ActiveInvestorMag.com: The briefing, evening edition

A Circle shareholder sues Trump and World Liberty Financial over UAE-linked crypto deals

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The lawsuit alleges the president violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause by profiting from more than $2 billion in deals tied to the United Arab Emirates.

J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder in crypto company Circle Internet Group, sued President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial on Thursday. The suit alleges that two deals linked to the United Arab Emirates violated the Constitution. It accuses Trump of breaching the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

The lawsuit accuses Trump and World Liberty Financial of “corruptly profiting” from more than $2 billion in digital currency-related deals. It focuses on two business deals linked to the crypto firm. The case was filed in Washington, in federal court. It alleges that both the president and the company unlawfully profited from crypto transactions involving the UAE.

World Liberty Financial is the cryptocurrency venture Trump co-founded with his sons. It was launched in 2024 with members of the Trump and Witkoff families and operates the USD1 stablecoin.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Banks find unauthorized AI agents inside customer accounts as the comptroller says lenders are ready

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Major US lenders are blocking the agents and rewriting their terms of service, while the comptroller of the currency says national banks are well guarded.

Major US banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, according to sources. Some of the agents have attempted to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions.

Banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are racing to contain the risks. The difficulty of telling a human from an unauthorized bot is forcing banks to block the technology and rapidly rewrite their terms of service.

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon warned that “there could be thousands” of rogue AI agents accessing bank accounts. Major banks were described as “horrified” by the agents found inside customer accounts. The reports of rogue agents in US bank accounts spread quickly after the first disclosure.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Blackstone’s inflows reach $63 billion as rising rates slow private equity and real estate exits

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Shares rose 6% on an earnings beat, while proceeds from private equity asset sales fell 49% and the firm cast widening spreads on AI-related debt as a chance for higher returns.

Blackstone’s inflows reached $63 billion in the third quarter, with positive momentum across its major fundraising efforts, chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said. The shares rose 6% after the firm beat earnings expectations. Net income rose and total assets under management were up 10%.

Assets under management topped $1.37tn. Perpetual capital assets under management reached $562.3 billion, up 12%. The credit and insurance business pulled in $35.8bn in the quarter.

Rising rates hit the firm’s core businesses. Proceeds from asset sales in the private-equity unit fell 49%, and real estate exits also slowed. Real estate dragged on third-quarter earnings growth.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Canadian producer prices jump 2% in September, and KPMG now expects an October rate rise

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Statistics Canada’s industrial price index rose 14.5% from a year earlier as markets put the chance of a quarter-point Bank of Canada hike next week at about 75%.

Statistics Canada’s industrial product price index increased 2% in September from the month before. It jumped 14.5% compared with a year earlier, the 24th consecutive annual increase.

KPMG Canada said it now expects the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates next week, reversing its earlier forecast of a December 2026 hike. Economists at CIBC World Markets said rising input costs may portend a rate hike and expect the central bank to raise rates at its upcoming rate-setting meeting.

Investors see a roughly 75% chance that the Bank of Canada will raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points. Financial markets are betting on a rate hike at the bank’s 28 October meeting.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Commerce plans up to $389 million of CHIPS awards for power semiconductors and critical materials

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Letters of intent with four companies follow 19 earlier research grants, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems has signed one worth $85 million.

The Commerce Department announced letters of intent with four companies for $389 million of research and development awards. The funds are aimed at power semiconductors and critical materials. The awards are being made under the CHIPS and Science Act.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems signed an $85 million letter of intent with the department. The four proposed awards follow 19 semiconductor research and development grants. One account rounded the package to $400M of semiconductor research funding. Another described it as a plan for up to $389M for power semiconductors under the CHIPS Act.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the awards will “accelerate American semiconductor innovation to enhance our domestic energy” and power resources. “These investments expand domestic research, secure critical supply chains, and create high-paying American jobs,” he said.

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Euro zone consumer confidence falls to -17.9 as the energy shock lingers

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The European Commission’s flash reading fell further than economists expected in October, taking household sentiment in the currency area to a five-month low.

The European Commission’s flash consumer-confidence indicator for the 21-nation currency area fell 1.1 points to minus 17.9 in October. Economists had expected a reading of minus 17.0. Sentiment among euro zone households has now fallen for two consecutive months.

In the European Union as a whole, consumer sentiment fell by 1.2 points to minus 17.3. The drop in the wider bloc was slightly larger than the 1.1-point fall in the euro area, although the EU reading remains less negative.

Euro area consumer sentiment eroded at a faster-than-expected pace in October and reached its lowest level in five months. The October figure is a flash estimate published by the European Commission.

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Meta agrees to help Zuckerberg pay California’s proposed billionaire tax so he stays in the state

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The deal, made less than two weeks before the midterm elections, follows Zuckerberg’s warning that he would leave California if voters approve the wealth tax.

