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If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 24,000 subscribers striving to be better investors with an edge in the market.

Every weekend we publish “The Weekly Wrap-Up” — your ticket to being well informed and staying ahead in the investment game!

This report is designed to help investors of all skill levels break down important stories/topics within the stock market. And best of all, we cut through all of the BS and give you exactly what you need to know in easy to digest, bite sized pieces of content.

Grab your coffee and let’s dive in.

Market Talk

Tariff news weighed on markets as all three major indexes ended the week lower, while Bitcoin surged to record highs.

3 Stories Moving the Market

These are some of the biggest stories from the second half of the week that had an influence on market action.

Trump announces 35% tariff on Canada starting Aug. 1st

Donald Trump announced a sweeping 35% tariff on Canadian imports effective August 1, citing Canada’s retaliatory duties and its role in fentanyl trafficking. The move escalates tensions despite ongoing trade negotiations, with Trump threatening even higher duties if Ottawa responds in kind. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back, reaffirming commitments to U.S. cooperation on fentanyl and defending Canadian businesses.

🔑 Key Points

• New 35% Tariff: Trump unveiled a blanket 35% tariff on Canadian imports starting Aug. 1, separate from existing sectoral tariffs on steel, autos, and copper.

• Fentanyl Justification: Trump cited the flow of fentanyl across the northern border (101 lbs seized since 2024) as a core reason for the tariff increase.

• Canada Responds: PM Carney said Canada has made vital progress combating fentanyl and remains committed to bilateral efforts, but vowed to defend Canadian interests.

• Escalation Clause: Trump warned that any Canadian retaliation would trigger an equal increase on top of the 35%, potentially compounding tensions further.

• Wider Tariff Agenda: Trump floated a 15–20% blanket tariff on most U.S. trade partners, part of a broader effort to reset global trade terms now that he has more political leeway and fewer legislative constraints.

👀 What You Need to Know

This latest tariff salvo risks reigniting a full-scale U.S.-Canada trade war just weeks after both sides agreed to resume negotiations. While Trump is using fentanyl as a rhetorical wedge, the real driver appears to be Canada’s persistent trade surplus and digital tax on U.S. firms. For investors, this throws cold water on supply chains relying on cross-border goods, especially autos, energy, and industrial metals, and adds geopolitical tail risk at a sensitive moment in global markets.

Pentagon to become largest shareholder in rare earth miner MP Materials; shares surge 50%

The U.S. Defense Department is taking a 15% stake in MP Materials $MP ( ▼ 0.27% ) , the country’s only active rare earth miner, through a $400 million preferred equity investment and long-term supply deal. In return, MP will massively expand its rare earth magnet manufacturing footprint to support defense and commercial demand. Shares soared nearly 50% on the news, adding $2.5 billion in market cap. The partnership marks a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to secure strategic resources outside China’s grip.

🔑 Key Points

• Strategic Stake: The DoD will hold a ~15% stake in MP via convertible preferred shares and warrants, becoming the largest single shareholder.

• Guaranteed Demand: The Pentagon agreed to buy 100% of output from MP’s new magnet plant for 10 years once operational, providing revenue certainty.

• Price Backstop: A floor of $110/kg for NdPr oxide ensures MP can weather market volatility; the U.S. will cover shortfalls and share in upside.

• Expansion Funded: JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are providing $1B in financing; a separate $150M DoD loan will boost rare earth separation at Mountain Pass.

• Industrial Shift: CEO James Litinsky says this model could become a blueprint for reshoring other critical supply chains threatened by “Chinese mercantilism.”

👀 What You Need to Know

The Pentagon’s investment marks an aggressive move to secure domestic control over critical rare earths, a sector long dominated by China. With a 10-year offtake guarantee, price floor, and $550M in combined equity and loan support, MP Materials now has the backing to build a vertically integrated magnet supply chain. It’s a response to a long-standing vulnerability, U.S. reliance on China, and could signal similar public-private partnerships in other strategic sectors. Investors should watch for copycat deals in semis, defense tech, and energy.

📚 Edge-ucation: What is rare earth magnet manufacturing?

Rare earth magnets are critical components in everything from smartphones to electric vehicles to advanced weapons systems. But manufacturing them is a complex, capital-intensive process dominated by China, which controls over 90% of global output. As the U.S. ramps up its domestic capabilities, here’s what investors need to understand:

• NdFeB is the core tech: The dominant magnet type is neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB), prized for its strength-to-weight ratio and essential for high-performance motors and actuators.

• Refining is the bottleneck: Mining rare earths is only step one, the real challenge is refining and separating elements like Nd and Pr, which require advanced chemical processing.

