MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks fell as private-credit worries resurfaced, weighing on the financial sector.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields fell as traders shrank from risks of war in the Middle East and stress in private-credit markets.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar ticked down against rivals as geopolitical fears offset surprisingly strong wholesale inflation.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures rose after another round of talks between the U.S. and Iran ended without a deal. Gold futures rose, adding 11% for the month of February, amid safe-haven demand.
HEADLINES
Bank Stocks Suffer Another Plunge on Credit and AI Fears
A chorus of concerns about AI and risky lending has bank investors spooked.
Shares in big lenders and investment banks sold off sharply Friday after new credit issues emerged and fears of broader economic implications from artificial intelligence weighed on investors.
Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all closed down more than 4%, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both fell over 6%. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, lost 2%.
Wholesale Prices Accelerated in January, PPI Data Show
Monthly wholesale inflation unexpectedly sped up in January, the Labor Department said Friday.
The producer-price index increased by 0.5% last month, after rising by 0.4% in December. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a 0.3% increase.
Over the 12 months through January, wholesale prices were up 2.9%.
Trump Will End Government Use of Anthropic's AI Models
The federal government will stop working with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, President Trump said, a dramatic escalation of the government's clash with the company over its AI models.
"I am directing every federal agency in the United States government to immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology. We don't need it, we don't want it and will not do business with them again!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Department of Defense and other agencies using Anthropic's Claude models will have a six-month phaseout period, he said, adding that there would be civil and criminal consequences if the company isn't helpful during the transition.
OpenAI Raises $110 Billion as It Races Toward IPO
OpenAI has secured commitments totaling $110 billion in new funding, the company said.
The deal, which values the company at $730 billion before the investment, shows investor appetite for the ChatGPT developer remains strong ahead of an expected initial public offering later this year and reasserts OpenAI's position in an increasingly competitive market.
The financing includes a $30 billion investment from SoftBank and a $50 billion commitment from Amazon.com.
Government Agencies Raise Alarm About Use of Elon Musk's Grok Chatbot
Officials at multiple federal agencies have raised concerns about the safety and reliability of Elon Musk's xAI artificial-intelligence tools in recent months, highlighting continuing disagreements within the U.S. government about which AI models to deploy, according to people familiar with the matter.
The warnings preceded the Pentagon's decision this week to put xAI at the center of some of the nation's most sensitive and secretive operations by agreeing to allow its chatbot Grok to be used in classified settings.
The Pentagon has given one of xAI's rivals, Anthropic, a Friday deadline to agree to looser rules on its use by the U.S. military. Anthropic was the only developer approved for classified use before the deal between xAI and the military.
How Jack Dorsey Explained Cutting Almost Half of Block's Staff
Jack Dorsey isn't wasting any time. The chairman and co-founder of Block is cutting 40% of the payments company's workforce, or more than 4,000 employees, betting artificial-intelligence tools can fill the gap.
Here's how he explained the decision.
Target to Remove Artificial Dyes From Cereal Aisle
Target said it will only carry cereals made without certified synthetic colors at its stores, citing sales data and customer research showing a shift toward foods made without artificial additives.
The retailer said Friday it has worked closely with national brands and owned-brand partners to reformulate products where necessary. It plans to implement the change by the end of May.
The shift comes as food makers face renewed scrutiny over additives. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pushed to strip artificial food dyes from Americans' diets as part of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" movement, which argues synthetic colors and other ingredients contribute to chronic health problems.
Lululemon Founder Intensifies Board Battle, Cites Weak Governance, Strategic Drift
Lululemon athletica's founder, Chip Wilson, intensified his campaign against the athletic-ware company, accusing the board of weak governance and slow engagement as he continues to push for sweeping changes.
In a letter to shareholders on Friday, the former chairman of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company and its largest shareholder said that months of private outreach have gone nowhere. He said the board had been slow to engage with his proposals and lacked the brand and creative expertise he believes are essential to restoring lululemon's long-term momentum.
Lululemon in response said it had engaged with Wilson in good faith over the past few months, including a number of meetings. It said it disagreed with Wilson's characterization of the interactions he has had with the company's board.
