Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

Bitcoin’s price has jumped today, recovering some ground lost after a steep drop from October highs.
Credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Bitcoin surged more than 5% in 24 hours, reaching over $68,000 for the first time since June.
• The price jump follows months of stagnation after Bitcoin halved from its October peak of $126,000.

Bitcoin’s flying today.

The price of the leading cryptocurrency is up more than 5% in the past 24 hours, breaking above $68,000—and nearing $69,000—to levels it hadn’t seen since early June.

Today’s action is a reprieve for investors who have watched the price of Bitcoin halve from its October peak of over $126,000, then move sideways for much of the year. Such a jump might have been expected around regulatory progress news, though the development long seen as the likely source of such headlines—the Clarity Act—hasn’t delivered, with Congress on its annual August recess. (The Securities and Exchange Commission did yesterday propose new rules that would allow industry startups to raise capital through token offerings.)

Some crypto watchers think Wednesday’s move was downstream of the Treasury Department’s decision to double its rate of long-term U.S. government debt repurchases to at least $4 billion from $2 billion currently.

Government bond buybacks could help stabilize markets—it soothed investors after yesterday’s bond market scare—and boost appetites for risk assets like bitcoin.

Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Wall Street staged a rebound after the Treasury said it plans to boost buybacks of longer-dated bonds.
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The U.S. Treasury is buying back long-term bonds to ease rising yields.
• The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds slightly fell after hitting its highest level since 2007.
• Investors are cautious about long-term bonds amid rising debt concerns and uncertainty around the Federal Reserve.

A rough week for bond markets calmed on Wednesday after the U.S. Treasury Department announced a band-aid for a risky surge in long-term borrowing costs.

The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond hit its highest level since 2007 on Tuesday, threatening to make homebuying and business lending more expensive. Stock markets also fell on Tuesday over those concerns.

One reason behind those moves was that the Treasury had been finding slightly fewer buyers for its 30-year bonds. To make them more attractive to investors, the Treasury started paying higher interest on its bonds, offering yields above 5% for the federal government to borrow over 30 years.

But the Treasury on Wednesday announced a bigger buyer in the market: itself. 

Through an existing program that officials say will grow “by at least double,” the Treasury is buying back some longer-term securities ranging between 10 years and 30 years. 

Details are still pending, but the plan appears to be for the government to borrow more in shorter terms rather than a couple of decades out.

Why This Matters

Rising long-term Treasury yields can push mortgage rates and business borrowing costs higher. The Treasury’s intervention may provide some relief, but concerns about U.S. debt and inflation remain.

It is a temporary fix “to calm nerves with long yields under meaningful upward pressure,” wrote Padhraic Garvey, regional head of research for the Americas at the Dutch bank ING. And markets reacted accordingly, with the yield on the 30-year U.S. dropping to 5.19% in mid-morning trading, down from 5.29% on Tuesday.

The announcement appears to be a signal from the Treasury that it’s “watching and monitoring and prepared to take action,” Garvey wrote, hesitant about yields getting too high. But the action is likely to only have a temporary effect, he added.

“It will dampen but not abort the pressure,” he wrote. 

Investors across the globe have been dumping bonds in Japan, France and elsewhere as they worry about rising debt loads—a worry that analysts say is also causing more concern over U.S. debt. 

They’re also a bit more hesitant to buy long-term bonds given uncertainty over the outlook for the Federal Reserve. The Iran war continues to pose risks to inflation. However, investors are also uncertain because Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has ended the longstanding practice of providing markets with guidance on how the central bank is thinking about the next moves in rate policy.

Tech firms have also been tapping bond markets heavily to fund data center construction, giving markets some quality debt options that are slightly juicier than U.S. government bonds.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Treasury said the actions would support liquidity in a bond market that still favors U.S. Treasury bonds—an integral part of global financial markets.

The benchmark S&P 500, blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.4%, respectively after the plan was announced.

Costco is framing the launch as a pilot before rolling it out more widely.
Credit: Julia Dorian / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Costco is partnering with SCAN Health Plan to launch its first Medicare-branded insurance products.
• The initial rollout includes Medicare Advantage and supplement plans in three states.

Costco has sold its members gas, vacations and caskets—now it wants to sell them Medicare Advantage plans.

The warehouse club and SCAN Health Plan, a California-based nonprofit insurer with about 460,000 members, announced Tuesday they’ll launch Costco-branded Medicare plans, the retailer’s first partnership with a Medicare insurer.

