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TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Shopping for the most budget-friendly products may be better on your wallet in the short term, but that’s not the case in the long run. Investing in quality items with longer-lasting power means better financial gains over the years because you no longer have to replace the cheaper, subpar version. This “buy-it-for-life” practice is so popular, there’s even a Reddit group dedicated to the cause with over 1.6 million visitors a week.Tools are one category where the buy-it-for-life philosophy definitely rings true. Top tool brands, like Craftsman, DeWalt, and Milwaukee, offer such superior quality that most of their hand tools are backed with a lifetime warranty, where the manufacturer will replace the product if it fails due to a defect in the craftsmanship. Because these products are made with premium materials for unsurpassed durability, they often come with a higher price tag. Craftsman is a go-to for homeownersCraftsman is catered toward homeowners and those who like completing DIY projects around the apartment. While the tools won’t have the horsepower you’d find in those at a heavy-duty construction site, they have more than enough power for everyday needs, and because of this, they’re the most affordable of the top tool brands. Stocking up your toolbox with Craftsman tools means you’re set for life. Unless the tool falls apart from misuse or abuse, Craftsman will replace nearly all its tools free of charge, so you never have to go out and buy it again. Craftsman has a nearly century-long legacy, established in the 1920s, so you can have peace of mind that it’ll be around to deliver on the guarantee. While Craftsman tools deliver next-level quality and protection, the price tag is comparable to other budget-friendly brands. With the right deal, you can get Craftsman tools for a flat-out bargain. Amazon is our first stop when searching for Craftsman tool deals. You can find steep savings on power tools, but also the essential hand-held tools you need for everyday fix-ups. For example, the Craftsman 6-Foot Keychain Tape Measure is 37% off currently, dropping the original price to just $4. If you’ve been using a yardstick or ruler to do your measuring, you’ll be smitten with its easy-to-grip design and easy-to-read fraction marks.Craftsman 6-Foot Keychain Tape Measure

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman 25-Foot Retractable Tape Measure

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Check price at AmazonAnother tool every home should have is a sturdy hammer. Whether you’re hanging a photo, removing old baseboards, hammering in a loose nail, or frantically killing a spider, a hammer is a must-have. The Craftsman Hammer, which has a hefty 1.3-pound frame and ergonomic grip, is selling fast while it’s on sale for just $15 at Amazon.Craftsman Hammer

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Check price at AmazonHow to learn more about Craftsman’s warrantyAs a note, warranties on Amazon can be a bit tricky to figure out because of the different sellers and shippers. As long as the tool is a genuine Craftsman tool with the original label on it, you should be able to sign up for the warranty coverage. To see the specific warranty for each Craftsman tool, I find it most helpful to look up the tool on Craftsman’s website for the complete coverage information. For this article, I’ve cross-referenced each tool deal with Craftsman’s website to ensure it comes with lifetime coverage. Certain tools, like the tape measure, come with limited lifetime coverage, while others like the hammer offer full lifetime coverage. The limited coverage only replaces the product if the problem is with defects in workmanship or materials, so if you accidentally drop the tape measure off the roof and it gets smashed on a concrete driveway, it wouldn’t be covered. A hammer has to take a beating, so if it fails to perform for any reason, it will be replaced under the full lifetime coverage.Craftsman tool deals for $15 or less at AmazonFor those shopping on a budget, we’ve rounded up all of Amazon’s Craftsman tool deals priced at $15 or less. To get the best value for your dollar, we’ve also ensured they’re eligible for a lifetime warranty. The best savings are on the Craftsman Heavy-Duty Reverse Squeeze Stapler and Craftsman Mechanics Tool Set with up to 51% off. The best deal overall is on the Craftsman 6-Foot Keychain Tape Measure while it’s on sale for just $4, and it’s both practical and adorable.Craftsman Heavy-Duty Reverse Squeeze Stapler

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman Mechanics Tool Set

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman Folding Utility Blade

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman 4.5-Inch Mini Diagonal Pliers

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman Speeddrive Ratcheting Multi-Bit Screwdriver

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Check price at AmazonCraftsman 8-Inch Long Nose Pliers

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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.

