Last updated: September 5, 2026, 2:42 PM ET
Geopolitics & Oil
The Trump administration has partnered with a private oil company to develop 17 fields in Venezuela, an effort experts say will take years and billions of dollars. The deal's partner, Alejandro Betancourt, has been targeted by investigations in the past, and the agreement has unsettled US executives who question its long-term viability. The outlook is hazy 15 years down the road, not only for oil prices but for Venezuela's stability.
Military escalation in the Strait of Hormuz has intensified. The US struck three Iranian tankers in response to missile attacks on warships, with the military saying it retaliated after Iran launched missiles at two vessels. The strikes came days after the two sides exchanged some of their most intense fire in weeks, part of a shadow network of tankers used to evade sanctions. Hedge funds have turned the most bullish on Brent crude since May as the conflict heightens concerns about prolonged disruptions to energy flows. Crude futures posted weekly gains in a choppy session ahead of the US Labor Day long weekend, closing out a week that saw the resumption of US strikes on Iranian targets and Iranian attacks on shipping.
The human cost of the conflict continues to mount. First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, was deployed to an air base in Jordan when enemy missiles lit up the sky, among the 18 Americans killed since the war began. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has given polygraph tests to about 50 Joint Staff members in an unparalleled leak hunt following news reports about diminished stocks of munitions.
Rates & Credit
US stocks fell after surprisingly strong August jobs data muddied the outlook for Federal Reserve policy. Employers added 162,000 jobs and unemployment held at 4.1 percent, signs of stability that contrasted with high inflation weighing on households and markets. A hotter-than-expected report sent short-term bond prices lower, as traders boosted bets on a rate hike from the Fed this month. Stocks and bonds fell Friday on concerns that benchmark interest rates are headed higher.
The global bond selloff is proving no wrecking ball for Wall Street, repricing the cost of money without setting off the usual scramble out of risk assets. However, the Treasury sell-off is piling pressure on the weakest US borrowers, with spreads on riskiest junk debt climbing to their highest level since last year's "liberation day" tariff blitz. Wall Street analysts and investors are more willing to directly criticise Trump, particularly since a Treasury intervention on bonds.
Deals & Corporate
Anthropic is close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs top roles in its blockbuster $2tn IPO, with paperwork underpinning the Wall Street debut expected as soon as next week. The question of which investors will profit from the offering says a lot about how much start-up investing has changed over the years. Separately, authors are wrangling with publishers over a $1.5 billion Anthropic AI settlement that requires the tech giant to pay $3,000 per pirated book used to train its chatbot, with many authors fearing they could lose funds to others in the book business.
A Jefferies fund has been caught with $500mn exposure to a second alleged invoice fraud. Point Bonita, which bankrolled collapsed First Brands Group, has emerged as a big creditor to Radiant World. French prosecutors have seized €65mn from McKinsey in a tax fraud probe, though the fine remains provisional as the investigation continues. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been chosen by the Defense Department to review any transactions between the Pentagon and companies associated with Cerberus Capital Management.
Novartis's closely watched cholesterol study failed to meet its goal, with the Phase 3 trial finding the drug didn't reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. Doctors had been hopeful that pelacarsen would be a powerful new tool to fight heart disease. Bloom Energy, Illumina and Everpure will join the S&P 500 in the latest quarterly rebalance, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday.
Earnings & Economy
Volkswagen reached a deal with unions to cut tens of thousands of jobs and slash production, but the question remains whether the turnaround plan will revive the iconic German company or merely delay its demise. Ryanair's winter cuts have done other airlines a favour, since winter months are typically lossmaking for airlines and cutting back on services eases the industry's financial pinch. Uber has picked a side in the driver vs robotaxi wars: its own, though operating in so many markets means it can easily fall into the trap of talking from both sides of its mouth.
Record fuel prices pose a fresh challenge for Trump ahead of the midterms, with diesel hitting an average $5.85 a gallon on Friday, an all-time high surpassing the previous record from 2022. The AI boom is reversing the trend of ever-cheaper electronics, with prices for phones, laptops and gaming consoles already up and retailers forecasting further increases. Scotland's whisky industry is grappling with chronic oversupply just as changing consumer habits hollow out demand.
More European wealth managers have turned pessimistic on the region's stocks, taking the view that this year's rally is likely to falter while US markets and developing countries power ahead. Diamond mines are closing in South Africa, with weak sales and lab-grown stones threatening the livelihoods of thousands of workers in De Beers' mines. S&P Global Ratings cut Senegal's credit score further into junk territory, saying a distressed debt exchange or default on the country's foreign-currency commercial debt is "extremely likely."
