Cron Run — September 21, 2026 (window Sep 18 04:00 UTC → Sep 21 04:00 UTC)¶

Tooling outcome¶

execute_code BLOCKED again (cron). terminal OK.
Working pattern: write_file the RSS script to /root/code/finradar/rss_scan.py, run via terminal, redirect to a file (scan_YYYY-MM-DD.txt, ~1281 lines / 152KB for 20 queries), then read_file in 200-line chunks. Do NOT pipe to tail -400 — it cut off the first 10 sections and forced a re-run.
web_search (ddgs) worked as primary verifier but is flaky: ~30% of queries returned DDGSException: No results found or Network is unreachable. Just rephrase and retry; short ASCII queries work better. Chinese-language queries mostly failed — search in English about China instead.
web_extract not needed this run; web_search + official-site citations sufficed.

Macro context of this window (major global hawkish turn)¶

Fed Sep 16: +25bp to 3.75–4.00%, 12–0 unanimous, first hike since 2023. Chair = Kevin Warsh. Anchor: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260916a.htm (also ...a1.htm for the implementation note).
BOJ Sep 18: +25bp to 1.25%, 31-year high, split vote (2 dissents = dove-ish read), fastest pace since 1990. Yen weakened after the hike → intervention watch. PM = Sanae Takaichi; 10Y JGB broke 3% earlier in Sep (30-yr high).
ECB: decision was Sep 10 (depo 2.50%, main refi 2.65%, marginal 2.90%; effective Sep 16) — OUTSIDE the 72h window. In-window ECB content = Lagarde comments Sep 18 ("rates don't move in lockstep with energy"), ECB officials paving way for more tightening, Vujcic pushback, ECB consumer inflation-expectations survey (Sep 18).
BoE Sep 17: held at 3.75%, 6–3 (Mann/Greene/Pill for a hike), UK Aug CPI 3.1%. Anchor: bankofengland.co.uk September 2026 Monetary Policy Summary.
Root cause of the global hike cycle = Iran war energy shock (war since 2026-02-28, ~7 months; Strait of Hormuz disrupted; Houthis hitting Saudi oil transit; Trump Sep 17 said war may be nearing its end and Tehran open to a deal, but talks stalled).
Verified levels (Sep 18 close): Brent $103.19 (WTI ~$101.1, 3rd down day, weekly −1%); S&P 500 7,650.50, Nasdaq 26,522.55, Dow 51,680, Russell 2000 2,860; 10Y UST 5.01%; 30Y mortgage >7%; gold $4,365–4,390; BTC ~$81,321 (Sep 21).
US jobless claims Sep 17: 196,000 (wk ended Sep 12) vs 207K expected → labor market firm, undercuts cut arguments.

China anchors that worked¶

LPR Sep 20: 1Y 3.00%, 5Y+ 3.50%, 16th straight month unchanged; 7-day reverse repo 1.4%; first-home floor = 5Y LPR −20bp = 3.30%.
MOHURD press conference Sep 18: Zhang Xuetao — second-hand share of housing transactions 27% (2020) → 46% (2025) → 52% (Jan–Aug 2026); official "stock era / 存量时代". Anchors: english.news.cn 20260918/722f910c..., CGTN, chinadaily WS6aadcb30e4b06d4aa055ee56.html.
MOF Sep 18 fiscal data: Jan–Aug general public budget revenue ¥15.66tn (+5.7%), tax ¥12.91tn (+6.6%), land-use-right revenue ¥1.3753tn, −28.6%, local govt fund revenue −22.9%, govt fund expenditure −17%.
PBOC: Jan–Aug household medium/long-term loans only +¥18.8bn (mortgage demand collapse); offshore CNY broke 6.70 (4-yr high) ahead of the summit; PBOC fixing 6.7487 on Sep 21; PBOC to issue ¥60bn bills in HK on Sep 23.
Bessent–He Lifeng talks in New York Sep 19–20 (Greer + Li Chenggang present); agenda = AI safety/transparency notifications, tariffs, critical minerals; no major deal. Trump–Xi summit Sep 24 at the White House.

Tech anchors (the depth section)¶

FT Sep 20: Big Tech keeps ~$300bn of AI infrastructure exposure off balance sheet via guarantees/SPVs (~$3tn sector-wide commitments ≈ 5x annual capex). Alphabet DC lease guarantees $16.9bn → $43.8bn in 6 months, <2% booked; Meta $50bn Louisiana Hyperion. Echoed by Seeking Alpha / Crypto Briefing / startupfortune.
AI safety split: Amodei blog + OpenAI/SpaceX CEOs calling for a slowdown (Sep 12–14, caused the Sep 14 chip selloff — outside the 72h window, use as background); in-window: FT on OpenAI being breached by researchers using Anthropic models, Google Gemini "hacked three real companies" during a safety test (Sep 18–19), Microsoft AI chief backs slower development (Sep 19), Huang rejects AI-extinction odds as 0% and backs Trump's AI safety policy, Trump announces "AI Force" + AI czar (Sep 19), Congress out of time for AI legislation (Sep 20).
Nvidia Sep 17: Huang — chip sales to double next year, vs the 70% growth / ~$673bn revenue for FY ending Jan 2028 disclosed in August. Bottlenecks = memory + substations.
Huawei Connect 2026 (Shanghai, Sep 16–17): Ascend 960DT training chip moved to Q1 2027 (3 quarters earlier), 960PR inference to Q3 2027, plus Atlas 960 SuperPoD; says AI chip demand outstrips supply.
Nscale S-1 filed Sep 18, NYSE ticker NSCL: H1 revenue $140.6m (+1,252%), net loss $1.02bn, $103.4bn customer contracts, $27.5bn equipment/construction commitments, 10GW+ power, Nvidia >5% stake.
Anthropic IPO pushed from Oct → November, targeting up to $2tn valuation / up to $100bn raise; OpenAI not IPO-ing this year and reportedly burning toward ~$278–280bn by 2030; Manus AI seeking $500m + weighing HK IPO; SoftBank raised its Arm margin loan to $25bn.

Pitfalls confirmed again¶

Stale aggregator headlines inside the 3-day RSS window are the biggest trap. This run: "Strong Micron Earnings" items dated Sep 19–20 (Micron's FQ4 is Sep 30), "All Eyes On June CPI", "US July Non-Farm Payrolls in Focus", "TTWO to report August 07", "Dow closes at 53,414" (actual Sep 18 Dow = 51,680). Always cross-check a headline's implied date against the real calendar/level.
EnergyNow.com reposts again appeared (e.g. a "World Bank 24% energy price" item) — same stale-repost pattern flagged in the Aug 18 run.
Reuters article pages and FT pages stayed blocked for direct extraction, but their headlines + search snippets were enough for attribution of facts already verified elsewhere.