Bessent declared economic war on Iran with sweeping sanctions and a warning that no country is safe from follow-up. Nvidia extended its losing streak heading into Wednesday’s make-or-break earnings report.

Today’s edition covers both stories, the Canada auto tariffs, and every name that moved.

Five AI Challengers (Sponsored)

AI researcher Keith Kaplan says investors may be looking in the wrong places.

After investing millions into AI research, he’s identified five stocks he believes could outperform the biggest tech names as the next phase of the AI boom unfolds.

His message is simple: don’t chase yesterday’s winners.

Reveal Keith Kaplan’s 5 AI Stocks Before August 31, 2026

Elite Trade Club Insider

$145.6 Million Sold Near A Record High, While One CEO Bought $1 Million Into Weakness

You’re looking at one stock that has more than doubled in market value over the past year and another sitting nearly 40% below its yearly high. Elite Trade Club Insider readers are seeing where the money moved: an activist-linked director sold $145.6 million in three days, while an airline CEO voluntarily put $1 million of fresh capital into his struggling stock.

You’re reading the free version. Here’s what we held back.

Every day, insiders and institutions move millions before the market catches on. We surface the data behind those moves before the rest of the market sees it.

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Markets

Treasury Secretary Bessent launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” sanctioning 60-plus entities, vessels, and individuals globally and warning that “an economic engagement of any kind” with Iran will draw the full reach of American power — with a major financial institution sanction promised before the week ends.

Nvidia fell for the seventh consecutive session in its longest losing streak since September 2022, down about 7% over that stretch as investors hold their breath for Wednesday’s earnings and pray the AI spending argument still holds; the stock is the last of the Magnificent Seven to report.

US-Canada trade talks collapsed Friday, and Trump announced a 50% tariff on autos and auto parts from Canada starting in January — Ford fell 4%, Stellantis nearly 5%, and GM about 2%, while the Canadian dollar weakened.

Alibaba launched a $10.2 billion share sale overnight to fund AI spending, which dragged Asian tech shares before bleeding into the US session.

This week also brings PCE data and Kevin Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole Friday, which will set the tone for the September Fed meeting.

  • DJIA [+0.26%]

  • S&P 500 [-0.28%]

  • Nasdaq [-0.76%]

  • Russell 2000 [-0.69%]

Market-Moving News

Energy Infrastructure & Storage

Net Power Adds 123 MW to Its Texas Buildout

Net Power secured rights to acquire 123 MW of gas-fired generation equipment for its Project Permian development in Texas, putting down a $20 million deposit as it moves toward nearly 200 MW of potential capacity for the project’s first phase.

The company also signed a cost-reimbursement agreement with a prospective customer that can cover approved development expenses, giving Net Power another funding mechanism as it builds out natural-gas generation designed to accommodate carbon capture in later phases.

Eos Links Its Batteries With Wattmore’s Grid Software

Eos Energy Enterprises signed a new strategic technology partnership with Wattmore that will combine Eos’ Z3 long-duration battery systems with Wattmore’s energy-management, power-plant control and grid-optimization software across selected customer projects.

The integration connects Eos’ DawnOS battery controls with software that manages dispatch and grid interaction, giving customers a more unified storage platform while expanding Eos beyond battery hardware into a broader operating system for large-scale energy projects.

Autos & Trade Policy

Ford’s Canadian Truck Production Lands in the Tariff Fight

Ford’s cross-border manufacturing strategy faces a new complication after Washington threatened 50% auto tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and parts beginning January 1, following the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade negotiations.

Ford’s Canadian-built Super Duty trucks had already become a sticking point in the negotiations, with Canada seeking the same favorable tariff treatment available to some light-duty vehicles while U.S. officials resisted extending those terms to heavier trucks.

GM Gets Pulled Deeper Into the Cross-Border Cost Fight

General Motors also faces fresh uncertainty from the proposed 50% tariff increase, which would cover Canadian vehicles and automotive parts entering the United States and raise costs across tightly integrated North American manufacturing and supplier networks.

Automakers have not yet received detailed implementation rules. A tariff of that size would likely trigger significant Canadian retaliation and potentially restart negotiations before the January effective date.

Pharma & Biotechnology

Eli Lilly Opens a New Front in Oral GLP-1s

Eli Lilly launched its oral GLP-1 treatment Foundayo through private pharmacies in the UK, making Britain the first European market for the pill as Lilly expands its obesity and type 2 diabetes portfolio beyond injectable therapies.

The rollout intensifies competition with Novo Nordisk in Europe’s fast-growing weight-loss market. Lilly also gained another diagnostic foothold after the FDA cleared the Elecsys pTau217 Alzheimer’s blood test developed jointly with Roche.

Capricor Gets More Time for Its Duchenne Therapy

The FDA extended its review of Capricor’s Deramiocel to November 22 after accepting additional 24-month Phase 3 data and analyses supporting a refined indication focused on upper-limb function in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The three-month extension gives regulators more time to assess the major amendment, while Capricor enters the next review phase with HOPE-3 having met its primary endpoint and Deramiocel already carrying several FDA designations for rare and serious diseases.

Protect Purchasing Power (Sponsored)

When the U.S. left the gold standard in 1971, the rules of money changed almost overnight.