Ask a frontier AI model to help hunt for a software vulnerability, and there’s a good chance it refuses. Security teams have spent months fighting that reflex, watching legitimate penetration tests get flagged as attacks by the same guardrails meant to stop hackers.This has become a running frustration inside corporate security teams that are otherwise desperate for more firepower. They need this firepower because threat actors are improving their skills everyday, looking for ways to exploit weaknesses.OpenAI’s answer, unveiled on Monday, Aug. 10, says almost as much about the risk sitting inside its own models as it does about defense.OpenAI is expanding its Daybreak cybersecurity program into two access tiers, the company said. Daybreak Blue strips the cyber-related safety filters off GPT-5.6 Sol, the company’s flagship model, for vetted defenders doing everyday security work.Daybreak Red goes further, granting access to a new model called GPT-5.6-Cyber, built specifically for exploit validation and advanced vulnerability research.The company frames the split as narrowing the gap between attackers and defenders, warning that hackers will increasingly use AI to launch attacks at machine speed.GPT-5.6-Cyber is built on GPT-5.6 Sol but trained to reduce refusals on cybersecurity tasks that would otherwise trip its safety filters, OpenAI said.OpenAI’s Daybreak Blue and Red split access, not intentThe distinction between Blue and Red is not really about who can be trusted. Both tiers require identity verification and legal attestations, and starting Sept. 1, individual accounts must adopt hardware security keys. The real distinction is how close a user can get to raw offensive capability.Daybreak Blue is the tier OpenAI recommends for most organizations, built for day-to-day defensive work. Daybreak Red is reserved for experienced defenders tackling harder problems, the kind of work that blurs into the exact skills an attacker would need.Both tiers pull from the same underlying model family, which means the real product OpenAI is selling is trust, not technology.

OpenAI splits its Daybreak cybersecurity program into two tiers, days after regulators flagged its own flagship model for unauthorized activity.ALEX WROBLEWSKI / Getty Images

The real gate is a capability thresholdThe more revealing decision sits next to the launch. OpenAI said last week it is pausing some internal work on a more advanced model called Astra after it showed significant advances in agentic coding and cybersecurity. GPT-5.6-Cyber shipped anyway, days later.That pairing suggests OpenAI is gating releases by what a model can do, not by who is asking to use it. A model capable enough gets held back, regardless of the access controls wrapped around it.One that falls just short of that line ships instead, guarded by identity checks rather than a pause.OpenAI’s own models keep going rogueThe urgency behind Daybreak has a direct cause. In July, an OpenAI model broke out of a testing environment and accessed the AI platform Hugging Face without authorization, an incident OpenAI itself described as a turning point for the industry.Weeks later, the U.K.’s AI Security Institute found that both GPT-5.6 Sol and Anthropic’s Mythos 5 model engaged in sustained, potentially harmful activity against real organizations during separate evaluations, according to Bloomberg.More OpenAI:OpenAI just disclosed something genuinely alarmingTech expert predicts an OpenAI collapseOpenAI just admitted something that has the AI industry on edgeThat finding complicates OpenAI’s own pitch. GPT-5.6 Sol is the same model Daybreak Blue hands to vetted defenders with its guardrails stripped away, and regulators had already flagged it for acting outside its intended bounds.Anthropic disclosed a similar pattern days earlier, saying its Claude model breached three organizations after slipping past a sandbox meant to keep it offline, according to Bloomberg.The incidents have already reached Congress. More than 1,000 employees across OpenAI, Anthropic, and other labs signed an open letter last month urging the government to help pace the speed of AI development, according to CBS News.Lawmakers introduced legislation that would require AI companies to maintain the ability to shut down or throttle their models, a response that directly referenced the Hugging Face breach.A pattern now repeating across every labOpenAI is not the first lab to build a gated tier around its most capable cyber model. Anthropic launched Project Glasswing months earlier, giving 12 partner organizations early access to a cybersecurity-focused preview of its Mythos model.Anthropic framed the coalition as a race to secure critical software before comparably powerful cyber models from OpenAI and Google reached wider release, Fortune reported. Daybreak is OpenAI’s answer to a structure its rival built first.Both companies are converging on the same uncomfortable conclusion. The skills that make a model good at finding vulnerabilities are the same skills that make it dangerous, and no amount of vetting fully separates the two.Security leaders are already blending frontier models with open-source tools rather than betting on any single lab’s access controls. That hedge says more about where confidence in AI safety programs actually stands than any tier name or benchmark score.As more labs release cyber models with fewer guardrails, the real test will not be which company builds the smartest defender. It will be which one is first to prove its own model cannot be turned against the people using it.Related: Tech expert predicts an OpenAI collapse

These are the circumstances in which choosing a SpaceX-operated Starlink setup over fiber, cable and 5G may make financial sense.

