Retail & Consumer Sector - Walmart reported a rare quarterly sales miss with growth slowing to 2.6% in the last quarter, marking its lowest rate in six years [2][3][71] - Walmart shares fell more than 7% to over 9% following the disappointing earnings report [52][68][141] - Pharmacy business dragged on Walmart due to federal drug price negotiations making drug prices lower [3] - Walmart implemented up to 11,000 price rollbacks while competitors like Target reduced prices on 10,000 items amidst aggressive retail competition [76] - US national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time, more than doubling over the past decade [25] Technology & AI Sector - Meta quietly became one of Microsoft's largest AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to access AI models through Microsoft's Azure cloud services [6][163] - Alibaba reported underwhelming earnings with profits plunging more than 75% as the company increases spending on AI while Chinese consumers pull back [122] Macroeconomic & Market Dynamics - US Treasury 30-year yields and bond markets faced continued pressure, remaining just a few basis points away from levels seen prior to the Treasury buyback announcement [24][87] - Brent crude oil prices climbed, trading around $93 to $94 per barrel [50][120] - Private buyers of US Treasuries, including mutual funds, foreign investors, banks, and households, now hold 70% of Treasuries compared to 30% a decade ago [20]