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Coco Gauff was caught by surprise when she saw her mom take to social media about excessive U.S. Open ticket requests from family and friends.

Trump Takes A Cleaver To "Big Meat" Monopoly, Moves To Let Mom-And-Pop Ranchers Process Own Meat

President Trump's move to dismantle what Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has called the "modern-day monopoly" in U.S. beef processing reflects growing concern that industry concentration has become a food-security vulnerability.

Four corporations, JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef, dominate cattle purchasing and processing, creating single points of failure across the nation's beef supply chain. This consolidation has reduced local processing capacity, weakened regional food supply chains and shifted pricing power away from independent ranchers and farmers.

Now, President Trump is changing the game with plans to break the meatpacking monopoly by allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food.

"For years I have heard that they have had a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly. There are, essentially, 4 of them, a very non-competitive number, and they make life miserable for our wonderful Farmers and Ranchers," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He continued, "So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the U.S., I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD."

"This should move quickly," the president added.

The administration has already opened an antitrust investigation into the meatpacking industry. Roughly 85% of U.S. cattle are purchased by four companies: Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS and National Beef Packing.

A total of 4 companies control a whopping 80% of the entire beef-processing industry. That's a modern-day monopoly.

The winners here? The monopolists - like Tyson Foods. The losers? Farmers & grocery shoppers.

We need more industry competition in America pic.twitter.com/UxZc7eoAOZ

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 24, 2025

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said additional measures will be announced Monday, including plans to waive processing regulations and expand ranchers' ability to sell meat across state lines.

Meanwhile, Thomas Massie wants this to be law.

This is great, but it should be a law, not just an executive order. My PRIME Act has dozens of bipartisan sponsors in the House & Senate. A pilot program for it is in the House farm bill. Pass the PRIME Act so consumers can get affordable U.S. beef and farmers can flourish! 🇺🇸🥩 pic.twitter.com/sSaYH2Nk9g

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 28, 2026

Vertical integration gives mom-and-pop ranchers something increasingly scarce in American agriculture: absolute control. By raising, processing, and packaging beef within the same operation, ranchers can retain more of the value they create, reduce transportation costs, and build a shorter, more resilient food supply chain.

That model is why the ZeroHedge Store partnered with Beck Ranch - which raises its Black Angus cattle on grass-fed pastures without grain, hormones, or antibiotics, and as of October 5th will be processed on-site rather than entering the industrial meatpacking plants. Currently they process locally outside of the big four meatpackers. 

For readers who care about knowing where their food comes from, Beck Ranch offers a direct connection to an independent American producer. Every purchase supports a family-run ranch while helping prove that a decentralized alternative.

... already operating on the ZeroHedge Store. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:25

Uprising In Ceuta: Locals Have Had Enough Of Migrant Invasion

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

In the complete absence of any meaningful government action, the people of Ceuta have taken matters into their own hands.

On Wednesday night, Spanish flags filled the streets of the North African enclave. Crowds chanted for deportations. Then a column of residents pushed toward El Trampolín beach, the open-air settlement that has occupied a family shoreline for nearly a month. Tents came down. Belongings went into the sea.

Police formed a line between Spaniards and the camps - and opened fire with rubber bullets on the locals.

Thousands of locals in Ceuta took to the street today to chant:

"Deport the illegal migrants"

?? pic.twitter.com/WF2pZPpMBK

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

That is the picture now coming out of a city of roughly 84,000 people that was flooded at the end of July by a crossing Spanish officials have put above 70,000 and, in some tallies, near 80,000.

The government spent weeks talking about "coexistence," "diversity," and "normality." Ceuta spent those same weeks living with feces in children's parks, hospital wards under strain, and a rising stack of sexual-assault files. On Wednesday, the patience snapped.

?? Ceuta residents have taken to the streets to protest the Spanish government's handling of the migration crisis and demand the removal of migrants from public areas.

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/QdlyKOwB4J

— Europa.com (@europa) August 27, 2026

The protest began in the late afternoon in O'Donnell, outside the old Military Hospital - one of the sites residents feared the central government wanted to turn into migrant housing.

El Mundo put more than 2,000 people at the Government Delegation. Other Spanish outlets described a larger march through the centre, Spanish and Ceuta flags everywhere, slogans hammered out for hours: "Ceuta no se vende, Ceuta se defiende." "Un caballa nunca se rinde." "Invasores expulsión." "Ceuta no es un CETI."

They demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and of the government delegate in the city, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano.

?BREAKING: Hundreds of patriots in Ceuta have STORMED the beaches on which the invaders have been camping on and are tearing down tents

All of Europe supports them. ?? pic.twitter.com/q6qBxMqzdm

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) August 26, 2026

When night fell, a few hundred broke toward El Trampolín. El Español reported residents ripping down tents, throwing camp gear into the water, and trying to drive the remaining occupants off "our beach."

BREAKING:

The Spanish police have opened fire on crowds in Ceuta tonight. They are shooting rubber bullets.

They are shooting at Spaniards protesting against illegal migration. They didn't fire rubber bullets at the 70 000 illegal migrants when they stormed Ceuta in July. pic.twitter.com/hF82rJJdSd

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

Police blocked the main part of the beach. Deterrent rounds followed. Yes, really. They fired rubber bullets at Spaniards protesting illegal settlement; but there was no such volley when tens of thousands illegally stormed the border in July.

? #URGENTE | Los ceutíes revientan los asentamientos ilegales de los invasores y les echan de la playa.

