[Posted 4:30 PM ET, Friday]
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Edition 1,426
Lots of talk this week concerning high long-term interest rates and Treasury intervention to try to reduce same, which didn’t go well, at least this week, but this is what happens when the national debt hits $40 trillion. It refocuses the minds of traders/investors, politicians and voters. It gets the headlines.
One measure is debt to GDP, and that is now up to 123%, as of the first quarter of this year [St. Louis Fed], and this is versus an historic average of about 67%, from 1940 to 2025 [Office of Management and Budget].
But the debt has been growing steadily through multiple presidencies and when it comes to Wall Street it just hasn’t mattered, witness the record highs in the stock market.
I’ve been writing this column for 27 ½ years, and no one has cried ‘Wolf’ on the topic more than yours truly. At times I’ve been wrong to focus on it as I have. On the other hand, what we are paying in interest on the debt and our failure to tackle entitlements is simply hastening the day when everyone at once goes, ‘Holy, Toledo…this really is a problem!’
Or, as one of my favorite political commentators Jonah Goldberg said this week, this is the “most predictable national crisis ever.”
But back to interest rates, as the critical 10-year Treasury yield gyrated this week on the heels of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s intervention, CNBC’s Rick Santelli said that when it comes to the yield, highest since Jan. 2025 (with a nearly 20-year high on the 30-year), it’s really all about the Iran War.
From Week One of the conflict, I have given you the Tale of the Tape at the gas pump, the price of diesel currently extremely worrisome, but I could just as easily have added the inflation-sensitive 2-year Treasury yields, as well as the 10-year, which impacts mortgage rates.
So, clip and save….
Feb. 27…2-year 3.38%…10-year 3.96%
Aug. 21…2-year 4.23%…10-year 4.73% [3:00 PM ET]
As Santelli says, this is all you need to know. Crude oil remains stubbornly high without a resolution to the war. If President Trump and Sec. Bessent want to get rates down ahead of the crucial midterm elections, they need to end the war on favorable terms for investors.
But Iran knows this. They know the pressure the White House is under. Ergo, stalemate…and oil prices in the mid-$80s (mid-$90s for Brent).
More on Bessent’s actions below.
—
Tale of the Tape
Oil / West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
Friday, Feb. 27…$67.30
Friday, Aug. 21…$86.80
Nationwide averages at the Gas Pump [Source: AAA]
Friday, Feb. 27…regular $2.98; diesel $3.75
Friday, Aug. 21…regular $4.10; diesel $5.57 (not good for the economy in so many ways)
As it went down, day by day, in the Iran War….
At a rally last Friday on Long Island, President Trump boasted that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports was a “wall of steel” that allowed Washington to effectively govern the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it is managing traffic in the Strait.
“Pretty soon I’ll be undeclaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said with a chuckle.
The aforementioned Secretary Bessent has vowed that the U.S. will issue unprecedented economic measures against Iran that “have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country,” without specifying them.
Iran’s economy has taken a major hit, with much of its industrial capacity damaged and crude exports severely curtailed by the U.S. blockade. But the Islamic Republic has weathered waves of sanctions that have failed to force it to bend on its nuclear program or relinquish control over the Strait.
Iran on Saturday fired back at President Trump’s claim he would soon declare the Strait part of U.S. territory, saying the waterway “will remain Iranian.”
“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.
“This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.”
A White House official later clarified Trump was joking, the Wall Street Journal reported.
United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil giant ADNOC said Saturday one of its vessels came under attack the night before.
Monday, President Trump, in an interview with Fox News, warned Oman that the U.S. will “bomb the sh-t” out of them if they interfere in the conflict with Iran.
Iran said last week that it was in talks with Oman about how to reopen the world’s busiest oil shipping channel.
The two nations came to an “understanding” on Monday as they hammer out the final stages of the agreement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement.
“This is a highly complex issue, and for the first time a mechanism is to be established that both safeguards the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the two coastal states (Iran and Oman) and ensures the safe passage of commercial vessels through this waterway,” he added.
Iran has maintained that the Strait will only be reopened with a new toll system imposed, which the U.S. opposes.
Oman signaled at the end of June that it was open to a plan to collect “voluntary” fees from ships crossing the Strait similar to the systems in place in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Oman’s repeated willingness to collect fees led Trump to issue his first threat against the country in May, warning that he would “blow up” the allied nation if it failed to “behave.”
Monday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social:
“The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon.”
Trump also said he’s not interested in extending the expiring agreement with Iran…the memorandum of understanding that was meant to give Washington and Tehran a window to reach a lasting peace deal within 60 days.
Trump insisted that the U.S. had leverage over Iran, citing the naval blockade of Iranian ports, and repeated his idea of declaring the Strait an American territory, which we had been told days earlier was a ‘joke.’
A vessel heading out of the Strait was struck by an unknown projectile, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported Tuesday, highlighting the volatile situation in the waterway. The attack resulted in one casualty and damaged the ship’s engine room, UKMTO said.
The UAE said that two ballistic missiles were fired toward the country from Iran, the Islamic Republic’s first known attack on the Gulf nation since May as the wider Middle East war continues.
Both missiles fell into the sea, the country’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
President Trump on Truth Social, Tues. AM:
“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Wednesday evening, President Trump posted on Truth Social:
“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it. Therefore, today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale. Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread. Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies – It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies, to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”
China is Iran’s largest trading partner and the Islamic Republic has economic ties with Middle East neighbors, but trade with Europe is small due to years of sanctions and other restrictions. As part of the U.S. strategy to squeeze Iran economically, the United Arab Emirates said late Tuesday that it has suspended Tehran’s access to a major source of imports and a financial back door to the world.
