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Prior to the report, markets were split on whether the Fed would hike rates at its next policy meeting in September.

As diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran continue to hit roadblocks, a highly volatile security situation in the Middle East makes it difficult for airlines that fly into cities like Dubai and Riyadh to plan future service.Dutch flag carrier KLM has, since the joint U.S.-Israeli strike that set off the war on the last day of February 2026, pushed back the restart date of many of its key Middle Eastern routes from Amsterdam dozens of times.While KLM had previously set the resumption of service on its routes to Dubai (DXB), Riyadh (RUH) and Dammam (DMM) until Sept. 6, the latest update pushes that bag once again to Oct. 24. None of these routes from Schiphol Airport (AMS) in Amsterdam have run since March 2026.KLM once again pushes back restart dates of Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam flights”Despite recent reporting about the situation in the Middle East, the current circumstances in the region still bring uncertainties,” KLM says in a statement that has been in place since the three routes were first canceled in March. “To provide clarity and certainty to travelers scheduled to fly to Dubai in the coming weeks, the cancelations have been extended.”Local airlines such as Emirates and Saudia have been running flights to their cities from different parts of the world but international ones have been reticent to restart service due to both the security risks and costs of starting and then suddenly having to call them off again.Related: Delta Air Lines exits entire marketThe KLM routes to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam are major connectors of the Middle East to the rest of Europe; their suspension further limits the options for getting in and out of the region during lulls in Iranian attacks.Given the extended pushbacks to the restart dates, most of the passengers who held a ticket on a route between Amsterdam and the three Middle Eastern cities will have already received the refund.

KLM has not run its flights to Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh since March 2026.AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images via Getty Images

What happens if you have a booked KLM ticket to the Middle EastBut for anyone holding onto their ticket, KLM’s extraordinary measures policy allows them to either claim a refund to the original method of payment or keep pushing back travel to a future date in the hopes that the flight will one day run.”KLM will not operate flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until and including October 24,” the latest update put out on Aug. 5 reads.More Travel News:Airline to launch unusual new flight to Cayman Islands from the U.S.There is a very cool Irish version of swimming pigs in the BahamasUnexpected country is most luxurious travel destination for 2026Low-cost airline launches easier way to get to Sri LankaOther airlines in Europe and North America have made similar moves to push back routes to the Middle East. British Airways recently scaled back the restart of its flight between London Heathrow and Dubai from August to October 2026 while American Airlines delayed the restart of two high-profile routes to Doha (DOH) and Tel Aviv (TLV) until 2027.KLM sister airline Air France has also suspended all service into Dubai from Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris until Aug. 18, citing a “security situation on the ground, which is highly fluid” as the reason.Related: Low-cost airline charging to use the overhead bins

It costs 14.8% more to shop at Kroger than to buy the same items at Walmart, and Costco’s prices for those items are 21.8% cheaper than Walmart’s, according to a study commissioned by Consumer Reports.Even the Kroger-owned discount brands King Soopers (7.9%) and Food for Less (9%) come in with higher prices than the Walmart baseline, while many of the chains it operates actually have higher prices than Kroger itself. Price, of course, isn’t the only factor consumers consider when picking a grocery store, but traditional supermarket chains have lost sales to rivals including warehouse clubs, and department store chains like Walmart and Target, which also offer groceries.“In an effort to fulfill their unique definitions of value, consumers visit more than five separate grocery store banners on average per month despite growing omnichannel grocery shopping trends,” FMI CEO Leslie G. Sarasin said in The Food Industry Association’s (FMI) U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2026 report, which was released in May.Value isn’t the same as price, but price does matter for many cash-strapped Americans. That leaves new Kroger CEO Gregory Foran walking a narrow tightrope as he has openly said that his company won’t be the lowest-priced option, while also admitting that its prices are too high.Kroger CEO admits need to lower prices Foran spent his first 100 days in spending time in his chain’s stores and came to his first earnings call as the CEO with some observations.”Over time, our promotions have gotten too complicated, and our price position has not kept pace where it needed to,” he said during Kroger’s first-quarter earnings call.His feeling on price, however, focused on lowering the gap between Kroger’s various nameplates and their rivals.”Let me be clear on what this means. We do not need to be the lowest-priced retailer. We need to be more competitive, more consistent and easier for customers to understand,” he added.In reality, Kroger does not have the same buying power as Walmart and Costco, because it’s dwarfed by Walmart in sales, something it called out in a court filing, and Costco has nearly double the sales on far fewer products.Walmart: $706.4 billion (Walmart’s 2026 Q4 report) Costco:$269.9 billion (Costco’s Q4 earnings report) Kroger:$147.6 billion (Kroger’s Q4 earnings report)Costco warehouses carry about 4,000 products compared to the 30-40,000 found at most supermarkets, according to the warehouse club’s website. Kroger admitted that it can’t compete with Walmart and Costco on price in its reaction to the Federal Trade Commission denying its merger with Albertsons in 2024.”This decision only strengthens larger, non-unionized retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon by allowing them to further increase their overwhelming and growing dominance of the grocery industry,” the company shared in a press release. Kroger CEO wants to improve valueForan wants to focus on lowering prices, but he understands that Kroger has to deliver for its customers in other ways. “When a customer is deciding where to shop, we want more of them choosing Kroger more often because the value is clear, the experience is great, and the trust is there,” he said. He believes the company has to find ways to cut costs in order to lower prices,”Every dollar we invest in customer value we earn through cost savings and efficiency. That’s the standard we’re holding ourselves to,” he added.More Kroger:Kroger hit by 19 million egg recall over serious health riskKroger supermarkets add exclusive LTO Sprite sodaWe compared Walmart’s new prices to Target and KrogerThe company, he shared, will also have to use every tool to keep prices down.”On cost of goods, we will press harder on supplier negotiations and lean further into direct sourcing,” Foran declared. “On goods not for resale, we will remove complexity and waste in addition to buying better, and we need to operate more efficiently. That means fewer organizational layers, smarter ways of working, standing up our Kroger capability center and applying AI across the business.”