“Right now, we’re withdrawing about $100,000 a year from our investments.”

Key Takeaways

Gold hit record highs in 2026, serving as a critical hedge against inflation and a safe-haven asset that often gains value when stocks or the U.S. dollar weaken.
Investors can buy physical bullion (i.e., coins, bars) for tangible ownership or gold-backed securities (i.e., gold ETFs, gold mining stocks) for easier liquidity and lower storage overhead.
Experts recommend limiting alternative assets — including gold — to 5% to 10% of a portfolio to provide diversification without sacrificing the higher growth potential of income-generating assets like stocks.

Gold has been a coveted asset for thousands of years. Today is no exception. Gold hit a record high of $5,589.38 an ounce on January 28, 2026, before pulling back to around $4,000 an ounce as of July 20, 2026 — still historically elevated, but well below its January peak.
Whether investors plan to buy the metal in its physical form as coins or bars, or as gold-backed securities like gold stocks and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), there are plenty of reasons to consider adding the precious metal to an investment portfolio.
Gold has long been considered a safe-haven asset because when prices of other investments — like stocks or real estate — drop sharply, gold historically retains its value. In some instances of market volatility or market downturns, the precious metal may even gain value while other asset classes experience losses as panicked investors rush to buy what they consider a low-risk store of value.
Some experts also see gold as the ultimate hedge to protect against inflation since the yellow metal has retained its value for centuries and recently appreciated to an all-time high. Due to its inverse relationship with fiat currency, gold also tends to rise in value when the U.S. dollar weakens. So during periods when people experience eroded purchasing power, the precious metal can increase in worth.
But when does it make sense to buy gold? And what is the best method? In this guide, we share everything you need to know about how to buy gold, including the benefits and downsides of buying physical gold or investing in different types of gold-backed securities.
Table of Contents

Buying gold
Gold bullion
Investing in gold
Should you buy gold
How to buy gold FAQs