Thursday, Iran dismissed threats by President Trump of economic pain and isolation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that such “failed policies” will stir more hostility among Iranians and “bring more failures.”
Friday, Iran said that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating.” The chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, said the Islamic Republic’s reaction would be broad and decisive.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country’s main negotiator in mediated negotiations with the U.S., said Washington appeared to have concluded it could not prevail in its direct military confrontation.
“We must make plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so that we can overcome them,” he said during a visit to Iraq.
—Editorial / Wall Street Journal…on the issue of U.S. Naval readiness….
“The underlying problem is that the U.S. burns naval power faster than it produces it, and the readiness spiral precedes the Trump Administration. The U.S. Navy aims for six- or seven-month rotations for carriers, but deployments regularly run for nine months. The USS Gerald Ford this year returned from a record 326 days deployed. The USS Dwight Eisenhower deployed in 2023 for about 270 days, and the USS Harry Truman did in 2024 for 251 days.
“That means longer and more expensive maintenance and more stress on personnel, who may decide to leave the service. ‘When it goes eight, nine-plus months,’ Adm. Caudle said this year, ‘those critical components that we weren’t expecting to repair are now on the table, so the work package grows.’
“A stressed carrier force is a sign that the U.S. doesn’t have sufficient naval assets to cover U.S. interests around the globe. It will require sustained resources to expand the fleet, with a more diverse mix of ships, and to recruit the sailors needed to man them.
“If Democrats don’t want to help, and they probably don’t given their sharp move to the left, this is a worthy priority for Republicans in Congress. Yet the GOP seems ready to abandon the President’s $350 billion defense request as part of a reconciliation bill.
“Everything in Washington these days turns partisan, but Mr. Trump’s decision to strike in Iran didn’t cause the Navy’s readiness dysfunction. It exposed the problem to a larger public audience. The open question is whether the country will start the long and hard work of turning the national aircraft carrier that is the U.S. Navy.”
A new aircraft carrier has been sent to the Middle east to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The USS George Washington headed to the region as the Lincoln reached a record deployment of more than 265 days at sea (without stepping on dry land all year). Supply problems onboard the carrier began at the start of the war after Iranian missiles hit a naval base in Bahrain.
The attack destroyed the base, which housed a major navy logistics hub. The Pentagon was then forced to use British base Diego Garcia as its supply hub, which is around 2,200 miles from where the aircraft carrier was operating in the Gulf of Oman.
—Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people Saturday, in the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on June 20.
Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.
Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the June 26 deal.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam criticized Israel’s airstrikes on southern Lebanon, saying they intimidate “residents in their homes” and undermine efforts to stabilize the situation in the south.
—Jared Kushner met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday, a day after a rare conference with the leader of Hamas in Egypt.
The meetings come as the Trump administration tries to hold together its deal for Hamas to disarm as part of the broader plan for the group to gradually transfer power to a committee to oversee “civilian and security functions” in the Gaza Strip. The deal calls for the removal of Israeli forces from Gaza as the disarmament process takes place.
Netanyahu has rejected the proposal, insisting that Hamas disarm before Israel withdraws.
Kushner and Hamas didn’t immediately share details about the meeting.
—
Wall Street and the Economy
The White House has been spooked by rising Treasury yields and the potential impact on the midterm elections and on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made an attempt to rein-in long-term borrowing costs from multi-year highs, which sent the yields on the 10- and 30-year down, but then they bounced back the next day.
Bessent sought to calm the bond market by doubling the amount of its own debt it is permitted to buy back from investors, which helped push bond prices up and yields down, for one day.
The thing is, while Treasury said it would increase the scale of its buybacks to $4 billion per weekly operation from $2 billion (maybe higher, Bessent hinted), which injects additional demand into the bond market, the buybacks account for a small amount of the almost $30 trillion Treasuries market, suggesting the move may do little to stem further increases in yields. The market consistently trades more than $1 trillion per day, according to data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade group.
But as noted up top, what Wall Street, and the average American really needs is an end to the uncertainty in the Middle East, which keeps energy prices high.
Last November, Bessent said, “my job is to be the nation’s top bond salesman – and Treasury yields are a strong barometer for measuring success in this endeavor.”
More recently he has pointed to Treasury yields as a barometer of his success in improving affordability, saying that interest rates play a major role in “whether a young family can afford a home, a college student can buy a car, or an entrepreneur can get a small business loan.”
While the deficit has been huge for years, overall debt (“total public debt outstanding”) topped $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering record that arrived just months after the national debt first blew past the $39 trillion mark in April. And the CBO estimated earlier this week that the annual gap between government revenue and spending would top $2 trillion this year, even though we aren’t in a recession.
And another factor in pushing yields higher is how much debt Big Tech is raising to build AI data centers. The deluge of bond offerings is giving bond investors more to choose from, which pushes up yields on Treasuries.
As for the Federal Reserve, we received the minutes from the July 28-29 meeting on Wednesday and more Fed officials favored raising interest rates last month than the three who formally dissented, and others signaled they would back an increase if inflation doesn’t improve.
“Many participants assessed that policy tightening would likely be necessary if inflation did not decline,” the minutes said.
On the economic data front this week, July housing starts were far less than expected at a 1.24 million annualized rate. July industrial production rose 0.2%.
But next week it’s all about the PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation barometer, a second look at second-quarter GDP, and Nvidia’s earnings.
And we have Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s key speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium, which is the most important item for the markets.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate of third-quarter growth is 4.0%.
Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.65%.
—The Trump administration delayed 50% tariffs on billions of dollars of Canadian products for three days, saying the two sides had reached a tentative agreement to resolve a broader trade dispute that had plunged relations to a fresh low.
President Trump announced the decision less than two hours before the tariffs were set to take effect. He said on Truth Social he was pausing the tariffs “based on the fact that Canada and U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”
Canada said there were important details to still work out. But the administration has been pushing Canada to drop “discriminatory” measures on U.S alcohol, dairy and motor vehicles.
And as I go to post, Canadian and U.S. officials are working today to finalize an agreement before Trump’s latest tariffs take effect at midnight.
Tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would be slashed, and rules for dairy import licenses amended. Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked the provinces to return American alcohol to store shelves.
Europe and Asia
We had the flash PMI readings for the month of August in the eurozone today, with the composite reading at 52.1 (50 the dividing line between growth and contraction); manufacturing 52.8, services 51.7 [S&P Global]
Germany: mfg. 54.1 (51-mo. high); services 48.5.
France: mfg. 51.5; services 48.4.
UK: mfg. 51.9; services 52.8.
Chris Williamson, Chief Economist, S&P Global:
“A sustained solid rise in business activity in August sets the eurozone up for a robust increase in third quarter GDP of around 0.3%. The manufacturing sector is again the star performer, enjoying its strongest growth for four-and-a-half years, with the services economy providing a supporting role, notching up another month of decent growth after the malaise in the second quarter.
“We are again seeing reports of precautionary stock building helping support the goods-producing sector amid the ongoing supply chain disruptions emanating out of the Middle East, with supply chain delays again remaining worryingly widespread in August. However, there are also encouraging signs of rising demand for AI-related tech goods and rising equipment demand thanks to higher defense spending, notably helping Germany in particular achieve increasingly impressive production gains.”
Eurostat released the final reading on July inflation for the euro area, 2.9% vs. 2.8% in June. Ex-food and energy the figure was 2.2%, unchanged from the month prior.
Headline inflation….
Germany 2.8%, France 2.4%, Italy 2.9%, Spain 3.9%, Ireland 3.1%.
In Asia….
China’s National Bureau of Statistics released some key economic data for July and it was not good. Industrial production up 4.5% year-over-year, retail sales rose just 0.6%, and fixed asset investment year-to-date was down 6.7%. All of these below consensus.
The July unemployment rate was 5.2%, a tick higher than estimates.
Meanwhile, a court in China on Thursday sentenced the billionaire founder of Evergrande to life in prison, years after the real estate giant’s collapse brought China’s financial system to the brink.
Hui Ka Yan, the company’s founder and former chairman, pleaded guilty in April to several charges, including fund-raising fraud, misuse of funds and securities fraud.
Japan’s preliminary reading on second-quarter GDP was 0.3%, 1.1% annualized, well below consensus of 2.0%. GDP in Q1 was 1.9%.
June industrial production increased 4.9% Y/Y.
July exports rose a strong 23.2%.
July inflation was 0.4%, 1.9% year-over-year. Ex-food and energy, 1.9%.
And we had flash PMI readings for August…Manufacturing 55.1, services 52.3.
Street Bytes
—Stocks declined for the week, tepid earnings from Walmart no help, let alone the poor response to Sec. Bessent’s intervention and the ongoing stalemate in the Gulf.
The Dow Jones fell 0.9% to 53277, the S&P 500 declined 1.4% and Nasdaq 2.1%.
For equities, aside from Jackson Hole, it’s about Nvidia next week.
—U.S. Treasury Yields
6-mo. 3.91% 2-yr. 4.23% 10-yr. 4.73% 30-yr. 5.27%
The Treasury’s surprise bond buyback failed to quell lingering concerns about inflation and expanding government debt, as bond yields rose, after the initial decline. The 2-year was up 7 basis points for the week, the 10-year 4 bps.
–There have been varying reports on the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, with some saying flows remain limited, but Axios reported the U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait to transport millions of barrels of oil each day.
Citing two U.S. officials, Axios said the operation, which has been underway for the last several weeks, has 15-20 tankers entering and exiting the Strait each night through a southern channel along the coast of Oman.
The officials said about 10 million barrels of oil a day – roughly half the pre-war volume – are being transported out of the Strait and injected into the global energy market.
—Home Depot started off Big Box retailer week, beating Wall Street estimates for second-quarter sales and profit on Tuesday, as resilient demand for smaller repair-and-maintenance projects helped offset a sluggish U.S. housing market.
The world’s largest home-improvement retailer said sales increased 5.7% to $47.86 billion in the three months ended August 2, topping analysts’ expectations of $47.27 billion.
Stubbornly high interest rates have pushed homeowners toward small-scale repair and maintenance projects such as painting and yard work, boosting demand at Home Depot. The prolonged slump in the U.S. housing market has been the biggest drag on the home-improvement industry. Hopes for a recovery this year have been dampened as affordability concerns keep away prospective buyers.
Home Depot stuck to its annual sales and profit forecasts, and said it expects tariff refunds to counter the impact of higher-than-expected fuel and other input costs during the year.
Adjusted earnings came in at $4.92, with the Street at $4.73.
Customers visited HD less frequently during the quarter but spent more when they did. Same-store sales increased 1.7%, a little more than expected, and U.S. same-store sales were up 1.3%.
HD expects annual comp sales of about flat to up 2%, with adjusted earnings per share of flat to up 4%, with total sales growing 2.5% to 4.5% for the year.
