To The Moon

Economic Preview: Key Data Releases (week of 24Aug2026)

Consumer Sentiment

CB Consumer Confidence for August is forecast at 90.3, suggesting softer consumer sentiment toward the market. This figure can serve as a useful reference point for assessing the strength of household confidence and broader market expectations.

Housing Market

New Home Sales for July are expected to come in at 620,000 units, slightly below the previous month. The result will provide a reference point for evaluating current conditions in the real estate market.

Inflation and Federal Reserve Focus

The most closely watched release in the coming week is likely to be the July PCE Price Index. The year-on-year forecast stands at 3.3%. As the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, this data will be closely monitored because it may influence the next interest rate decision.

Growth and Business Activity

Q2 GDP growth is forecast at 1.5%. Any revision or surprise in this figure could increase market volatility.

Chicago PMI is forecast at 57.8, indicating continued expansion in production activity.

Consumption and Demand Indicators

Durable Goods Orders for July are forecast to rise 0.5% month on month, offering another reference point for consumption and demand trends.

Crude oil inventories will also be monitored as an indicator of market demand expectations and energy consumption trends.

Labour Market

Initial Jobless Claims are forecast at 208,000, a slight increase from the previous reading. This will be an important labour market reference for the Federal Reserve as it evaluates future interest rate decisions.

Earnings Calendar (24Aug2026)

I am interested in a few earnings that include Salesforce, Nvidia, Zoom, and PDD.

Let us look at Salesforce.

Technical Analysis has a recommendation of “strong buy”, and the Analysts Sentiment recommends a “Buy”. The stock price has fallen 16.78% from a year ago.

With the (analyst) price target of $243.98, there is a potential upside of 16.64%.

With the P/E Ratio of 24.2 and an EPS of 8.05, this appears to be rather attractive. One of the reasons why I have picked this stock is due to the potential disruption of AI. How will Salesforce navigate this? This can be a good case study for other companies offering enterprise solutions.

We are looking at the annual financial performance since 2022.

Revenue has been growing from $26.4B (2022) to $41.5B (2026). With this, we see a corresponding growth in gross profit from $19.4B to $32.2B over the same time frame. Net income grew from $1.4B to $7.4B over the same period. It is encouraging to see improving profitability (5x) when the revenue grew by over 50% over the same window.

Looking at the period between 2022 and 2026, total assets have grown from $95.2B to $112.3B.

Total Liabilities grew from $37.0B to $53.1B over this time, and it is concerning that the growth rate of the liabilities is greater than the assets even though total assets is much higher in quantum. Total debt has risen from $14.3B to $17.7B, with total equities remaining approximately the same, hovering about $59B.

Looking at the cash flow, cash from operations grew from $6B to 14.9B during the same timeframe, an encouraging sign. The company has continued to deploy cash into investing and paying down the financing.

Salesforce news

Agentforce has surpassed $1 billion in annual sales, with combined AI and data software revenue around $3.4 billion. The company guided for Q2 revenue of roughly $11.27–11.35 billion (about 10% growth) and expects consensus figures near $11.33 billion in revenue with adjusted EPS of $3.27–3.28.Prior Q1 results showed $11.13 billion revenue (+13.3% YoY) and EPS of $3.88 (a significant beat). Salesforce secured a $1.6 billion three-year U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs deal for its Missionforce platform.Shares have rallied into the report amid investor focus on AI-driven growth, large share buybacks (including a major accelerated repurchase), and remaining performance obligations exceeding $33 billion, though concerns persist over growth sustainability and restructuring. - from Grok

Earnings

Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is projected to report an adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $3.27 on revenue of $11.32 billion for its upcoming Q2 Fiscal Year 2027 earnings release. The official financial report will be announced on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, after the market closes.

Based on the above, I prefer to monitor the company. There are concerns that AI can disrupt such enterprise & SaaS players. This is something that we should consider for the longer term.

Market Outlook of S&P500 (24Aug2026)

Technical Analysis Overview

MACD Indicator

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator for the S&P 500 is on a downtrend.

