Public Markets 3 Hours

Last updated: August 21, 2026, 9:21 AM ET

Futures Firm at the End of a Wild Week

US stock futures rose in early Friday trading, putting the Nasdaq 100 on track to snap a five-day losing streak as yields held steady and bitcoin extended its surge. Stocks and bonds steadied at the close of a tumultuous week in which fears about the war in Iran, government deficits and corporate borrowing stirred global markets.

Treasuries Hit Pause

After a week of whiplash, Treasuries closed out the turbulence on pause, with traders heading into Friday's session uncertain what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's next move will be. Scott Bessent has vowed to step up efforts to restore calm to the debt market, but so far the campaign has failed to win over skeptical bond investors. BofA's Hartnett warned that a failure to tame long-term yields would pressure the dollar and spur short bets against riskier assets in the run-up to November's midterm elections.

Debasement Trade Accelerates

Gold and bitcoin rallied hard as debasement chatter picked up, with Bessent's bond buyback triggering a decline in the dollar. Bitcoin is on track for its best week in more than three years as the intervention weighs on the greenback. The largest cryptocurrency briefly neared $80,000 early Friday, while bond yields held near their highest levels in over a decade. FT's First FT noted that Bessent's bond buybacks lifted both haven assets, alongside news that Samsung plans to return $80bn to shareholders and that El Niño has forced the Panama Canal to cut traffic.

Euro Climbs as Dollar Slumps

The euro rose to a three-month high against a broadly weaker dollar, helped by eurozone PMIs that pointed to relative resilience despite elevated energy prices. The Thai baht, by contrast, is expected to remain weak in the near term.

Value Retail Stays in Favor

BJ's Wholesale reported higher second-quarter profit and revenue as budget-conscious shoppers continued to flock to its warehouse clubs in search of value. Walmart is playing the long game by lowering prices, a strategy supported by tariff refunds, even as Starbucks moved to lay off more than 200 workers. In a separate report, Walmart's e-commerce sales climbed 24% as deliveries accelerated, while the US and Canada inched toward a trade deal and Toyota mounted a challenge to GM's American sales reign. Elsewhere, back-to-school spending is offering a timely read on the health of the American consumer heading into autumn.

Heat Pumps Power a Nordic Winner

Nibe Industrier shares jumped more than 8% after the Swedish heating company reported sales and operating profit growth, driven by strong heat-pump demand in Europe and the US along with orders tied to data centers.

Wall Street Bails on a Space Darling

Analysts are rushing to slash price targets on York Space Systems after a 73% rout, arguing the spacecraft and satellite manufacturer faces an uncertain path forward amid supply-chain trouble.

Record Bears Circle the Braves

Short sellers are rapidly building record bearish positions in Atlanta Braves stock as contentious labor negotiations between Major League Baseball and its players' union raise the prospect of a disruptive work stoppage.

Anthropic IPO: Proceed With Caution

Retail investors eyeing Anthropic's IPO should resist the urge to rush in, according to FT guidance flagging substantial business risks for the maker of the Claude chatbot.

Hang Seng Adds a Chipmaker and a Machinery Giant

Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor and Weichai Power will join Hong Kong's equity benchmark following Hang Seng Indexes Co.'s quarterly review, broadening the index's exposure to semiconductors and heavy industry.

India's Nuclear Door Opens — Narrowly

Investors seeking entry into India's nuclear sector will likely face scrutiny above all on their ability to safeguard critical infrastructure as the country opens atomic power to private capital.

Climate Risk Reaches the Real Economy

Climate risk is starting to cascade into the broader US economy through the insurance market, with potential knock-on effects for property values and lending. Politicians are simultaneously turning against data centers as public anger over AI spreads, complicating buildout plans across the country. Adding to infrastructure worries, the USS Lincoln began a 13,000-mile journey home just as analysts flagged a component shortage that could take down parts of the electric grid.

Prince Returns to Defense

Blackwater founder Erik Prince launched Vectus Air Defense Systems, the former Navy Seal's latest foray into private military and security services. The private security contractor has partnered with Ukraine's Swarmer to offer defense technology to Middle East sites coming under attack from Iran. On the diplomatic front, a top Tehran official insisted Iran must plan to overcome "unjust sanctions," with lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaking after President Trump vowed an "economic D-Day" against the country.

Global Flashpoints

Kyiv is enduring an increasingly dire siege, according to a New York Times examination of conditions inside the Ukrainian capital. Closer to home, a civilian-contracted plane crash near a remote military radar site some 450 miles from Anchorage killed 8 people.

Law, Lobbying and Regulation

Rainmakers at Weil Gotshal are in talks to leave the firm amid an intensifying poaching frenzy, while the CFTC imposed trading bans on former FTX and Alameda executives and Pennsylvania rolled out new data-center rules. In the race for autonomous transport, Waymo doubled its lobbying spending as the Alphabet-owned company battles Uber and seeks to persuade US regulators to clear a path for fully driverless taxi services.

Passive Power Turns 50

Index funds have traveled from mocked experiment to market-dominating force over five decades, the WSJ chronicles, in a week when Bessent's rough day left investors on edge.

Marketers Embrace the Slang Economy

Brands are co-opting terms like "maxxing" and "mogging" drawn from looksmaxxing, wagering that jargon associated with extreme online behavior can still be repackaged into mainstream advertising appeal.