Why This Matters to You

More than half of Medicare beneficiaries now choose private Medicare Advantage plans, and where they enroll shapes their doctors, drug costs and extra benefits. Costco’s entry means one of America’s best-known retail brands is now competing for that decision.

The rollout starts small: Medicare Advantage products in two states and a Medicare supplement plan in a third, in markets covering about 5 million Medicare enrollees. The companies won’t name the states or the timing until the federal Medicare agency signs off.

The plans will be sold inside Costco (COST) warehouses as well as through insurance agents and websites, though federal rules bar bundling them with a membership. SCAN CEO Sachin Jain said the products will tie into Costco’s pharmacy, vision, hearing, over-the-counter and food offerings.

The move puts Costco’s brand into a Medicare market that’s worth more than $600 billion a year to insurers and covers 5 million enrollees, just as rising costs and new billing rules squeeze the Medicare Advantage business and are increasing costs for consumers.

Costco is framing the launch as a pilot: the retailer said it plans to learn from the first markets before going wider. 

Walmart shares have gained about 5% since the start of the year.
Credit: Marcin Golba / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Walmart is scheduled to report earnings Thursday morning, with options pricing suggesting traders see the shares moving up to 5% by the end of the week.
• Sales and profits are expected to have grown in the second quarter, but the stock has pulled back since its last report amid fears of inflation hampering consumer spending.

Walmart is due to report earnings Thursday morning, with traders anticipating a big move from the retailer’s stock following the results.

Current options pricing suggests traders see Walmart (WMT) stock swinging up to 4.5% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from the stock’s recent level around $117 could send the shares as high as $122, their highest point since mid-June, or drag them below $112.

Walmart shares are up about 5% since the start of the year, but nearly 14% off their May highs. The shares have trended lower since Walmart’s last report in May amid worries about inflation pressuring spending by American consumers.

Why This Matters to Investors

Reports from Walmart and other retailers this week could offer new insights into the state of the American shopper, and how they are dealing with inflation driven by the Iran war.

JPMorgan analysts recently wrote that they believe expectations for Walmart’s report “have and will continue to come down,” potentially setting the retailer up to report better results that Wall Street has feared. UBS analysts said they see the stock’s recent pullback and the lowered expectations for Walmart’s results as creating “one of the more attractive setups Walmart investors have seen in some time.”

Walmart is expected to report revenue of $186.78 billion for the second quarter, growth of about 5% year-over-year, along with adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share, up 6 cents from the same time last year. Comparable sales growth is seen coming in just under 4%, per Visible Alpha estimates.

Analysts are broadly bullish on Walmart, with all but one of the 11 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha recommending buying the stock, and one neutral rating. Their average price target around $140 would suggest 20% upside from the stock’s recent level.

SK Hynix shares rose early Wednesday on a roughly $29 billion buyback plan.
Credit: VCG / VCG via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• SK Hynix shares climbed after the company announced a roughly $29 billion stock buyback plan.
• The company said its board also approved a plan to consider adding special dividends.

SK Hynix (SKHY) shares are rallying after the South Korean memory chip giant announced an accelerated stock buyback plan.

The company said it plans to buy back about 24.07 million of its shares, worth 40 trillion South Korean won ($28.79 billion), over the next three months.

SK Hynix said its board has also approved a plan to consider adding special dividends to boost the company’s returns to shareholders to meet its target of returning at least 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders. SK Hynix had about 69 trillion won in net cash as of the end of the second quarter, per Wednesday’s release.

SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares, which began trading last month, were up nearly 4% recently after dropping 9% yesterday.

Shares of Moderna soared Wednesday.
Credit: Cheng Xin / Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Moderna and Merck reported positive results from a late-stage trial of a skin-cancer vaccine.
• Moderna’s stock surged, while Merck’s shares also rose.

Moderna and Merck delivered positive news about their personalized skin-cancer vaccine Wednesday. Investors bought their shares in droves.

Shares of Moderna (MRNA) rose 177% in Wednesday trading, while Merck’s (MRK) rose some 12%, after the pharma companies announced positive results from a late-stage trial of an experimental mRNA-based vaccine meant for treatment of advanced skin cancer. Moderna’s move pulled its shares to their highest price in more than three years.

The Phase 3 trial evaluated Moderna’s intismeran in combination with Merck’s Keytruda, or pembrolizumab. The company said the trial met its primary goal of what’s known as “recurrence-free survival,” a measure of the amount of time a cancer patient goes without signs of a return of the illness after treatment. The companies said the data will be shared with regulators, but did not specify when.

“Today’s results represent a landmark moment for adjuvant melanoma treatment,” said Professor Georgina Long, the study’s principal investigator and medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia, Chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at the University of Sydney.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect the close of trading.

