Clarity fades while the discount rate does the damage Surging 5% Treasury Yields Collide With CLARITY Gridlock Clarity fades while the discount rate does the damage Sep 15 READ IN APP None of this is financial advice. Do your own research. By reading this newsletter, you acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions outlined in our disclaimer . GM Investors U.S. 10-year Treasury yields violently broke above 5.04% this morning. This officially marks the first time we have seen these levels since 2007. This brutal milestone instantly puts immense pressure on the entire risk-asset complex. While macro forces shatter expectations, the digital asset market is facing its own crisis today. The highly anticipated CLARITY Act cloture vote happens this afternoon. Senator Cynthia Lummis confidently declared yesterday that this bill would enable banks to buy Bitcoin. But Democrats have aggressively rejected the latest revised draft over ethics and enforcement disputes. Now, the market rapidly realizes yesterday’s massive sentiment pump was simply organized exit liquidity. Everything is deeply interconnected across these highly volatile global markets right now. We squarely face a hawkish Fed policy decision tomorrow and a massive legislative test today. Here is exactly what our desk is closely watching. TOKEN2049 Singapore: Find the Next Hyperliquid Before It Lists!!! Every year, one conference produces the startups that dominate the next cycle. This year, it’s TOKEN2049 Singapore. TOKEN2049 Origins Hackathon: 36 hours, $100K prize pool, direct demo access to the main stage. This is where the next cycle’s infrastructure gets built live. 500 applicants, 10 finalists, 1 global stage. Past cohorts have gone on to become Web3 unicorns. 25,000 people. 7,000 companies. 60%+ C-suite. 160+ countries. One building: Marina Bay Sands. Newsletter readers get 10% off tickets. We don’t get a kickback. We just want our people in that room. Claim your 10% discount and register Clarity’s Pump Looks Like Exit Liquidity Senator Cynthia Lummis sold the revised text as the finish line. After a year of talks, Republicans released what they called the final draft. They said it included more than 120 Democratic requests. Lummis said President Trump accepted new ethics restrictions covering elected officials, judges, and spouses. She also said the bill would let banks freely buy and hold Bitcoin and other crypto. That channel, she argued, could trigger one of the largest capital inflows in American history. The House already passed its version 294–134. On paper, that is the institutional bid the market has been waiting for. The market bought the story for a few hours. Polymarket’s “signed into law in 2026” contract jumped toward 34% after the Sunday text drop. Then Democrats said no. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the ethics title a “weak fig leaf.” Sen. Mark Warner said it was “not near enough.” A coalition of 18 state attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, warned the draft would blunt state fraud cases. Bank groups flagged stablecoin rewards as a deposit drain. Overnight, Democrats sent a counterproposal from talks in Chuck Schumer’s office. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt still said he felt “very good.” The contract did not. This afternoon’s vote is cloture on the motion to proceed, not final passage. It still needs 60 votes. Republicans hold 53 seats. They need at least seven Democrats or independents if the conference holds. Even a win only opens debate. The bill then needs Senate passage, House reconciliation, and a signature before year-end on a shrinking calendar. That is why our crypto market analysis treats yesterday’s spike as liquidity, not confirmation. If cloture fails, the 2026 legislative path effectively dies. Enforcement stays with the SEC and CFTC under current law. Citadel, BlackRock, and the broker stack can wait. Price will not. Five Percent Is the New Discount Rate The bond market did not wait for the Fed. The 10-year yield jumped to 5.025% after tagging. The 30-year sits near 5.38%. CME FedWatch prices a 25 bp hike on Wednesday at roughly 92%. That would lift the funds range from 3.50–3.75% to 3.75–4.00%. It would be the first hike since July 2023. August CPI printed 3.4% year-over-year. That is the Fed policy backdrop for this two-day meeting. Four forces are doing the work, and they are not all growth: Oil prices: Energy is feeding the inflation impulse again. Prints this week have Brent near or above $108 on some tapes and WTI in the high $90s on others. Geopolitical risk around Iran and supply routes is keeping crude bid. Inflation: Price pressure remains above the 2% target. Core is not giving the committee an easy off-ramp into Wednesday’s statement. Debt supply: Heavy government and corporate issuance is hitting the long end. Official foreign demand is thinner than it was in the QE years. Fed path: Markets are not just pricing Wednesday. They are pricing the risk that oil keeps the committee hiking after this meeting. A market pulse cited in the tape put roughly 78% of professionals in a camp that sees a 10% S&P correction risk if the 10-year lives between 5% and 5.75%. We are inside that band before the statement, the dots, or the press conference. That is why semiconductor stocks and unprofitable growth are the first to feel it. Future cash flows get cheaper when the risk-free alternative pays 5%. Equities can ignore that for a session. They cannot ignore it if 5% becomes the floor. Macro trading here starts with the long bond, then maps to duration-heavy equities, then to crypto. Bitcoin Trades the Cost of Money Bitcoin does not yield. That is the whole problem in this tape. When Treasuries clear 5%, the opportunity cost of holding a non-cash-flow asset rises in a straight line. Our research has seen this movie on prior CLARITY delays, legislative uncertainty plus tighter financial conditions, then a risk-off print in BTC. Spot is holding the high $76,000s after failing

