Wall Street ends lower as solid jobs data fuels hawkish Fed bets

Wall Street ends lower as solid jobs data fuels hawkish Fed bets

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Fri September 4, 2026  

The jobs forecast was for 56,000 new jobs so when the report came in nearly triple that amount, it sent the markets into another panic over an overheated economy and new reasons for a rate hike. As today’s expert put it, “It’s hard not to think that an improving labor market is not good news for the economy, but the odds of a Fed rate hike increased a little bit as the economy continues to run a little on the hot side.”  

Wall Street ends sharply higher as Waller remarks ease rate hike fears

Wall Street ends sharply higher as Waller remarks ease rate hike fears

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Thu September 3, 2026  

It appears that Fed official Waller must have made his comments concerning keeping rates steady this month right around 10:30 a.m. which triggered an enormous jump in all three indexes until 11:30 a.m. at which point they remained steady for the remainder of the session. Waller’s comments really should not have moved the needle at all since all he really said was that IF the coming data shows inflation on the decline, THEN he would vote to keep rates steady, which of course has been his position and that of the entire Fed all along. It was not news and certainly no commitment to hold rates steady.

Wall St ends higher as stocks reclaim some shine

Wall St ends higher as stocks reclaim some shine

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Wed September 2, 2026

After two days of major routs there was a lot of bargain hunting going on today as investors searched for overlooked and undervalued companies which triggered a major leap in all three indexes all morning. The chip index, which has fallen nearly 25% in the last two months, has been making a comeback with AI stars Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron and Qualcomm leading the charge. But today’s expert is quite a lot more optimistic than recent sentiment has shown. “The war is continuing longer than anyone hoped and when it ends energy will cool and inflation will not be as much of an issue.”

Wall Street ends lower as higher yields, rising oil prices mark shaky start to September

Wall Street ends lower as higher yields, rising oil prices mark shaky start to September

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Tue September 1, 2026

It was another great rout today as escalating hostilities in the war since Friday have further dampened any prospects for an end to the crisis and as oil continues to spike, inflation concerns deepen. The consensus grows closer every day to a September rate hike, today the odds at 68.2% vs 65 yesterday and 39.6 a week ago. The day was awash with bad news from climbing Treasury yields after hitting a 19-month high yesterday to a slowing job market and factory activity losing momentum, all triggered by uncertainties created by the war.   

Wall Street closes lower as oil prices jump, indexes notch monthly gains

Wall Street closes lower as oil prices jump, indexes notch monthly gains

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Mon August 31, 2026  

Last week, investors took some comfort in Warsh’s comments since, even though hawkish, at least provided more clarity. But over the weekend, the markets reassessed the whole inflation outlook getting worse and worse and with today’s spiking oil prices, attributed entirely to the war and reinforcing the bleak inflation outlook, all three indexes dropped like rocks. And dropped right out the gate and stayed there all day. The Nasdaq, down over 250 as late as 3 pm, made an 11^th hour comeback mainly due to evidence that AI was still alive and well despite recent weakness.  

Investors heartened by Warsh inflation talk, still uncertain about Fed action

Investors heartened by Warsh inflation talk, still uncertain about Fed action

By Lewis Krauskopf, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Laura Matthews

Fri August 28, 2026

The charts show a big bump on the Dow up some 260 until 11:30, then crashing down to zero for the rest of the day with a similar pattern on the S&P but the Nasdaq sliding more deeply into the red with a 3-digit loss by close. But all reports today focused on Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole in which he spelled out that inflation was still not being curbed and that rate hikes may well be in the Fed’s future.

Nasdaq, S&P 500 lifted by Nvidia's forecast; investors eye speech by Fed's Warsh

Nasdaq, S&P 500 lifted by Nvidia's forecast; investors eye speech by Fed's Warsh

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

Thu August 27, 2026  

It could easily have been a self-fulfilling prophecy for disaster with markets expecting such lofty results from Nvidia that, had they been less than stellar, the AI boom might have been dampened. But lucky for the markets, Nvidia came through with a glowing report that has once again firmly put AI on a vigorously forward path. The company’s forecast for a whopping 70% revenue growth next year is almost double the market’s lofty estimate of 40% and even topping Morgan Stanley’s impossibly optimistic 52% forecast.