00:00 Julie Hyman

Welcome to Yahoo! Finance’s flagship show, The Morning Brief. I’m Julie Hyman. Let’s get to the three things you need to know today. First up, U.S. stock futures wavering to some degree after the S&P 500 closed out yet another record high. Meanwhile, investors are watching the latest read on the economy with retail sales data. The July numbers did show a broad-based advance in consumer spending. Nine out of 13 categories posted increases, led by the biggest gain in motor vehicle sales since March. Plus, investors monitoring geopolitical risk in the market. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting in Alaska later today. The leaders will discuss plans to end the war in Ukraine. Assets to watch, European infrastructure and defense stocks, commodities, including oil and natural gas, and currencies like the euro. And Warren Buffett buying up shares of UnitedHealth. Shares are jumping after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed the purchase in its latest 13F filing. Berkshire bought around 5 million shares of the beaten-down stock. That brings Buffett’s stake to $1.6 billion. UnitedHealth has faced unexpected increases in medical costs and its share price plunged after it missed earnings estimates. It’s since replaced its CEO and announced plans to replace its CFO.