SUCCESS

Reality bites.

At least at the gas pump, it does.

Gasoline prices in the United States rose on Sept. 8 as crude oil prices rose, with the war in the Middle East showing no signs of ending. It may even be expanding.

Related: $90 oil makes a sudden, unwelcome comeback

The worries about the Middle East led to a sharp selloff in U.S. stocks.

GasBuddy’s U.S. national average jumped nearly 6 cents a gallon to $4.154 as Americans went back to work after the long Labor Day weekend.

The price is the highest GasBuddy has recorded since June 5 when the daily average was $4.166 a gallon. The price was actually falling from its May highs of $4.566 a gallon, recorded on May 6 and May 20.

The bottom came on July 5 at $3.719 a gallon; the average has risen 11.6% since then. The price is now up about 46% in 2026.

The AAA Fuels price was $4.151 a gallon, up slightly from Sept. 7 and up 46.2% on the year.

U.S. gasoline prices over the Labor Day weekend were at their highest levels for the holiday.

Normally, gasoline and oil prices are starting to decline. The summer driving season is over in North America and Europe, and weather should start to cool off. That lets refiners change their formulations for gasoline.

Light sweet crude, the U.S. benchmark, was up 1.5% to $92.82 per 42-gallon barrel in New York trading and is up nearly 62% in 2026. That’s after peaking at $94.73 a barrel in early trading. The Sept. 4 close was $91.48 per barrel.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled at $97.92 a barrel in London, up about 1% on the day and up 1.7% from its Sept. 4 close of $96.28 a barrel. It peaked at $99.46 during the day.

Brent is up about 58% this year.

The attacks over the weekend between Iranian and U.S. forces over control of the key Strait of Hormuz gave way on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8 to more fighting between Houthi rebels in Yemen and the government of Saudi Arabia. More than 70 people were injured in the fighting, the Guardian newspaper reported.

The strait is the body of water that links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Before Israel and the United States attacked Iran on Feb. 27, about 20% of the world’s crude oil would pass through the strait on its way to global customers.

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Energy and metals stocks rally

With oil prices on the rise, oil stocks were generally higher. The State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLE) rose 1.3% to $64.86. Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil ( XOM) climbed nearly 1%.

So, too, were stocks of companies involved in copper mining and processing.

Tariff battles between the United States and Canada and pushed copper prices to $6.784 a pound in New York. The metal hit a 52-week high of $6.873 a pound during the session.

A weak overall day for U.S. stocks

U.S. stocks reacted badly to the news from the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 628 points to 52,786.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 45 points to 7,674, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 86 points to 26,421.

Related: Peace, no peace: Middle East turmoil leaves no one happy

While the approximately 8,000 registered travel agencies operating in the U.S. in 2026 can seem like a big number, it is significantly lower than the peak 35,000 businesses that sold trips and tours during the 1990s.

If the rise of online booking platforms has been gradually whittling away the need for centralized agencies outside of certain niche or ultra-luxury segments, the spike in jet fuel prices and an uncertain economic outlook in 2026 have served to hasten the momentum more recently.

Some recent travel companies that ended up shutting down operations in 2026 for good include Trav Expert, Groupia, Golf Villa Rentals, Salamander Voyages, Travel Bespoke, Regen Central, Set Sail Cruises, Yourtravelshop.com, Ski Yodel, Wayfairer Travel, and TS Travels Group among others.

Sunshine Tours shuts down after 45 years

A longtime Virginia travel industry name and community staple that was founded in 1982 by husband-and-wife team Carroll and Joyce Stone, Sunshine Tours is the latest to announce their exit from the market.

The company named the “rising cost of fuel, lodging, and overall tour expenses, along with the decline in passenger counts” as the reason to shut down a business selling travelers bus tours across the United States and Canada.

Related: What to do for the most luxurious travel experience in Dublin

“After much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our business effective immediately,” Sunshine Tours wrote in a post that it put out on multiple social media channels. “There were several factors that led to this outcome, but the biggest contributing issues were the rising cost of fuel, lodging, and overall tour expenses, along with the decline in passenger counts. We understand as a ‘luxury’ and non-essential business, travel is often one of the first expenses people cut back on when budgets tighten. Please know we are devastated by this decision.”

This means that any tours scheduled for the coming weeks and months will be canceled while anyone who put down a deposit or paid for the cost of the trip is urged to contact the company at 540-674-9517 or sunshinetours1982@gmail.com.

