August

GREENBELT, Md. — Former Trump administration national security advisor John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government.

The existence of the indictment was confirmed to the AP by a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the charges and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Agents during the August search seized multiple documents labeled “classified,” “confidential” and “secret” from Bolton’s office, according to previously unsealed court filings. Some of the seized records appeared to concern weapons of mass destruction, national “strategic communication” and the U.S. mission to the United Nations, the filings stated.

The indictment sets the stage for a closely watched court case centering on a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power and who after leaving Trump’s first government emerged as a prominent and vocal critic of the president. Though the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump’s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that his Justice Department is being weaponized to go after his political adversaries.

It follows separate indictments over the last month accusing former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James of committing bank fraud and making a false statement, charges they both deny. Both of those cases were filed in federal court in Virginia by a prosecutor Trump hastily installed in the position after growing frustrated that investigations into high-profile enemies had not resulted in prosecution.

The Bolton case, by contrast, was filed in Maryland by a U.S. attorney who before being elevated to the job had been a career prosecutor in the office.

Questions about Bolton’s handling of classified information date back years. He faced a lawsuit and a Justice Department investigation after leaving office related to information in a 2020 book he published, “The Room Where it Happened,” that portrayed Trump as grossly uninformed about foreign policy.

The Trump administration asserted that Bolton’s manuscript included classified information that could harm national security if exposed. Bolton’s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information.

A search warrant affidavit that was previously unsealed said a National Security Council official had reviewed the book manuscript and told Bolton in 2020 that it appeared to contain “significant amounts” of classified information, some at a top-secret level.

Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell has said that many of the documents seized in August had been approved as part of a pre-publication review for Bolton’s book. He said that many were decades old, from Bolton’s long career in the State Department, as an assistant attorney general and as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The indictment is a dramatic moment in Bolton’s long career in government. He served in the Justice Department during President Reagan’s administration and was the State Department’s point man on arms control during George W. Bush’s presidency. Bolton was nominated by Bush to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the strong supporter of the Iraq war was unable to win Senate confirmation and resigned after serving 17 months as a Bush recess appointment. That allowed him to hold the job on a temporary basis without Senate confirmation.

In 2018, Bolton was appointed to serve as Trump’s third national security advisor. But his brief tenure was characterized by disputes with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine.

Those rifts ultimately led to Bolton’s departure, with Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted Bolton’s resignation. Bolton subsequently criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy and government in his 2020 book, including by alleging that Trump directly tied providing military aid to the country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, who was soon to be Trump’s Democratic 2020 election rival, and members of his family.

Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “washed-up guy” and a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.” Trump also said at the time that the book contained “highly classified information” and that Bolton “did not have approval” for publishing it.

Tucker, Durkin Richer and Kunzelman write for the Associated Press. Tucker and Durkin Richer reported from Washington.

The UK economy grew slightly in August, according to the latest official figures.

The economy expanded by 0.1%, the Office for National Statistics said, after contracting by 0.1% in July.

The government has made boosting the economy a key priority and pressure is mounting ahead of the Budget next month.

Many economists have been warning that tax rises or spending cuts will be needed to meet the chancellor’s self-imposed borrowing rules.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies is projecting Rachel Reeves will need to find £22bn to make up a shortfall in the government’s finances, and will “almost certainly” have to raise taxes.

On Wednesday, Reeves said she was “looking at further measures on tax and spending, to make sure that the public finances always add up”.

The monthly growth figures can be volatile, and ONS has downgraded July’s figure from zero growth to a 0.1% contraction.

The ONS is focusing on growth over a rolling three-month period, and in the three months to August the economy expanded by 0.3% which was a slight improvement on the previous figure.

“Economic growth increased slightly in the latest three months. Services growth held steady, while there was a smaller drag from production than previously,” said Liz McKeown, ONS director of statistics.

“Continued strength in business rental and leasing and healthcare were the main contributors to services growth, partially offset by weakness in some consumer facing services, while wholesalers also fared poorly.”

In hindsight, Mookie Betts made the mystery of his worst career season sound rather simple.

Looking back on it now, the reasons were right there all along.

There was the stomach virus at the start of the year, which caused him to lose 20 pounds and develop bad swing habits while overcompensating for a decline in physical strength. There was the defensive switch to shortstop, which occupied much of his focus as he learned a new position on the go.

There was also an unfamiliar mental strain, as the former MVP slumped like he never had before.

There was a newfound process of having to flush such frustrations, forcing the 12-year veteran to accept failure, concede to a lost season, and reframe his mindset as the Dodgers approached the fall.

“I just accepted failing, so my thought process on failing changed,” Betts said in an introspective news conference on the eve of the playoffs.

“Instead of sulking on, ‘Well, I tried this and it failed, now I don’t know where to go,’ I just used it as positive things, and eventually turned.”

Betts’ full season, of course, will remain a disappointment. He posted personal low-marks in batting average (.258) and OPS (.732). He spent most of the summer with his confidence seemingly shot.

But from those depths has come a well-timed rebirth.

Amid a year of continuous turmoil, Betts finally found a way to mentally move on.

Over his final 47 games of the regular season, he batted .317 and nearly doubled his home run total, jumping from 11 on Aug. 4 to 20 by the end of the term.

During the Dodgers’ 15-5 finish to the schedule, he was one of the lineup’s hottest hitters, posting a .901 OPS that was second on the team only to Shohei Ohtani.

In the club’s wild-card-round sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, Betts’ production was even more prolific. He had six hits in the two games, including three doubles and three RBIs in the series clincher Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

And afterward, having helped the team book a spot in the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, he reflected on his turbulent campaign again — attributing his recent success to the grind that came before it.

“I went through arguably one of the worst years of my career,” Betts said. “But I think it really made me mentally tough.”

All year, speculation swirled about the root causes of Betts’ struggles, which saw him miss the All-Star Game for the first time in a decade and bat as low as .231 through the first week of August.

His shortstop play was the most commonly blamed public culprit. The correlation, to many, seemed too obvious to ignore.

At the time, Betts pushed back against that narrative. He noted the MVP-caliber numbers he posted during his three-month stint at the position in 2024.

But this week, he finally granted some credence to the dynamic, putting the difficulties of the transition in a different, but connected, context.

“It’s hard to go back and forth,” he said of the balance between learning the fundamentals of shortstop while also trying to work through his offensive scuffles. “It’s a learned behavior going back [and forth] between offense and defense.”

This wasn’t a problem for Betts when he played right field, where he has six career Gold Glove awards.

“When I was in right, I didn’t have to do that,” Betts said. “I was just playing right. I didn’t have to think about it.”

At shortstop, on the other hand, he “had to think about everything,” from how to attack ground balls, to how to remake his throwing motion, to where to position himself for cutoff throws and relay plays.

“I was making errors I never made before,” Betts said. “I had never been in these situations.”