Honor al pueblo de Ceuta, que está partiéndose los cojones frente a la inacción de todo el Estado. pic.twitter.com/YNkVKxiJkQ

— Vito Quiles ?? (@vitoquiles) August 26, 2026

Spanish journalist Vito Quiles remarked on Ceutíes bursting the illegal beach settlements while the Spanish state stood still. "Honor al pueblo de Ceuta," he wrote - honour to a city doing the job the ministries would not.

Further footage captured groups of local men moving through the dark after the official march had broken up, describing armed residents hunting those they call invaders. After four weeks of official paralysis in the city, locals took matters into their own hands.

This is footage of armed Ceuta locals hunting down invading barbarians tonight.

It looks like an uprising has started. pic.twitter.com/CsVel0I3Zn

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) August 26, 2026

One chant captured on the sand, reported by El Mundo, summarised the feeling among residents; "Si no se quieren ir, los echaremos nosotros." If they will not leave, we will throw them out.

They also chanted "Aquí hay más policía que el día del salto," there are more police than on the day of the mass jump.

Officers who had been unable or unwilling to keep the shoreline clear of shacks suddenly had the numbers to stop Spaniards from finishing the clearance themselves.

A left-wing government that spent a month insisting the situation was under control found the will to fire on its own citizens the moment those citizens tried to recover a public beach.

By Thursday morning the temperature had risen again. AFP reported that a military vehicle with four soldiers was ambushed in the early hours by a crowd of around 70 migrants throwing stones and other objects.

?? Four Spanish soldiers were injured in Ceuta after about 40 illegal African migrants attacked their unarmored army jeep with stones.

The soldiers were forced to abandon the vehicle and flee on foot while being pursued and struck. The injured soldiers received medical... pic.twitter.com/C6hYJ3T53B

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 27, 2026

The soldiers fled and called for police. Twelve Moroccan men were detained. One soldier was slightly injured. Kissy Chandiramani, Ceuta's finance councillor, stated: "The tension in the city of Ceuta is very high" because there is "no response" from the government and "we feel abandoned."

Remaining migrant shanty camps on the beach were set alight and destroyed.

? Se han vivido momentos de verdadera tensión en la playa de Benítez, se ha prendido fuego en el asentamiento de inmigrantes.#Ceuta #Inmigración #FronteraSur pic.twitter.com/jQx3OS4mU5

— El Faro de Ceuta (@ElFarodeCeuta) August 27, 2026

Ya se colmó la gota que llenó el vaso.

Los ceutíes se toman la acción por sus propias manos y destrozan el campamento de ilegales en la playa de el Trampolín.

Todo mi apoyo a los valientes y a todo el pueblo ceutí frente al abandono.

Echadlos ya como podáis....

— Javier Negre (@javiernegre10) August 27, 2026

City hall, aid groups counting food rations, and anyone with eyes on Trampolín, Benítez, the hills and the warehouse district nite that thousands of migrants remain.

We've seen Mother weeping on live television. One said her 16-year-old "has to go everywhere with her father or with me because the migrants devour her. I can't take it anymore. I want them all gone," Adding that "What's stayed here is the worst of it; there are murderers, rapists, thieves."

Sisters Yoli and María José pulled their daughters out of the city. "We feel humiliated, trampled," Yoli told Cuatro. "I have had to take my daughters out of their house because the Government does nothing, because Mr. Pedro Sánchez is on vacation in La Mareta. Nobody cares about us."

Beaches that used to hold families became camps of reed huts, plastic, rotting food, urine and human waste. Children's parks were left smeared in shit.

Hospitals opened emergency capacity. Doctors speak of scabies, tuberculosis, impetigo and a "health catastrophe."

A BBVA branch closed after a security guard was beaten trying to stop a robbery of an elderly woman. Women described needing escorts to their own front doors.

This was the "example of coexistence" Inclusion Minister Elma Saiz chose to praise from a distance. "Ceuta is a true example of coexistence," she said. "A city in which different cultures, traditions, and faiths coexist. And which has demonstrated over decades that it is one of its greatest strengths." Diversity, she added, is "our greatest strength." The parks full of excrement did not make the speech.

Police unions have described girls and women glued to police vans near the CETI because the moment they step away they are raped. There are accounts of daily assaults, of victims too frightened to report, of attacks moving into the hills where patrols cannot easily follow.

Reports also describe "many dead cats, cut," some missing half a body or pierced, plus half-eaten pigeons and seagulls in the areas where migrants are camping.

Theo latest footage confirms that so called progressive NGO workers are still operating in the city, even handing pepper spray to illegal migrants during Wednesday's clashes - kit for use against the local Spaniards coming down to the beach.

Progressive NGOs are out on the streets of Ceuta tonight handing out pepper spray to illegal migrants so that they can use the pepper spray against local Spaniards in tonight's clashes

?? pic.twitter.com/zWytPqsFc4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

Another clip shows Gaza Barbie, a leftist agitator, joining migrant groups to chant "Free Palestine".

While terrified mothers are trying to get these men kicked out of Ceuta

This liberal woman chants "Free Palestine" with them

Some people just cannot be saved pic.twitter.com/SmA8W1gdzi

— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) August 27, 2026

This woman has spent the entirety of August filming herself fleetingly appearing near migrant groups, insisting the streets are safe and dismissing frightened neighbours as xenophobes.

Meanwhile, Spanish television new captured a Moroccan invader explaining that Spanish girls being raped should surprise no one, because they walk alone, and that the fault lies with parents who do not keep them at home.