News of the day for Aug. 19, 2026

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are in danger of snapping their three-week winning streaks.
Credit: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images

Stock futures are steady after three straight days of declines for major indexes; President Trump delayed the rollout of new 50% tariffs on some Canadian imports; Target, TJX Companies and Lowe’s each released their latest earnings reports this morning; SK Hynix shares are gaining after the chipmaker announced a nearly $30 billion stock buyback plan; and the minutes from last month’s Fed meeting on interest rates are set to be released this afternoon. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Steady After 3 Days of Declines

Stock futures are pointing to a muted open for major indexes this morning as investors assess earnings reports from retailers. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up 0.1% recently, while Nasdaq futures slipped 0.2%. The major indexes fell yesterday for a third straight session as tech stocks sold off, extending a volatile stretch fueled by AI bubble fears. WTI crude oil futures were up less than 1% to $85.50 per barrel after President Trump threatened to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally, if it got in the way of the U.S. and Iran making a deal with their own negotiations about controlling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Gold futures were little changed at $4,420 an ounce, while bitcoin was holding steady at around $64,400. The 10-year Treasury yield, which affects interest rates on consumer loans, ticked lower to 4.69%.

Trump Extends Canada Tariff Deadline

President Trump last night pushed back the deadline for when new 50% tariffs will kick in on certain Canadian imports by three days, saying in a social media post that the U.S. and Canada have a deal “subject to the finalization of documents.” The tariffs were supposed to start at midnight, after Trump previously announced the new import taxes as retaliation for some of Canada’s actions during a trade war that has taken place under his administration. In a separate statement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the sides have made “substantial progress,” while noting there is still work to be done. The U.S. is expected to push for an end to the American alcohol boycott that has taken place in some Canadian provinces since last year’s tariff announcement, while Canada is looking to have tariffs lowered on imports of Canadian-made cars, steel and aluminum, per The New York Times.

Target, TJX, Lowe’s Headline Today’s Earnings Reports

Shares of Lowe’s (LOW) were down more than 3% ahead of the opening bell after the hone improvement retailer posted second-quarter revenue and comparable sales just below estimates, while adjusted earnings per share came in higher than expected thanks in part to a boost from tariff refunds from the Trump administration. Lowe’s also cut its sales and profit forecast, a day after rival Home Depot (HD) held its own outlook steady amid a sluggish housing market, with consumers putting off expensive renovation projects. Target (TGT) shares slipped 1% despite better-than-expected results from the retailer, which also raised its full-year outlook as profits got a boost from tariff refunds. Shares of TJX Companies (TJX) were down 4% premarket even as the discount retailer posted sales and profits that came in ahead of estimates, with the company also benefitting from tariff refunds in the quarter.

SK Hynix Stock Jumps on $29 Billion Buyback Plan

SK Hynix (SKHY) shares are rallying this morning after the South Korean memory chip giant announced an accelerated stock buyback plan. The company said this morning that it plans to buy back about 24.07 million of its shares, worth 40 trillion South Korean won ($28.79 billion), over the next three months. SK Hynix said its board has also approved a plan to consider adding special dividends to boost the company’s returns to shareholders to meet its target of returning at least 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders. SK Hynix had about 69 trillion won in net cash as of the end of the second quarter, per Wednesday’s release. SK Hynix’s U.S.-listed shares, which began trading last month, were up nearly 4% recently after dropping 9% yesterday.

Fed Minutes Due Out Today Amid Inflation Worries

The minutes of last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting are set to be released this afternoon, potentially giving investors new insights into how Fed policymakers view the state of the U.S. economy and the outlook for interest rates. Three members of the committee voted to raise interest rates at July’s meeting as inflation remains well above the central bank’s target owing in part to the rise in oil prices stemming from the Iran war. Recent data showed that inflation has moderated, but renewed fighting and stalled deal talks have sent oil surging again. Investors will be looking for clues in the minutes about where rates could be headed, though new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has sharply pulled back on the amount of forward-looking guidance the central bank provides.

A television station broadcasts US Treasury Yield news on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026.
Credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Some U.S. Treasury yields have surged to their highest levels since 2007, raising borrowing costs for homebuyers, businesses, and the government.
• Rising bond yields could be driven by global debt concerns, inflation fears, and reduced Federal Reserve guidance on interest rate policies.

The bond market is raising caution flags again, sending up borrowing costs for homebuyers, businesses and the federal government alike—and potentially stalling the stock market’s momentum. 