The Cincinnati Reds’ Spencer Steer is forced out at second base by Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts on a ground ball from Gavin Lux during the first inning of Game 2 of the National League Wild Card series on Wednesday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

It hearkened back to something teammate Freddie Freeman said about Betts early in the season.

“It’s a lot to take on, to be a shortstop in the big leagues,” Freeman said in late May. “But once he gets everything under control, I think that’s when the hitting will pick right back up.”

Eventually, that prediction came true.

By the second half of the season, Betts finally stopped thinking his way through the shortstop position, and developed a comfort level that allowed him to simply play it.

“Now when I go out and play shortstop, it’s like I’m going out to right field,” Betts said. “I don’t even think about it. My training is good. I believe in myself. I believe in what I can do. And now it’s just like, go have fun.”

“Once short became where I didn’t have to think about it anymore,” he added, “I could really think about offense.”

Shortstop, of course, failed to explain the full extent of Betts’ hitting problems. Those started with the stomach virus he suffered at the beginning of the season, which wreaked havoc on his swing as much as his body.

Even after Betts regained the weight he lost, his strength remained diminished. It left his already underwhelming bat speed a tick lower than normal. It rendered his usual swing fixes ineffective as he battled mechanical flaws to which he struggled to find answers.

“It’s just hard to gain your weight and sustain strength in the middle of a season, when you’ve been traveling and doing all these things,” he said.

It felt like one domino kept bumping into the next. To the point where everything was on the verge of falling apart.

“My season’s kind of over,” Betts ultimately declared in early August. “We’re going to have to chalk [this] up for not a great season.”

That, though, is precisely when everything started to turn.

Moving forward, the 32-year-old decided then, he would commit himself to a new mindset: “I can go out and help the boys win every night,” he said. “Get an RBI, make a play, do something. I’m going to have to shift my focus there.”

Suddenly, where there was once only frustration, Betts started stacking one little victory after another. He would fist-pump sacrifice flies and ground balls that moved baserunners. He turned acrobatic plays on defense that refueled his once-dwindling confidence.

“When he kind of said that the year was lost, when he made that admission, that’s when I think it sort of flipped for him,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Just freeing his mind up.”

It helped that, down the stretch, Roberts committed to keeping Betts at shortstop; last year, the Dodgers shifted Betts to the outfield when he came back from injury in August.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” said Betts, who wound up leading all MLB shortstops in defensive runs saved this year. “At the start of the season, I wasn’t sure I would end the season there. I thought there may have to be an adjustment at some point, from lack of trust or whatever. I just didn’t know. So I’m just proud of myself for making it all the way through the year, and actually achieving a goal that I kind of set out to do: Being a major league shortstop, and say I did it and I’m good at it.”

His bat also started to gradually come around. Part of the reason was simple. “I was just able to finally get my strength back,” he said. But much of it was the result of hard work, with Betts spending long hours in the cage with not only the Dodgers’ hitting coaches, but former teammate and longtime swing confidant J.D. Martinez as well (who worked with Betts during both an August trip to Florida and a visit to Los Angeles for Betts’ charity pickleball tournament a few weeks later).

“I didn’t really have to try and add on power anymore,” Betts said. “I could just swing and let it do its thing.”

All of it amounted to one long process of Betts learning to move on. From his early physical ailments. From his persistent mental anguish. From a set of season-long challenges unlike any he’d previously endured.

“Slowly but surely,” Betts said, “started to get better and better.”

And now, entering Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, it has him back in a leading role for the Dodgers’ pursuit of a second straight World Series title: Starting at shortstop, swinging a hot bat, and having solved the mystery of a season that once looked lost.

“Better late than never,” he quipped Wednesday night. “It’s just one of those things where, you’ve just gotta keep going, man … So now, there’s just a different level of focus.”

Sept. 26 (UPI) — Core inflation stayed about the same in August, the Federal Reserve said, and personal consumption expenditures had a 0.3% gain for the month.

The personal consumption expenditures price index rise made the annual headline inflation rate 2.7%, which is the inflation over last year, the Commerce Department reported.

The core inflation rate is at 2.9%. It rose 0.2% for the month.

Meanwhile, consumer sentiment fell to 55.1, the University of Michigan said in a survey released Friday. The report was the seventh-lowest on record since 1952.

The pessimism stems from fears of higher inflation, which could get worse. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on trucks, cabinets and pharmaceuticals.

Americans are now also becoming nervous about the labor market.

“Consumers continue to express frustration over the persistence of high prices, with 44% spontaneously mentioning that high prices are eroding their personal finances, the highest reading in a year,” Joanne Hsu, the Michigan survey’s director, said in a release.

“Interviews this month highlight the fact that consumers feel pressure both from the prospect of higher inflation as well as the risk of weaker labor markets,” she said.

Consumer spending is still going strong. Personal consumption expenditures climbed 0.6% in August from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

After adjusting for inflation, spending rose 0.4% last month. The personal saving rate, which is personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, was 4.6%.

“Recent data show consumers resumed spending over the summer, especially those with higher incomes. And why wouldn’t they? Unemployment is still low, nominal wages are still increasing and asset valuations are near all-time highs,” CNN reported Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said Friday at an event in Washington, D.C.

Stock market futures rose after the report, while Treasury yields dipped, CNBC reported.

“Net, net, consumers literally hit it out of the park with very strong gains in spending not just for August, but June and July as well,” Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds, told CNBC.

“Summer was the time for consumer revenge spending after hunkering down in retreat from the shops and malls during the uncertainty and fear produced by the White House tariff rollout in April and May.”

The stock market trended higher in August. The popular S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.05%) index gained 1.9% last month. As of September 10, it has seen a total return of 20.6% in 52 weeks.

The top three performers among the 503 S&P 500 components took very different routes to the top. Let’s take a quick look.

1. UnitedHealth, up 24.2%

Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (UNH -0.31%) had three things working in its favor last month:

1. The stock dropped after reporting weak Q2 results near the end of July. It’s mathematically easier to post big gains after a dip like that.
2. The long-suffering acquisition of home healthcare specialist Amedisys finally closed. The $3.3 billion deal was proposed in the summer of 2023, following a process that included lawsuits and substantial concessions to secure the final approval.
3. Above all else, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.55%) (BRK.B -0.59%) disclosed owning 5 million UnitedHealth shares. It’s an entirely new position and investors celebrated Berkshire’s cash-powered seal of approval.

2. Intel, up 23%

Intel (INTC -2.09%) followed a similar stock-chart trajectory but for strange reasons. The Trump administration will buy $8.9 billion of Intel stock.

The U.S. government will hold a 9.9% ownership interest in Intel, with a warrants-based option to purchase another 5% of the stock under certain circumstances.

3. Newmont, up 19.8%

Gold miner Newmont (NEM -0.50%) rounds out this trio. Gold prices have been rising all year long, currently soaring near all-time highs. The average gold price rose 4.8% in August.

Newmont wasn’t alone in this surge. Fellow gold miners Coeur Mining (CDE 1.04%), Gold Fields (GFI -0.06%), and Iamgold (IAG 1.27%) outperformed Newmont in August, gaining 37.4% (Gold Fields) to 51.3% (Coeur).