This moroccan animal here saying on Spanish TV that it is obvious that Spanish girls are being raped, because they walk alone. And that it is the fault of their parents for not keeping them at home.
Islam is a dangerous thing.
And we need to fight it pic.twitter.com/VEh9eheFft

— Jose Muniz (@joseletemuniz) August 27, 2026

On Thursday, residents blocked a Red Cross food convoy headed for the beach camps, forcing them to eventually leave.

Spaniards blocking the red cross from entering Ceuta to aid the invaders.

pic.twitter.com/NJ2KUmuXUp

— Tommy Robinson ?? (@TRobinsonNewEra) August 27, 2026

?BREAKING: After intense pressure from local residents the Red Cross has been forced to leave Ceuta

They will not be giving aid to illegal migrant any more pic.twitter.com/HSRhFMbbg0

— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) August 27, 2026

Locals want the illegal camps gone. They want deportations of those with no asylum claim. They want their daughters able to walk without a male escort. They want parks that are not toilets.

They want a government that treats a Spanish city as Spanish territory rather than a holding pen for rapists, murderers and other criminals.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:11

The Fanatics Sportsbook promo code NYPOST26 provides up to $1K matched in FanCash for Friday's MLB schedule, including Mets vs. Astros.

The Ashton Jeanty injury saga has taken the Las Vegas Raiders and their fans from apparent catastrophe to cautious optimism—and somehow back into uncertainty—all within five days. Jeanty landed awkwardly on his right leg while diving for a low pass during Sunday’s practice. He could not put weight on the leg as trainers helped him...

Ditch the bottled water!

FBI Director Blasts CBC's Editorial Choice Not To Call 9/11 A Terrorist Attack

Authored by Jennifer Cowan via The Epoch Times,

The director of the FBI is criticizing a CBC News directive for its journalists to avoid using the term "terrorist attacks" during 25th anniversary coverage of the 9/11 terror plot that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

The memorandum directed to CBC News personnel instructed staff to stay away from terms like "terrorist" or "terrorism" and to instead use descriptions like "hijackings" to describe the attacks executed by Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks," reads the memo penned by CBC News senior director of journalistic standards and public trust Basem Boshra. "The hijackings led to passenger jet crashes in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Manhattan. The World Trade Center (WTC in second reference) was destroyed."

FBI Director Kash Patel took to social media to comment on CBC's policy.

"Any agency in Canada that doesn't publicly reject this bastardization of history, and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in US history will no longer have [a] friend in this FBI... Not to mention our heroes that responded in the aftermath," Patel wrote.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra shared Patel's comment on social media and noted that the FBI has been "directly responsible" for thwarting terrorist and criminal operations in Canada.

"Failure to recognize and confront radical and terrorist ideologies significantly endangers our efforts to establish and harmonize a shared national and economic security partnership," he said.

The CBC says the memo, which was shared on social media by Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella, was reiterating a long-standing policy to maintain journalistic neutrality.

"It is the practice of the CBC to exercise extreme caution before using the words terrorist and terrorism," CBC Public Affairs Director Kerry Kelly said in a statement to The Epoch Times. "The memo was a reminder of the longstanding practice that favours the use of these terms with attribution in our reporting, a practice shared by many of the world's top journalistic organizations."

Kelly said the CBC's job is to accurately report the facts, to quote the people affected, and to convey the views of officials and experts when atrocities occur.

"We bear witness," she added. "But CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism."

The Conservatives are also criticizing the CBC directive. Tory MPM Rachel Thomas, whose shadow minister portfolio of Canadian Identity and Culture includes scrutiny over the public broadcaster, said the directive is "shameful."

She noted that 24 Canadians were among the thousands killed by al-Qaeda during the series of attacks that caused two planes to strike the World Trade Centre, one to hit the Pentagon in Virginia, and another to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

She also accused the CBC News in a separate post of redefining terrorism "in a way that downplays the atrocity of 9/11."

"Refusing to call it an act of terrorism dishonours the victims, their families, the survivors, and the first responders who witnessed the horrors of that day," said Thomas. "Trying to sanitize or rewrite that history is deeply offensive and does a disservice to everyone who was affected by the attacks."

Thomas is demanding CBC " issue a clear apology" and said the person responsible for the memo should be fired.

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Lawton commented on the issue as well, calling the broadcaster's policy "truly disgusting."

"CBC journalists have been directed not to refer to what happened on 9/11 as terrorist attacks," he wrote. "Taxpayers give CBC $1.4 billion every year to be gaslit."

CBC is expected to receive $1.38-billion in federal government funding for fiscal 2026-2027, down from the $1.58-billion designated for the public broadcaster in the previous fiscal year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has frequently described the public broadcaster as "the most important of Canadian institutions."

He included CBC as a pillar in his election campaign last spring, saying a well-funded public broadcaster is crucial for preserving Canadian culture and national identity while serving as a reliable forum to counter foreign misinformation.

Ongoing Policy

The publicly funded broadcaster has also come under scrutiny by the Opposition for telling its journalists not to use the word "terrorist" when referring to Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli civilians.

The public broadcaster, in a leaked email from CBC Director of Journalistic Standards George Achi, advised journalists against saying Gaza has not been occupied by Israel since 2005, and instructed them not to refer to "militants, soldiers, or anyone else" as "terrorists."

The instructions came after Hamas launched rocket attacks on Israel, killing 1,200 civilians and also took hostages, including children, to Gaza.

The Conservatives and some members of the public demanded an investigation into the matter. An inquiry by the broadcaster's ombudsman later found that CBC had not breached its own journalistic standards by avoiding the use of the word "terrorist."

