Good Afternoon. Jerome Powell’s last Jackson Hole speech as Fed Chair ended with a mic drop. Not literally — but that’s what it felt like to Wall Street. His signal that rate cuts could arrive as soon as September sent markets surging and set the tone for a day when Washington, Wall Street, and even Waymo’s robotaxis all made major headlines. Let’s get into it.

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1. Powell’s Jackson Hole Mic Drop Sends Markets Soaring

The News: Fed Chair Jerome Powell used his Jackson Hole speech to signal that rate cuts could come as soon as September. He said risks to the labor market are rising and that the Fed may need to “adjust policy”—clear code for easing. It marked a dovish pivot after months of skepticism that cuts were on the table. Markets loved it: the S&P 500 jumped 1.5%, the Dow surged nearly 2%, homebuilders soared, and Treasury yields fell as investors priced in an 89% chance of a September cut.

Why It Matters: Powell shifted the Fed’s balance of concern from inflation back toward jobs, effectively telling Wall Street that cheaper money is around the corner. That gave investors cover to keep bidding up already pricey stocks and provided political breathing room as Trump pressures for rate relief. If this was Powell’s swan song at Jackson Hole, he left markets with a gift: clarity that the Fed will cut if unemployment keeps ticking up. Because nothing says “mic drop” quite like the Dow gaining nearly 900 points.
Source: bloomberg.com

2. Waymo Gets First Green Light for Robotaxi Testing in NYC

The News: Waymo just scored the first-ever permit to test autonomous vehicles in New York City. The Alphabet-owned company can deploy up to eight Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn through late September, but only with trained safety drivers who must keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times.

Why It Matters: If Waymo can handle New York, it can handle anywhere. The city’s maze of pedestrians, cyclists, delivery trucks, and honking yellow cabs is considered the ultimate stress test for self-driving tech. For now, robotaxis can’t pick up passengers without a separate license, but the move signals a step toward commercial rides in the nation’s biggest and toughest market. If Waymo goes fully driverless, New Yorkers may need to adapt because “Hey, I’m walkin’ here!” just doesn’t land when there’s no one behind the wheel.
Source: techcrunch.com

3. Intel Lets Uncle Sam Buy In

The News: Intel shares jumped nearly 7% Friday after President Trump announced the U.S. government will take a 10% stake in the chipmaker. The agreement follows weeks of tension between Trump and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, whom Trump had recently called on to resign over alleged ties to China. After a White House meeting earlier this month, the two patched things up culminating in the deal. The stake comes without board seats or governance rights, but it positions Washington as a direct shareholder in a company that sits at the heart of U.S. national security and industrial policy. Analysts say other chipmakers that have received billions under the 2022 CHIPS Act could soon face similar arrangements.

Why It Matters: We’ve flagged this before, and now it’s official: The U.S. has moved from subsidizing chips to owning a slice of them, blurring the line between free markets and industrial strategy. That puts Intel at the center of a broader experiment: can Washington be both regulator and shareholder without distorting the industry? For now, Intel gets a vote of confidence, Washington gets a foot in the door, and investors get a rally. This could just be the opening chapter in America’s experiment with state-backed Silicon Valley as Trump’s sovereign wealth fund dream might be closer than you think.
Source: marketwatch.com

4. Trump says he has TikTok buyers lined up

The News: President Trump said Friday that he has U.S. buyers lined up for TikTok and may extend the September 17 deadline for ByteDance to divest its American operations. The move comes just days after the White House launched its own official TikTok account, drawing accusations of hypocrisy from Beijing. China has doubled down on its refusal to allow TikTok’s core algorithm to be sold abroad, calling it a “red line.”

