suggests a deliberate view on where payments and financial data businesses are headed. 

Visa’s business is firing on all cylinders

The timing lines up with a strong stretch for Visa.

In the company’s fiscal third-quarter 2026 earnings call on July 28, CEO Ryan McInerney said net revenue rose 14% year over year to $11.6 billion, with earnings per share up 11%, both ahead of expectations.

Quarterly payments volume grew 10% year over year in constant dollars to cross $4 trillion for the first time in company history, while processed transactions grew 10% to $72 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh pointed to strength across the board. 

U.S. payment volume grew 10% year over year, a pace not seen since 2019 outside of the pandemic recovery bounce. 

Cross-border volume, excluding transactions within Europe, grew 12%.

The company bought back $4.9 billion in stock during the quarter and paid out $1.3 billion in dividends. 

Visa diversifies its revenue base

Visa’s value-added services segment, which includes fraud prevention, data analytics and consulting, grew revenue 34% in constant dollars during the quarter, Suh said.

That segment now makes up close to a third of Visa’s total revenue. 

Speaking at the Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in May, McInerney said these businesses have consistently grown more than 20% year over year for several years running.

Ackman’s investment also lines up with Visa’s push into new technology. 

Related: Visa hands banks an edge against their rivals with AI tool

On the July earnings call, McInerney detailed a partnership with OpenAI to support secure payments within AI-driven, or agentic, commerce, along with a similar arrangement with Meta covering Facebook and Instagram.

McInerney told the Bernstein audience in May that he sees agentic commerce as a major growth driver ahead, comparing it to earlier shifts toward online and mobile shopping. 

He argued that Visa credentials, backed by fraud protection and dispute resolution, are better suited for an AI-driven shopping world than newer alternatives like stablecoins.

Visa is also building out its stablecoin infrastructure, launching the Visa Stablecoin Platform this quarter and joining a new venture called Open Standard, which plans to issue a dollar-backed stablecoin called Open USD. 

“Technology and commerce are evolving faster than ever,” McInerney stated during the earnings call. “As the leading hyperscaler of payments globally, Visa is at the center of this transformation, bringing trust to whatever form commerce takes next.”

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney is focused on revenue diversification.Bloomberg/Getty Images

Is Visa stock undervalued right now?

For a hedge fund built on long-term, high-conviction ideas, opening three related positions in payments and financial data companies in a single quarter sends a clear signal. 

Pershing Square appears to be betting that the infrastructure behind digital payments, backed by resilient consumer spending and new AI-driven commerce, still has plenty of room to run.

Given consensus estimates compiled by Tikr.com:

Analysts forecast Visa to increase revenue from $40 billion in fiscal 2025 to $67.6 billion in fiscal 2030. 

In this period, free cash flow is projected to expand from $21.6 billion to $39 billion. 

If Visa stock trades at 20x forward FCF, below its five-year average of 24.6x, it could return 15% over the next three years. 

I assumed a lower FCF multiple because Visa is projected to grow FCF at a compound annual growth rate of 12.5% over the next five years, below the 17.5% growth rate over the last five years. 

Out of the 28 analysts covering Visa stock, 26 recommend “Buy,” and two recommend “Hold.” The average Visa stock price target is $422, above the current price of $371. 

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

Millions of Americans count on dollar stores to stretch tight household budgets, but AARP warns that some of the most common items on those shelves aren’t worth the savings. 

From personal care products laced with harmful chemicals to electronics that lack basic safety certifications, certain bargain buys can cost you more in health risks than they ever saved at checkout.

Dollar Tree paid $559,250 in a January 2026 settlement after New York Attorney General Letitia James found the chain kept selling lead-tainted children’s applesauce pouches days after a nationwide recall.

Here are the 10 dollar store categories AARP flags and what the running cost looks like when you add up the health risks, recalls, and replacements.

The dollar store categories AARP says to avoid

AARP’s list spans household staples, groceries, and personal care. Several categories are also flagged in recent regulatory actions and independent lab testing, which shifts the math from “value shopping” to “risk shopping.”

Skincare

AARP’s report flags personal care products as a category to avoid at dollar stores, citing chemical safety concerns. 

The Campaign for Healthier Solutions backed that warning with specifics: its May 2025 study found formaldehyde-releasing agents in baby lotion sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, among nearly 50 flagged products, ConsumerAffairs reported.

