Unusual Whales

Fed chair Jerome Powell signals interest rate cut for September

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday acknowledged the dual risks of a weakening job market and stubborn inflation, while suggesting the central bank may soon move toward lowering interest rates. His remarks came in a closely watched speech at the annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming economic symposium. “Risks to inflation

OnlyFans founder Leonid Radvinsky was just paid over $700 million in dividends

OnlyFans founder Leonid Radvinsky collected more than $700 million in dividends in 2024, as the adult content platform considers a potential sale. The Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, 43, received the payout through Fenix International Ltd., the London-based parent company, according to financial filings released Friday for the year ending November 30. OnlyFans

Trump has announced the United States will be taking a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel, INTC

Donald Trump announced Friday that he had reached an agreement with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan under which the chipmaker would provide the U.S. government with a $10 billion equity stake — a deal Trump described as a model he intends to pursue with other companies. “I said, I think you

Trump said today that Chicago and New York City will be his next targets to decrease crime rates with possible "regular military" following Washington

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to deploy active-duty military forces into Chicago, saying the city was plagued by runaway crime under its Democratic leadership. In remarks to reporters from the Oval Office, Trump pointed to Washington, D.C., where he said crime had improved since he asserted control of

The Trump DOJ just released the transcripts and audio of their interview with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell

Maxwell InterviewU.S. Department of Justice seal The Trump DOJ just RELEASED the transcripts and audio of their interview with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. See it above.

Trump’s $500 million civil fraud penalty has been tossed by a New York appeals court

An appeals court on Thursday overturned a roughly $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his family business, delivering a major legal win for the former president in a case he consistently labeled a political stunt by New York Attorney General Tish James. The court, however, left

Used-car prices are rising faster than overall inflation after crossing the $30,000-mark again early this year

The main driver of today’s elevated used car prices is tight supply. Edmunds reported that the average trade-in vehicle in the first quarter of 2025 was 7.6 years old — the oldest since 2019. That means fewer late-model trade-ins and lease returns are reaching the used market, shrinking the

Fed’s Bullard: rates are high right now, can cut 100 bps into 2026

Former Federal Reserve official James Bullard voiced confidence in the U.S. economy Thursday, pointing to deregulation as a supportive force. In an interview with Fox Business, Bullard said he has discussed the Fed Chair role with Scott Bessent and plans to sit down with him after Labor Day. Bullard

Donald Trump weaponized U.S. tariffs to protect corporate allies, pressure foreign governments, and advance political goals far outside trade policy

Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal that the Trump administration leveraged tariff negotiations to pursue political and strategic objectives far beyond trade policy — including threatening India with a 50% import tax unless it cut off Russian oil purchases. Officials described the files as “shocking” in scope, showing how

US general office construction is on pace to be overtaken by new data centers in coming months

The U.S. commercial real estate market is undergoing a major shift as demand moves away from traditional office buildings and toward data centers, fueled by the rapid expansion of AI and the massive computing power it requires. By June, Census Bureau data showed spending on data centers had topped

Americans set to pay more for cars, coffee and clothing as average U.S. tariff rate jumps to high not seen since Great Depression

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff package took effect in August, imposing a baseline 10% duty on most U.S. imports and lifting the effective average tariff rate above 17% — the highest since 1935, according to Yale’s Budget Lab. The levies hit a broad range of goods, from European

Japanese automakers have begun passing the costs of U.S. tariffs onto American consumers

Toyota raised U.S. prices in July by roughly $270 per vehicle, while Subaru — which derives about 70% of its global sales from the American market — lifted prices on certain models a month earlier. Subaru estimates the tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump’s administration will cut its 2026 earnings

Fitch Ratings: U.S. consumer spending is slowing sharply, pressured by a weakening labor market and rising inflation from tariffs

U.S. consumer spending slowed sharply in the first half of 2025, retreating from the strong momentum of late 2024, according to Fitch Ratings’ latest U.S. Consumer Health Monitor. Weaker sentiment and confidence, driven by heightened trade policy uncertainty and volatile equity markets, weighed on household demand, while a

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said European proposals to deploy troops in Ukraine after a settlement would amount to “foreign intervention"

Moscow threw Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace plan into turmoil on Thursday, declaring it must have a veto over any postwar aid to Kyiv, even as Russian forces unleashed a massive overnight missile assault. Delivering a series of uncompromising statements, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned that European ideas

Student loan delinquency rates have hit a record high at 12.9%, the highest in 21 years

Delinquencies on student loans are climbing sharply now that years of pandemic-era protections have expired. In the second quarter of 2025, 10.2% of student debt was more than 90 days overdue, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Even more striking, 12.9% of loans entered serious

Trump: "We won't approve wind or farmer destroying solar projects"

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will no longer approve wind and solar projects that take farmland out of production, arguing they drive up electricity costs. His comments, posted on Truth Social, came a day after the Department of Agriculture announced it was ending programs that provide federal support

Israel has begun first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City

The Israeli military says it has launched the first phase of a planned ground operation aimed at capturing and occupying all of Gaza City, claiming its forces already control the city’s outskirts. According to a military spokesperson, troops are operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to prepare the

Sony hikes PlayStation 5 prices in US due to tariffs

Sony announced Wednesday that it will raise prices on its PlayStation 5 consoles starting Thursday, August 21. The company cited “a challenging economic environment,” a phrase widely seen as a reference to President Trump’s tariffs on imported goods. In the U.S., the PlayStation 5 will now cost $549.

US housing affordability hits record low

ising prices have made it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to enter the market almost everywhere, pushing many millennials to delay purchasing a home. Even with a recent dip in mortgage rates, record-high prices and limited inventory have left affordability out of reach for many. “This is holding back first-time

Fed will begin cutting interest rates in September as the labor market weakens and inflation presents less risk

Following July’s relatively positive inflation report, expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September have surged. As of Aug. 18, CME Group’s FedWatch tool put the probability at about 83%, up sharply from 59% just a month earlier. Market sentiment has shifted quickly. President Donald Trump has

Trump has said that Fed Governor Lisa Cook must resign after a report tied her to possible mortgage fraud

On Wednesday, President Trump called for Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to step down after one of his administration officials accused her of mortgage fraud and pressed for an investigation. The allegations came from Bill Pulte, whom Trump appointed in March as director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance

Young adults' personalities are changing, with conscientiousness in freefall

Recent research points to a possible shift in the personalities of young adults, with conscientiousness—the trait linked to responsibility, organization, and goal-directed behavior—showing a troubling decline. Data from the Understanding America Study highlights this trend, suggesting a broader cultural change that could influence both the workplace and society

FDA warns public not to eat possibly radioactive shrimp sold at Walmart

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising the public not to eat, sell, or serve certain Great Value raw frozen shrimp sold at Walmart due to potential contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope. According to an FDA press release on Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detected possible

17% of teachers work a second job

A large share of U.S. public school teachers say they’re unhappy with their pay—and that may help explain why so many pick up a second job, not just during summer break but throughout the school year. In 2020–21, the most recent year of available data, 16%

Americans get 55% of their calories from ultra-processed foods

A new federal analysis shows that the bulk of the American diet comes from ultra-processed foods—those calorie-packed products loaded with sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of the nation’s daily calories now come from these