Why It Matters: With 170 million U.S. users, TikTok has become too big to ban easily but too tied to China to ignore. A forced sale could reshape the social media landscape, but the standoff over its algorithm shows how tech sovereignty is now front-line geopolitics. For Trump, the app is both a political megaphone and a bargaining chip, raising the stakes for any eventual deal. After all, it’s hard to ban TikTok when you’re also posting on TikTok.
Source: reuters.com

5. Pattern prepares to file $400M IPO amid AI e-commerce boom

The News: Pattern Inc., the Utah-based e-commerce infrastructure firm, is preparing to file for a U.S. IPO before September, aiming to raise about $400 million. The company, once an Amazon reseller, now pitches itself as “the world’s leading e-commerce accelerator,” with AI-powered tools for advertising, chatbots, and social commerce analytics. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are leading the deal, which would mark one of the year’s larger tech offerings.

Why It Matters: Pattern’s filing rides the wave of renewed investor appetite for AI-fueled tech IPOs—138 so far this year, up from 85 in 2024. With a $2B valuation from its last funding round and a growing client base across 60 countries, the company is betting Wall Street is ready to reward profitable AI infrastructure plays. The real test: can Pattern stand out in a space crowded by Shopify and other AI-first upstarts Because in today’s IPO market, slapping “AI” on your prospectus is like putting “gluten-free” on cookies—sure to get attention, but you’d better deliver on taste
Source: bloomberg.com

1. Russia strikes US-owned factory as Trump backs Ukraine offense

The News: Russian cruise missiles destroyed a U.S.-owned Flex Ltd. electronics factory in western Ukraine early Thursday, killing one person and injuring at least 15. The strike, one of Moscow’s largest aerial assaults this year, hit the Mukachevo plant just 30 miles from NATO territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “deliberate attack” on American assets. Hours later, President Trump shifted tone, saying Ukraine “must fight back” and endorsing offensive strikes against Russia, just days after floating concessions in talks with Vladimir Putin.

Why It Matters: This attack is more than battlefield fallout, it drags U.S. assets directly into the line of fire and raises the stakes for American businesses operating abroad. Flex employs over 2,600 people in Ukraine, but the bigger story is political: the strike nudged Trump into publicly supporting Ukrainian offensive operations, a sharp departure from his softer stance last week. For Kyiv, it’s validation; for Moscow, it’s a warning that U.S. “neutrality” is slipping. And for global investors, it’s proof that the war’s risks don’t stop at the front line, supply chains, factories, and foreign investments are now targets.
Source: reuters.com

2. Canada drops tariffs on $30B in U.S. goods to ease tensions

The News: Canada will remove retaliatory tariffs on about $30 billion worth of American consumer products, including orange juice, wine, clothing, and motorcycles, in a bid to dial down escalating trade tensions with Washington. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the move Friday, but Canada is keeping 25% duties on U.S. steel, aluminum, and autos, protecting its most sensitive industries.

Why It Matters: This is Canada’s first big step away from its hardline tariff policy under Justin Trudeau, signaling a more conciliatory approach with Trump ahead of the scheduled USMCA review. By exempting goods that comply with USMCA rules, Ottawa is betting that alignment with North American trade standards will stabilize relations while still shielding domestic heavy industry. For businesses and consumers, the move should make cross-border shopping less painful. Think cheaper groceries at Loblaws, not cheaper wheels at the Ford dealership.
Source: cnn.com

3. EU Eyes Public Blockchains for Digital Euro

The News: The European Central Bank is weighing a major shift for its digital euro project: running it on public blockchains like Ethereum or Solana instead of a closed, private network. The rethink follows the U.S.’s passage of the GENIUS Act, which gave clear rules for dollar-pegged stablecoins, spurring fears that the euro could lose ground in global payments.

Why It Matters: By considering public blockchains, Europe is signaling it wants the digital euro to compete directly with U.S. stablecoins, not just mimic China’s walled-off digital yuan. A blockchain-based euro could boost cross-border payments and financial interoperability—but it also raises sticky questions about privacy, governance, and how much control the ECB really wants to give up. For now, it’s a game of catch-up: America has the rules, China has the model, and Europe is trying to decide which way to lean. If the EU really does put the euro on Ethereum, at least gas fees will finally mean something to Brussels.
Source: cointelegraph.com

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