Image source: Getty Images.

Shaky macroeconomics often result in rising gold prices, as investors flock to safer asset classes. That’s what’s going on in 2025, too.

However, Newmont is the only gold stock in the S&P 500, so its rivals don’t qualify for this particular list. Otherwise, all the names mentioned above would have ranked lower — including Newmont.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 1.36%) moved 3.2% higher in August, with five of its 30 constituent stocks rallying over 10% each. While the laggards didn’t decline as sharply, the fall in two of the three worst-performing Dow stocks of August was hard to justify.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Microsoft: Down 5%

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT 0.20%) fell 5% last month because investors booked profits after the tech stock soared to all-time highs of $555.45 on July 31, and its market capitalization briefly surpassed $4 trillion for the first time ever.

On July 31, Microsoft posted 18% revenue and 24% net income growth for its fourth quarter, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. Its cloud computing unit Azure logged the biggest revenue jump of 39% among all products. Microsoft projects double-digit growth in revenue and operating income for fiscal year 2026 (ending June 30, 2026).

2. Caterpillar: Down 4%

Shares of Caterpillar (CAT 2.04%) hit all-time highs of $441.15 on July 31. But unlike Microsoft, Caterpillar’s numbers sent the stock 4.3% lower in August.

Caterpillar’s second-quarter revenue declined 1%, and earnings per share slumped 16% year over year on unfavorable pricing. Although the construction and mining equipment giant expects higher revenue in 2025, it sees tariffs as a significant headwind to profitability. It projects free cash flow from its machinery, energy, and transportation businesses to be around $7.5 billion in 2025, versus $9.4 billion last year.

3. International Business Machines: Down 3.8%

International Business Machines (IBM 0.06%) stock dropped sharply on July 24 after releasing Q2 numbers and continued to fall through August, losing 3.8% in the month. Ironically, IBM’s revenue rose 8% year over year, and management now expects 2025 free cash flow to exceed its guidance of $13.5 billion, driven by growth in software.

Software alone made up 43% of IBM’s revenue in Q2. Last year, IBM generated $12.7 billion in FCF.

IBM shares fell because its software revenue growth missed analysts’ estimates. Investors know better, though, as the tech stock has recovered 5.5% this month, as of this writing.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — Wholesale prices dropped just a bit in August, potentially allowing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its September meeting.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Producer Price Index on Wednesday, which measures input costs of goods and services. It reported wholesale prices dropped 0.1% for the month, below Dow Jones estimates of a 0.3% gain, while on a 12-month basis, the headline PPI saw a 2.6% gain.

The core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was also off 0.1% after being expected to climb 0.3%. Excluding food, energy and trade, the PPI posted a 0.3% gain and was up 2.8% from a year ago.

The July figure was revised down to 0.7% — after reporting 0.9%.

Stock market futures gained after the release while Treasury yields were slightly negative.

The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee is expected to release its decision on its key overnight borrowing rate when it meets on Sept. 16-17.

Odds for a larger half percentage point reduction rose slightly after the PPI release to about 10%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch gauge.

The index for final demand services fell 0.2% in August, the largest decline since moving down 0.3 % in April. The August decrease can be traced to a 1.7% drop in margins for final demand trade services. Conversely, the indexes for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing and for final demand transportation and warehousing services increased, 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively, the BLS said.

Three-quarters of the August decrease in prices for final demand services can be attributed to a 3.9% decline in margins for machinery and vehicle wholesaling. The indexes for professional and commercial equipment wholesaling, chemicals and allied products wholesaling, furniture retailing, food and alcohol retailing, and data processing and related services also moved lower. In contrast, prices for portfolio management advanced 2%. The indexes for truck transportation of freight and for apparel wholesaling also increased.

Prices for final demand goods rose 0.1% in August, the fourth consecutive advance. Leading the August increase in the index for final demand goods, prices for final demand goods less foods and energy rose 0.3%. The index for final demand foods moved up 0.1%. Conversely, prices for final demand energy declined 0.4%.

A major factor in the August increase in the index for final demand goods was a 2.3% advance in prices for tobacco products. The indexes for beef and veal; processed poultry; printed circuit assemblies, boards, modules and modems; and electric power also rose. In contrast, prices for utility natural gas decreased 1.8%. The indexes for fresh and dry vegetables, chicken eggs, and copper base scrap also fell.

Shares of Shopify (SHOP -0.38%) were climbing the charts last month after the e-commerce software superstar turned in strong results in its second-quarter earnings report. It also benefited from an improving outlook for interest rate cuts, which should help Shopify as a growth stock and one that relies on small businesses that benefit from cheap capital.

Additionally, several Wall Street analysts weighed in on the stock with price target hikes. By the end of the month, Shopify had gained 16%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As you can see from the chart below, Shopify stock actually pulled back following the post-earnings surge, due in part to its concerns about its valuation.

Image source: Getty Images.

Shopify shines again

Shopify struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic and with a botched expansion into logistics through the Deliverr acquisition. But it delivered another quarter of strong growth on the top and bottom lines, showing those days are long behind it.

Revenue in the quarter jumped 31% to $2.68 billion, ahead of the consensus at $2.55 billion, while gross merchandise volume was up by the same percentage to $87.8 billion.

Margins were also solid, with a free-cash-flow margin of 16% and adjusted earnings per share of $0.35, which topped estimates at $0.29.

Shopify jumped 22% on the day of the report, showing investors were clearly impressed with the results, but shares pulled back over much of the rest of the month on valuation concerns. Shopify now trades for a price-to-sales ratio of 19 and a price-to-earnings ratio of 81, valuations that typically apply to smaller companies, though Shopify is still growing rapidly.

One analyst, Phillip Securities, downgraded the stock to neutral but raised its price target to $150 in regards to a valuation that appears “stretched.”

What’s next for Shopify

Shopify’s guidance was strong as well, calling for a revenue growth in the mid- to high-20% range for the third quarter, and a similar free-cash-flow margin to Q2, showing it expects its momentum to continue.

Overall, the business is in great shape. Its merchant base continues to grow. It’s finding new ways to monetize it, and it’s delivering solid profit growth.

Still, the valuation concerns are valid. At this point, investors shouldn’t expect much multiple expansion from the stock. For the stock to move higher, it will have to do so by growing its revenue and earnings, though it’s plenty capable of doing that.

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO 0.21%) rallied 19.8% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

American Eagle capitalized on July’s optimism regarding its new ad campaign starring actress Sydney Sweeney when President Trump endorsed the company’s campaign in early August. Then later in the month, American Eagle announced a collaboration with Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Taylor Swift fiancée Travis Kelce.

American Eagle’s investment in celebrity pays off

American Eagle’s stock got a bump in late July when it launched a controversial ad with actress Sydney Sweeney with the byline, “Sydney Sweeney has Great Genes Jeans.” While the stock then faded after an initial lift, President Trump weighed in in early August, writing on his social media platform Truth Social that the ad was, “the HOTTEST out there…the jeans are flying off the shelves.”

