Finance Evening | August 20, 2026 U.S. Debt Tops $40 Trillion, Treasury Buybacks May Exceed $4 Billion

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U.S. National Debt Tops $40 Trillion for First Time, Annual Interest Exceeds $1 Trillion

Source: NPR

The U.S. federal debt topped $40 trillion for the first time this week, according to Treasury Department figures. At that record level of red ink, the annual interest on the accumulated debt now exceeds $1 trillion, making it the government's second-biggest expense behind only Social Security. The debt has doubled in size since 2017.

Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, noted that heavy government borrowing pushes up Treasury yields, which in turn raises rates on everything from mortgages to car loans to credit cards. He warned that the rate on 30-year home loans has climbed to near 6.7%. "Forty trillion dollars should be a wake-up call," said Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a deficit watchdog group. "Both parties helped bring us here, and both parties now have a responsibility to change course."

The Treasury has taken steps to limit the rise in long-term bond yields. Yields fell on Wednesday after Secretary Bessent announced an expanded buyback program, but the effect was short-lived, with 10- and 30-year yields rebounding on Thursday. Ultimately, Congress will have to raise taxes, cut spending, or — most likely — do both.

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Bessent: Treasury Buyback Operation Could Be More Than $4 Billion

Source: CNBC

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that the accelerated debt buyback program announced Wednesday could be larger than the $4 billion upper limit. Bessent said his department is going to "make a market" in longer-dated securities where yields have been surging, and that current yield levels don't reflect underlying fundamentals, calling liquidity in the 30-year bond "very poor."

The Treasury announced Wednesday it would at least double its scheduled $2 billion in buybacks of longer-dated government debt, sending yields sharply lower. After Bessent's remarks on Thursday, yields briefly eased before turning higher again. The 30-year bond was recently trading around 5.235%, levels not seen since before the global financial crisis in 2008, while the 10-year yield was up about 5 basis points to 4.704%.

Bessent also said he will be meeting with Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, to discuss "fiscal consolidation." On the national debt crossing $40 trillion this week, he said "there's nothing magic about the 40 trillion number, and we can grow our way out of that," adding that "global growth is the way to take care of this mountain of debt."

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Walmart Beats Estimates but Shares Fall 9% on Slowest Same-Store Sales Growth in Six Years

Source: Yahoo Finance

Walmart raised its full-year financial outlook after beating Wall Street estimates on both the top and bottom lines, but the stock fell 9% after U.S. same-store sales slowed. America's biggest retailer posted revenue growth of nearly 6% to $187.9 billion, above the roughly $186 billion expected, while adjusted earnings per share of $0.81 topped the $0.74 expected.

However, U.S. same-store sales grew 2.6%, below Wall Street's forecast of 3.7% — the slowest pace since Q4 2020. Excluding health and wellness, which was negatively impacted by maximum fair price legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, Walmart reported 3.4% same-store sales growth in core merchandise. CFO John David Rainey told investors that when fuel prices rose above $4, "there are choices that consumers are making," with June showing customers making trade-offs.

During the quarter, Walmart cut prices on thousands of items, including beef, chips, and soda, to gain share with cost-conscious consumers. E-commerce sales were up 23%, with a 24% increase in the U.S. alone. Operating income grew roughly 21% year over year. The company said it could receive about $2.9 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds — roughly 0.5% of its U.S. annual sales — and has received substantially all of them, investing the funds into price leadership. For fiscal 2027, Walmart forecast revenue growth of 4%-5% and adjusted earnings of $2.80-$2.87, guidance that was conservative versus Wall Street's expectations.

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Anthropic Expects to Match or Top SpaceX's Record IPO Size

Source: Bloomberg

Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX's record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as preparations for the AI firm's debut pick up speed. The Claude developer is running the numbers as it prepares to file publicly for its potential mega-IPO as soon as the end of this month. SpaceX raised $75 billion at the outset — the biggest first-time share sale ever — with the final figure rising to $86.2 billion including the overallotment option.

