To The Moon

New US tariffs substantially raise the price of imported drones and components, giving domestic manufacturers a protective barrier. $AeroVironment(AVAV)$ is an obvious potential beneficiary, but the policy will matter only if the company can convert a more favourable competitive environment into profitable production and funded orders. President Donald Trump signed the drone proclamation on August 13. It imposes a 100% tariff on certain drones weighing more than 25 kilograms or carrying sensitive capabilities such as thermal imaging, a 25% tariff on smaller drones and specified parts, and lower country-specific rates for qualifying allies. The sensitive-product duties take effect 21 days after signing; some other component duties begin after 180 d

~ Not Yet a Consumer Collapse. US retail sales fell for the first time in nine months in July, raising concerns that high fuel costs and exhausted tax refunds are pressuring household budgets. The details, however, show a sharp shift in timing and categories rather than a uniform retreat across consumer spending. The Census Bureau released the July estimate at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on August 14. Retail and food-services sales were $763.6 billion, down 0.6% from June but still 5.0% above July 2025. Excluding motor vehicles and gasoline, sales declined a smaller 0.2%. These figures are seasonally adjusted but not adjusted for inflation. The Census Bureau’s August 14 retail-sales report provides the official data and confidence intervals. The largest distortion was online shopping. Nonstore-

$Home Depot(HD)$ reports fiscal second-quarter results on August 18. The central question is whether its push into complex professional projects can offset weak housing turnover and cautious spending on major renovations. The first quarter, ended May 3 and reported May 19, established a restrained baseline. Sales increased 4.8% to $41.8 billion, helped by acquisitions, but comparable sales rose only 0.6% and US comparable sales increased 0.4%. Comparable customer transactions declined 1.3%, while the average ticket rose 2.2%. Adjusted earnings fell to $3.43 per share from $3.56. Home Depot retained guidance for fiscal-year comparable sales between flat and 2% growth and adjusted EPS between flat and 4% growth. Home Depot’s first-quarter release prov

$Lantheus(LNTH)$ received US approval for a new Alzheimer’s imaging agent on August 14, but its shares barely moved because the company is already subject to a cash acquisition agreement. The more useful analysis therefore concerns merger economics: whether TAUKLARIFY improves the chance of receiving contingent payments and strengthens the strategic case for Curium’s proposed purchase. The FDA approved TAUKLARIFY, also known as florquinitau F 18 or MK-6240, for PET brain imaging in cognitively impaired adults being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease. The agent identifies tau neurofibrillary-tangle pathology and complements amyloid imaging, although a positive scan does not by itself confirm Alzheimer’s and performance may be weaker at earlier patho

$Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A)$’s latest portfolio filing shows a notable change in capital allocation: after years of accumulating cash and reducing equity exposure, the conglomerate made $Alphabet(GOOG)$ one of its three largest stock investments and became a net buyer of equities. $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$’s Form 13F was filed with the SEC after the August 14 close and reports holdings as of June 30—not Berkshire’s current positions. The filing showed nearly 106 million $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ shares, up 83% from 57.8 million at March 31 and worth approximately $37.8 billion at quarter-end. Berkshire’s August 14 Form 13F i

$Rocket Lab USA, Inc.(RKLB)$ cleared an important US antitrust milestone for its proposed $8 billion acquisition of Iridium Communications, but it simultaneously highlighted the cost of becoming a vertically integrated space company. An at-the-market programme permits almost $1.95 billion of additional equity issuance, potentially transferring part of the acquisition burden to existing shareholders. Rocket Lab announced on August 13 that the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period had expired at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 12. It also filed a Form S-4 and applications to transfer Iridium’s Federal Communications Commission licences. Rocket Lab’s official transaction update documents those milestones. The acquisition, announced June 29, would give I

The AI revolution has entered a new phase. The first wave was dominated by computing power — GPUs, accelerators, and HBM memory. However, as AI clusters scale to hundreds of thousands of GPUs, the next bottleneck is becoming clear: data movement. We believe optical communication is still in the early stages of a long-term growth cycle and will become one of the most important infrastructure layers supporting AI expansion.‌$Applied Optoelectronics Inc.(AAOI)$  ‌‌$Lumentum Holdings Inc.(LITE)$  ‌‌$Coherent(COHR)$  ‌