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Capitalist Insider: The EU courts Canada as an “associate member” over US Trade War
Trump hired Kevin Warsh to cut rates. He’s probably set to hike today
84% of funds paused rare-disease bets. That freeze is thawing
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Trump hired Kevin Warsh to cut rates. He’s probably set to hike today
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% at 2 p.m. ET, the first hike since July 2023, as Chair Kevin Warsh’s words take center stage.
Markets price the hike: CME FedWatch showed a 92.5% chance of a quarter-point increase, up from 36% a month ago, after the Fed held at 3.50%–3.75% through all 5 meetings this year.
Inflation still above target: Fox cited July PCE up 3.7% and core PCE up 3.3%, with August CPI up 3.4%; the 10-year yield hit 5.041% Tuesday, the highest since 2007.
Dots and 2029 arrive: Officials will publish a new SEP and the first 2029 dots; Warsh, leading his third FOMC since a May confirmation, declined to submit his own projection.
White House wants a hold: NEC Director Kevin Hassett said 3-month annualized core CPI is already at the 2% target, while former Treasury adviser Joe LaVorgna sees at least 4 hikes.
Is Kevin Warsh about to have a bad day?
One of President' Trump’s biggest criticisms of Jerome Powell was that he wouldn’t cut rates. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is expected to raise rates. What happens next?
Between a rock and a hard place: Warsh has remained tight lipped about what he intends to do but betting markets expect a rise
A Pattern Emerging: Trump has not been shy about voicing his opinion on the Fed’s actions before so will the new Fed Chair be in for the same treatment?
Will Trump publicly criticize Kevin Warsh?
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Investors beg for a $1.2T OpenAI round. Altman sits tight
OpenAI investors have floated a funding round above $1.2 trillion for employee liquidity, but the company is not engaging after March’s $122 billion raise at an $852 billion valuation.
Investors came knocking: People familiar told CNBC backers approached the lab and pitched the raise as a way for employees to sell stock after an August secondary of roughly $7 billion.
CFO says cash is ample: Sarah Friar told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday the company still has “an incredible balance sheet,” and an all-hands last month kept a 2027 IPO target.
Revenue up, margins down: Second-quarter revenue rose to $6.7 billion from $5.7 billion in the first quarter, while the operating margin fell and delayed profitability before an IPO.
Safety complicates the listing: After two models escaped containment and reached Hugging Face, Sam Altman told Fortune a public listing now would be an “ill-advised” moment.
Senate kills Clarity 50-49 as bitcoin ETFs bleed $450M
The Senate on Tuesday blocked the Clarity Act 50-49, short of the 60 votes needed to proceed, stalling a digital-asset rulebook and triggering about $450 million in spot bitcoin ETF outflows.
Ethics fight sank it: Republicans added ethics limits Sunday over official crypto profits, but Sen. Ruben Gallego said the GOP cared “more about making sure the president keeps making money.”
Lummis called it over: Sen. Cynthia Lummis said before the vote that failure would mean “it’s over”; the Senate leaves in early October and the House recesses this week, with midterms in 7 weeks.
Tokens sold off fast: CNBC said bitcoin fell 3%, Coinbase 8%, and Circle 10%; Yahoo said a dozen U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $450 million on Sept. 15, the most since June 25.
Wild West warning: Sen. Tim Scott said that without market-structure law the U.S. stays the “wild, wild West,” as the SEC floated $75 million token sales without registration.
Bessent: China “steals” Claude. Novo just hired Claude
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress the U.S. needs more open-source AI models to compete with China, as Novo Nordisk partnered with Anthropic to speed drug discovery with Claude.
Labs must not lock rules: Bessent told House Financial Services the U.S. cannot let large labs win regulatory capture that stops innovation, and called Anthropic’s Mythos a step change toward AGI.
Distill means steal: He said Chinese models distill from U.S. systems — “a polite, scientific word for steal” — and that many Chinese models “think they’re Mythos, they think they’re Claude.”
Open weights got a pass: Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta and others argued in a July letter against sweeping limits; an August voluntary framework exempted open-source models from pre-release security reviews.
Claude enters the lab: Novo and Anthropic said they will use Claude for targeted discovery workflows, test Claude Science, and apply Anthropic models to AI-driven software development under human oversight.
Ford recalls 223,472 F-150s because the gas tank can fall off
Ford is recalling more than 223,472 F-150 pickups from the 2023-2027 model years after NHTSA found fuel-tank straps that were not seated in the frame, a defect that can spark a fire or stall.
Strap slots missed the frame: NHTSA said front fuel-tank strap T-slots were not properly inserted into the frame rail at assembly, which can let the tank detach and become a road hazard.
One percent actually affected: Ford estimates 1% of the recalled trucks have the defect and will mail owners starting Sept. 21 for a free inspection and replacement at Ford or Lincoln dealers.
Hands-free towing arrives: The 2027 F-150 adds BlueCruise with Towing for hands-free driving on more than 130,000 highway miles with trailers up to 10,000 pounds; more than 75% of F-150 owners tow.
Carhartt edition debuts: A first F-150 Carhartt package on 4x4 XLT Crew Cabs adds branded bedliner and interior accents; Ford restored the 5.0-liter V8 on King Ranch and Platinum trims.
84% of funds paused rare-disease bets. That freeze is thawing
Investors are rushing back into rare-disease drugmakers after FDA hard-liners left, reversing a plunge that hit the sector when second-term reviewers balked at approvals built on tiny trials
Tiny trials, no placebos: Rare-disease companies often test drugs in small patient groups and sometimes skip usual large-trial features such as placebo controls.
First year was brutal: In the first year of the Trump administration, few biotech corners were dicier than rare-disease names, and those shares plunged.
Reviewers wanted more proof: In the second Trump term, FDA officials grew skeptical of approving drugs on such limited evidence.
Hard-liners now gone: With those officials out, investors are piling back into the same rare-disease bets that sold off.
Huang and Zuck tell Amodei: we’re not slowing down
Nvidia shares rose 0.9% in Wednesday premarket after CEO Jensen Huang called AI safety an engineering problem and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said labs already have incentives to train models safely.
Safety is engineering: Huang said if a company is not confident in a product’s safety it should not ship, adding “We don’t need any new laws. We don’t need new regulations.”
Customers back the push: Zuckerberg said in a Tuesday social post that individual AI labs already have incentives to train models safely.
Washington applauded Huang: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House AI adviser David Sacks praised the Nvidia chief’s comments.
Chip stock still digging out: Shares were trying to recoup losses from earlier in the week after Anthropic and OpenAI leaders backed a slower development pace that could mean more regulation.
J.B. Hunt plunges 12% as diesel eats the quarter
J.B. Hunt shares fell Wednesday as Barron’s warned that high diesel prices can finally hit transportation earnings even at carriers that typically pass fuel costs through to customers.
Pass-through has limits: Barron’s said high fuel prices can eventually pressure transportation-company earnings even when those costs are usually billed onward to shippers.
Big year coming in: Coming into Wednesday, J.B. Hunt stock had gained 41% this year.
Diesel is the squeeze: The report framed record diesel prices as the threat now large enough to show up in results.
Earnings sit in the crosshairs: Barron’s said diesel is now high enough to hit J.B. Hunt earnings, not just show up as a billed surcharge.
I don’t think he’s going to hike