Iran and Saudi pipeline issues keep oil elevated 🚨5 Levels To Watch as Hike odds Becomes the Base Case Iran and Saudi pipeline issues keep oil elevated Sep 15 READ IN APP None of this is financial advice. Do your own research. By reading this newsletter, you acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions outlined in our disclaimer . Hey Traders, Oil is still doing the inflation work. Weekend supply risk around Iran and the Saudi East-West line left crude elevated, so the market is pricing energy and shipping first, not a clean demand boom. Bonds are not hedging it. The 10-year has pushed through 5% into Wednesday’s Fed decision, hike odds are the base case, and equities are reading that as a tightening problem. Chips and the broader growth tape are fading on higher energy and a firmer dollar. Bitcoin is holding its range and trading the policy calendar more than a crash tape. Clarity is unresolved into today’s Senate vote, but the tax still hits crude first, then yields, then stocks. Bitcoin stays the relative exception until the next policy test lands. Here is what we are watching. Poll of the Day ( Presented by Rain Trade ) 🎯 POLL Trading apps dominate record on-chain protocol fees. What sector leads next? 🦄 DEXs 📈 Perps 🎲 Predictions Today’s Charts: Chart #1 – Ethereum(ETHUSDT) 4-Hour Chart #2 – Kaspa(KASUSDT) 1-Day Chart #3 – Algorand(ALGOUSDT) 1-Day Chart #4 – Ether.fi (ETHFIUSDT) 1-Day Chart #5 – Bloom Energy (BE) 1-Day TOKEN2049 Singapore: Find the Next Hyperliquid Before It Lists!!! Every year, one conference produces the startups that dominate the next cycle. This year, it’s TOKEN2049 Singapore. TOKEN2049 Origins Hackathon: 36 hours, $100K prize pool, direct demo access to the main stage. This is where the next cycle’s infrastructure gets built live. 500 applicants, 10 finalists, 1 global stage. Past cohorts have gone on to become Web3 unicorns. 25,000 people. 7,000 companies. 60%+ C-suite. 160+ countries. One building: Marina Bay Sands. Newsletter readers get 10% off tickets. We don’t get a kickback. We just want our people in that room. Claim your 10% discount and register Chart #1 – Ethereum(ETHUSDT) 4-Hour( Powered by Rain Trade 📊) Chartist: Kapoor (For the chart screenshot, ) Ethereum has failed to sustain its upward expansion following a sharp liquidity sweep up to $2,660+, rolling over and breaking below the $2,500 horizontal pivot to trade near $2,479.03 on the 4-hour timeframe. Functioning as the primary smart contract settlement layer for decentralized finance, liquid restaking ecosystems, and institutional Layer-2 rollups, this short trade setup targets an extended mean-reversion drop toward the range liquidity lows around $2,235–$2,250 as long as overhead resistance caps pullbacks below the $2,500–$2,625 zone. Trade Levels: Entry: $2504 Stop Loss: $2626 Take Profit Levels (TP): TP1: $2350 TP2: $2220 Powerful narratives create powerful moves. With 247 Research , you get the insights to be early to the biggest trends in crypto. Chart #2 – Kaspa(KASUSDT) 1-Day( Powered by Rain Trade ) Chartist: Kapoor (For the chart screenshot, ) Kaspa has printed a bearish distribution pattern following a sharp impulse toward the $0.04000 psychological resistance, losing its local consolidation shelf to trade around $0.03403 on the 1-day timeframe. Built on the GHOSTDAG/Knighth consensus protocol as a high-speed, proof-of-work blockDAG that processes multiple blocks simultaneously with instant transaction sequencing, this short trade setup targets an extended mean-reversion drop toward the $0.02700 liquidity shelf as long as overhead resistance caps pullbacks below the $0.03550–$0.03900 zone. Trade Levels: Entry: $1.538 Stop Loss: $1.321 Take Profit Levels (TP): TP1: $1.873 TP2: $2.292 Chart #3 – Algorand(ALGOUSDT) 1-Day( Powered by Rain Trade 📊) Chartist: Kapoor (For the chart screenshot, ) Algorand has defended its ascending structure with a bullish continuation candle off the retest shelf, sustaining price above the $0.0951 horizontal pivot to trade near $0.0981 on the daily timeframe. Designed as a highly scalable, carbon-negative Layer-1 blockchain powered by Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus to deliver instant finality, low transaction costs, and institutional-grade infrastructure for decentralized finance and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, this long trade setup targets an upward expansion toward the $0.1189 overhead resistance target as long as the $0.0872–$0.0951 support base holds. Trade Levels: Entry: $0.096 Stop Loss: $0.072 Take Profit Levels (TP): TP1: $0.104 TP2: $0.118 Chart #4 – Ether.fi (ETHFIUSDT) 1-Day( Powered by Rain Trade 📊) Chartist: Kapoor (For the chart screenshot, ) ether.fi has retraced into a textbook retest of its ascending trendline and breakout shelf, maintaining market structure above the $0.5877 horizontal pivot to trade near $0.6164 on the daily timeframe. Operating as a decentralized, non-custodial liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum,granting stakers complete custody of their private keys while automating native yield and Actively Validated Services (AVS) rewards via EigenLayer integration,this long trade setup targets an upward continuation toward the $0.8237 overhead resistance target as long as the $0.5021–$0.5877 support base holds. Trade Levels: Entry: $0.587 Stop Loss: $0.502 Take Profit Levels (TP): TP1: $0.680 TP2: $0.823 Markets go both ways. Get premium short setups delivered every day with 247 Research . Chart #5 – Bloom Energy (BE) 1-Day( Powered by Rain Trade 📊) Chartist: Kapoor (For the chart screenshot, ) (BE refers to the stock of Bloom Energy and not a cryptocurrency.) Bloom Energy has completed an impulsive breakout above its multi-month consolidation structure, pulling back to test its prior breakout shelf around the $228.47 horizontal pivot to trade near $257.05 on the daily timeframe. Operating as an on-site commercial power provider engineered around solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology and high-efficiency electrol