The five-year-old company raised $65 billion in May at a $965 billion valuation, surpassing rival OpenAI's valuation of $852 billion in March. Though Anthropic saw positive adjusted operating income for Q2, it had a net loss of almost $42 billion in 2025, roughly a five-fold increase from about $8.3 billion the year before. The company saw preliminary Q2 revenue of more than $11.5 billion, compared to $787 million in the same period in 2025, with its run rate hitting $65 billion by the end of July.

Anthropic is working with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase on the IPO, and is considering super-voting shares that would give CEO Dario Amodei, who owns about a 2% stake, and his co-founders greater control. Anthropic is on track to debut ahead of OpenAI, which is now looking at a listing in 2027. A first-time share sale topping SpaceX would easily power 2026 to become the best year on record for U.S. IPO volume — newly listed companies have already raised $160.6 billion through August 19.

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Charter Closes $34.5 Billion Cox Deal in Cable Megamerger

Source: Variety

Charter Communications, already the No. 1 cable operator in the U.S., closed its acquisition of Cox Communications on Thursday, creating a cable giant with operations in 45 states serving roughly 37 million customers. The deal, valued at $34.5 billion, was announced in May 2025, and came after the California Public Utility Commission last week voted to approve the transaction — the final federal and state regulatory approval required.

Within a year, the merged company will change its parent company name to Cox Communications, but it will operate its services as Spectrum across all markets. The company will remain headquartered in Stamford, Conn., while keeping a "significant presence" in the Atlanta area. Charter said it is offering one free year of mobile service to Cox internet customers who don't already subscribe to Cox Mobile, and in mid-September Spectrum plans to launch its entire suite of products in former Cox markets.

With the deal, John Malone's Liberty Broadband ceased to be a direct shareholder in Charter, and Cox Enterprises now owns approximately 26% of Charter, making it the largest single shareholder. Chris Winfrey, Charter president and CEO, will continue to lead the combined company, while Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, has been appointed chairman of the newly merged company. In 2016, Charter massively expanded through its $67.1 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

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U.S. Jobless Claims Drop to 206,000 as Layoffs Stay Sparse

Source: AP News

Fewer people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, another sign that layoffs remain low and that most Americans enjoy job security. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped to 206,000 last week from a revised 212,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims ticked up to 204,000 from 199,750. For the past year, claims have been in a historically low range of around 200,000 to 230,000 a week.

The U.S. unemployment rate is low at 4.1%, partly because the economy has proven resilient in the face of higher energy prices caused by the war with Iran, and also because President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and the ongoing retirement of Baby Boomers mean fewer people are competing for jobs — more than 1.3 million people have dropped out of the U.S. labor force over the past year.

The job market remains tough for those looking for their first job and those re-entering the workforce. Companies, remembering the worker shortages that followed COVID-19 lockdowns, are still reluctant to let go of staff but aren't eager to hire either — economists call it a "no hire, no fire" job market. In July, companies, government agencies and nonprofits cut 23,000 jobs. So far this year, employers are adding 61,000 jobs a month, an improvement on the 9,700 they averaged last year — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002.

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Micron Plans $10 Billion Research Campus in Boise

Source: BoiseDev

Boise-based Micron Technology announced Thursday it plans to invest $10 billion over the next decade to launch a new long-horizon research institution in its home city. The company said Micron Research Labs will be headquartered in Boise and will bring together customers, academia, government and the broader semiconductor ecosystem to tackle some of the most challenging technology questions facing the AI era — the first dedicated memory research hub of its kind in the United States.

"The decisions we make today will determine who leads the AI economy of tomorrow, and America's AI future will be built on American-made memory," said Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron's chairman, president and CEO. The company said the lab will focus on foundational research rather than near-term product development, examining technologies more than 10 years into the future while helping train the next generation of memory researchers and technology leaders.

