Stories from Saturday, October 24, 2026

• White House tariff desk takes back Canada's plywood, issues store credit in carpets

  A senator returned some Canadian goods for a home-state win. Within the hour, the clerk had swapped in valves, carpets and waste products.

  Exclusive · Oct 24, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT · Connor O'Brien

• Gold didn't break as a haven. It got sold for cash as hike bets rose

  Gold fell below $4,000 as markets priced a 78% chance of a December hike and margin calls hit. In my view that's gold working as cash, and the real story is the Fed's bind.

  Opinion · Oct 24, 2026, 12:45 PM EDT · Connor O'Brien

• Family health coverage through work now costs $28,303 a year, and what workers pay is rising faster

  KFF's annual survey shows the average employer family premium rose 5% in 2026, while workers' $7,471 contribution rose 9%, faster than wages or inflation.

  Macro · Oct 24, 2026, 7:05 AM EDT · James Mitchell

• Trump swaps some Canadian goods off his 50% tariff list and puts carpets and valves on

  A new proclamation removes some Canadian products from the 50% tariff list and adds others, effective Oct. 30. Sen. Susan Collins announced the exemptions first.

  Politics · Oct 24, 2026, 6:55 AM EDT · James Mitchell

• Gold falls below $4,000 for the first time since July as oil fuels Fed hike bets

  Rising oil prices lifted Fed rate-hike bets and a tech sell-off pushed investors to sell gold to cover losses, leaving the traditional haven on track for its worst week since June.

  Macro · Oct 24, 2026, 6:45 AM EDT · James Mitchell

• JetBlue's senior creditors are working with a restructuring adviser, the WSJ reports

  The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg say lenders have lined up advisers ahead of JetBlue's third-quarter results. JetBlue says it remains confident in its JetForward plan.

  Equities · Oct 24, 2026, 6:35 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• GM just had its worst week in nearly three years, by Bloomberg's count, and the analysts it tracks still aren't saying sell

  GM's stock slid amid concerns about a narrower 2026 outlook and rising commodity costs, despite a quarterly beat and a new $20 billion buyback authorization.

  Equities · Oct 24, 2026, 6:20 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Franklin Templeton puts $150 million of fund shares on the XRP Ledger, all in one wallet

  Two $75 million cash subscriptions were followed by two batches of just over 72,184,793 sgBENJI shares, all sent to one wallet. Whether it holds one investor's money or many is unclear.

  Crypto · Oct 24, 2026, 6:10 AM EDT · Jennifer Walsh

• Apple briefly passed Nvidia as the world's most valuable publicly traded company on iPhone Duo launch day

  It's the fifth time Apple has retaken the top spot, by Yahoo Finance's count. Nvidia moved back ahead later in the day.

  Equities · Oct 24, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT · Marcus Rodriguez

• Global credit spreads hit a 17-month high as AI borrowing fears spread to bonds

  A Bloomberg index of global corporate bond spreads hit its widest since May 2025. This week Meta disclosed about $825 billion in commitments and a forecast need to raise hundreds of billions of dollars.

  Macro · Oct 24, 2026, 1:55 AM EDT · James Mitchell

• The credit market just got a vote on AI, and Meta handed shareholders the bill

  Opinion: Meta's free cash flow turned negative and its default swaps hit a record. Its funding plan, a non-voting share class it says helps avoid debt, shows who now gets a say in AI spending.

  Opinion · Oct 24, 2026, 12:15 AM EDT · Connor O'Brien

• Same $1 billion completes another lap of the billionaire carousel

  Elon Musk reportedly put about $1 billion into the Ellisons' Skydance. Larry Ellison once put $1 billion into Musk's Twitter deal. A top hat is keeping count.

  Exclusive · Oct 24, 2026, 12:05 AM EDT · Connor O'Brien