Today, with inflation concerns, heavy central-bank gold buying, and questions around the dollar, some investors are taking another look at physical gold for retirement diversification.

This free guide explains the history, the risks, and how eligible retirement funds may be used for gold without triggering an immediate taxable distribution.

See How Retirement Investors Are Adding Physical Gold Before the Next Big Shift

Cyber Defense & National Security

Leidos Lands $301 Million Army Cyber Deal

Leidos won a five-year Army contract worth $301 million to provide continuous cyber defense across U.S. military networks, extending its existing work protecting the Department of Defense Information Network against increasingly sophisticated digital threats.

The company will monitor networks around the clock, develop new defensive capabilities and deploy AI-enabled technology for threat detection and response coordination, adding another sizable long-term government program to its digital and national-security business.

Cyabra Takes Its AI Into Information Warfare

Cyabra secured two European national-security contracts worth more than $500,000 in combined annual revenue, giving the company new government customers for technology designed to identify foreign influence campaigns, coordinated bot networks and AI-amplified manipulation online.

Its platform will continuously monitor digital ecosystems, model synthetic profiles and track destabilizing narratives, expanding Cyabra’s public-sector business as governments spend more heavily on tools built to detect increasingly automated information warfare.

Advanced Materials & Supply Chains

USA Rare Earth Locks In $1.55 Billion for Serra Verde

USA Rare Earth secured $1.55 billion in funding tied to its planned Serra Verde acquisition, including a $750 million Department of War commitment, a $500 million bank facility and at least $300 million of government purchases under a five-year agreement.

The financing clears a major condition ahead of the transaction vote and would give USA Rare Earth control of a producing Brazilian magnetic rare-earth operation alongside its existing magnet manufacturing plans in Oklahoma and Round Top development in Texas.

Ashland Launches a New Oral-Drug Delivery Ingredient

Ashland commercially launched permexa sodium caprate, an intestinal permeation enhancer designed to help drugmakers formulate oral versions of peptides, biologics and other low-permeability medicines, including GLP-1 and metabolic treatments.

The specialty ingredient is built to improve powder flow, tablet manufacturing and formulation consistency while preserving drug absorption, giving Ashland a new product aimed directly at pharmaceutical companies trying to move complex injectable therapies into more convenient oral formats.

Top Winners and Losers

Expion360 [XPON] $6.20 (+80.49%)

Expion360 makes lithium iron phosphate batteries for recreational vehicles, marine vessels, and off-grid applications.

The company announced a transformative strategic partnership that positions its battery technology in a new commercial channel, sending shares up nearly 100%.

The company has been building momentum since deepening its OEM relationship with Forest River across multiple RV lines, and this partnership adds another distribution vector.

Sadot Group [SDOT] $23.16 (+75.72%)

Sadot Group is back in triple-digit territory, running on 14x average volume. The food commodities trading and agriculture company has been the summer’s most reliable momentum cycle.

It sprints, it crashes, and it sprints again. There is no new fundamental catalyst today; the pattern has now repeated enough times that it’s its own tradable meta-story.

Picard Medical [PMI] $5.13 (+59.81%)

Picard Medical develops cardiovascular devices for cardiac surgery applications. The stock jumped 59% today on 17x relative volume as the company attracted renewed interest following a period of clinical and commercial positioning.

At $12.01 million in total value, single institutional moves create large percentage swings.

T3 Defense [DFNS] $9.60 (-46.58%)

T3 Defense has now traveled from under $5 in late July to $79 at its peak, back to the low teens, down 45% today. The 1-for-125 reverse split created a float small enough that positioning moves create outsized swings in both directions.

Strong Buy-rated; the stock’s behavior this summer has been a masterclass in how thin-float mechanics can dominate over the course of weeks.

REGENXBIO [RGNX] $8.06 (-24.86%)

The FDA placed a clinical hold on REGENXBIO’s RGX-121, a gene therapy for Hunter Syndrome (MPS II), after discovering asymptomatic spine MRI findings in five CAMPSIITE study participants who received the therapy three to six years ago.

The patients remain clinically well, but the FDA wants to investigate before any new patients are enrolled. This is the second clinical hold on RGX-121. Buy rated.

Tactical Resources [TREO] $5.58 (-21.41%)

Tactical Resources Corp. is a materials and critical minerals company that fell 22% today on very thin volume — 31,700 shares.

At that volume level, the move reflects a single exit position rather than a broad-based selloff. The company has no market cap disclosed, and without a confirmed specific catalyst, the move is positioning-driven.

Banks Face Disruption (Sponsored)

There’s an Elon Musk story most investors are missing.

It has nothing to do with SpaceX, Tesla, AI, or satellites.

According to Luke Lango, Elon’s newest financial move could pull money away from traditional banks and into a new kind of wealth platform.

That could create a major shakeup for banks across America. But it could also open the door to a much bigger opportunity for investors who understand what is happening early.

Luke says one simple move could help you get positioned before this story reaches the mainstream.

See Luke Lango’s next money move tied to Elon’s big bank warning.

Everything Else

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That's it for today! Please, write us back, and let us know what you think of the Closing Bell Roundup. We're always eager to hear feedback!

Thanks for reading. I'll see you at the next open! 

Best Regards,
Adam G.
Elite Trade Club

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