In response, investors bid up the stock, thinking the controversy might boost publicity for the brand and therefore subsequent sales.

Then later in the month, American Eagle announced a limited addition collaboration with Travis Kelce’s “Tru Colors” clothing line, which Kelce began in 2019. The new limited edition collection is to be unveiled in two “drops,” with one on Aug. 27, and another upcoming on Sept. 24. As luck would have it, the collaboration announcement came one day after Kelce announced his engagement to music star Taylor Swift.

So, American Eagle nabbed a marketing coup in both late July and into August, grabbing support from the President, as well as arguably two of the biggest celebrities in sports and entertainment.

Image source: Getty Images.

What will it mean for the stock, though?

The high-profile marketing push — both planned and unplanned – appeared to boost American Eagle’s near-term outlook. On Sept. 3, the company reported its second-quarter earnings results for the quarter ending Aug. 2, beating analyst expectations even though sales and comparable-store sales were each down 1%.

However, management said it was seeing “an uptick in customer awareness, engagement and comparable sales,” as a result of the Sweeney and Kelce campaigns, and projected comps to return to positive low single digits in both Q3 and Q4. That improvement would appear to validate the impact of the Sweeney and Kelce campaigns.

That said, despite a near-20% gain in August and a 20%-plus gain in September thus far, American Eagle’s stock is only up about 12.8% on the year and is still actually 2.3% below where it was one year ago. A cautious consumer, high interest rates, and the Trump administration’s tariffs have all acted as headwinds to the clothing retailer, as it has to many retailers.

August 2025 was a big month for a handful of stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. While the index, which tracks 30 of the most influential publicly traded companies in the U.S., was up 3.8% on the month, there were some outliers that drove the component’s overall performance even higher.

Here are the five companies that led the way in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and why they led the charge.

UNH data by YCharts.

UnitedHealth Group: Up 30.3%

UnitedHealth Group (UNH 1.53%) stock has been a disappointment in 2025, down 50% heading into August. But it made a massive turnaround on a couple of key investments.

First, Berkshire Hathaway, led by famed CEO Warren Buffett, disclosed a $1.5 billion position in UnitedHealth, pocketing 5.04 million shares. It was a big move for Berkshire, which also operates an insurance company in GEICO, and signaled to investors that the beaten-down insurer was ripe for the picking.

Second, investor Michael Burry disclosed his own investment through his Scion Asset Management hedge fund. Burry, who’s best known for his bet against the housing market that was dramatized in The Big Short, disclosed that Scion bought 20,000 shares of UnitedHealth stock and another 350,000 call options.

The company’s second-quarter earnings were also solid, with revenue of $111.6 billion up $12.8 billion from a year ago. UnitedHealth issued full-year guidance for revenue between $344 billion and $345.5 billion, which would be up 15% from 2024.

Apple: Up 14.7%

Buffett’s cash to fund his UnitedHealth purchase came from his sale of Apple (AAPL -0.16%) stock. The Oracle of Omaha trimmed Berkshire’s stake by 20 million shares. But Apple had some other positive things going for it, so it still had a very good August.

First, Apple had a better-than-expected earnings report. Financials for its fiscal 2025’s third quarter (ended June 28) showed revenue of $94 billion, up 10% from a year ago. Earnings per share totaled $1.57, which was a 12% increase from last year.

Apple badly needed a quarter like that because the company’s revenue has been flat since 2023. While some investors were expecting more of the same, Apple was able to report double-digit growth in its iPhone, Mac, and Services segments.

American Express: Up 12.6%

American Express (AXP -1.30%) is a credit card company that has distinct advantages over competitors Mastercard and Visa. While it has a smaller market share, American Express caters to corporate accounts and affluent customers who crave the American Express gold or platinum card perks.

In addition, the company operates its own payment network and extends loans, giving it another income stream from the interest charged.

Although there remains some concern about the strength of the economy, American Express reported revenue that was up 9% in the second quarter to $17.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.08, up 17% from the second quarter of 2024.

American Express isn’t sitting on its laurels, though. CEO Steve Squeri indicated that the company is looking to upgrade its Platinum card in an effort to draw Generation Z and millennial customers.

Amazon: Up 6.6%

Amazon (AMZN -1.46%) has multiple growth engines with its lucrative Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing segment and its powerful e-commerce division. Both had good news to report in August, pushing Amazon shares higher.

First, the company’s second-quarter results showed strong performance from AWS, with revenue in the segment coming in at $30.87 billion and operating income of $10.16 billion. AWS is by far most profitable segment for Amazon, and its cloud computing division is essential for companies that are looking to operate artificial intelligence-infused programs without spending massive amounts of money to create their own data centers.

Image source: Getty Images.

Amazon also is seeing greater success with advertising. Its advertising-services segment brought in $15.69 billion in the second quarter, up 23% from the previous year.

Finally, the company’s Amazon Prime Day shopping event in July brought in billions. The company said it was the biggest Prime Day event in its history. While Amazon didn’t release sales figures yet, Adobe Analytics projected $23.8 billion in overall sales from the three-day event.

Home Depot: Up 8.8%

Home Depot (HD 1.69%) had a good August after reporting solid earnings of its own. As home sales are struggling in 2025, more people seem to be putting work into their existing properties, according to CEO Ted Decker, who cited “smaller home improvement projects” as driving the company’s successful quarter.

Home Depot said it saw sales of $45.3 billion in the second quarter, up 4.9% from a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share of $4.68 were $0.01 per share higher than a year ago. The home-improvement retailer reaffirmed its 2025 guidance for sales growth of 2.8%.

August is over, and September is here. But many investors are fearful because of the so-called “September Effect.” It turns out that September is historically the worst month for the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.32%), with stocks often going down more often than they go up.

However, I’m sure that investors in The Trade Desk (TTD 0.23%), Super Micro Computer (SMCI -0.76%), Gartner (IT 3.83%), Fortinet (FTNT 3.06%), and Coinbase (COIN -2.49%) welcome September anyway. That’s because these five stocks were the five worst performers in the S&P 500 during August, dropping between 19% and 37% during the month.

Data by YCharts.

As the chart shows, all of these stocks dropped sharply early in August. But the drops happened on different days, suggesting that each stock was down for unique reasons.

Considering these businesses range from adtech to cryptocurrency to cybersecurity, it makes sense that all five are down for their own reasons. And that’s why I want to explore why each stock fell in August, as well as which of the five might be the most opportunistic buying opportunity today.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why these five stocks lost ground in August

All five of these stocks were down for unique reasons, yes. But they did all share one thing in common: The drops came right after each company reported quarterly financial results.