Mark Zuckerberg has made a deal with Meta to help him pay a proposed billionaire tax that is on the ballot in California. Meta made clear that its chief executive is staying in California if the wealth tax passes. The company agreed the deal to stop him leaving the state over the tax.

Zuckerberg had said he would exit the state over a wealth tax that has not yet come into force. He is among the billionaires who have said they would consider leaving California if the measure, Prop 40, is approved. The Meta board’s move was described as placating Zuckerberg after his threat to leave.

The help applies only if the tax passes. Meta offered it as an incentive to keep Zuckerberg in California. The deal was disclosed with less than two weeks to go before the midterm elections.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Netanyahu tells Israel’s military the US and Israel must topple Iran’s regime

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Speaking at an officer graduation ceremony, the Israeli prime minister ordered the army and Mossad to pursue the overthrow of Iran’s leadership, according to accounts of the speech.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the United States and Israel must topple the Iranian regime. He spoke at an Israel Defense Forces officer graduation ceremony on Wednesday night. He delivered the message to the military’s newly graduating officers.

Netanyahu ordered the IDF and the Mossad intelligence agency to pursue the overthrow of the Iranian regime. He was talking about taking down the regime, not only about pressure on Iran.

In the speech he targeted Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father after Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on 28 February. Netanyahu said that Khamenei had made a decision about the course he would follow.

Netanyahu has also been pressing President Donald Trump to resume strikes against Iran, as both leaders contend with poor polling ahead of critical elections.

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Pentagon and Lockheed agree a 10-year framework for at least 850 F-35 jets

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The decade-long deal sets a minimum commitment for US aircraft and keeps Lockheed aiming for annual output of 156 jets.

Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon struck an initial deal to produce 850 F-35 jets. The US Defense Department said the framework establishes a minimum commitment of 850 US aircraft over a 10-year period. The two sides agreed a decade-long framework deal for hundreds of jets.

Under the agreement with the Department of Defense, which President Donald Trump calls the Department of War, Lockheed aims to maintain annual production. It aims to keep that annual production at 156 aircraft.

Michael Duffey, the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement: “This agreement with Lockheed Martin proves it”. Duffey said in the Pentagon announcement that the deal works “by aligning financial incentives with actual performance”. Lockheed chairman, president and chief executive Jim Taiclet also commented on the agreement.

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SNB minutes show the franc-sale threat was judged no longer needed as haven flows ebbed

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Minutes of the September assessment show the Swiss National Bank saw no need to raise its readiness to intervene, and expects energy prices to drive global inflation.

The Swiss National Bank judged last month that its threat of franc sales was no longer needed after war-induced haven flows into the currency had ebbed. The minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting were released on Thursday. They summarise the Governing Board’s discussion at its September assessment.

At the monetary policy assessment of 22 and 23 September 2026, the Governing Board decided to leave the SNB policy rate unchanged. At the time of that decision, the board saw no need to increase its readiness to intervene in the foreign exchange market. Heightened readiness to intervene was no longer considered necessary. The board’s assessment covered both its rate and its currency stance.

The minutes revealed a moderately positive economic assessment. The SNB’s growth forecast is 1.5 to 2.0%, and growth of approximately 1.5% remains expected for 2027. The SNB said global inflation will likely be largely determined by energy prices.

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Treasury proposes rules to curb large investors’ purchases of single-family homes

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The proposed regulations are the first to enforce a new law passed by Congress, and the White House paired them with an order it says will cut homeownership costs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on 22 October that the Trump administration has issued proposed regulations to enforce a new law on home purchases by private-equity firms. It is the first rule issued to enforce that law. The rules for big investor homebuyers follow limits that Congress set.

The proposal would restrict institutional investors’ purchases of homes. Other coverage described it as a rule to bar investors from buying up single-family homes.

“Treasury is working to ensure American families and workers have a fair shot at purchasing homes,” Bessent said in a release. He presented the effort as a means of boosting affordable housing.

On the same day, the White House said President Donald Trump had signed an executive order to lower the costs of single-family homeownership and mortgages and to promote innovation throughout the housing market. The White House said the president is removing unnecessary red tape to make homeownership more affordable.

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Treasury yields drop below 5% and the Nasdaq loses more than 2.5% as investors turn defensive

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

A rush into government bonds on 22 October pulled the 10-year US yield under 5% while technology shares fell on doubts about the returns from AI spending.

The Nasdaq fell more than 2.5% on 22 October as lacklustre earnings reports sparked worries about an AI slowdown. Investors are increasingly unsure about the return prospects of the massive investments behind the technology. Sharply lower yields gave a modest lift to the Dow and the Russell indexes even as technology shares slid.

US bond yields plunged as fears about sustaining the AI boom resurfaced, and the 10-year yield dipped below 5%. Yields sank below that level as investors looked for safety, in a move framed as “AI is on trial”. Municipal bonds and Treasuries rallied together in a flight to quality.

