OP Wire 8/29 (OP – Lite)

By Steve

📰 OP Market Rundown

1️⃣ Key Inflation Release

All eyes today are on the PCE Price Index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Core PCE is expected at 0.3% MoM / 2.9% YoY, but any upside surprise could show Trump’s sweeping tariffs already flowing into consumer prices.

The Fed has held rates steady this year, but September looks set for at least a 25 bps cut, with some policymakers pushing for more. Fed Gov. Waller said he “fully expects” a series of cuts to bring policy closer to neutral. Political pressure remains high, especially with Trump firing Fed Gov. Lisa Cook this week.

2️⃣ U.S. Futures Slip

Futures are modestly lower ahead of PCE:

S&P -0.1%
Dow -0.2%
Nasdaq -0.1%

Despite the red tickers this morning, August has been strong: Dow +3.4%, S&P +2.6%, Nasdaq +2.8%. Earnings to digest today: $ULTA, $AMBA, $AFRM.

3️⃣ Tariff Shock – De Minimis Exemption Ends

The Trump administration ended duty-free imports under $800, impacting over 1.3B parcels ($64.6B value) in 2024 — most from China. This will raise U.S. consumer prices on low-value e-commerce shipments unless sellers absorb costs.

4️⃣ ECB Inflation Watch

European CPI data (France, Spain, Germany) hits today. The ECB is split — inflation steady at 2%, but U.S. tariffs on EU goods create uncertainty. Expect debate on whether to hold or hike again into year-end.

5️⃣ Crude Oil – Weekly Gain, Monthly Loss

Brent $67.54 (-0.7%)
WTI $64.12 (-0.7%)

Crude is up ~1% on the week after Ukrainian strikes on Russian terminals but still set for a 6% monthly loss with OPEC supply hikes weighing. Seasonally, demand fades post–Labor Day.

📌 OP Stock Focus

$BABA – Reports suggest it’s developing its own chips to rival $NVDA. Strong upside potential from here.
$PSTG – Congrats again to the team on this one. It was posted months ago with full reasoning in the OP news feed — another textbook long play that delivered years of gains in a single trade.

🔑 OP Takeaway

The OP community is crushing it: Secret Sauce live streams, AC&I, Swing Chat, and the OP Wire keep delivering real-time, actionable info that stacks gains consistently.

📈 Inflation data today is the catalyst, tariffs remain the wild card, and $BABA vs. $NVDA is a theme to watch into September.

👉 See you in chat — keep stacking!

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