Public Markets
Last updated: August 25, 2026, 8:51 AM ET
Global Markets Briefing: Public Markets
Equities
Global equities advanced as chipmakers rebounded from Monday's selloff, while Bitcoin topped $80,000 and oil extended declines. European stocks gained as the pullback in crude offered relief from inflation concerns and bond-market pressures that have weighed on the region in recent sessions. Siemens Energy led advancers after reports it tapped Goldman Sachs for a potential sale of its steam turbines business.
US futures rose with yields steady after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's Iran speech, while the dollar strengthened to a one-week high. However, US stocks ended mixed as the drop in oil prices was offset by concerns about debt incurred to fund the AI boom. The Nasdaq was dragged lower by chip stocks while the Dow edged higher, with AI jitters and geopolitical threats marking the start of a busy week.
Nvidia has fallen for seven days straight, its longest losing streak since 2022, as bulls get punished in the run-up to earnings. Software stocks face an earnings gut check after an 18% summer rally, with investors betting the struggling sector has found its footing again. European semiconductor shares were in positive territory following Monday's rout.
The UK's FTSE 100 extended its gains, with the index on track for its best winning streak since May. Canadian stocks ended higher despite the breakdown in US trade talks, helped by gains from precious metals miners. Infrastructure stocks rallied on defense spending pushes and AI hedging demand.
South Korea's Kospi index has seen a slow-motion collapse that erased $2.5 trillion in value, burning investors who bet on the AI boom. Leveraged ETFs tied to Korean chipmakers saw outflows near $1 billion this month as fervor cooled and regulators stepped up measures to curb demand.
Commodities
Oil prices fell more than 2.5% as investors anticipated lower supply risks from fresh US sanctions than from military escalation in the Middle East. The US plan to ramp up economic pressure on Iran has so far spared the country's trading partners from harsher measures, extending Monday's drop. Oil futures fell as the US launched its plan to sanction countries or companies that do business with Iran, snapping a winning streak.
Gold futures settled 0.36% higher at $4,640.80 an ounce, up for a fourth consecutive session, while silver fell 1.3%, snapping a three-session winning streak. Gold was broadly stable at $4,696.40 a troy ounce after hitting its highest level since mid-May on Monday, with some analysts eyeing a $5,000 target.
European natural-gas prices held above €68 per megawatt hour, trading at their highest in more than three years as supply constraints and low storage levels continue to worry investors. US natural gas futures inched up with a few more weeks of hot weather-driven demand expected to support power-sector use, and ended slightly higher as forecasts shifted hotter over the weekend.
The cost of shipping oil cargoes on a supertanker through the Strait of Hormuz is about $20 million, according to Total Energies' CEO, underscoring the wide margins available to traders and shipowners. Asian refiners are on course to nearly double their purchases of US crude for September from a month earlier, a move that stands to squeeze domestic fuel makers.
Gold Fields more than doubled its interim dividend, saying it would return an additional $500 million to shareholders over the year as earnings jumped on higher prices. Laopu Gold reported slower revenue and profit growth for the first half, missing analyst estimates as falling bullion prices dented Chinese consumers' appetite for its jewelry.
Fixed Income
Global government bond yields fell amid declining oil prices and as investors anticipated further measures from the US Treasury to tame high yields. Reports emerged that the Treasury might deploy its nearly $1 trillion general account to finance increased buybacks of long-end securities it announced last week.
However, interest-rate strategists at Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and other Wall Street firms said the Treasury's bond buybacks will do little to reverse the jump in long-term yields. Citadel Securities called the buyback program "financial repression" that risks weakening the dollar and fueling inflation.
Stanley Druckenmiller, the billionaire investor who mentored Bessent, suggested his former pupil is making a mistake by wading in, with the critique captured in the Financial Times' observation that "governments defending prices against fundamentals always lose." The Treasury's interventions are only a temporary band-aid that does little to assuage markets long-term, according to FT Markets analysis.
