Aug 22, 2026 · 7 min · 7 segments
What does mayhem in the bond market have to do with AI? And why are discount retailers getting a boost? Plus, how did Moderna help lift healthcare stocks? Host Imani Moise discusses the biggest stock…
Imani MoiseHost
Major stock indexes lost ground as oil prices surged and bond markets went a little bonkers.
The US national debt crossed forty trillion dollars for the first time, and investors expect the government will need to keep borrowing heavily in the years ahead.
And the war in Iran continued to push up energy prices, adding to concerns about inflation.
All of that has left investors demanding a bigger return to lend their money long term.
Bond yields held near their highest levels in over a decade, despite the efforts of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to contain borrowing costs.
The S&P five hundred lost one point four percent, and the Dow finished the week about point nine percent lower.
One of the biggest casualties of the bond market mayhem was one of the year's hottest trades, AI.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell five and a half percent as higher borrowing costs made investors question if the pace of AI-related spending was sustainable.
Shares in power producer Talon Energy dropped thirteen percent, while Caterpillar, which makes generators used to power data centers, fell more than three percent.
What connects all these companies is the massive amount of money pouring into AI infrastructure.
Nine of the biggest tech companies have made roughly three trillion dollars in off-balance-sheet commitments, mostly related to AI.
And increasingly, tech companies are tapping the bond market to help finance the boom, creating even more competition for capital.
Higher interest rates mean building data centers is getting more expensive, and stocks across the AI supply chain got punished for that this week.
Major stock indexes lost ground as oil prices surged and bond markets went a little bonkers.
The US national debt crossed forty trillion dollars for the first time, and investors expect the government will need to keep borrowing heavily in the years ahead.
And the war in Iran continued to push up energy prices, adding to concerns about inflation.
All of that has left investors demanding a bigger return to lend their money long term.
Bond yields held near their highest levels in over a decade, despite the efforts of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to contain borrowing costs.
The S&P five hundred lost one point four percent, and the Dow finished the week about point nine percent lower.
One of the biggest casualties of the bond market mayhem was one of the year's hottest trades, AI.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell five and a half percent as higher borrowing costs made investors question if the pace of AI-related spending was sustainable.
Shares in power producer Talon Energy dropped thirteen percent, while Caterpillar, which makes generators used to power data centers, fell more than three percent.
What connects all these companies is the massive amount of money pouring into AI infrastructure.
Nine of the biggest tech companies have made roughly three trillion dollars in off-balance-sheet commitments, mostly related to AI.
And increasingly, tech companies are tapping the bond market to help finance the boom, creating even more competition for capital.
Higher interest rates mean building data centers is getting more expensive, and stocks across the AI supply chain got punished for that this week.
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