The shift came before the US open. Late on the previous afternoon, equity futures were holding gains after well-received earnings, but by early morning both equity index futures and bond yields were sharply lower. Global investors were aggressively de-risking their portfolios. Yields had already dipped on 21 October as AI risk was weighed, before moving off their lows after an auction.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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A $13 billion sale of 20-year Treasury bonds clears at a higher yield as reports split on demand

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The auction priced at 5.469%, up from 5.420% a month earlier, and tailed by 0.9 basis points, though accounts of investor appetite differed.

The US Treasury sold $13 billion of 20-year bonds on Wednesday at a high yield of 5.469%.

That compared with a high yield of 5.420% at the previous sale of the same maturity. The auction tailed by 0.9 basis points.

Last month’s sale was also $13 billion and drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.57.

The sale was held at 18:00 GMT and had been billed in advance as another test of demand for US government debt. Treasury yields were steady on the day as investors awaited jobless claims and mortgage data.

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A Brookings paper proposes cutting the Fed’s balance sheet to $4.5 trillion with an elastic reserves system

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The plan arrives as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh seeks a smaller balance sheet, and it has already drawn objections from officials who defend the current framework.

The Federal Reserve could substantially shrink its balance sheet if it overhauled its toolkit for controlling interest rates to provide liquidity on demand, according to a paper published by the Brookings Institution.

The paper, by Chris Hughes, proposes replacing the Fed’s ample reserves system with what he calls “Elastic Reserves”, cutting the balance sheet from $6.8 trillion to $4.5 trillion. That is a reduction of about $2.3 trillion.

The new system would be more responsive to market demand for cash, Hughes wrote. The plan combines a redesign of how the Fed supplies liquidity with changes to bank regulatory rules.

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A New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading users about their privacy

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The penalty, set after a September jury verdict in a case rooted in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, is the largest yet against Facebook’s owner.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in penalties on Wednesday, after a jury found in September that the company had misled users about their data privacy.

Judge Francis Mathew set the amount, handing New Mexico a win as the only state to take its claims to trial; 48 other states settled.

The case grew out of the Cambridge Analytica affair, in which Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign obtained data from millions of Facebook users without their consent.

The statements the jury found willfully deceptive include comments from chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and from a former chief operating officer. Zuckerberg had earlier testified before Congress about the company.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Anthropic’s leaked filing shows a first-half loss of more than $80 billion ahead of its IPO

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

Details of the AI developer’s finances point to computing commitments that could reach $750 billion, as investors argue it has outgrown private funding.

Anthropic recorded a net loss of more than $80 billion in the first half of 2026.

The figure emerged from a leak of the company’s S-1, the registration statement it is preparing for its stock market listing; it is not the first time the document has leaked, and its income statement shows massive losses.

Anthropic plans $750 billion of spending on computing power, a total that includes hundreds of billions of dollars in non-cancelable deals. Its computing commitments could reach that level in the coming years, according to a draft of the company’s plans.

Further details of the company’s borrowing have also surfaced in the past day.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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ECB economists say AI investment and a greener economy helped the euro zone weather the energy shock

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The central bank’s staff credited fiscal support and an AI boom with sustaining growth, while a Governing Council member said rates may have to rise further.

European Central Bank economists said on Wednesday that fiscal support and an investment boom in artificial intelligence are helping to sustain growth in the euro zone.

In their account, a greener economy and AI spending have helped the bloc weather the energy shock. The analysis was published on the ECB’s blog under the title “Resilience of the euro area economy – weathering one shock, preparing for the next”.

The same day, Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said more tightening may be needed, and that interest rates may have to be lifted further depending on how consumer-price gains develop.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Meta plans a non-voting share class to fund AI spending as it reports third-quarter results

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The new stock would let Meta raise money for its artificial intelligence buildout without diluting Mark Zuckerberg’s control.

Meta said it will issue a new class of shares as it tightened its forecast for AI spending, a structure designed to preserve Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control.

The company plans to offer stock that would not dilute Zuckerberg’s controlling stake, and it is eyeing further stock sales to pay for its AI ambitions.

The plan came alongside Meta’s third-quarter results. “Our investments are paying off,” Zuckerberg said in the earnings release, which also addressed the company’s AI initiatives and the computing capacity it has in place and scheduled to come online.

Meta had moved the report to 21 October, a full week earlier than expected. The share plan and the tightened spending forecast were announced together, tying the question of how much Meta will spend on AI to the question of how it will pay for it.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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NSA and FBI urge fixes for a 14-year-old PHP flaw that OpenAI says its model helped find

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The vulnerability in the PHP programming language could let attackers steal private user data or alter websites, OpenAI’s president said.

The National Security Agency warned organisations to patch security flaws that were identified with the help of artificial intelligence. The NSA and the FBI have urged fixes for the flaws, which sit in widely used software.

Cybersecurity researchers using AI found a bug in the PHP programming language, and the discovery has thrown parts of the internet into disarray. OpenAI said its GPT-5.6-Sol model helped find the flaws.

