50% tariffs on Canada kick in as a packed week begins

A new week begins, and it is the busiest of August. Nvidia reports on Wednesday, and on Friday Fed Chair Warsh gives his first Jackson Hole speech since taking the job. The PCE inflation gauge the Fed watches most closely lands the same week, so it is no exaggeration to say the direction for September gets set now.

Trade news also arrived over the weekend. After talks between the US and Canada collapsed on Friday night, 50% tariffs took effect on about 20 billion dollars of Canadian goods. Separately, President Trump, aiming to tame beef prices, will let 300,000 metric tons of ground beef in tariff-free for 90 days, and ranchers and some Republican senators are pushing back. Observers expect that if a deal with Canada comes, Mexico will ask for similar treatment.

On Friday the Dow bounced nearly 500 points, but for the week the S&P 500 fell 1.4%, ending a three-week winning streak. It remains within 2% of its high, so dip buyers are still around. Meanwhile a weaker dollar helped bitcoin gain 24% in a week, and gold and oil rose too, a sign of money moving from financial assets into hard assets.

The effect of the Treasury's bond-market intervention did not last a day, and experts say the ball is now in the Fed's court. That means a single remark from Warsh on Friday could move markets sharply. In Hong Kong, fast-fashion firm Shein is on the verge of listing after four years of trying.