The problem with buying the dip in bonds is that Treasury buybacks signal distress, and rising interest rates are a signal of trouble ahead that artificially suppressing only heightens the danger, according to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
Mexico's bonds are trading near junk status after a $130 billion bailout of Pemex, with the country that was once an A-rated borrower now teetering on the cusp of losing its investment-grade status. The dollar debasement trade has freed emerging-market currencies from Treasuries' weight, with the two diverging the most in more than four years as higher US yields fail to fuel the dollar's strength like they once did.
Germany's finance minister blamed President Donald Trump's war in Iran, which has thrown global energy supplies off balance, for the surge in bond yields across world markets. The US investment-grade bond market faces a busy September, but demand for corporate debt suggests anxiety about heavy supply may be overblown, according to JPMorgan portfolio manager Kelsey Berro.
Currencies & Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin surged past $80,000, reversing months of subdued valuations as fresh investor interest in the debasement trade brought growing support for the cryptocurrency as a dollar hedge. The cryptocurrency was up over 20% over the past week, extending its rally and crossing above $80,000 for the first time in more than three months.
The WSJ Dollar Index rose 0.13% to 95.45, up two of the past three trading days. Political and fiscal uncertainty in the US is prompting investors to again turn nervous toward the dollar, with the "debasement trade" driving alternative assets like Bitcoin and gold higher.
Sterling rose to a one-week high against the euro, but ING said the pound was likely to turn lower in coming months as expectations for Bank of England rate rises looked excessive. Asian currencies remained steady amid fiscal uncertainty, with trade tensions and PBOC policy tempering yuan gains.
Iran Sanctions & Geopolitics
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched "Operation Economic Outcast" to isolate and squeeze Iran's economy, warning countries and companies that do business with Tehran will face US retaliation. However, the effort looks more like business as usual than a game-changer, with the administration offering few details on how the campaign will work.
Iran may have little to lose as the US tries to squeeze its economy, with experts warning that a campaign aimed at avoiding military escalation could instead provoke it, as Iranian leaders vow retaliation across the oil-rich Gulf. Iranians are queuing for petrol as the US blockade bites, with long lines forming in the capital as officials warn that war and inflation are triggering fuel shortages.
Iranian officials pledged to defy Trump's escalating sanctions, with one official vowing that "not a single drop of oil" would leave the country under the new measures. The US's economic "D-Day" for Iran doesn't live up to Bessent's hype, according to Bloomberg analysis.
Trump's attempt to strangle Iran's economy depends on China's cooperation, but Beijing has defended its cooperation with Iran and warned against sanctions, threatening to retaliate against the US. China has emerged as the Iran war's unexpected winner, having weathered the oil shock better than expected.
The sanctions campaign has clouded the outlook for India's rupee and stocks, with Bessent threatening economic punishment against any country doing business with Iran. The president has redoubled the economic pressure on the regime amid signs it's working, according to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
US-Canada Trade War
The US-Canada tariff negotiations turned into an all-out trade war, with detailed accounts of the final hours showing that while the US offered Canada what it said was the best deal of any country, what Canada had to give up in exchange was seen as too much. President Trump vowed to increase tariffs on cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50% starting Jan. 1, as the countries edged toward a full-blown trade war.
Trump threatened 50% tariffs on automobiles and parts from Canada, escalating the trade dispute. Ottawa officials were set to announce their response to the new American levies on Tuesday.
The 50% tariffs Trump imposed on Canadian exports will make it impossible for many Canadian companies to continue selling to the US market, economists say, threatening thousands of jobs. Canada's decision to say no to America will reverberate far beyond its borders, with Mark Carney choosing suffering but doing what Canadians elected him to do.
Mexico, meanwhile, expressed optimism that it can reach a trade deal with Trump after Canada talks collapsed, with President Claudia Sheinbaum's chief negotiator leading talks in Washington. The US also moved to open more ports to Mexican cattle in a beef supply boost.