"CBC's practice of referring to Hamas as terrorists only with attribution adheres to the corporation's journalistic standards," CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler said in his decision.

Kelly told The Epoch Times that CBC News editor in chief and general manager Brodie Fenlon addressed the matter in an October 2023 blog post, noting that the broadcaster's policy hasn't changed and also applies to content about 9/11.

The 9/11 terror plot was the most lethal series of terrorist attacks in U.S. history. The al-Qaeda -orchestrated attacks killed 2,976 people and injured thousands more.

Al-Qaeda has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States since 1999. Public Safety Canada listed the organization as a terror group in 2002.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:05

Trump said the new academy would be a "top line" school with tough admission standards and a "beautiful" campus that would train the next generation of civilian and military aerospace experts.

Both pitchers will have their hands full Friday night.

Micheal Keaton drops by in the tasty Hannibal Lecter-derived role.

The two New York football clubs will meet Friday night at MetLife Stadium for their final preseason game.

Rate-Hike Odds Spike As Chair Warsh Tilts Hawkish, Questions AI Productivity Timing, Prefers "Quieter" Fed

Update (1000ET): The speech was hawkish in substance (see full remarks below) - Warsh framed inflation as the clear priority, said financial conditions are not restrictive, and set a high bar (“confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed”) - while refusing to pre-commit to a September hike.

Rate-hike odds are rising rapidly...

Polymarket odds of a September hike are surging...

But the market remains confused... or just cherry-picking what it wants to hear...

Gold down on Warsh hawkish comments
Bonds, bitcoin flat on Warsh neutral comments
Stocks jump to HOD on Warsh dovish comments

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 28, 2026

But one thing they are sure about is the yield curve which is flattening dramatically, erasing all of the post-FOMC steepening...

With Warsh tilting hawkish at the short-end, and Bessent with his thumb on the long-end scale, it's no real surprise.

Key points AI and the longer-term outlook

• Warsh called AI a “hinge point” with potential for substantially higher growth, citing exploding token sales and a “hyper-Moore’s law.”

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said during his speech in Jackson Hole today that we've come to a hinge point in history thanks to AI.

I think he is right. The economic setup has changed in a material way. AI progress is running ahead of even the optimistic case from two years ago, and… pic.twitter.com/yZo7QoYg1o

— Patrick F. Feeley (@PFFeeley) August 28, 2026

• He posed open questions on productivity timing, whether AI complements or substitutes for labor, capital intensity, and how surplus will be distributed.

• A productivity-and-jobs task force is working on this; its findings will not affect current policy decisions.

Forward guidance and markets

• He restated his opposition to regular forward guidance, calling it a crisis-era tool that has “overstayed its welcome.”

• He warned of a “hall-of-mirrors” problem in which the Fed and markets feed off each other and miss turning points.

• He rejected publishing an explicit reaction function or mechanical rule, arguing the economy is too uncertain and that 2021-style guidance delayed the response to inflation.

• Markets should form their own views from real data; the Fed should not be the primary source of the next trade.

Seven principles

1. Use contemporaneous, accurate data and trends - not stale or isolated prints.

2. Supply/demand balance can only be inferred, not observed directly.

3. The 2% PCE target is firm and fixed; inflation is not automatically mean-reverting.

4. The dual mandate is not a trade-off; high inflation itself damages employment and prosperity.

5. The policy rate is the main tool; unconventional tools belong only in genuine crises.

6. “Money matters” - watch the monetary base and bank-created money.

7. A quieter, more purposeful Fed is more accountable.

Current economy

Output and labor are solid: capex strong (much of it AI-related), profits up ~20%, credit spreads tight, lending standards easy, PDFP running near 3%, unemployment 4.1% and claims very low. He described this as consistent with full employment and said broad financial conditions are not restrictive.

Inflation is the problem: 12-month PCE at 3.7%, 6-month at 4.1%. Roughly half of PCE components are still rising more than 3%. Summer readings were better than expected but “do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”

Medium-term inflation expectations remain well-anchored, which he credited to the institution—but he warned they can look durable “until they don’t.”

He took institutional ownership: “The responsibility for 65 months of sustained, elevated inflation sits squarely with the central bank.”

His standard for action: policymakers must be confident inflation is heading to 2% clearly and fast enough. Otherwise “we have work to do.”

Bottom Line

He closed by saying he is “committed to a discipline, not to a decision.”

That is consistent with his no-forward-guidance stance, but the economic diagnosis (strong demand, easy financial conditions, sticky and still-broad inflation) tilts toward keeping the option of a hike firmly on the table.

Finally, in case you were wondering, Warsh - who prefers a quieter Fed - spoke the most amount of words in his speech since Yellen in 2017...

Perhaps he just wanted to get all the words out now and then go silent? So the average word count over his tenure is lower?

*  *  *

Nothingburger or market upheaval?

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver his first keynote address at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium this morning.

As we highlighted in our extensive preview, Warsh noted at the July FOMC meeting that his remarks could go in one of two directions: a “big-picture speech” or a “more traditional set up for all the action we’re going to have between September and December.”

How much will Kevin Warsh say in Jackson Hole today? That's the question on investors' minds.

Goldman Sachs economists expect Warsh to reiterate his commitment to the 2% inflation target, expand on the rationale behind his approach to Fed communication, and offer thoughts on some bigger picture topics such as productivity growth or shocks to the global economy that he alluded to at his last press conference (full note here).

He is likely to acknowledge the better recent inflation news but is unlikely to provide policy guidance.