The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond, which the government sells to investors to borrow over 30 years, shot up to 5.29% in mid-afternoon trading—its highest levels since 2007. 

There is no single factor driving up bond yields in recent days, analysts and investors say. 

The rise is global in nature: bond yields are also surging in Europe and Asia as governments grapple with rising debts. It reflects some worry over the Iran war, inflation and a Federal Reserve that’s more vague about its interest rate policies. And it’s partly due to indigestion, as the bond market struggles to keep up with a surge in corporate borrowing to build data centers.

“You put it all together, and that’s why we are where we are,” said Kevin Flanagan, head of investment and fixed income strategy at WisdomTree.

What This Means For You

Persistently high bond yields can make mortgages and business loans more expensive while pressuring stock valuations. They can also give savers and income investors more attractive yields.

What it means depends on who’s asking, plus how long rising yields last. 

For those hoping to buy a home, moves in bond markets are raising mortgage rates, making homebuying more expensive. Higher yields offer a mixed picture for investors, who can suddenly buy bonds that’ll pay them interest rates last seen 20 years ago.

Stocks fell on Tuesday, however, as higher bond yields make debt more expensive for companies and could weigh on profitability.

What’s clear is that the explanation for the run-up in yields is far from simple.

“Investors may be keen to attribute one explanation to the recent rise in Treasury yields, but we believe the long-end has been subjected to death by a thousand cuts,” wrote Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities.

Fed Uncertainty

One factor appears to be the strategy from the new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, to reduce the guidance it has long given to markets on what the Fed may do next.

For years, the Fed has sought to limit surprises for markets by giving them a sense of what may cause them to raise or lower interest rates. Warsh has long argued that practice makes markets too reliant on the Fed and scaled it back when he took the helm in late May.

There are valid arguments for either approach, WisdomTree’s Flanagan said. But at least for now, rising bond yields partly reflect a market that’s left more in the dark.

That’s less of a worry for shorter-term Treasury securities, such as bills that last up to a year or two-year Treasury notes. But investors are a bit more hesitant to take on the risk of a less predictable Fed over the next 10 or 30 years.

“The further you go out on the curve, the less uncertainty you want,” Flanagan said.

Bond investors, hesitant to take on duration risk, are compensating for that by charging more for longer-term borrowing—whether those seeking financing are the U.S. government, blue-chip corporations or less-than-stellar companies.

AI Borrowing

The market is also adjusting to the sheer amount of borrowing tied to data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

It’s a shift that’s occurred this year, as tech firms tap bond markets in multi-billion dollar deals rather than fund their capital expenditures with cash.

There are plenty of buyers out there. The more than $100 trillion bond market includes pension funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, foreign governments and your average retiree—all of whom earn interest when they buy bonds.

But even such a massive market has trouble digesting a boom in supply, analysts say.

The bonds from AI hyperscalers have “been well absorbed,” wrote Meghan Swiber, a Bank of America analyst. But that appears to be coming at the expense of Treasury bonds, she wrote, and thus “crowding out demand” for U.S. government debt.

If that trend continues, analysts say, the U.S. government may have to pay a bit more interest to keep its bonds attractive to investors.

Fiscal Risks

The U.S. government pays lower yields than corporations—even the most rock-solid ones—because it is seen as perhaps the safest borrower in the world.

The risks of a U.S. government default are so low that U.S. Treasury bonds are often referred to as “risk-free,” even as federal debt keeps rising.

But the U.S. has to pay interest on its debts nonetheless, and markets are increasingly “zeroing in on the U.S. Treasury’s surging net interest burden” as rates keep rising, wrote Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank.

Other governments are undoubtedly having a tougher time. Lingering questions over Japan’s fiscal path meant the country’s bonds “were hit especially hard” in this week’s global bond sell-off, according to John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics. European government bonds have faced similar pressures.

That has ripple effects in U.S. markets, since pension funds or investors in Japan or France are now able to buy higher-paying bonds at home—all without having to swap their currencies. And it is yet another factor weighing on demand for U.S. government bonds.

“It’s no longer as enticing just to buy Treasurys,” WisdomTree’s Flanagan said, with some investors deciding “there’s a better break-even if I stay home.”

Economic Uncertainty

But one of the biggest questions remains: where is the economy going? 

Renewed flare-ups in the Iran war are driving up oil prices. The Brent crude benchmark, which had calmed earlier this summer, has now risen to over $90 per barrel but remains below its recent April peak of $120.

