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The month that was:
August was a good month. The Nasdaq went up by about 4%, the S&P 500 went up by about 2.7%, and the Dow went up by about 1.5%. Most of the gains came early in the month, as companies reported strong earnings.
The second half of the month was choppier. On August 28th, Fed Chair Warsh gave his first speech at the Jackson Hole meeting. He said his main focus is bringing down inflation, which is still around 3.4%. After the speech, investors raised their bets that the Fed will raise interest rates in September. At the end of the month, fighting between the U.S. and Iran started again, and oil prices jumped. A survey also showed that consumer confidence fell to one of its lowest levels ever.
This month, On Holding gave a great example of something that confuses a lot of new investors. On August 11th, On reported earnings per share that beat what analysts expected. But the stock still fell about 22% that day. Why?
There are two reasons. First, On's sales were lower than expected, even though its profits were good. Second, and more important, On lowered its forecast for sales growth for the rest of the year. Remember, the stock market looks ahead. Investors care more about what a company will earn in the future than what it earned in the past three months. A company's forecast, called guidance, tells investors what to expect next. When guidance goes down, investors lower their estimates of future profits, and the stock price falls. Last month, Intuitive Surgical fell for the same reason, even though it beat its earnings estimates too.
Buys -
Bought 6 INTU at $330.70
Intuit bounced back from its lows, and I added more shares.
Bought 5 LOW at $217.17
Bought 1 CASY at $752.49
Bought 6 ADBU at $25.52
I added to Lowe's, Casey's, and my leveraged Adobe ETF.
Sells -
Sold 20 NVO at $47.08
I sold my Novo Nordisk shares for a small loss. Novo's sales keep shrinking because of competition and lower prices.
Buys and Sells -
Bought 38 ONON at $39.24
Sold 74 ONON at $30.52
I bought more On Holding the day before its earnings report. After the stock fell 22%, I sold my shares for a loss of about 16%. I have made the mistake of buying right before an earnings report many times, and it cost me again.
Bought 7 PLTR at $125.77
Sold 1 PLTR at $173.39
Palantir reported a record quarter on August 3rd and raised its forecast, and the stock jumped. I sold one share later in the month for a profit of about 38%, and I am keeping the rest.
Bought 22 DT at $45.51
Sold 22 DT at $50.71
Dynatrace, which I owned in 2024, jumped after strong earnings, and I sold my shares the next day for a profit of about 11%.
Bought 314 SPCH at $6.76
Sold 314 SPCH at $6.94
SPCH is a leveraged ETF that moves twice as much as SpaceX's stock. I made two quick trades in it for a small profit of about 3%.
Bought 26 ZTS at $74.02
Sold 26 ZTS at $76.08
Zoetis fell a lot in May. I bought it for a short bounce and sold it two days later for a profit of about 3%.
Bought 33 FIG at $27.54
Sold 33 FIG at $23.70
Figma, which I bought on its IPO day last year for $103, has fallen to under $30. I bought some shares, but the stock fell, and I sold them the same day for a loss of about 14%. Figma is a good reminder of my July 2025 newsletter about how risky hot IPOs can be.
Bought 12 SHAK at $65.82
Sold 15 SHAK at $70.69
Bought 3 SFM at $82.12
Sold 10 SFM at $87.17
Bought 5 RSG at $209.01
Sold 5 RSG at $215.26
Bought 17 ASTS at $69.90
Sold 17 ASTS at $74.32
Bought 21 RKLB at $80.49
Sold 23 RKLB at $73.30
I made profitable trades in Shake Shack, Sprouts, Republic Services, and AST SpaceMobile. I also bought more Rocket Lab and then sold some shares when the price dropped.
Thanks for reading my newsletter!