Advance Warning for the Professional
We post occasional thoughts and interesting observations about our U.S recession forecasting methodologies, market timing tools and the market on this blog.
We are also posting daily Market Intelligence Brief (MIB) editions here – our unique curated view on the daily news and market action – to allow for reading flexibility and research reference.
Brent jumped 4.3% to $102.22 as Chinese refiners suspended October fuel exports. The 10-year yield touched 5.34% intraday, its highest since 2002, then closed down 4.8 bps; UK 30-year gilts topped 6%. Fed Vice Chair Jefferson called energy “the predominant factor” in rising inflation as ISM’s prices gauge leapt to 77.9. Freddie Mac’s 30-year mortgage rate hit 7.28% and junk CDS widened to April levels. Anthropic eyes a November IPO at up to $2 trillion.
A cooler August PCE cut October hike odds to about 37% from 51%, and Goldman pushed its next-hike call to December. Bonds balked: the 10-year rose 5.0 bps to 5.292%, highest since April 2002 per Investing.com, and 30-year mortgage rates hit 7.30%. A late selloff left only the Nasdaq 100 higher. The Fed finalized a stress-test overhaul over Barr’s dissent, CMS tied Part B drug rebates to international prices, and Amazon signed a 20-year nuclear deal with Constellation.
WTI slid 3.98% to $88.91 as Kpler counted 12.5 million barrels loaded at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu, while Iran awaits a formal US reply through Qatar. NY Fed’s Williams saw “no need for urgency,” pulling October hike odds to about a coin flip, but Barr and Goolsbee held the tightening line. The 30-year still touched its highest since 2002 intraday. Confidence sank to 81.9 against 89.2 expected. Axios put OpenAI’s run-rate near $70B as chip-equipment names lifted the Nasdaq 100.
Trump rejected Iran’s Hormuz roadmap, and the damage ran through bonds: the 10-year closed at 5.241%, topping last week’s high, and the S&P 500 fell 0.77%. Fed Governor Cook said the labor market appears able to handle higher rates. Gold sank 4.02% and silver 5.83%. META fell 4.79% on a reported rival OpenAI agent, while NVDA rose 1.68% on a $150B buyback boost. Boeing slid about 6% as the FAA held up 737 MAX 10 certification.
The 10-year Treasury closed Thursday at 5.225%, its highest since 2007, after a flash PMI at 58.4 and eight Fed speakers pushed October hike odds to roughly 70% — and yet the S&P 500 finished up 1.21%. That gain belonged to almost nobody: the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.25% on Meta (+12.90%), Qualcomm (+13.65%), Intel (+13.26%) and AMD (+12.65%), while the NYSE Composite and the Russell 2000 both fell. Oracle lost 7.12% on a force-majeure notice over its New Mexico data centre.
Microsoft (MSFT) jumped 3.66%, leading the Dow and S&P 500, after a Copilot overhaul putting its agents on usage-based pricing. Core capital-goods orders rose 1.6%, but Michigan year-ahead inflation expectations climbed to 4.6%, keeping an October hike in play. WTI fell 2.01% on hopes of a phased US-Iran Hormuz deal. Xi left Washington with no new purchase deals and advanced chips off the table. BofA double-downgraded Nike (NKE) to Underperform with a $30 target, six days before earnings.
The 10-year jumped 10.9 bps to 5.225%, its highest since 2007, and the 7-year auction cleared at the highest yield since 1993. Brent surged 4.25% to $107.46 on an Iranian threat to widen the war and Houthi missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu terminal. The Fed’s Williams called another hike by year-end “reasonable.” META +4.50% held the S&P 500 flat as eight of 11 sectors fell. Anthropic committed $11.6B to Akamai’s cloud. ORCL -3.47% on a Project Jupiter force-majeure notice.
The 10-year yield jumped 16.2 bps to 5.110%, highest since June 2007, after a hot flash PMI (58.4) and a weak 5-year auction. Stocks fell with bonds: S&P 500 -0.75%, Russell 2000 -1.77%. Fed’s Barr: further adjustments “likely to be needed”; October hike odds near 73%. Brent surged 4.43% back above $100 on Iran’s UN defiance despite a US crude build. McDonald’s sank 4.81% on flat-traffic guidance. Bessent is “open” to extending the China truce before Thursday’s Xi summit.
Wall Street split: the Nasdaq 100 closed above its June peak as SanDisk (+6.82%) and Micron (+5.00%) ran, while the S&P bank index sank 3% on AI-disruption fears from Meta’s Muse agent, with Schwab down 6.1%. WTI fell 2.73%, a fifth straight loss, after Iran offered to reopen Hormuz within seven days. Trump pushed a diesel export ban; Valero, also downgraded, slid 4.10%. Fed’s Barkin on more hikes: “We’ll see.” Royal Caribbean tumbled 6.14% on a $3B Sandals stake report.
Crude fell a fourth session, Brent slipping below $100 (-3.77%) as Saudi tankers massed in the Gulf and Iran relayed its Hormuz terms; the S&P 500 rose 1.49% to within 0.4% of its record. Intel (+12.17%), AMD (+9.95%) and Meta (+11.34%) lifted the Nasdaq 100 2.83%. Fed’s Musalem said more hikes are likely; the 2-year rose as the 10-year fell 4.2 bps. Paramount settled the states’ suit, sending WBD up 10.79%. Bitcoin jumped 7.57% to an eight-month high.
