The Brief

Friday, September 18, 2026

“What worked yesterday is already priced in today.”– Steve Cohen

MARKET & MACRO DATA

	Value	1D	1M	YTD	1Y	ATH
S&P 500	7,638	▲ 1.14%	▼ 0.70%	▲ 11.36%	▲ 15.17%	▼ 2.29%
Nasdaq	26,418	▲ 1.69%	▲ 0.49%	▲ 13.70%	▲ 17.57%	▼ 2.84%
Russell 2000	2,875	▲ 0.55%	▼ 4.75%	▲ 14.61%	▲ 16.49%	▼ 6.36%
EM (EEM)	$67	▲ 1.81%	▲ 2.40%	▲ 18.97%	▲ 25.94%	▼ 6.51%
Financials (XLF)	$56	▼ 0.09%	▼ 3.39%	▲ 1.73%	▲ 3.23%	▼ 4.64%
Energy (XLE)	$64	▲ 0.70%	▲ 1.26%	▲ 41.25%	▲ 43.75%	▼ 29.10%
Technology (XLK)	$188	▲ 2.25%	▲ 1.31%	▲ 30.33%	▲ 36.22%	▼ 13.51%
AI ETF (SMH)	$561	▲ 2.76%	▼ 1.61%	▲ 50.18%	▲ 76.87%	▼ 16.55%
Cons Disc (XLY)	$111	▲ 1.10%	▼ 4.27%	▼ 5.88%	▼ 7.36%	▼ 39.57%
Gold ($/oz)	$4,420	▲ 0.45%	▼ 2.76%	▲ 2.08%	▲ 20.16%	▼ 20.88%
Bitcoin (USD)	$78,106	▲ 2.23%	▲ 12.76%	▼ 13.16%	▼ 33.32%	▼ 38.11%
Copper ($/lb)	$6.66	▲ 1.06%	▲ 2.60%	▲ 18.01%	▲ 46.58%	▼ 2.20%
Brent Oil ($/bbl)	$98	▼ 6.11%	▲ 7.42%	▲ 62.01%	▲ 45.94%	▼ 33.24%
Nat Gas ($/MMBtu)	$2.85	▼ 1.65%	▲ 1.39%	▼ 21.14%	▼ 2.93%	▼ 81.92%
VIX (Volatility)	15.27	▼ 1.10%	▲ 2.55%	▲ 5.24%	▼ 2.74%	▼ 82.94%
3-Month T-Bill	4.14%	▲ 3bps	▲ 27bps	▲ 49bps	▲ 10bps	▼ 149bps
2Y Treasury	4.74%	▲ 7bps	▲ 55bps	▲ 127bps	▲ 123bps	▼ 45bps
10Y Treasury	5.01%	▲ 1bps	▲ 29bps	▲ 82bps	▲ 97bps	▼ 25bps
US HY Spread	2.70%	▼ 6bps	▲ 0bps	▼ 13bps	▼ 9bps	▼ 191bps
US Dollar Index (DXY)	100.43	▲ 0.21%	▲ 1.62%	▲ 2.04%	▲ 3.16%	▼ 39.03%
US Unemployment	4.10%	Aug 2026 · Next release: October 2, 2026
US CPI (YoY)	3.40%	Aug 2026 · BLS CPI-U all items NSA
SOFR 3M (90d avg)	3.65%	Rate only · n/a across change periods

ECONOMICS, MARKETS & BUSINESS

Why Japan’s markets flipped the usual script after central bank rate hike – The yen weakened past 157 against the dollar, the yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bond slipped, while the Nikkei 225 gained 1.5%. Ask Claude ›
Bank of Japan raises interest rates to 31-year high, flags concerns over inflation – The decision was split 7-2, with board members Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissenting from the hike. Ask Claude ›
Jim Cramer says history offers a playbook for navigating a Fed rate-hiking cycle – CNBC's Jim Cramer said investors shouldn’t assume stocks will struggle for the entire period. Ask Claude ›
Investors Come Back to AI Stocks, Snapping Market Out of Inflation Gloom – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite posted their biggest one-day gains in six weeks. Ask Claude ›
Bank of England holds rates steady but hints at tightening ahead – BoE also announced multiyear plan to fully unwind its asset purchase facility Ask Claude ›
Fed Policy Outlook Weighs on Yen Ahead of Bank of Japan Decision – Higher U.S. yields continue to bolster the dollar, keeping pressure on the yen despite widespread expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise its benchmark rate on Friday. Ask Claude ›
Warren Buffett stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway: 'Father Time always wins' – Buffett's son, Howard, will replace him as chairman as dictated by a long-standing succession plan, Berkshire said. Ask Claude ›
U.S. AI-Related Stocks Extend Rally Premarket – Stocks linked to the build-out in artificial intelligence continued to rally premarket. Intel rose 2.3%, Sandisk and Micron Technology rose 1.6% and 1.1% respectively. Ask Claude ›
Failure of Clarity Act Turns Crypto Industry Focus to Federal Regulators – EXCLUSIVE: The act’s failure to progress leaves regulation of the cryptocurrency industry in the hands of government agencies and vulnerable to interpretation as administrations change, analyst Ask Claude ›
Stock Futures Rise as Oil Extends Losses, Treasury Yields Rise – All major U.S. indexes were in the green after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best trading days in six weeks during the prior session. Ask Claude ›
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Heads for Weekly Gain as AI Stocks Surge – Oil prices and Treasury yields are falling back Ask Claude ›
A Chinese AI company just connected its model to Wall Street's leading data providers – The startup Moonshot said it signed on financial industry giants from investment bank CICC to venture capital firms Ask Claude ›