Outdoor categories, including live goods, mulch, patio items, and grills, drove momentum.
Last week, Home Depot said CEO Ted Decker, 63, will take a temporary medical leave of absences. His condition was not disclosed, but he’s expected to return within the next few months and was not on the earnings call.
–Home Depot rival Lowe’s gave a cautious outlook, citing “pressure” in do-it-yourself (DIY) consumer spending.
In the second quarter, Lowe’s revenue came in at $26 billion, just below the $26.1 billion the Street expected. Adjusted earnings per share, which included a $0.11 benefit from tariff refunds, came in at $4.27, above the $4.22 consensus.
“Sustained growth in Pro, Online and Home Services led to our fifth consecutive quarter of positive comp sales, despite pressure in discretionary DIY spending,” CEO Marvin Ellison said in the release.
Amid a tough housing backdrop that disproportionately affects DIY customers, Lowe’s same-store sales grew 0.2%, below the 0.7% expected. Sales were boosted by home services, Lowe’s pro business, and online transactions but were “partially offset by persistent DIY macro pressures,” the release said.
The DIY customer made up roughly 60% to 65% of Lowe’s revenue as of the first quarter.
Lowe’s shifted its guidance to the lower end of the previously expected forecasts. The company expects total sales of $92 billion in 2026, down from a prior range of $92 billion to $94 billion.
Adjusted EPS of approximately $12.25 was also at the low end of the previously expected range of $12.25 to $12.75.
—Target raised its annual sales forecast as efforts to cut prices and freshen merchandise continued to bear fruit, while noting its quarterly profit received a nearly $1 billion boost from tariff refunds.
It was the third straight strong quarter for Target, which also raised its growth forecast in May. The results suggest the turnaround plan of new CEO Michael Fiddelke is taking root ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season.
“It’s encouraging to see a strong consumer response to change where we’ve made it,” Fiddelke told reporters on a call. But he warned: “There’s a lot more to come, and…we need to execute well.”
Net sales climbed 5.3% from the year prior, with revenue at $26.54 billion. Comparable sales for the quarter ended August 1 grew 3.8%, beating estimates of 2.5% growth. That included a 3.6% rise in traffic and an 8.7% jump in digital comparable sales, as shoppers opted for same-day delivery.
Adjusted earnings per share of $2.46, were ahead of expectations of $2.33.
The company has also cut prices on 10,000 items – mostly food products – in the past year to be more competitive with the likes of Walmart and Kroger.
Fiddelke said more price cuts are on the way.
“We’re not done, so you can expect us to continue to lean into smart price investment.”
The retailer hiked its full fiscal-year outlook, and now expects full-year EPS, including tariff refunds, to be between $9.90 and $10.90. Ex-the repayment, that range would be $8.25 to $9.25 per share, compared with its previous outlook of $7.50 to $8.50.
—Walmart shares fell 10% on Thursday, even after raising its full-year financial outlook and beating the Street’s estimates on both the top and bottom lines, after U.S. same-store sales slowed.
America’s biggest retailer posted revenue growth of nearly 6% to $187.9 billion, above the roughly $186bn consensus. Adjusted earnings of $0.81 were also higher than estimates of $0.74.
But U.S. same-store sales, ex-fuel, grew 2.6%, below the Street’s forecast of 3.7%. This was the slowest pace of U.S. same-store sales growth since Q4 of 2020.
Cheaper drug prices dragged sales growth lower. Excluding health & wellness, which was negatively impacted by maximum fair price legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices, WMT reported 3.4% same-store sales growth in core merchandise.
During the quarter, Walmart looked to gain share with cost-conscious consumers by cutting prices on thousands of items, including beef, chips, and soda.
For the third quarter – comprising the crucial back-to-school season and the beginning of the retailer’s holiday plans – Walmart expects net sales to increase 3.0% to 3.75%, alongside adjusted earnings of $0.62 to $0.64.
For fiscal year 2027, WMT forecast revenue to increase by 4%-5% and adjusted EPS of $2.80-$2.87. The Street was at nearly 5% and adjusted earnings of $2.97 per share for the year.
The results suggest it’s getting more challenging to maintain a faster growth rate as expectations from investors have risen. The earnings report also may foment anxiety about uneven economic signals and deteriorating consumer sentiment.
—Anthropic PBC is telling prospective investors its second-quarter revenue jumped at least 14-fold versus the same period a year ago, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.
The Claude chatbot maker reported a preliminary revenue figure of more than $11.5 billion in its latest completed quarter, compared to $787 million in the corresponding period in 2025, and $4.73 billion in the first quarter of this year, the documents show.
The rapid growth comes as the company battles its longtime rival OpenAI to win over corporate customers. Once considered an underdog in the AI race, Anthropic has seen a surge in professionals adopting its software to streamline tasks including coding.
Anthropic’s annualized revenue or run rate crossed $47 billion in May. OpenAI has an annual run rate of over $40 billion, Bloomberg reported, though the two figures may not be calculated the same way.
But then CNBC reported Anthropic’s annualized revenue run rate hit $65 billion at the end of July.
The company is meeting with investors ahead of its potential mega-IPO, either for September or early October, according to reports.
—OpenAI signed a 10-gigawatt data-center deal in Ohio with SoftBank’s SB Energy that is partly backed by Nvidia, a project expected to become one of the largest AI hubs to date.
The deal is backed by a commitment from Nvidia aimed at helping the developer raise debt financing without exposing the chip maker to a substantial amount of risk.
Nvidia has agreed to backstop a portion of the value of the completed data center at the site, starting with the first phase of the project. In return for its commitment, Nvidia will be the exclusive chip provider for the first half of the Ohio site and take an equity stake in SB Energy, sources said.
