Weekly Market Update – August 24, 2026

Price Return Last Week

S&P 500  (1.4%) S&P Mid Cap  (2.4%) Russell 2000  (1.7%)

MSCI EAFE (0.6%) MSCI EM +1.2%

10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.70% to 4.74%

Source: Refinitiv Eikon

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Recent News

Government Buys Back Debt – Likely in response to increasing long-term interest rates, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that he would increase purchases of government bonds by the Treasury.  Instead of purchases maxing out at $2 billion each time, these would increase to up to $4 billion and potentially expand beyond this.  This would allow for $128 billion of long-term Treasuries to be bought back in a year.  While that represents nearly 30% of new issuance, it only represents approximately 2% of all outstanding debt at those maturities.  Thus far, this has had the effect of reducing 30-year rates by approximately 0.08%.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Canadian Trade Deal Falls Apart – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that he was walking away from a trade deal with the U.S. after the U.S. made last minute changes.  He stated “we cannot accept what they’ve offered,” and that the goal was “…never a deal at any price or any time frame.”  While recent polls show that almost 90% of Canadians are worried about the economic costs of no deal, over 75% agreed that Carney should walk away.  New tariffs imposed by the U.S. will target roughly 5% of Canadian exports and will increase the tariff rate on Canadian imports to approximately 7.5% from 5%.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Dollar Falls – After news of the breakdown in talks with Canada and continued uncertainty with Iran, the U.S. dollar fell against most foreign currencies.  It gained slightly versus the Canadian dollar, but fell versus the euro, yen, and yuan.  The Chinese yuan hit 6.72 per dollar, reaching a 3 ½ year high and the euro rose to 1.17 per dollar, hitting the highest level in approximately three months.

Source: Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv Eikon

Born to Nap – Recent anthropological research suggests that humans are fundamentally cathemeral, meaning we can rest and sleep fluidly throughout the day, as opposed to diurnal, meaning active during the day and sleeping at night.  Part of the evidence of this is that humans are among the shortest-sleeping primates, with small-scale societies averaging only 6.4 hours of sleep per night.  Social Sleep Theory also suggests that communities were able to disperse sleep amongst members throughout the day while others stood guard.

Source: Journal of Human Evolution

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Upcoming Events

8/25 – Consumer Confidence, Notable Earnings Reports: Intuit

8/26 – PCE, Durable Goods, Notable Earnings Reports: Salesforce, NVIDIA, Synopsys, CrowdStrike

8/27 – Notable Earnings Reports: Ulta Beauty, Marvell, Workday

8/28 – Fed Chair Speech

Source: Refinitiv Eikon

Disclosure

This material, including references to specific securities, is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security.       Views are as of the date shown and may change. Forecasts and forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results. Information is believed reliable but not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness; third-party sources are not affiliated with Chesley, Taft & Associates (CTA).  Indexes are unmanaged, not investable, do not reflect fees or expenses, and shown for illustrative purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Viewing this material does not create an advisory relationship with CTA.