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News of the day for Sept. 10, 2026

Stocks fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as oil and Treasury yields continued their climb.
Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Stock futures are losing ground ahead of the release of key inflation data and tech earnings reports; crude oil prices and Treasury yields are each rising further thanks to persistent worries about the Iran war and inflation; the Producer Price Index is expected to show an acceleration in wholesale price inflation; Oracle and Adobe are set to report earnings this afternoon; and American Eagle shares are tumbling after a disappointing quarterly report. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Slip After 3 Straight Losing Sessions

Stock futures are lower this morning as investors await important economic data and corporate earnings reports. Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 were recently down 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hovered near unchanged. All three indexes closed lower yesterday, losing ground for the third consecutive session, as oil prices and bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 4.88% recently, up from yesterday’s close of 4.84% and trading at its highest level in nearly three years. WTI crude oil futures, the U.S. benchmark, were up more than 3% at nearly $99 per barrel, their highest level since May. Gold futures were down 1% at $4,415 an ounce, while bitcoin traded at $77,800, down from yesterday’s high of $79,700.

Oil Prices, Bond Yields Continue Surging

The recent slump for U.S. stocks has coincided with a rise in oil prices and bond yields, both of which extended their increases this morning. Brent crude oil futures, the global oil benchmark, were up 2% at $103 per barrel recently, their highest point since May. Attacks across the Middle East in recent days have reignited fears about the stability of the global oil supply chain. President Trump told reporters yesterday that he thinks oil prices will come down after the midterm elections in November, saying Iran is “desperate to try and affect the election” by hurting Republicans with high prices. Treasury yields, meanwhile, surged yesterday after the Treasury Department announced it would purchase $6 billion in long-term bonds today, triple the size of recent buybacks. Yields on the 10-year Treasury, which are at their highest levels since October 2023, have a direct impact on interest rates charged on all sorts of consumer loans.

Key Inflation Data Comes Ahead of Fed Meeting

Investors will get the first of two big inflation reports this morning, with the Producer Price Index for August set to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, ahead of tomorrow’s Consumer Price Index report. Economists expect the PPI to show that wholesale prices rose 5.3% in the 12 months ending in August, up from 4.7% in July. Businesses are facing record high diesel prices in much of the country after the recent surge in oil prices, along with the recent escalation of tariffs between the U.S. and Canada. This week’s inflation reports are the last key pieces of data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week. Market participants are pricing in a likelihood that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate as inflation remains well above the central bank’s target.

Oracle, Adobe Earnings Due This Afternoon

Tech investors are bracing for the latest results from cloud computing giant Oracle (ORCL). The company is expected to report fiscal first-quarter revenue of $19.06 billion, up 28% year-over-year, along with adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share, up from $1.47 a year ago. Oracle shares have lost about half their value since hitting a record high a year ago, as concerns about the pace and sustainability of its data center buildout and its reliance on a few major customers such as OpenAI have weighed on investor sentiment. Photoshop maker Adobe (ADBE) is also set to report fiscal third quarter results this afternoon, days after announcing that president of customer experience orchestration Anil Chakravarthy will become CEO at the start of December. Oracle and Adobe shares were down about 1% in recent premarket trading.

American Eagle Stock Drops on Disappointing Sales

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) are tumbling this morning after the clothing retailer posted second-quarter results. The company said that comparable sales growth came in at 6%, short of the 6.6% analysts had been expecting. American Eagle lifted its full-year operating profit forecast to $540 million-$550 million, but Wall Street may have been looking for a bigger bump after the company recorded a benefit of nearly $200 million in tariff refunds in the quarter. Earnings for the second quarter came in at 79 cents per share, more than triple what analysts had expected, while revenue of $1.38 billion narrowly topped estimates. Shares were down 15% ahead of the opening bell.

Finding a job post-graduation is important to recent college students, the majority of whom borrowed student loans and must begin repayment six months after graduating.
Credit: Jeff Antenore / MediaNews Group / Orange County Register / Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Recent college graduates face higher unemployment due to a slowing labor market and rising AI skill requirements.
• AI-related changes have increased unemployment for recent graduates more than five times compared to older workers.
• Many colleges are not adequately preparing students with AI skills, creating a gap in job readiness.

The biggest factor keeping the unemployment rate high for young workers is a symptom of the business cycle, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The U.S. labor market has slowed significantly from its 2023 peak, with inflation and economic uncertainty discouraging employers from hiring. The labor market has generally entered a “low-fire, low-hire” phase, and recent college graduates are especially struggling. Experts have blamed the rise of AI and remote work for blocking out these young workers from entry-level jobs.