The EPA is rolling back power plant emissions limits... September 15, 2026 Presented By Hello there, and happy National IT Professionals Day. It’s a great day to be extra nice to the person who tries their absolute hardest not to roll their eyes while explaining that the problem sending you into a panic spiral can be solved by rebooting your computer. —Dave Lozo, Sam Klebanov, Matty Merritt, Neal Freyman, Abby Rubenstein In today’s newsletter, we’ll get into: The EPA getting rid of rules limiting power plant emissions The fallout from AI executives wanting to slow down The people seeing the best job market in decades Markets Nasdaq 26,186.41 -0.56% S&P 7,619.98 -0.48% Dow 52,421.2 -0.29% 10-Year 4.961% -1.0 bps Bitcoin $78,627.12 +2.54% Intel $97.19 -5.59% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:30pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. Markets: It was a new week but not a new narrative for investors yesterday with stocks falling as bond yields and oil prices rose. Companies with an AI connection, like chipmakers Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, took a hit amid calls from CEOs of the companies making the models to slow down development (more on that below). CHANGE IS IN THE AIR EPA is unwinding rules that limit carbon emissions Jon Cherry/Getty Images Reports early yesterday speculated that the Trump administration would roll back carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants…and it turns out that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. With the G20 energy summit in Houston as a backdrop, the EPA announced the controversial moves later in the day, saying the changes will save the energy industry more than $300 billion and “unleash” American energy. What’s changing: Essentially, all Obama and Biden-era climate-protection measures that required gas plants to burn cleaner fuels and coal plants to capture most of their emissions by 2039 will be eliminated. These changes will take effect shortly after the agency officially publishes them. In a separate rule proposed yesterday, the EPA will also argue that greenhouse gases do not endanger human health or the environment. This could prevent future administrations from reinstituting the restrictions. The science: If the US power sector were a country, it would be the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to an NYU analysis of 2022 emissions data. The regulations being wiped away could prevent ~30,000 deaths, according to Associated Press research. Even a partial unraveling, per the AP, would lead to more smog, mercury, and lead in the air (though some restrictions on mercury and other contaminants will remain in place even if all the climate rules go). With great power… …comes great (or at least more) AI data centers. Coal plants said that capturing and storing carbon underground, as required by the EPA’s old regulations, was so cost-prohibitive that they had to close. Since 2010, 330 coal plants have retired and another 60 have announced plans to shut down by 2031, according to the Sierra Club. Making it cheaper to use fossil fuels coincides with the push from the tech sector to build more data centers that have been straining grids and driving up energy prices for consumers. Looking ahead… The new rules are expected to face legal challenges from environmental groups hoping to block them. —DL Sponsored By Doroni Up, up, and a way to get in on this boom Flying car company stocks are soaring on Wall Street. Archer went public at $1.7 billion. EHang IPO’d at $662 million. And Joby went public via SPAC at a whopping $6.6 billion valuation. Luckily, 15k+ investors have found an early-stage opportunity to capture this boom: the private company, Doroni . They’re pioneering personal flying cars with their H1-X, the aircraft FOX Business called “the ‘flying car’ set to revolutionize personal air travel.” With 600+ preorders, they’re targeting commercial deliveries for 2028. Earlier this year, they reserved the Nasdaq ticker $DRNI , and with Morgan Stanley projecting the flying car industry will reach $1 trillion by 2040, the timing is right. Invest today for bonus shares . World Tour de headlines Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 📺 Widow’s Bay dominated at the Emmys. The horror-comedy scooped up 14 statuettes at the 78th Emmys, making the tech giant Apple the night’s biggest winner and setting a new high for a comedy. Its star, Matthew Rhys, not only won for best actor in a comedy series for the show, he also won the trophy for best actor a limited series for The Beast in Me —breaking two records , the first for winning two lead actor categories in one night and the second for having won for drama, comedy, and limited series during his career. He wasn’t the night’s only record-setter: Jean Smart became the first to win best actress in a comedy for all five seasons of a show for Hacks. Plus, Smart and Allison Janney both won their eighth acting Emmys, tying an existing record. The Pitt won for best drama. Last night’s Mariska Hargitay-hosted award show even managed to get in a pre-taped sketch featuring Taylor Swift and still end on time. Finally, here’s what everyone wore . 🇺🇸 The 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped 5%. The yield for the bonds, which is used as a benchmark for US mortgage and other loan rates, briefly reached 5.01% yesterday as rising oil prices due to the Iran war spurred inflation fears. It was the first time since 2023 and only the second time since 2007 that the yield breached 5%, a psychological milestone for investors. However, the yield (which moves inversely to bond prices) quickly dropped back below the threshold as oil price pressures eased somewhat and bond buyers emerged. High bond yields are one of the reasons all eyes are on the Fed’s interest rate-setting announcement tomorrow. The central bank is expected to raise rates—also for the first time since 2023. ✉️ SCOTUS rejects Trump’s limits on mail-in voting for the midterms. The Supreme Court y

