Every weekend, I recap “news you can use” from the week — a handful of quotes from major (and often expensive) financial news sources — so you can stay up to date on the news that affects your money without spending a dime and in less than a minute.

Here’s an overview of what happened this week.

Warsh Says Inflation Isn’t Slowing, Vows to Reach 2% Target (Aug. 28, Bloomberg):

“Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do. That’s our job,” Warsh said at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

Yields for two-year Treasuries rose by as much as nine basis points to 4.32%, while 30-year yields slipped two basis points to 5.17% — moves that signal an expectation that the Fed may need to raise short-term rates.

Meta settles social media addiction case with California, other states for $16.7 billion (Aug. 26, CNBC):

The settlement was revealed in a court filing released Wednesday that details several requirements Meta must make to its apps as part of a proposed “consent judgement.”

Those changes include daily usage limits and “nighttime blocks” for teenagers who use the company’s apps, “enhanced age assurance measures” that would prevent children from using them, and the creation of additional tools for parents and guardians.

U.S. inflation rises again and stays well above the Fed’s target. A rate hike could be in play. (Aug. 26, MarketWatch):

The so-called PCE index rose 0.2% last month, the government said Wednesday, higher than the 0.1% forecast of economists surveyed by Wall Street. Over the past year, inflation has risen at a 3.7% pace, unchanged from the prior month. That’s well above the Fed’s 2% target.

“These high inflation readings should keep the [Fed] overall in a hawkish mood and poised to raise rates if we do not see significant cooling in the coming months,” Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic said.

Bill Gates issues a stark warning about AI — and Americans increasingly share his concerns (Aug. 26, MarketWatch):

In the blog post, Gates laid out three key risks that AI poses, one being that many jobs will “disappear forever.”

The second concern he identified is that AI will give bad actors the means to do more harm through things like bioweapons and computer viruses.

Further, he believes that AI could stunt children’s development and replace human relationships.

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Bitcoin price extends gains, briefly tops $81,000 overnight, as crypto rally gathers pace (Aug. 24, CNBC):

The gains followed the U.S. Treasury’s announcement that it would double its purchases of longer-dated government bonds. The move briefly pushed yields lower and revived demand for risk assets, while growing concern over inflation and government debt also boosted interest in assets perceived as scarce.

The World’s Craziest Stock Market Has Turned Into a Fright Ride (Aug. 24, Wall Street Journal):

South Korea had the world’s hottest stock market for most of the past year, powered by the artificial intelligence boom. Then it crashed.

The benchmark Kospi index more than tripled in value, driven by faith in the AI boom. Then the Kospi plummeted around 40% over six weeks in June and July, burning hundreds of thousands of investors—a sober warning to those betting big on the AI industry.

‘They asked too much’: Canadian dollar slides as Ottawa and Washington head for all-out trade war (Aug. 24, CNBC):

The U.S. on Saturday slapped 50% tariffs on around $20 billion worth of imports from Canada, its second-biggest trading partner after Mexico. The affected goods span dairy, wine, wood products, furniture, cement, ceramics and a slew of other areas.

Ongoing U.S. tariffs of 50% could cause around 90,000 job losses, according to Canadian economist Trevor Tombe.

Every weekend, I recap “news you can use” from the week — a handful of quotes from major (and often expensive) financial news sources — so you can stay up to date on the news that affects your money without spending a dime and in less than a minute.

Here’s an overview of what happened this week.

Gold rebounds as bond jitters, debt fears and weaker dollar revive bullion demand (Aug. 21, CNBC):

Gold futures rose 1.67% to $4,647.70 in early trading Friday, while spot bullion prices notched a 1.55% gain, trading at $4,588.08. The advance caps a positive week for the precious metal, which is up 4.7% over the five-day period, with futures moving toward a three-month high.

The rebound follows gold’s sharp reversal from record highs of almost $5,600 earlier this year, and its worst quarterly perfomance since 2013 in the three months through June.

Oil prices jump after Trump declares economic war on Iran (Aug. 20, MarketWatch):

The West Texas Intermediate contract for October delivery climbed almost 4%, to $87.51 a barrel, while Brent crude’s front-month contract advanced more than 3%, to $94.48 a barrel.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday evening that he would be launching “the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country,” describing the campaign as “economic warfare.”

US Jobless Claims Edge Lower in Sign of Steady Job Market (Aug. 20, Bloomberg):

Applications for US unemployment benefits edged lower last week, staying near historically low levels and suggesting few layoffs across the labor market.

