Inflation Climbs, Cuts Still Coming?

Today’s RIP: EA is getting a buyer, and Gov shut down on the way? 📰

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Kevin Travers
September 26, 2025 • Reading Time: 12 minutes

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CLOSING BELL
Inflation Climbs, Cuts Still Coming

The market rebounded from the worst multi-day pullback since April on Friday, after inflation data showed prices were climbing, but not to a level that would prompt the FOMC to stop cutting rates. Of course, that’s what investors hope, and the Fed seems convinced 3% inflation at year’s end is on the way.

Every sector was climbing on Friday, despite fresh tariff threats from the Trump administration. Trump said there would be a 100% duty on drugs unless the producer is at least attempting to build factories in the U.S. Healthcare stocks climbed on the news, finally with a goalpost in sight. Trump also wants chipmakers to match domestic chip production with foreign production, offering exemptions.

Markets still closed the week lower. It was an insane week for OpenAI, bagging $100B from Nvidia, scaling Stargate to $400B with Oracle, and an integration with Databricks. 👀

Today’s RIP: EA is getting a buyer, and Gov shut down on the way? 📰

All sectors closed green, with utilities $XLU ( ▲ 1.63% ) leading and staples $XLP ( ▲ 0.24% ) lagging.

STOCKS
M&A Keeps Going, And EA Games Might Be Next 🎮️ 

Electronic Arts $EA ( ▲ 14.87% ) flew shortly after 2:30 PM on Friday, after a Wall Street Journal report the company was close to a deal to go private, with finalization as close as next week.

The buyers in question are a group of investors led by Silver Lake Private Equity and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The fund recently bought out a Middle East media giant MBC Group for $2B.

Two sources said the deal could value the company at $50B, and share prices jumped toward that market cap late Friday.

EA makes games like FIFA, Madden NFL, and, of course, The Sims. EA is due to release Battlefield 6 next month. The Journal reported that if the deal goes through, it would be the largest levered buyout of all time, bigger than the Texas Utility buyout in 2007, and the Medline Industries buyout for $30B in 2021.

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MACRO NEWS
U.S. Government Likely To Shut Down 🏦 

Democrat refusal to pass a seven-week stopgap funding bill to keep the Fed lights on until November will likely cause a government shutdown next week, the first in seven years.

Trump has threatened to use the opportunity of a shutdown to fire federal employees who don’t follow his marching orders, and even if courts one day decide he can’t do that, it’s enough of a threat to worry Democrat lawmakers.

Government shutdowns put hundreds of thousands of federal employees, as well as key macroeconomic data such as job reports, on hold until lawmakers can reach a compromise. Republicans want to continue with current spending levels, and Democrats want to use the opportunity to place health-care protections on tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.

Congress needs to pass 12 bills by September 30 to finance the government. Even if the bill passes the House, the bill would need 60 votes to get through the Senate, but the GOP only has 53 seats. Last shutdown, 850,000 employees were furloughed, and during the 2018 partial shutdown over the border wall, GDP, CPI, and jobs numbers were delayed two weeks, according to Wells Fargo Economist Michael Pugliese.

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Options vs Leverage: The Cleanest Ways to Ride This Tape

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