The Trade Desk

On Aug. 7, The Trade Desk disappointed investors with its financial guidance for the third quarter of 2025, only calling for 14% revenue growth — its slowest growth rate as a publicly traded company, outside the pandemic. And at the same time, the company abruptly changed its chief financial officer (CFO), which particularly unsettled investors in light of its lackluster outlook.

Super Micro Computer

On Aug. 5, Supermicro reported its completed fiscal 2025 financial results. Its fiscal 2025 net sales were up by 47% year over year, which was good. But its gross margin dropped to 9.5% in the fourth quarter — its lowest ever as a publicly traded company. So while its net sales are going up, profits aren’t up as much as investors would like to see.

Gartner

The business insights company reported financial results for the second quarter of 2025 on Aug. 5, beating expectations on the top and bottom lines. But the stock fell because management only expects 2% growth for the entire year, which is pretty meager and leads investors to believe that there’s little upside potential with this investment.

Fortinet

Gartner recognizes Fortinet as a leader in cybersecurity, but its stock plunged in August nevertheless. One of the company’s main products is firewalls, and when it reported second-quarter results on Aug. 6, management mentioned a refresh cycle.

In short, analysts are worried about the company’s growth, considering it’s already about halfway done with refresh for 2026, and 2027 is looking particularly slow. The refresh cycle was so heavy on investors’ minds that management even had a special call in which it tried to downplay any weakness in its refresh cycle, but it did little to relieve nervous investors.

Coinbase

On July 31, Coinbase reported financial results for the second quarter of 2025, showing that revenue was down and expenses were up. The big issue is that the company’s transaction revenue — what it makes when its users buy and sell cryptocurrency — is dropping sharply, leading management to expect a big year-over-year drop in revenue for the upcoming third quarter. This obviously isn’t what investors wanted to see, and the stock consequently fell.

With all of this now out of the way, which of these stocks is the best buy as September gets going?

Why AI might be the difference maker here

Coinbase may be the most vulnerable here. The cryptocurrency space goes into bear markets every few years on average, and it’s about due for a new one. The company’s transaction tends to suggest that a  “crypto winter” may be just around the corner.

Of the remaining four stocks, I don’t think investors with a long-term view can go wrong. Gartner expects low growth, but it’s still a reliable business, and the valuation is cheap. Fortinet is experiencing a normal refresh cycle, and cybersecurity remains a big need. And The Trade Desk has been so reliable for years that it’s premature to assume that its best days are behind it.

However, Super Micro Computer stock may be the opportunity with the most upside of these five.

First, Supermicro clearly doesn’t have a growth problem. Demand for its servers and storage solutions are popular with companies building infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI), as evidenced by its 47% top-line growth in its fiscal 2025. And management expects at least 50% additional top-line growth in fiscal 2026, showing that demand isn’t slowing.

Moreover, Supermicro stock is cheap at just 24 times its earnings. That’s cheaper than the average for the S&P 500, even though its growth is far above average. This could limit the downside of this investment.

Therefore, the investment thesis for Supermicro hinges on whether its gross margin can improve. If it can, then expect its profits to skyrocket far faster than its already torrid revenue growth. That would likely be rocket fuel for the stock.

For its part, Supermicro’s management believes this is possible. Countries are looking into building their own AI infrastructures, known as sovereign AI. The company has products to address this trend, which could boost its gross margin. Management is expecting gross margins to recover to 15%-16% long term.

It’s not a sure thing. But even modest gross-margin improvement would radically change the trajectory of Supermicro’s profits and, by extension, its stock price. This is why I believe Supermicro is one to take a look at here in September, considering it went on sale in August.

Sept. 5 (UPI) — The job market continues to slow, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that only 22,000 jobs were created in August.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 22,000, which is well below the Dow Jones expectation of 75,000. The July increase was 79,000 and was revised up by 6,000. June saw a net loss of 13,000 after the estimate was dropped by 27,000.

Friday’s BLS report is lower than Thursday’s ADP Employment Report for August, which showed a private payroll gain of 54,000.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement that Americans are “benefiting from strong and consistent hourly wage growth, which is up nearly 4%. The price of goods has increased globally over the past year, but the U.S. is bucking that trend with lower inflation, thanks to the return of America First leadership.”

She also touted the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

“Additionally, second-quarter GDP smashed many economists’ expectations, demonstrating strong growth and resilience. All job growth this year has been in the private sector among native-born Americans,” she said.

The GDP, which is a measure of all goods and services produced in the American economy, rose to an annualized rate of 3.3% from April to June instead of its earlier estimate of 3%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. It had declined by 0.5% in the first quarter.

The July report was slower than expected and heavily revised, leading to the firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. This is the first report to come out since her ouster. The July report showed 73,000 new jobs, which is less than half of the initially reported 147,000 jobs created in June.

“Today’s jobs numbers were rigged in order to make Republicans and me look bad,” President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Aug. 1.

He said the BLS likewise produced a false jobs report in the days leading up to the Nov. 5 general election that were favorable to the Biden administration.

Friday’s report showed that the unemployment rate, at 4.3%, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.4 million, changed little in August.

Health care added 31,000 jobs, below the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the previous 12 months. Employment continued to trend up over the month in ambulatory health care services, a gain of 13,000; nursing and residential care facilities, up 9,000; and hospitals, up 9,000.

On Thursday, Trump told reporters that the “real” jobs numbers will come out a year from now. He hosted more than two dozen tech executives at the White House for dinner.

He said that when “huge, beautiful places, the palaces of genius” open, job numbers will improve. He didn’t say what those places will be.

“When they start opening up … I think you’ll see job numbers that are going to be absolutely incredible,” Trump said. “Right now, it’s a lot of construction numbers, but you’re gonna see job numbers like our country has never seen.”

Daniel Zhao, chief economist at Glassdoor, told CNBC that the outlook is rough.

“The job market is stalling short of the runway,” he said. “The labor market is losing lift, and August’s report, along with downward revisions, suggests we’re heading into turbulence without the soft landing achieved.”

The American job market, a pillar of U.S. economic strength since the pandemic, is crumbling under the weight of President Trump’s erratic economic policies.

Uncertain about where things are headed, companies have grown increasingly reluctant to hire, leaving agonized job seekers unable to find work and weighing on consumers who account for 70% of all U.S. economic activity. Their spending has been the engine behind the world’s biggest economy since the COVID-19 disruptions of 2020.

The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added just 22,000 jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% last month, also worse than expected and the highest since 2021.

“U.S. labor market deterioration intensified in August,’’ Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Market, wrote in a commentary, noting that hiring was “slumping dangerously close to stall speed. This raises the risk of a harder landing for consumer spending and the economy in the months ahead.’’

Alexa Mamoulides, 27, was laid off in the spring from a job at a research publishing company and has been hunting for work ever since. She uses a spreadsheet to track her progress and said she’s applied for 111 positions and had 14 interviews — but hasn’t landed a job yet.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Mamoulides said. “At the beginning I wasn’t too stressed, but now that September is here, I’ve been wondering how much longer it will take. It’s validating that the numbers bear out my experience, but also discouraging.’’