Initial claims decreased by 6,000 to 206,000 in the week ended Aug. 15, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

Fed minutes reveal growing support for rate hikes (Aug. 19, MarketWatch):

The record of the Fed’s meeting, released three weeks after its decision, showed that “several” officials favored raising interest rates. In June, only a “few” had supported tighter policy.

The market has lowered the chances of a September rate hike to 56%, down from 82% right after the Fed’s July meeting, according to the Atlanta Fed’s Market Probability Tracker.

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Trump Pauses 50% Tariff on Some Canadian Products (Aug. 18, Wall Street Journal):

The new tariffs, announced a month ago, would have risked escalation into a trade war between the North American neighbors. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who came to power last year by promising to stand up to Trump’s economic aggression, has said that Canada could retaliate. His country has been one of the few—along with China—to strike back at past U.S. levies with tariffs of its own.

30-Year Yield Rises to Highest Level Since 2007 as Oil and Treasury Supply Bite Bonds (Aug. 18, Barron’s):

More generally, elevated debt levels have contributed to higher term premiums, which reflect the additional return or yield investors demand for holding relatively riskier long-term debt instead of less risky shorter-term debt.

All told, 30-year Treasuries have serious problems to contend with—which means yields could continue to rise through the summer.

Why it pays to stay invested: No amount of bad news could stop the stock market’s strongest run in more than 25 years (Aug. 17, MarketWatch):

Over the past few quarters, corporate earnings growth has blown away Wall Street’s expectations. As of Monday, the S&P 500 was on track to report a blended year-over-year growth rate in earnings per share of 50.5% for the second quarter, with more than 90% of companies reporting.

This would be the strongest quarter-over-quarter growth rate since the second quarter of 2021, when earnings nearly doubled as the global economy emerged from the worst of the pandemic-era lockdowns. More importantly, analysts expect the good times to keep on rolling in 2026 and 2027, as average EPS estimates have continued to climb during the second half of 2026.

Economic issues (and Iran) are dragging President Trump’s approval down to second-term lows (Aug. 15, Yahoo Finance):

The president’s net approval rating on trade, one of Trump’s signature issues, is -25.7%. It’s worse, at -29.6%, on the economy overall, according to Silver’s calculations as of Friday.

The worst issue for the president is inflation, with a dismal -42.4% net approval rating. All three numbers have been on a downward trajectory throughout Trump’s second term in office.

Every weekend, I recap “news you can use” from the week — a handful of quotes from major (and often expensive) financial news sources — so you can stay up to date on the news that affects your money without spending a dime and in less than a minute.

Here’s an overview of what happened this week.

US Retail Sales Fall Most Since May 2025 After Solid Demand Run (Aug. 14, Bloomberg):

The value of retail purchases, which isn’t adjusted for inflation, decreased 0.6%, the most since May 2025, according to data published Friday by the Census Bureau. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales fell 0.2%.

Economists generally remain wary about the outlook for spending after outsize tax refunds delivered a one-time bump earlier in 2026 and the personal saving rate slid in June to a four-year low.

Wholesale prices were flat in July, below expectations for 0.2% increase (Aug. 13, CNBC):

The producer price index, a measure of underlying inflation pressures, was unchanged for the month, below the 0.2% Dow Jones consensus estimate and after falling 0.1% in June. The June figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 0.3%.

Excluding food and energy, the core PPI rose 0.2%, against the forecast for a 0.3% gain. The core PPI excluding trade services increased 0.4%.

Oil prices fall after U.S. says crude exports through Strait of Hormuz near 9 million barrels per day (Aug. 12, CNBC):

Oil demand is expected to fall by 1.6 million barrels per day this year, about 510,000 bpd more than previously anticipated, according to the International Energy Agency. Renewed hostilities in the Gulf have undermined efforts to boost global oil supplies, the IEA said. Supply was 6.3 million bpd lower year-on-year in July with 8.3 million bpd of Gulf production shut in, it said.

Inflation Was 3.4% in July, Down Slightly From the Previous Month (Aug. 12, Wall Street Journal):

Stop-and-start peace negotiations in the Middle East brought a respite for gasoline prices. And so-called core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose by 0.2% in July from the previous month, a relatively modest increase offering hope that broader price pressures could be abating.

Underlying inflation trends are especially decisive right now for the Federal Reserve, where policymakers are grappling with whether and when to raise interest rates.

U.S. budget deficit surged in July to highest level since March 2021 (Aug. 12, CNBC):

In addition to the big single-month jump, the collective red ink across the first 10 months of the government’s fiscal year rose to nearly $1.8 trillion and surpassed the same period in 2025.