Politics & Policy
The Supreme Court sided with Republicans in a TV ad fight, clearing the way for political parties to pay the same low-cost ad rates as candidates, a move that could undercut a Democratic advantage in the midterms. Missouri has asked the Supreme Court to allow a voting map benefiting Republicans, after the state's high court said the redrawn boundaries could not be used in November. A federal appeals court panel declined to let Homeland Security reopen access to a voter-screening tool that incorporated Social Security data. A judge once again blocked the Trump administration's plans to restrict mail-in ballots, with the ruling arriving before the Supreme Court could decide whether to intervene but appearing certain to set off another round of appeals.
The Trump administration issued subpoenas for voter data in Nevada, escalating efforts to prove the president's claims of widespread voter fraud. The Homeland Security Department has asked for inquiries into voting machines, with critics of ballot-marking devices claiming hackers could manipulate digital codes on ballots, though election experts say the systems are safe to use. Gallup polls show Democrats outnumber Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents holding their largest advantage since 2008.
Trump granted pardons or commutations to 30 people on Thursday, continuing his unorthodox and unpredictable use of clemency power, with the latest grants benefiting drug offenders and a union boss. A judge ordered Trump officials to divulge the names of those who set up a $1.8 billion fund, a plan that could have funneled taxpayer money to the president's allies and drew repeated scrutiny from Senate Republicans. An internal watchdog concluded former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer had an inappropriate relationship with a security staffer and used public resources for personal travel, overseeing a "toxic, intimidating" workplace before her April resignation.
Elections & Campaigns
Senators Ossoff and Talarico will share a fund-raising event in Hollywood hosted by Shonda Rhimes, bringing together the Georgia and Texas Democrats for a night of celebrity-backed fundraising. Democrats criticized Fetterman after a WSJ report on how he spends his time, with the DOJ also telling its antitrust division to pause work with Canada. The prime minister won't cut spending, but one columnist explains how they're cutting theirs, noting October's Budget will be punishing for broad-shouldered Britons.
In red states, law-and-order Republicans are turning against Flock cameras, with the governors of Texas and Florida taking steps to curtail the use of license-plate readers even as police say they help with solving crime. The backlash against Flock AI surveillance is intensifying, with governors cracking down on the licence-plate-reading start-up bankrolled by Trump donors.
Legal & Investigations
The DOJ has pursued a quieter and more expansive effort against a wider circle of virus researchers, expanding its investigation beyond Dr. Anthony Fauci to include other scientists. RFK Jr. has hired an army doctor who opposed Covid shots to investigate if they killed 2,500 troops, with the doctor, Theresa Long, having compared immunizing service members against Covid to Nazi doctors experimenting on concentration camp prisoners. An ICE agent was charged with six counts of lying about a Minnesota shooting, a rare instance of the Trump administration seeking to hold an immigration agent accountable for actions taken while on duty.
A Pentagon agreement with the NIH on biodefense has drawn alarm from Democrats, who warned it could allow a Pentagon cash grab under a new partnership giving the Defense Department a larger role in biodefense and pandemic preparedness. A secret dossier adds to evidence of chemical weapons in Sudan, with documents bolstering allegations that the Sudanese military developed and used toxic bombs to gain an edge in the country's devastating civil war.
Markets & Trading
Prediction markets are heating up as crypto cools off, with traders spending more time and money betting on sports, elections and Fed rate decisions as bitcoin loses its cool. The repo market is the "dark matter" of finance—powerful and perilous—with questions over how worried we should be about the multitrillion-dollar market's influence over the cosmos of central banks, bonds, pension plans and private credit firms.
BlackRock has cast a vote of confidence in Texas, with the former champion of ESG now backing corporate proposals to reincorporate in the Lone Star State. Market talks cover insight on gold futures, BHP, Rio Tinto and more in the latest basic materials roundup, while the auto and transport roundup finds insight on Volkswagen and BRP.
Asia & Global
The Singapore government said it will not interfere in any decision that Singapore Airlines makes in Air India, which is said to be seeking financial aid from its shareholders. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the city's first five-year plan will focus on areas including expanding offshore yuan usage and cross-border investment with the mainland. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte posted bail for a criminal case accusing her of threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying she fears for her own life.
Malaysia's PAS party wants a nationwide gambling license review, with the Islamist party saying the government should review existing licenses and stop giving new ones. Leonardo SpA, the Italian state-controlled defense company, is aiming to deepen ties with Ukraine's fast-growing military-technology sector through its new Kyiv unit, seeking partnership and investment opportunities.