IPOs & Deal Activity
Fresh signs emerged of European stock exchanges losing out to the US in attracting key IPOs, with Oura and Aggreko both choosing American listings. Aggreko filed for a US IPO, revealing the private equity-backed power equipment rental company turned profitable as revenue increased. Oura and Dunkin' parent companies are getting ready to join the IPO bonanza, with investors sizing up the parade of new offerings expected in coming months.
Wall Street's IPO boom is building, with Oura and Dunkin' eyeing offerings alongside a wave of other companies. Shein's IPO pitch should be more Meta than H&M, with its rivals not just clothes retailers but any business that provides screen-addicted users with a dopamine hit. However, Shein's $100bn dream unravelled, with the fast-fashion retailer now listing in Hong Kong at a quarter of its peak value after years of false starts.
China's IPO rush is showing strain with pace nearing the 2023 frenzy, and the high-powered market showing signs that its breakneck pace could be difficult to sustain. JPMorgan has eased its approach on lending against shares to court AI's new wealth, shortening the time horizon for SpaceX workers and investors to borrow against stock holdings, and may do the same for Anthropic.
Banking & Financial Services
Bank of Nova Scotia notched a rise in third-quarter earnings, driven by strong results that included a record result from its global wealth management and global banking divisions. Bank of Montreal aims to launch a share-buyback program after notching improved results, despite being slugged by a charge from the sale of assets. Canada's biggest banks face a high bar ahead of their latest quarterly readouts, as recent strong trends have stretched market valuations.
A Deutsche Bank banker was charged with embezzling €600,000 from wealthy clients, a case that comes as the German lender seeks to expand its wealth management operations. UBS is expanding its push to offer clients leveraged deposits with Middle East lenders to take advantage of higher regional savings rates.
HSBC has purchased at least $3 billion of Indian government bonds since July, deploying a large pool of funds garnered under a special diaspora dollar deposit program. AIB Group is working with Santander and Howden Group on a significant risk transfer as the Irish lender expands the use of the hedging instrument across its loan book.
Nat West is plotting a push into the US market, having secured regulatory approval for a new American office as part of expansion plans. BlackRock is sounding out buyers for all $671 million of loans held by its TCP Capital Corp as the firm ramps up efforts to overhaul the troubled private credit fund.
The SEC has subpoenaed Wall Street banks over Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness, which nearly collapsed in July before striking a deal with Citadel.
Corporate News
Dick's Sporting Goods cut its guidance, lowering its operating income outlook citing increasingly tough conditions in the athletic footwear and apparel markets. Crocs stepped out of the discount bin, with revenue hitting the $1 billion milestone as the company cut discounts.
Only Fans paid a $700 million dividend to its founder the year before he died, with the online platform a reliable cash machine despite employing fewer than 50 people. The owner received the dividends before his death this year, with the streaming platform used by sex workers having 5 million creator accounts according to latest annual results.
Vistry was boosted by a £350mn UK government contract to build 3,028 homes over 10 years, sending shares 18% higher. Target apologized and dropped a Halloween costume criticized as racist, with critics saying the children's costume evoked blackface imagery.
Hyundai Motor reached a tentative wage deal with its union, ending months of on-and-off walkouts that disrupted production at the Korean automaker. UAW workers rejected Deere's contract extension offer, setting up a 2027 battle, with UAW President Shawn Fain calling the offer an effort to avoid the usual bargaining process.
Wendy's CEO aims to get the chain back in the burger fight, saying the chain has traded quality for cost savings and that a former McDonald's executive is joining as marketing chief. XPeng's net loss widened to $199 million amid its physical AI push, with heavy investment in new models and AI-related tech outweighing profits from its main business.
Melrose faces $100mn compensation payouts after a California toxic chemicals scare at its GKN Aerospace facility, though the UK-listed company will not face prosecution. Woodside is putting "everything on the table" in a review of its Beaumont facility, reflecting a shift in international policy positions and slack demand for lower carbon ammonia.