The July shortfall totaled $432.3 billion, up some 48% from the same period a year ago and the largest monthly deficit since March 2021.

US existing homes fall 1.7% in July as record prices, high mortgage rates stifle would be-buyers (Aug. 11, Associated Press):

Home prices continued to rise, hitting unprecedented levels for the month of July, NAR said. The U.S. median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100.

In June, the median sales price hit $442,800, an all-time high for any month on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 37 months in a row.

AI is killing worker confidence, but there’s no sign it’s muscling people out of their jobs on a massive scale (Aug. 11, MarketWatch):

At the margins, there are some signs of AI-induced layoffs and fewer jobs for younger workers in AI-exposed roles. On the whole, however, economists say there’s no sign AI is muscling people out of their jobs on a massive scale.

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China Unleashes $28 Trillion Capital Markets to Challenge US in AI (Aug. 9, Bloomberg):

Access to capital has long been one of America’s biggest advantages in technology. Now Beijing is trying to close that gap, as artificial intelligence — perhaps the most capital-intensive industrial undertaking in modern history — emerges as the next engine of economic growth and military advantage.

U.S. oil rises back above $82 as doubt grows Washington and Tehran will reach Hormuz deal (Aug. 9, CNBC):

President Donald Trump told Axios on Sunday that the U.S. is “only semi-negotiating” with Iran, after he insisted last week that Washington and Tehran were in fact holding talks.

“We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” the president told Axios.

Every weekend, I recap “news you can use” from the week — a handful of quotes from major (and often expensive) financial news sources — so you can stay up to date on the news that affects your money without spending a dime and in less than a minute.

Here’s an overview of what happened this week.

U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July (Aug. 7, CNBC):

Nonfarm payrolls fell by a seasonally adjusted 23,000 for the month, compared to a downwardly revised 20,000 for June. The Dow Jones consensus forecast had been looking for a gain of 83,000.

At the same time, the unemployment slipped to 4.1% as the labor force participation rate fell further to 61.4%, its lowest in more than five years.

Treasuries Rally as Soft Jobs Data Trims Fed Rate-Hike Bets (Aug. 7, Bloomberg):

The yield on two-year US Treasuries, which are sensitive to near-term moves in Fed monetary policy, fell eight basis points on Friday to 4.15% as traders cut bets on interest-rate hikes in the coming months. The 10-year rate was down six basis points at 4.62%.

Layoffs fall to the lowest level since the U.S. put men on the moon. Here’s what that says about the economy. (Aug. 6, MarketWatch):

So-called initial jobless claims, filed by people who lose jobs, totaled less than 200,000 for the third week in a row — a feat last accomplished in 1969.

Businesses aren’t hiring lots of people, but they are extremely reluctant to shrink their workforces with sales rising and the economy still expanding.

Private companies added just 44,000 workers in July, below expectations, ADP reports (Aug. 5, CNBC):

Private companies added 44,000 jobs in July, a slowdown from the 95,000 the prior month and below market expectations, ADP reported Wednesday.

Pay gains held steady at 4.4% annually for those staying in their jobs. However, job switchers saw a 7% increase, the largest since August 2025.

Iran Is Staking Everything on Controlling the Strait of Hormuz (Aug. 4, Wall Street Journal):

By asserting authority over a critical waterway for global crude-oil flows, Tehran is betting that its ability to inflict pain on the American economy is its best leverage to avoid future military action from the U.S. and Israel. With gasoline prices and inflation elevated, Tehran believes Trump will ultimately accept its terms ahead of fast-approaching midterm elections that could determine the future of his presidency.

US Trade Deficit Narrows to $73.3 Billion on Drop in Imports (Aug. 4, Bloomberg):

The trade data wrap up a quarter in which net exports continued to weigh on economic growth. Trade has been volatile month to month amid fluctuating tariff policy, disruptions from war in the Middle East and a rush to invest in artificial intelligence.

‘Last chance’: Bessent says Hormuz deal is in sight after Trump’s warning on Iran talks (Aug. 4, CNBC):

“We are in talks with the Iranians,” Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”

American manufacturers grow at fastest clip in 4 years due to AI boom — but all is not well (Aug. 3, MarketWatch):

A closely followed ISM gauge of manufacturers rose to 55.6% in July from 53.3% in the prior month. Any number above 50% indicates business is growing.

The problem is in getting enough critical supplies, such as metals, fertilizer and computer chips — and getting them on time. A lack of supplies has pushed prices higher and added to U.S. inflationary pressures.

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