Brown-Forman is a US-based manufacturer of premium distilled spirits. It generates over 70% of its revenue in the whiskey category, under well-known Tennessee whiskey brand Jack Daniel’s and bourbon brands Woodford Reserve and Old Forester. It also manufactures and distributes tequila, vodka, rum, gin, and premium wines. The company generated 45% of fiscal 2026 sales from the US, while the bulk of international revenue comes from Europe, Australia, and Latin America. The Brown family controls over 50% of the economic interests and 67% of the voting power in the company.

Based in Toronto, Barrick is one of the world's largest gold miners. In 2025, the firm sold about 3.3 million attributable ounces of gold and about 220,000 metric tons of copper. At end-2025, Barrick had about two decades of gold reserves along with significant copper reserves. After buying Randgold in 2019 and combining its Nevada mines in a joint venture with competitor Newmont later that year, it operates mines in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company also has growing copper exposure, driven by the expansion of its Lumwana mine in Zambia and the development of its Reko Diq copper and gold project in Pakistan. It intends to undertake an IPO of its joint venture stakes in Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo along with its Fourmile deposit later in 2026.

The stock market got whacked again on Thursday, with the S&P 500 (SPX), S&P 100 (OEX), and S&P MidCap 400 (MDY) all dropping 0.9%. The Nasdaq fell 1%, the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) dipped 0.7%, and the S&P SmallCap 600 (SML) gave back 1.1%. Depending on today's action, this may be the first losing week for the SPX, Nasdaq, QQQ, and SML since July 24. NYSE breadth was weak, with decliners outpacing advancers by 930 issues. Only two sectors barely saw gains: Energy (XLE +0.3%) and Real Estate (XLRE +0.2%). Healthcare (XLV) gave back 1.9%, Consumer Discretionary (XLY) lost 1.6%, Consumer Staples (XLP) dropped 1.4%, Industrials (XLI) fell 1.2%, and Financials (XLF) declined 1%.

Monster Beverage is a leader in the energy drink category within the nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverage market, generating two-thirds of revenue in the US and Canada. The well-known Monster trademark includes brands such as Monster Energy, Monster Ultra, Java Monster, and Juice Monster. The firm also owns other energy drink brands, such as Reign, NOS, Burn, Bang, and Mother, and brews and distributes beers and flavored malt beverages following the acquisition of a craft brewer in 2022. Monster controls branding and innovation but outsources beverage manufacturing and packaging to co-packers and finished goods distribution to bottlers in the global Coca-Cola system (pursuant to a 20-year agreement inked in 2015). Coke is the largest shareholder of Monster, owning a 20% stake.