Formaldehyde is classified as a known human carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program.

For a shopper saving a few dollars per bottle, the downstream cost is measured in what regular exposure to a flagged ingredient could mean over years.

Groceries

“Buying food products at the dollar store is a mixed bag,” Ricca noted in the AARP report. “Some products may be close to their expiration date or past their peak freshness.” A larger concern, though, is recalled food remaining on shelves.

Dollar Tree received direct notification on October 29, 2023, that WanaBana-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches had been recalled over dangerous lead levels, the New York attorney general’s office confirmed. 

More AARP:

AARP issues urgent call on Medicare drug costs

AARP breaks down 401(k), IRA costly mistakes

Social Security’s 2027 COLA could disappoint retirees

The retailer failed to immediately block sales, and hundreds of contaminated pouches were sold to New York families after the recall began. 

Dollar General voluntarily recalled three lots of Clover Valley instant coffee across 48 states in August 2025 after a customer reported glass fragments in the product, according to an FDA notice.

Electronics

Phone chargers, extension cords, and headphones carry lower prices but shorter lifespans. “Items like phone chargers and headphones may come at a minimal cost, but they often don’t last as long as higher-quality alternatives,” Ricca said in the AARP report.

A May 2025 Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS) study found that kids’ headphones sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar contained solder with 22,000 parts per million of lead, along with PVC cable insulation and plasticizers, E&E News reported.

Buying a $1.25 charger three times a year runs to $3.75. It also runs to whatever damage a faulty charger does to the device it’s plugged into.

Plastic food containers

Unknown-brand plastic containers may not withstand a microwave or dishwasher, and chemical leaching adds another layer of concern.

“If it’s a random brand you’re not familiar with, I would tend to avoid that,” said Trae Bodge, a shopping strategist at TrueTrae.com, in the AARP report.

The May 2025 CHS study found bisphenol S (BPS) in receipts from Dollar Tree and Dollar General and PVC in multiple product categories, both of which raise chemical-migration concerns in food-contact plastics.

Batteries

Common batteries sold at dollar stores deplete faster than name-brand options, which leads to more frequent replacement purchases. 

Elisabella Ricca, personal finance and consumer analyst at TopCashback.com said that cheap batteries often underperform and wear out faster than trusted brands.

You may think you’re getting a bargain buying batteries at the dollar store, but they don’t always provide the same performance or longevity as name-brand batteries do

Batteries are a running expense, not a one-time buy. Households that replace them three times more often at a dollar store end up spending more over a year than shoppers who paid slightly more upfront for name-brand alkalines.

Candy

Dollar store candy bags are smaller than they appear, and the per-unit price often loses to bulk alternatives. 

“Dollar stores typically carry small bags, so it’s actually not a good deal,” noted Andrea Woroch, a consumer savings adviser in Bakersfield, California, in the AARP report. 

Warehouse clubs or post-holiday clearance sales at big-box retailers tend to deliver better volume for the same spend, Woroch added.

Makeup

Generic cosmetics are more likely to contain low-quality or potentially hazardous ingredients, and they lack the testing accountability that established brands maintain, Ricca said in the AARP report.

Affordable alternatives from brands such as E.l.f., Nyx, and Wet N Wild at drugstores offer similar price points with more rigorous product testing, Ricca added.

Pet food and treats

Shoppers should beware of poor-quality ingredients in dollar store pet food, Woroch cautioned in the AARP report. Warehouse clubs such as Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club carry name-brand pet food in bulk at lower per-unit prices, she noted.

For pet owners, the running cost isn’t just the food it’s the vet bill that follows.

Picture frames

Those bargain-bin frames seem perfect for displaying grandkids’ photos on a budget, but Woroch cautions that they’re prone to breaking.

“You’re better off grabbing a nice frame from a discounter like HomeGoods or Marshalls, where you can get quality frames for $5 to $12 each that last,” Woroch said. 

Toys

Cheap toys break more easily and can leave behind small pieces that create choking hazards for young children, Woroch cautioned. 

The May 2025 CHS study found PVC in nearly two dozen children’s toys and lead in electronic items such as light-up bracelets, candy pails, and plastic roses sold at dollar stores, ConsumerAffairs reported.

Waiting for holiday sales or browsing secondhand marketplaces can reduce both the cost and the risk, Woroch suggested in the AARP report.