Why This Matters

Finding a job post-graduation is important to recent college students, the majority of whom borrowed student loans and must begin repayment six months after graduating.

The St. Louis Fed found that slowing labor market trends have directly led to a 2.2 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate for recent college graduates. For young workers aged 18 to 24 with no more than a high school diploma, the slowing labor market has led to a 1.23 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate. Older workers have fared the best, with a 1.1 percentage-point increase.

“Since April 2023, hiring has slowed, and young workers, especially new entrants, have borne the brunt of that softening,” St. Louis Fed researchers wrote. “AI adds an additional headwind at the point of labor market entry, particularly for recent college graduates, but its effects remain smaller than those of the broader decline in job openings.”

Although not the main factor, AI is contributing to a meaningful increase in the unemployment rate among young workers. Specifically, the St. Louis Fed found that the increase in job postings requiring AI skills is cutting out more young workers.

Other studies back up this conclusion. Earlier this year, a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that more than a third of employers require their entry-level workers to have AI skills. The popularity of this sentiment has grown three times compared to last fall.

According to the St. Louis Fed, recent college graduates have experienced a 1.68 percentage-point increase in their unemployment rate due to AI-related labor market changes. That is more than five times the impact for workers aged 25 to 64 and eight times higher than for workers aged 18 to 24 with no more than a high school diploma.

Jobs for college graduates are generally more exposed to AI than trade or hands-on occupations. Recent college graduates have struggled to find employment as AI is increasingly incorporated into jobs, raising the skill requirements, St. Louis Fed researchers said.

Additionally, the majority of college students say their institutions are not effectively incorporating AI into degree programs, creating a skills gap upon graduation.

Oracle shares have lost more than half their value from last September’s record high.
Credit: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Oracle is set to report earnings Thursday afternoon, with options pricing suggesting traders see the stock moving up to 11% by the end of the week.
• The company is expected to report rising revenue and profits, though analysts warned it could take more than strong results for Oracle to impress investors.

Oracle is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell today, with traders anticipating a big move from the database and cloud infrastructure giant’s stock.

Based on current options pricing, Oracle (ORCL) shares are seen swinging up to 11% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from the stock’s recent level around $158 could lift the stock above $175, recovering some of its losses this year, or drag it below $142.

Oracle shares have lost nearly 20% of their value in 2026, and more than 50% from their record high last September, amid worries over the company’s fundraising and spending plans, as well as the concentration of its backlog with a few large AI companies.

Why This Is Significant

Oracle could be challenged to impress investors with Thursday’s results amid worries about an AI bubble.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, who have a neutral rating on the stock, warned in a recent note that it could take several quarters of solid results for Oracle to win over wary investors. Citi analysts told clients they “see opportunity after one of the most extreme dislocations and drawdowns in the stock’s history.”

Oracle is projected to report a 28% year-over-year jump in fiscal first-quarter revenue to $19.06 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are seen coming in at $1.74, up from $1.47 a year ago. Oracle’s backlog is expected to have grown to nearly $640 billion, up 40% year-over-year, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Most Wall Street analysts remain bullish on Oracle. Nine of the 11 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha have said they consider the stock a “buy,” compared to one neutral and one “sell” rating. Their average price target of $239 would suggest nearly 50% upside from Wednesday’s close.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent prices.

Take A Number: A Striking Figure In Economic News Today

A driver fills his vehicle up with gas in Los Angeles, California on Sept. 8.
Credit: Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The price of crude oil rose over $100 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting triple digits for the first time since July.
• Forecasters expect higher oil prices to continue pushing up gasoline and diesel prices, which are setting record highs.
• Costly fuel has stoked inflation and consumer pessimism about the economy.

The price of oil crossed the three-digit mark again on Wednesday in a sign that high fuel prices are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

A barrel of oil by the Brent international benchmark was nearly $106 Thursday, up from $97 Tuesday and from $79 in early August during a lull in the fighting between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, surpassed $100 on Thursday for the first time since May.

Oil has surged this week as the U.S. and Iran exchanged attacks, restricting flows of crude oil from the Middle East and raising fears of the conflict escalating and further disrupting supplies. It was the first time since July that the price of oil had crossed the hundred-dollar mark.

Fuel prices followed suit, with diesel hitting a record high of $5.98 per gallon nationwide Thursday. Gasoline rose to $4.28 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s up from $3.76 for diesel and $2.98 for gasoline in February before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

The higher fuel prices have squeezed household budgets and stoked public discontent with the economy. And, because diesel is used to transport or produce so many products, the higher costs have put upward pressure on inflation.

