Desk

Economy

Markets, labor, and the price of policy.

Prices

Wholesale prices rose 6.3 percent.

The producer-price index jumped 1.3 percent in September, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. Energy prices for producers rose 10.8 percent. Economists had expected a much smaller move. Social Security’s cost-of-living raise for next year is 3.6 percent.

The Rocket News · Washington · October 15, 2026

Prices

September prices rose 3.7 percent.

The Consumer Price Index gained 0.6 percent in the month, more than economists expected over the year. Gasoline did the lifting. Core inflation rose to 2.6 percent. The Fed meets again on Oct. 27.

A diesel truck sits at the pump as the national diesel average held above six dollars.

Markets

Stocks were mixed at midday, and diesel was $6.27.

At 12:12 p.m. Eastern the Dow was up 228 points and the Nasdaq was down 0.2 percent. Energy shares rose with the oil price. AAA’s national diesel average on Monday was $6.27 a gallon.

A driver at the pump as oil prices jumped and the Nasdaq fell with the chip stocks.

Markets

Oil crossed $104 and the Nasdaq fell with the chip stocks.

The S&P 500 lost 0.5 percent Thursday, its second straight drop after a record. The Nasdaq fell 1.3 percent. Brent crude topped $104 a barrel as the Middle East kept the tape uneasy.

Video · CNBC

The New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 pulled back Wednesday from a record close.

Markets

Wall Street pulled back from its record.

A day after the S&P 500 closed at 7,818.93, the index was lower at midday. The 10-year yield rose to 5.31 percent. Brent was back at $101.26. The Fed’s September minutes were still ahead.

David Ellison will lead Skydance after Paramount closed its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday.

Hollywood

Paramount closed its $110 billion deal for Warner Bros.

The combined company is called Skydance and trades as SKYD on the New York Stock Exchange. David Ellison is chief executive. Ynon Kreiz, late of Mattel, will run the day to day. The debt is about $80 billion.

Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve is seen skipping an October increase after employers added 29,000 jobs.

The Federal Reserve

Markets see the Fed skipping an October increase.

Employers added 29,000 jobs in September, and unemployment rose to 4.2 percent. After Friday’s report, traders put the chance of an October rise at about one in six.

Hiring nearly stalled in September. Employers added 29,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent.

The Labor Market

Employers added 29,000 jobs. Unemployment rose to 4.2 percent.

Economists had looked for about 90,000 jobs and a rate of 4.1 percent. July was revised to a loss. Kevin Hassett said he was not disappointed.

Diesel prices have soared on the war in Iran. The G7 agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels over four months.

Energy

The G7 will release 100 million barrels of diesel and oil.

The stockpile release starts immediately and runs four months, with a large diesel draw in the first 20 days. Prices have soared on the war in Iran.

More tankers are moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices are still high, and supply is still short.

Trade

More tankers are moving through Hormuz.

The Times's Wednesday front said oil exports in the Middle East are rising even while prices stay high. Supply is still short of demand.

Iran's seven-day offer would waive sanctions on its oil sales and lift the naval blockade.

Trade

The offer is an oil deal.

Iran wants the blockade lifted and the sanctions on its oil sales waived. The same morning, the Times said Trump is considering a ban on U.S. diesel exports.

The United States can meet 42 percent of demand for the two most-used rare earths. China still holds the rest.

Trade

The magnets are still China’s.

Benchmark says the United States can meet 42 percent of demand for the two most-used rare earths. Into the 2030s it will still import. November 10 is the date on the table.

The fourth USMCA round slipped again. A Mexican official said the date will be announced in the coming weeks.

Trade

The fourth USMCA round waits.

Washington asked for a delay. Xi is in town, and G20 trade ministers meet in Milwaukee next week. There is no new date.

Vance said more than 750,000 enrollees were cut from the ACA marketplaces.

The Market

Vance said 750,000 left the ACA marketplaces.

The Times: subsidies they did not qualify for. He put the savings at $2.2 billion. Some, he said, were not real people.

AAA dated diesel at $6.53 this morning — a new highest recorded national average.

The Pump

Diesel is $6.53. AAA dated a new record this morning.

Highest recorded national average, Sept. 22. Yesterday $6.51. A year ago $3.69.

Video · Al Jazeera English

AAA dated diesel at $6.51 this morning — the highest recorded national average.

The Pump

Diesel is $6.51. AAA dated the record this morning.

Highest recorded national average. Regular $4.48. Great Lakes up more than 30 cents. Trump: inexpensive price to pay.

Bessent after He Lifeng: a very successful engagement. Xi is still coming.

