Bonds & Stocks
Wall Street geared up for another busy session of bond sales as issuers looked to borrow before key economic data later this week. Treasuries saw small moves ahead of a $42 billion seven-year note auction and another heavy slate of new corporate bonds. Eight companies are considering selling US investment-grade bonds on Tuesday, according to an informal survey of debt underwriters who declined to name the firms. Any sales come a day after 18 companies sold deals, bringing February issuance to a record level.
Economy
There’s a saying about how the Federal Reserve manages interest rates: They go up the escalator and down the elevator. This time, it will likely be the reverse — frustrating investors betting on a quicker decline. Rates shot up in 2022 and 2023 at the fastest pace in four decades as the central bank sought to contain surging inflation. Now, with price pressures easing and the economy still strong, Fed officials are prepared to bring rates down at a slower and potentially less regular pace.
World
When Chris Malachowsky, a billionaire founder of ship giant Nvidia Corp., bankrolled one of the world's biggest supercomputers at the University of Florida, Ron DeSantis predicted the machine would be a magnet for artificial intelligence talent. Almost four years later, the Florida' governor's anti-China crusade is preventing some highly skilled AI researchers from ever setting foot in the state.