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Cranberry Journal

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Also in this edition
Markets
  • S&P 5007,659.44−1.09%
  • Nasdaq26,140.03−2.15%
  • Dow52,002.41−0.34%
  • 10-yr yield5.10%+0.18%
  • Crude$97.57−1.46%
At the close · Oct 18

Markets

Top stories in Markets

An aerial view of a large tanker with a green hull and red deck moored at a jetty of the Primorsk oil terminal, with a second tanker at a berth in the distance and forest along the shore. The Numbers

The First Russian Diesel Cargo Since Washington's Licence Was 40,000 Tons, Bound for Morocco. U.S. Pump Diesel Is 9 Cents Higher Than on the Day the Licence Was Signed.

Russia resumed diesel export loadings at the Baltic port of Primorsk this week, and the first reported cargo, about 40,000 metric tons, is heading to Morocco, not the United States. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said U.S. deliveries need a contract, a vessel and two to three weeks. AAA put U.S. diesel at $6.32 a gallon on Sunday, against $6.23 when the Treasury licensed Russian diesel on 9 October.

By Daniel Okafor  

More in Markets

Two men sit side by side at a table by a window, one in a blue shirt smiling as the other points at a tablet screen.

Investors Asked to Pull 39% of Blue Owl's Tech Lending Fund. It Will Pay Out 5%.

Shareholders in Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. asked to sell 39 per cent of the fund back in the third quarter, about $1.1 billion. The fund will buy back 5 per cent, so each request will be filled at about 13 per cent. At Blue Owl's larger credit fund, requests fell for a second quarter, to 16.8 per cent of shares. Across the two, investors asked for $4.2 billion.

By Daniel Okafor  

A domed building with a lit marquee reading Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood at the studio lot in Burbank, with the Warner Bros. water tower behind it under a clear blue sky.

Paramount Sold $41.4 Billion of Bonds to Buy Warner Bros. They Fell the Next Day.

Paramount Skydance priced $41.4 billion of secured notes on Wednesday to pay for Warner Bros. Discovery. On Thursday some of the new bonds traded at about 96 cents on the dollar, its existing bonds fell sharply and the cost of insuring its debt reached a 17-year high, Bloomberg reported. The deal is due to close on Tuesday, and the combined company will be called Skydance.

By Daniel Okafor  

Two construction cranes stand beside glass office towers and a building still in its steel frame, behind blue site hoardings for the Sydney Metro West project, under a sky streaked with cloud.

Metrics Cut Its Funds by Up to 12 Per Cent. KPMG Still Would Not Sign.

One of Australia's largest private credit managers wrote down three listed funds on Monday, by 2, 10 and 12 per cent, and said a clean audit was expected on Wednesday. On Wednesday the auditor said it was not ready. Metrics has now suspended redemptions and stopped publishing net asset values in the unlisted funds underneath. The share prices had been pointing at a lower number for months.

By Daniel Okafor  

Rows of metal safe deposit boxes lining a bank vault, several of the drawers pulled open.

The Fed Will Now Show Banks the Stress Test Before They Sit It. One Governor Says That Is the Problem.

The Federal Reserve finalised two rules on Wednesday that put its stress test scenarios and models out for public comment every year and average banks' stress capital buffers over two tests. The Board says the changes should cut year-to-year swings in those requirements by about half without materially changing total capital. Governor Michael Barr says they will let banks optimise for the test instead of the risk.

By Daniel Okafor  

A black and white photograph looking up at a Wall St street sign mounted on a lamppost between tall stone office buildings in lower Manhattan.

The 30-Year Treasury Closed at Its Highest Since the Bond Came Back in 2006. Households Had Already Marked Up Their Inflation Forecast.

The 30-year Treasury yield closed at 5.49 per cent on Friday, its highest since the Treasury resumed issuing the bond in February 2006, and the ten-year ended the week 21 basis points higher than it started. The University of Michigan's final September survey has year-ahead inflation expectations at 4.6 per cent, up from 4.0 per cent in August, and sentiment at 48.1.

By Daniel Okafor  

A modern glass office tower with a stepped facade rising against a clear blue sky

Private Credit's Default Rate Hit a Record the Week Before the Fed Raised Rates

Fitch put the trailing twelve-month default rate across 1,300 private credit borrowers at 6.3 percent at the end of August, a record, with 14 default events in the month. Healthcare providers and industrial manufacturers are both running near 10 percent. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve raised the rate almost all of that debt is priced against.

By Daniel Okafor  

A Wall St street sign on a lamp post in black and white, with office buildings blurred behind it.

Five Percent. The Monday the Price of Money, Energy and the Future Moved Together.

On Monday the 10-year Treasury yield touched 5 percent for the first time since 2023. Brent neared $110 before settling back. Diesel set a record at $6.23 a gallon. Chip stocks fell almost 6 percent. By the close, markets put the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase on Wednesday above 90 percent. Each of those has its own story. Together they describe one: the end of the assumption that the shocks of this year would pass on their own.

By Daniel Okafor  

A white Nvidia sign with the company's green logo, marked 2800 and 2806 Scott Blvd., outside its headquarters campus in Santa Clara, California.

The Market Read the Essay as a Forecast for Chip Demand

Chip stocks fell before Monday's open after the heads of Anthropic and OpenAI said the industry should slow the rate at which AI models improve. Nvidia was down 3 percent in premarket trading, Marvell and Arm 6 percent, and ASML 9.5 percent. The labs are mostly private. The public way to express a view on slower AI is to sell the companies that supply it.

By Daniel Okafor  

Pumpjacks across an oilfield under a hazy sunrise.

The Market Was Offered an End Date and Bought the War Instead

Brent settled near $108, the highest in nearly four months. West Texas Intermediate rose above $104 after surging almost 7 percent, closing above $102 for the first time since May. This desk asked yesterday whether traders would price the president's stated end date. They have answered, and the answer is no.

By Daniel Okafor  

Screens displaying financial market prices.

Brent Passed a Hundred Dollars and the Fed's Next Move Changed Direction

Fed funds futures put the chance of a quarter-point rise at the September meeting at about 59 percent. Three months ago the same market was arguing about the size of a cut. Brent above $100 and the ten-year at its highest close since 2023 are the reason, and an energy shock is the one shock a central bank cannot fix.

By Daniel Okafor  

The glass facade and stone-framed lower floors of 50 Hudson Yards in Manhattan, seen from the street, with neighbouring towers reflected in the windows.

BlackRock Took In $205 Billion in the Quarter and Ended at $15.5 Trillion. GAAP Earnings Were $10.57 a Share, and the Adjusted Figure Was $15.93.

BlackRock reported on Wednesday 14 October that it ended the third quarter with $15.5 trillion in assets and took in $205 billion of net new money. Revenue rose 19 per cent to $7.75 billion. Diluted earnings were $10.57 a share, or $15.93 as adjusted, and most of the gap is one non-cash charge tied to its own share price.

By Daniel Okafor