Markets are looking for Warsh to clarify what combination of inflation, labor and financial conditions would cause him to recommend a change to policy, and whether the policy rate is his primary tool.

A notable lack of guidance at July’s FOMC press conference, after a more hawkish tone in June and during congressional testimonies, caught markets off guard and was ultimately a credibility-negative signal.

Goldman's Rich Privorotsky calls the setup: “awkward when you committed to not giving forward guidance.”

His modal view is “nothing done.”

But warns the market of the possibility that Warsh waivers and tries: “a left tail of a more tough on inflation message that helps bring credibility back.”

That left tail only flattens the curve, he adds, if it arrives with Treasury increasing buybacks.

Goldman's George Cole is less polite about the politics. Warsh, Cole says, seemed to endorse the July story that higher long-end yields meant the market was “finally standing on its own feet” after years of central-bank repression. Then Scott Bessent told that same market it had the price wrong. Cole’s line: “Philosophically, you can't claim to want an unpolluted read of market pricing while bullying that same market.”

So he would be “surprised if he re-runs the July script and celebrates the move higher in long-end yields.”

What traders and Fed-watchers want instead is “vol-reducing: marginally hawkish near term, but fundamentally calming.”

Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech provides a timely opportunity for the Fed’s new leader to clarify his vision for the central bank, either through a “big picture” talk focused on the task forces or through a policy-relevant discourse that cleans up some missteps in recent communications and presents scenarios for the outlook. Given his overall inclination to provide limited information about the policy outlook, his comments will most likely skew to the former, though markets will be attentive to any additional signals on the latter.

Translation: say the funds rate is the tool, say the data looks fine, sound a little more like June on 2%. Do not celebrate the selloff. Also do not rule out that Warsh “may just deliver a speech on international payments and financial innovation and say nothing on policy at all.”

Reminder, there is no Q&A after the speech.

Watch Warsh live here (due to start at 10amET):

Full Prepared Remarks...

Thank you. It's great to be here again and to see so many familiar faces. I've been looking forward to this weekend—what better place to mark my 100th day as Chairman?

For the fine hospitality, everyone here is in debt to President Jeff Schmid and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Jeff, our thanks to you all.

Jeff and the other planners have some recreation options lined up for later today. And I'd advise you to be very careful with your choices.

As I learned years ago, you can take two different kinds of hikes on the trails around Jackson Hole. I can sum up my hikes with former Vice Chairman Don Kohn in two words: I survived. These steely marathon death marches revealed a side of Don I wasn't ready for.

There's another kind of hike—one I associate with Chairman Ben Bernanke, my old colleague. With Ben, it's a much more leisurely pace, an easy stroll along the wandering trails at the Rockefeller Preserve.

So before setting out, do a wellness check and ask yourself: "Is this a Kohn day or a Bernanke day?"

The best thing about this gathering is that it helps us all clear our minds and think straight about our world and our time. For me, it feels like the right place, and the right audience, for a real engagement with the ideas that matter most.

Innovation is the conference theme, and I believe that the public and the markets—in their collective wisdom—understand that innovations in the conduct of policy at the Fed will help deliver price stability alongside full employment.

Here is a quick overview of what I'll cover in my remarks this morning. You can call it an outline . . . you can call it a trail map . . . just don't call it forward guidance.

• First, I'll touch on a few of the longer-term questions we're asking at the Fed about the latest general-purpose technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and where it might take the economy.

• Then I'll reflect a bit on the practice of forward guidance and the interaction between the central bank and financial markets.

• Next, I'll present some of the key principles that I believe should guide the conduct of monetary policy.

• And, finally, I'll give you my assessment of the economy.

Preparing for Future Policy Conjunctures

With the unchanging picture of the Tetons as our backdrop, we are here to survey an economic landscape that is anything but static.

It wasn't so long ago—in the run-up to the crisis of 2008 and over the decade that followed—when economists and policymakers were speaking of secular stagnation and a global saving glut. It was a widely held view that an excess of capital would sit on the sidelines for a long, long time, because there just wouldn't be enough compelling investment opportunities. All the good stuff had been invented. So growth would be low and slow.

Well, times sure have changed. We've come to a hinge point in history.

To cite the clearest example, progress in artificial intelligence—the 80-year-old name for the newest technology—has been faster even than its evangelists predicted a couple of years ago.

The potential for substantially higher growth is on the rise. Ever-expanding pools of capital are pouring into AI-related infrastructure of all sorts. A kind of hyper–Moore's law seems to be playing out. Scaling laws, too, are changing both the method and speed of innovation.

Capital and labor have combined to create the large language models at the heart of AI. Users buy tokens to gain access to the models. Reports put annualized token sales for the two leading labs alone at more than $100 billion—an increase of 500-plus percent from a year ago.

The Fed watches all of this attentively. We recognize that AI is a new variable—potentially a new factor of production—that will have consequences for both the economy and the conduct of monetary policy. It opens some major lines of inquiry:

Will the application of AI cause a significant, sustained rise in productivity across the economy? And if so, when?

Will token usage be complementary or competitive to labor? Will the next generation of AI models demand even greater capital intensity, or will the models themselves help devise a capital-light solution?

Among the other yet unknowns is the resulting market structure. It's not obvious where the returns on capital will land or on what timescale. Early on, how much of the surplus goes to owners of scarce assets—AI labs, chipmakers, energy producers, and cloud providers? Over time, how much of that value accrues to businesses and consumers? What are the broad implications for workers and for the employment side of the Fed's mandate?

