Flash News

TREE NEWS reports: St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said strong demand for capital could keep interest rates above their historical levels for a long time, with current capital demand running at 3% to 4% of GDP and expected to persist for five to 10 years. He said the U.S. government has been on an unsustainable fiscal path for years and that government debt levels could eventually pose a risk, adding that the Fed does not concern itself with Treasury debt management.

TREE NEWS update: St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem said market inflation expectations have remained stable because investors believe the Fed will raise interest rates to fight inflation. Musalem made the remarks in comments published Thursday. His assessment points to anchored inflation expectations even as the central bank weighs its next policy moves.

TREE NEWS update: India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) responded to the US suspension of H-1B visas, saying it has consistently held that immigration and the movement of highly skilled talent are two entirely separate issues. The industry body did not announce any further measures in the statement.

TREE NEWS update: St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said the rise in nominal yields is driven in part by higher real yields pushed up by interest-rate expectations. The remarks point to markets pricing in a higher rate path rather than solely an inflation or term-premium story.

TREE NEWS update: Russian strikes on Kyiv on Oct. 8 killed four people and injured 19, including two in critical condition, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Thirteen of the injured were hospitalized across the city, with the most serious cases under intensive care. Earlier the same day, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry reported strikes on Kyiv’s power grid facilities, causing widespread outages and unstable supply in parts of the capital.

TREE NEWS update: President Donald Trump awarded Elon Musk the National Medal of Science, calling him ‘our era’s Edison.’ Trump also said he signed an order supporting quantum computing development, with a goal of delivering a quantum computer for scientific discovery by 2028. He added that the US is removing unnecessary barriers to deploying next-generation nuclear energy and has started four cutting-edge small modular reactors this year alone.

TREE NEWS reports: Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $484.9 million in single-day net outflows, their largest since June, as the market’s “Uptober” rally turned negative. Oil is trading near $100, bond yields stand at their highest since 2002, and the Federal Reserve has not finished raising interest rates.

TREE NEWS update: St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said inflation remains elevated, driven by persistent demand pressure and supply shocks, and that further monetary tightening is needed to return it to the 2% target. He said the current inflation level requires the Fed to consider raising rates, and that rates should be raised over the next six to nine months. Musalem added that the policy needed to curb inflation takes about 18 months to take effect, and that he keeps an open mind at every FOMC meeting.

TREE NEWS update: Hurricane Isaias strengthened on October 8 as it closed in on the U.S. Gulf Coast, prompting mandatory evacuations in parts of Florida and a state of emergency in Alabama. Forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surge, tornadoes and flooding. The storm has already disrupted Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production, forcing energy companies to evacuate offshore platform crews and suspend operations.

TREE NEWS reports: A Saudia aircraft was severely damaged by fire at Riyadh airport. The state-owned Saudi carrier’s plane was destroyed in the incident. No further details on the cause or casualties were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said US refineries are “resuming production” and that relief measures are imminent. The statement, issued without further detail, addresses supply conditions at American refining facilities. No timeline or specifics on the relief measures were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Apple has promoted Steve Smith to lead its mergers and acquisitions team, succeeding Adrian Perica, who has held the role since 2009. Perica will continue to oversee Apple’s cloud services, including iCloud. The leadership change puts Smith in charge of Apple’s dealmaking at a time when the company faces pressure to expand beyond hardware.

TREE NEWS update: SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down off the coast of Los Angeles, California, on the 8th, returning the crew to Earth. The splashdown in the waters near Los Angeles marks the end of the mission for the four-person crew.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said about 62.89% of daily oil production and 57.35% of daily natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is currently shut in. The figures, released as a percentage of Gulf output, indicate more than half of both commodities remains offline.

TREE NEWS update: US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that Washington is holding productive talks with Iran and will not attack Iran before the US midterm elections on November 3. Trump said Iran’s economic and military situation is poor, that the blockade on Iran will remain fully in effect, and that 22 million barrels of oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz overnight had nothing to do with Iran. He also stressed Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons.

TREE NEWS reports: The Federal Reserve’s overnight reverse repurchase agreement (RRP) facility took in $335 million on Thursday, October 8, from two counterparties, down sharply from $2.338 billion the prior trading day. The drop marks a steep decline in usage of the central bank’s overnight liquidity-draining tool.

TREE NEWS update: Microsoft said roughly 80% of the H-1B visa petitions it filed in its last fiscal year were to extend or change the visa status of existing Microsoft employees. The figure indicates the company’s H-1B filings were largely for workers already on its payroll rather than new hires from abroad.

TREE NEWS update: European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis said fiscal policy must remain prudent, in a statement issued as the EU weighs its budget stance. The comment signals continued emphasis on budgetary discipline from the bloc’s economic affairs chief. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS update: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury is cutting off the funding sources Tehran uses to finance its war efforts, and that it will continue to expose those who facilitate Iranian oil sales. Bessent did not name specific entities or individuals in the remarks.

TREE NEWS update: Federal Reserve Chair Warsh will take part in a moderated conversation at the IMF annual meeting in Bangkok on October 16, scheduled for 12:30 Beijing time. The appearance comes before the Fed’s October 27-28 policy meeting and, is the Fed chief’s public outing ahead of the pre-meeting blackout period.