Plus: Trump effect | Tuesday, September 15, 2026 Axios Markets By Emily Peck and Matt Phillips · Sep 15, 2026 🌮 Tuesday. Stock futures are pointing to another decline today, which would be the S&P 500's sixth drop in the last seven sessions. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note pushed to as high as 5.04% overnight. And crude oil prices continued to press higher. Buckle up. 🗓️ Today, Emily explains how the AI trade is evolving, as fears over the technology's potential doomsday effect are growing. And Matt takes a look at a few markets before and after a post from President Trump in yesterday's session. 💵 ICYMI: Axios BFD is back Nov. 17 in New York City with speakers including Omeed Malik, Goldman Sachs' Kim Posnett, baseball icon and investor Alex Rodriguez, Vista Equity Partners' Robert F. Smith, 1789 Capital's Donald Trump Jr. and more. Request an invite . Let's go! In 1,248 words, a 4.5-minute read. 1 big thing: Fear is ... bullish, actually By Emily Peck Data: Financial Modeling Prep ; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Fear is splitting the AI trade — the same technology advances that are raising alarms about rogue agents, cyberattacks and apocalypse are creating a bull case for the companies paid to protect against those threats. Why it matters: Investors are, in a way, leaning into the scary AI talk, betting that companies and governments will increase cybersecurity spending to deal with rapidly advancing threats. The big picture: The mood around AI is darkening as long-simmering doomer fears are gaining more attention. Catch up quick: Over the weekend, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX's Elon Musk called for a slowdown in advancement of the most sophisticated models to effectively deal with safety risks, calling it "pacing the frontier." State of play: That seemed to spook investors yesterday, pushing down stocks in sectors connected to the AI trade, like chip and memory companies. Surging oil prices and the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield were also a factor. At the same time, stocks rose for cybersecurity companies. By the numbers: CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks — two of the largest cybersecurity companies — were up roughly 14% and 13%, respectively, yesterday. Both stocks have basically doubled over the past six months, sharply outperforming chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom. (See chart above). Zoom in: The scary AI headlines this weekend and earlier have been a useful marketing tool. "I spent eight years trying to convince people cybersecurity is important. Dario did it in one week — better than me, clearly," Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora told a Goldman Sachs conference last week, per an AlphaSense transcript. Earlier this month, Arora said on an earnings call that "AI represents a significant long-term tailwind that is expanding our total addressable market in network security." Even if the frontier labs Anthropic and OpenAI slow down development, there are still risks from Chinese AI models, which are gaining ground. What to watch: This is all moving at breakneck speed, and the AI cybersecurity market is still getting built. Flashback: The cybersecurity industry shifted earlier this year — after Axios reported that Anthropic's new model Mythos would make it far easier for cybercriminals to exploit software vulnerabilities. This "Mythos moment" made clear how quickly cybersecurity threats can erupt now, Palo Alto Networks' Arora said on the earnings call. Flaws that used to take months for humans to uncover can now be exploited in minutes, he said. That's driving spending for companies and revenue for cybersecurity businesses. Zoom out: Gartner estimated in January that spending on AI cybersecurity will total $51.3 billion worldwide this year, and grow to $86 billion in 2027. Yes, but: That's a small fraction of the more than $2.5 trillion in total AI spend for 2026. Between the lines: AI may or may not end humanity, but in the meantime it's accelerating risks that governments and businesses need to manage — and that costs money. Reality check: It also raises risks for businesses. "As an investor, I'm far less worried about AI ending humanity than about it causing operational or security failures with real financial consequences," Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert, told Axios recently. Malek pointed to the example of CrowdStrike, which released a flawed software update a few years ago that wiped out a good chunk of its market cap. "That's the more realistic template for how an AI stumble — not a doomsday scenario, but an operational one — would actually hit a portfolio." A MESSAGE FROM AXIOS Simplify: Do 50% more with 50% less With AI upending work and life, Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen & Roy Schwartz, the bestselling authors of "Smart Brevity" offer a one-stop survival guide to dramatically improving your life, work and happiness. The idea: Toxic complexity clogs our inboxes and calendars. We can do more, but first we need to simplify. Get your copy. 2. Trump's postings may still move the needle By Matt Phillips Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios/Matt Phillips President Trump's claim that Ukraine agreed to halt strikes on Russian energy targets coincided with a pullback in oil prices and Treasury yields yesterday. Why it matters: Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia have crippled large swaths of the country's refining capacity, creating embarrassing shortages and prompting Russian officials to curtail exports to shore up domestic supplies. Russia has long been one of the world's largest exporters of diesel, and its export ban contributed to a worldwide ripple of diesel fuel shortages and price spikes, including in the U.S., where the national average price for diesel jumped to $6 per gallon in recent days. What they're saying: "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise! The World's Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran. President DJT," Trump posted. The other side: The Ukrain