The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve’s inflation fighters in 2022 and 2023.

But the hiring slump also reflects Trump’s policies, including his sweeping and ever-changing tariffs on imports from almost every country, his crackdown on immigration and purges of the federal workforce.

Also contributing to the job market’s doldrums are an aging population and the threat that artificial intelligence poses to young, entry-level workers.

After revisions shaved 21,000 jobs off June and July payrolls, the U.S. economy is creating fewer than 75,000 jobs a month so far this year, less than half the 2024 average of 168,000 and not even a quarter of the 400,000 jobs added monthly in the hiring boom of 2021-2023.

When the Labor Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.

“The warning bell that rang in the labor market a month ago just got louder,” Olu Sonola, head of U.S economic research at Fitch Rates, wrote in a commentary. “It’s hard to argue that tariff uncertainty isn’t a key driver of this weakness.”

Trump contends that his protectionist policies are meant to help American manufacturers. But factories shed 12,000 workers last month and 38,000 so far this year. Many manufacturers are hurt, not helped, by Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and other imported raw materials and components.

Construction companies, which rely on immigrant workers vulnerable to stepped-up immigration raids under Trump, cut 7,000 jobs in August, the third straight drop. The sweeping tax-and-spending bill that Trump signed into law July 4 delivered more money for immigration officers, making threats of massive deportations more plausible.

The federal government, its workforce targeted by Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency team, cut 15,000 jobs last month. Diane Swonk, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm KPMG, said the job market “will hit a cliff in October, when 151,000 federal workers who took buyouts will come off the payrolls.’’

And any job gains made last month were remarkably narrow: Healthcare and social assistance companies — a broad category including hospitals and day-care centers — added nearly 47,000 jobs in August and now account for 87% of the private sector jobs created in 2025.

Democrats were quick to pounce on the report, arguing it is evidence that Trump’s policies were damaging the economy and hurting ordinary Americans.

“Americans cannot afford any more of Trump’s disastrous economy. Hiring is frozen, jobless claims are rising, and the unemployment rate is now higher than it has been in years,” said Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. “The president is squeezing every wallet as he chases an illegal tariff agenda that is hiking costs, spooking investment and stunting domestic manufacturing.″

Trump’s sweeping import taxes — tariffs — are taking a toll on businesses that rely on foreign suppliers.

Trick or Treat Studios in Santa Cruz, for instance, gets 50% of its supplies from Mexico, 40% from China and the rest from Thailand. The company, which makes ghoulish replica masks of such horror icons as Chucky the doll from the “Child’s Play” movies as well as costumes, props, action figures and games, has seen its tariff bill rise to $389,000 this year, said co-founder Christopher Zephro. He was forced to raise prices across the board by 15%.

In May, Zephro had to cut 15 employees, or 25% of his workforce. That marked the first time he’s had to lay off staff since he started the company in 2009. ″That’s a lot money that could have been used to hire more people, bring in more product, develop more products,” he said. “We had to do layoffs because of tariffs. It was one of the worst days of my life.”

Josh Hirt, senior economist at the financial services firm Vanguard, said that the tumbling payroll numbers also reflect a reduced supply of workers — the consequence of an aging U.S. population and a reduction in immigration. “We should get more comfortable seeing numbers below 75,000 and below 50,000’’ new jobs a month, he said. “The likelihood of seeing negative [jobs] numbers is higher,’’ he said.

Economists are also beginning to worry that artificial intelligence is taking jobs that would otherwise have gone to young or entry-level workers. In a report last month, researchers at Stanford University found “substantial declines in employment for early-career workers” — ages 22-25 — in fields most exposed to AI. The unemployment rate for those ages 16 to 24 rose last month to 10.5%, the Labor Department reported Friday, the highest since April 2021.

Job seeker Mamoulides is sure that competition from AI is one of the reasons she’s having trouble finding work.

“I know at my previous company, they were really embracing AI and trying to integrate it as much as they could into people’s workflow,” she said. “They were getting lots of [Microsoft] ‘Copilot’ licenses for people to use. From that experience, I do think companies may be relying on AI more for entry-level roles.”

Some relief may be coming.

The weak August numbers make it all but certain that the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting, Sept. 16-17. Under Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed has been reluctant to cut rates until it sees what effect Trump’s import taxes have on inflation. Lower borrowing costs could — eventually, anyway — encourage consumers and businesses to spend and invest.

Vanguard’s Hirt expects the Fed to reduce its benchmark rate — now a range of 4.25% to 4.5% — by a full percentage point over the next year and says it might cut rates at each of its next three meetings.

Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to lower rates and has sought to fire one Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook denies the allegations, which she contends are a pretext for the president to gain control over the central bank.

Trump blamed Powell again for slowing jobs numbers Friday in a social media post, saying that “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should have lowered rates long ago. As usual, he’s ‘Too Late!’”

The July 4 budget bill also “included a big wallop of front-loaded spending on defense and border security, as well as tax cuts that will quickly flow through to household and business after-tax incomes,” Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote in a commentary.

But the damage that has already occurred may be difficult to repair.

James Knightley, an economist at ING, noted that the University of Michigan’s consumer surveys show that 62% of Americans expect unemployment to rise over the next year. Only 13% expect it to fall. Only four times in the last 50 years of surveys has the employment outlook been so bleak.

“People see and feel changes in the jobs market before they show up in the official data — they know if their company has a hiring freeze or the odd person here or there is being laid off,” Knightley wrote. “This suggests the real threat of outright falls in employment later this year.”

Wiseman, D’Innocenzio and Lewis write for the Associated Press. AP writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

Sezzle (SEZL -1.34%) saw its monster surge hit a wall last month as the breakout BNPL (buy now, pay later) company posted strong results in its second-quarter earnings report, but its guidance wasn’t quite enough to keep up the stock’s momentum. Management still expects a substantial deceleration in the second half of the year.

There was little else in the way of company-specific news last month, and the stock traded flat after the earnings plunge, finishing the month down 39%, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

You can see the stock’s performance over the course of the month below.

SEZL data by YCharts

Is the Sezzle breakout over?

Sezzle continued to deliver blistering growth in the second quarter with revenue up 76.4% to $98.7 million, which topped estimates at $94.9 million. That was driven by strong on-demand growth, meaning consumers who use the BNPL product without a subscription, as well as its partnership with WebBank, which agreed to be its exclusive banking partner last year.

User growth was strong as well with monthly on-demand and subscribers (MODS) reaching 748,000, up from 658,000 in the first quarter, and it delivered impressive margin expansion as operating income jumped 116.1% to $36.1 million, and adjusted earnings per share was up 97% to $0.69, which beat the consensus at $0.58.

Sezzle’s growth seems to be driven by a combination of new products, its focus on subscribers, and broader adoption of BNPL, which has seen strong growth as consumer confidence has fallen over fears around tariffs and now a weakening job market.

Image source: Getty Images.

