September 11, 2026

Global interest rates broke out, spurred predominately by surging oil prices and both weighed notably on equity markets through Thursday. In the Yemen civil war, the Houthis captured control of a key port city, potentially giving them more leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, sending Brent towards $110/barrel and WTI above $100/barrel. The ECB’s decision to raise rates while also leaving the door open to additional action in October, along with pre-election promises by President Trump, added to the uneasiness in the Treasury market even before August PPI and CPI data solidified market expectations the Fed will pull the trigger and raise by 25 bps this coming week. The German Bund yield hit its highest level since 2011, UK 10-year GILT traded at levels not seen since 2007, and the French 30-year was at the highest since 2003. The U.S. 10-year yield approached highs from a few years ago while the 30-year traded at levels not seen since 2007 after Treasury’s enhanced buyback operation accepted only $5.2B of the up to $6B in long-dated maturities it targeted during Thursday’s trading session. The S&P 500 dipped back below 7600 and its 50-day moving average for the first time since late July before rebounding during Friday’s September 11th trading session. For the week, the S&P gave up 0.8%, the DJIA lost 1.6%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. European bourses saw fewer buyers resulting in the German DAX falling 1.8% and the French CAC40 retreating 1.2% for the week. Asia Pacific stock markets followed the negative market sentiment; the Japanese Nikkei fell 1.6% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng slumped 3.3%. Your BSD Global Tech Hedge Fund rose 0.3% this past week. New product announcements, deals, and some earnings generated plenty of corporate highlights this week. On Wednesday, Apple announced the latest model of iPhone, quietly raising the base price by $100, as expected, and also launched its foray into the foldable market with its new ‘Duo’, starting at $1,999, merging phone and tablet capabilities. Qualcomm got a boost from a new collaboration with Amazon on AI data center silicon, in the latest circular AI investment, which included issuing warrants to Amazon for up to 25M shares. On the earnings front, another solid beat and raise by Oracle was not enough to overcome persistent fears about the company’s massive spending on AI infrastructure and heavy debt. Adobe’s tepid results also did not inspire investors enough to reverse its recent trading downtrend. Retailers American Eagle Outfitters and Macy’s did not get any love either as investors worked to unravel the impacts of one-time tariff refunds in their results. Investors head into Fed week with Wednesday’s interest-rate decision set to dominate trading, as they await what would be the central bank’s first rate increase of the current cycle. Federal funds futures imply a 93% probability of a 25-basis-point hike when the Federal Reserve announces its decision at 2 p.m. ET. With the move largely priced in, attention will turn to the policy statement and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s 2:30 p.m. press conference for clues on whether additional tightening is likely. Investors will also get a fresh read on the consumer Wednesday morning, when August retail sales are released ahead of the Fed decision. The data could shape the final market setup going into the announcement. Salesforce will hold an investor day and analyst session Wednesday during its Dreamforce event, while Lennar is among the week’s notable earnings reports. Elsewhere, the SEC will hold a Thursday roundtable on preparations for 24-hour trading, with major exchanges, brokers and market makers participating. The Bank of England also announces its latest policy decision Thursday, while Friday brings triple witching.