MIB WEEKLY DIGEST Week of Sep 14–18, 2026 The Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time since 2023 and signalled more, sending the 2-year yield up 12.4 bps and the 10-year to its first closes above 5% before a Friday retreat to 4.998%. The Nasdaq 100 (+0.94%) was the only major index higher as an AI-safety essay lifted CrowdStrike 14.95% on the week while chip equipment crashed and then recovered most of the loss. Bank of America’s fee warning […]
The 10-Year climbed back to 4.998% as the 2-Year jumped 6.4bps and Bank of America warned of a “2022 redux.” The Bank of Japan hiked to 1.25%, a 31-year high — and the yen weakened. WTI fell 2.35% to $99.52 while AAA’s national diesel average hit a record $6.4476. Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire chairman at 96. Bitcoin jumped 6.15% above $80,000; Netflix fell 4.67% on a Wells Fargo downgrade. August industrial production stalled as manufacturing output fell 0.3%.
Markets un-priced Wednesday’s Fed hike in one session — VIX -12.82%, the 10-Year -6.7bps to 4.937%, S&P 500 +1.14%. Chip and AI-infrastructure names took all five top mega-cap gainer slots: Intel +7.62%, AMD +6.30%, Micron +5.50%. Jobless claims fell to 196K; housing missed across the board. The Bank of England held at 3.75% and paused gilt sales for six months. The SEC opened a five-year path for tokenized stocks. CoreWeave fell 4.16% raising $3bn; private rival Crusoe’s $3.9bn round was oversubscribed.
The Fed hiked for the first time since 2023 and 16 of 18 officials see more — October is now a coin-flip and the 10-Year closed above 5%. August retail sales smashed forecasts at +1.2% while import prices ran hottest since 2022. Transports sank 2.78% as J.B. Hunt (-13.3%) warned on diesel and driver costs. Goldman (-4.0%) and Huntington (-5.6%) dragged banks. Crude fell 3.4% on Saudi pipeline repair hopes. GE Vernova (+4.8%) and Intel (+4.0%) bucked the tape.
The Senate killed crypto market structure 46-43 — Lummis: “I think we’re done. It’s over.” Bitcoin fell 3.84% to $76,058. The 10-year posted its first 5%-handle close, a seventh straight, on the eve of a hike priced at 96%. WTI +4.10% to $105.55 with Saudi’s pipeline up to six weeks from repair; EIA weekly diesel broke $6 at $6.285. Empire State collapsed to 7.6 from 20.60. Carlyle likened AI-infrastructure lending to subprime. Thermo Fisher +4.53%; Wells Fargo cut its S&P target to 7,700.
Amodei’s weekend call to slow AI split the tape — Lam Research -8.29%, Applied Materials -7.07%, while CrowdStrike +13.85% and Palo Alto +13.09% led. Trump dismissed guardrails as a “SICK conspiracy.” Hormuz talks collapsed: WTI +1.86%, VIX +7.95%, diesel to an all-time $6.23. Wednesday’s hike is now near-unanimous, the 10-year closing at 4.999%. BofA guided banking fees down 10%; Altman ruled out a 2026 OpenAI IPO, knocking Goldman -3.96%. GE Vernova -8.62% on a street-low Sell.
Hot core CPI (+0.3% MoM) lifted September hike odds to 86%, yet stocks rallied 0.86% and the VIX fell 11.21%. Iran agreed to meet Gulf ministers on Hormuz shipping, sending crude down nearly 3% and ending Brent’s eight-session run. Oracle’s $90-95bn capex guidance detonated AI hardware, Dell +11.98% to a record, HPE +10.70%. Consumer sentiment fell to 47.8, second-lowest since 1952, with one-year inflation expectations at 4.6%. Saudi Arabia shut its only non-Hormuz export pipeline. The Fed decides Wednesday.
WTI closed above $100 for the first time since May, up 7.3% to $103.06; Saudi Arabia told OPEC its August output fell 1.9 mb/d. Stocks fell a fourth day as the 2-year jumped 15 bps on near-70% Fed hike odds. The ECB hiked to 2.50%, citing energy. Platinum sank 7%, silver 6.7%, gold 2.3%. Lam, Intel, Dell and Micron fell ~5% into Oracle’s print; ORCL beat and rose ~7% after hours. Apple gained 3.6% on its $1,999 foldable.
Brent closed above $100 for the first time since July as Iran fired ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan — ten of eleven sectors fell, Energy alone gained. Yields rose as stocks fell, the 10-year at 4.850%. Retail diesel set an all-time record two days before CPI. Trump banned Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles. Marvell lifted its two-year outlook to $30bn; Alphabet bought 22 years of Finnish nuclear power. Fed hike odds for next week’s meeting: 61%.
Houthi strikes halted Saudi energy operations and pushed Brent within a dollar of $100 — stocks fell, yields rose, and that combination says inflation, not recession. Novartis cratered 13.93% on its second Phase III miss in five days, dragging Amgen down 10.08%. GPT-6 Astra’s rollout finished over the holiday and enterprise software de-rated: ServiceNow -4.99%, Shopify -7.57%. Amazon handed Qualcomm a warrant over 25 million shares. Consumer credit smashed estimates; balances hit records. CPI Friday, FOMC next week.
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