TECH & AI

King Charles warns of 'existential danger' of AI falling into wrong hands – The comments were made at a summit in Ayrshire with participants from AI giants including Nvidia, OpenAI and Anthropic. Ask Claude ›
Khosla-backed Mazama Energy just raised $135M to drill deeper into super-hot-rock geothermal – Geothermal startup Mazama is drilling three miles underground to tap superhot rock, with one well capable of generating 15 MW of electricity 24/7. Ask Claude ›
Crusoe raises $3.9B to build massive data centers and small modular ‘AI factories’ – The round values the data center giant at $30.9 billion. Ask Claude ›
Google DeepMind launches institute to widen the AGI debate – The new institute aims to surface differing views between Google, Google DeepMind, and the broader global research community around AGI. "They will not always agree, and they will likely change their Ask Claude ›
Amazon-owned Zoox’s 100-robotaxi limit in Nevada is about to disappear – An updated permit shows the 100-cap will expire later this month just as competition in Las Vegas heats up. Ask Claude ›
The virtual worlds where robots are trained – Training systems that allow robots to negotiate the real world are getting more sophisticated. Ask Claude ›
PrismML hopes its tiny LLM will change how we all use AI – If AI lab PrismML isn't on your radar yet, it should be. Ask Claude ›
The FAA’s plan to fix air traffic? $875M worth of AI – A new AI-based software program is being launched to help air traffic controllers better navigate their jobs as the crossing guards of America's skies. Ask Claude ›

WORLD & POLITICS

South Korea will not send military to support US war on Iran, defying Trump pressure – Seoul resolves recent speculation over sending military to strait of Hormuz, saying ‘there won’t be deployment that would involve or enter war’ South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, has said he will Ask Claude ›
Three dead and eight injured in Philippines school shooting – The gunman is among the dead in what is the third school shooting in the country since June. Ask Claude ›
Dozens of suspected illegal miners die in Nigerian custody – Authorities linked the deaths to disease, but this has been disputed by intelligence reports and relatives of the accused. Ask Claude ›
Swimmer dies after being bitten by shark off popular Perth beach – Locals describe their shock at witnessing the incident at Sorrento Beach on Friday morning Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news p Ask Claude ›
Malaysia’s Former Prime Minister Can Serve Rest of 1MDB Sentence Under House Arrest – The royal pardon for Najib Razak marks the latest chapter in one of the largest financial crimes of the century. Ask Claude ›
Hyrox athlete apologises for continuing race after soiling herself – Joanna Wietrzyk has also forfeited her win in the fitness competition after competing last week. Ask Claude ›
Ninth woman's body found as South African police investigate string of deaths – South Africa police have cautioned against assuming that all the killings are linked but many women are afraid. Ask Claude ›
At least 16 killed in attack on mosque in Pakistan – A vehicle loaded with explosives rammed into a mosque building during Friday prayers, a senior police official says. Ask Claude ›

EARNINGS RELEASES (next 15 days)

Date	Company	EPS Forecast	Watch
Sep 22	AutoZone AZO	$54.97	Vehicle sales, parts demand, and consumer auto spending
Sep 23	Cintas CTAS	$1.35	Contract renewals and outsourcing demand
Sep 23	Paychex PAYX	$1.33	Hiring demand and labor market trends
Sep 23	General Mills GIS	$0.72	Input costs and pricing power
Sep 24	Costco Wholesale COST	$6.48	Grocery and staples volume and price competition
Sep 24	Darden Restaurants DRI	$2.06	Traffic trends and input and labor cost inflation
Sep 29	Carnival Corporation CCL	$1.36	Travel demand and occupancy and booking trends
Sep 30	Micron Technology MU	$31.24	Chip demand, supply bottlenecks, and AI infrastructure spending
Sep 30	Jabil JBL	$3.86	Contract manufacturing volumes and customer concentration
Oct 1	Accenture ACN	$3.19	Enterprise IT spending and project pipelines
Oct 1	Nike NKE	$0.44	Consumer discretionary spending and brand pricing power
Oct 1	McCormick & Company MKC	$0.75	Input costs and pricing power

ON THE RADAR

Date	Event
Sep 25, 2026	U.S. PCE Price Index (August) Last PCE before Oct FOMC. Fed needs to see sustained progress toward 2% target.
Oct 2, 2026	U.S. Jobs Report (September) Q3 labour market health check; impacts Oct FOMC hold/cut decision.
Oct 14, 2026	U.S. CPI (September) Q3 inflation summary; key input for Nov and Dec FOMC decisions.
Oct 27–28, 2026	FOMC Meeting & Rate Decision (Oct 27–28, 2026) – Rate decision Oct 28 at 2 PM ET No updated rate-path forecast at this meeting; decision driven by September jobs and inflation data. Market consensus: hold.
Oct 29, 2026	U.S. Q3 2026 GDP Advance Estimate Consensus: +1.8% annualized – First read on Q3 growth; consensus +1.8% annualized after a soft Q2. A miss would reinforce rate cut case.

Marz Capital – The Brief · Sourced from Yahoo Finance, BLS, StatsCan, FRED, CNBC, Reuters & web search · Note: some 1M/YTD/1Y market columns show n/a where data was unavailable at time of research · Treasury "ATH" reflects the past 20 years, not full history, since older-regime peaks (e.g. ~15% in 1981) aren't a meaningful comparison to today

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