• Integration matters: Most of China’s advantage comes from owning the entire chain (mine to magnet) which allows pricing power, scale, and geopolitical leverage.

• Costs are front-loaded: Building magnet plants requires high up-front capital and a long lead time, which is why government guarantees (like MP’s DoD deal) are key to jumpstarting U.S. capacity.

Delta stays on course with decent Q2, restores full-year guidance

Delta reported Q2 earnings that came in slightly ahead of expectations, with adjusted revenue up 1% to $15.5B and EPS at $2.10. Passenger revenue held flat, while premium cabins, loyalty, and international routes helped cushion softer unit revenue. Operating income fell 10% and free cash flow dropped sharply, but Delta reinstated its full-year guidance and announced a 25% dividend increase beginning next quarter in a renewed show of confidence.

🔑 Key Points

• Passenger Revenue Steady: Passenger revenue came in at $13.9B, unchanged YoY, as strength in premium and international offset unit softness.

• Loyalty Remains Strong: Loyalty program revenue rose +2% YoY to $855M, supported by co-branded Amex card growth and higher member spend.

• Refinery Decline: Refinery revenue dropped –9% YoY to $1.1B due to lower jet fuel prices and margin compression.

• Margins Compress: Operating margin fell to 13.2% (–1.5 pts YoY), with EPS down –11% to $2.10 on higher costs and FX impacts.

• Guidance Returns: Delta reintroduced FY guidance ($5.25–$6.25 EPS; $3–$4B FCF) after suspending it last quarter, signaling greater visibility.

👀 What You Need to Know

Delta’s quarter was more about stability than growth, but that’s exactly what the market wanted. The return of formal guidance, despite choppy unit revenue and falling free cash flow, shows management believes in a second-half earnings rebound. The 25% dividend hike supports that confidence. While cost inflation and refinery drag persist, Delta's premium mix and international exposure continue to provide resilience. It was a solid hold-the-line performance with a more constructive outlook into year-end.

In Other News

In this section, we'll be curating a selection of news headlines we think you'll find interesting. If a topic catches your eye, click the provided links to read more about it.

• Retailers log $7.9 billion in online sales in first 24 hours of Prime Day

• AWS is building equipment to cool Nvidia GPUs as AI boom accelerates

• AWS is launching an AI agent marketplace next week with Anthropic as a partner

• Microsoft racks up over $500 million in AI savings while slashing jobs

• OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

• TSMC second-quarter sales rise 38.6% YoY, beat forecasts

• Costco’s monthly sales growth accelerates in June

• Musk says Tesla is expanding Austin robotaxi service, adding Grok to cars

• Uber named official rideshare, delivery partner for Los Angeles Olympic Games

• Ferrero to buy cereal maker WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion; Kellogg shares jump 30%

• Intel spins out AI robotics company RealSense with $50 million raise

• Dollar Tree Announces $2.5B Share Buyback, Shares Jump

• Bitcoin flies to new all-time highs, topping $118,000

• Alibaba Founder-Backed Ant Group to Integrate Circle’s USDC on Its Blockchain

Edge+ Posts of the Week

We continue to push out more and more content every week to give investors that edge. Here are the posts Investor’s Edge+ subscribers received this week.

The Edge Report

Mondays are for the investors. Every Monday morning we share exactly what we’re watching in the week ahead, how we’re positioning, and even share a sneak peek into our systems and models. This week we discussed our thoughts on the second half of the year and the upcoming earnings from Delta. See the latest full report here:

Portfolio Update - July

Every month we share a full access look into our portfolios, including holdings, performance, activity and our watchlists for the upcoming month. You can see both of our portfolios here and see what moves we made in June:

Edge Quick Picks

Every month we break down 5 stocks that we believe are attractive from a valuation perspective right now. See the 5 stocks we are buying in July:

The Week Ahead

Next week marks a major inflection point for markets, with June CPI and PPI offering fresh inflation signals and the start of Q2 earnings season, led by big banks, set to test investor expectations.

Earnings Reports

Earnings season officially kicks off next week and we will be busy as 11 stocks we cover are set to report. Here is the list of names we will be covering:

• Monday 7/14: --

• Tuesday 7/15: JPMorgan and Blackrock

• Wednesday 7/16: Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Prologis

• Thursday 7/17: Taiwan Semi, Netflix, Abbott Labs, and Pepsico

• Friday 7/18: --

Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:

Economic Reports

Next week has several key economic reports which will give us important insights ranging from the consumer, housing market, and manufacturing. But all eyes will be on the CPI and PPI reports, as the market is waiting to see if tariffs will hit the inflation data.

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The Investor’s Edge

Disclosure

This is not investing advice. It is very important that you do your own research and make investments based on your own personal circumstances, preferences, goals and risk tolerance.