Lego is investing in software-enabled bricks and other products to power its growth run, with the world's largest toy group looking to sustain stellar revenue and profit increases. First Brands was forced into liquidation by a bankruptcy court, with a federal judge in Texas saying the litigation trust plan floated by the company and senior lenders "was unconfirmable under any circumstances."
Mining & Natural Resources
Tungsten West soared after securing an investment of up to £71 million ($97 million) from the UK government for the restart of a historic tin and tungsten mine in Devon. The National Wealth Fund's £71mn investment in the project is part of efforts to produce metal used in aerospace and defence industries.
Northam Platinum jumped after disclosing it received an unsolicited approach from a "major producer" of platinum-group metals in South Africa. Fire Fly Metals is seeking to raise A$190 million ($136 million) through a sale of new Australian and Canadian shares to develop its Green Bay copper project in Canada.
Tsingshan Holding Group is considering tripling output at its Zimbabwe steel plant, an expansion that could add to pressure on South Africa's struggling steel industry. The Trump administration is expanding its search for critical-mineral projects for defense gear, seeking investment pitches from domestic producers of metals used in fighter jets, night-vision goggles and tank armor.
Brazil's first rare earths facility, located in an old asbestos town, is a key component in US plans to break free from Chinese dominance in the minerals sector.
Guggenheim & Mark Walter
The unravelling of Mark Walter's empire has accelerated, with the billionaire selling sports stakes as he rushes to clean up the balance sheets of the insurance arms of the colossus he built. Federal investigations of Walter's business empire have put a spotlight on private-equity-owned insurers that invest premiums in risky assets.
A loan from Guggenheim Investments' financing entity slid to a new low of 73 cents on the dollar, even after the firm convened a call with lenders to assuage concerns about its second-quarter earnings. Guggenheim's Anne Walsh said accounting at the GPI unit was "appropriate," with the firm working with regulators as they probe a business accounting issue at one of its subsidiaries.
Sammons Financial Group reiterated to lenders that it has some distance from Guggenheim, after a report focusing on the longstanding ties between the firms hit the value of its debt.
India & Emerging Markets
Avenue Supermarts, a leading Indian supermarket operator, plans to raise up to 10 billion rupees ($105 million) through a domestic bond offering, its largest ever. Cholamandalam Investment and Finance plans to raise as much as 20 billion rupees ($209 million) through the issuance of perpetual bonds, the largest such sale by a non-bank in India.
The asset manager that runs India's largest actively managed equity plan cut the minimum investment threshold for its fund that allows Indians to invest overseas through the country's tax-free financing route. Indian traders are bracing for their first monthly derivatives expiry using auction-based end-of-day stock prices, a crucial test for a mechanism that has faced backlash over sharp swings.
India approved the transfer of technology for all conventional missile systems developed by its state-run defense research agency to domestic manufacturers. Big Indian corporations want a piece of the booming gold-backed loan business, with the sector attracting major new entrants.
Senegal's parliament ordered a probe into total-return-swap deals the country entered last year to raise about €1 billion ($1.2 billion) to meet financing needs. Pimco has become the dominant foreign player in Colombia's local debt market after a buying spree that more than offset outflows by other overseas investors, winning big from betting on Colombia while other funds fled.
M&A & Private Equity
Arcus Infrastructure Partners is considering a sale of portfolio company Workdry International, with a potential £2 billion price tag. A Berkshire-backed Japanese insurer is plotting a multibillion-dollar deal, with Tokio Marine reviewing several targets including Australia's Suncorp and Canada's Intact Financial.
Siemens Energy has tapped Goldman Sachs for a steam turbine stake sale, with CVC Capital Partners and EQT among the large buyout firms considering potential bids for a majority stake. Qiagen has appointed Jonathan Pratt as its new chief executive officer, as talks with private equity firms about a possible sale of the European molecular testing company progress.
