What we’re reading (9/1)
“Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Waver As Wall Street Enters September With Trade, Fed Drama In Focus” (Yahoo! Finance). “US stocks futures wavered around the flatline Monday with Wall Street set for a delayed open to the week after Monday's closure for the Labor Day holiday. Investors are braced for a tumultuous month, with legal drama around President Trump's tariffs and concerns over Fed independence in high focus.”
“Americans Lose Faith That Hard Work Leads To Economic Gains, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds” (Wall Street Journal). “A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found. Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.”
“Fed Rate Cut? Not So Fast” (Morgan Stanley). “Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled in his annual speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that a rate cut cycle could start in September. Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee acknowledges the political pressures on the Fed to ease monetary policy. We also recognize that there has been some labor market cooling that might support a proactive rate cut. Overall, however, we see the case for a reduction as modest and put the odds much lower, at around 50-50.”
“Unlikely Allies: Trump, Pelosi And The Push To Ban Congressional Stock Trading” (Fox News). “Common sense would suggest that Congress shouldn’t be actively trading stocks and bonds while they’re holding office. And 86% of those surveyed in 2023 as part of a University of Maryland study favored a ban on congressional stock trading, with Republicans and Democrats showing nearly identical levels of support.”
“Eli Lilly Is Close To Launching The Strongest Weight-Loss Drug Ever. Somehow, Gym Bros Are Already Taking It To Shred Fat.” (Business Insider). “Retatrutide is a GLP-1 drug, in the same family as Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide). It was developed by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, and it is unique because it mimics three hunger hormones (GLP, GIP, and glucagon), while similar drugs on the market target one or two. In theory, that means more staggering weight-loss results and potentially other benefits. Doctors and researchers are already jokingly referring to retatrutide as the ‘King Kong’ for weight loss because early results in clinical trials suggest it rivals bariatric surgery, and it seems to protect more lean muscle mass.”
