The Markets Point Up: Rivian Crushed & Amazon Is Crushing It 8-3-26

Summary

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Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast

Episode: The Markets Point Up: Rivian Crushed & Amazon Is Crushing It

Host: Scott Becker
Date: August 3, 2026

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Episode Overview

Scott Becker provides a brisk and insightful update on major market movements, focusing on three headlines: a positive uptick in the markets driven by geopolitical developments, significant struggles in the electric vehicle sector (highlighting Rivian’s sharp losses), and Amazon’s explosive growth led by its AWS division. The episode connects current events to broader trends in private equity and business.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Markets Surge on Geopolitical Easing

[00:30–01:05]

• The markets are up more than 1% today.
• The rally is driven by actions from President Trump, who is “taking his foot off the gas on attacks in Iran.”
• Year-to-date metrics:
  • S&P 500: up approximately 10-11%
  • NASDAQ: up about 13%
• Market sentiment is positive, even with uncertainty about significant political change in Iran.

Quote:

"The markets point up significantly today as President Trump takes his foot off the gas on attacks in Iran." (Scott Becker, 00:35)

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2. Rivian and Broader Electric Vehicle Struggles

[01:05–01:50]

• Rivian stock plunged 10% on Friday:
  • The company is recognized for making attractive vehicles, but faces infrastructure and demand challenges.
  • Personal anecdote: Scott references his friend in LA constantly hunting for charging stations, highlighting a practical challenge for EV owners.
• The electric vehicle sector at large is under pressure:
  • Lucid Motors: Down nearly 70% over the last 52 weeks.
  • Tesla: Down 30% year-to-date.

Quote:

"The cars look beautiful, but all I could think of when I think about the Rivian is my buddy in L.A. constantly trying to find charging stations." (Scott Becker, 01:19)

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3. Amazon’s Massive Leap Driven by AWS

[01:50–02:13]

• Amazon stock soared 15% on Friday.
• Explosive growth from Amazon Web Services (AWS), which posted 37% year-over-year growth in the last quarter.
• AWS had previously shown signs of slowing, but now growth has "accelerated" again.
• Amazon’s market cap has crossed the $3 trillion mark once more.

Quote:

"Its AWS business is doing great. It's growing like fantastic. And that's where a huge amount of the profits come from. It hit 37% growth in the last quarter. That's an amazing jump for Amazon Web Services..." (Scott Becker, 01:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The markets point up significantly today...” (Scott Becker, 00:35)
• “The cars look beautiful, but all I could think of...is my buddy in L.A. constantly trying to find charging stations.” (Scott Becker, 01:19)
• “Amazon jumped 15% on Friday. Its AWS business is doing great... That's a huge plus for Amazon stock.” (Scott Becker, 01:57)
• “Amazon stock also its market cap has gone above $3 trillion again.” (Scott Becker, 02:10)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:30] – Episode theme introduction: Markets up, Rivian struggles, Amazon excels.
• [00:35] – Details on market rally and geopolitical context.
• [01:07] – Rivian’s 10% drop and EV sector overview.
• [01:19] – Speaker’s personal anecdote about EV charging struggles.
• [01:42] – Comparative losses in Lucid and Tesla.
• [01:50] – Amazon’s stock surge and AWS dominance.
• [01:57] – Highlighting AWS’s 37% growth.
• [02:10] – Amazon’s market cap milestone.

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Tone & Language

Scott Becker’s commentary is brisk, authoritative, and conversational, blending quantitative updates with personal insights and strategic context for investors and business professionals.

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Transcript

[A]

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there's no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[B]

This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Today's discussion is the markets point up. Rivian is crushed and Amazon is crushing it. So here's the deal today. We'll walk you through three quick stories. First, the markets point up significantly today as President Trump takes his foot off the gas on attacks in Iran. Iran. The markets are pointing up more than 1% so far today. The S and P is now up about 10 11% year to date. The NASDAQ about 13% year to date. Things moving in the right direction in the markets even if we might not get regime change in Iran. Second, Rivian dropped in only 10% Friday. It got crushed. The cars look beautiful, but all I could think of when I think about the Rivian is my buddy in L A constantly trying to find charging stations. And in terms of Rivian, it's not alone in suffering the other electric vehicle makers. Lucid Motors is down nearly 70% over the last 52 weeks and Tesla is down 30% year to date. Finally. Third, Amazon jumped 15% on Friday. Its AWS business is doing great. It's growing like fantastic. And that's where a huge amount of the profits come from. It hit 37% growth in the last quarter. That's an amazing jump for Amazon Web Services who, which at some point was sort of slowing a little bit. The growth looked like. Now it's back to accelerating. That's a huge plus for Amazon stock. Amazon stock also its market cap has gone above $3 trillion again. So those are three of the big stories we're following this morning. The markets point up. Rivian dropped nearly 10% Friday. Electric vehicles stay in trouble. And Amazon jumped 15% Friday and looks up again today. Thank you for listening to the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity podcast. Thank you very much.

[A]

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.