Morning Edition · Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Markets
Brent holds above $110 as Hormuz stays closed and the White House rules out an Iran strike before November 3
The Financial Times reported that Israel planned strikes on Iranian power plants about ten days ago and that President Donald Trump refused, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now arrived in Israel unannounced to discuss the war.
Macro
Gold slips to about $4,113 as Treasury yields above 5% and a likely December Fed hike outweigh the Iran war
US federal debt has grown by nearly $400 billion in two months to about $40.4 trillion, Russian state agency TASS reported, and the 30-year Treasury yield is holding near 5.43%.
Macro
ECB chief economist Philip Lane makes the case in China for euro liquidity lines
Lane's speech follows a three-year extension, to October 2028, of the European Central Bank's €45 billion euro-renminbi swap line with the People's Bank of China.
Tech
SpaceX posts $4.4 billion profit on AI computing leases as Musk backs a merger with Tesla
Revenue rose 161% to $14.6 billion and Musk said both companies have formed special committees, while a Wall Street Journal report says he capped Starlink speeds for Ukrainian users.
Geopolitics
Witkoff flies from Oslo to St Petersburg with proposals from the Oslo talks
The Kremlin confirmed the US envoy's trip as NATO sends patrol aircraft, drones and radar to the Black Sea after drone strikes on at least seven cargo ships off Romania and Bulgaria this month.
Macro
Milei calls Lula a "leftist thief" four days before a Brazilian runoff that polls show within two points
Brazil's foreign ministry condemned the remarks as interference, and a Folha columnist warns that both candidates' plans to expand state-bank lending would push interest rates higher.
Geopolitics
Turkey's parliament takes up the Mecca defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
The mutual-defense treaty reaches parliament as Pakistan considers a summit with Vladimir Putin and its senior nuclear strategist warns India against altering the strategic balance.
World
France, Italy and Portugal deploy soldiers and police against cost-of-living protests
Italy approved 500 troops for Milan, France will use its Sentinelle counterterrorism force this weekend, and Portuguese police arrested 55 people clearing protest camps that demonstrators then reoccupied.
Macro
China's super-rich sell shares and switch nationality before Thursday's offshore-trust tax deadline
Beijing's July rules impose a 20% tax on assets moved into offshore trusts and on their annual income, and the window to settle 2021 to 2025 liabilities without surcharges closes on October 22.
World
Nigeria confirms an Ebola case in Abuja in a traveler from Uganda and traces 44 contacts
It is the first case in Africa's most populous country in an outbreak that the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in May.
Geopolitics
US and Japan open Keen Sword drills near Taiwan as China's cutoff of heavy rare earths to Japan continues
Chinese shipments of dysprosium and terbium to Japan have largely stopped since December, and President Donald Trump says the United States will take nearly half of the world chip market.
Crypto
Bitcoin trades near $82,800 as Switzerland approves its first bitcoin ETF for retail investors
The Liquid Network says it is in the final stages of recovery a month after hackers took 4,000 bitcoin, and Solana activates its largest network overhaul since 2020 on Wednesday.