THE SHOW NOTES: Markets Crash, World War III, & What Is Trump Thinking?

Welcome! Did Robert F Kennedy Jr, dump a dead bear cub in Central Park?

WARNING: Don’t look at your 401(k) today.

NEW: Kamala Harris will choose her running mate by tomorrow.

TRILLION: The seven most valuable US companies lost $1 trillion in market cap this morning.

HEADLINE: Bangladesh prime minister resigns as country delves into chaos.

FLORIDA: Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida - CNN

MUST READ: The Woman Who Engineered Donald Trump’s Rise From the Ashes of 2020 - Vanity Fair

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Here’s How Markets Opened

Markets Mayhem

Domestic and international markets are plunging as fears of recession intensify around the globe. The culmination of July’s disappointing jobs report and the Federal Reserve's refusal to cut interest rates has led to market losses not seen since the COVID pandemic. Charles Schwab and other trading platforms were forced offline due to heavy traffic.

• The NASDAQ opened trading today down 6%.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 611 points (2.7%) on Friday and dipped 1,200 points as markets opened trading this morning.

• The VIX, the market’s fear gauge, jumped to its highest intraday level since March of 2020.

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 12% over the weekend posting its largest 2-day drop in history.

• Bitcoin dropped 15% in less than 24 hours.

As financial fears reached a crescendo, Chicago Fed Chair and Obama alum Austan Goolsbee told CNBC that the central bank would react to signs of weakness in the economy. While he refused to commit to specific actions by the Fed, he said:

“The Fed’s job is very straightforward: maximize employment, stabilize prices and maintain financial stability... So if the conditions collectively start coming in like that on the through line, there’s deterioration on any of those parts, we’re going to fix it.”

Quote of the day:

Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned his G7 counterparts that a significant but unspecified Iranian attack against Israel is likely within the next 24 hours.

The news comes as Israeli military and government leaders have sheltered in a secret underground bunker that was created to withstand large-scale bombings. Fuelling the concern was an Iranian warning sent to aviation authorities urging them to avoid Israeli airspace.

Speculation has run wild regarding the form that an Iranian attack may take with sympathetic Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. However, Iran’s heavy attack against Israel in April was widely considered a failure. Though it was telegraphed, Iran nearly emptied its missile inventory in a 300 missile/drone attack on Israel that was almost completely stifled by the Iron Dome.

The US has deployed multiple carriers across the region.

Trump vs Kemp

Donald Trump renewed old attacks against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in a weekend rally. He then doubled down on Truth Social.

HIGHLIGHT: Here’s How Close The Men’s 100M Race Was

Presented Without Comment

Trending news:

• Nancy Pelosi called Biden a “Mount Rushmore kind of President” - X

• Harris' new map: Sun Belt back in play - Axios

• GOP senators say Trump caught ‘off guard’ by Harris’s strength - The Hill

• Hospitality workers’ union endorses Harris, dismissing Trump’s pledge of tax-free tips - AP

• New Miss USA crowned, capping tumultuous year of pageant controversy - CNN

• Inbred, gibberish or just MAD? Warnings rise about AI models - AFP

• Taiwan stocks fall 8.4% on tech sector fears, more weakness forecast - Reuters

• Gorsuch on Biden Supreme Court proposals: ‘Be careful’ - Politico

• Australia raises terror threat level to 'probable' from 'possible' - NBC

• Tom Hanks LA home was burglarized. - TMZ

• Biden's Treasury accused of trying to juice U.S. economy pre-election - Axios

• It’s Getting Harder for Companies to Keep Politics Out of the Workplace - WSJ (paywall)

Market snapshot: