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Market Data Table

Breakfast News: Week in Review

September 25, 2026

Thursday's Markets
S&P 500 7,704 (-0.02%)
Nasdaq 26,939 (+0.01%)
Dow 51,350 (-0.31%)
Bitcoin $84,237 (-0.14%)

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1. Amazon Has Blocked Meta, Google, and OpenAI Shopping Agents

Chart showing Amazon's quarterly advertising revenue climbing from a little under $10 billion in early 2022 to $19.81 billion currently.

Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:META) new artificial intelligence (AI) agent, Muse, can do your shopping, unless you shop at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Amazon says Muse browsed its site in an undisclosed manner and appeared to store customer credentials without permission.

Amazon has done this before: It already sued Perplexity over the Comet browser and has blocked shopping agents from Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google and OpenAI. Even so, Amazon partners with Meta on cloud computing and in-app shopping.
Other stores welcomed it: Shopify's (NASDAQ:SHOP) shares jumped 7.3% Monday after it let Muse browse and check out via Shop Pay. Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) and Sephora have signed up, too.
Shoppers are giving it a try: Apptopia says Muse hit 2.8 million downloads globally in its first 12 days. On U.S. and Canada iPhone downloads alone, Muse's first 12 days beat ChatGPT's.
There's real ad money at stake: Amazon booked more than $68 billion in ad revenue last year. That business is built on shoppers browsing its pages directly rather than letting a bot do the clicking.

Team Rule Breakers analyst Emily Flippen says what matters most is whether people are "still using Muse in, say, three months." If they are, Amazon could struggle to keep agents out.

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2. AMD Hit $1 Trillion, and Our 2024 Pick Is Up 278%

Remember Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay arguing the AI industry should slow down? It knocked chip stocks lower last week before renewed enthusiasm around AI agents like Muse helped lift them back up.

CPUs get their moment: Graphics chips run the models behind AI agents, and central processing units (CPUs) carry out tasks like shopping online. AI agents are fueling demand for Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) CPUs, and its stock jumped 25% over five days.
Letting a winner run: Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) closed Monday worth more than $1 trillion for the first time. Muse's maker, Meta, is already its second-biggest customer. We recommended AMD in Stock Advisor in January 2024 at $162.67. Recommending it after a hard climb the year before took nerve, and the pick is up 278%.
Nvidia got cheaper anyway: Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) trades at under 17 times expected profit for the next 12 months, even though its growth rates keep accelerating. That's near its cheapest multiple in over a decade.

For long-term owners, the hope is that people use agents like Muse as casually as a search bar.

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3. Odds of an October Hike Went From Under 10% to About 70%

Last week, the Federal Reserve raised short-term rates for the first time since 2023. (Longer-term rates, like the 10-year Treasury yield, move with what bond traders expect from the Fed and inflation.) This week, hot business data and rising oil prices raised inflation risk, prompting traders to expect more hikes. The 10-year yield jumped to 5.113% on Wednesday, its highest since July 2007. A month ago, traders put October hike odds under 10%. By Thursday, the CME FedWatch tool put them near 70%.

Homebuyers feel it: The average 30-year mortgage rate jumped to 7.12%, its highest since May 2024.
Car loans cost more, too: At used-car retailer CarMax (NYSE:KMX), elevated prices and rising rates keep buyers on the sidelines. CarMax has cut corporate jobs three times in under a year. The Team Rule Breakers recommendation is currently in the Stock Advisor Penalty Box, our version of a hold.
A Foolish portfolio perspective: Do the companies in your portfolio bring in more cash than they spend? Borrowing to fill a gap costs more now. Do profits comfortably cover the company’s interest bill? If your companies sell to borrowers, rates may work against them for a while.

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4. Disney+ Is Getting Pricier, and Netflix Is Losing TV Time

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), a Stock Advisor recommendation from Team Rule Breakers, is raising prices on several streaming plans. If you pay for ad-free Disney+, that's a 13% jump, to $21.49 a month. Disney is leaning on pricing power to grow streaming profits.

Bundles keep people around: The ad-supported bundle's price stays put because bundled subscribers cancel less often. Disney's entertainment unit, home to Disney+, grew operating income 64% last quarter.
Netflix is losing the living room: Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares have fallen 23% this year. HSBC analyst Mohammed Khallouf notes that YouTube's share of U.S. TV time hit a record 14.2% in July. Netflix's share that month fell to a multiyear low of 7.8%. He blames that partly on cooling reception for Netflix's original content.
Netflix lost Warner Bros.: In December 2025, Netflix signed a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's (NASDAQ:WBD) studios and streaming. In February, it declined to match Paramount Skydance's (NASDAQ:PSKY) higher bid, and that merger hasn't closed.

Even after the hike, Disney+ costs less than Netflix's $26.99 premium ad-free plan. Netflix is a Stock Advisor recommendation from Team Rule Breakers and Team Hidden Gems. Now, shareholders need a few shows good enough to win that time back.

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5. Meta's 32-Bagger and Three More Lessons in Patience

Three of these four are spending to grow, which takes patience.

Meta, spending its winnings: Motley Fool co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner's first Meta recommendation, at $24.20 in July 2013, is a 32-bagger as of Thursday's close. Its AI build cut free cash flow 91% year over year last quarter. Team Hidden Gems says, "We'd add to our position if the market punishes this spending cycle."
Rocket Lab unites both teams: Profitability depends on its Neutron rocket's first successful test launch. Our average cost basis across all Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) recommendations is near $68; on Thursday, shares closed at $73.61.
Karooooo, buying growth: This Team Hidden Gems fleet-tracking recommendation let free cash flow fall about 82% year over year last quarter. Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) management spent that cash on tracking devices to add customers faster. Cartrack subscribers rose about 18% year over year.

Costco went the other way.

Costco's members keep renewing: Motley Fool co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner first recommended Costco (NASDAQ:COST) in Stock Advisor in 2002. Team Rule Breakers thinks Costco may fit its mold, too. The team points to renewal rates of 92.2% in the U.S. and Canada, as of Costco's fiscal third quarter. Fourth-quarter membership fees rose 7.3% year over year.

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6. Today's Question

What has a company done to earn the kind of loyalty that keeps you renewing year after year?

Discuss with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!

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