Micron expects to break ground in 2027 on a state-of-the-art facility in Boise near its current campus, designed to accommodate hundreds of researchers and serve as a gathering place for research conferences, workshops and innovation forums. Micron believes advances in memory technology can make AI systems more powerful, scalable and sustainable, while expanding access to intelligent technologies across industries such as agriculture, healthcare and education. Micron shares rose about 4% on Thursday to close at about $974 following the announcement.

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Crypto Shares Climb as Bitcoin Returns Above $70,000

Source: Reuters

Cryptocurrency-related stocks surged on Thursday, a day after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would support more long-duration bonds, boosting risk assets, and as President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass legislation establishing clear rules for digital assets. The Treasury's move to double buyback sizes for long-duration debt came after a major bond selloff pushed the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2007.

Analysts said the Treasury's intervention was relatively small and offered only short-lived relief for bonds, but it nevertheless provided a positive signal for crypto. "The rally (in crypto) was then fueled by a wave of short-covering, following weeks of extremely narrow trading," said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at brokerage FxPro.

Bitcoin was last up 3.48% at $71,505, having crossed the $70,000 mark for the first time since June. Ether gained 2.46% to $2,272, its highest level in over three months. Among stocks, Coinbase Global gained 6.05%, bitcoin bull Strategy rose 4%, miner Canaan surged 10.37%, stablecoin issuer Circle gained 3.8% and Robinhood advanced 0.42%. Trump on Wednesday called on lawmakers at a White House event with crypto executives to pass a "fair version of the Clarity Act," currently stalled in the Senate. The bill, if enacted, would define whether cryptocurrency qualifies as a security or a commodity, clarifying jurisdiction between the SEC and the CFTC.

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U.S. Mortgage Rates Fall for Second Consecutive Week

Source: Fox Business

Mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.65% from last week's reading of 6.67%, while the rate was 6.58% a year ago. The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 5.95% from 5.96% last week. "With a dip in rates providing modest relief for homebuyers, it's important to remember borrowers can potentially save thousands by shopping around for the best mortgage rate," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

Mortgage rates are affected by several factors, including the Federal Reserve and geopolitics. Though not directly affected by the Fed's rate decisions, they closely track the 10-year Treasury yield, which hovered around 4.7% Thursday afternoon. "Today's print is best understood as the base level from which mortgage rates may push higher next week amid market volatility," said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com. "The 30-year Treasury hit a nearly 20-year high this week... But thankfully for homebuyers, since most mortgages are only around for seven to ten years before borrowers refinance or move, mortgage rates track the 10-year, which has not moved nearly as dramatically this week."

Treasury yields have been elevated recently, in part due to the growth in debt, with the federal government projected to run a roughly $2.1 trillion budget deficit this fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Two recent Treasury auctions drew attention: the 10-year note sale cleared at a high of 4.683%, the highest in 19 years, while the 30-year bond auction stopped at 5.216%, a 25-year peak.

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China Sentences Evergrande Founder to Life in Prison

Source: The New York Times

A court in China sentenced Evergrande founder and former chairman Hui Ka Yan to life in prison on Thursday for financial crimes linked to the property developer's operations, years after the real estate giant's collapse brought China's financial system turmoil. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court also ordered his assets to be confiscated. According to The New York Times, Hui pleaded guilty in April to charges including fundraising fraud, misuse of funds and securities-related offences. The court said Hui and Evergrande committed financial crimes between 2016 and 2021, and fined Evergrande Group and Evergrande Real Estate Group a combined 15.82 billion yuan, about $2.35 billion.

Hui founded Evergrande in Guangzhou in 1996 as China's property market expanded. The company became one of China's largest developers and expanded into football and electric vehicles, relying heavily on borrowing. It accumulated more than $300 billion in liabilities before defaulting in 2021. A Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande into liquidation in January 2024 after the company failed to present an acceptable restructuring plan. Evergrande's collapse became part of China's wider property-sector crisis, exposing the risks of a property model based on high borrowing and continued growth in housing demand.

The Shenzhen court also sentenced 56 other people in the case, including two of Hui's sons, with prison terms ranging from 22 months to 18 years.

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