Buying gold
If you’re interested in buying gold, there are two principal ways of doing so: (1) purchasing physical gold or (2) investing in gold-leveraged securities like gold stocks, mutual funds or ETFs. Depending on your investment strategy, expertise and the level of risk you’re willing to take, you may find one or the other more appealing.
Read on to learn how you can buy gold, whether or not it is a good investment and if it is the right fit for your goals.
Gold bullion
Bullion is physical gold of high purity and usually comes in the form of ingots, bars, coins or rounds. Rounds are often confused for coins — like the U.S. Mint’s American Gold Eagle — because of their circular shape. However, they are closer to gold bars in that they don’t have value as legal tender and do not differ in design from one year to the next.
Bullion derives its value from the gold content of the precious metal rather than the form of the metal, and it’s measured in what’s known as a troy ounce (standardized at 31.1034768 grams or 1.09714 ounces). You can purchase gold bullion bars in various weights, with bars ranging from 1 gram to 1 kilogram. Investment-quality gold bars are 99.5% (995) pure gold, which is the international standard. Legitimate bars are stamped with the manufacturer’s name, purity and the weight.
Like any investment, there are pros and cons of having gold in your portfolio. Here is a brief overview of the benefits and downsides of owning the physical precious metal:
Pros of buying gold bullion
When you own gold, you own a physical, valuable asset that can be easily passed on to others. Additionally, gold bullion provides stable value and you don’t need to watch it closely like you would with a portfolio of stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and bonds.
Cons of buying gold bullion
You may need a secure vault and/or gold insurance to protect it, especially if it’s held in a gold IRA, for which the IRS maintains strict guidelines on gold purity standards and off-site storage requirements.
There are many reputable gold dealers, but scams are commonly committed by fraudulent online dealers. Gold dealers typically charge a markup — known as the spread — from the precious metal’s spot price when you buy or sell it. In some cases, the markup could be 10% or more of the gold’s value. Read about the best online gold dealers to learn more.
Lastly, it can also be difficult to determine the purity of gold on your own, presenting a challenge in verifying the quality of the physical gold you purchase.
How to buy gold bullion
There are many retailers that allow you to buy gold online and feature a variety of gold coins, rounds, bars and ingots. Sellers routinely mark up the price of physical gold from its current spot price, so be prepared to pay more than the actual value of the gold itself.
These online gold dealers often offer discounts to members of the military and for buying in bulk. Buying more than 100 gold bars (or 500 gold coins) is considered a bulk purchase, but this will depend largely on the individual seller. You may also be able to buy smaller gold bars, ranging from half a gram up to 100 grams, in stores that specialize in numismatics, pawn shops or some jewelry stores.
Where to buy gold bars
For investors interested in purchasing these physical gold assets, our guide on how to buy gold bars includes a comprehensive breakdown. Some well-known, reputable dealers that sell gold bars include APMEX, American Hartford Gold, Thor Metals Group, and JM Bullion.
Where to buy gold coins
Several governments, including the U.S., as well as many private mints currently manufacture gold coins. Some of the most well-known government gold mints in the world include the United States Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Royal Mint of the United Kingdom, the Central Mint of the People’s Bank of China and the Perth Mint in Australia
Some of the most well-known privately-owned gold mints in the world include New Zealand Mint, Sunshine Minting, Valcambi, Austrian Mint, South African Mint, Geiger Edelmetalle and PAMP Suisse.
Coins issued by the U.S. Mint are technically legal tender, meaning that in theory, they could be used to pay for goods and services. However, the value of gold coins tends to be much higher than their face value. Collectible coins may have an even higher market value due to their rarity or potentially higher demand. Popular minted coins include the American Eagle, Gold Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand, Vienna Philharmonic, Mexican Gold 50 Pesos, British Sovereign and Australian Kangaroo.
Minted coins usually range in size from one-tenth of an ounce to an ounce to accommodate various investors’ buying power. Their purity is usually between 22 and 24 karats, with the purity guaranteed by the mints that produce them. You can buy gold bullion coins from mints, coin shops, online dealers, eBay and coin shows, among other locations.
Where to buy gold jewelry
When buying gold jewelry, keep in mind that the price you pay will be tied to the craftsmanship of the piece and, importantly, that the amount of gold content will be just a percentage (karat) of its overall weight. In effect, this means you’ll be paying more money for less gold.
For example, the most common type of gold used in jewelry in the U.S. is 14K gold, produced from 58.3% pure gold and 41.7% of other metals like copper and silver. Other common mixtures of gold are 18K and 22K. On the other hand, 24K gold — like investment-grade gold bars — is 99.95% pure gold and contains no other metals. However, it is rarely used for jewelry because it is softer and more malleable because of its purity.
Investing in gold
If purchasing physical gold doesn’t seem like the right fit for you, you can invest in a variety of gold-backed securities. These investments can be made through brokerage accounts and online trading platforms and include shares of gold mining stocks, gold streaming stocks and gold ETFs.
Some examples of how you can invest in gold outside of the physical metal include gold ETFs, like the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX); gold mutual funds, like the Fidelity Select Gold Portfolio Fund; stocks of gold miners and refiners, like Newmont Corp. (NEM) and Barrick Mining Corporation (B); and gold futures contracts, through exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
To learn more, read our guide about how to invest in gold.
Should you buy gold?

Pros

Gold is a tangible asset that is highly liquid, meaning it’s easy to quickly find a buyer if you need to sell.
Gold has historically been considered a hedge against inflation, since the price of gold tends to keep pace with the cost of living.
Gold can be used to diversify your portfolio because it tends to rally when other asset classes — such as stocks and real estate — fall in value.

Cons

Gold doesn’t produce income like bonds or dividend-paying stocks and ETFs. In the long run, these other assets are likely to outperform gold.
Gold prices can experience volatility.
There are additional costs associated with buying, selling and holding physical gold as an investment.

Owning gold can be a way to diversify your investment portfolio. Gold is also considered to be a good way of protecting your money from inflation. But, as with any investment, there are risks. Gold can be volatile in the short term and can lag behind equities in terms of long-term price appreciation.
Before purchasing physical gold or investing in gold-backed securities, make sure it fits with your investment strategy, financial goals and risk tolerance.
Gold and diversification
Diversification — which entails owning a mix of different assets — aims to help shield investors from dramatic losses. In a well-diversified portfolio, when prices for one type of investment decline, you’re insulated by the prices of others, which can potentially offset losses.
While gold’s price can be volatile in the short term, it often has an inverse relationship with stock and bond prices. In fact, during financial calamities when investors tend to flee the stock market, gold prices often rally. When the S&P 500 fell around 30% between November 2008 and March 2009, the price of gold was up by about the same amount.
However, this isn’t always the case. During 2022’s bear market when the S&P 500 lost nearly 20%, the price of gold also dropped. But it only fell by 0.1% by year’s end, ultimately beating many other asset classes. Similarly, during the stock market’s “tariff tantrum” in April 2025 when the index fell by more than 12% in one week, gold slid more than 5%.
Nonetheless, owning some gold alongside stocks and bonds is one way to diversify your investment portfolio. Just be mindful that financial advisors typically don’t recommend investing more than about 10% of your overall assets in gold or precious metals in general.