The bug had been present in the code for 14 years, OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on Wednesday. Brockman said hackers could exploit the vulnerability to steal private user data or modify websites.

By one estimate, the flaw could take down 70% of the internet. Brockman noted that PHP was his “first programming language”.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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OpenAI’s Brockman backs AI safeguards while a group he funded with $25 million fights strict regulation

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The OpenAI president signed the White House’s voluntary safety pact, even as the political group he and his wife bankrolled backs candidates opposed to tight AI rules.

OpenAI President Greg Brockman has publicly urged safeguards for artificial intelligence while a political group he funds opposes regulation.

Brockman signed a voluntary AI safety pact, yet his $25 million donation backs a group that opposes AI restrictions. He was among six technology executives who later signed President Donald Trump’s voluntary AI safety agreement.

The group, Leading the Future, received $25 million from Brockman and backs candidates opposed to strict AI rules. Brockman and his wife, Anna, made the donation, and the group is spending millions in the midterm campaign.

OpenAI executives have publicly backed AI safety measures, which sits awkwardly with the personal donation to a group working against restrictive rules.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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The Kremlin says Putin will rejoin peace talks after 10 November and China is readying a summit with Trump and Xi

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

Moscow put a date on a return to negotiations with Ukraine and Washington, while saying Beijing is preparing a possible three-leader meeting next month.

Putin has agreed to resume three-way peace talks with Ukraine and the United States after 10 November, according to the Kremlin.

Russia said it was ready to return to talks to end the war after Putin met Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, in St Petersburg. The meeting was the one at which Russia freed the American teacher Stephen Hubbard.

Ushakov, speaking for the Kremlin, said separately that preparations were under way for a possible trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Kremlin said China is preparing for such a meeting. Putin and Xi are expected to hold a bilateral meeting at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on 18 to 19 November. The proposed three-way meeting has been described as “the first such meeting in history”.

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Treasury sanctions a Greek and Panamanian law firm, shipping agents and nine vessels it ties to Iran’s shadow fleet

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The designations under Operation Economic Outcast extend Washington’s pressure on Iranian shipping from the vessels to the lawyers and agents around them.

The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a law firm based in Greece and Panama that it accuses of aiding Iranian shipping.

The action also targets shipping agents and nine vessels in what the department presents as a crackdown on Iran’s shadow fleet. The Treasury said four firms were designated under Operation Economic Outcast, its campaign against the networks that move Iranian cargo.

The law firm, Karnakis & Karnakis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Treasury accuses it of helping Iran hide its shadow fleet; the coverage reviewed does not include the firm’s response to that allegation.

The targets span legal services, shipping operators and agents, and the vessels themselves, in a package billed as sweeping new sanctions on the shadow fleet.

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UK public debt passes £3 trillion for the first time as borrowing climbs before Healey’s Budget

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

A deficit of £97.8 billion over the first half of the fiscal year and rising debt interest narrow the chancellor’s room for manoeuvre.

Britain’s public debt has surpassed £3 trillion for the first time.

The fiscal deficit reached £97.8 billion from April to September, the first half of the financial year. Debt and the deficit rose in September alongside inflation.

Central government debt interest came to £10.9bn in September alone.

The borrowing figures were released on Wednesday together with inflation data, which showed consumer price inflation rising to 3.5% from 3.1%. Both inflation and borrowing hit their highest levels this year.

The release leaves the government confronting rising inflation and rising debt in the same week as it finalises the Budget.

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Washington will loan about a third of its heating oil reserve to the Northeast to curb prices

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:18:00 GMT

The Energy Department is releasing 315,000 barrels after Maine’s senators pressed for relief from a 70% rise in heating oil costs.

The Trump administration plans to loan about a third of the federal heating oil reserve in a bid to tame prices.

The Energy Department said on Wednesday it would release 315,000 barrels of home heating oil from the reserve. The supply is going to the Northeast, where prices have surged.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the release after pressure from Maine’s senators over a 70% rise in heating oil costs. “After receiving Senators Collins’ and King’s letter and extensive discussions with Senator Collins, I have directed the” release, Wright said in a statement published by Collins’s office.

The oil will be lent rather than sold outright, and there will be a bidding process for the loans.

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Bank of England and FCA pressed over a Google Cloud outage that took UK banking services offline

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Google has resolved the failure, which hit Revolut among others, but the central bank is investigating and Parliament’s Treasury Committee wants answers.

Google has resolved a cloud outage that affected UK banks and websites. Revolut was one of the hardest hit, with banking services going down for many customers. The failure knocked major British lenders offline, and the tech giant now faces regulatory scrutiny.

The Bank of England is investigating the outage. The chair of Parliament’s Treasury Committee has written to the Governor of the Bank of England and to the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority about it, and the committee has published the letter.