Kroger has used deal pricing for holiday meal bundles.Kroger

Kroger is fighting the economyAmericans spend on average $169 per week on groceries as of February 2026, according to FMI’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2026 report. A considerable amount of Americans, 40%, are looking to save money on food overall, according to a Deloitte Study.”Four in 10 Americans surveyed were identified as value seekers. Of these consumers, almost two-thirds are cooking more meals at home (65%) and, over half are purchasing cheaper ingredients from the grocery store (53%) and switching to store brands/private labels (59%), which is about 10 times the rate of non-value-seekers,” the data showed.RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Misernadino believes that Foran is right to focus on overall value, but also worries that Kroger simply can’t give some shoppers the prices they need.”Consumers don’t make decisions exclusively to price, it’s a numerous amount of factors, so he’s not entirely wrong, but the worse the economy gets. The more pricing does become a factor,” he told TheStreet. Kroger, however, is walking a tightrope as it tries to deliver the right mix of value and price.”Brands that offer only low prices could stand to lose out to competitors who offer more, as economic headwinds continue to influence consumer behavior,” according to Deloitte. Shoppers have been protective of their wallets, according to McKinsey’s State of the Consumer 2025 report.”Globally, 79% of surveyed consumers are trading down but not necessarily by purchasing fewer items or seeking discounts at lower-priced retailers (though these actions are still common). Instead, more than half of surveyed consumers across markets say that they look for deals on every purchase,” McKinsey’s data showed.Foran isn’t trying to turn Kroger into Walmart or Costco. Instead, he’s betting shoppers will accept higher prices if Kroger can convince them they’re getting better overall value.Related: Grocery store chain using a disturbing technology to prevent theft

With the U.S. crypto bill missing a crucial window before the Senate hangs its closed-for-summer sign, the alternatives are getting more attention.

Your day-ahead look for Aug. 7, 2026

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has been left “furious” by his club’s failure to land Rodri, who now looks set to join bitter rival FC Barcelona.