How to Buy Gold FAQs
Is gold a good investment?
Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and can be used to diversify your portfolio. It’s also a highly liquid asset, so you’ll be able to find a buyer for your gold when you need to sell.
However, don’t expect high returns with gold compared to other asset classes like stocks. It is a considerably stable investment, but over the long term, gold is likely to be outperformed by securities.
Where can I buy gold?
You can buy physical gold from dealers like JM Bullion and APMEX, as well as pawn and jewelry shops. Keep in mind that purchasing gold from jewelry stores and pawn shops could be riskier as it could end up being a lower karat and have a higher markup. You can also buy gold-backed securities — like gold stocks, gold-leveraged ETFs and mutual funds as well as gold futures — through a brokerage or online trading app.
Do you have to pay taxes on gold?
Profits from trading securities (e.g, stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, CDs and bonds) are considered capital gains and are taxed at special long-term and short-term capital gains rates. Short-term capital gains taxes can range anywhere from 10%-37%, while long-term capital gains taxes are 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your taxable income. One exception is for ETFs backed by physical gold (not gold mining companies), from which gains are taxed as collectibles rather than capital gains.
The IRS views profits you earn from trading physical gold and other collectibles differently. If you own physical gold for less than one year, gains are taxed as ordinary income. If you own physical gold for longer than one year, gains are taxed at a maximum 28% rate.

Summary of How to Buy Gold
Gold investments are considered a hedge against inflation and, historically, a store of value. They also offer the benefits of portfolio diversification. However, consider the risks of investing in gold before adding the precious metal to your portfolio.
Most financial advisors recommend not investing more than 5% to 10% of your overall portfolio in alternative assets like gold. Because the price of the precious metal remains relatively stable — unlike speculative investments like cryptocurrency — it offers a safe haven for investors. But because the physical metal doesn’t generate income, gold is unlikely to produce the large gains that other asset classes like stocks and real estate are capable of.
If you decide to invest in gold, you can purchase the physical metal (i.e., gold bullion ingots, bars, coins or rounds) or invest in gold-backed securities (i.e., stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and futures).
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Presented by Rezolve AiWhen an AI assistant recommends a product or brand, it generates something valuable: a purchase-ready consumer with high intent and low friction in their decision. That consumer has already compared options, asked follow-up questions, and arrived at a conclusion. They want to buy.What they encounter next is a commerce infrastructure that was not designed for them.The gap between recommendation and purchaseThe typical enterprise commerce stack was built for a specific model: a consumer who arrives at a brand’s website through search or a direct link, navigates product pages, adds to cart, and completes checkout through a multi-step form flow. That model assumed the consumer would do the work of bridging their intent to the transaction. Most commerce systems still assume exactly that.Agentic commerce breaks that assumption. When intent is generated outside the brand’s owned environment, the handoff to transaction becomes a structural problem. Context doesn’t transfer. Sessions don’t persist. The consumer who asked an AI assistant for a recommendation and received one now faces the same friction-laden checkout process as someone who arrived with no prior intent at all.Cart abandonment rates have remained stubbornly high for years. Baymard Institute research puts the average at 70%. That figure predates the agentic commerce era. As more purchase intent is generated through AI interfaces, and as the gap between that intent and a brand’s transaction layer widens, the abandonment problem is likely to get structurally worse before it gets better.What the current stack wasn’t built to handleThe commerce infrastructure most enterprises operate today was assembled over two decades of incremental investment. Each layer added a capability: a search tool, a recommendation engine, a personalization layer, and a checkout system. Each was built to solve a specific problem within a human-initiated shopping journey.None of it was built to receive intent from an AI agent.When an AI system generates a purchase recommendation, it needs to do more than surface a product page. It needs to verify real-time inventory. It needs to apply pricing logic and promotional rules. It needs to respect brand policy around which products can be recommended together, which channels apply which discounts, and what the correct fulfillment path looks like for a given consumer. And it needs to do all of that without breaking the conversational context that made the recommendation possible in the first place.Current commerce stacks can’t do this reliably. The systems that hold the relevant data, inventory, pricing, order management, fulfillment, are not exposed in ways that AI agents can safely and accurately access. The result is a journey that starts with intelligence and ends with a broken experience: a link out to a product page, a generic checkout flow, and a consumer who arrived ready to buy and left without completing the transaction.The conversion problem is an architecture problemThe industry has treated conversion optimization as a front-end problem for most of its history: better copy, cleaner checkout UX, fewer form fields, smarter retargeting. Those interventions were appropriate for the model they were built to serve.The agentic commerce era introduces a different kind of conversion failure, one that front-end optimization cannot fix. When intent is generated externally, conversion depends on whether the back-end infrastructure can receive that intent, act on it accurately, and complete the transaction within the guardrails the brand has established. That is not a UX problem. It is an infrastructure problem.Brands that are investing heavily in AI-powered discovery while leaving their execution layer unchanged are widening the gap between the promise AI makes on their behalf and the experience they can actually deliver. That gap has a cost, measured not just in lost transactions but in consumer trust that erodes each time the promise and the reality don’t match.Rezolve Ai commissioned research across 1,500 US consumers in January 2025 that found consumers who encounter friction immediately after an AI recommendation are significantly less likely to complete a purchase than those who encounter friction at the top of a traditional funnel. The implication is direct: AI raises the expectation bar at the moment of intent. Brands whose infrastructure cannot clear that bar are paying a conversion penalty they may not even know they’re incurring.What closing the gap requiresClosing the gap between AI-generated intent and completed transaction requires rethinking which layer of the commerce stack carries the most strategic weight in an agentic world. For most of the past decade, that weight sat with discovery and experience. The brands that invested most in search, personalization, and content won a disproportionate share.In the agentic era, the weight shifts to execution. The brands that can reliably take AI-generated intent and turn it into a governed, accurate, brand-safe transaction will have a structural advantage over those whose infrastructure stalls at the handoff.That is a different investment thesis than the industry has operated on. And most enterprise commerce roadmaps have not yet caught up to it.Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.