AARP says these 10 dollar-store categories may not be worth the savings, from batteries and groceries to makeup, toys, and skincare.FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty Images

What the sticker price doesn’t show

The dollar store discount holds for some categories. It falls apart on food, skincare, toys, and plastics, where the documented record shows chemical contamination and delayed recall compliance. For a household counting on every dollar to stretch, the shelf price is only half the calculation.

The recall delay, the state penalty, and the CHS study each point to the same gap between the sticker price and the full cost of what ends up in the cart.

Related: AARP issues urgent call on Medicare drug costs

Dividend stocks are not as popular as AI stocks or other growth companies. But for long-term investors, a steady, rising dividend payout could significantly boost yield-at-cost over time. 

“Always take into account prospects for both growth and income” when picking a dividend stock, a Merrill wealth strategist advised in a recent client note, cautioning against chasing yield alone. 

Nuveen strategists have made a similar point this year, noting that companies with a history of growing payouts tend to hold up better when markets get choppy.

Few dividend stories illustrate that better than Bank of America. 

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which has owned the iconic bank stock for more than a decade, is still cashing some of the largest dividend checks in corporate America, even after quietly trimming its position this summer.

Bank of America hikes its dividend

Bank of America’s (BAC) board approved a 14% dividend increase in July, lifting the quarterly payout to $0.32 a share from $0.28 a share. 

The new rate is payable Sept. 25 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 4, pushing the forward annual dividend to $1.28 a share.

“The increase in our dividend reflects the strength of our earnings, the power of our franchise,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in the statement.

Berkshire currently holds 483,394,015 shares of Bank of America, according to CNBC.

Multiply that by the new $1.28 annual dividend, and Berkshire is on pace to collect roughly $619 million a year just from BAC dividends, an income stream that keeps growing even as Buffett’s successor, Greg Abel, reshapes the rest of the portfolio.

BAC stock ratios every dividend investor should know

Bank of America has paid a dividend every year since 1991, and the July increase extends a run of steady payout growth. Here’s where the key dividend metrics stand:

Quarterly dividend: $0.32 per share, up 14% from 28 cents

Forward annual dividend: $1.28 per share

Dividend yield: Approximately 1.9%

EPS estimates (2026): $4.68 per share

Payout ratio: Roughly 28% of earnings, leaving ample room for further increases

10-year dividend growth rate: About 15.6% annualized

Ex-dividend date: Sept. 4, 2026

Payment date: Sept. 25, 2026

A payout ratio in the high 20s is a healthy sign. It means Bank of America is returning a meaningful share of profits to shareholders without straining its balance sheet, something regulators watch closely at large banks.

The dividend hike came alongside a strong quarter. 

Bank of America posted net income of $9.1 billion for the second quarter, up 27% from a year earlier. In comparison, earnings per share jumped 34% to $1.21.

Related: Bank of America sends message on Capital One stock

Revenue climbed 15% to $31.6 billion, and return on tangible common equity reached 17%. 

Moynihan told investors the bank returned $8 billion to shareholders during the quarter through dividends and buybacks combined, while common equity Tier 1 capital stood at nearly $202 billion, well above regulatory minimums. 

“We maintained strong liquidity and funding while we optimized our balance sheet, and we supported all that with diversified funding and healthy client-driven growth,” CFO Alastair Borthwick stated.

Executives also raised full-year operating leverage guidance to a range of 300 to 400 basis points, citing stronger net interest income and fee revenue, the kind of profit growth that gives a board confidence to keep raising a dividend.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan announced a dividend hike.Bloomberg/Getty Images

Warren Buffett trims stake in BAC stock

Even as Bank of America’s business remains steady, Berkshire has been quietly paring back. 

According to Berkshire’s second-quarter 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm sold about 30.2 million BAC shares, a 5.9% reduction, worth roughly $1.7 billion at quarter-end prices. 

More Warren Buffett:

Warren Buffett reveals he broke his own investing pattern

Warren Buffett has a blunt take on today’s market

Warren Buffett pulls no punches on stock market for 2026

Despite the sale, Bank of America remains one of Berkshire’s five largest holdings, representing roughly 8.3% of its U.S. stock portfolio, behind only Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Alphabet.

Buffett first built the stake through a crisis-era preferred stock investment in 2011.

Analysts have grown more constructive on the shares since the dividend hike and earnings beat. 