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Britain sends Typhoon jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

London says the aircraft will protect Saudi cities and critical infrastructure, widening Western involvement in a war that is spreading across the Gulf.

The United Kingdom will deploy an undisclosed number of RAF Typhoon jets to protect Saudi population centres and critical infrastructure from Houthi attacks. The British government announced the decision on Tuesday. The jets will fly defensive air missions over Saudi Arabia.

British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the deployment aims to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical infrastructure from aerial attack. Tuesday’s statement about defending against Houthi attacks sits alongside a British posture framed around the Strait of Hormuz and around preventing attacks on British interests or British allies in the region.

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Economists see the Fed skipping October and raising rates in December

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Ninety-four of 100 economists in a Reuters poll expect a pause next week and a rise before year-end, while the chair keeps his own counsel.

An overwhelming majority of economists, 94 of 100, expect the Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged at its October meeting and to raise them again in December, according to a Reuters poll. The survey’s headline finding is that nearly all respondents see the central bank skipping this month before tightening again.

Fed officials have recently suggested they prefer a slower, more deliberate path for rates. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who has made clear he is not keen on giving guidance, has kept mum. New York Fed President John Williams has indicated that further tightening may be necessary but sees little urgency to act immediately. He still considers one more rate hike potentially appropriate in 2026, but he has said he currently sees no pressing need to act.

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Elice falls 32% on its debut, reviving doubts over AI cloud operators

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The South Korean data-centre firm raised $150 million on the Kosdaq, then sank, as investors added protection against AI-linked debt.

Shares of Elice, a South Korean AI data-centre company, fell 32% on their first day of trading. The company raised $150 million in its listing on the Kosdaq, but its share price dropped sharply overnight. The listing has been described as an AI IPO flop. Measured against the 32% first-day fall, investors who bought into the $150 million offering lost close to a third of their money in one session.

The decline sparked sharp losses in US pre-market trading, from which the Nasdaq later rebounded to trade higher for a second consecutive session, helped by a plunge in oil prices. The selloff revived concerns about neoclouds, the specialist AI cloud operators of which Elice is one.

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French borrowing costs near a 24-year high as the spread over Germany widens to the most since 2012

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Paris expects to spend more than 90 billion euros on debt interest next year, and the US Treasury secretary says he sees no spillover.

French bond yields neared a 24-year high on Tuesday as new protests loomed. Spreads between French 10-year debt and the German equivalent widened to their highest since 2012, following a weekend of violent protests in France. It is the latest stage of unrest that has weighed on French markets since the protests began.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he does not anticipate a spillover from the French bond market, which has seen surging yields. Later in the day, French government bonds recovered as yields on eurozone and US peers fell.

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Iran tells Pakistan’s army chief there will be no talks with Washington until its demands are met

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Tehran says its enriched nuclear material stays at home, and officials say they are stretching out the stalemate to weigh on the US midterm elections.

Iran has told Pakistan’s army chief that there will be no talks with Washington until its demands are met, according to Iranian media. Iranian official Rezaei also said all enriched nuclear materials would remain in Iran, reiterating the position of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Separately, Iranian officials said Tehran is prolonging talks in a stalemate to influence the US midterm elections. Iranian officials said Iran is stalling on a deal with the United States to hurt President Donald Trump politically ahead of the vote. Iran can exploit Trump’s political problems, the officials argued.

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Meta’s global policy chief Joel Kaplan to leave after 15 years

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Mark Zuckerberg’s top Washington adviser, a Republican who took the role ahead of Trump’s return, will steer the policy team through the midterms and depart in 2027.

Joel Kaplan, Meta’s head of global policy and the top Washington adviser to Mark Zuckerberg, said on Tuesday that he was leaving the company after 15 years. Kaplan, Meta’s global affairs officer, is leaving after a long tenure at the company. He will leave in 2027.

Kaplan will lead the policy team through the midterms before he leaves. He is a longtime top adviser to Zuckerberg with staunch Republican ties, and his title is chief global affairs officer. His exit is the departure of the executive who fostered Meta’s closer ties with Trump. He moved into the job in the run-up to President Donald Trump’s early-2025 return to the White House.

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Morgan Stanley’s Wilson says the stock correction is in its final innings

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The bank’s chief US equity strategist sees the S&P 500 reaching 8,300 by May 2027 and expects high-quality companies to hold up best.

Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley’s chief investment officer and chief US equity strategist, said the market is in the final innings of its correction. He said the correction in the average American stock is nearly over. He made the case on a television appearance in which he discussed the latest market trends and the state of the AI trade.

Wilson set a target that would put the S&P 500 at 8,300 by May 2027. He expects high-quality companies to remain comparatively resilient. His team discussed on Monday its financial conditions index, a compilation that includes interest rates. The call is a claim that the broad market, not only its leaders, is close to a turning point.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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The EU’s new Arctic strategy declares the region a front line as Russia and Washington press

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Brussels plans shared icebreakers, military rail and a cable linking Greenland to Europe, after Moscow’s build-up and Washington’s designs on the island.

