CHRIS VERSACE: Good morning, Action Alerts Plus members. We have another barn-burner of a day that brings us the latest on the service sector of the economy after today's market open and ends with quarterly results from both Apple and Amazon. We'll be sharing our comments on the back-to-back July service PMIs out this morning and our Alert to you. But just so you're aware, if the headline data rebounds versus June, it would add further support for the soft landing narrative now driving the stock market.

However, what both of those reports have to say about inflation will be as important. Why? Because the Fed has signaled it will remain data-dependent when it comes to monetary policy. And therefore, what those reports say about inflation in the service sector will be important not only to the Fed but to the market and to us as well. Again, we'll be breaking all of that down for you once we have the data in hand.

And because it's earnings season, let's touch on some recent results from portfolio holdings. First, yesterday Clear Secure reported a strong June quarter. And candidly with membership, usage, and related metrics, putting headline concerns to rest, we are likely to see an upbeat tone across Wall Street on the shares of Clear Secure. More importantly, however, as we move through the coming quarters, we are likely to see the Clear story start to shift from one of just footprint expansion to one that includes not only that, but margin expansion as well.

As we shared in our note with you yesterday, the company is on the cusp of transitioning from investing in new products to having them released so to speak, into the wild, driving incremental revenue. In addition, adding another layer of credibility to the Clear story, yesterday's announcement was of a new quarterly dividend. Not a special dividend, but a new recurring quarterly dividend.

In the past when we've seen other companies do this, it tends to open their shares up to a new class of investors. And we see no reason why that won't be the case for the shares of Clear Secure, especially as digital identity and protecting it becomes increasingly important. Now this morning, Vulcan Materials reported strong quarterly results as well. But the real eye-opener was the top line and margin improvement comparing the June quarter to the March quarter.

Now, the combination was led not only by the uptick in non-residential construction that we've been talking about and discussing with you. But also the power of pricing action taken in the last few quarters. We've seen that power unfold at other companies in the portfolio, including Chipotle and PepsiCo. And now we are seeing it unfold at Vulcan. We'll have more comments after the company's earnings call that's held at 11:00 AM this morning.

But our sense is this, bottom line expectations are likely to be lifted for the second half of the year. As we confirm that, we'll look to adjust our Vulcan price target as needed. And as I mentioned a few minutes ago, tonight we have earnings from Apple and Amazon. Leading into Apple's results, Qualcomm offered weaker than expected guidance last night, citing excess Chinese smartphone inventories that will linger through the balance of the year. That is punishing Qualcomm shares today. And the sell-off, in our view, may improve the risk reward trade-off in the shares, which are currently in the bullpen.

Also last night, RF chip company Qorvo's outlook confirmed that we are indeed on the cusp of the seasonal ramp in the smartphone market that we've been discussing with you of late. Married with other positive comments for high-end smartphone models, we think Apple's core iPhone business may not be as bad as some are fearing. Now, next week brings quarterly results from Skyworks. And if they reinforce Qorvo's outlook, it could lead us to start an initial position in the shares of Qualcomm.

And of course, we have Amazon. With that report, we'll be focused on the June quarter results obviously. But given the timing of the company's Prime Day this year, the June quarter focus in our view will be far more on Amazon Web Services and its top line growth rate versus those at Microsoft and Google's respective cloud businesses. The other focus will be on Amazon's margins given cost reduction efforts earlier this year.

We'll be looking to see if we're at an inflection point with the company's margins or if more cost-cutting needs are on the way. And with today being the busiest day of the current earnings season, members, please be sure to check your email throughout today. And that's today's Daily Rundown. Be sure to tune in tomorrow when AAP team member Carly Gardner joins JD Durkin to share her take on the market.