Moving Averages

Examining the moving averages, the most recent price action shows that the last candlestick has been above the 200-day (MA200) moving average line. This pattern indicates a bullish shift in the long term. With the last candle sitting on the MA50 line, this implies a potential trend change in the shorter term. Notably, both the MA50 and MA200 lines have continued to trend upward, indicating a bullish outlook in both the short and long term.

Exponential Moving Averages

This shows a bullish trend with a potential for reversal.

Chaikin Money Flow

CMF index shows a score of -0.04. This implies more selling momentum than buying momentum.

Other Technical Analysis

Based on the daily interval, technical analysis recommends a “Neutral” rating with 10 indicators showing a “Buy” rating and 9 indicators showing a “Sell” rating.

CNN Fear & Greed Index

With a score of “55”, CNN’s Fear & Greed Index suggests that general market sentiment is “Neutral”, down from “Greed” a week ago.

Weekly Outlook

Based on the above, the S&P500 should be BEARISH for the new week.

News and my thoughts from the past week (24Aug2026)

I don't know what's worse, knowing 70% of U.S. GDP is the AI bubble... Or knowing that 70% of U.S. GDP is entirely funded by private credit and retirement funds. - X user Financelot

Canada suspends trade talks with US and says it will match tariffs dollar for dollar. - X user Watcher Guru

Meta’s former engineering director is back on the stand, and his testimony is as brutal as the courtroom drawing of him. Whistleblower Arturo Bejar says Meta knew young users were being harmed at “extraordinarily high rates” but its own tracking failed to capture the real damage. He told jurors parents “would have wanted to have known” what the company knew. The case accuses Meta of addicting kids, worsening anxiety and depression, and illegally collecting data from children under 13. Source: Reuters / Writer: Julie

OpenAI's revenue grew much slower than Anthropic's last quarter, per WSJ

My Investing Muse (24Aug2026)

Layoffs, closures and Delinquencies

Kroger has closed at least three dozen stores since announcing plans to shutter 60 locations that were not "delivering sustainable results" by the end of 2026 - MacroEdge

In tech: Oracle was preparing another restructuring wave potentially starting September 1, with managers identifying double-digit team cuts after $1.84 billion in prior-year severance costs. TikTok filed a WARN for 75 Bellevue TikTok Shop roles (second consecutive year of cuts there). Pentera cut about 60 employees (~13% of staff) in its second round in four months to pivot toward an AI-native platform.In retail/consumer: H&M’s potential UK support-office redundancies of up to 250 were real but reported slightly earlier. Morrisons disclosed a nearly 5,000-headcount drop over the prior year as part of its turnaround. Diageo reported ~1,900 fewer roles (~6%) amid a major restructuring. Roskam Baking filed a WARN for 115 positions at its California plant.In healthcare: Sanofi laid off 229 Blueprint Medicines employees and closed two Cambridge, Massachusetts offices after its $9.1 billion acquisition.In logistics: Saddle Creek cut 178 roles in Plant City, Florida; Ryder cut 73 in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and FedEx affected 173 workers across three Southern California sites under Network 2.0 (reports slightly earlier than August 17). - Gemini & Grok

There is a buildup of earthquakes, and let us continue to exercise caution. Add the building El Niño to this; we are looking at some challenging times ahead. There is still time and space for us to prepare for what lies ahead. This would have an impact on food supplies, supply chain, energy, lives and livelihoods.

Debts demand a price, and we will have to pay for them. Are we forcing future generations to bear the weight of debt across a trend of dwindling population in the developed countries? Will this lead to regime changes, an overhaul in political and financial systems?

Financial Strategy and Outlook

Let us spend within our means, invest only what we can afford to lose, and avoid leverage. Let us review our current holdings and divest from businesses losing their competitive advantages. Additionally, I will consider adding both hedging strategies and defensive positions to our portfolio to mitigate risk.

As we move forward, it is crucial to conduct thorough due diligence before assuming any new responsibilities.

Wishing everyone a successful week ahead.

@TigerStars

$Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO)$

$Cboe Volatility Index(VIX)$