What’s next for Sezzle

Sezzle sees strong growth for the full year, but it may have been below investor expectations given the strong Q2 results. It also did not update its guidance from the first quarter, which was likely a disappointment to investors.

For the full year, the company sees revenue growth of 60% to 65%, though that implies a sharp slowdown after revenue essentially doubled in the first half of the year. It also called for adjusted earnings per share of $3.25, which is slightly below the consensus at $3.27.

Sezzle has delivered a remarkable performance over the past couple of years. The stock was trading at under $2 a share (split-adjusted) at the end of 2023.

While the company’s differentiated model has helped it build momentum, it’s understandable for the stock to cool off in response to slowing growth. Still, the valuation looks attractive now at a forward P/E under 30.

After breaking out in July, Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 0.98%) soared again in August, climbing on the thesis that the business would turn around on new signs that the Fed would cut interest rates. Investors also reacted positively to news that CEO Carrie Wheeler would be stepping down, showing hopes that a new leader could help drive a turnaround.

That general momentum was able to overcome a weak second-quarter earnings report, and the stock is now up nearly 1,000% since it bottomed out in early July.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock jumped 142% over the course of the month. As the chart shows, it was a volatile month for Opendoor, but the upward movements clearly outnumbered the pullbacks.

OPEN data by YCharts

Retail investors are still in

Toward the end of July, there were signs that the rally in the stock was fading after trading volume had soared earlier in a meme stock rally that seemed to begin with an argument on social media platforms like X and Reddit. Hedge fund manager Eric Jackson argued that the stock could be the next Carvana, since Opendoor was essentially left for dead as investors gave up on the home flipper’s business model due to a weak housing market and disappointing financial results.

Opendoor stock got a second wind in August after a subpar unemployment report kicked off August, sending the stock higher on hopes that it would lead the Fed to cut interest rates. The stock then pulled back after its second-quarter earnings report showed the business is still struggling, and its guidance called for revenue to fall on a sequential basis in the third quarter. It began a new rally in the second week of the month as an inflation report added to hopes that the Fed would cut interest rates, and Wheeler announced her resignation.

Finally, Opendoor stock jumped nearly 40% on Aug. 22 after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled in his Jackson Hole address that it would be appropriate to cut interest rates in September. The stock pulled back over the rest of August, but jumped again to start September.

Image source: Getty Images.

Can Opendoor keep gaining?

It’s been a remarkable rally for a stock that has now topped $5 a share, just two months after it was trading around $0.50 a share. 

Opendoor is still a small company at a market cap of $3.8 billion, but at some point, the business will have to show real improvement. Still, for now, if interest rates do come down and the housing market starts to show signs of life, the stock is likely to move higher. 

After skyrocketing on its opening day of trading on July 31, Figma (FIG 1.14%) gave back some of those early gains last month as the software stock searched for equilibrium following the year’s biggest initial public offering (IPO).

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock finished the month down 39%. As you can see from the chart below, it tumbled early in the month as it pulled back from the initial frenzy, and shares traded mostly flat over the duration of the month after it fell.

FIG data by YCharts.

Figma gets its feet wet

IPO stocks tend to be volatile, so it’s no surprise to see Figma fall sharply after the stock more than tripled on its opening day, going from an IPO price of $33 to closing at $115 a share.

The stock jumped again the following day, Aug. 1, hitting a peak at $142.92, before pulling back on Aug. 4 as IPO buyers took profits.

Trading volume faded over the course of the month as the stock gradually declined, finally stabilizing in the last week of August.

There was little company-specific news on Figma last month, coming directly after its IPO, but a number of Wall Street analysts did weigh in on the stock, giving it mostly hold-equivalent ratings, though there were a couple of buy ratings in the mix.

Piper Sandler, for example, rated it overweight with a price target of $85, crediting its “differentiated” platform and “attractive” business model. Others were more skeptical of the company’s valuation, including Goldman Sachs, which said there is limited visibility into its momentum and revenue growth.

Image source: Getty Images.

What’s next for Figma

The cloud software specialist will deliver its first report as a publicly traded company after hours today, and the stock is likely to move on the news.

The Wall Street consensus calls for revenue of $248.7 million, up 40.3% from the quarter a year ago. On the bottom line, the company expects $0.08 in earnings per share.

Even after last month’s pullback, Figma stock remains expensive, trading at a price-to-sales ratio of 36, though the company is growing rapidly, delivering a profit, and has a stamp of approval from Adobe, whose earlier $20 billion acquisition of the company was blocked.

While its valuation should act as a headwind, at least in the near term, the future looks bright for Figma.

When all was said and done, last month ended up being a decent one for the broad market. The S&P 500 (^GSPC -1.44%) ended August 1.9% above where it started. For a couple of S&P 500 stocks, however, the month was far better.

Chemical company Albemarle (ALB -6.28%) was August’s biggest S&P 500 winner, up a little more than 25% after China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Company shut down operations at one of the world’s biggest lithium mines. Since Albemarle also owns and operates lithium mines, a diminished supply of the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries creates greater demand for Albemarle’s products.

That being said, the stock had the advantage of hitting the ground running early in the month. Albemarle’s second-quarter sales of $1.3 billion and non-GAAP (adjusted) per-share income of $0.11 reported at the very end of July were both better than expected, while the bottom line was considerably better than analysts’ estimates for a loss of around $0.84 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

Shares of S&P 500 constituent and health insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.36%) rallied a little more than 24% last month, mostly in response to news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had taken on a stake in the beaten-down stock.

Just keep the move in perspective. The stock’s still down 48% from April’s peak thanks to the 60% sell-off from that high to the multiyear low hit in early August following a disappointing first-quarter report and subsequent reductions for its full-year earnings outlook. The company’s now only looking for 2025 earnings of “at least $16.00” per share, well down from guidance of between $29.50 and $30.00 per share as of the end of last year. Unexpectedly high costs (particularly for its Medicare Advantage plans) are the chief culprit.

While both gains are impressive, in and of themselves, they aren’t reason enough to step in. You’ll still want to be sure these companies are actually worth owning before buying into either of them.

More than 360 people, including 130 children, have died from hunger since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

A total of 185 people in Gaza died “due to malnutrition” in August, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, as an additional 13 people, including three children, have died in 24 hours since then as the catastrophic effects of Israeli-induced famine in the enclave worsen.

The statement issued on Tuesday said more than 83 people, including 15 children, had died since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed global hunger-monitoring system, declared last month that parts of Gaza were undergoing a full-blown famine.

The Health Ministry also said 43,000 children below the age of five were suffering from malnutrition along with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. Two-thirds of pregnant women were suffering from anaemia, the highest rate in years, it added. Mothers and newborns are the most at risk from malnutrition.

The total number of hunger-related deaths in the besieged enclave now stands at 361, including 130 children, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Israel has killed at least 63,633 people in Gaza and wounded 160,914 during the war, according to the Ministry of Health.