Yes, another complex transaction aimed at helping OpenAI secure an enormous amount of computing capacity.
The southern Ohio campus is partly located on a former uranium-enrichment site owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and is expected to generate enough energy to power seven million homes.
Nvidia’s support is intended to make the project easier and less expensive to finance by giving lenders greater confidence that the data centers would retain value even if OpenAI were no longer the tenant.
The data-center campus will rely on the construction of a 9.2-gigawatt natural-gas plant, which is owned by the U.S. government and financed by Japan under a recent trade deal.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI told investors its revenue grew by 18% from the first to the second quarter, while its losses deepened, results that disappointed some shareholders who had hoped the startup would show more progress catching up to Anthropic.
The company said its revenue grew to $6.7 billion in the three months ended in June, up from $5.7 billion in the first quarter. Anthropic more than doubled its revenue to $11.6 billion in the same period.
—SpaceX recently completed its $60 billion acquisition of Cursor, which is essentially an AI software development tool. A user can tell Cursor to develop, say, a touch screen-based user interface. Then Cursor builds it. Users iterate with natural language commands.
—TSA checkpoint numbers vs. 2026
8/20…113 percent of 2025 levels
8/19…101
8/18…78
8/17…90
8/16…117
8/15…82
8/14…94
8/13…116
–Shares of U.S. vaccine-maker Moderna soared a staggering 177% after the company reported successful results for a melanoma cancer vaccine that is being developed with Merck, in combination with its Keytruda cancer drug.
Moderna on Wednesday said the therapy delivered the first positive outcome in a late-stage trial for an mRNA cancer vaccine.
“Today’s results represent a landmark moment for adjuvant melanoma treatment,” said Professor Georgina Long, the study’s principal investigator and medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia.
Merck shares surged 10%+ on the news.
[Moderna shares fell 25% on Thursday, but given Wednesday’s historic move, this was nothing.]
Editorial / Wall Street Journal
“Moderna has been working on its experimental cancer vaccines with Merck for a decade. Because of those efforts, it was able during the pandemic to adapt its mRNA platform quickly to develop a Covid shot. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Moderna’s mRNA vaccines for the flu and RSV as well.
“But the technology’s greater promise may lie in preventing cancer recurrences. Cancers come back in about half of later-stage melanoma patients after their tumors are removed. The idea is to use mRNA to train the immune system to recognize tumor mutations and hunt down and kill cancer cells hiding around the body.”
Go Moderna!
—Deere shares surged 7% after the company posted higher profit and sales in its fiscal third quarter, as continued growth in the company’s construction equipment business helped to offset ongoing weakness in its production agriculture segment.
Deere posted a profit of $1.38 billion for its three months ended Aug. 2, compared with $1.29bn in last year’s comparable period. On a per-share basis, quarterly earnings of $5.10 a share topped the Street’s $4.69 a share forecast.
Net sales and revenues climbed 6.2% to $11 billion, beating estimates for $10.81bn.
The company’s production and precision agriculture division – its largest business unit – came in at $4 billion, down from 6.4% a year ago. The decline was offset by construction and forestry sales, which jumped 18% to $3.62 billion, and small agriculture and turf sales, which rose 12% to $3.38bn.
CEO John May said Deere continues to believe 2026 will mark the bottom of the current agriculture equipment cycle.
—President Trump is scrambling to gain points before the midterms and so today he intervened in the beef market in an attempt to lower prices. But in turn he pissed off a lot of supporters.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.”
The president didn’t say where the beef is coming from, but he has previously considered a similar arrangement with Argentina.
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), a Trump supporter, said in a post on X that he’d been warning against such action “because American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them – most of whom are MAGA Republicans.”
“What a slap in the face to American cattlemen & consumers,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote online. “Worse than socialism! Dumping foreign beef in U.S. markets can temporarily lower prices but it won’t incentivize American farmers to raise more beef.”
—Walt Disney’s ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission alleging the agency’s efforts to challenge its broadcast licenses and regulate its talk show “The View” are illegal and an effort to quash speech the Trump administration finds objectionable.
In a suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, ABC said, “Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech – the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air. Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”
ABC is asking the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the FCC’s license renewal process and requested a hearing from the D.C. Circuit Court.
The battle between ABC and the FCC began last year when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr launched a probe into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to determine whether they violated the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.
Inside ABC, executives felt that the DEI probe was really a response to commentary on some of the network’s shows, including its late night program “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and daytime show “The View,” both of which have been harsh critics of the Trump administration.
Then, after Kimmel made disparaging remarks about Trump and the president called for the host to be fired, the FCC said it was launching an early license renewal for ABC’s eight local broadcast stations.
“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” Disney said in its suit.
—Sony Pictures now has its biggest grossing film ever after the latest Spider-Man expanded its domination of the global box office for a third straight weekend.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day sold another estimated $70 million of tickets last weekend, expanding its domestic total to more than $785.8 million in only three weekends. The film performed even better internationally, selling another $118.7 million, taking its total outside North America to $1.24 billion, including $210 million in China, to surpass $2.02 billion in global box office in only three weekends.
Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian called it an “amazing milestone…The film crosses $2 billion at the worldwide box office, achieving the milestone as the 2nd fastest film ever and only the 8th movie to do so overall. …making it Sony’s highest-grossing release ever.”
For Hollywood, this weekend’s estimated $160.1 million in domestic box office ticket sales brings the year to date box office take to nearly $6.87 billion, or 19.4% higher than at this point last year, according to Rentrak.