Likewise, we don't yet know the equilibrium price of the tokens. Might there be a heterogeneity of tokens, such that growing sums will be paid for access to the best models at the frontier? Will token prices for older models fall to the level of their marginal cost?

We will be thinking through these matters with the help of a task force on productivity and jobs. My early check-ins with the leaders of that task force, and the four others, have been encouraging.

To be clear, though, their recommendations will come later and have no bearing on decisions we make in the current policy conjuncture. But I believe that for future policy challenges, this intellectual investment today will leave us far better prepared.

Forward Guidance and Its Stand-ins

As our task forces go about their work, I am not waiting to introduce innovations at the Fed to make us fit for purpose. To highlight one example, I have set out to change the form and function of the Fed Chairman's so-called forward guidance. You might know about my long-time discomfort with early pronouncements of future policy decisions. I much prefer another path . . . and will make the case for it.

Transparency in communications about future policy decisions is not a virtue unto itself. Communications must be in service to the Fed's paramount responsibility: getting monetary policy right.

Forward guidance as a regular practice was adopted by my colleagues and me during the Global Financial Crisis.6 It was essential at the time, and we introduced it with much fanfare. But, as with other legacies of crises past, I believe that the practice has overstayed its welcome.

In normal times, the role of forward guidance should be limited and circumscribed. Otherwise it risks creating ambiguity in the name of clarity. Oversharing policy deliberations and overcommitting to future decisions can lead markets, businesses, and households astray.7 And I believe when policymakers make quasi-commitments on interest rates through the cycle, we inhibit our own freedom to make the right calls when it's time to decide.

To get policy right, we also need to get the relationship right between financial markets and the central bank. The Fed needs clear market signals, as unfiltered as possible . . . from market internals . . . the level and change in asset prices across sectors . . . the prices and trading volumes of Treasury securities. . . the foreign exchange value of the dollar . . . the cost and availability of credit . . . and the price of a broad set of commodities.

These and other indicators should inform the Fed's near-term outlook on economic activity and inflation throughout the business cycle. They should also reveal the state of broader financial conditions . . . and the risks and uncertainties in the financial cycle.

At the same time, market participants themselves should be tracking real information across the economy. They should draw their own conclusions; form their own expectations of output, employment, and inflation; and stay sharply attuned to risks.

The Fed should be humble and never naïve. The Fed plays an essential role in the economy and the markets. And our tools are powerful. We determine the path of short-term interest rates. And market participants will always try to anticipate what we will do next. But we should not indulge a regime in which market participants are looking primarily to the Fed for their next trade.

The economic literature has long described the distorting effects: a hall-of-mirrors problem.8 If markets rely materially on the Fed's guidance and the Fed relies on market prices, we are all more likely to be blinded to new developments . . . more likely to be caught unprepared for a turn of events . . . and more likely to commit errors in policymaking.9

Perversely, market participants are unlikely to bear the biggest costs of the hall-of-mirrors problem. The most serious harm is likely to befall those without financial assets. If the Fed gets inflation wrong and judges the economy wrong, who gets the worst of it? Not the financial high-fliers. Hard-working Americans are the ones left to deal with inflation that is too high or jobs that suddenly appear less secure.

So, if forward guidance is ill-suited to normal times, then how about the new Fed chief commits—at the very least—to an explicit reaction function? Surely, he should tell us his interest rate path—if, say, the data were to come in hot or cold.

I wish our understanding of the economy were so precise as to provide a mechanical, tried-and-true answer—that some simple function like a Taylor rule could be rigorously relied upon. But our knowledge just doesn't extend that far—at least not yet—and the factors most relevant to the proper conduct of monetary policy change over time.

Providing forecasts to illustrate the Fed's reaction function works better in theory than in practice, better in the lab than in the field. I'm not alone in noticing that forward guidance in 2021, to cite one example, might well have slowed the policy response to high inflation.10

In my term as Chairman, my colleagues and I will endeavor to construct more reliable models and more robust rules to guide policy decisions. We'll do this knowing that accuracy in economic forecasting is still just an aspiration. With so much changing so fast in geopolitics, global supply chains, and technology, it's wise to be modest about what we can and cannot know.

In the same spirit, we should receive the full range of ideas on matters that may inform the Fed's monetary policy decisions. If the aim is optimal decisionmaking, we should not crowd out views on the economy.

How, then, to chart a better path to policy? In the balance of my remarks, I will share some key principles that guide my thinking on the appropriate conduct of monetary policy . . . then offer my promised assessment of the economy.

Key Principles

Turning to principles . . .

First, I've noticed that, in this line of work, yesterday's news has a way of getting mistaken for what is happening right now. The challenge is to know the difference. In other words, we must interrogate reality to make sure we are not setting forward-looking policy based on stale or inaccurate data. Nor should we rely on isolated data points. Trends matter most. The Fed is a decisionmaking agency. We make choices amid uncertainty, and the data upon which we draw must be as relevant, contemporaneous, accurate, and actionable as possible.11

Second, the Federal Reserve's actions are intended to ensure that the aggregate demand side of the economy is broadly consistent with aggregate supply. However, all we observe directly is activity. We never see, and can only infer, what's really happening on the supply side. Hence, evaluating the current and expected balance between aggregate supply and demand is imprecise.12

Third, there should be no misunderstanding: The Fed's price-stability objective of 2 percent, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, is a firm, fixed target. Let's be equally clear about another aspect of the objective: Price stability is not self-executing, nor is inflation necessarily mean-reverting. It is the Fed's job to deliver stable prices.

