“Investors are also growing increasingly concerned that a government shutdown would cut into 4th quarter gross domestic product and, more broadly, that it would undermine global confidence in America’s ability to keep its own government open and operating,” CNBC reports.

“The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, the first time in nearly two years that it opted to not raise rates amid a long-running battle against stubbornly high inflation,” the New York Times reports.

“The decision came a day after data showed inflation in Britain unexpectedly slowed in August.”

“Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, giving themselves more time to see whether they have lifted borrowing costs enough over their 18-month campaign against inflation to sustainably cool price increases,” the New York Times reports.

“Federal Reserve officials are expected to leave interest rates unchanged at their meeting on Wednesday, buying themselves more time to assess whether borrowing costs are high enough to weigh down the economy and wrestle inflation under control,” the New York Times reports.

“But investors are likely to focus less on what policymakers do on Wednesday — and more on what they say about the future. Wall Street will closely watch whether Fed policymakers still expect to make another interest rate increase before the end of the year or whether they are edging closer to the next phase in their fight against rapid inflation.”

“Credit Suisse’s internal probe into allegations that it concealed information about accounts held by Nazis after World War II failed to review all available records, including some that may reveal more such holdings,” Bloomberg reports.

“An unknown number of client records dating from before 1950 hadn’t been indexed or imaged by the Swiss bank, or required significant resources to locate, thus raising the possibility more Nazi-linked accounts may be found.”

Wall Street Journal: “Minutes of the July policy meeting, released Wednesday, said some officials thought the risks of raising rates too much versus too little ‘had become more two-sided, and it was important that the committee’s decisions balance the risk of an inadvertent overtightening of policy against the cost of an insufficient tightening.’”

Fitch downgraded U.S. long-term debt ratings to AA+ from AAA, CNBC reports.

Bloomberg: “The participants on the Federal Open Market Committee are clustered into three main groups. The hawks are ready to tighten policy and are on the sharp lookout for inflation. The doves are inclined toward an easy policy that favors job creation. And finally, the centrists are seeking a middle ground.”

“The increasing split between them is clouding the outlook for rates and threatens the unity Fed Chair Jerome Powell has maintained during his tenure, which in turn could undermine the central bank’s credibility on inflation and communications with investors and the public.”

“Federal Reserve policymakers are poised to hike interest rates to the highest level in 22 years, while retaining a tightening bias that signals the possibility of an additional move later in the year,” Bloomberg reports.

“Wall Street is more convinced than ever that inflation is subsiding,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“That’s giving investors hope that the Federal Reserve might be able to pull off what once seemed impossible: containing pricing pressures without tipping the economy into recession.”

“U.S. authorities on Thursday arrested Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of failed crypto lending platform Celsius Network, on fraud charges while regulators levied a host of allegations of their own against him and other executives,” Politico reports.

“Farmers Insurance informed the state it was dropping home, auto and umbrella policies across Florida, potentially affecting tens of thousands of people,” the Miami Herald reports.

“It’s the fourth company to leave the Florida market in the last year — most citing rising risks from hurricanes.”

“The Federal Reserve appears likely to raise its key interest rate next week, with minutes from the central bank’s most recent meeting showing some officials wanted to raise rates last month,” CBS News reports.

“Federal prosecutors arrested three investors on Thursday on insider trading charges related to a deal to take former President Donald Trump’s media business public,” CNN reports.

“According to the indictment, the three individuals together made more than $22 million in October 2021 by illegally trading on nonpublic knowledge of Digital World Acquisition Corporation’s secret plan to buy Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group.”

“The three men charged in the indictment are Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick, who served as a director on Digital World’s board of directors. All three have surrendered to authorities and are expected to appear in federal court in Miami later Thursday.”

“The unprecedented cycle of global interest-rate increases is entering its most challenging stretch as inflation threatens to become entrenched,” Bloomberg reports.

“While policymakers have raised borrowing costs aggressively to tame consumer prices, the easing in inflation pressures seen so far has primarily been due to supply chains recovering and commodity costs falling.”

Financial Times: “The performance of the S&P 500 index is now the most concentrated it has been since the 1970s. Seven of the biggest constituents — Apple, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta — have ripped higher, gaining between 40 per cent and 180 per cent this year.”

“The remaining 493 companies are, in aggregate, flat.”

“Federal Reserve officials agreed to hold interest rates steady after 10 consecutive increases, but signaled they are leaning toward raising them next month if the economy and inflation don’t cool more,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Bloomberg: “Federal Reserve officials are ready to take a breather after more than a year of driving up interest rates, a move that’s likely to be accompanied by a strong signal that they’re prepared to keep hiking if needed.”

Politico: “Wall Street investors, who until just weeks ago were betting that Powell would start cutting rates in the coming months, are now expecting the Fed to keep costs high through at least the rest of the year, as both the job market and inflation have stayed stronger than expected.”