Long-term government bond yields have hit levels unseen since the mid-2000s, and Paul Krugman says the market is signaling something real: budget deficits are pushing rates up. He still urges policymakers not to let debt scaremongering derail their agenda, arguing the panic over debt service costs is overblown.
The Treasury will at least double its buybacks of long-term U.S. debt starting September 9, a surprise step to calm a bond market where yields had hit their highest since 2007. Bond prices rose, yields fell (the 30-year posted its biggest one-day drop since October), and stocks rallied. Critics call it a stopgap, not a fix for deficits or inflation.
The Federal Reserve published minutes from its July 28-29 FOMC meeting, the behind-closed-doors record of how officials weighed the economic outlook and the path for rates. Three weeks after the decision, the document is the market's sharpest read on committee sentiment heading into the next meeting.
Treasury's IOUs just hit $40.05 trillion, up from $19.4 trillion a decade ago. With a $432B July deficit and ~$1.2T in annual interest payments, surging borrowing costs are driving Treasury yields to pre-crisis highs and forcing bigger long-end repurchases.
Duquesne Family Office piled into AI-linked names in Q2, tripling exposure to Amazon, adding a fresh $120M Alphabet position, and boosting TSMC and STMicroelectronics by ~19% each. The bets came just before July's sharp reversal in tech and semiconductor valuations, leaving open whether Druckenmiller stayed in through the rout.
Up to 319 million SpaceX shares held by insiders unlock Thursday, roughly 7% of early-investor and employee stock and the second stage of a staggered lock-up schedule running through December. That adds about $42 billion in potential selling pressure on SPCX, so expect more volatility. Musk's own stake stays locked until 2027.
A federal trial is underway in Oakland, where California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are the first of 29 states to take Meta to court over addictive, youth-harming design. Meta's own math puts the theoretical penalty ceiling at $1.4 trillion, roughly its market value. The advisory jury verdict could hand states new leverage over how tech platforms are built.
Beijing startup LandSpace landed the first stage of its reusable Zhuque-3 rocket on its second-ever flight, the first successful booster touchdown on land by a Chinese company. With live legs and a methalox design close to Falcon 9 payload capacity, China's commercial launch sector just leapfrogged closer to SpaceX's reusability edge.
A Shenzhen court sentenced Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan to life in prison and stripped his assets after he pleaded guilty to fraud, bribery and embezzlement, fining his firms $2.3 billion. The verdict closes the chapter on the 2021 collapse that helped pull China's property sector and banks into a prolonged downturn.
You’re caught up.
That was all 9 stories in the 20 August issue.