Saturday, August 29th

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh signaled at the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium that rate hikes may be needed, saying policymakers have “work to do” unless inflation moves toward the 2% target. He said inflation remains at 3.7%, called price stability the central bank’s “firm, fixed” objective and described the labor market as reasonably strong. Warsh did not commit to a rate decision, but fed funds futures put odds of a September hike near 60%, up from 35%, and the 2-year Treasury yield rose more than 12 basis points to 4.356%.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that ICE arrested British political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and is holding him pending removal from the United States. DHS said Yiannopoulos entered the country legally through New York City in May 2019, overstayed his visa and received a final removal order from an immigration judge on July 22. Agency records showed him in ICE custody in Louisiana. Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor and Kanye West aide, had publicly supported aggressive ICE enforcement.

President Donald Trump announced Aug. 28 that the United States had reached an agreement with Venezuela giving the U.S. majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan oil reserves. Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth negotiated the deal with interim President Delcy Rodríguez through private business partners. He said the transaction would cost taxpayers nothing and would more than double U.S. oil reserves while expanding supply. The terms were not disclosed, and Venezuelan opposition figures and U.S. critics challenged the plan.