JPMorgan raised its price target to $68 from $62.50 while keeping an overweight rating. UBS and Barclays have both reiterated buy ratings with targets above $70, according to multiple analyst notes tracked by TipRanks. 

The average 12-month BAC stock price target sits in the high $60s, implying further upside.

For income-focused investors, the combination of a growing dividend, a low payout ratio, and steady earnings growth makes Bank of America one of the more closely watched dividend stocks among the big banks, even with one of its most famous shareholders taking some chips off the table.

Related: Dividend Aristocrat pays Warren Buffett’s Berkshire $601M annually

Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications, is rolling out a free offer to internet customers as it struggles to retain them amid tougher broadband competition. 

The company revealed in its latest earnings report that it lost 172,000 internet customers in the second quarter of this year. Amid this trend, its internet revenue also declined by 3.2% year over year. 

The weak performance comes after Spectrum raised prices by $10 on several internet plans in July, a move it had warned customers about in June. It also comes as it faces heightened competition from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, which are increasingly attracting customers to their fiber and fixed wireless internet services with lower prices and bundled deals. 

“We continue to see expanded fixed-wireless competition versus a year ago, including lower sales from low-income consumers, ongoing mobile substitution, and fiber overlap growth at a rate similar to prior quarters, with aggressive promotions by certain competitors,” said Charter Communications Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fisher on an earnings call in July. 

Spectrum offers free Amazon Prime to select internet customers

As Spectrum struggles to navigate mounting competitive pressures, it has partnered with Amazon Prime to offer this service for free to eligible internet customers, according to a recent press release.

Amazon Prime usually costs $14.99 per month, and it includes benefits such as free fast shipping, member-only discounts and access to Prime Video. 

Related: Spectrum makes significant decision as customer losses mount

The free offer is available to new and existing internet customers who are on any internet tier. Also, customers enrolled in the Spectrum Internet Assist program, which provides home internet service to low-income households, can also snag the deal for free. 

Spectrum states that “eligibility is based on serviceable address.” The offer is also open to internet customers who have existing Amazon Prime memberships. 

Customers in that category can transition their memberships through the deal’s website. If they have an existing Amazon Prime membership through a third party, they must first cancel it, and once their final billing cycle is complete, they can activate the free offer on the website. 

Spectrum is offering free Amazon Prime to eligible internet customers after steep customer losses. Jason Armond / Getty Images

Spectrum doubles down on slowing customer losses

The new offer comes during a time when Spectrum has recently been making major changes to improve customer retention in its broadband business.

In February, it launched its Invincible Wi-Fi product, which combines a battery unit and a backup 5G cellular connection designed to allow customers to maintain internet access when a power outage or network disruption occurs, a feature not offered by its rivals. 

Spectrum has also focused more on enhancing the customer experience by vowing earlier this year to install service and resolve technical issues within two hours for residents and one hour for businesses.

The company also doubled down on strengthening its value proposition by highlighting the savings customers can receive when they combine phone, cable TV and internet services. 

For instance, it recently started guaranteeing customers $1,000 in annual savings when they enroll in an internet plan with two Spectrum wireless lines.

During the company’s earnings call in July, Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey said that bundling “drives significant value and churn benefits” as internet customers who purchase a Spectrum mobile line churn (percentage of customers who cancel service) nearly 40% less, while those who add on a video product churn over 40% less.

Spectrum faces pressure to deliver more value to customers

It is vital for Spectrum to offer greater value to its internet customers, especially as more Americans switch broadband providers to avoid high prices. A recent survey from Reviews.org found that 73% of U.S. consumers saw their internet bills increase this year, up from 43% last year. 

Also, 67% have switched or considered switching internet providers because of hidden or unexpected fees, up from 56% the year before. 

Adlane Fellah, chief analyst at Maravedis Research, said in a RCR Wireless News report in June that network quality is no longer the top reason U.S. consumers are changing broadband providers. 

More Telecom News:

T-Mobile excludes 2 generous customer perks from new phone plans

Comcast eyes acquisition of 33-year-old rival amid struggles

Spectrum makes significant decision as customer losses mount

“The drivers of switching have shifted from the network to everything around it: billing clarity, support, and value perception,” said Fellah.

In a July press release, Kristen Hanich, an industry analyst and senior director of research at Parks Associates, said that more broadband providers are sharpening their focus on lowering prices and providing greater benefits to retain customers amid this growing trend. 