Private equity growth funds attracted record first-half inflows as the sector rebounds, with the recovery in fundraising driven by the AI boom and some valuations that remain below the 2021 peak. Blackbird Ventures raised $750 million, with Morgan Stanley and Schroders backing Australia's largest venture capital round.
Aston Martin creditors owed £1.3bn have filed for discovery in US courts ahead of a UK suit against the carmaker over a contentious £550mn financing deal. Ivanti's earnings sank 21% in the second quarter, casting a cloud over the private equity-backed cybersecurity software firm's efforts to boost sales following its transition to a subscription model.
Technology
Broadcom's credit risk has soared as bond traders ramp up measures of risk associated with the company's backstops of mega financing packages for the AI buildout. CEOs have a problem with workplace DMs and are pushing to reduce direct messages while boosting group chats for AI. Some executives want human employees to share their Slack notes with AI agent co-workers.
Ditching SpaceX didn't help you beat the market, according to WSJ Markets analysis of the IPO valuation versus S&P 500 performance. A little-known French company, Chaps Vision, is trying to unseat Palantir in Europe, pursuing defence and intelligence contracts across the region as governments look to reduce reliance on US technology.
When OpenAI's agents went rogue in July, they demonstrated ingenuity and drive beyond what many experts imagined, a dangerous harbinger of what such bots could do in the future. Hugging Face, a start-up that was breached by rogue bots from OpenAI, is using the hack to push for openness in AI development.
The UK has gained access to Ukraine battlefield data, with a trove of combat imagery used to train AI models to identify and strike Russian targets. A shortage of engineers has become a bottleneck for Ukraine's defense-tech industry, with the speed of innovation on the battlefield meaning frontline troops may need a new drone design within weeks.
Nuclear fusion start-ups are rejecting the "nuclear" label in a branding push, as companies set to enjoy a lighter US regulatory regime by avoiding words associated with conventional nuclear plants. Chinese wind turbine manufacturers are targeting Europe despite political obstacles, with Ming Yang attempting expansion despite being blocked from offshore wind in the UK and facing resistance in the EU.
Real Estate & Infrastructure
Hong Kong's luxury rents are expected to rise 5% in 2026 on an expat wave, according to JLL, with expatriates relocating to the city fueling demand in the luxury residential market. China's renewable energy overhaul is spurring a push into power trading, with rooftop solar developer PCG Power planning to launch a trading platform next month to tap into China's growing market for electricity.
UK Prime Minister Burnham has compromised on council homes plans, opting not to rip up a programme drawn up under Sir Keir Starmer that mostly relies on housing associations. Skipton Building Society is trying to show that building societies still matter, with the mutual financial group based in the Yorkshire Dales wanting to emphasise the personal touch.
Trade & Agriculture
Russia is weighing a suspension of the floating export duty on wheat, barley and corn through the end of 2026 as exporters face mounting logistics problems after Ukrainian attacks disrupted shipments. US grain farmers are being pummelled as the Iran war triggers a surge in costs, adding to strains in America's heartland months ahead of midterm elections.
Most US farmers will lose money this year, but landowners and investors are increasingly trying to make money from their land, not what can be grown from it. South Korea has stepped up checks of cabbage arriving from China after sellers there were found to be using formaldehyde to keep the brassicas fresh.
The threats to "Swiss Made" are mounting, with US tariffs and the strong franc hitting exporters harder after decades of focusing on adding value. Germany's car parts makers are switching gears as the industry shrinks, moving into areas including medical tech, robotics and defence. As dieters slim down, protein prices are bulking up, with a lot of people finding an appetite for whey.
Shipping & Logistics
The shipping industry is warning that a small battery exemption increases fire risk on vessels, with container lines pushing regulators to change rules where laptops or power banks with batteries do not need to be declared. The UK is seeking to tighten security of supply chains after an Iran-linked cyber attack, with a potential veto posing challenges for energy companies reliant on Chinese supplies.
