NYSE trading floor with screens showing stocks sliding as rising U.S. Treasury yields and Walmart (WMT) earnings pressure risk assets on August 20, 2026.
Many entered the week bracing for a Federal Reserve rate hike, yet the more constructive takeaway may be that policy makers still have room to choose patience. That possibility, alongside fresh evidence of AI-led ecommerce change, government-scale digital-health demand and advancing biotech milestones,…