“Luxury goods are the only area in which it is possible to make luxury margins,” said Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group behind powerhouses such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy.Arnault may be right about margins, but high fashion isn’t inflation-proof. Even LVMH saw revenue slip 5% in 2025 and another 3% in early 2026, while retail giant Saks Global was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Now, the challenges have hit Kering. The French luxury giant behind Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga closed 84 stores in the first half of 2026, and is planning more. Kering closes at least 217 stores in 18 months“Despite being the world’s second-largest luxury group, with revenue of €14.7 billion ($17.38 billion) in 2025, Kering has faced mounting pressure in recent years. Leadership changes, shifting consumer preferences, and broader industry headwinds have challenged its performance,” according to TheStreet retail reporter Fernanda Tronco. In 2025, the luxury giant opened 58 new stores, but closed another 133, resulting in net 75 closures for the year, said Kering CFO Armelle Poulou during the Q4 2025 earnings call. “Our store network is being assessed constantly, and we have accelerated its rationalization by closing stores that no longer support our ambition to strengthen sales density,” Poulou added. On July 28, 2026, Kering reported earnings and operational results for the first half of 2026, revealing more closures. During the first six months of 2026, Kering finalized 84 net closures, reducing its total store count to 1,635, down from the 1,719 it had on Dec. 31, 2025. The luxury group didn’t disclose gross closing numbers or new store openings for the first six months of the year, only net closures. Based on this, it is evident that over the past 18 months, Kering closed at least 217 stores. These closures were offset with openings, resulting in net closures of 159 for the period.The company highlighted that the 84 net closures in the first half of the year resulted in a reduction of 5% of its directly operated stores as of Dec. 31, 2025, and are part of the 100 targeted closures for the 2026 full year. First half of 2026 Kering net store closures: Western Europe: 13North America: 20Japan: 16Asia-Pacific: 31Rest of the world: 8 
Source: Kering 
The four-store gap between the regional total (88) and the group-level figure (84) reflects the difference between the Fashion & Leather Goods segment and Kering’s overall Group Level total. 

Kering closes at least 217 stores in 18 months. resulmuslu / Getty Images

Why Kering is closing storesThe store optimization strategy comes after declining profits for the luxury giant in recent years. The group didn’t decide to close 159 net stores on a whim. It was forced into the optimization strategy after its operating income dropped by nearly half (46%) due to underperforming, low-density retail stores. Related: Iconic outdoor retailer closes key store due to retail theft“In a difficult year, we accelerated the transformation of several of our Houses and moved determinedly to strengthen the health and desirability of our brands for the long term,” stated then-CEO François-Henri Pinault. For the full year of 2025, Kering reported a revenue drop of 13% year over year and 10% on a comparable basis.Interestingly, the group’s biggest and most powerful brand, Gucci, drove the decline, posting revenue drops of 22% and 19% on a comparable basis.Back in August 2025, Luca Solca, managing director at Bernstein, wrote a letter to Kering CEO Luca de Meo, identifying two immediate priorities: Debt levels must be curbed.The management organization must be fixed.Kering’s new strategy showing early successThe new strategy seems to be working, as for the first half of the year, Kering reported solid results, with revenue of €7.22 billion ($7.9 billion), down 3% on a reported basis compared to the same period in 2025, but returning to growth in the second quarter.“Store optimization is not only about reducing our footprint, it is also about upgrading, renovating and elevating our most strategic locations. And the fact that we returned to growth while materially reshaping our network demonstrates the improving productivity of our retail operations,” de Meo said during the earnings call. “I think momentum improved across nearly all our houses,” de Meo continued. “Gucci accelerated significantly on a sequential basis, and our operating margin improved.” Kering makes big moves to revive profits Under its new recovery strategy, in addition to store optimization, the group is working on limiting its dependence on fashion, while also expanding into other potentially lucrative luxury categories. Beauty division sold to L’OréalIn October 2025, Kering agreed to sell its beauty division to L’Oréal for $4.7 billion, establishing a 50-year exclusive licensing agreement scheduled to start in early 2026, according to the company’s press release.Kering and L’Oréal are also launching a joint venture in the high-growth wellness and longevity market to drive innovation in fragrances and cosmetics.Raselli Farco jewelry acquisitionRecognizing jewelry as a resilient category during luxury downturns, Kering acquired Raselli Farco in late 2025 to strengthen production, according to Kering’s official press release. “By securing critical manufacturing capabilities for our jewelry activity, this partnership will strengthen our value chain and accelerate the growth of our Houses. It reflects our unwavering commitment to excellence and our determination to shape the future of jewelry,” stated de Meo. Gucci & L’Oréal licensing agreementGucci and L’Oréal entered into a 50-year exclusive beauty licensing agreement set to begin in mid-2027, replacing Gucci’s previous deal with Coty ahead of its scheduled 2028 expiration.Combining Gucci’s brand vision with L’Oréal’s global distribution aims to “unlock significant long-term growth opportunities” while deepening consumer engagement and reinforcing brand consistency across fragrance and beauty, according to the company’s press release. Related: Popular mall retailer is quietly shifting away from traditional malls

