#markets

#markets

Not only is this America's 250th year, but it is a year when competing visions for America's economic future are coming to a head,

Another holiday-shortened trading week begins today, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEMKT: VOO) is feeling the Christmas spirit. The ETF opened up 0.6% Monday. Helping to fuel the rally is again Nvidia ( Nasdaq: NVDA), which plans to begin shipments of its H200 AI chip to China in February. Initial orders are said to total anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips.

U.S. stocks pointed to sharp gains Sunday evening as a report said Republicans in Congress are poised to advance a bill that would end the government shutdown. Sources told ABC News that there are more than enough Democratic votes in the Senate to clear a procedural hurdle on a short-term bill that would end the longest-ever shutdown. The breakthrough comes as SNAP payments have been on hold after a brief respite,

Argentina's bonds, stocks and currency are surging after President Javier Milei's party won an overwhelming victory in a Sunday midterm election, a key requisite to keep economic reforms on track and a United States financial backstop in place. On Monday, international bonds rallied between 9 and 13 cents each, local stocks jumped over 20 percent and the peso strengthened some 6 percent to the dollar, halving its initial rally. Official results in Argentina's Sunday legislative elections show voters strongly backed Milei's free-market reforms and deep austerity measures, with inflation falling sharply since he took office nearly two years ago.

In an interview with Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, he also mixed in some flattery for Chinese President Xi Jinping while still airing some grievances. "I'm not looking to destroy China," Trump said. Earlier this month, he announced an additional 100% tariff and software restrictions on China, which has a stranglehold on the world's supply of rare earths and imposed tighter export controls that threaten a wide range of industries.

A slow week with little important economic news (other than yesterday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report on falling first-time unemployment filings) got busy in a hurry on Friday, with the U.S. Commerce Department revealing the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) increased 0.3% in August. The new data clocks the annual U.S. inflation rate at 2.7%. Volatile food and energy prices, once excluded to give a "core" inflation rate, rose 0.2% to 2.9%.

As I drew back the curtains of my room in Ibiza and peered over the balcony, I was greeted by swathes of canvas as scores of market traders had set up overnight right in the heart of my hotel, turning the courtyard into a dreamy traveller's bazaar. A wonderfully special and surreal moment, this was just one of many free-spirited and magical experiences I had during my stay at the newly renovated Fergus Style Punta Arabi in Es Canar, Ibiza.

We chose to define 'markets' in the broadest terms, highlighting the gourmet aspect of grab-and-go food, showing that quick meals can also be high-quality.