Fourth, the Fed also bears responsibility for maximum employment. Achieving both sides of our mandate over the medium term is not an either/or proposition. I do not believe that the Fed's dual mandate works at cross-purposes. After all, high inflation itself is very harmful to economic prosperity.

Fifth, short-term interest rates are the predominant tool to achieve the dual mandate. Unconventional policies to spur economic activity may suit genuine crises but should otherwise be used sparingly, if at all.

Sixth, money matters. It's not fashionable these days, but my view is that money has something important to do with monetary policy.13 We should pay attention to money created by the central bank and money that comes from the banking and financial systems.14 It's true that financial innovations and other factors alter the mechanics that link the monetary base, the velocity of money, and the broader economy. But that is scarcely a reason to ignore the ultimate effects of money on financial conditions and prices.

Finally, a quieter Fed, more purposeful in its communications, is better able to meet its objectives. And we can be held accountable for delivering on our remit—the only true test of our credibility. To borrow a line from General Chuck Yeager, "At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results."15

The Economy Today

Now, given these principles, how do I read the economy today? What's really going on outside the window?16

You may have read in the July minutes the unanimous view of the FOMC:17 Labor markets were stable, and output was solid. But inflation remained too high. A good majority of my colleagues and I thought the wiser course was to await new information in the intermeeting period—especially given possible developments in supply chains, investment flows, and geopolitics—before deciding whether a change in interest rate policy was advisable. And we expressed our joint readiness to act as circumstances might require.

For my part, today I am impressed by the overall performance of the economy, which appears to have strengthened. One indicator of strength is how well an economy holds up to shocks. On that score, both Main Street and Wall Street have been remarkably resilient.

Several observations:

Business capital expenditures—the seed corn of future economic growth—are rising rapidly. The four-quarter change in investment in equipment and intangibles has been around 9 percent, its highest growth rate since 2021. More than half of the cap-ex growth this year can likely be ascribed to the buildout related to AI.

For firms in the S&P 500, profits have grown by more than 20 percent over the past year. Profit margins are quite elevated, relative to history. Overall equity market volatility is low. We're staying keenly focused on market internals, watching performance across sectors.

Expectations for growth in both cap-ex and corporate earnings are running quite high. I will continue to watch the change in their growth rates, the second derivative. The follow-on effects on asset prices, business confidence, consumer income, and spending are equally important to gauge.

Credit spreads on corporate bonds and leveraged loans are near the low ends of their historical ranges, and issuance volumes in these markets have been quite strong this year. Looking beyond fixed-income markets to the banking business, in the July Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, banks tell us that standards for commercial and industrial loans are on the easier end of their historical range. That helps explain the growth we've seen this year in those loans. Credit and loan markets are showing few signs of policy restraint.

Certain sectors—like housing and agriculture—are showing strains. But, on balance, I would be hard pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive.

Real consumer spending has been healthy despite the shocks, increasing more than 2 percent over the past four quarters. Combining consumption with the brisk investment we've observed, private domestic final purchases (PDFP) has also risen. PDFP has increased at a pace of nearly 3 percent so far this calendar year. That's a measure that typically carries more signal than gross domestic product, and the trend here too is positive.

On the employment side of the Fed's dual mandate, our country is doing well. Labor markets are quite stable. The jobless rate, at 4.1 percent, remains low by historical standards and has not changed much for a couple of years. Unemployment claims, on a four-week average—an empirically robust real-time indicator—are near their lowest level in decades.

In my view, the relatively low turnover in today's labor market is partly a result of the significant rematching between employers and employees that happened at scale in the post-pandemic environment.

When labor supply is barely growing, monthly job gains are naturally going to run low. There are always areas of concern in the labor market—for example, among recent graduates. In general, though, people who want to work, by and large, are holding or finding jobs. They may well be concerned about possible future labor disruptions, but as of now, I believe the labor markets are consistent with full employment.

But on the price-stability side of our mandate, the numbers are more concerning. The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the 12-month change in the PCE price index, stands at 3.7 percent, while the six-month change is 4.1 percent. The comparable measures from the consumer price index (CPI) are also elevated, as are the core measures of both PCE and CPI inflation. None of these measures are perfect, but they all tell a similar story: Inflation is running above our 2 percent target. So the Fed's predominant focus right now should be on prices.

The job for policymakers is to capture underlying trend inflation—that is, the generalized change in prices in the economy, unaffected by idiosyncratic factors. We want to gauge whether underlying inflation is rising, falling, or stuck in place. We also want to understand not just the direction of travel, but also the speed. Each of these broad inflation measures has fallen significantly from their 2022 heights. But progress over the past two years has been modest.

And while this summer's PCE and CPI readings were better than expected, they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.

The data also show moderate wage growth. But in tracking underlying inflation, wage growth has not proven a reliable indicator of future inflation for a very long time.18

To try to gauge underlying inflation, I find it instructive to disaggregate the 199 individual components of the PCE price measure. Over the past 12 months, 54 percent of goods and services in the PCE basket showed price increases above 3 percent. This is well below the post-pandemic highs of about 77 percent, but it remains well above the level of 32 percent in the two decades that preceded the pandemic.

Looking over just the past six months, the conclusion is similar: Of goods and services in the PCE basket, 49 percent showed annualized price increases above 3 percent. Again, this is well below the post-pandemic highs but still quite elevated.

The recent rise in overall commodity prices also bears watching. What we need to judge is whether trends indicate upside inflation risks.

It matters, too, whether the inflation readings of the past five-plus years have seeped into expectations. The good news is that measures of inflation expectations in the medium term, by and large, look stable. And inflation compensation measures from the swaps market send a strong and similar message.

