Business & Markets — August 16, 2026

Nvidia pitches GPUs as loan collateral. Nvidia this week proposed using its GPUs as long-term collateral to unlock $500 billion in Wall Street financing for data centers -- a new way to fund the AI buildout.

TechCrunch characterized the proposal as risky but potentially advantageous for the chipmaker, in part because it could give aging GPUs continued financial value even as newer hardware arrives. The approach represents a departure from how data-center construction has typically been financed, and TechCrunch framed it as a model that could reshape how the broader artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion is paid for if lenders accept the hardware as security.

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U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs in July. The July jobs report showed an unexpected loss of 23,000 jobs even as unemployment fell, sending mixed signals and prompting traders to scale back bets on Fed rate rises.

CNBC noted the report left investors without a clear read on the labor market, since payrolls contracted while the unemployment rate simultaneously declined -- two measures that typically move in opposite directions. The conflicting data complicated expectations for Federal Reserve policy, with traders pulling back positions that had anticipated rate increases as they reassessed how policymakers might interpret signs of labor-market softening.

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Berkshire adds Alphabet and housing bets. Berkshire Hathaway's latest 13F showed Greg Abel deploying the firm's cash: Alphabet became a top-three holding at $37.9 billion, alongside larger stakes in Delta and U.S. housing.

The quarterly 13F filing offers an early look at how Greg Abel is allocating capital from the cash pile accumulated under Warren Buffett, according to the Journal. The Alphabet position, valued at $37.9 billion, vaults the tech company into Berkshire's top three holdings, while the expanded Delta stake and housing-related purchase signal a broader wager on U.S. travel demand and the domestic residential market.

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