Will robotaxis clog up Britain's cities? Autonomous vehicles present a new challenge for those trying to reduce urban congestion. West Jet flight attendants ratified a new collective agreement following a strike that grounded hundreds of flights in Canada earlier this month.
US Politics & Policy
The Trump administration is proposing to charge more than $100,000 for skilled worker H-1B visas, a proposal that comes after the administration ran into legal challenges in its attempt to attach a similar fee last year. The State Department has begun a review that could affect up to 200,000 visa holders and asylum applicants, with cancellations potentially occurring in waves.
Trump has quietly sought control over the Postal Service to transform US elections, an effort that got new attention when the Supreme Court allowed preparations for mail voting curbs to proceed. The justices allowed plans to restrict mail voting, for now, saying it is not a final determination on the order's legality. The Supreme Court also allowed Trump to pursue mail voting limits, for now, including an order that creates "state citizenship lists" and directs the Postal Service to decide who gets a mail-in ballot.
Nevada is suing the Trump administration over Colorado River cuts, seeking to block plans for significant water use restrictions over the next decade. A fast-moving wildfire near Reno has forced thousands to evacuate, with the Hawk fire burning more than 15,000 acres since it began on Saturday in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
A California judge ruled that recalled officials are unlawfully in office, with the mayor and three other council members of Avenal refusing to leave despite a certified vote by residents to recall them. The Washington Post was ordered to rehire columnist Karen Attiah, who was fired for social-media remarks after the killing of political commentator Charlie Kirk.
Sports, Entertainment & Culture
A major new study found that at least 1 in 4 NFL players gets CTE, with the actual prevalence potentially much higher. The alarming study about brain injuries in football raises questions about how states are paying millions for rain instead of addressing the crisis. Many NFL players get brain disease, so why hasn't OSHA intervened? "We never see things that are this dire," a former chief scientist of the agency said about rates of CTE in former players.
For parents whose children play football, researchers say the key to minimizing CTE risk is all about reducing the total number of blows to the head. Jelly Roll celebrated his 300-pound weight loss on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," saying "That means I've lost an entire Donald Trump."
The Gen Z-ers saving their parents' fashion shops on TikTok are bringing an emotional, human element to spreading the word among their peers. Is it time for this 95-year-old pianist to retire? Her vision and hearing are deteriorating, but she still wants to feel like she's on top.
Other Notable Stories
The US military killed 2 people in an attack on a boat in the Pacific, bringing the total killed to at least 223 since its campaign of boat strikes began nearly a year ago. A former Forbes editor got $6 million for helping the magazine's partner with a sale, with a founder of Shook Research saying Randall Lane offered guidance during Shook's sale to a private-equity firm. The research firm's founder explained the $6 million payment to the fired Forbes editor, saying he paid for "services and guidance" in partnering with Forbes and later selling his research firm.
The maker of Clear Eyes recalled nearly 40,000 bottles over contamination risk, with federal safety regulators saying the drops were voluntarily recalled because of a "lack of assurance of sterility." The BRAT diet — is it really the best thing for stomach bugs? We know the risks of AI and we need to act, with AI potentially turning one of the country's worst habits into a national security crisis.
Australia confirmed its first case of H5N1 in June in migratory seabirds, and the virus has since spread rapidly to mammals, straining government responses. Today's weed is way too dangerous for teens, raising questions about whether we are willing to regulate and enforce cannabis safety, especially to protect the most vulnerable among us.
NYC's 911 system had an outage, and officials kept quiet about it, with the partial breakdown occurring last week without public notification. Religious references in the Lindsay Clancy trial angered the judge and defense, with the prosecution witness's remark incensing the presiding judge and prompting a mistrial request.