What This Means For The Economy

Higher fuel prices have strained household budgets and put pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to quell inflation, both of which are dragging on economic growth.

President Donald Trump acknowledged the fuel crunch on Wednesday in remarks to reporters in Washington before leaving for the Republican Midterm Convention, saying the war was necessary to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Trump predicted prices would fall after the November midterm elections.

“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” he said. “They’re going to be tumbling down and we’ll get them down, I think for gasoline. We’ll get them below $2 a gallon, but not until after the midterms.”

Experts aren’t as optimistic. Earlier this week, economists at Goldman Sachs raised their year-end forecast for Brent Crude by $5 to $85 a barrel on the assumption the war would continue to disrupt the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The waterway between Iran and Oman is vital because 20% of the world’s oil production flowed through it before the bombing began in February.

Prices could go as high as $120 a barrel if fighting intensifies, economists led by Daan Struyven, head of oil research at the investment bank, wrote in a note to clients.

In the meantime, the elevated prices are costing companies and consumers billions. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at fuel tracking site Gasbuddy, posted on social media on Wednesday. Businesses were paying $284 million extra per day for diesel compared to a year ago, and consumers were shelling out an additional $377 million daily for gasoline, he said.

Update, Sept. 10, 2026: This article has been updated to reflect Thursday’s price increases. It was originally published Sept. 9, 2026.

Bags of candy are displayed on a store shelf on April 21, 2026, in Miami, Florida.
Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Candy prices up almost 50% from the pre-pandemic era are a snapshot of how disruptions in complex global supply chains can stoke inflation.
• Bad weather in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and parts of Mexico hurt cocoa and sugar crops, pushing up prices for the main ingredients of candy.
• Manufacturers have responded by raising prices, cutting package sizes, and finding cheaper substitutes for the good stuff.

If the candy budget is a sour patch for your household finances this Halloween, blame tariffs, the weather, and financial speculators.

All of those factors have contributed to a dramatic rise in candy prices since the pandemic, with a new analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics detailing how disruptions in global supply chains have driven inflation in confectionery.

The bureau’s research sheds new light on one small part of the steep cost-of-living increases that have plagued household budgets since 2020. The price of candy and gum has risen 48.5% between January 2020 and July 2026, according to the bureau’s inflation gauge, the Consumer Price Index. That’s a faster increase than overall inflation, which rose 28.3% over the same time span.

What This Means For The Economy

High candy inflation is a case study in how problems in one part of the world can echo through global supply chains and push up prices everywhere.

The bureau’s report is a snapshot of how events can ripple through supply networks in the heavily interconnected global economy. The analysis covers the period from 2019 to 2024 and therefore does not include the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Separate analyses show that the sweeping import taxes have contributed to rising candy prices since they took effect in 2025.

The problems started in 2021 with bad weather in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together produce 50% to 60% of the world’s cocoa beans, the main ingredient in chocolate. When production declined in those countries, cocoa prices shot up, pushing up costs for candy manufacturers.

Rising prices drew the attention of hedge funds and other traders, who “joined the cocoa market in droves,” purchasing a record $8.7 billion of cocoa futures in early 2024.

“Although likely not the major cause of the rise in prices, these hedge funds contributed to the increase, with prices more than doubling over the previous year by 2024,” economist Natalie Ho wrote in the report.

Droughts in Mexico, the biggest source of sugar for U.S. confectioners, hurt production and pushed up prices for that key ingredient in 2023 and 2024.

Candy manufacturers responded by raising prices and/or reducing package sizes in a phenomenon called “shrinkflation.” Shrinkflation effectively pushed up prices 2.1% between 2019 and 2023, according to Ho’s report. Some companies have also reformulated their recipes, substituting cheaper ingredients for increasingly expensive real chocolate and sugar, according to reporting by Bloomberg and other news outlets.

Because of all these factors, candy inflation has been stickier than other price increases, which have decelerated after spiking immediately after the pandemic.

“Although some food inflation has moderated since the heightened rates of 2022, this is not the case for sweet treats,” Ho wrote.

Construction workers are seeing the biggest pay raises.
Credit: Me 3645 Studio/Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Median pay raises outpaced inflation year over year in all 56 metros ADP Research tracks.
• Workers in Buffalo, New York, had the highest growth in total wages, with a 6.4% year-over-year increase.
• Construction workers have consistently received higher pay raises than workers in any other industry this year.

American paychecks have outpaced rising prices this past year in every city ADP tracks.

Workers in Buffalo, New York, had the largest pay raises among the 56 cities, according to ADP Research, the payroll processing company’s analytics arm. In August, wages for Buffalo workers grew by 6.4% from the same time last year. ADP’s figures are for gross pay, which includes overtime, bonuses, commissions, and tips.

Why This Matters

Workers’ location and industry affect how quickly their pay grows. Comparing those gains with inflation helps show where their purchasing power is rising.

Nationally, workers had a median 4.7% raise in gross pay, according to ADP’s analysis of private-sector employment, ahead of July’s 3.4% inflation rate, the latest available. Base pay grew 3.2%, slightly less than inflation.

ADP’s figure tracks median raises for those with continued employment over the previous 12 months, while Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data averages hourly earnings across the whole workforce. According to the BLS, average hourly earnings nationwide grew 3.2% year over year in July.

At about 0.2 percentage points below inflation for the same month, the data indicates inflation is squeezing many consumers’ spending power.

According to ADP, workers in Louisville, Kentucky, had the lowest median raise in gross pay among the metros, 3.9% year over year.

Construction Workers Are Getting the Biggest Raises

Industry matters as much as geography.

Workers in construction have seen the biggest year-over-year pay raises in every month of 2026, according to ADP Research. Through August, their wages grew by a median of 5.6%. The AI data center buildout has powered much of the wage growth, along with a shrinking pool of workers.

Aside from the catch-all “other services” sector, the information sector had the lowest raises in gross pay year over year. The information sector includes TV, film, music recording, publishing, and data processing companies.

The information sector ranked among the top three for wage growth from November 2021 to January 2023. By December 2022, it had the third-highest pay raises; by January 2023, the sector had fallen to eighth. The slide began around the November 2022 release of ChatGPT.

The introduction of AI chatbots in the workforce has coincided with smaller pay raises for workers in the tech and information sectors. A 2025 study by Microsoft found that jobs like translators, writers, broadcast announcers, and news analysts are among the positions most exposed to disruption from AI.

A truck crosses into the United States on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, on September 6, 2025.
Credit: Jeff Kowalsky / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• President Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Canada by imposing a 50% tariff on a list of products already subject to a 50% tariff.
• The latest salvo in the trade battle doesn’t expand the scope of the trade war, limiting its direct effect on the economy.
• The U.S. has typically banned imports from adversary nations or specific products over human rights concerns.

Molson beer, Can-Am motorcycles and Canadian milk may soon join Cuban cigars and Iranian carpets on the list of products Americans are forbidden to purchase at any price.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump escalated his tit-for-tat trade war with Canada by taking the unusual step of banning a list of products outright, including many kinds of alcohol, and motorcycles with large engines, ATVs, and dairy products that were already subject to tariffs. The import bans are set to take effect on Sept. 29, potentially giving negotiators time to reach a deal to avert them.

The ban on Canadian products is a notable shift in Trump’s trade wars, which have mainly focused on tariffs to date. Currently, the U.S. bans imports from hostile nations (such as North Korea) or products made with forced labor, but not for more mundane trade disputes. In announcing the ban, the administration noted that some Canadian products have been banned from U.S. alcohol as part of the trade dispute.

“President Trump is taking decisive and appropriate action to respond to Canada’s additional retaliation and continued discriminatory treatment of crucial American exports,” The White House said in a statement.

Key Takeaways

The banning of Canadian products is an escalation in a trade war that economists say pushes up prices for consumers on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.

Trump’s action came after Canada imposed “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs against U.S. products in response to U.S. tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products, announced in July.

Trump’s series of executive orders also modified the earlier tariffs, removing certain products from the 50% tariff and adding others. Off the tariff list are toilet paper, salt, cement, and fishing rods, among other household items, replaced by new tariffs on cheese, fur, motorboats, and other products.

On balance, the bans and changes to the tariff list don’t expand the scope of tariffs or their economic impact, according to an analysis by Nathan Janzen, assistant chief economist at RBC Bank. The tariffs affect $20 billion of the $872 billion in trade between the two countries in 2025.

“This marks an escalation, but with a 50% tariff on these products, many were already likely too expensive for U.S. importers to buy,” Janzen wrote. “Therefore, the marginal impact of the change on the Canadian economy is likely relatively small (again, notwithstanding the significant impact on specific exporters targeted).”

Still, the product bans are another escalation in a trade war that began shortly after Trump took office in 2025. Back then, Trump said the sweeping tariffs against Canada were to stop the smuggling of fentanyl, a rationale that was not mentioned in the latest wave of proclamations. Together with tariffs on numerous other countries, import taxes have stoked inflation as importers have passed their own increased costs on to consumers.

