Markets Eye Fed, McDonald's Stumbles, and Bears Circle EV Names

Macro in Focus

A Fed official dominated headlines today. Governor Paulson said inflation is still too high and policy needs to stay "mildly restrictive." He added it was not a close call to hold rates steady. That comment put a lid on rate-cut hopes. Redbook retail sales data offered a brighter read — up 8.2% year over year for July, signalling resilient US consumers despite the pressure.

Earnings Season Delivers Surprises

McDonald's stole the morning spotlight. The CEO admitted execution fell short in Q2. Restaurant teams were "overwhelmed by too many deployments," hurting operational efficiency. The mea culpa is unusual from a company of this size. Analysts will be watching whether same-store sales data confirms the slip. Booking Holdings also reports today with analysts revising forecasts ahead of the call. This week's slate also includes Palantir, Caterpillar, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Bears and Shorts

Short sellers remain firmly planted in EV names. HTZ sits at 80.9% short interest with zero shares left to borrow. LCID carries 33% short interest and a 63% cost to borrow. Alphabet drew attention after Waymo's co-CEO warned AI companies that there is "simply not an undo" for safety failures in autonomous systems — a rare public caution from inside the Google ecosystem.

Analysts Move the Needle

Wall Street turned cautious on NKE today, trimming the consensus target to $50.66. On the positive side, DDOG got a boost from Canaccord, with a new $295 target. ABBV also saw a price target lift to $288 from Guggenheim. Europe added to the mix — Coca-Cola Europacific Partners released H1 2026 results this morning.