CNBC Daily Open: All roads lead to Jerome Powell

Since inflation in America peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve has made controlling price increases — by keeping interest rates high — its main goal.

One consequence of tight monetary policy tends to be a slowing economy and a cooler labor market. For a while, that scenario didn’t materialize, leading many to think the Fed, under chair Jerome Powell’s piloting, had achieved the rare “soft landing,” in which the central bank manages to dampen inflation without plunging the economy into a recession.

But that “golden path” — as the Fed’s Austan Goolsbee likes to term it — is being tarnished by factors such as tariffs and a changing geopolitical landscape.

In the U.S., this has led to a rapidly cooling labor market, prompting Powell to note at Jackson Hole that the risk between high inflation and high unemployment is “shifting.” In other words, the central bank might now turn its attention to supporting employment, rather than slowing price increases.

“The shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” Powell said.

And then — boom! Just like that: a glimpse of a shadow of a suggestion that the Fed might start lowering interest rates again was enough to send U.S. stocks surging and Treasury yields falling on Friday.

This proves how much the Fed — and, particularly, its chair — remains the nerve center of the U.S. economy and financial markets. As analysts of antiquity put it: all roads lead to Jerome.

Jerome Powell indicates rate cuts may come soon. At Jackson Hole on Friday, the Fed chair said growing downside risks to the labor market may “warrant adjusting our policy stance.” Powell also emphasized the Fed’s independence.

The U.S. government takes a 10% stake in Intel. The U.S. chipmaker, in a Friday press release, said the White House made an $8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock, purchasing 433.3 million shares at $20.47 per share — lower than the current price.

Furniture will face tariffs later this year, Trump said. The president’s goal is to “bring the Furniture Business back … all across the Union.” Separately, Canada on Friday removed many of its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. — but not ones on autos and steel.

U.S. stocks popped Friday on Powell’s speech. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a fresh high, while the S&P 500 came within three points of its record during trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed at another high for its best week since May.

[PRO] Nvidia and inflation in focus. U.S. stocks could end August on a high note. Their continued rally will depend on Nvidia’s earnings report, out Wednesday stateside, and the personal consumption expenditures price index, out Friday.

From American Eagle to Swatch, why brands seem to keep getting it so wrong

When actress Sydney Sweeney’s jeans campaign came out last month, critics lambasted the wordplay of good “jeans” and “genes” as tone deaf with nefarious undertones.

“Modern brands are trying to navigate cultural complexity with corporate simplicity. They’re using 1950s boardroom thinking to solve 2025 human problems,” David Brier, brand specialist and author of “Brand intervention” and “Rich brand, poor brand,” told CNBC via email.

— Karen Gilchrist