Public Markets 24 Hours

Last updated: August 21, 2026, 11:56 PM ET

Bond Markets and the Dollar

The wild week in the $32tn Treasury market left Secretary Scott Bessent's intervention efforts under scrutiny. The Treasury Department’s bond buyback announcement stemmed the selloff only briefly before it resumed. Bond yields still rise despite Treasury efforts to cap borrowing costs, leaving the Fed's bond-buyback plan widely dismissed as a short-term fix. The WSJ Dollar Index fell 0.7% on the week to 95.33, with additional pressure from the Treasury’s plan to buy back longer-end bonds. Japan-style comparisons and dollar weakness continue to dominate trader conversations.

Gold and Bitcoin Rally

The greenback's weakness stretched to a "debasement" trade, with gold and Bitcoin rallying on Bessie's bond move. Bitcoin jumped more than 9% to a peak of $79,455 on Friday after a combination of catalysts, including rising institutional demand, short-covenging and progress on a Market Clarity Act. Other Bitcoin rallies led the broader crypto trade bitcoin energy. Comex Gold settled 2.4% higher Friday and up 5.56% on the week at $4,624.10, while the metal climbed back above $4,600 on weaker dollar, debt fears. Concerns about US debt a crisis triggered a gold rush as investors sought protection.

Stock Markets

Wall Street ended the week on an upbeat note as Bitcoin’s surge lifted sentiment. US stocks rose as bitcoin neared $80,000, putting the Nasdaq 100 on track to snap a five-day losing streak. The dow industrials faced the largest weekly decline since March, though the FTSE 100 live saw British indexes steady valuing a possible recovery. European stocks also gained on stronger-than-expected business activity, narrowly avoiding their worst losing streak in a decade. On the other hand, memory stocks show "smart money" moving away from AI trade.

Corporate and Deals

In corporate news, TikTok agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US lawsuit over the illegal collection of children’s data. Boeing engineers voted to reject a contract and authorize a potential strike. The Defense rests in the Lindsay Clancy case, meanwhile, Farmer Nike was via SEC suing BofA. The Bank for International's SEC Case may affect. Europe’s Monte dei Paschi launched twin takeover bids for Banco BPM and Banca Generali, a €40bn attempt to fend off Intesa’s buyout. Monte-Paschi’s all-share bid for both target banks is Europe’s boldest bank restructuring in years.

Law and Policy

The Justice Department resolved its case against TikTok. Also, the Pentagon fired military newspaper staffs linked to an authoritarian flare-up. Meghan of to Sussex is in talks to join a Netflix role in “The Gentlemen” Season Three. The U.S. agreed to pay Liberia $5 million after deportation disputes, while the court backers cut Alex Jones' Sandy Hook payment to $6 million and filed a lawsuit in Equatorial Guinea. In an escalation, Turkey rejected an Interpol warrant for Netanyahu, and in the West Bank, a Palestinian teenager was killed.

Insights and Oddities

The White House made headlines with plans for a ballroom staircase, and the White House also granted a FCC review of ABC’s St. Louis station switch. The Fed faces a data-center backlash, with politicians turning against data centers as part of a broader trend. Goldman’s report on results shows UK retail investors have snapped up gilts after the bond sell-off, while new alerts emerged on global fallout from Dalio’s urging as the debt crisis looms deeper.