FOMC Outlook, Clarity Vote, & Digital Credit | BMTV Sep. 15, 2026

Grace Remington (0:20)

Good morning and welcome into BMTV. I'm Grace Remington alongside Sean Hagan. So excited to be with you on this beautiful Tuesday morning. Well, the thing that we were all waiting for to happen finally did happen. The 10-year yields cracking 5%, but with the FOMC meetings beginning today and then the Kevin Warsh decision coming tomorrow, hey, we could see some more movement.

Sean Hagan (0:41)

We certainly could. I think the market is all eyes on Kevin Warsh to see if he's going to fight the Fed, work with the Fed. You know, are his actions priced in? Is he going to give us a surprise hold?

We'll see. Time will tell.

Grace Remington (0:56)

Lots to talk about today. And we got a jam pack show heading your way. Just a couple of the guests coming up today. John Deaton, pro crypto Senate candidate from Massachusetts, Matt Cole, CEO of Strive Asset Management and Hunter Albright, CRO of SALT Lending. So excited to talk to them. But first let's begin with our headlines. Legendary investor Stanley Drunkenmire, a previous colleague of Scott Bessent believes the US will cut rates or US rate cuts are no longer needed. That's according to the Financial Times. This comes after Drunkenmire's Duquesne Capital Hedge Fund slashed a portion of its AI holdings earlier this month, perhaps signaling a more tempered growth outlook going forward. Well, it's Fed Week and markets are bracing for the central bank to do something it hasn't done since July 2023, raise interest rates. Markets are now pricing in a 92% chance of a 25 basis point hike, a major shift from earlier this year when investors were expecting rate cuts. The bigger question now is what Fed Chair Kevin Warsh says about the central bank's path forward and how he plans to navigate the competing pressures of inflation, growth and high borrowing costs. The US. Department of Justice is seeking to forfeit more than $61 million in cryptocurrency allegedly tied to black market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil. The DOJ says a network of crypto actors in China and elsewhere helped launder more than $1.5 billion in oil proceeds intended for the Iranian government and military. The US. House Committee on Financial Services is set to mark up Congressman Nick Bergich's strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill tomorrow. The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 would cement Trump's previously established Bitcoin Reserve by executive order into law, preventing future administrations from unwinding the reserve and selling the Bitcoin. Well, last night, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a speech on ending presidential corruption in banking, claiming that President Trump has made $200 million from a stablecoin banking agreement with World Liberty Financial. She claims World Liberty received preliminary approval for a federal banking charter in which the president's family owns 38.25% of the bank and uses stablecoin USD1 as its primary product to earn revenue. Warren accuses the bank of serving as a web of financial corruption.

But despite Warren's efforts to stop the Clarity Act, the Trump administration is launching an all-out effort to push Republican senators to support the bill, according to an exclusive report by Semaphore. The goal? Push back on banking groups. Officials plan to launch an interactive tool to allow lawmakers to see for themselves why is there no meaningful relationship between stablecoin growth and community bank deposit flight, which has been a major point of contention for the legislation. Well, we are about 20 minutes into your trading day. So with that, let's take a look at the markets here. Bitcoin trading at 76,111 USD. That's down 2.6% on the day. Taking a look at equities, lots of movement expected to start this week. After all, the AI news that came out over the weekend. But it's been pretty modest so far. The SPY down a tenth of a percentage point today at 759.31. And the QQQ also down a tenth of a percentage point at 707.78. Taking a look at treasuries, obviously that is the big story. The 10-year yield at 504%, up five basis points on the day.

Rising above 5% for the first time since 2023 That's a rate otherwise not seen since 2007 And just something to keep an eye on here. The all-time high was 504% in 2007 So we could come close or we're coming close to seeing numbers never seen before. And the 30-year yield at 5.4%.

Obviously, the driving force of all of this is Brent crude. Pushing over $105 a barrel. Remember, it surged past 109 last week. That was a four-month high.

And American consumers feeling that in all areas. Diesel topping $6 for the first time ever. And gold sitting at $4,294 per ounce today. Up almost two-tenths of a percentage point on the day. So lots of action there, Sean. What's sticking out to you so far?