“The competitive landscape has shifted from winning subscribers at any cost to keeping existing customers through better pricing, simplified service offerings, and integrated connectivity,” said Hanich. “Providers are investing in strategies that reduce churn while strengthening the value of broadband through mobile bundles and improved customer experiences.”

Amid this shift in consumer behavior, Spectrum is also betting big on its $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications to help it win back customers. 

The acquisition was finalized on Aug. 20, and the move will allow Spectrum to invest billions of dollars in expanding and upgrading its network across the country. It will also enable it to offer broadband service at lower prices, reaching more rural areas nationwide. 

Related: Verizon acquires 35-year-old wireless carrier as it shuts down

Jim Cramer picked Coca-Cola (KO) over Celsius Holdings (CELH) on live television.

During the August 20, 2026 Lightning Round on CNBC’s Mad Money, a caller asked him about Celsius. 

He answered without hesitation, saying he’d rather own Coca-Cola and calling it the clear winner.

The comment comes as Celsius stock is rallying. 

Shares are up about 16% over the past month, driven by an activist investor pushing to replace the company’s leadership.

For anyone holding Celsius or deciding whether to buy in, the gap between that rally and Cramer’s pick is worth understanding before the next move.

What Jim Cramer said about Celsius stock on Mad Money

Cramer did not soften the message. 

When the Celsius question came up, he told viewers, “We don’t want Celsius here, we have Coca-Cola. KO is the winner,” CNBC reported.

That line is important because of who said it.

More Beverage Stocks:

Coca-Cola keeps beating its rivals, and Wall Street noticed

Coca-Cola absorbs margin hit for expansion in key market

Convenience store giant takes on Coca-Cola and Pepsi

In November 2023 he called Celsius a Buy on the same show. 

In May 2024 he picked it over Monster Beverage, telling viewers to own the company taking market share.

His choice now points the other way, toward a slower, steadier, dividend-paying company.

Why the weak Celsius earnings report changed the picture

The turn follows a rough second-quarter report.

Celsius posted second-quarter revenue of $817.9 million on August 6. 

That was up 10.6% from a year earlier, but it fell short of the roughly $886 million analysts expected, according to Investing.com.

Adjusted earnings came in at $0.36 a share, below the $0.43 that Wall Street expected.

The bigger worry sat inside the flagship brand. Sales of the core Celsius line fell about 11.7% from a year earlier, Celsius reported.

Profit margins slipped too. Gross margin fell to 48.1% from 51.5% a year earlier, driven by heavier promotions and a shift in where sales came from.

Jim Cramer told Mad Money viewers he prefers Coca-Cola over Celsius, ending years of on-air support for the energy drink maker.Bloomberg / Getty Images

How Coca-Cola became the safer beverage pick for Cramer

Cramer’s preference for Coca-Cola follows a strong quarter from the larger company.

Coca-Cola posted adjusted earnings of 97 cents a share on July 28, ahead of the 93 cents expected, with revenue up 7% to $13.38 billion, CNBC reported.

Coca-Cola also pays a dividend and has raised it for more than six decades. 

That combination of steady sales and reliable income is the kind of profile investors tend to favor when they feel cautious about the wider market.

Cramer has said that current stock prices and business fundamentals have drifted apart in this market.  

Choosing Coca-Cola over Celsius fits that view. He is picking a large, profitable business over a smaller, faster-moving one that is still fixing its core brand.

What Cramer’s reversal signals for Celsius shareholders

Cramer’s Lightning Round often moves retail trading in the hours that follow. Losing his support removes one familiar source of on-air encouragement for Celsius stock.

Here is what current and potential CELH shareholders should consider:

Key points for Celsius investors include:

The growth premium is fading. Celsius is being judged more like a traditional beverage company now, and less like an unstoppable disruptor. Sales of the core brand need to recover before that view changes.

Integration work is not finished. Folding in Alani Nu and Rockstar is still adding short-term costs and promotional spending, which pressures margins.

The stock reacts hard to headlines. With Cramer stepping back and an activist fight underway, the stock can move sharply on one headline at a time.

Not all the news is negative. Alani Nu generated $364.4 million in second-quarter sales, up 21% from a year earlier, according to Celsius. 

The acquired brands are growing even as the flagship struggles.

