Shoppers boost retail sales: Americans increased their retail spending in July for the fourth month in a row, a sign the strong labor market is continuing to drive consumer spending despite the Fed’s rate increases (WSJ)
Home-improvement boom is tapering off: Home Depot (HD) beats earnings estimates but reports a 2% drop in revenue and 1.8% fewer transactions, compared with the same period a year earlier (Axios)
Builder confidence falls: After steadily rising for 7 consecutive months, builder confidence retreated in August as rising mortgage rates near 7% and stubbornly high shelter inflation have further eroded housing affordability (NAHB)
F45 maxes out: F45 Training (FXLV), the global fitness franchisor which was once worth $1.4 billion, has delisted from the NYSE and suspended its financial reporting after a series of challenges have affected its operations (Fitt)
Simplify enters the Arena: Simplify Inventions, home to the founder of 5-Hour Energy and owner of several TV news stations, has agreed to acquire a majority stake (65%) in the publisher of Sports Illustrated and Men’s Journal, The Arena Group (AREN); stock rose 22% (Axios) You can read our favorite backdoor way to play Arena Group here.
Some Tesla’s are now $10k cheaper: Tesla (TSLA) rolled out cheaper versions of its Model S and Model X vehicles in the U.S. as competition in the electric vehicle space continues to ramp up (CNBC)
Iger’s job just got tougher: TSG Entertainment, which helped finance hits including “Avatar” and the “Deadpool” franchise for Twentieth Century Fox, is suing the studio and its parent company Disney (DIS) for alleged breach of contract (WSJ)
Intel backs out of chip deal: Intel (INTC) has terminated its plans to acquire Israeli contract chipmaker Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) as it was unable to get timely regulatory approvals for the $5.4 billion deal (Reuters)
Clean energy, dirty supply chain: First Solar (FSLR), a leading U.S. solar panel manufacturer, said that an independent audit had found that migrant workers in its operations in Malaysia were victims of forced labor; props for the transparency (NYT)
Big oil’s next big move: Buffett-backed Occidental Petroleum (OXY) agreed to buy Canadian startup Carbon Engineering for $1.1 billion as the oil producer expands to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Fortune)
Yen and Yang: Japan’s economy dazzled last quarter, boasting 6% annualized growth, double what analysts were predicting (BNN) | 