The IPC declared on August 22 that 514,000 people in the Gaza Strip, close to a quarter of the enclave’s population, are experiencing famine. It expected the number to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

The IPC made its declaration after more than 22 months of war, during which Israeli forces have destroyed medical facilities, schools, infrastructure and bakeries; blocked the entry of aid into the besieged Strip; and targeted and killed Palestinians seeking food aid.

This is the first time the IPC has recorded famine outside Africa, and the global group predicted that famine conditions would spread to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south by the end of this month.

After the IPC’s declaration, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the famine a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself”.

Guterres said Israel had “unequivocal obligations” under international law as an occupying power to ensure food and medical supplies enter Gaza.

Humanitarian organisations have demanded action. For its part, Israel rejected the findings, saying there was no famine in Gaza despite the IPC’s overwhelming evidence.

At least 63 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Tuesday, among them 41 in Gaza City alone, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Among the killed, 19 were aid seekers situated in central and southern Gaza.

Israeli attacks are mainly, but not solely, now focused on Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, as the Israeli army relentlessly bombards it and tries to forcibly displace its residents to the southern part of the enclave.

“Civilians on the ground are bearing the brunt. There are still hundreds of thousands of families in Gaza City,” reported Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum at midday from Deir el-Balah. “They refuse to leave because they know that there are no safe spaces in central and southern Gaza and they would rather stay close to their communities and what’s left of their houses.”

Once teeming and crowded with residential buildings, Gaza City has been home to one million Palestinians, nearly half of Gaza’s population, but it is now a landscape of rubble.

The world’s top genocide scholars formally declared that Israel’s war on Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, marking a landmark intervention from leading experts in the field of international law.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars, a 500-member body of academics founded in 1994, passed a resolution on Monday stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfil the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Sudan’s civil war saw a number of developments on the battlefield as well as in diplomacy and the humanitarian crisis.

Sudan’s civil war between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary has produced the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.

Estimates suggested tens of thousands of people have died from combat and thousands more have perished from disease and hunger brought on by the war, now well into its third year.

There have been many significant military and political developments this month. Here are the key updates:

Fighting and military control

• The SAF is consolidating its control over the capital, Khartoum, which it took from the RSF in March. It also holds the central and eastern regions of Sudan, including its wartime capital of Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
• The RSF controls most of the sprawling western region of Darfur and much of the Kordofan region to the south.
• The RSF continues to besiege North Darfur’s capital, el-Fasher, where the SAF has its last Darfur garrison. If el-Fasher falls, the RSF will rule over a stretch of land roughly the size of France in western Sudan.
• The RSF has escalated attacks on el-Fasher and on nearby displacement camps, including the Abu Shouk camp, where 190,000 people from around Darfur have sought shelter.
• It has also erected massive sand berms around el-Fasher from the north, west and east, effectively creating a “kill-box,” according to recent satellite imagery obtained by the Yale Humanitarian Research Hub.
• The RSF is working to expand its control in Kordofan by working with a new ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), headed by Abdelaziz al-Hilu. The two allied in February to counter the SAF on the battlefield.
• With the help of the SPLM-N, the RSF retains control over most of West and South Kordofan, giving them cross-border access to South Sudan.
• SAF controls the most strategic city in North Kordofan, el-Obeid, which the RSF is besieging. The SAF needs to hold onto el-Obeid to keep the RSF from threatening central Sudan.

Humanitarian crisis

• The RSF has trapped an estimated 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, in el-Fasher, turning the city into an “epicentre of child suffering”, according to UNICEF.
• Most are surviving on animal fodder known as ambaz – the residue of pressed oil seeds, such as peanuts, sesame, and sunflower – which they grind into a paste; however, even this is running low.
• About one-third of the children in Mellit, a city the RSF controls near el-Fasher, are severely malnourished, according to figures obtained by Relief International and shared with Al Jazeera. That is more than double the World Health Organization’s threshold for a malnutrition emergency.
• A cholera outbreak is compounding the humanitarian crisis across the vast region of Darfur, according to Adam Rojal, internally displaced people spokesperson in Darfur. On August 30, he said the water-borne disease killed nine people that day and infected a total of 9,143 people, with 382 deaths, since the epidemic first started in June 2025.
• Food convoys from the United Nations and other nongovernmental organisations rarely reach the neglected region of Darfur due to road closures and bureaucratic impediments. Human rights groups and local activists accuse both sides of weaponising food.
• The World Food Programme told Al Jazeera that it provides electronic cash assistance to vulnerable people in North Darfur, but no food convoys have reached the region for more than a year.
• A UN food convoy was hit by a drone strike in North Darfur on Friday, the second aid convoy in three months to be targeted. The RSF and SAF traded blame for the attack.
• There is a similar hunger emergency in South Kordofan due to an RSF siege on the cities of Dilling and Kadugli.

Diplomacy and political developments

• RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo was reportedly sworn in as president of the parallel “Peace government” on August 31 in South Darfur’s capital, Nyala. SAF hit the city with a drone strike on the same day.
• A secret meeting reportedly took place in Switzerland between SAF Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and a United States adviser in mid-August, ostensibly to discuss a plan to end the war, according to Sudan experts and media outlets. The US has not confirmed the talks.
• A week after the secret meeting, al-Burhan retired several senior military officers, some of whom reportedly belong to Sudan’s political Islamist movement, which ruled the country for 30 years with former President Omar al-Bashir at the helm. Experts believe al-Burhan is under external pressure to dilute the influence of prominent figures tied to the al-Bashir government.

OUR much-loved astrologer Meg sadly died in 2023 but her column will be kept alive by her friend and protégé Maggie Innes.

Read on to see what’s written in the stars for you today. 

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 – FEB 18

🔵 Read our horoscopes live blog for the latest readings

Settling for a smaller cash sum, or less respect, than you deserve may have felt the only answer – until this week.

You have new staying power to revisit a deal or relationship and correct the balance.

Meanwhile Mercury mentors you to express even the most complicated feelings in simple terms, and love, at any stage, can be the winner.

The moon highlights five-digit numbers.

DESTINY DAYS  Early-morning calls or meetings have extra impact all week.  

Thursday is your day for fitness pledges.

Find great bargains, plus something “P” recently lost, on Saturday.

LUCKY LINKS  Your oldest relative.  A picture of a famous “R” lead singer. Gold-flecked fabric.

I CHING INSIGHT  The symbol REVOLUTION shows your personal
wheel of fortune is spinning now and bringing new opportunities and potential progress your way. 

Even if you don’t feel quite ready, you should embrace invitations and initiatives that take you on to a new path, whether this is career, home life, love – or maybe all three.

Instead of aiming for perfect, and trying to avoid mistakes, you have the energy  to grow and learn, and adjust as you go. 

Someone you know casually in your  career sphere can move to the heart of your emotional future.

Fabulous is the home of horoscopes, with weekly updates on what’s in store for your star sign as well as daily predictions.

You can also use our series of guides to find out everything from which star sign to hook up with for the steamiest sex to what it’s like to live your life totally by your horoscope.