Inflation data has been relatively benign of late, but lingering inflation concerns are keeping yields elevated, according to Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. That’s because investors still see the Fed raising rates this year, even if the case for hiking weakened after July’s soft jobs report, he wrote.

Overall, however, the U.S. economy “has proven resilient despite the sharp rise in oil prices,” Lyngen wrote, helping propel stock markets to new highs earlier this month. Tuesday’s pullback in equities is a sign that investors may be growing more cautious over rising yields, bringing some pain for the economy, Lyngen wrote.

“Stocks are finally beginning to consider the potential fallout from sustainably high borrowing costs,” he wrote.

Analog Devices shares have gained nearly 40% since the start of the year.
Credit: Mel Musto / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Analog Devices is due to report earnings Wednesday morning, with options pricing suggesting traders see the stock swinging up to 6% by the end of the week.
• The chipmaker is expected to post growing revenue and profits, amid improving demand for chips used in cars.

Analog Devices is scheduled to report earnings ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday, with traders anticipating a sizable move from the chipmaker’s stock.

Based on current options pricing, Analog Devices (ADI) shares are seen swinging up to 6% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Tuesday’s close could lift the shares to $398, or drag them down to $355, giving up some of their gains this year.

Though the stock has pulled back from its June highs, Analog Devices shares are up nearly 40% since the start of the year. The analog chipmaker, which services a wide range of industries from healthcare to defense, has seen growing industrial sales related to AI infrastructure, as well as share gains in advanced driver assistance systems and battery management systems.

Why This Matters to Investors

The results from Analog Devices could offer more insights into demand for analog chips across a broad swath of industries.

UBS analysts said they see a “white hot” data center industry and improving demand for automotive chips likely boosting Analog’s revenue above its typical seasonal trends for “at least the next 4 quarters.”

Analog Devices is projected to report $3.92 billion in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, up 36% year-over-year. The chipmaker’s adjusted earnings per share are expected to have risen to $3.34 from $2.05 the same time a year ago, according to Visible Alpha estimates.

Analysts are broadly bullish on Analog Devices, with six of the seven analysts tracked by Visible Alpha calling the chipmaker a “buy,” while one holds a neutral rating. Their mean target of $456 would suggest more than 20% upside from Tuesday’s close.

Vital Statistics: How Under-The-Radar Economic Metrics Affect Your Finances

College-educated workers already in the labor market are having a harder time finding jobs than in the past, according to a lesser-known statistic.
Credit: Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The job-finding rate, a lesser-known statistic than the unemployment rate, has been deteriorating since 2022, a symptom of the “low-hire, low-fire” job market.
• Highly educated workers in the prime of their careers have experienced the steepest declines in job-finding rates compared to other groups.
• This unusual trend may signal something is fundamentally changing in how the labor market works, a researcher suggested.

You’ve probably heard that the low unemployment rate indicates the job market is remaining resilient to economic shocks from tariffs and the war in Iran. But a lesser-known statistic illuminates the more discouraging half of a labor market economists often describe as “low-hire, low-fire.”

The job-finding rate is a lesser-known economic statistic than the headline-grabbing unemployment rate. It measures the percentage of unemployed people who find work in a given month. In July, the job-finding rate was 24.2%, close to its 25-year average of 24%, but well below its recent peak of 32.7% in 2022 when workers were in high demand. Some economists consider the job-finding rate to be one of the “four horsemen” of the labor market, whose deterioration can signal trouble ahead for the broader economy.

Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco broke down the job-finding rate by demographic groups and analyzed it among people who were not in the job market to begin with. Research advisor Marianna Kudlyak found that the decline in the job-finding rate among the unemployed since 2023 was “unusual” compared to historic patterns, given that the economy has been overall stable during that time.

What This Means For The Economy

The downward trend of the job-finding rate confirms the economy is settling into a low-hire, low-fire groove in which it’s relatively difficult for unemployed people to find work.

The analysis found that the decline was most severe for highly educated workers in their prime working years. To Kudlyak, that suggests the job market is behaving strangely, and not how it usually does when it’s on the brink of a recession.

“The current decline from unemployment is concentrated among groups that typically have the highest job-finding rates: prime-age and college-educated workers,” she wrote. “They normally find jobs quickly, even in weaker labor markets. The drop in their job-finding rates is particularly surprising and suggests something other than a standard cyclical slowdown.”

If the four horsemen aren’t yet galloping towards a job apocalypse, then what’s going on? Kudlyak said there were several possibilities worth looking into.

“There may be several contributing factors for future research to consider, including immigration-driven changes, sector-specific slowdowns in technology and government contracting, policy uncertainty, or early signals of broader labor market deterioration.”