Plus: How advisors can help younger clients navigate riskier investments. September 15, 2026 PRESENTED BY Good morning. Advisors are interested in crypto … just not right now. At a recent Bitwise presentation, Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen polled an audience of hundreds of wealth managers on whether they currently allocate client money to crypto. More than two-thirds said they don’t. But when asked whether they plan to start in the next year, nearly the same share said they do. For now, equities and fixed income remain the bread and butter for advisors. Crypto? Well, much like cleaning out a cluttered garage, it seems they’ll get around to it one of these days. INDUSTRY NEWS Anthropic Moves Deeper into Financial Services with Claude for Advisors Photo via VCG/Newscom Move over, X. This might be the real everything app. Anthropic released Claude for Financial Advisors yesterday, a suite of AI tools designed to help wealth managers with research, portfolio oversight, administrative tasks and more. Essentially, it’s an AI layer that connects Claude to the disparate programs and tools advisors already use, including platforms and data providers from BlackRock to Charles Schwab, Addepar, Envestnet, iCapital, Orion, Wealthbox, Wealth.com and Zocks. The launch marks the latest move from Anthropic to embed itself in the financial services industry. Earlier this year, the company released 10 AI agents designed for financial workflows, including building pitchbooks, screening Know Your Customer (KYC) files maintained for compliance and reviewing financial statements. Major institutions including Goldman Sachs and Citi have deployed the technology across their operations. All Aboard Charles Schwab will be the platform’s debut custodian, and it aims to bring Claude for Financial Advisors to the more than 16,000 RIAs it serves. “Anthropic is building AI at the frontier of what’s possible,” Jon Beatty, head of Schwab Advisor Services, said in a statement. “Bringing this solution directly to our clients, purpose-built for the environment they operate in, is how we help advisors claim the next frontier of advice.” Anthropic’s statement announcing the new product included a whopping 18 comments from a who’s who of wealth management. “I don’t want my CFPs spending hours every week laboring over CRM updates and task assignments,” said Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz. “I want them talking to clients and engaged in the planning itself, because that’s the part clients truly value.” Dynasty Financial Partners CEO Shirl Penney said, “This is the moment the industry stops adapting to AI and starts running on it.” If You Build It, They Will Come. Anthropic isn’t alone in its Wall Street pursuits. Just last week, OpenAI released ChatGPT for Financial Services, which caters to investment bankers and equity researchers. And it’s no mystery why AI firms are increasingly cozying up to wealth management firms: They spend a lot of money on building out their AI capabilities, and they plan on spending even more. Cerulli expects AI spending per firm to reach nearly $500,000 this year, more than double last year’s total. In the here and now, meanwhile, Monday’s announcement was nothing if not timely. Anthropic is no doubt eager to remind people of the benefits of artificial intelligence after a spree of headlines warning that unfettered development of the technology may pose an existential threat to the human race. Written by Griffin Kelly PRESENTED BY XTRACKERS BY DWS Invest in the Architects of AI’s Future While many investors have gained AI exposure through a handful of well-known technology companies, the opportunity extends beyond today’s market leaders. Behind every breakthrough are companies building the software, data infrastructure, and intellectual property powering AI’s next wave of innovation. The Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence and Big Data ETF (XAIX) is designed to help you capture that broader opportunity for your clients. The fund can hold up to 100 companies, with a 4.5% cap on individual holdings , helping maintain diversified exposure across the AI value chain. XAIX invests in the developers and enablers who are driving AI advancement. As AI adoption expands, XAIX lets you give your clients access to the businesses building tomorrow’s AI landscape, not just today’s dominant names. See how XAIX can diversify your clients’ AI exposure. * FINANCIAL PLANNING PEPs Are Popping Seven Years After Secure Act Passage Pooled employer plans are getting more PEP in their step every day. Established under the Secure Act of 2019, PEPs allow multiple unrelated employers to participate in a single retirement plan while delegating most administrative and fiduciary responsibilities to the pooled plan provider. Seven years on, the pooled employer plan marketplace shows both signs of maturity and room for improvement, with multiple providers now boasting over $5 billion in assets. The most recent to pass that milestone was The Standard, whose research shows 83% of participating employers are satisfied with their experience. Financial advisors agreed that PEPs have become a helpful tool, especially for resource-strapped business owners. Not all plans are created equal, though, so it’s important for clients to do their homework before signing up. “Business owners and HR like the idea of offering retirement benefits, but they wear so many hats these days that running a plan can feel like a big lift,” said Steve Chappell, assistant vice president of retirement plan sales at The Standard. “Going with a PEP isn’t for everyone, but it solves a lot of those concerns.” Pros and Cons Employers have a duty to monitor the work of their PEP provider, but they are otherwise freed from the burdens of investment selection, plan documentation, participant communications and more. Financial advisors told Advisor Upside this framework has mostly served clients well. “Many business owners value flexibility and simplicity, which these plans can

