Elizabeth Holmes trial begins, Cathie Woods goes all-in on Komatsu, Apple’s iPhone satellite plans

Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland breaks down Thursday’s business headlines.

Video transcript

MYLES UDLAND: All right, let's take a look at some of today's other top headlines. Jury selection will begin in the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. The disgraced medical startup founder is facing charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Of course, Yahoo Finance's documentary on Holmes's rise and fall debuting last night on our air and, of course, will be played throughout the proceedings here, as we'll closely follow that trial.

Apple's new iPhone is expected to have satellite capabilities that will enable users to send texts to emergency responders and report accidents in areas without cell coverage. That's according to reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman Apple is set to unveil its next generation iPhone at an event early next month.

And heavy construction is now a new economy play. Cathie Wood's Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF, which trades under the ticker, ARKQ, has purchased shares of Komatsu, the Japanese construction giant, nearly every trading day over the last couple of weeks. And the fund's holdings of Komatsu are now worth more than $70 million. Sozzi, I guess automated machinery, automated backhoes, and all that good stuff is part of the future.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, and you and Julie had laughed at me a couple of weeks ago. We had Deere earnings. And I called I think Deere the Apple of farm equipment. Well, maybe Komatsu is--

MYLES UDLAND: Look--

BRIAN SOZZI: --you know-- you know what I mean? Everybody throws a joke. Everybody throws a joke.

MYLES UDLAND: Wait. Because it's a funny thing to say. It doesn't mean it's not true, but it is a funny comparison to draw. You know, it's creative.

BRIAN SOZZI: OK, well, I'm looking for--

MYLES UDLAND: And so is Komat-- so is Komatsu the BlackBerry? Are they the Sprint? Samsung?

BRIAN SOZZI: I would say they are also the Apple of digging holes, Myles.

MYLES UDLAND: So there's two-- all right, so that's the difference between the cell phone business and the heavy construction business. In the cell phone business, there's one Apple. In the construction, heavy construction, there could be two Apples. So there we go-- two iPhones for heavy construction.

BRIAN SOZZI: Apple could be applied to anything. I mean, Yahoo Finance is the Apple of business news. I mean, you just-- you apply it to leaders in the category, Myles.

MYLES UDLAND: That's right. That's right. The FAANGs--

BRIAN SOZZI: All right.

MYLES UDLAND: --of the agricultural equipment space.

BRIAN SOZZI: Fair enough.