US jobs growth was stronger than expected in September, but unemployment also rose amid workers returning to the labour market and seeking jobs. Given the Fed's recent hawkish shift and the lack of official data scheduled before the 10 December FOMC meeting, it is understandable that the market thinks the next move won't come until early 2026.

The September US jobs report (delayed from its 3 October scheduled release date) is firmer than the consensus predicted at +119,000 additions to non-farm payrolls versus 51,000 expected. We imagined the risks were always skewed to the upside, given the Federal Reserve had a good idea of its contents at the October FOMC when it cut rates by 25bp but adopted a more hawkish posture on future moves. This was likely one of the triggers.

Nonetheless, the report isn't universally strong, with 33k downward revisions to the previous two months. The breakdown shows that it is the three usual suspects that contributed virtually all the jobs: leisure & hospitality +47k, government +22k and private education & healthcare services +59k. Remember, the federal government workers who accepted deals to leave won't drop off until the October report, which will now be combined with the November report and released on 16 December.

(ING - Continue Reading)

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee expressed concern on Thursday about cutting interest rates too quickly, citing stalled progress on inflation and limited economic data due to the government shutdown.

Speaking to the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Indianapolis, Goolsbee said he believes the underlying economy remains strong but is cautious about near-term monetary policy decisions.

"In my view, the underlying economy is pretty strong and eventually rates can come down a fair amount, but in the near term I’m a little uneasy front loading too many rate cuts, and counting on this will be transitory and inflation will go back down," Goolsbee stated.

(YF - Continue Reading)

Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said the US central bank needs to proceed with caution in considering additional interest-rate cuts with inflation still running a full percentage point above its target.

“I am concerned that we’re seeing inflation still at around 3% and our target is 2% and we’re committed to getting to that 2% target,” Barr said Thursday at an event in Washington. “So we need to be careful and cautious now about monetary policy, because we want to make sure that we’re achieving both sides of our mandate.”

Barr could be a pivotal vote at the Fed’s policy meeting scheduled for Dec. 9-10. Several of his colleagues have declared already that they favor or oppose a third straight rate reduction at that gathering, making the outcome uncertain.

(MSN - Continue Reading)

Bitcoin fell below $87,000 on November 20, 2025, amid a storm of quantum security fears and $1.3 billion whale capitulation. In the process, it blew almost $220 million in long positions out of the water.

This sharp decline extended a two-day pattern of Asian rebounds erased by US market sell-offs. Traders struggled with mixed signals from institutional buyers and a wave of retail panic.

The latest sell-off accelerated after billionaire Ray Dalio raised concerns about Bitcoin's vulnerability to advances in quantum computing.

His remarks reignited debate in the cryptocurrency community, focusing attention on cryptographic security risks.

(YF - Continue Reading)

Michael Burry has continued his crusade against Nvidia and the broader AI boom, even after the chipmaker's bosses reported blowout earnings and responded to two of his chief concerns.

Nvidia's record revenue and profit last quarter, and its bullish fourth-quarter growth forecast, sent its stock up 5% in premarket trading on Thursday as investors brushed off Burry's warnings that AI stocks are in a bubble that's bound to burst.

The company's finance chief, Colette Kress, said on the earnings call that Nvidia had "visibility to $0.5 trillion in Blackwell and Rubin revenue" over the course of 2025 and 2026, and estimated "$3 trillion to $4 trillion in annual AI infrastructure build" by 2030.

(Business Insider - Continue Reading)