Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action news and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Monday, August 26th I'm your host Kim Khan. Our top story so far.

Activist investor Elliot Investment Management plans to meet with Southwest Airlines on September 9th.

It is time for a reconstituted board to finally step up and

put in place a transparent and credible process for addressing the challenges

Southwest faces today. Elliot partner John Pike and portfolio manager Bobby Jieu wrote in a letter to

shareholders. The latest Elliot comments come after the activists said earlier this

month that it plans to nominate 10 director candidates for the airline's 15-person board.

Elliot has confirmed that it had a $2 billion stake in Southwest and the activists pushed

for the airline to do a business review saying the stock could reach $49 a share.

Elliot also called for new leadership, including replacing the company CEO Bob Jordan and Chairman

Gary Kelly.

On the economic front, July Durable Goods Order soared 9.9% on the month to

289.6 billion, easily topping the 4% rise expected and rebounding from a

6.9% plunge in June. The headline number has been out 5 of the last 6 months. The big driver was

transportation equipment rising 34.8% as the volatility in aircraft orders persists.

Core durable goods, which excludes transportation equipment, slip through the market. Craft orders The economists said over the past year new orders of durable goods excluding transportation

are up a meager 0.65%, which is the softest annual growth rate since January.

The stalling is illustrative of restricted monetary policy and political uncertainty.

These dynamics have underpinned a deferment mindset among businesses who are reluctant to take

on major projects today.

Today's data confirm the ongoing trend that

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