Ukraine & Russia
Trump envoys arrived in Moscow for talks on the Ukraine war, with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planning to visit Kyiv next in an effort to revive peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. A deadly campaign of Russian and Ukrainian airstrikes has escalated since the last US-brokered negotiations stalled in February, with the status of peace talks uncertain as a new round approaches. Putin denies a draft is coming, but some Russian men are taking no chances, deciding whether to flee, hide or sit tight as the fear of possible mobilization becomes a fixture of daily life across Russia.
Germany & Europe
The German far-right is surging, threatening the postwar taboo on extremists in power. Sunday's vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt could produce the strongest showing in the history of the Alternative for Germany party, and potentially a far-right government in the statehouse. The government is seemingly incapable of stopping the far right, with something alarming about to happen in Germany. The EU counterterror envoy is urging pressure on social platforms over youth extremism, noting that large-scale terrorism has receded but smaller attacks by individuals recruited online are on the rise.
Masked protesters blocked Dover port roads, with the port operator saying the "public order incident" is affecting all routes in and out.
Media & Culture
Fox News took Maria Bartiromo off the air this week, pulling one of the last hosts whose coverage of Dominion Voting Systems drew an expensive defamation lawsuit, in a move that led to her downfall at the network. The industry traded FCC oversight for free spectrum in 1927 and has resisted efforts to undo the deal, with ABC's settlement against Trump representing a free-speech sellout by broadcasters.
The purest American culture lives on at local festivals, where turning hyperlocal traditions into public spectacle is a US pastime. Harlan Coben's new book is a tough-talking writing guide that doubles as a memoir, with even a very successful thriller writer fighting self-doubt. Gloria Steinem and Ms. Magazine transformed the publishing industry, with the feminist icon insisting that women were not a niche audience and proving it in 1971 with the start of an influential publication owned and operated by women.
Trials & Justice
A judge declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's murder case, with the jury failing to reach a verdict in the emotionally wrenching and uniquely complicated trial. Even as the jury failed to reach a verdict, Clancy's future is unlikely to include freedom, at least for a long time, though Americans have been divided over the goal of her confinement. Hung juries are not common, but the murder trial was emotionally wrenching and uniquely complicated, with unanimous verdicts hard to reach in such complex cases. Clancy still faces murder charges for killing her three children, and prosecutors may decide to retry her, though she is likely to remain in a hospital. Postpartum psychosis is misunderstood and a poor fit for the justice system, as Clancy's trial tells us about ourselves.
Health & Science
The CDC says no deaths this year have been attributed to measles, with the agency's weekly update escalating a political fight after Pennsylvania said two deaths had been caused by the virus. Kenyans made a living writing college essays for overseas students, but with AI the work has dried up, a warning for online gig work that has been a global lifeline.
Travel & Infrastructure
Trump plans to use a Qatari jet for another overseas flight despite security concerns, intending to travel to Ireland on the plane for the first time since questions were raised about its defensive capabilities. Nine days after a flood, two men were pulled alive from mud-filled tunnels in Nepal, with one of the workers rescued from a hydroelectric plant saying he had recited prayers over and over while trapped deep underground.
Opinion & Commentary
Courting authoritarianism with a rapacious Trump, the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity is "not so supreme" for Chief Justice Roberts, according to one opinion piece. For Gaza to recover, Hamas must be expelled, with one columnist arguing that if Western supporters of the Palestinians want to help Gaza, they should denounce Hamas. An annual clearout of an "overflow" freezer birthed a new festival, but the question remains whether the benefits of being an accidental prepper all make financial sense.
Sports & Lifestyle
Naomi Osaka has become the fashion queen of the tennis court, playing a whole new style game at the US Open. The tournament has grown ever more popular, but tennis fans wonder if "the people's tournament" has become too rowdy, with influencers, noise and weed changing the atmosphere. The season's new releases give us a cultural road map, but the most rewarding reading, listening and watching comes from the detours, as one scenic route column suggests.
Jonny Pop is the hottest brand of the summer, with the ice pop popping up everywhere after seemingly coming from nowhere. Young people see a different America than older people, with a quiz based on 1,862 survey responses helping readers find the new fault lines in US values. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Gloria Steinem was asked about the young women supporting Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, and her answer created a brief hullabaloo, with her remark that young women backed Sanders to chase men being "insulting" to many.
Real Estate & Development
California Forever's ambitious plan faces another setback, with a legislative setback for a manufacturing and housing proposal showing how hard it remains to build in the largest state, and why a backlash against billionaires could make it even harder.