A judge ordered the US to return a deported man at risk of torture, after the Mexican man was sent to his home country despite assisting federal law enforcement by testifying against Mexican drug cartels. A sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln said his father was arrested by Border Patrol, with Joshua Aviles learning of the detention while on his way home from the Middle East.
California's attorney general cancelled a Paramount meeting citing leaks, with the two sides scheduled to discuss a settlement of a multistate antitrust lawsuit aiming to block the Paramount-Warner merger. Big Tech has captured American schools, with companies like Google and Microsoft using their money, might and massive reach to influence nearly every step of the education supply chain.
What if your texts traveled as slowly as a carrier pigeon? Apps that let users send digital messages at ultraslow speeds have taken off, with users reveling in a slower pace of life. More companies are promising cloud seeding can make rain, with states spending millions on the technology, backed by new data on its effectiveness — and driven by desperation for water.
The federal government was supposed to release a definition of ultraprocessed foods, but Big Food is winning the war for America's diet. Eon Huntley, the Democratic Socialist running for office while working at Bergdorf, won his primary in New York in June, believing good clothes and populist policies go together.
Trump has laid it on the line for Darline Graham ahead of the South Carolina runoff, rallying for the sister of Lindsey Graham and pressuring allies to endorse her, with a super PAC run by his advisers spending nearly $800,000 on her campaign. With Trump against him, can Ralph Norman win in South Carolina? The ultraconservative congressman who has broken with the president on spending is hoping voters reward his experience, contrarian streak and all.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, five years in, makes her case for four more, believing that New York is back and hoping she has persuaded New Yorkers. A poll shows Josh Shapiro leading Pennsylvania's governor's race, with the New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena poll finding the governor leading Stacy Garrity and having support for a possible presidential bid.
John Fetterman's popularity with Republicans has surged, with Pennsylvania Republicans now viewing the state's Democratic senator more favorably than its sitting GOP senator, according to the same poll. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, joined Jesse Watters of Fox News for some light verbal combat, arguing that his Republican critics were using culture-war issues to distract from Americans' economic concerns.
The mayor went on vacation, and he didn't travel very far. Zohran Mamdani is known for working around the clock as mayor of New York City, but last week he and his wife headed "upstate" for vacation and some locals were thrilled to spot them. A local business group has sued over Mamdani's plan to open municipal grocery stores, arguing the plan would introduce unfair competition to a struggling industry dealing with slim profit margins.
The mayor is also turning his fire on Amazon, taking the retail giant to task over the status of delivery workers, the sale of illegal e-bikes and fines for idling vehicles. Don't Harry and Meghan know better? Given their past, what does a future in England hold for them?
In building his border wall, Trump may bring down a 110-year-old church in West Texas, where Mexican American families came together a century ago to build an adobe church near the border. How should "Huckleberry Finn" be taught? A journalist traveled around the country to find out if the novel still has a place in the classroom.
We're in a new era of class warfare, and history points to a way out — the class-based violence of the past was part of a broader struggle, but today the violence is the end in itself. The tour guide who lived through 9/11 offers a very specific and deeply personal tour of the World Trade Center site to remind visitors what happened 25 years ago.
"Point Break": the totally tubular ride with high-voltage buddy chemistry, with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze locked in as star-crossed rivals in Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 adrenaline-fueled, utterly earnest surf action thriller. What you should know about college admissions changes — after loosening requirements during the Covid era, some schools are shaking up admissions again, facing pressure from the Trump administration, AI and even their own professors.
The ruthless efficiency of ultrapotent street drugs — five decades after the "war on drugs" sought to make substance abuse unaffordable, illicit drugs are cheaper and more powerful than ever. A visit to Baltimore shows why.