Plus: Why investors are hanging out at the mall. September 15, 2026 PRESENTED BY ALUMNI VENTURES Good morning. Fifteen years ago, the role of the CFO (or, at least, the perception) was to close the books at month-end and deliver bland remarks at the start of an earnings call. The role has evolved, and so has the perception. For starters, CFOs are now increasingly the quarterbacks of the entire operation. M&A, capital allocation, storytelling for the board, technology transformation and global ops — it’s all increasingly in the remit of the CFO. That’s why we are launching CFO Upside , a vertical custom-built for CFOs (and CFOs to-be). Don’t think about it as “another newsletter,” but more as your thought partner with exclusive data, analysis, benchmarking and trade secrets on growing a career while serving the board, shareholders, and, yes, your family. MARKETS S&P 500 7,619.98 ▼ -0.48% DJI 52,421.20 ▼ -0.29% NVDA $210.96 ▼ -3.36% Stock data as of market close on September 14, 2026. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Will Doomsayers Derail Anthropic’s Mega IPO? Photo via Vincent Isore/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom Last week gave us the apocalyptic AI tweet heard around the world, though not everyone is taking it seriously. The President called it a “hoax.” The Chinese government has called it “fearmongering.” Wall Street, however, sees it as a liability matter, especially for Anthropic. Former researcher Jacob Coxon’s doomsday warning that AI might threaten human life by the end of the decade may have gotten the world’s attention, but top company leaders calling for a slowdown in development begs new questions about Anthropic’s hotly anticipated mega IPO. The frontier AI lab’s S-1 filing with the SEC is expected to be released publicly in the coming days or weeks, and it will likely face a fair bit of scrutiny if it fails to disclose an off-chance risk of accidental human extinction. Disclosure Day In that case, the S-1, filed confidentially in June, might draw legal challenges from IPO investors who could claim that they’re being misled by way of purposeful omission. At minimum, John Coffee, a securities law expert at Columbia Law School, told The Economist on Monday that the company may have to amend its S-1 registration, required for an IPO, to avoid or limit its liability for securities fraud. For OpenAI, the recent tumult is reason enough (or, at least, the company’s stated reason) to delay an IPO into next year. “Given everything happening with safety, this would right now be an ill-advised moment to go public,” founder and CEO Sam Altman told Fortune over the weekend . On the other hand, Anthropic founder and CEO Dario Amodei already has a long history of vocally outlining the potential existential risks associated with its AI. The company may well have included such risks in its SEC filings, and it still appears to be targeting the largest IPO in history, according to a recent Reuters report . In the meantime, it has plenty to boast about as it seeks its $2 trillion valuation: On Sunday, a day after Amodei called on the industry to slow the pace of AI development, the Financial Times reported that the company has recently told investors it reached annualized revenue of $65 billion at the end of July, up from $9 billion in December. The company also said adjusted operating income, which strips out some costs including stock-based compensation, is positive for the second straight quarter, according to the FT . The company further claims to have operating margins above 80%, excluding some costs. Power Play: In the meantime, its most pressing risk may not be an accidental AI-created plague or nuclear incident, but rather a simple lack of energy. According to a Moody’s report published Monday, AI firms will need $110 billion worth of new power plants to fuel their ambitions. Written by Brian Boyle PRESENTED BY ALUMNI VENTURES Waiting for the IPO Is Now Optional Photo via Alumni Ventures Sounding the opening bell at the exchange doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it nowadays. Companies are now staying private for longer , with the median time to IPO now 12 years as of last year. 1 By the time you typically get a shot at the ticker, most of the growth has already happened somewhere you couldn’t reach. But as access to private markets widens , investors like you are increasingly getting in earlier. This Thursday , Alumni Ventures’ Managing Partner Laura Rippy and The Daily Upside’s Founder & President Patrick Trousdale go live to discuss where durable opportunities are forming for accredited investors and how venture can fit alongside public equities and alternatives in a modern portfolio. Join the free live session this Thursday, September 17 at 3pm ET. HEALTHCARE No Mo’ Nordisk: Ozempic Maker Rebrands as Novo, Promises New Culture Novo Nordisk shot to corporate fame by trimming waistlines. On Monday, its name became the latest target for slimming down. The Danish pharma giant, best known for blockbuster GLP-1 drug Ozempic, announced it is now simply Novo. Unfortunately, while rebranding can make words disappear, the same does not ring true for business challenges. A revamp of Novo’s corporate culture, promised as part of the rebrand, might help, though the details are thin so far. What’s Old is Novo Again The name change arrives with Novo shares down 15% in 2026, despite the propitious launch of the oral version of its obesity drug Wegovy, which is massively outselling rival Eli Lilly’s competing Foundayo. Novo needed this financial and symbolic victory after spending the past two years ceding market share to Indianapolis-based Lilly, which now dominates the overall weight-loss market, holding a 60.9% market share to Novo’s 38.8% in the second quarter, according to IQVIA data. Meanwhile, the weight of Novo’s GLP-1 drugs in its portfolio is cause for concern. Earlier this month, Novo scrapped two trials for experimental cardiovascular drug ziltivekimab, once viewed by analysts as a $3 billion opportunity t

Plus: Flirting with 5% | Monday, September 14, 2026 Axios Closer By Nathan Bomey · Sep 14, 2026 Monday ✅. Today's newsletter is 764 words, a 3-minute read. 📉 The dashboard: The S&P 500 closed down 0.5%. 🥶 Today's stock spotlight: Bank of America (-5.1%) CEO Brian Moynihan sparked a sell-off in bank stocks today by saying BofA's Q3 sales and trading revenue will be relatively flat compared to a year ago. 1 big thing: Nothing to see here Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios Equity investors largely yawned today at warnings about AI wiping out humanity , suggesting traders aren't pricing in an existential threat. 🤷 While chipmakers fell , the Nasdaq — which is full of AI stocks — pared heavier losses and closed Monday down only 0.6%. The S&P 500 posted a 0.5% decline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly. 🏛️ Zoom in: The fact that President Trump rejected the prospect of a regulatory slowdown might've been all Wall Street wanted to hear. He said Monday that fears of "AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX," arguing that the U.S. needs to beat China on AI. 