The European Union unveiled a new Arctic strategy as geopolitical tensions rise in the region. The strategy declares the Arctic a front line and eyes shared icebreakers and military rail. It sets up a Northern Neighbourhood framework for cooperation with Norway, Iceland, Canada, the UK and the US, as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The European Commission said the EU will back a strategic pan-Arctic fibre-optic telecommunications cable project linking Greenland directly to Europe. The new strategy says the bloc will continue working with Canada and Greenland.

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US housing starts fall 5.2% in September as pending home sales sink to a record low

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

Builders broke ground on 1.221 million homes at an annual pace, short of forecasts, and contract signings for existing homes fell 7.3%.

US housing starts fell 5.2% in September to an annual rate of 1.221 million, and the second report in a row to show a drop. Economists had expected a reading of 1.3 million and a 2% rise over the month. The figures come from the Census Bureau’s monthly report on new residential construction for September 2026.

Contract activity for existing homes plunged 7.3% in September, the National Association of Realtors said. Pending home sales decreased by that amount in the month, and the drop took the measure to a record low.

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Washington asks shut refineries to reopen and pays farmers $8 billion for diesel costs

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

The energy secretary says the administration is talking to every idled refinery, as the White House offers one-time payments to farmers hit by record diesel prices.

The US government is coaxing refiners to produce more diesel, energy department officials said. “We are talking about reopening every refinery we can,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in Houston, adding that there are dialogues under way. The administration is engaging with every refinery that has been shut in, Wright said. The US is also pushing shuttered domestic refineries to reopen, he said at a Houston announcement on Tuesday.

In a separate move, President Donald Trump said his administration will provide $8 billion in aid to farmers hurt by record diesel prices. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the USDA relief programme, which is meant to offset a portion of farmers’ 2026 crop-year losses. Rollins said the one-time payments will help bring certainty to farmers.

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Washington bars DeepSeek from federal IT systems and Beijing objects

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 21:17:00 GMT

A Homeland Security order removes the Chinese AI model from most government agencies; China says the ban disregards the consensus between the two countries.

The Department of Homeland Security has blocked China-based DeepSeek from federal IT systems. The Chinese technology is being removed from most US government agencies as the race for AI dominance steps up. The order directed every federal agency to purge DeepSeek; it was signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on 24 July 2026, with a courtesy copy to budget director Russell Vought.

China said the US ban on DeepSeek from government IT systems disregards the consensus between the two countries. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning defended the company.

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Araqchi blames Washington for Hormuz insecurity with Lavrov standing beside him in Tehran

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

Iran’s foreign minister used a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart to put responsibility for the strait on the United States while repeating an offer to reopen it.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday. Reuters reported that he called for diplomacy at the same appearance. The Times of Israel reported that Iran’s top diplomat accused the United States of being responsible for the insecurity in the strait, which has been at the heart of the conflict. These are the Iranian government’s assertions about responsibility, not established findings.

Araqchi told Iranian media that Iran’s offer to the United States to reopen the strait within seven days is still on the table. He also called for regional dialogue. Araqchi met his Russian counterpart in Tehran, where Lavrov discussed the war with the United States and regional security. Prensa Latina reported calls for Washington-Tehran talks to reopen the strait and for restoring security and freedom of navigation.

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Banks can slow stablecoin growth simply by paying depositors more, BIS research finds

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

New work published by the Bank for International Settlements says deposit rates and stablecoin issuance compete for the same money, with USDC the most exposed.

Higher bank deposit rates predict slower stablecoin growth, according to a new working paper published by the Bank for International Settlements. Stablecoins and bank deposits are competing for the same pool of funds, the research finds. When US banks paid savers more, stablecoins grew more slowly, and the effect was strongest for USDC. Higher interest rates on bank deposits can significantly slow the growth of stablecoins, Yahoo Finance reported of the study, which it framed as making USDC more vulnerable than USDT.

Forex Crunch reported that the paper identifies the gap between what banks pay depositors and what stablecoins offer as the operative variable. Pluang’s summary also put rising bank deposit rates at the centre of the slowdown, and singled out USDC. The BIS published Working Paper 1385, on competing rails for cross-border payments across banks, fintechs and stablecoins, on 19 October. It also published a speech the same day on financial resilience in an age of repeated shocks.

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China’s central bank moves toward an overnight policy rate and a backstop for bond redemptions

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The People’s Bank of China governor used the Financial Street Forum to sketch a new policy benchmark, a liquidity facility for fund redemptions and further market opening.

The People’s Bank of China will study the possibility of switching its main policy benchmark to an overnight rate, Governor Pan Gongsheng said, a change the central bank says would make its guidance more precise. Reports of the governor’s remarks say the central bank is studying making the overnight rate its main policy rate. Central banks such as the US Federal Reserve already use overnight rates as their main policy rates to better anchor the yield curve.