Private Equity
Last updated: August 25, 2026, 9:04 AM ET
Deals & Exits
Private equity activity remained brisk across sectors and geographies. KKR agreed to acquire Ci FLAVORS, a leading Japanese beauty and lifestyle brand platform, from shareholders led by L Catterton, betting on the country's beauty boom. Regent is reuniting the two halves of Avon after agreeing to acquire Avon North America from LG Household & Health Care, bringing the 140-year-old brand under single ownership for the first time since 2016. Apollo exited its minority stake in Autodoc, Europe's largest online car parts retailer, after founders reclaimed full control via a €530m leveraged loan. Vista Equity Partners is exploring a sale of Allvue Systems that could value the private-markets software group at as much as $3bn including debt.
In healthcare, Flexpoint Ford sold Artes Rx, which operates 16 pharmacies across 15 states serving patients with complex medication needs, to Linden Capital Partners. CVC-backed TMF Group expanded its fund administration footprint with the acquisition of Helsinki-based Navigator Partners, which serves more than 800 private equity, family office and foundation clients across the Nordics. Foresight Group exited Plantexpand, an outsourced fleet maintenance business founded in 1987, to Premius Capital in a deal generating a 3x return.
Infrastructure & Industrials
Arc Light committed $1bn to launch Anchor Point Transmission, an independent transmission company focused on developing high-voltage infrastructure for utility and cooperative partners across the US. Exponent invested in KTL, which provides end-to-end services for mobile network operators including network build, integration and maintenance. Rotunda-backed Air Pro merged with Revv, an AI-powered operating system for ADAS automotive repair workflows that processes more than one million vehicles annually, to build an integrated ADAS platform. Align Capital-backed E Source, a Boulder-based firm helping utilities optimize the grid, picked up Aneden Consulting.
Technology & AI
General Intuition is in talks to raise at a $6bn pre-money valuation from new investors including Valor and Point72, with the robotics push as a key focus. Hugging Face has fielded acquisition offers valuing the company at around $13bn, though founder concerns about community responsibility may complicate a sale. Blackstone- and H&F-backed Ode, which partners with Anthropic, added to its Claude services with the acquisition of Casper Studios, while PSG, Thoma Bravo and Nexa Equity made construction software deals.
Lunar founders raised €8.2m to launch Repodo, an AI-native audit startup. BVP Forge invested in Nevvon, a compliance and training platform for home care and facility-based care workforces, with caregivers completing more than 57 million lessons on the network.
Consumer & Growth
General Atlantic led a $75m Series B investment in Blank Street, the fast-growing coffee and mental chain, at a valuation of about $650m. KKR's broader deal pipeline also includes a reported bet on Book MyShow, targeting India's live entertainment boom, as highlighted in the week's top deals.
Secondaries & Fundraising
The UK's proposed tax reform will end offshore execution structures, which under stamp duty created grey areas in a digital age, offering clarity to secondaries investors according to Hogan Lovells' Elliot Weston. The GP-led market will become "indistinguishable" from the sponsor-to-sponsor market within five years as firms seek portfolio access via CVs, positioning GP-leds as a portfolio management tool. India's first listed GP will channel proceeds into GP commitments, one of seven facts about the listing.
Markets & Strategy
Warburg Pincus' Peter Deming sees banking opportunities amid AI disruption, noting "banks have incredibly rich data. AI is going to be an opportunity for them to move up the value chain as a service provider," with investment memos stacking up. He brings fresh eyes to banking as AI reshapes the sector.
Data & Insights
Private equity-backed companies create jobs more effectively than public peers, employing 13.3m people in the US. Robotics startups raised the biggest rounds in H1 2026, with the top 10 ranked. Serbian startups are gaining attention from VCs. Founders considering exits should weigh strategies to avoid exit regret.
Sector Investment
Last updated: August 25, 2026, 9:12 AM ET
Private Equity
Healthcare-focused firm RS2 has invested in KMM Group, a strategic move into specialty manufacturing. Meanwhile, infrastructure manager Terramont is targeting $750m for its second fund, seeking a first close on half of that by year-end — a sign of sustained appetite for mid-market infrastructure deals despite a tight fundraising climate.