🇨🇳 A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson also rejected calls for a coordinated slowdown, disparaging the apocalyptic narrative and saying AI should be open and beneficial to all. 🗣️ What they're saying: Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster said on X that "there's no way these companies are going to measurably back off," citing competitive pressures both with each other and between the U.S. and China. Other traders are betting that the benefits of AI will outstrip the risk of economic destruction. Between the lines: While AI leaders like Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman are sounding the alarm, it's Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's much rosier narrative that's prevailing on Wall Street — at least for now. The bottom line: This wouldn't be the first time Wall Street had its head in the sand — but it also wouldn't be the first time that investors accurately ascertained reality. Go deeper 2. Flirting with 5% Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios The all-important 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 5% today, its highest mark since fall 2023, Axios' Pete Gannon writes . 💵 Why it matters: It's a crucial benchmark rate for both businesses and consumers, influencing everything from mortgages to corporate bonds to auto loans. Driving the news: The 10-year was around 4.96% late this afternoon, after hitting 5.01% earlier in the day. You wouldn't have far to go to surpass 5.02% — a level it hasn't closed above since July 2007, on the eve of the Global Financial Crisis. 🏷️ Between the lines: Yields are rising for a number of reasons, among them resurgent inflation fueled in large part by soaring oil prices. 🛢️ Brent crude traded at one point today at over $109 a barrel before settling to just over $106 — still up 1.5% on the day. The bottom line: Besides its impact on the real economy, the return of 5% yields could make life increasingly uncomfortable for a stock market trading at hefty valuations. 3. Other happenings Photo: Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images 💸 Anthropic is still likely to go public in 2026, even as AI safety rockets into the zeitgeist. ( Axios ) 👉 Novo Nordisk will go by "Novo" for its global branding. The GLP-1 drug giant is following in the footsteps of past drug companies that have pared down their names, including modern-day GSK (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) and Sanofi (formerly Sanofi-Aventis). ( Fierce Pharma ) ⚠️ Microsoft is putting limits on its AI development, adopting a policy aimed at preventing systems from becoming too powerful for humans to control. ( Axios ) A MESSAGE FROM AXIOS Everything you need to simplify "Simplify," a new book by the co-founders of Axios, is a step-by-step playbook for spending your time on what makes you perform and feel your best. The takeaway: Learn the Confront, Delete, Amplify framework used by the world's most effective leaders to cut complexity and reclaim focus. Pre-order now. 4. 🏀 Ballmer takes his medicine Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer before a game in February. Photo: Wally Skalij/Getty Images. "We have communicated to the NBA that we are complying with the penalties assessed by the league, have paid the fine, and are moving forward. While there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus. Team owners should support, not distract." — Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement on X on his decision to accept the NBA's punishment over the team's alleged end-around the salary cap to compensate superstar Kawhi Leonard. Ballmer is banned from the team's facilities for a year, while the team must pay a $30 million fine and relinquish five first-round draft picks. A MESSAGE FROM AXIOS Ready to simplify? "Simplify: Do 50% more with 50% less" is a toolkit for work in the AI era, from the authors of "Smart Brevity." It's built on a three-step framework: Confront the complexity. Delete what's draining energy. Amplify what works best. Pre-order now. 🗓️ On this day in 1752, everyone living in the British Empire woke up 12 days after going to bed. The empire was officially adopting the Gregorian calendar, which made it necessary to skip forward from Sept. 2. To prevent chaos, the Parliamentary act putting the change in place mandated that crucial contractual dates — including for rents, salaries and labor contracts — be pushed forward 11 days to account for the dates that were skipped. Today's newsletter was edited by Pete Gannon and copy edited by Sheryl Miller. Did a friend forward this to you? to get Axios Closer in your inbox. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Axios Pro Deals helps you get smarter and faster on the deals, opportunities, and investments that matter most. Get started today . Follow Axios across:

Even the Walkman used to seem scary Byron Gilliam “One of such Persons, while any Locomotive is in Motion, shall precede such Locomotive on Foot by not less than Sixty Yards, and shall carry a Red Flag constantly displayed.” — 1865 Locomotives Act A short history of technology freakouts Panic over new technologies goes at least far back to Ancient Greece, when Socrates sounded the alarm over an increasingly popular one: writing. It will introduce forgetfulness into the soul of those who learn it: they will not practice using their memory because they will put their trust in writing, which is external and depends on signs that belong to others, instead of trying to remember from the inside, completely on their own. As related in Plato’s Dialogues , Socrates warned his fellow teachers that writing was ruining a generation of students. You provide your students with the appearance of wisdom, not with its reality. Your invention will enable them to hear many things without being properly taught, and they will imagine that they have come to know much, while for the most part they will know nothing. And they will be difficult to get along with, since they will merely appear to be wise instead of really being so. His warning went unheeded, of course. To this day, the written word continues to make people difficult to get along with. (I speak from experience.) The