The Meta CEO laid out his vision for open AI, government oversight and a new $1 billion fund for communities near data centers.

Waymo calls these unscripted moments “edge cases.” And they they keep happening.

The machines behind every advanced artificial intelligence chip in production come from one company, and its stock just dropped 18% in a single month. If you hold shares in any AI company, this Dutch firm’s technology sits at the foundation of every chip powering those investments.ASML Holding, the manufacturer with an exclusive grip on extreme ultraviolet lithography, lost nearly a fifth of its market value in July 2026.The decline came even after ASML raised its full-year revenue guidance for the second time this year and posted second-quarter earnings above expectations.For investors already riding the AI trade through Nvidia or the hyperscalers, the July slide opened access to the one link in the chain none of them can replace.Two fears drove ASML’s 18% July selloffReports that Anthropic was doing early-stage work on a custom artificial intelligence chip sent ASML shares down 7.4% on July 1.Anthropic’s move followed a broader pattern of AI companies exploring in-house chip production to reduce reliance on external semiconductor suppliers and lower operating costs.The startup had opened discussions with Samsung about manufacturing the chip, a report by The Information revealed, triggering a sell-off across the broader semiconductor sector.The second blow came on July 27, when reports emerged that a Chinese government-backed company had begun manufacturing deep ultraviolet lithography machines for chipmaking.ASML shares closed 6% lower that day on the Nasdaq, with selling pressure continuing through July 29 before the stock found partial footing by the end of the month.ASML’s second-quarter results told a different storyBetween those two sell-offs, ASML reported second-quarter results on July 15 that exceeded its own guidance on both revenue and profitability measures.Total net sales reached €9.3 billion for the quarter, a 21.2% increase from the same period a year earlier, ASML’s earnings release showed. Gross margin came in at 54.0%, exceeding the company’s guided range, while net income reached €2.9 billion for the three-month period ending in June.Earnings per share climbed to €7.59 from €5.90 in the year-earlier quarter, a 28.6% increase that reflected growing demand for advanced lithography equipment worldwide.ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet attributed upgraded forecasts to surging orders and expanded operational capacity.The combination of continued strong momentum in customer demand and our ability to respond to that by driving higher output through strengths in our supply chain, our manufacturing, and our installed teams in the field are the primary drivers of our improved guidance.Management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to €43 billion to €45 billion from the €36 billion to €40 billion range set months earlier this year.Fouquet cited “ongoing AI-related investments and continued progress in AI technologies” as the primary drivers behind strengthening demand, the release noted.ASML sold 86 new lithography systems during the quarter, and its third-quarter guidance of €11 billion to €12 billion in revenue signaled further acceleration.

