Morning Brief: The Off-Balance Sheet Inside AI Kept Growing Fast; U.S. Weighs More Trade Measures Against Canada; Iran, Oman Push Talks for Reopening of Hormuz
Find here our morning brief which compiled the main macro news — released on Twitter — concerning Americas, Asia and Europe.
Americas
Markets
*Focus on AI
The Off-Balance Sheet Time Bomb Inside AI Hits $3.1 Trillion: Up $1.3TN In Three Months https://t.co/Z1XTUyJ3sV
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 26, 2026
Memory Prices Soar; DRAM And NAND Flash To Account For 68% Of Major CSP CapEx In 2027 – @trendforce https://t.co/4mPCBpAksw
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Anthropic Expected To Tell Investors It Sees Over $30 Tln In Potential Revenue – @WSJ https://t.co/APOnHwZSZW
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Economic Indicators and Prospects
US CB Consumer Confidence August: 89.4 (est 90.2; prev 90.8; prev R 90.2)
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
– CB Present Situation: 121.2 (est 114.7; prev 114.9; prev R 114.4)
– CB Expectations: 68.2 (est 74.2; prev 74.7; prev R 74.0)
Housing
US New Home Sales July: 607K (est 620K; prev 628K; prev R 678K)
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
– New Home Sales (M/M): -10.5% (est -1.4%; prev 1.6%; prev R 7.6%)
– Median Sale Price (USD): 393.8K or -0.9% From July 2025 (398.3K or -2.7% From June 2025)
Monetary Policy
Fed’s Barkin Says Rising US Debt Will Lead To Eventual Reckoning – BBGhttps://t.co/tMvO5iIuao
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Boston Fed President Collins (not an FOMC voter until 2028) in a blog post on the bank's website (link at the bottom) echoes the majority position from the July FOMC minutes saying that her modal (most likely) outcome is that inflation is durably returning to 2 percent consistent… https://t.co/ETvc8f7K1r pic.twitter.com/D7Q5JUJl0d
— Neil Sethi NEW account, please refollow (@neilsethinew) August 25, 2026
Chances for a September FOMC hike fell back to 34%, and one this year to 68%. https://t.co/mOI9naJY3O pic.twitter.com/aHS6tuExzW
— Neil Sethi NEW account, please refollow (@neilsethinew) August 26, 2026
Fiscal Policy
Bessent’s Bond Intervention Puts US Treasury On Collision Course With Fed – FThttps://t.co/cCb8MJH25C
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 26, 2026
Trade, Politics and Geopolitics
UAW Union: Rejects Any Escalation Against Canada On Trade – @UAWhttps://t.co/Y2jOrqYswQ
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Brazil, US To Discuss Tariffs 31st August – @folha https://t.co/q9XjQEuxNh
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
🇧🇷 Brazil may be turning into one of the most interesting macro elections of the year. Lula now leads Flávio Bolsonaro by just 46% to 45% in a runoff in the latest BTG/Nexus poll.
— Christophe Barraud 🇫🇷 🇲🇨 (@C_Barraud) August 25, 2026
➡️ Bolsonaro has chosen to attack Lula on debt, interest rates and the cost of capital, probably… pic.twitter.com/qtcBcbdrtE
Focus on Middle East conflict
#OOTT | US, Iran Said To Announce Ceasefire In 'Coming Days' – Bahahttps://t.co/Hy9NUhZU2A
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Oman, Iran Propose Temporary Shipping Corridor, Mine Clearing – Oman Foreign Ministryhttps://t.co/9XW1BWvPPd https://t.co/SOlMmejs8f
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
US President Trump: All Mines Removed From Strait Of Hormuz, Any New Mines Placed Will Be Destroyed – TSL
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
– Through Space Force, We Are Watching Every Square Inch Of The Strait, As We Are, Also, With Pickaxe Mountain And The Already Destroyed Three Other Nuclear Sites…
Asia/Middle East
Markets
Economic Indicators and Prospects
Australia CPI (M/M) Jul: 1.0% (est 0.9%; prev -0.1%)
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 26, 2026
– CPI (Y/Y): 3.5% (est 3.3%; prev 3.8%)
– Weighted Median CPI (M/M): 0.4% (prev 0.30%)
– Weighted Median CPI (Y/Y): 3.6% (prev 3.70%)
– Trimmed Mean CPI (M/M): 0.5% (prev 0.30%)
– Trimmed Mean CPI (Y/Y): 3.6% (est 3.5%; prev…
Japan PPI Services (Y/Y) Jul: 3.6% (est 3.2%; prev 3.2%)
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
China Unlikely To Deploy Bazooka As Economic Pressure Mounts https://t.co/jmBhukOELJ
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 25, 2026
Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy
🇨🇳MIIT to publish 15th Five-Year plan to support SME development
— CN Wire (@Sino_Market) August 26, 2026
MIIT vice minister Xin Guobin said the ministry, together with multiple departments, has jointly drafted a 15th Five-Year plan to promote small and medium-sized enterprises and will publish it soon. He said SMEs are… pic.twitter.com/MyP4ixUwzE
China’s tax collectors are clawing back billions from companies, hitting one with a bill equal to 120% of last year’s profit https://t.co/R3gvoaWL1T
— Bloomberg (@business) August 26, 2026
Trade, Politics and Geopolitics
🇨🇳🇺🇸 Xi Signals Defiance as US Threatens Sanctions for Iran Support – Bloomberghttps://t.co/n43PDbTx4v pic.twitter.com/9yrBWShdZM
— Christophe Barraud 🇫🇷 🇲🇨 (@C_Barraud) August 25, 2026
Europe
Economic Indicators and Prospects
German economy grew faster than estimated in the 2nd quarter https://t.co/wBCbhuCScB pic.twitter.com/7SgJHYqwhO
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 25, 2026
UK households face highest winter bills since January 2024 https://t.co/ZuylIja4tx via @EamonFarhat pic.twitter.com/U4DgPo2WrV
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 26, 2026
UK household inflation worries pick up again in August https://t.co/R0w1SL4YJB via @tomelleryrees pic.twitter.com/ubc4QgXkjM
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 25, 2026
Monetary Policy
🇪🇺 #ECB’s Schnabel Says Rates Must Rise More on Resilient Economy – Bloomberghttps://t.co/VcZ7Iyr9Ut
— Christophe Barraud 🇫🇷 🇲🇨 (@C_Barraud) August 26, 2026
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) August 25, 2026
Fiscal Policy
French showdown over the next budget will be Macron’s riskiest yet https://t.co/mV6Oic2bh0 via @WHorobin @alicegledhill1 pic.twitter.com/plLIJ6c5bi
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 26, 2026
As the global economy faces mounting pressures, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urges governments to address growing fiscal challenges and central bankers to stay committed to lowering inflation https://t.co/mgO2UOoMRR via @jdorosario pic.twitter.com/BF32mqQI26
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 25, 2026
Trade, Politics and Geopolitics
Russia is expanding its campaign of hybrid attacks against countries that supply weapons and money to Kyiv and has caught Europe without a plan to respond. https://t.co/UeostatEZ1
— Bloomberg (@business) August 26, 2026
Border breach exposes deep divisions in Spain’s African exclave https://t.co/PbBa43avNi via @basteiro pic.twitter.com/5HeDNLa3sW
— Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) August 26, 2026
Other Areas And Global Economy
*Note: Previous briefs can be found here