The summer box office since May 1 is at an estimated $4.24 billion through Sunday, up 23.6% from this point in 2025 and 5.7% higher than summer 2019, not adjusted for inflation.
The Odyssey sold another $23.2 million domestically and $98.2 million internationally in its fifth weekend, to bring its domestic take to $504.7 million and its global total to more than $1.29 billion.
Foreign Affairs
Russia/Ukraine: Last Saturday, a large-scale Ukrainian attack struck industrial infrastructure in Russia’s southwestern Samara region, a Russian official said.
Ivan Noskov, head of the region’s capital, Samara, said air defense forces had repelled a “massive” missile attack, with “localized damage” to the city’s industrial sites. He also said that medical assistance has been provided to those injured in the attack, but gave no further details.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that Kyiv’s forces had carried out a strike against Samara’s Progress Center, which operates under Russian space agency Roscosmos and is involved in producing rocket technology and electronics.
He said that the strike used domestically produced Flamingo missiles to hit the site, which is approximately 560 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Russian forces launched a missile attack on Kyiv early Sunday, sparking fires in at least two districts of the capital, six injured, but no deaths were reported. However, one of the city’s largest book markets was destroyed.
But a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih killed two people and wounded 14 others.
ArcellorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, confirmed that one of its sites had been hit in a missile attack and that operations had been partially suspended.
Russia claimed to have hit a manufacturing facility for Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles.
Three others were killed across the country in Russia’s Sunday attack.
Romania announced it shot down a drone that had entered its airspace.
Also Sunday, Ukraine launched hundreds of drones across Russia, killing at least six people in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight. Some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third of those destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
And then…at least 16 people were killed and 40 injured in the latest Russian strikes targeting the Ukrainian capital overnight Wednesday, as Kyiv continues to face a shortage of air defense missiles.
Apartment blocks and warehouses were struck across the city overnight, the State Emergency Services of Ukraine said, while a children’s hospital and school were also damaged.
The Russian defense ministry said it used air, land and sea-based weapons to target military facilities and warehouses.
President Zelensky said the deaths were the direct result of the shortage of air defense missiles, with Kyiv relying on western allies to supply them.
Writing on Telegram, he said “as long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistics, Russia will not seriously think about peace.”
Zelensky added: “The interceptors for the Patriots have not yet been replaced, and they are needed every day. Each additional missile saves the lives of our people.”
Ukraine has relied on American supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles to combat Russian ballistic missiles, but the U.S. has used much of its stockpile during the war in the Middle East and has been supplying Ukraine with less.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told the BBC that his country “can’t do anything” without the interceptors, describing cities as “absolutely unprotected” from ballistic missile attacks.
He continued: “Russia is using this trying to destroy as much infrastructure as possible.
“For us it’s very painful because we are dying here every day without these interceptors.”
Zelensky’s renewed plea for more military aid came as he faced a direct political challenge from the popular ex-defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who has called for an election and launched a scathing attack on the government by claiming corruption has deprived the military of weapons.
Fedorov, in a bombshell video address released on YouTube Tuesday, argued the nation faced a crisis of governance, in the biggest internal challenge to Zelensky since Russia’s invasion, as he called for wartime elections.
“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” Fedorov said. “We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war.”
The 35-year-old Fedorov was a longtime ally of Zelensky’s until his unexpected firing from the Defense Ministry in July, just six months after he had been appointed, vowing sweeping reforms.
Shortly after his dismissal, the tech-savvy Fedorov, responsible for many of the advances in the drone war, tore into the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, exposing a bitter rift between the two and their different visions for the war.
After mass protests in support of Fedorov, Zelensky then fired Syrskyi.
Fedorov did not say that he would compete in any election, but polls have shown he would beat Zelensky in a runoff vote.
Garry Kasparov / Washington Post
“It’s clear that (President) Trump is unlikely to try to stop (Vladimir Putin) and might even facilitate his aims. It becomes, then, more imperative than ever to remind U.S. senators that they are the chief representatives of American values today and must do everything in their power to provide support to Ukraine. The Senate’s levers include its control over nominations; the House’s include the power of the purse. But with Congress still largely in Trump’s grip, principled lawmakers can at least make a stronger moral case for Ukraine and for defending America’s strategic interests. The alternative is allowing America to become a bystander to the slaughter of the Ukrainian people and opening the door to unknown future atrocities.
“Putin has shown no sign that he will stop at Ukraine, and every sign that he will continue on into NATO territory. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on U.S. intelligence suggesting that Putin could mount a small-scale invasion into a NATO country within the next few years to test the alliance’s resolve. Putin will not stop, but, given America’s institutions, Trump can be stopped, whatever his motivations. And it is Congress’s responsibility to stop his undermining of Ukraine’s self-defense, and to prevent a further escalation of Putin’s war.”
North/South Korea: Sunday evening, President Trump posted on Truth Social:
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful. Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises! While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’ Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
North Korea has been building up its arsenal of nuclear warheads and is providing troops and missiles to help Russia with its military offensive against Ukraine, according to U.S. intelligence. Last week, it launched a ballistic missile from its eastern coast that flew more than 700 kilometers, according to South Korea’s military.
“We need South Korea as an ally more than ever to maintain deterrence on the Korean Peninsula and to reinforce our industrial base in critical sectors like shipbuilding and semiconductors,” said Patrick Cronin, an expert on Asian security at the Hudson Institute. “We should not punish Seoul for our lack of a strategy in the Middle East.”