ASML delivered stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, raising 2026 guidance as AI demand drives record orders and accelerating lithography sales.NurPhoto / Getty Images

ASML’s EUV monopoly remains unchallenged by Chinese competitionChina’s entry into lithography manufacturing involves deep ultraviolet machines, an older technology segment where ASML already competes alongside Japan’s Nikon and Canon. But the DUV-to-China revenue at risk from a domestic Chinese competitor is already shrinking on its own. Chinese customers accounted for only about 14% of ASML’s second-quarter sales, The Motley Fool reported, and existing export rules already bar ASML from selling EUV and advanced DUV systems there.A pending U.S. bill, the MATCH Act, would restrict ASML from selling or servicing DUV machines for the three named Chinese fabs expected to receive the homegrown equipment. In other words, the revenue the July 27 selloff was pricing as newly at risk was already on its way to being cut off.More AI:Nvidia just made a move Wall Street wasn’t ready forMicrosoft just took sides in AI policy fightOpenAI just disclosed something genuinely alarmingASML’s next-generation High NA EUV systems, priced above $400 million, went into high-volume production this July with Intel Foundry’s 18A node.That monopoly is what makes ASML a different kind of AI bet. Most AI portfolios concentrate downstream. Nvidia designs the chips, TSMC fabricates them, hyperscalers rent the compute each with vendor risk ASML does not carry. When Samsung wins a foundry deal from Intel, ASML sells the machines. When TSMC wins one back, ASML sells the machines. Its revenue tracks industry-wide advanced-chip capex, not any one chipmaker’s market share.What the July sell-off hinges onThe July sell-off was priced on things that might happen. Anthropic might build a chip. China might catch up in DUV.What actually happened during the same window was ASML raising guidance for the second time this year, shipping 86 systems, and confirming Intel Foundry’s first high-volume production on High NA EUV.Morningstar’s four-star rating and 21% discount to fair value frame the opportunity. Whether those two concerns fade as short-term overreactions or mark a longer shift in how AI chips get designed and manufactured is what the July sell-off was really trading on.Related: Jim Cramer warns AI investors about hidden leverage trap

Drivers who recently refueled or grabbed a coffee at popular regional chains like E-Z Mart, Fas Mart, Village Pantry, or Scotchman might be surprised to learn that major structural changes are underway behind the counter.As fuel prices remain much higher than many would like them to be, consumers around the country are tightening their wallets, directly impacting convenience store sales right at the register.The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) documents that lower-income consumers are cutting back on quick stops, driving down in-store transaction volumes nationwide.“Inside transactions were down 1.9% year over year for the first half of the year,” pointed out Chris Rapanick, managing director of NACS research, speaking of 2025. More Retail:Dollar General copies Costco’s playbook with a discount twistPepsi and Coca-Cola bet big on soda Americans say they wantIconic supermarket chain closes more stores and facilitiesAt the same time, pump prices have surged year-over-year, putting added pressure on both drivers and station operators. The national average for a gallon of regular gas sat at $4.01 as of August 11, 2026, up significantly from around $3.14 during the same period last year, according to AAA.To navigate these headwinds, parent company ARKO Corp. has quietly surrendered corporate control of more than 471 store locations over the past two years, shifting away from direct retail management toward wholesale fuel supply.