Sunshine Tours sold bus tours to different parts of the U.S. and Canada.Shutterstock

“Refunds for all tours will be processed based on the decisions of legal counsel”: Sunshine Tours

While Sunshine Tours has not officially filed for bankruptcy, its statement that “refunds for all tours will be processed based on the decisions of legal counsel” suggests that its financial position may not be one in which it is able to provide them.

The other option is for affected travelers to go through their credit card issuer or travel insurance.

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“We also understand that you have paid your deposits or balances for an upcoming tour and that you are owed a refund,” Sunshine Tours wrote further. “At this time, we are working with legal counsel to determine the best course of action for everyone affected. Refunds for all tours will be processed based on the decisions of legal counsel during this process. Please note this will not be an overnight process, and we do not yet have a timeline for when refunds will be issued.”

These travel agencies 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 customers 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 beginning 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 and receiving invalid plane tickets and hotel bookings.

Related: Popular luxury travel company abruptly cancels all trips

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Michelsen, ranked No. 46 in the world, hadn’t dropped a set before the Tiafoe match.

The golf league lost funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund earlier this year, less than five years after it launched.

Shares in Bombardier lost altitude Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the Canadian aircraft manufacturer unless it makes new commitments to build in the U.S.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been one of my favorite stocks over the years. I’ve recommended it several times over the past couple of decades – and every time, we’ve sold it for a gain. We first bought the stock in November 2004 and sold it in October 2008 for a 253% gain. Then we bought it again in October 2009 and booked a 152% gain in February 2013.

Since then, we’ve largely avoided Apple, though. The consumer electronics maker simply lacked the earnings and sales momentum we require for our portfolio.

Revenue grew just 2% in fiscal 2024 and 6.4% in fiscal 2025 – solid for a company of Apple’s size, but nowhere near what we look for. My Stock Grader agreed: AAPL spent most of the past five years stuck between a C and D grade.

But that’s all about to change.

Right now, AAPL carries a B grade in Stock Grader – a real shift from where it’s spent most of the last five years. You can see that in the Grade History in the bottom section of the image below. Also note that at the end of July, the stock rose to a new high above $340.

There’s also a changing of the guard at the top. Tim Cook officially stepped down as Apple’s CEO on September 1, handing the reins to John Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran who has spent his career as the company’s SVP of Hardware Engineering.

Cook was the operations mastermind who scaled Apple into a $4 trillion company. Ternus is a hardware guy through and through, and he’s taking over at the exact moment Apple is making its biggest hardware bet in over a decade: the iPhone Ultra.

Don’t Buy on Launch Day

All of this is expected to be a big boon for Apple. In fact, since the rumor mill started buzzing about the company’s upcoming product reveal, the analyst community has raised fiscal year 2026 earnings estimates.

The current consensus estimate calls for full-year earnings of $8.81 per share and total sales of $477.68 billion, which represents 18% annual earnings growth and 14.8% annual sales growth. That would be Apple’s best growth in years. And given how these estimates have already been raised once on foldable-iPhone buzz alone, don’t be surprised if Apple ends up beating even these fresh numbers once the actual sales data comes in.

It’s time to go back to the well for more profits, but let me be clear about one thing before investors dive in and scoop up shares.

Related: Louis Navellier delivers hot take on rising bond yields

Historically, AAPL has not reacted positively to its new product launches. In fact, the stock tends to slide lower on the day the company unveils its latest and greatest new products.

Dow Jones Market Data even reports that AAPL has declined an average of 0.7% on the company’s annual product launch day since the first iPhone was released in 2007.

Take September 2025, for example.

Apple introduced its iPhone 17 lineup, including the iPhone Air, and noted that it would not raise prices despite rising cost pressures from tariffs. This should have been celebrated by Wall Street and Apple enthusiasts, yet AAPL shares slipped 1.5%.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Apple will finally introduce its first folding iPhone: the iPhone Ultra.Wengen Ling / Getty Images

The reality is that new products are typically leaked before the actual event, just like they were this year. So, excitement about the new product line is generated ahead of the unveiling, and the stock tends to rally ahead of the event rather than on the day.

After that, though, AAPL tends to meander higher in the following months when the products actually hit the shelves, and there’s more clarity on demand and actual sales data.

Dow Jones Market Data shows that AAPL has rallied an average of 12% in the six months following a product launch.

I suspect this year will be no different. AAPL is a Conservative buy below $342.