Especially in light of recent developments, it is a credit to the Fed as an institution—and consistent with the best of the Fed's traditions—that market prices show confidence that we will deliver price stability. And I can assure you . . . they're right.

The thing about market measures of inflation expectations in economic history is that they tend to look strong and durable until they don't. Those expectations are not pushed around easily, and right now they are well anchored. But they must be closely minded. It's the Fed's job to make sure that inflation expectations do not get unanchored.

There is one signal nobody can miss: The responsibility for 65 months of sustained, elevated inflation sits squarely with the central bank. And that is where it belongs.

Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do. That's our job . . . our mandate . . . and our charge to keep.

Conclusion

I stand here today committed to a discipline, not to a decision.

My Fed colleagues and I are hardly the first to hold these positions in a time of great consequence. We are determined to redeem the time by doing our very best work.

We take our responsibility seriously, with humility and with resolve. So much depends on choices we make. Sound monetary policy helps households and businesses to prosper. When carried out effectively, it broadens and deepens the momentum of our economy . . . and helps to secure America's leadership in the world. And I know that our country needs us to think carefully and act wisely.

It is a tremendous honor to serve once again at the Federal Reserve. I am truly grateful for the encouragement and good counsel I've received from my colleagues . . . and from so many of you in this room. For that, and for your kind attention this morning, I thank you.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:00

Quit burning tokens.

Kevin Durant’s first answer sounded less like a roster evaluation than a defense of the failed Brooklyn Nets experiment. Asked by Boardroom to name the best team he played for “on paper,” Durant chose the 2020-21 Nets, citing Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap and Patty Mills. “We had the names...

Wall Street Warns "Pervert Glasses" Backlash Threatens AI-Wearables Boom

Bernstein analysts are out with a note on how Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica's once-hot smart glasses business is running out of steam because of an emerging public backlash over privacy and surveillance, raising questions about whether the smart glasses industry as a whole is hitting a brick wall.

Luca Solca, Bernstein's senior equity analyst and global luxury-goods sector head, covers companies including EssilorLuxottica, LVMH, Hermès and Richemont. He said Ray-Ban Meta glasses were initially a "commercial success," but public opinion has since shifted against the glasses has drastically shifted, with folks online labeling them "pervert glasses" amid mounting privacy concerns.

EssilorLuxottica sold more than 7 million Meta AI glasses in 2025, compared with 2 million during 2023 and 2024 combined, Solca said. However, he warned that users are abandoning the glasses under social pressure. 

Unlike smartphones, the cameras are embedded inside ordinary-looking frames, and the blinking warning light can be covered with tape despite Meta's efforts to prevent tampering. That has not stopped influencers and bad actors from using the glasses in ways that have angered the public.

"The court of public opinion has dubbed the Ray-Ban Metas' pervert glasses,'" the analyst said, adding, "Public figures such as Jimmy Kimmel and singer Lorde have publicly spoken up against them over the past months, with distressing guerrilla ads by US and British advocacy groups being plastered over NYC and London to raise awareness and encourage boycotts."

Solca continued:

Paradoxically, the characteristic that made Meta's Ray-Bans so popular in the first place may be their downfall. 

The camera and technology blend seamlessly with the original design, making the Ray-Ban Metas a rather fashionable gadget.

However, this means that most people are unaware they are being filmed and unable to consent. 

Users can record hands-free, making it less obvious than when using a smartphone to do so. The blinking light that should alert them to this fact can be easily covered, despite Meta's product updates to prevent this. 

There are countless videos online instructing users precisely how to bypass this feature. German nonprofit group HateAid calls for ensuring 'safety by design,' pointing to the fact that Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are 'indistinguishable' from ordinary glasses. They are requesting that authorities make sure the glasses are 'clearly identifiable.'

Solca then makes the case that the mounting social backlash makes it more positive on EssilorLuxottica. Slower smart-glasses adoption reduces the risk that technology companies will cannibalize the traditional eyewear market, dilute industry margins and turn glasses into another low-margin consumer-electronics category

Solca explained: 

All of the above makes us, ironically, more positive on EssilorLuxottica. 

We wrote before about the impact of smart glasses on the group's LT economics (EssilorLuxottica: Gauging Optionality) and estimated the right valuation in the current context at ~24x PE (EssilorLuxottica: The "right" valuation).

The public outcry against smart glasses makes the bearish scenario of a cannibalistic, disruptive and margin dilutive impact on the category less likely. 

However, given the optics of the problem, we wonder how much reputational damage has been done to the Ray-Ban brand. Will the Wayfarers be remembered as the 'pervert glasses' in the same way the Aviators are associated with Tom Cruise in Top Gun?

Solca maintained a Market-Perform rating and a 200 euro 12-month price target. Shares are currently trading around 156 euros and have more than halved since peaking around 319 euros in late 2025.

Our reporting over the past year has documented the mounting public backlash against smart glasses (see here), including the emergence of an app designed to alert users when the devices are nearby. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 14:45

It's almost time for kickoff!

Noise can become another issue at night, with Pensacola Beach's noise ordinance taking effect at 10 p.m., according to Dorfman.

Elaine Sawyer, 54, was diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma in February 2024 after finding an ulcer on her tongue.

Roll out the red carpet. It’s time for The Campies -- our Jets training camp awards.

The victim was standing on the northbound No. 5 train platform at East 180th Street and Morris Park Avenue around 1:40 p.m. when the menace silently approached her from behind and shoved her onto the roadbed, police said.