The recent tariffs and import bans also add another element of uncertainty to the economic outlook, since it’s possible they could be overturned just like Trump’s earlier efforts at imposing a tariff barrier to protect American manufacturing, which was struck down by the Supreme Court, resulting in billions in refunds for U.S. businesses that paid them.

The trade restrictions against Canada are based on the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff signed into law by Herbert Hoover.

“Whatever the legal pretext that is chosen by the president and his officials, the fact is that at present the U.S. tariff is whatever the president wishes it to be, which leaves the courts playing whack-a-mole, treating use of each claimed authority as sound—until it is found to be otherwise,” Alan Wm. Wolff, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote in a commentary.

With Wednesday’s gains, Meta shares climbed back to roughly where they started the year.
Credit: Benjamin Fanjoy / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Meta shares surged Wednesday, a day after the company announced its Muse AI agent.
• Alexandr Wang, the company’s chief AI officer, said usage of the agent has already “blown way past our projections.”

Meta Platforms stock is soaring as the social media giant touts early signs of success with a new AI agent. 

Shares of Meta (META) were up 6% in recent trading, a day after the social media and digital advertising giant announced its Muse AI agent. Meta’s stock was one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 on a broadly down day for markets.

Already, usage of the agent has “blown way past our projections,” Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said in a social media post late yesterday. 

The company said Muse will be free “for most of what people need,” with subscriptions available for more complex tasks, which could provide another way for Meta to make money from AI.

Meta said Muse can be used to autonomously perform simple tasks like sending emails, making reservations, and booking flights, among other things. 

Though developments in AI have helped improve Meta’s advertising platforms and grow its ad revenue, worries around the scale of its spending on the technology have weighed on the shares in recent months.

With Wednesday’s gains, Meta shares climbed back to roughly where they started the year.

The 10-year yield continued to grind higher Wednesday even after the Treasury Department announced it would buy back up to $6 billion worth of long-term bonds.
Credit: Alex Wroblewski / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The Treasury Department will buy back $6 billion in 10- and 20-year bonds to stabilize markets.
• Rising bond yields are increasing borrowing costs for mortgages, businesses, and the U.S. government.
• The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.85%, continuing its upward trend despite the buyback plan.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was rising Wednesday after the Treasury Department announced it would buy back $6 billion in bonds, an effort it undertook to ease the market’s recent wobbles. 

The buyback, which will take place on Thursday, will target 10-year and 20-year Treasury securities. Yields on both have risen sharply over the last month as investors grapple with uncertainty over the Federal Reserve, artificial intelligence and soaring government debt levels across the globe.

At an event Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the program was partly aimed at calming a “fever that was building” in bond markets. Higher bond yields have raised mortgage rates, business borrowing costs and the cost that the Treasury pays when it borrows in financial markets.

The 10-year yield, however, continued to grind higher on Wednesday. It was up to 4.85% in early afternoon trading, up from just below 4% before the Iran war. 

“It doesn’t seem like the patient’s feeling much better,” Adam Josephson, the founder of Sakonnet Research, wrote in a note.

More buybacks may be coming in the weeks ahead. Treasury officials said last month that any buybacks would be “at least $4 billion per operation,” scaling up an existing cap of $2 billion per operation.

Even with Wednesday’s decline, Casey’s shares are still up more than 12% from the start of the year.
Credit: Cheng Xin / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Casey’s General Stores stock plunged Wednesday after the convenience store and gas station operator reported disappointing same-store sales growth.
• Casey’s earnings and revenue exceeded analysts’ forecasts for the quarter.

Casey’s General Stores stock is tumbling after a key sales metric disappointed.

Shares of Casey’s General Stores (CASY) were down nearly 15% in recent trading, making it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500, on a day when broader markets declined. Yesterday, the convenience store and gas station operator reported same-store sales growth of 3.2% for the fiscal first quarter, below the 3.8% analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for.

CEO Darren Rebelez said the company faced a “volatile” fuel environment in the quarter, with same-store fuel sales falling by 0.3% when analysts had been expecting a slight gain.

William Blair analysts wrote after the report that they see the stock’s slump as “overblown.” Lackluster fuel and grocery sales are “likely exacerbating concerns around the health of the consumer,” they wrote, overshadowing otherwise strong results.

Casey’s said it earned $7.37 per share on $5.68 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter, topping analysts’ projections of $6.81 per share and $5.56 billion.

Even with Wednesday’s decline, Casey’s shares are still up more than 12% from the start of the year.