Ternus Takes the Wheel at Apple as Yields Enter the Danger Zone

Dear readers,

Two days into September, the month is already living up to its reputation as the market’s toughest stretch. Crude is climbing, government bonds are being sold off worldwide, and leadership at the world’s most valuable company changed hands this week — all while equity investors wait for Friday’s jobs report to settle the question hanging over every trading desk: is the Federal Reserve really done raising rates, or just getting started again?

Yields Break Out, and a Danger Zone Comes Into View

The global bond market is flashing warning signs that are hard to ignore. Middle East tensions are pushing Brent crude toward $95 a barrel, and that pressure is rippling straight into sovereign debt. The 10-year US Treasury yield climbed to 4.81%, its highest level since November 2023. In Japan, the 10-year yield broke above 3% for the first time in three decades — a milestone that would have seemed unthinkable even a year ago.

For equity investors, the math is getting uncomfortable. JPMorgan analysts have identified 5.0% to 5.25% on US yields as a genuine danger zone for global stock valuations, and the market is now pricing roughly a 70% probability of another Fed rate hike at the mid-September meeting. Whether that materializes hinges almost entirely on this week’s labor data. Economists see a narrow sweet spot — 30,000 to 70,000 new jobs — as the outcome markets can live with; anything hotter risks reigniting the yield surge and pressuring indexes like the DAX, currently sitting around 25,800.

A New Captain at Apple, One Big Product Event Away

Amid the macro noise, Apple completed a leadership transition fifteen years in the making. John Ternus officially took over as chief executive on Tuesday, September 1, while Tim Cook stepped into the role of Executive Chairman. Cook’s legacy is substantial: under his tenure, Apple’s revenue grew from $108 billion to $416 billion, and the company’s market value swelled to just under four trillion. Ternus, an Apple veteran since 2001 who most recently ran hardware engineering, inherits a company that now has to prove it can lead in artificial intelligence, not just in devices.

He won’t have long to settle in. Apple’s next major product event is set for September 9, where the iPhone 18 Pro and a foldable model are expected to headline. So far, investors seem unbothered by the changing of the guard — Apple shares are trading steadily at just over €281 in European trading, up a solid 21% year-to-date.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Apple?

Dell Cashes In on AI Infrastructure, Broadcom’s Turn Is Next

If anyone doubted how lucrative the AI buildout has become for hardware suppliers, Dell Technologies just settled the argument. Quarterly revenue jumped 58% to $47 billion, driven by an AI-optimized server business that doubled to $16.4 billion. Backed by a record order backlog, management raised full-year guidance to $192 billion. The stock responded in kind, jumping 11% to above €404.

That result sets a demanding benchmark for Broadcom, which opens its books this evening. Wall Street is looking for revenue growth north of 80%, to just over $29 billion. Broadcom shares are up nearly 8% year-to-date, and tonight’s print will test whether demand for its custom AI accelerators can live up to expectations that Dell has now made even harder to beat.

Bitcoin Feels the Squeeze

The rise in yields is spilling into crypto too. After a strong August fueled by billions in ETF inflows, Bitcoin has slipped below $77,000, trading around $76,600 — a daily loss of 2.5%. September has historically been the weakest month for digital assets, and this year brings an added structural headwind: computing power on the network is sitting 22% to 24% below its late-2025 all-time high, a sign that miners are consolidating rather than expanding.

The Takeaway

The next 72 hours will decide a lot. If Friday’s labor market report points to an economy still running hot, the 5% threshold on Treasury yields could get tested sooner than equity investors would like — and JPMorgan’s danger zone would stop being theoretical. Until that data lands, the safer posture is a defensive one, tilted toward companies like Dell that are converting the AI buildout into hard, reportable earnings rather than promises.

Best regards,
The StocksToday.com Editorial