Why the surge in Celsius stock is happening anyway

Russ Savage, the founder of Rockstar Energy, revealed a stake worth roughly $300 million and publicly called for new leadership, including the removal of the chief executive.

Investors responded quickly. The stock jumped about 12% on the day the news broke, and it has held much of that gain since.

That is why shares can climb while Cramer walks away. Traders are pricing in the possible change in management, not the current results.

Wall Street analysts are more cautious. 

Several firms cut their price targets after the earnings report, with JPMorgan moving to $56 from $70 and Stifel dropping to $45.

What Celsius investors can do next

If you own Celsius or are considering it, a few checkpoints can guide your decision.

Watch the core brand first. Management needs sales of the flagship Celsius line to stabilize before the growth argument returns. 

Until that happens, the stock stays tied to a turnaround that has not shown up in the numbers yet.

Track the activist fight. If large institutional shareholders back Savage, pressure on the board grows. If they back the current management, today’s plan stays in place.

Weigh your own risk tolerance. Coca-Cola offers slower growth with a dividend and a steadier history. Celsius offers a possible rebound with far more volatility. 

Cramer picked the calmer option, and each investor can decide whether that fits their own goals.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell. Cramer changed his mind after the numbers changed. 

Check whether your own reasons for holding Celsius still hold up against the latest results.

Related: Pepsi and Coca-Cola bet big on soda Americans say they want

A stock can look very different six months after purchase, especially when its price has fallen way below the original entry point.

Most investors hold on, waiting for the price to recover rather than locking in a loss. A pattern one of the most successful investors alive says causes lasting financial damage. 

In his 2024 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffett identified a behavioral pattern he called “the cardinal sin” of managing a business. 

His late partner, Charlie Munger, had a blunter label for the habit of sitting on known problems and hoping they disappear on their own: “thumb-sucking.”

Buffett admitted to misjudging businesses, managers, and capital allocation at Berkshire

Buffett’s candor in the 2024 Berkshire Hathaway annual letter went beyond a single line about thumb-sucking.

“The cardinal sin is delaying the correction of mistakes or what Charlie Munger called ‘thumb-sucking.’ Problems, he would tell me, cannot be wished away. They require action, however uncomfortable that may be,” Buffett wrote in the annual Letter.

His argument was direct: once you know something is broken, every quarter you wait to act compounds the cost.

Berkshire’s own Alphabet position illustrates what that delay looks like at scale.

At Berkshire’s 2017 annual meeting, Buffett and Munger acknowledged missing Google as their worst mistake in tech, with Buffett citing GEICO’s Google ad spending as direct insight into the business.

Two days later, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Buffett called Google “an extraordinary business” with “some aspects of a natural monopoly.” Berkshire did not open a position for another eight years.

The firm opened its first Alphabet stake in the third quarter of 2025, buying 17.85 million shares valued at roughly $4.3 billion, and by the Q2 2026 13F filed August 14, 2026, that stake had grown to roughly 106 million shares, making Alphabet Berkshire’s third-largest holding, in a company Buffett had said Berkshire should have owned sooner.

The SEC identified a behavioral bias that explains why investors hold losing stocks

Behavioral researchers have given the pattern Buffett described a clinical name that appears in federal investor education materials.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy calls it the disposition effect, based on a Library of Congress report the agency commissioned in 2010. 

The report describes it as investors’ tendency to hold losing investments too long while selling winning investments too soon.

More Warren Buffett:

Warren Buffett reveals he broke his own investing pattern

Warren Buffett has a blunt take on today’s market

Warren Buffett pulls no punches on stock market for 2026

Terrance Odean, now a professor of finance at the University of California, Berkeley, tested the effect using 10,000 brokerage accounts. 

His 1998 Journal of Finance study found that investors were roughly 1.5 times as likely to sell their winning positions as their losing ones.

That lopsided emotional math pushes investors to hold falling positions, because selling would force them to register the loss as permanent rather than temporary.

The SEC calls it the disposition effect: investors often sell winning stocks too soon while holding losing positions, hoping they recover eventually.Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images

One question can reveal whether patience or avoidance is driving your portfolio decisions

Shefrin and Statman’s 1985 Journal of Finance paper, titled “The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence,” later described in the SEC bulletin, identified the desire to recover the original purchase price as its core driver. 

