Strong Corporate Earnings
In the face of much uncertainty heading into 2026, second quarter earnings reports have been strong. With about 91% of S&P 500 companies having reported, roughly 85% posted a positive earnings surprise, and index earnings are on pace to grow 48% year over year for the second quarter — the highest earnings growth rate since Q2 2021. Growth is expected to stay strong ahead, with double-digit growth projected in most sectors this year.
Source: CNBC, Bloomberg
Sweaty Startups
Instead of raising venture capital to develop an AI-powered plumber booking tool, how about borrowing some money from family and starting a company that actually fixes people’s toilets. More and more people are opting to reject innovative business ideas to found unglamorous companies like carwashes, portable toilet rentals, and plumbing. The number of applications to start a business from Gen Z (folks in their 20s) has grown 66% in the year leading up to June. It is proving that “boring” businesses are a good way to generate substantial income.
Source: Bank of America Institute
Crops vs Farmland
It is estimated that most American crop farmers will lose money in 2026, the third year in a row. That presents a dilemma for farmers – keep farming or consider selling their land. Traditionally, the value of farmland was mostly based on the profitability of its crop production. Now many owners treat farmland as a separate asset, divorced from the crops grown on it, instead of a farm input, like seeds and fertilizer. Given that the value of cropland has risen a whopping 47% since 2020, you can understand why.
Source: New York Times, US Department of Agriculture
Watch What They Do
NOT WHAT THEY SAY – Now here is a classic example of why people should watch what companies do versus what they say. After many high-profile companies boasted about the need for fewer employees because they were embracing AI, their message has changed. Companies have begun to stop turning layoff announcements into an AI victory lap. Communication departments are now wordsmithing their public statements to distinguish between “AI is reshaping how we work” and “AI is replacing workers.” Given that about 24% of all job cuts announced so far this year have been attributed to AI, employees may not be convinced.
Source: Axios
Wedding Debt – Not Just the Bride & Groom
Spending on weddings rose 8.5% in the first half of this year compared with last year. Last year, the average cost of a wedding was $34,200, according to a study involving more than 10,000 couples from the wedding-planning platform The Knot. But for the bridal party, a LendingTree survey found 35% of bridesmaids and 30% of groomsmen went into debt, with maids of honor hit hardest at 43%. That same piece noted bridesmaids and groomsmen can spend anywhere from $500 to $1,500 total depending on what’s expected of them.
Source: Wall Street Journal
161 Billion Strand Hairball
True story. “Tumblehair”, its formal name, is an approximately 10-foot-in-diameter hairball (real human hair) created by the hair-care brand K18. Last week, Tumblehair, weighing roughly 150 pounds, was pushed by employees through Midtown Manhattan to the Meatpacking District up to the front of a Sephora outlet. The goal was to highlight K18’s claims that their products help users save 19,000 hairs on a single person’s head. Hmmmm? What it reminds me of is the movie “The Blob”, a classic 1950s sci-fi film starring Steve McQueen. But Tumblehair is not carnivorous, thankfully.
Source: Marketing Brew
On This Day
PEPSI-COLA IS BORN – On August 28, 1898, a popular cola called “Brad’s Drink” sold by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, was rebranded as “Pepsi-Cola”. The name hit on the era’s growing digestive-health branding of products. At the time, Brad’s Drink was marketed as relieving dyspepsia (indigestion). The name Pepsi-Cola drew on “pepsin”, a digestive enzyme, an ingredient that has never been part of the actual formula. The company went bankrupt in 1923 but was subsequently purchased and revived by Charles Guth, who reformulated the syrup. The rest is history.
Source: Britannica