Treasury

Bessent: a successful engagement. Xi is still coming.

Treasury after He Lifeng in New York. Asian stocks up. Brent $102. The summit is this week.

A U.S. diesel pump reading $6.505 a gallon, green nozzle, in color. No figures in the frame.

The Tape

Diesel is $6.51. AAA dated another record today.

Sunday. $6.5050. Yesterday $6.49 was already the high. Regular still $4.48.

A U.S. diesel pump, green nozzle in the holster, digital price near $6.49, in color. No figures in the frame.

The Tape

Diesel is $6.49. AAA dated a new record today.

Saturday: $6.4866. Yesterday’s $6.45 was already the high. Regular $4.48. A year ago: $3.71.

A U.S. gas station price board in color. No figures in the frame.

The Tape

Diesel is $6.45. The highest AAA has ever printed. The gallon is $4.47.

Friday morning. Up a nickel from $6.40. Forty-seven days. A record on the record.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Diesel is $6.40. Another record on a Thursday. The gallon is $4.44.

AAA this morning. Up nine cents from $6.31. Forty-eight days. The hangar did not fill a tank.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Diesel is $6.31. Another record on a Wednesday. The gallon is $4.37.

AAA this morning. Up from $6.27. The Saudi pipe is dark. Forty-nine days to the vote.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Diesel is $6.27. Another record on a Tuesday. The gallon is $4.33.

AAA this morning. Up from $6.23 yesterday. Up 66 percent since the Iran war.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Diesel is $6.23. A new record on a Monday. The gallon is $4.32.

AAA this morning. Highest diesel ever. Trump blamed Zelensky. Salalah did not sit.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Diesel is $6.20. A record on a Sunday. The gallon is $4.31.

AAA this morning. Two straits. A hull on fire at Qeshm. Salalah is tomorrow.

Video · Al Jazeera English

The Tape

Two straits. Diesel is still a record. Brent held three figures.

Bab al-Mandab halved. Hormuz still thin. The East-West line is shut. Monday is Salalah.

Video · Al Jazeera English

A U.S. gas station price board in color; no figures in the frame. News photograph.

The Tape

Diesel is $6.06. A record. The gallon is $4.30.

Brent near $104 after $108 Thursday. IEA: Saudi supply at a three-decade low.

Video · Al Jazeera English

A suburban gas station at dusk, pump canopy and price board in color, no figures in the frame.

The Tape

Brent closed $101.21. Diesel is still a record.

Plus 3.36 percent. The high was $101.87. AAA: $4.22 a gallon. The pump is eight weeks from a ballot.

Video · LiveNOW from FOX

Freight trucks queued at night under the lights of a snowy northern border crossing. No faces.

The Border

Washington bans Canadian dairy, liquor and motorcycles. The date is Sept. 29.

A day after Ottawa’s 50 percent tariffs, the White House adds a blacklist. Trump already pulled Canada from GSA schedules.

Video · BBC News

The Border

Canada’s 50 percent tariffs take effect. $27.6 billion of American goods.

Midnight. Steel and aluminum doubled. Dairy, furniture, clothing, appliances. Ottawa calls it dollar for dollar.

Video · BBC News

The Pump

Wright spent Sunday saying the pump is fine. Labor Day is $4.15.

The energy secretary did four morning shows after a weekend of strikes. Brent was $96.28 on Friday. AAA did not watch the shows.

Video · FOX 10 Phoenix

An oil tanker in a narrow dusk strait between arid mountains, a distant column of smoke on the horizon.

The Pump

Diesel hits a record $5.85. The war is now a number on the pump.

AAA: $5.85 diesel, $4.15 gasoline. Labor Day weekend will be the most expensive on record. Farmers are already counting the harvest.

Video · Firstpost

A glass office tower at dusk, a few floors lit, the rest dark.

Prices

Nine drugmakers sign. The price at the counter is still a negotiation.

The White House calls it a historic cut. The pharmacy will be the judge.

Video · The Hill

Rows of server racks in a dim data center, blue status lights receding into the dark.

Technology

Musk loses OpenAI case as a California court cites the clock

A federal jury in Oakland finds the lawsuit time-barred — a strategic win for Sam Altman on the road to a public offering.

Video · BBC News

An empty open-plan tech office at night, vacant desks and dark monitors facing a glass wall of city lights.

Labor

Tech unemployment ticks up to 3.8% as A.I. eats the entry level

Meta, Snap, and Nike cut. Help desks are being rewritten as agents. The junior engineer is the first casualty.

Video · KPIX / CBS News Bay Area