Pan also said the central bank plans a liquidity backstop for the bond market. Caixin reported that the mechanism will be added to the PBOC’s macroprudential toolkit and is intended to prevent a cycle in which investor redemptions force sales. State broadcaster CGTN reported that China will introduce a liquidity support facility to help non-bank financial institutions cope with large-scale redemptions. Pan was speaking at the 2026 Financial Street Forum annual conference, where financial regulators announced a set of measures.

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Defence shares fall as investors start pricing a Democratic sweep in the midterms

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The Financial Times reports that a proposed military spending increase is at risk as bipartisan support for a larger budget frays two weeks before the vote.

US defence stocks tumbled as investors bet on a Democratic election sweep, the Financial Times reported, with Trump’s proposed $500bn military spending boost at risk as bipartisan support for a higher budget frays. The administration’s ambitions have been large: the White House introduced a record $1.5 trillion defense budget request for 2027 earlier this year, about a 44% increase from the previous year.

The sell-off sits oddly against the sector’s current results, with RTX and GE Aerospace leading defence earnings amid soaring demand. Reuters coverage of the possible election outcomes said debt ceiling fights, budget battles and government shutdown threats loom in 2027, and that analysts expect a debt limit showdown by summer. Democrats would also gain the power to investigate the administration.

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Dimon calls the US economy booming and names five risks under the surface

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

JPMorgan’s chief executive paired an upbeat read on growth with warnings about war, inflation, government deficits and competing demands for capital.

Jamie Dimon said the US economy is booming while warning about inflationary risks from global deficits and AI spending, The Hill reported. The Wall Street Journal summarised his view the same way: booming, but war and inflation pose risks. He warned of five economic threats he described as lurking under the surface. IndexBox reported the same framing, that Dimon flagged five risks beneath solid US economic growth.

Among them he placed the simultaneous capital demands from infrastructure projects, defence spending and persistent government deficits. Coverage of the remarks noted that the central bank’s next two monetary policy meetings fall in late October and after. Barchart reported the backdrop at his own bank, where JPMorgan missed earnings expectations, faced bond losses and saw expenses grow. Asked again about politics, Dimon reiterated that he has no intention of running in the next presidential election, saying he loves what he does.

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Fed officials say the AI buildout is adding to inflation, and the rest of the economy may pay for the cure

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

Policymakers are starting to name data-centre construction as a source of price pressure days before the October rate decision.

The artificial intelligence boom is increasingly acknowledged at the Federal Reserve as a source of inflation, Reuters reported from Cleveland. InvestmentNews reported that Fed officials are flagging the boom as an inflation driver before the October vote. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in an interview with Semafor last week that price pressures tied to data-centre construction are spreading beyond the sector itself.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack recently pointed to tempered stock market gains and slowed activity outside the AI boom as the way higher rates would work if the Fed has to raise them further. Her argument, as summarised in the same coverage, is that slower equity gains and weaker activity in the rest of the economy could be the cost of cooling AI-driven prices. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh also addressed the subject in public remarks.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Goldman Sachs tells clients to buy 23 lagging stocks as the tech trade wobbles

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The bank’s US equity strategists are pointing clients towards sectors left behind by the AI rally while keeping their year-end index target in place.

Goldman Sachs strategists led by Ben Snider told clients that investors should focus on buying stocks in sectors that have lagged, as the tech sector that drove the market wobbles. The list runs to 23 names drawn from those lagging sectors. Business Insider described the same 23 as defensive stocks and reported that the bank pointed to higher interest rates, which have cut into growth expectations for the US economy. Quartz reported the note as urging clients to buy 23 stocks from lagging sectors as big tech wobbles.

The reports disagree on when the note went out. MarketWatch said Snider’s team wrote to clients late on Friday, while Business Insider dated the note to Monday. Business Insider Africa summarised the message as telling investors to buckle up for a more challenging year ahead for the US stock market.

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S&P Global says the big cloud companies carry more AI-linked debt than their balance sheets show

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The rating agency says circular financing between chipmakers, neoclouds and hyperscalers leaves obligations it cannot yet size, as AI bond prices slip.

The top hyperscalers likely have more AI-linked debt than is now known, S&P Global warned on Monday. The agency’s Habib said there was not an estimate of how much additional debt the circular financing might add to the firms’ balance sheets, although he said S&P was examining it. Debt issued by AI infrastructure providers and so-called neocloud firms such as Nvidia-backed CoreWeave has sunk to increasingly stressed levels.

The warning lands alongside other credit signals. The Wall Street Journal reported that the weak points in AI bonds are becoming clearer. NPR examined Oracle’s borrowing, noting that the company has taken on a large volume of loans to build out its AI capacity. Morgan Stanley’s projected AI-related capital spending for 2027 is concentrated, with roughly 77% attributed to high-quality hyperscalers and the remaining 23% sitting with weaker borrowers.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Sanctioned tankers can shed their designations, the US energy secretary says

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

Chris Wright said vessels in a dark fleet he puts at about 1,600 ships can return to legal trade, and that American fuel prices have already peaked.

