🆕 Newsmakers — 12:30p ET, 2026-08-17 — new since last alert

📰 NEW MARKET THEMES: • Why Japan's U.S. Treasury Investments Remain Critical as U.S. Economy Firms @CharlesSchwab's Collin Martin says rising crude oil prices are "one part of the puzzle" behind the uptick in yields, though he believes other factors are at play. Despite elevated fixed income pricing, he sees the U.S. economy as resilient in the face of benign inflation data. — youtube.com · 08/17 12:00p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC_TU5BqmFM • A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions Has Some Notable Improvements - But Lingering Questions A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions Corp. reported Q2 revenue of $5.9M, driven by smart cart deliveries and strong gross margins at 42.6%. AZ reaffirmed guidance for 10,000 carts by year-end 2026 and at least 19,000 by 2027, with H2 smart cart revenue expected at $25M. Operational improveme… — seekingalpha.com · 08/17 11:47a https://seekingalpha.com/article/4937345-a2z-cust2mate-solutions-has-some-notable-improvements-but-lingering-questions • Crypto wants the CLARITY Act to go through, says Bitwise's Matt Hougan Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss President Trump's upcoming WH meeting with crypto executives amid the CLARITY Act deadlock. — youtube.com · 08/17 11:42a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjgj3VMIKv4 • Nasdaq Index: Memory Stocks Rally as Hormuz Risk Holds US Indices Back Micron, Sandisk and Western Digital rise as Washington backs domestic memory supply during the AI chip shortage. — fxempire.com · 08/17 11:23a https://www.fxempire.com/forecasts/article/nasdaq-index-memory-stocks-rally-as-hormuz-risk-holds-us-indices-back-1617207 • Retail Sales Show Strength The Headlines Are Missing Consumers keep confounding the economy's doom merchants. A quick look at the actual numbers released by the Census Bureau belies the AP's headline: “US Retail Sales Slump Unexpectedly and Sharply after a Summer Tax-Refund Boost Fades. — forbes.com · 08/17 11:20a https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2026/08/17/retail-sales-show-strength-the-headlines-are-missing/

🐘 NEW BIG-CAP MOVERS:

1. MU +6% $1030.38 (1164B cap) Chip stocks rally as US pressure on Chinese memory suppliers boosts sentiment Shares of memory and storage chipmakers climbed Monday morning after reports that the U.S. administration is discouraging domestic tech companies from buying conventional memory chips from Chinese suppliers. — proactiveinvestors.com · 08/17 12:15p https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/1097146

2. INTC +2% $104.91 (529B cap) Two Positions Make Up 80% of Nvidia's $63.4 Billion Portfolio Nvidia (NVDA) disclosed eight US-listed equity positions worth $63.44 billion as of June 30. The largest is Intel (INTC), at 214,776,632 shares worth $29.99 bil — gurufocus.com · 08/17 11:12a https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9038154/two-positions-make-up-80-of-nvidias-634-billion-portfolio

📈 NEW GAINERS:

1. NBTX +17% $44.77 (2.3B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

2. AXTI +14% $93.12 (4.7B cap) AXT Soars Again on Monday to Lead Optics Stocks. Coherent and Lumentum Rally on Indium Phosphide Price Hikes The optics complex is ripping higher in Monday's session. AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) is up 13.71% intraday, with Coherent (NYSE:COHR | COHR Price Prediction) climbing 8.12%, Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) adding 6.79%. — 247wallst.com · 08/17 11:40a https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/08/17/axt-soars-again-on-monday-to-lead-optics-stocks-coherent-and-lumentum-rally-on-indium-phosphide-price-hikes/

— new items only (already-sent headlines filtered). Full list in the 10am/3pm digest.