News Bulletin
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Evening Edition

Economic Numbers:

Time	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
Thursday, August 20, 2026
8:30	Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Aug)	47.40	24.10	41.40
8:30	Initial Jobless Claims	206K	210K	212K
8:30	Philly Fed Employment (Aug)	27.90		10.00
8:30	Continuing Jobless Claims	1,799K	1,790K	1,781K
10:00	US Leading Index (MoM) (Jul)	0.20%	0.10%	-0.10%
13:00	30-Year TIPS Auction	2.97%		2.47%

Indices

	CLOSE	50 DMA	200 DMA
DJIA	52,762.30	52,523.30	49,525.11
NASDAQ	26,067.17	25,930.72	24,230.22
S&P 500	7,641.49	7,533.14	7,090.33

Earnings Calendar:

(EPS: Earning Per Share / Rev: Revenue / Mkt Cap: market Capital/ BMO: Before Market Opening /AMC: After Market Close)

COMPANY	EPS Act	EPS Fore	Rev Act	Rev Fore	Mkt Cap	Time
WalmartWMT:US	0.81	0.74	187.9B	186.96B	$977.76B	AM
Deere & CompanyDE:US	5.1	4.72	12.61B	10.85B	$144.30B	AM
Ross StoresROST:US	-	1.94	-	6.14B	$82.47B	PM
WorkdayWDAY:US	-	2.61	-	2.64B	$32.17B	PM
Dollar TreeDLTR:US	-	1.09	-	4.85B	$24.30B	AM
Burlington StoresBURL:US	-	2.16	-	3.02B	$19.08B	AM
GapGPS:US	-	0.5	-	3.71B	$9.34B	PM
AimcoAIV:US	-	-	-	-	$6.45B	PM
Advance Auto PartsAAP:US	1.03	0.8	2B	2.04B	$4.31B	AM
Osi SystemsOSIS:US	-	3.77	-	531.45M	$4.01B	PM
HUBHUBG:US	-	0.29	-	941.12M	$2.56B
Flowers FoodsFLO:US	-	0.24	-	1.24B	$1.52B	PM
Prospect CapitalPSEC:US	-	0.11	-	158.67M	$1.14B	PM

Market News:

Wall Street dropped on Thursday, as a rally in U.S. government bonds sparked by a surprise Treasury intervention move faded. Sentiment was also dented by oil prices extending their weekly gains after President Donald Trump vowed "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale" against Iran.

Bonds under pressure again

The fixed-income space continued to grab most of the market’s attention.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Wednesday said it would increase the size of repurchases of long-dated government debt to at least $4 billion from $2 billion. The announcement sparked a rally in U.S. Treasury bonds, sending yields sliding, especially in longer-term maturities. The 30-year yield slumped 9.1 basis points, pulling back from a nearly two-decade high, while the benchmark 10-year yield declined 5.3 basis points.

The rally turned out to be short-lived, as traders resumed selling bonds on Thursday, with the 30-year yield last up 4.9 basis points to 5.243%. A key driver was an update that total U.S. debt had surpassed $40 trillion, exacerbating fiscal worries.

Fed minutes show elevated inflation jitters

Market participants on Thursday were also digesting the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting published the previous day. The central bank had held interest rates steady at that meeting, but three regional presidents had dissented and had favored a quarter-point hike instead, underscoring the uncertainty facing the Fed in terms of inflation.

The minutes showed "many" policymakers seeing rate hikes likely if inflation did not decline. They also showed that "most" officials supported the July rate decision.

"Participants judged that their inflation outlooks were highly uncertain and that inflation risks were skewed to the upside. Many participants noted that the recent re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East significantly clouded the inflation outlook. These participants remarked that a protracted conflict could prolong supply chain challenges and could put upward pressures on inflation," the minutes added.

"The underlying data doesn’t quite support a bearish outlook but rather a digestion period. The S&P 500 and Russell 2000 are hitting record highs, and CPI landed right on consensus last week, pulling the odds of a September Fed rate hike down to around 30%, from over 50% just a week earlier. We view this as a supportive backdrop, not a warning sign," Pathstone’s McGowan told Investing.com

Oil prices now up more than 7% for the week

Looking at the Middle East, oil prices on Thursday extended their weekly advance to more than 7%. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were last up 2.5% to $93.88 a barrel, as an impasse between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz showed no signs of ending.

Trump on Thursday said "no one" had given Iran a "greater opportunity" to make a deal and that Tehran had failed to do so. The U.S. president promised to escalate economic warfare against the country.

"I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW," Trump posted on his Truth Social service.

"This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY," he added.

Iran appeared to dismiss the threat, with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi calling it a "diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs."

"Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat," Araghchi warned.

Walmart disappoints, Deere surges

Turning to Thursday’s earnings calendar, shares of Walmart slumped 9.5%, after the retail giant and consumer bellwether posted its smallest U.S. comparable sales growth in six years. The metric also missed expectations.

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