Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways U.S. equities were higher at midday after reports on consumer prices and weekly jobless claims increased confidence the Fed will lower interest rates this month. Centene reiterated its guidance, which exceeded analysts’ expectations.Oracle shares lost ground after their huge gain in yesterday’s session. U.S. equities gained at midday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq adding to Wednesday’s latest closing record highs, as new inflation and unemployment reports boosted confidence the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was more than 1% higher. Centene (CNC) shares jumped when the provider of health insurance…

Synopsys offices in Mountain View, California. (Bloomberg) — Shares of chip-design software maker Synopsys Inc. suffered their worst single-day decline on record after the company warned that US export restrictions are contributing to a slowdown in China, the largest market for semiconductors. Most Read from Bloomberg As part of the company’s quarterly report on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Sassine Ghazi said that a push to develop its own intellectual property isn’t achieving the desired results — partly because of the China challenges. Ghazi said he would be refocusing resources on other areas and is reducing the company’s headcount by about…

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) on Wednesday called Russia’s drone incursion into Poland and by extension NATO airspace, “a thumb in the eye” for President Donald Trump and urged “a strong message back to Putin,” sharpening criticism after Warsaw said its forces and allied jets shot down multiple Russian drones over Polish territory.Elissa Slotkin Urges Tough Sanctions For ‘Toddler’ Putin”Russia’s incursion into Polish airspace is a thumb in the eye to President Trump, who just rolled out the red carpet for Putin this summer,” Slotkin wrote on X.In a CNN interview the same day, Slotkin tied the episode to what she…

Both employment and inflation numbers were worse than expected. Stagflation approaches. Or is it already here? With 263k of (the highest number in two years!) and MoM at 0.4% instead of the expected 0.3%, the market doesn’t know what to focus on. The is moving back and forth today, and other markets seem to be simply perplexed.Gold Shines in Stagflation—But Not AlwaysStagflation is generally positive for gold – that’s what we had during the great bull market of the 1970s. BUT, it’s also true that gold declined profoundly in the middle of that bull market – in 1976. Silver price…

Connecticut is collecting a duo of fiscal wins this week with two upgrades from both Moody’s and Fitch. Both of the credit rating agencies cited improvements in the state’s budget management practices. Overall, this should help the bonds, although we have been bullish on Connecticut for quite some time. If you own Connecticut debt, this is a positive for you. If you own Chicago BOE’s, there is a chance some will be called, as the system is missing a 650MM issue today to add working capital and call a small portion of the existing debt. I would suspect that if…

The August 2025 Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) report indicates that inflation increased by 0.4% for the month, double the 0.2% rise in July. These data were released at 8:30 am EST on September 11, 2025, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Before seasonal adjustment, the year-over-year (Y-o-Y) inflation rate in the all-items index grew by 2.9%, up from 2.7% in July. The results aligned near economists’ consensus estimates. The table below is courtesy of Investing.com. The left column represents August’s figures, while the right column represents forecasters’ expectations. As you can see, core came in as…

A road closure sign leans against a wall outside Royal Exchange in the heart of the City of London, on 13th June 2022, in London, England. Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty ImagesU.K. economic growth flatlined in July, according to data published Friday, adding to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ headache ahead of the Autumn Budget.The figure was in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters, and follows a 0.4% expansion in June.In July, weakness was concentrated in production output, which contracted by 0.9%, while services and construction output both inched higher, the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics noted.It comes…

OpenAI announced Thursday it reached a nonbinding agreement with Microsoft, its largest investor, on a revised partnership that would allow the startup to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation (PBC). The transition, should it be cleared by state regulators, could allow OpenAI to raise additional capital from investors and, eventually, become a public company. In a blog post, OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor said under the nonbinding agreement with Microsoft, OpenAI’s nonprofit would continue to exist and retain control over the startup’s operations. OpenAI’s nonprofit would obtain a stake in the company’s PBC, worth upward of $100…

(Oil Price) – OPEC’s view of global oil demand growth was left unchanged as of today’s September Monthly Oil Market Report, at 1.3 million bpd for 2025, with non-OECD economies once again doing the heavy lifting. The OECD share of demand growth is negligible at 0.1 million bpd, while Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Latin America make up the balance. For 2026, OPEC sees demand inching higher to 1.4 million bpd. The supply figures, however, are more contentious. Producers outside the OPEC+ framework are set to add 0.8 million bpd next year and another 0.6 million in 2026, led…

Key Takeaways Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio warns that growing wealth inequality is driving both left- and right-wing populist movements. These movements are creating “irreconcilable differences” that threaten the stability of the markets. Government intervention in private business signals a shift toward state capitalism that Dalio says mirrors the dangerous era of the 1930s. Ray Dalio isn’t just worried about markets—he’s worried about democracy itself. In an interview with the Financial Times this week, the Bridgewater Associates founder compared today’s widening “wealth and values gaps” with the 1930s, when he says economic extremes fueled the rise of authoritarian governments. The…