And welcome back to Street Tweets from The Street Sheet!

We’d like to start this week’s newsletter with a brief moment of silence…

AOL announced last week that it’s officially discontinuing its dial-up internet service this week.

Rumor has it, AOL is trying to free up capital so it can invest in the next big technology: Blackberry $BB ( ▲ 2.46% ) cell phones.

— Brooks & Cas

It looks like inflation may still be a threat to the economy.

Last week, BLS data revealed that the producer price index (PPI) — a measure of wholesale inflation — spiked 3.3% annually in July. The PPI often acts as a leading indicator: if prices are increasing for producers this month, they may rise for consumers next month. July’s spike was much higher than expected, and the highest monthly increase since June 2022.

A new McKinsey study also revealed that nearly 80% of companies using AI have not experienced a significant impact on their bottom line — not a good sign for overall economic growth.

Despite all this less-than-ideal news, all three stock indexes finished in the green. The Dow Jones was 1.5% higher, the S&P 500 rose 0.98%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%.

Next week is the Jackson Hole Symposium, a three-day economic conference for major policymakers that features a keynote speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

This meeting will hopefully provide some much-needed clarity on the Fed’s interest rate stance for the remainder of 2025. Markets are already factoring in interest rate cuts for 2025. But after last week’s surging inflation data, rate cuts might not be as guaranteed as investors would like.

Other reports to watch out for include three S&P Global PMIs, the Philly/Dallas Fed Manufacturing Indexes, and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index.

There will also be plenty of housing market data, with the release of the NAHB Housing Market Index, existing home sales, building permits, housing starts, and an update to the 30-year mortgage rate (currently at its lowest level since last October).

AI startup Perplexity (valued at $18B) has offered $34.5B to buy Google’s $GOOGL ( ▼ 0.2% ) internet browser Chrome, valued conservatively at $50B.

These numbers don’t seem to add up. Did this idea come from Perplexity’s hallucination-prone chatbot?

The US government pulled a fast one last week, stating that the Treasury will not be stocking up on BTC for its Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, a reversal from previous sentiment. Despite this, BTC still sits near all-time highs.

The Slayer of Bookstores is coming for grocery stores, using its tried-and-true strategy to beat competitors: cheap, fast delivery.

Maybe small-time grocers can fight back using the same strategy Barnes & Noble used to beat Bezos. (Hint: it involves TikTok.)

Berkshire Hathaway revealed a new position in United Healthcare $UNH ( ▲ 1.47% ), sending the insurer surging as copycat investors jumped into the trade.

Memers on X had fun drawing comparisons between the Buffet & UNH alliance and Sydney Sweeney & American Eagle campaign. When the newest meme stock is the heaviest weighted name in the Dow, we’ve really come full circle.

Elon Musk accused the App Store of antitrust practices last week, claiming Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 0.3% ) favors OpenAI’s ChatGPT over Musk’s Grok.

Apple hasn’t responded yet, but OpenAI CEO Sam Altman clapped back.