For the past two years, investors have treated artificial intelligence as a technology story.If you wanted exposure to the AI boom, you bought Nvidia (NVDA). Maybe Microsoft. Perhaps Broadcom or AMD. The winners all seemed to make chips, servers, or software.Caterpillar (CAT) just proved that wrong.The construction-equipment giant reported one of the strongest earnings surprises of the quarter on Aug 4, posting record revenue of $20.54 billion and adjusted earnings of $8.17 a share, crushing Wall Street expectations. The stock jumped roughly 10%, adding hundreds of points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average as investors digested the results.The numbers were wonderful in themselves.And the reason they do it may be even more essential.Chief Executive Joe Creed said demand across Caterpillar’s businesses continues to rise, underpinned by solid order rates and a growing backlog. Data center construction has become a major driver on Wall Street and a favored investment theme.”Strong order rates and a growing backlog reflect broadening momentum across all three of our primary segments,” CEO Joe Creed said while discussing quarterly results.Artificial intelligence does not stop at Nvidia chips.An AI data center requires land clearing, foundation pouring, generator installation, power system construction, and heavy machinery to function around the clock. That’s billions in cash going to companies that don’t often make AI stock rankings.It was a significant reminder for investors, as it was for Caterpillar’s quarter.The AI economy is rewarding more than just the corporations building the technology. The corporations who physically develop the infrastructure behind it are being rewarded ever more.AI’s biggest winners are moving beyond Silicon ValleyInvestors, when they think about AI infrastructure, tend to think of chips.That’s a good point.The big language models are still powered by graphics processors from Nvidia, while others such as AMD, Broadcom, and Marvell are competing to supply the CPUs and networking equipment needed inside huge processing clusters.More AI:Nvidia just made a move Wall Street wasn’t ready forMicrosoft just took sides in AI policy fightOpenAI just disclosed something genuinely alarmingBut someone has to build the facilities before any processor can be installed.Hyperscale data centers are huge earthmoving projects, including digging, diesel generators, backup power systems, and heavy construction equipment. It may be months or years before servers begin to handle AI workloads for those projects.And that change is starting to show up in Caterpillar’s financial performance.The company said revenue climbed 24% year over year to a record $20.54 billion, while adjusted earnings surged to $8.17 a share. Analysts had expected about $18.95 billion in revenue and earnings closer to $6.10 per share.The profits beat wasn’t just about AI.The mining, energy, and broader infrastructure spending is still supporting demand.But data center development has become a more essential growth driver, especially as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and other tech titans continue spending tens of billions of dollars to expand AI capacity.For Caterpillar, that means more excavators, loaders, engines, and power generation equipment for some of the world’s largest construction projects.Related: BofA sees more power behind Caterpillar sharesThe result is a different way of thinking about artificial intelligence investing.Instead of asking which company builds the fastest chip, investors may increasingly ask who profits every time another AI campus breaks ground.That list is becoming much longer.Heavy equipment manufacturers.Industrial suppliers.Power companies.Electrical equipment makers.Cooling-system providers.Engineering firms.The AI boom is spreading through the industrial economy.

Caterpillar’s earnings exposed an overlooked AI tradeBloomberg / Getty Images

Caterpillar’s results may change how investors think about AIMuch of the AI surge, for investors, was virtually exclusively concentrated on semiconductor businesses.That approach has delivered remarkable gains as Nvidia has become one of the world’s most valuable businesses.But the new earnings season implies the investing story could be broadening.Building the infrastructure for AI involves huge amounts of capital spending, and not only on chips and servers. Before you ever get to installing computing equipment, data centers need roads, foundations, generators, electrical systems, cooling equipment and heavy machinery.Key takeawaysCaterpillar reported record quarterly revenue of $20.54 billion.Adjusted earnings reached $8.17 per share, well above Wall Street estimates.Management cited strong order rates and a growing backlog across its business.AI data-center construction is emerging as a meaningful demand driver for heavy equipment.Caterpillar shows that industrial companies are increasingly participating in the AI investment boom.Caterpillar is at the head of that investment cycle.Strong quarterly results demonstrate the advantages of technology spend for industrial firms without creating AI software or manufacturing sophisticated processors.The company’s gains of nearly 60% this year show rising investor optimism that spending on AI infrastructure might be a big growth driver for years to come.That doesn’t imply Caterpillar is a tech firm all of a sudden, though.Instead, it shows that one of Wall Street’s largest investment themes is creating opportunities across businesses that were a world away from AI before.Caterpillar’s earnings served as a key reminder for investors seeking the next phase of the artificial intelligence play.The biggest winners might not be stuck in Silicon Valley anymore.Some may be feeding the machines that will develop Silicon Valley’s future.Related: Caterpillar buys little-known AI startup in surprise tech move

Beijing controls a chokepoint that Washington’s own crackdown can’t address.

What Kevin O’Leary learned from Steve Jobs: You only need to get three things done every day. Just three.