For more information about my stock grading system, click here. 

Related: Apple’s new CEO faces a staggering $14 billion iPhone test

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has long gambled on Alphabet, as artificial intelligence has grown Google’s cloud business and helped lift its stock.

Then he went away.

Pershing Square’s latest regulatory filing shows the billionaire investor sold both Alphabet (GOOGL) share classes in the second quarter. He also acquired a $934 million Netflix (NFLX) position at quarter-end. The fund had 13.08 million Netflix shares on June 30.

At first glance, the move seems odd.

Alphabet announced $119.8 billion in quarterly sales, up 24%, with Google Cloud revenue increasing 82% to $24.8 billion. Netflix has dropped precipitously from its 2025 peak, with investors now questioning how much growth remains in streaming.

But Ackman’s transaction may suggest something more essential than whether firm is growing faster.

He seems to be transitioning from a corporation that needs superhuman expenditure to maintain its AI edge to one that he thinks has already won the costliest competitive battle in its sector.

Bill Ackman makes dramatic reversal on Netflix

Ackman has a track record with Netflix.

Pershing Square purchased the streaming startup in early 2022, but unexpectedly sold it months later when Netflix said it had lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade. The withdrawal resulted in a loss of almost $400 million.

Four years later, Ackman is back.

He said Netflix was among six new investments Pershing Square made starting in the second quarter, including Visa, Mastercard, S&P Global, Intercontinental Exchange, and Alcon, Reuters noted, describing the adjustments as Ackman’s largest portfolio makeover in years.

Related: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square invests $1.1B in fintech giant

The Netflix position is particularly interesting because of the rapid failure of Ackman’s initial premise.

Pershing now argues that the competitive landscape has changed. The firm said Netflix has effectively “won the streaming wars,” according to commentary surrounding the investment.

Netflix brought in $12.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 13% year over year, with an operating margin of 33%. The business said it anticipates full-year sales of $51 billion to $51.4 billion and a full-year operating margin of 31.5%.

Alphabet’s AI success comes with a $200 billion problem

The company’s operational performance scarcely seems broken, which makes selling Alphabet now more appealing.

Google Cloud soared 82% as revenues hit $119.8 billion in the second quarter. Alphabet recently started making money selling its bespoke tensor processing units to outside clients, another move in the company’s effort to compete directly in AI infrastructure.

But the problem is the expense of that increase.

Alphabet increased its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion previously. Heavy infrastructure spending pushed quarterly free cash flow to negative $5.9 billion, its first negative quarter as a public company.

That raises an interesting investment issue.

AI is driving Alphabet’s quicker growth, but investors also have to determine how much cash will be needed to fuel that expansion.

Netflix setup is almost opposite. Despite slower revenue growth, streaming’s giant infrastructure and content land grab have matured, profitability has increased, and the company can focus on pricing, advertising, and live programming.

Bill Ackman walks away from Alphabet for a beaten-down stock.PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty Images

Ackman may be betting against Wall Street’s favorite narrative

That is not to say Ackman has gone bearish on artificial intelligence.

Pershing Square still has big investments in Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Amazon, according to its June filing.

It might be a value and capital intensity issue.

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The AI gold rush has been rewarding firms offering huge AI potential even as expenditure on chips and data centers rockets upward. Thus, when a company’s competitive position improves and its stock price falls out of favor, Ackman is inclined to go elsewhere.

Netflix shares in the material were down around 42% from their 2025 top, and Alphabet had quadrupled over about 18 months.

It’s typical Ackman. A quality firm that is not popular, rather than a popular company, that’s already priced for great performance.

Ackman’s Netflix bet carries one uncomfortable reminder

The big danger is still there.

Netflix is in a tough fight for eyeballs with YouTube, social media, and conventional entertainment. Its advertising business is developing swiftly but is less than investors had earlier thought, and revenue growth has slowed from prior times.

Ackman also knows well how rapidly a Netflix thesis can crumble.

But that background makes his comeback all the more telling.

He isn’t just purchasing a beaten-down stock. He’s returning to a firm that once cost him hundreds of millions of dollars because he feels the business has evolved.

And by exiting Alphabet at the same time, Ackman is making a subtler wager. The next great investment may not be the company spending the most to win the AI boom. It may be the company that has already finished fighting its own expensive war.

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

The U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services said the issues it encountered were resolved shortly after 2:30 p.m. EDT, though it acknowledged a backlog of flights.