printed word was even scarier. "The art of printing can be of great service in so far as it furthers the circulation of useful & tested books,” Pope Alexander VI wrote in his papal bull of 1501, “but it can bring about serious evils.” His solution might sound familiar: “It will, therefore, be necessary to maintain full control over the printers.” The Church was worried about books spreading dangerous ideas. Three hundred years later, there was a panic over books spreading frivolous ones. “Novels have been long and frequently regarded not as being merely useless to society, but even as pernicious, from the very indifferent morality, and ridiculous way of thinking, which they almost generally inculcate,” a 1789 letter printed by The Gentleman’s Magazine read. The writer suggested countering the pernicious effects of novels with a sin tax — which no “industrious” person would ever have to pay, he reasoned. The next great wave of technology panic arrived with machines in the 19th century. In Britain, for example, Parliament responded to popular concerns over dangers posed by steam-powered automobiles with t he Locomotives Act of 1865 : “At least Three Persons shall be employed to drive or conduct such Locomotive,” it stipulated — one of whom would walk 60 feet ahead, keeping a red flag “constantly displayed.” In 1878 , the law was revised, in part because the red flags were frightening horses. The person walking in front was assigned to walk alongside instead, without a flag. (Keeping up should not have been a problem. The law also imposed a maximum speed of four miles per hour in the countryside and two in towns.) That same year, The Daily Graphic devoted a front page to the “awful possibilities of the new speaking phonograph.” Sketches helpfully depicted 10 of these possibilities, including thieves tricking elderly millionaires into recording an amendment to their wills, men using opera recordings to lure women out of their homes, and wives pranking their sleeping husbands with a record that shouted “POLICE! FIRE!” Some wanted the government to intervene in the phonograph business. “If the inventor should let it fall into reckless hands we may see special sessions of State Legislatures called this summer to put down what might easily become an intolerable nuisance,” a South Carolina newspaper opined . In the 1920s, it was the radio, which critics blamed for a long list of societal maladies — including dead birds, broken windows, exploding dirigibles, and the blind losing jobs. Some critics blamed the radio for excessive rain. Others blamed it for drought. The panic around machines taking jobs from humans started around that time, as well — and never stopped. The headline from a 1961 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald could have run at any point over the past century: To run the headline today , you’d only have to remove the “un” from “unskilled.” By the 1980s, even a portable cassette player could seem threatening. “People may be using [the] Walkman to blot out unpleasant thoughts about life and work,” syndicated journalist Rich Scheinin warned . “Or, in the case of shy people, to turn inward so basic social skills needn’t be learned.” Another journalist went so far as to call it the very worst thing happening in 1981. “Of all the saddening signs of a troubled society,” Bob Greene wrote for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram , “I saw perhaps the most chilling of all the other afternoon. There, on the midway of the Ohio State Fair, strolled teenagers wearing Sony Walkman earphones.” The backlash against the Walkman included local legislation against crossing the street while wearing headphones. In 2005, the French government warned that crossing into an air-conditioned room could be even more dangerous: "It is necessary to dress people more warmly before they enter a cooled room in order to avoid thermal shock and the health consequences that could result from it." The threat of a choc thermique is why air conditioning remains strictly regulated in France. (Americans seem strangely shock-resistant.) There are many more examples. “Virtually all new technologies trigger what sociologists would call moral panics,” technology researcher Evgeny Morozov says . “This has been true throughout the ages.” Today, we may be experiencing a technology panic for the ages. “We Must Pace the Frontier,” Anthropic’s Dario Amodei said this weekend. Amodei warns that language models like Anthropic’s Claude will soon be powerful enough to break free from human control and take over the entire internet. Or be misused by humans in cyberattacks or bioterrorism. Or de

News built for IT professionals. Powered By Thanks for being a member of the Brew community! Since you indicated that you work in IT, we wanted to introduce you to the Brew built just for you— IT Brew . IT Brew delivers essential industry news and insights straight to your inbox 4 times a week! Covering everything from cybersecurity and big data to software development & gaming, you'll get the info you need to make decisions that better your business. Interested in checking it out? Just click below. Show me IT Brew! Check out the latest updates: How to retain your top IT talent Workplace flexibility, opportunities for growth, and psychological safety are some of the things that will keep employees at companies for longer. Read More How to test IT job candidates in the era of AI Live coding assessments, paid trials, and code pairing sessions. These are just a few alternatives to take-home IT assessments that companies are leveraging in the AI era. Read More AI jobs drove August numbers A stronger-than-expected jobs market in August didn’t translate into an employment boom for the tech sector, but the news is a little more complicated than simply “good” or “bad,” with AI continuing to impact the industry’s dynamics. According to a CompTIA analysis of Bureau of Labor and Statistics data, companies across all industry sectors added 86,000 tech jobs in August, even as tech companies reduced headcount by 14,700 positions. Read More P.S. Read the latest IT Brew newsletter here . IT Brew Events Take your lunch break to the next level with an IT Brew virtual event! See All Events