Trump’s announcement will only heighten growing worries among Asian allies over what the U.S. is now willing to do to deter China, given the enormous distraction and resource drain of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. The United States is running low on critical weapons and has been moving military resources out of Asia to the Middle East.
The drills were then cut short by six days, South Korea’s defense ministry announced. President Trump began pushing for a meeting with Kim Jong Un.
“The fact that I get along with him – that’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” Trump said. “He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen. If I was president, I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen. But he’s got them.”
Well Trump was president for four years prior and Kim was developing nukes in that time. He’s never stopped, including during the Biden administration, which focused more on strengthening relations with Japan and South Korea.
It seems Trump is targeting a face-to-face meeting with Kim at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Shenzhen, China, set for Nov. 18 and 19. It would be Trump’s first meeting with Kim of his second term.
Trump met three times with Kim during his first term, but his diplomatic efforts failed to result in Kim reducing his county’s nuclear arsenal.
Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said in a statement Wednesday carried by state media, that the drill reductions don’t merit interest or comment because nothing has fundamentally changed.
“The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.”
She also denied Trump and her brother had recently communicated. But, she added, the relationship between the North Korean leader and Trump remains “excellent.” On Monday, Trump said Kim had responded to his outreach, describing it as “very positive.”
“The head of our state personally holds good memories and feelings toward Trump,” she said. “Nevertheless the U.S.’s hostile policy remains unchanged.”
Editorial / Wall Street Journal
“President Trump is nothing if not impulsive, and his latest brainstorm is to rekindle his courtship of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He announced Sunday evening on – where else? – social media that he had ordered the Pentagon to ‘substantially reduce’ U.S. military exercises with South Korea that were set to begin Monday….
“(Pulling) back from the exercises sends a message of weakening deterrence and readiness against a regime that has a history of threats and aggression against the South. The North had protested, as usual, ahead of the routine exercises, and Mr. Trump’s order is an act of appeasement toward Mr. Kim.
“The U.S. President also took a shot at South Korea for not helping the U.S. with the ‘Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.’ The implication is that Mr. Trump is willing to reduce U.S. deterrence in the Korean Peninsula out of pique because Seoul isn’t helping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is the same South Korea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised in May for its ‘pragmatism and leadership’ in raising its defense spending to 3.5% of GDP.
“This will reinforce the growing belief in Asia and Europe that the U.S. is becoming an unreliable ally. It may also increase the calls in the South for Seoul to develop its own nuclear deterrent to counter the growing nuclear arsenal in North Korea. Mr. Trump may not mean for any of this to happen, but in the wake of Mr. Trump’s uncertain trumpet on Iran, the world is wondering about U.S. staying power.
“On that note, Mr. Trump might be trying to change the subject from the stalemate with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. Or he might be trying to appease Mr. Kim at a moment when U.S. weapons stocks and deployments are stretched. The U.S. is currently moving its last aircraft carrier task force out of the western Pacific to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln that is coming home after an extended deployment.
“China is happy to see the USS George Washington leave the Pacific, as it seeks to persuade countries in the region that they can’t count on the U.S. for defense. China may not use this opportunity to move against Taiwan, but it has been ratcheting up its aggressive moves against Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines in the East and South China Sea.”
Speaking of Taiwan, the cabinet approved a record $35.1 billion defense budget for next year, highlighting its push to deter China militarily.
Spending on the armed forces would account for 3.01% of next year’s GDP, the cabinet said in a statement.
But the spending plans must be approved by the opposition-controlled legislature, a process that is likely to be difficult. Taiwan finally passed its central government budget for 2026 last week, ending the longest delay in nearly three decades.
And local elections are set for Nov. 28, further complicating any approval for the increased defense spending.
Editorial / Wall Street Journal
“While President Trump imagines himself a personal deterrent to Chinese President Xi Jinpinng, what matters is military power and a willingness to use it. Republicans do no favors when they flatter Mr. Trump or characterize Taiwan as a distant question….
“The free people of Taiwan are on the front lines against a Chinese Communist Party that wants to dominate the 21st century. If Beijing tries to blockade or invade the island, Americans will notice the economic and strategic damage that would go far beyond chip fabrication. And the idea that voters can’t care about both women’s sports and the fate of the free world is giving them too little credit. [Ed. a line used by South Carolina Senate candidate Darlene Graham in a debate this week.]
“ ‘If America abandons Taiwan, it will change the world fundamentally for the worse,’ a notable GOP Senator said in i2022. ‘To abandon Taiwan is to give in to the rule of gun versus the rule of law.’ The late Lindsey Graham wouldn’t mind if his sister – or AOC – borrowed that line.”
Random Musings
—Presidential approval ratings….
Rasmussen: 43% approve of President Trump’s job performance, 55% disapprove (Aug. 14).
A new Reuters/Ipsos survey has the president with a new record low approval rating of 33% for his second term, and tying the low from his first term in office.
—In Tuesday’s primaries, in Florida, state representative Angie Nixon, a progressive firebrand who ran an underdog campaign where she couldn’t afford a single television ad, won the Democratic Senate nomination in a shocking upset of Alex Vindman, a candidate with establishment backing who raised 16 times as much campaign money as Nixon, a democratic socialist.
The result sets up a November general election matchup against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Marco Rubio left the Senate to become secretary of state in the Trump administration.
Moody is running to hold the seat for the remainder of Rubio’s term, while Nixon is seeking to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Florida in a decade marked by Republican dominance.
Rep. Cory Mills lost the Republican primary in Florida’s Seventh Congressional District to Ryan Elijah, a former local television news anchor, after Mills lost key support within his own party. Two House colleagues endorsed Elijah.
Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz, both moderate, pro-Israel Democrats, easily fended off rivals after Republican gerrymandering led them to compete in new districts. Wasserman Schultz, an 11-term incumbent, overcame frustration from Black Democrats who did not want her to represent a historically Black district. Moskowitz bested a democratic socialist.
Also in Florida, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds won the Republican nomination for Florida governor and former Rep. David Jolly picked up the Democratic nod, setting the stage for a November contest to replace outgoing Gov. DeSantis, who is barred from running for a third consecutive term. Jolly is a former Republican congressman who switched parties last year.
Senator Dan Sullivan, the incumbent Republican, and former Representative Mary Peltola, a Democrat, easily advanced to the general election ballot on Tuesday in Alaska’s Senate primary, setting up a highly anticipated matchup that could decide control of the Senate.
—The Democratic National Committee on Saturday officially selected South Carolina as the first state to vote in the party’s 2028 primaries.
The vote at the DNC’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas, codified a July vote by the organization’s Rules & Bylaws Committee. Following South Carolina will be Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.
–The Wall Street Journal reported that a new battalion established last January in Europe to master the art of fighting with drones and ground robots, learning the lessons of the war in Ukraine, is now being phased out.
“After participating in a major exercise in Germany in August and September, the unit will report its findings to the Army to guide future experimentation, shed its drone assault role and ‘refocus on its core warfighting tasks as an airborne infantry battalion,’ an Army official told the Journal in a statement.
“The elimination of a futuristic drone battalion is part of a broader ‘back-to-basics’ approach ordered up by Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army who is closely aligned with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The battalion was a signature initiative of LaNeve’s predecessor, Gen. Randy George, whom Hegseth ousted in April.
“The decision to wind down the drone assault unit is drawing criticism from several military experts who say it will slow down the Army’s push to excel in the kind of drone warfare that has transformed the battlefield in Ukraine and the Middle East.”
This is nuts.
—The homicide rate in the United States dropped to the lowest it’s been in 75 years, according to an FBI report on 2025 crime statistics released last Friday, which also showed overall violent crime dropped 9.3% last year.
Experts note that national violent crime rates have been declining since 2022, and pinpointing an exact reason is difficult. The FBI report is based on data reported voluntarily by many but not all law enforcement agencies across the country.
Groups like the Council on Criminal Justice have said 2026 could see an even larger decline than 2025.
Crime surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with homicides increasing nearly 30% in 2020 over the previous year, the largest one-year jump since the FBI began keeping records. Violent crime across the U.S. dipped to near pre-pandemic levels around 2022.
—Barron’s has a little tidbit in the ‘magazine’ titled “The Numbers” and I’ve meant to note this item.
“200…Estimate of how many private colleges tapped restricted endowments to pay bills, up from 131 in 2021.”
—Hurricane Lala’s eyewall skirted Hawaii without making landfall, but it punished the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts and relentless rain, reaching a total of nearly three feet in places and sending raging torrents down mountainsides.
At least one person died on the Big Island.
And now Hawaii needs to keep a close eye on the forecast this weekend, as what will become Tropical Storm Moke is building. Five to 15 more inches is possible on the Big Island, with one to five inches possible elsewhere on already saturated ground.
—Storms and floods in Indiana killed seven since the dayslong storm system first began pummeling parts of the state.
At one point, the storms had left nearly 1 million utility customers without power through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Ohio also saw a fatality.
—Lake Powell, the giant reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border, fell to its lowest level ever amidst a worsening western drought exacerbated by climate change.
The lake’s surface dropped to 3,519.91 feet above sea level on Aug. 15, according to the Bureau of Reclamation’s automated gauge system. The previous lowest level was 3,519.92 feet, reached in April 2023. Dropping below 3,490 feet could imperil the lake’s ability to generate electricity, and federal officials have been pulling water out of smaller reservoirs upstream to help delay reaching that level.
Nevertheless, the lake may fall close to that level, known as minimum power pool, early next spring, according to federal predictions. Further drops could take the lake to what’s known as “dead pool,” where it’s too low to flow downstream. That could spark draconian cuts to how much water is available for millions of people to drink and imperil farms 500 miles away in California’s Imperial Valley.
On Aug. 7, Lake Mead, outside Las Vegas, fell to its lowest-ever level and is now setting a new record-low daily as it continues to fall.
Neither lake will gain significant new waters until next spring, and only then if the winter is a wet one.
—
Pray for the men and women of our armed forces…and all the fallen.
Slava Ukraini. One time, President Trump, call out Putin! [He can’t…truly pathetic…]
God bless America.
—
Gold $4620…Silver $69.30
Oil (WTI) $86.80…Brent $94.00
Regular Gas: $4.10; Diesel: $5.57 [$3.13 – $3.69 yr. ago]
Bitcoin: $76,995 [4:00 PM ET, Friday…a gain of $14,000+ on the week…20%+…]
Returns for the week 8/17-8/21
Dow Jones -0.9% [53277]
S&P 500 -1.4% [7674]
S&P MidCap -2.5%
Russell 2000 -1.7%
Nasdaq -2.1% [26180]
Returns for the period 1/1/26-8/21/26
Dow Jones +10.9%
S&P 500 +12.1%
S&P MidCap +15.9%
Russell 2000 +21.6%
Nasdaq +12.6%
Hang in there.
*I have a special post as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on my Hot Spots link. Every high school and college student should read it. It’s our history, as depressing as that day was.
https://stocksandnews.com/hot-spots/2026/08/20/9-11-01/
Brian Trumbore