One reframing test, popularized by fund manager Peter Lynch in One Up on Wall Street and echoed in behavioral finance literature, captures the spirit of Buffett’s warning: ask whether you would buy the same stock today, at its current price, with cash sitting idle in a savings account.

A “no” separates a sound reassessment from an avoidance decision, but it does not, in itself, dictate a sale, tax treatment and time horizon shape what comes next, Certified Financial Planner Board guidance noted. 

What Buffett’s thumb-sucking test means for your next portfolio review

Buffett drew a clear line in his letter between patience built on a sound investment thesis and inaction driven by emotional avoidance. The second kind persists because admitting a mistake often feels worse to an investor than watching the position continue to lose value.

The winning stocks investors sold went on to outperform the losing stocks they kept by 3.4 percentage points over the following year, Odean’s study found. 

Every dollar locked in a holding with deteriorating fundamentals is a dollar unavailable for a position with stronger current prospects, and every quarter of delay is one where the compounding runs the other way.

Related: Warren Buffett named these 3 stocks as favorites for a reason

While many travel agencies continue to have their market serving niche groups of travelers even in the digital age, a large number that have initially been able to stay in business end up coming upon hard times.

The situation has been particularly acute in the United Kingdom where, since the start of 2026, the long list of companies that ceased operations since the start of 2026 includes Trav Expert, Groupia, Salamander Voyages, Travel Bespoke, Regen Central, Set Sail Cruises, Yourtravelshop.com, Ski Yodel and TS Travels Group among others.

Some of the most common reasons for an abrupt financial collapse include rising operating costs, a sudden dropoff in customers and dependence on airline partners that themselves were hit hard by the recent spike in jet fuel costs.

Frasers Travel shuts down operations, cancels all trips

Launched out of the Ayrshire county in southwestern Scotland in 1986, Saltcoats-based Frasers Travel spent the last four decades selling what it marketed as trips to “luxurious long-haul destinations to fantastic short-haul holiday packages” all over the world.

These included regular flight-hotel packages to destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Australia as well as cruise bookings on major global lines such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

Related: Which island in The Bahamas is the best

“We regret to inform you that Frasers Travel Ltd has today ceased trading,” the company said in a media statement (the website to the company now goes to a dead link). “We would like to thank all our past clients for their loyalty and support.”

Frasers Travel sold Scottish locals Caribbean travel packages on major cruise lines.Royal Caribbean

Frasers Travel trip canceled? What to do and how to get refunds

The sudden cancelation means that hundreds of customers who booked travel into the rest of 2026 are potentially affected. The travel agency said that any travelers with disrupted travel should email info@mclenancorporate.com, the insolvency company handling its case, for help.

More Travel News:

Another low-cost airline is betting big on Guatemala travel

There is a very cool Irish version of swimming pigs in The Bahamas

Unexpected country is most luxurious travel destination for 2026

September and October are no longer the cheap time to book that trip

As a former member of the ABTA (a shortened form for the Association of British Travel Agents), Frasers Travel is protected through the business failure insurance that covers members.

“If you booked a flight inclusive holiday, your tour operator will be named on your ATOL Certificate under “Who is protecting your trip,” ABTA said in a statement on the situation with Frasers Travel. “To ensure your holiday continues as planned, you will need to contact the Credit Control Department of your Tour Operator with whom you have a contract. Your booking should continue as normal and they will now be your direct point of contact.”

These travel agencies also filed for bankruptcy in 2026:

AVG Travels: The Melbourne-based travel agency selling cheap vacation packages to travelers in Australia and New Zealand sent more than 200 travelers an email saying that the trips were canceled before entering bankruptcy in May 2026.

GoPlay Sports: In April 2026, the men’s basketball team of the University of Dallas was left without a planned trip to compete in the United Kingdom after Boston-based GoPlay Sports Tours LLC accepted two payments of $30,000 and then went unreachable.

Havantur: Havantur was forced to shut down its main European office in France at the start of 2026 after tourist numbers to the Caribbean country plummeted due to U.S. military actions in Venezuela and threats against the country.

Vegas Vacations and North America Destinations: Two travel agencies in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Vegas Vacations and North America Destinations, were shut down by regulators within a few days of each other in January 2026 after multiple travelers complained of buying trips that had invalid plane tickets and hotel bookings.

Related: Another travel company shuts down and cancels all trips, refunds available