ARKO, the powerhouse behind E-Z Mart, Fas Mart, and Village Pantry, shifts 471 company-operated stores to independent dealers.Brandon Bell / Getty Images

ARKO, the powerhouse behind E-Z Mart, Fas Mart, Village Pantry exits 471 stores ARKO Corp. recently reported its second-quarter earnings, disclosing revenue of $2.35 billion, up from $2.00 billion in the same period of 2025, driven by higher wholesale fuel supply volume and elevated fuel prices. The company also reported that it converted 21 company-operated retail stores into dealer locations during the second quarter. This brought the company’s total count to 471 converted stores since launching its “dealerization” initiative in 2024.Under this setup, ARKO hands over store operations, payroll, and inventory to independent dealers instead of running the physical storefronts itself. The company keeps collecting rent and acts as the wholesale fuel supplier, which cuts down expensive store-level costs like store labor and credit card swipe fees.”Consumer demand softened during the second quarter as sustained higher fuel prices continued to pressure household budgets. Even so, our teams remained focused on the areas within our control, maintaining disciplined fuel and merchandise margins while continuing to deliver value for our customers. Importantly, our Wholesale and Fleet Fueling segments continued to perform well,” stated Arie Kotler, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ARKO. Why has ARKO been converting its stores to dealerships? Management explained in its SEC Form 10-Q filing that these locations generate better profits as wholesale dealer sites than as corporate-run retail stores. “Conversions of certain retail stores benefit both our retail and wholesale segments, as these sites have yielded, and we expect will continue to yield, greater profitability once converted. In such cases, we realize higher profit from ongoing fuel supply agreements and rental income than from continued operation of these stores in our retail segment,” the company disclosed in the filing. ARKO added that these conversions allow it to better prioritize investment across remaining retail stores. In its annual report for 2025, the company highlighted that “This channel optimization strategy is delivering tangible benefits, including reduced operating costs, lower maintenance capital requirements, and improved cash flow. By focusing on core locations and leveraging our wholesale network, we are enhancing returns while creating a more efficient base of stores.” ARKO isn’t alone in feeling this pressure. Convenience store consolidation has intensified industry-wide as smaller and mid-size operators struggle to keep pace, according to Dennis Ruben, executive managing director at c-store advisory firm NRC Realty & Capital Advisors.“Unless somebody’s got a company with a succession plan or a family member that wants to keep in the space… frankly, there’s a lot of incentives for somebody to sell right now,” Ruben told C-Store Dive. ARKO says its strategy works, plans more store conversions as card fees surge Among reasons why some operators are transferring store-level financial responsibility to independent dealers is the surge in transaction costs. While direct store operating expenses, including wages and benefits, card fees, utilities, maintenance and merchandise, increased 4.2%, at the slowest rate since the pandemic, credit and debit card fees reached a record of $21.3 billion, according to NACS April report. Subsequently, ARKO confirmed that the strategy is working, as second-quarter site operating expenses decreased by $16.6 million or 9.4% for the same quarter of 2025, driven by “$25.8 million of reduced expenses related to retail stores closed or converted to dealer locations.The reduction in operating expenses was partially offset by “an increase in same-store operating expenses of $8.3 million, or 5.6%, primarily due to higher credit card fees associated with elevated fuel prices, insurance, personnel costs and rent.”During the second-quarter earnings call, CEO Kotler noted that around 70 additional stores are set for conversion or already converted since the quarter ended. “Each conversion moves us further towards a lower cost, more capital efficient operating model with stronger cash flow characteristics. While the pace of conversion moderated this quarter, our expectation for the program remained unchanged,” Kotler said. What ARKO’s exit from 471 stores means for consumers While ARKO says it is already seeing positive effects of this turnaround strategy, transforming company-operated convenience stores into dealerships has its challenges, and it might not be the right tactic for every company. For example, retail giants like 7-Eleven and Alimentation Couche-Tard (parent of Circle K) operate using both models, while CrossAmerica Partners is converting dealer-operated locations over to company-operated sites. Each strategy has its upsides and downsides, according to experts. C-store consultant Julie Jackson said converting a large volume of stores “could be a huge organizational realignment that has to happen.” “This strategy also brings the risk of getting into business with a franchisee or dealer who mishandles operations or doesn’t comply with the agreement,” Jackson told C-Store Dive.When a company transitions from company-operated locations to dealers, headquarters gives up direct control over store employees, branding execution, and proprietary product programs, which can directly affect consumers’ experience. In addition to loyalty program changes and potential brand inconsistency, the dealers have the right to set their own final pump prices. This means that the company whose sign is on the canopy (e.g., Shell, BP, or E-Z Mart) is often not the entity setting the local fuel price; rather, it is the dealer. “In contrast to corporate-owned stores, franchised stores typically carry shelf prices anywhere between 5% and 20% more expensive than their counterparts (Humphrey 2007). This is partially due to the inability of franchise stores to achieve economies of scale,” according to an exploratory study on the store image in a franchise setting.  Related: Another grocery chain quietly shuts down more stores