The United States is allowing dark-fleet oil tankers to shed sanctions, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, according to Bloomberg. Wright estimated that there are about 1,600 vessels in the global dark fleet of sanctioned tankers. Moneycontrol reported the same remarks and added that investors are proposing to buy idled sanctioned tankers. This is the administration’s own account of its policy rather than a published rule.

Wright made the comments alongside a broader defence of the administration’s fuel policy, which follows Washington’s decision to set aside new Russia sanctions. He said the administration has not broken its promise to lower gasoline prices, noting that they have dropped, and he said US gasoline and diesel prices have peaked. He also said there is a three-alarm fire on diesel and that Europe should be releasing more from its stockpiles. He discussed the sharp rise in diesel and gasoline prices and what the administration is doing about them.

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The Supreme Court leaves Trump’s firing of a labour board member in place

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

Monday’s order list let the removal of a National Labor Relations Board member stand while the Court took up home distilling and school admissions and refused the September 11 plea deals.

The Supreme Court will not review Trump’s firing of a labor board member, Reuters coverage of Monday’s order list reported. Bloomberg described the outcome as the Court rebuffing the ousted National Labor Relations Board member, and as a win for the president. The New Republic reported that the Court has enabled Trump in the cases of Slaughter and now Wilcox, but that it has drawn the line with Lisa Cook, a governor on the Federal Reserve Board.

The same order list identified the cases the Court intends to hear and denied those it will not, among them the petition in Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, et al. v. United States. The Court denied a bid by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks, to reinstate plea agreements that would have spared him and two co-defendants the death penalty, which keeps the death penalty available as the defendants move toward a military trial date in June 2028.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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Trump says he would join Xi and Putin in China, and wants nuclear weapons on the agenda

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The president answered a Kremlin proposal by saying he is open to a three-way meeting next month, with denuclearisation rather than Ukraine as the stated subject.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is open to a three-way meeting with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and that it could be focused on denuclearization. He said the United States has more nuclear weapons than anybody, that Russia is second and China is third. Axios reported that Trump wants to hold the trilateral summit in China next month to discuss denuclearization, but not necessarily Ukraine. RFI reported that he indicated he is ready to meet both leaders in China next month.

The Kremlin said the three could hold a meeting on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China. Trump is expected to travel to China in mid-November for the APEC leaders’ meeting in the city of Shenzhen. The Kremlin had been floating the idea before his answer. In the same remarks, Trump criticised Ukraine’s president.

Why it matters to investors, and what to watch: on the site.

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US home-builder confidence falls to its lowest reading since 2012

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The builder sentiment index dropped three points in October as mortgage rates pushed ordinary buyers out and cash purchases held prices up.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built single family housing, fell three points to 29 in October, the lowest reading since June 2012. The National Association of Home Builders described it as the lowest builder confidence in 14 years. The association said the index found rates and low consumer sentiment weighing on buyers, while federal immigration policies are affecting builders themselves.

The Wall Street Journal reported that surging mortgage rates are sending many buyers to the sidelines, while affluent shoppers drive overall prices higher with big cash purchases. That is the division the paper describes as a home-buying market split between those who need financing and those who do not.

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Allied governments break publicly with Washington over the Russian diesel waiver

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

London says it takes a different view, Ottawa’s former finance minister accuses the president of siding with Moscow, and Paris warns about trust.

The United Kingdom has signalled a different view from President Donald Trump on Russia sanctions, Bloomberg reported, saying the government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham disagrees with Washington. Yvette Cooper said the UK takes a different view to Trump on Ukraine, days after he halted a package of sanctions on Russia, the Daily Mirror reported.

In Canada, Chrystia Freeland said Trump is siding with a bloody dictator in President Vladimir Putin while undermining the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with CBC.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned that Trump’s approach to Russia, and a deal involving Putin, risks trust while the war continues. Le Monde reported the waiver as Trump exempting Russia from new sanctions at a time when Moscow is targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

None of the three governments has said it will reverse a measure of its own. What they have done is decline to endorse the American one, in public, within days of it taking effect.

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Bessent says Europe refused Washington’s request to tariff India and China over Russian oil

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:20:00 GMT

The treasury secretary used a Sunday television interview to disclose that allied governments declined to join a secondary-tariff push.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said European countries refused a request from Washington to impose secondary tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil, according to reports of his Sunday interview. Open Magazine carried the same account, saying European allies had declined the request, and ANI quoted the secretary directly as saying that Washington asked European allies to put secondary tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil and that they refused.

The disclosure came in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, in which Bessent also told the programme that the administration will own the economy, Barron’s reported.

This is the administration’s own account of private diplomacy, and no European government is quoted confirming it in the reporting available.

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