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On September 5th, U.S. Commerce Secretary Andrew Lutnick was appointed to review transactions between the Pentagon and companies under Cerberus Capital Management to address potential conflicts of interest. According to U.S. officials, the Department of Defense has assigned Lutnick to review these transactions. Cerberus is a private equity firm founded by Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, with significant investments in defense and national security, including several companies that have received Pentagon contracts. After joining the government, Feinberg transferred his business assets to a trust for his adult children. Reports indicate that Lutnick's review of arrangements involving Cerberus is intended to exceed existing Department of Defense ethical guidelines. However, Lutnick previously led Cantor Fitzgerald, which has had a business relationship with Cerberus for over a decade and helped manage related investment funds. Some of Cerberus' defense subsidiaries recently secured Pentagon contracts, including a $10 billion, 26-year Army helicopter pilot training contract for M1 Support Services, and a $90 million defense contract for hypersonic testing company Stratolaunch. It remains unclear whether Lutnik reviewed these transactions, and the specific scope of his review.

Fitch: The rating upgrade reflects the strengthening of Portugal's public finances, including the expected downward trend in government debt.

Barclays: Oil outflows from the Middle East are higher than in the early stages of the conflict, but the market remains in a state of shortage, and the inventory buffer is now greatly reduced.

According to Al Arabiya TV: Lebanese official data shows that Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon tonight have killed three people.

On September 5th, stronger-than-expected US August jobs data triggered renewed bets on a possible Federal Reserve rate hike, but Wall Street risk assets did not show significant panic. Data showed increased resilience in the job market, leading traders to raise their expectations for a rate hike at the Fed's September 16th meeting. US Treasuries experienced a sell-off, the dollar strengthened, and the S&P 500 fell on Friday but still recorded a weekly gain. Unlike previous rate hikes that often triggered capital outflows, this round of bond market adjustments has not yet spread to other risk assets. Credit spreads remain low, limiting pressure on corporate bonds and stock index markets. JPMorgan Chase stated that US Treasury liquidity has deteriorated significantly, but corporate bond ETFs and stock index futures markets have not yet experienced similar tension. Market resilience mainly stems from economic growth and corporate profits, especially as AI investment continues to drive large-scale capital expenditures by technology companies. Analysts point out that the market is currently more focused on whether yields will rise rapidly than on the jobs data itself. The market focus will shift to inflation data and whether the Fed will reconsider its rate hike path due to inflationary pressures. If yields rise further rapidly, it could force investors to reduce their risk exposure.

US officials: The White House has no plans to hold an artificial intelligence meeting in mid-September.

OpenAI CEO Altman: GPT-6 Astra is now available to all Pro, Enterprise, and Business Premium users and is available via API. Our next step is to begin rolling it out to Plus and Business users. Thank you for your patience.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are continuing operations in the security zone to eliminate threats to Israeli civilians and soldiers. The IDF will continue to take measures against Hezbollah's repeated attempts to harm Israeli soldiers.

The Israel Defense Forces stated that the operation constituted a "blatant violation" of Hezbollah's rules and that retaliatory strikes had been carried out against targets in southern Lebanon.

Israel Defense Forces: Hezbollah militants fired a drone at Israeli soldiers stationed in the "safe zone" in southern Lebanon on the same day. The Israeli military opened fire and shot it down, causing no casualties.

According to Nikkei, the size of Japan's AI data centers is expected to quadruple by 2033, with investments reaching $60 billion.

S&P: The UAE's rating remains at 'AA/A-1+'; outlook is stable.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 272.51 points, or 0.51%, at 53,413.60 on Friday, September 4; the S&P 500 closed down 29.29 points, or 0.38%, at 7,718.42; and the Nasdaq Composite closed down 77.07 points, or 0.29%, at 26,506.99.

September 5th - According to the Financial Times, artificial intelligence company Anthropic is close to finalizing key roles for Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) in its initial public offering (IPO), with plans to release listing documents as early as next week. Sources familiar with the matter say Morgan Stanley is currently in the lead underwriter's left-hand seat, responsible for IPO strategic advisory work; Goldman Sachs is expected to act as a price stabilizing agent, responsible for stabilizing trading in the early stages of the listing. Banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Citigroup (CN), and Barclays (BCS.N) are also expected to play significant roles in the deal. Anthropic is expected to list in New York in late September or early October, and this IPO will test investor demand for fast-growing AI companies.

On September 5th, US President Trump signed a series of executive measures aimed at supporting American ranchers, including curbing the dominance of large meat processing companies in the industry and pushing for new beef labeling rules. Trump stated that the government will establish programs to help ranchers sell directly to consumers and reduce the US beef processing industry's reliance on the "Big Four" meat companies. He called this reform, which ranchers have been demanding for decades, and an important action by the government to support farmers and ranchers. Previously, the Trump administration's plan to increase beef imports to lower consumer prices sparked discontent among American ranchers. Trump's measures include requiring all imported beef to be labeled with its country of origin and urging Congress to push for permanent regulations. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rawlings had previously criticized the earlier beef import plan, calling it a "heavy blow" to ranchers, but she also stated that Trump is a leader who supports ranchers.

According to the Financial Times, Anthropic is close to appointing Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) as the lead underwriters for its $200 billion IPO.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the policy that allows party committees to obtain advertising at lower rates, a victory for Republicans.

On September 5th, US President Trump called the more than six-month-long US-Iran conflict "insignificant" and said he would not describe it as a major war. Trump stated on Friday that it was a "military conflict," but "not a big deal for us," and that there was no ongoing fighting between the two sides. Responding to Vice President Vance's earlier statement that it "shouldn't be called a war," Trump said, "In many places, it is," and indicated that the US was currently only conducting intermittent strikes. Trump again compared the 18 US military personnel killed in the conflict to the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan War, saying, "Losing even one person is too much," but those two wars resulted in tens of thousands of US military deaths. He also stated that the US had achieved significant progress on the Iran issue. Polls show that the American public has a low approval rating for Trump's handling of the Iran conflict. The conflict has pushed up energy prices, putting pressure on Republicans to maintain control of Congress in the November midterm elections. Previous comments by Trump administration officials downplaying the impact of the conflict have also drawn criticism from Democrats.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as of the week ending September 1, net short positions in the Swiss franc were 22,876 contracts. Net short positions in the British pound were 49,575 contracts. Net short positions in the euro were 24,925 contracts. Net short positions in the Japanese yen were 92,227 contracts.

September 5th - According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division was ordered this week to suspend all cooperation with the Canadian government, the latest development in the escalating trade dispute between the two countries. Linda Marshall, head of international affairs at the Justice Department's antitrust division, requested officials in an email to cease cooperation with Canada on cases and policy issues, but did not specify the reasons. The report stated that Justice Department officials indicated such directives are rare, as the U.S. typically cooperates with competition regulators in other countries, even if the governments are not closely aligned. The U.S. and Canadian antitrust agencies have a long history of cooperation, covering areas such as auto parts price manipulation, air freight investigations, and mergers and acquisitions in the technology and aerospace industries. This suspension of cooperation comes as the U.S.-Canada trade dispute continues to escalate. After trade negotiations broke down last month, the Trump administration imposed a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney subsequently imposed similar tariffs on some U.S. goods. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor the White House has commented on this.