13Good morning investors!

If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of more than 16,000 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

Another week, another record high for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones closed right at its previous all-time high.

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.

Consumer inflation falls 0.1% in June while producer prices come in hot

In June, the monthly inflation rate dipped for the first time in over four years while a measure of wholesale prices rose more than expected.

The consumer price index (CPI) decreased 0.1% from May, bringing the annual rate to 3%, its lowest in more than three years. This marks the first monthly decline since May 2020. Excluding food and energy, core CPI rose 0.1% monthly and 3.3% annually, both slightly below forecasts. The annual core rate increase was the smallest since April 2021.

Meanwhile, the producer price index (PPI) rose 0.2% in June, above the expected 0.1%, and is up 2.6% over the past year. The increase in PPI, driven by higher service prices despite lower goods prices, contrasts with recent declining inflation trends.

The Fed's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index, will be released on July 26th and give us a better picture of the overall inflation trend.

Tesla shares tumble after report of robotaxi unveiling delay

Tesla shares dropped about 8% after Bloomberg reported a two-month delay in unveiling its Robotaxi, now set for October instead of August.

This followed an 11-day rally spurred by strong second-quarter deliveries, which briefly erased the stock's yearly loss. However, Tesla shares are now back in negative territory for 2024, a year marked by layoffs and declining sales due to an aging EV lineup and increased competition in China.

CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised a Robotaxi, but the company has yet to deliver on these claims, with competitors like Waymo and Cruise advancing ahead. Despite this, Musk remains committed to the Robotaxi vision, emphasizing its importance to Tesla's future.

The company is set to report second-quarter results later this month.

Costco hikes membership fee for the first time since 2017

Starting September 1, Costco will raise its membership fees in the U.S. and Canada. 

Annual memberships will increase to $65 from $60, while the Executive Membership will rise to $130 from $120. This change affects about 52 million memberships, with over half being Executive Memberships.

It is Costco's first fee increase since June 2017. Despite being due for a rate hike earlier, the company delayed it due to high inflation concerns. Costco relies on membership fees to keep merchandise prices low, unlike competitors such as Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale, which have lower annual fees.

Costco has also increased enforcement to prevent misuse of membership cards.

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.

• PepsiCo earnings beat estimates, but U.S. demand weakens

• JPMorgan Chase tops second-quarter revenue expectations on strong investment banking

• Delta reports record revenues but summer outlook disappoints as industry’s flight glut drives down fares

• Elon Musk’s X deceives users and breaches online content rules, EU says

• FCC Says It’s Investigating Massive Breach of AT&T Customer Data

• Big Banks Continue to Feel Pressure From Higher Rates

• Wells Fargo shares tumble after net interest income falls short of estimates

• Citigroup tops expectations for profit and revenue on strong Wall Street results

• US consumer sentiment ebbs in July; inflation expectations improve

• Yen keeps markets on edge, data points to BOJ intervention

IE+ 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.

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 the upcoming inflation reports and the start of earnings season. See the latest full report here:

Top Stocks to Watch - July

Our Deep Dive focused on Palo Alto Networks this week. We not only broke down the financials of the largest cybersecurity company but we also shared our valuation models and price targets for 2024. You can see the full analysis 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:

Earnings Recap

Every week during earnings season we share a recap of the quarterly reports from stocks that we cover. You can see this week’s earnings recaps here:

The Week Ahead

Earnings will take center stage as investors look to these major companies' guidance for a clearer understanding of the economic outlook.

Earnings Reports

Let the earnings season begin. Here is the list of names we will be covering next week:

• Monday 7/15: Goldman Sachs and BlackRock

• Tuesday 7/16: UnitedHealth, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, and Morgan Stanley

• Wednesday 7/17: Johnson & Johnson and Prologis

• Thursday 7/18: Taiwan Semiconductor, Netflix, Abbott Labs, and Domino’s Pizza

• Friday 7/19: --

Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:

Economic Reports

Next week's calendar features retail sales and several housing reports, but the real driver of price movement may be the commentary from the numerous speeches by Fed members.

The Investor’s Edge Discord is growing!

Our brand-new Discord server is growing quickly and we are excited to hear from so many intelligent minds!

The channel is tailor-made for investors like you who want to dive deeper into stocks, share insights, and engage directly with us.

Here's what happened in the Discord this week:

🗨️ Chat rooms: Investors discussed the the huge moves from mega cap tech and the crypto sell-off. Members also dove into the number of jobs reports and shared their views on the overall economy.

🚨 Trade Alerts: Chris and Mark shared several trades, including additions to the portfolio and trades that set up their portfolios for the week.

Join us on Discord and let's level up our investing game together. The future of trading awaits—and you're invited to be a part of it! 🌟

Want more? Check out our other resources

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Weekly Wrap-Up. Have a great weekend!

Until next time investors!

Mark & Chris

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.