$AAPL

AP reports July US retail sales fell 0.6% after a revised 0.2% gain in June, citing Commerce Department data. Wall Street slipped from records on the weak data. Reddit will join the S&P 500 next week after strong Q2 results. Maryland’s tax court voided Maryland’s digital ad tax, ordering refunds to Apple, Google and Peacock. Other items include a Liverpool minority stake deal and a Forbes editor departure.

Goldman Sachs data cited by The Kobeissi Letter says the top 10 US stocks accounted for 16.4% of total notional dollar trading volume so far in 2026. Nvidia led at 3.0%, followed by Micron (2.8%), Tesla (2.1%), and SanDisk (1.5%). Liquidity was uneven, with SanDisk’s spread at 12.4 bps versus 5.9 bps for the S&P 500 average.

Berkshire Hathaway increased its Alphabet stake 83% to about 106 million shares, worth nearly $38 billion at June 30, after agreeing to buy $10 billion of Alphabet stock in a June private placement and buying 19.6 million shares on the open market, according to a portfolio disclosure. Berkshire also bought net $20 billion of stocks in Q2.

Norges Bank Investment Management, manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, disclosed it increased its AST SpaceMobile equity stake by 604,458 shares in Q2 2026, valuing the holding at about €256 million. The fund also reported a $1.22 billion equity position in SpaceX. The AST update coincides with progress toward commercial D2D service deployment.

Appaloosa Management, led by David Tepper, increased its Amazon stake by over 15% to nearly $1.2B in Q2, and expanded positions in Meta (+~55% to ~$380M), Alphabet (+~7% to ~$661M), and Apple (new position >$241M), per regulatory filings. It cut Micron by >41% to ~$1.125B and exited SanDisk (> $400M).

A report citing regulatory filings and Satori Insights analysis says Alphabet and Amazon’s recent profits were heavily boosted by unrealized investment gains tied to AI holdings. Alphabet’s net quarterly income was over 70% from investments, including SpaceX. Amazon’s gains were about 65% of net income, mainly from Anthropic. The Magnificent 7’s Q2 net profit totaled $315.6B, with $134.6B from investment gains.

A former Apple worker sued Apple Inc. in federal court in Indiana on Aug. 13, 2026, alleging race and national origin discrimination and retaliation after he reported racist comments to HR. He claims pay was cut, RSUs reduced, and his title downgraded, followed by a performance improvement plan and constructive discharge. Apple denies wrongdoing; allegations are untested.

Investing.com reports Berkshire Hathaway expanded its Alphabet stake in Q2, adding tens of millions of shares, lifting Class C to over 27 million and Class A to nearly 79 million, based on its latest 13F. It trimmed Bank of America by more than 30 million shares and reduced Capital One and Ally. Berkshire also added Delta and Macy’s, exited Constellation Brands, and increased Lennar and started DR Horton.

Apple may launch AirPods with built-in cameras as soon as this year, according to Mashable and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The cameras are expected to function as spatial sensors for computer vision, improving head tracking and enabling context-aware audio and health features. The article cites Apple’s AAPL stock at $306.03.

Apple released iOS 27 beta 5 to developers after a week delay, ahead of a public release next month. Macworld reports iOS 27 beta 5 system files reference six unreleased iPhone models, including iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, 18, iPhone Ultra, iPhone Air 2, and iPhone 18e, tied to battery driver and Battery Intelligence components. No specs were disclosed.