NYSE trading floor with screens showing stocks sliding as rising U.S. Treasury yields and Walmart (WMT) earnings pressure risk assets on August 20, 2026.
Three developments point to an investable theme: businesses and policymakers are moving to strengthen customer relationships, stretch household budgets and protect economic staying power.
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is buying customer-engagement specialist Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE). Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) is combining two memberships into…