Trump Media in Talks to Spin Off Truth Social
President Trump's media company said it is in discussions to spin off businesses, including social-media platform Truth Social, into a new publicly traded company following the close of its previously announced merger with TAE Technologies.
In a potential transaction, shares of the newly formed company would be distributed to Trump Media & Technology shareholders of record before the closing of the TAE merger, the companies said Friday.
The newly formed company would then merge with Texas Ventures Acquisition III, a special-purpose acquisition company.
TALKING POINT The Amount Brokers Can Spend on Gifts to Vendors, Institutional Clients Is About to Triple
In an industry where tens of thousands of dollars can be chalked up as a rounding error, $200 doesn't seem like much to get worked up about. But that number represents a tripling of the limit on gifts that brokers can give their institutional clients or professional associates, and it will soon be a reality.
Finra, the brokerage industry's self-regulatory organization, is increasing the gift limit for brokers from $100 to $300. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees Finra, approved the proposal earlier this month. On Friday, Finra said the rule will take effect on March 30.
Finra has argued that the update makes sense to keep pace with inflation. The $100 threshold has stood for more than three decades, with various proposals to increase the cap stalling over the years.
The first version of the proposed rule change was posted in the Federal Register on June 17, opening a period of public comment. In that version, the new proposed gift cap was $250.
Commenters were supportive of the increase, but some said it didn't go far enough. Robinhood and the Financial Services Institute, a trade group representing independent broker-dealers, argued in their comment letters that the new threshold should be $500, both to account for inflation and in acknowledgment that the rule might not be updated again for many years.
FSI noted in its comment letter that a $100 gift in 1992, the last time the gift cap was raised, would have cost more than $220 in 2025, when it submitted its comment letter. The group argued that a blanket increase to $500 would help "mitigate cost-of-living inequities and account for differences in purchasing power across parts of the country."
--Kenneth Corbin, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Monday
00:01/UK: Feb CBI Growth Indicator Survey
00:30/JPN: Feb Japan Manufacturing PMI
05:00/JPN: Feb Auto sales
06:00/RUS: Feb Russian Manufacturing PMI
07:00/GER: Jan Retail Trade
07:00/UK: Feb Nationwide House Price Index
08:45/ITA: Feb Italy Manufacturing PMI
08:50/FRA: Feb France Manufacturing PMI
08:55/GER: Feb Germany Manufacturing PMI
09:00/ITA: Annual GDP yearly data
09:00/ITA: Annual General Government Debt
09:30/UK: Jan Monetary & Financial Statistics
09:30/UK: Jan Money and Credit - Lending to Individuals, Lending to Businesses, Broad Money and Credit
09:30/UK: Jan Bank of England effective interest rates
09:30/UK: Feb S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI
09:30/UK: 4Q Household Finance Review
14:30/CAN: Feb Canada Manufacturing PMI
14:45/US: Feb US Manufacturing PMI
15:00/US: Feb ISM Report On Business Manufacturing PMI
23:30/JPN: Jan Labour Force Survey
23:50/JPN: 4Q Quarterly Financial Statements Statistics of Corporations
23:50/JPN: Feb Monetary Base
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Monday
AAON Inc $(AAON)$ is expected to report $0.43 for 4Q.
ADT Inc $(ADT)$ is expected to report $0.21 for 4Q.
Alamo Group Inc $(ALG)$ is expected to report $2.12 for 4Q.
Ameresco Inc - Class A $(AMRC)$ is expected to report $0.31 for 4Q.
Annexon Inc $(ANNX)$ is expected to report $-0.32 for 4Q.
Apogee Therapeutics Inc (APGE) is expected to report $-0.99 for 4Q.
Archer Aviation Inc (ACHR) is expected to report $-0.24 for 4Q.
ArriVent BioPharma Inc (AVBP) is expected to report $-0.86 for 4Q.
Astrana Health Inc (ASTH) is expected to report $0.11 for 4Q.
Biohaven Ltd $(BHVN)$ is expected to report $-1.19 for 4Q.
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February 27, 2026 16:59 ET (21:59 GMT)
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