U.S. Economy Adds 315,000 Jobs in August, Unemployment Ticks Up

G7 agrees to implement price cap for global purchases of Russian oil; Russia responds

Labor Day schedule: Grain and livestock markets will observe normal trading hours today ahead of the extended holiday weekend. All markets and government offices are closed on Monday, Sept. 5 for Labor Day. Unless there are major news developments, there will be no Policy Updates. Grain markets reopen at 7:00 p.m. CT on Monday, Sept. 5 for overnight trade, while livestock markets will resume trade at 8:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

The U.S. added 315,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, according to data released this morning by the Labor Department, up from 3.5% in August. More details and analysis below.

The Group of Seven nations today agreed to implement a price capping mechanism on Russian oil exports, seeking to curtail the Kremlin’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine and better protect consumers amid soaring energy prices. Finance ministers representing the G7 nations said in a joint statement they recognized that, for the European Union, unanimity among the 27-nation bloc is required. “We aim to align implementation with the timeline of related measures within the EU´s sixth sanctions package,” they said. The U.S. hopes the plan will ease energy market pressures and slash Moscow’s overall revenues. But Russian President Vladimir Putin warned countries who did so will pay the consequences. Oil prices were higher on the news. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded 1.7% higher at $93.89 a barrel on Friday afternoon in London, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.8% to trade at $88.19.

Global bonds slumped into their first bear market in a generation as central banks double down on efforts to squash inflation.

House Dems working on stopgap funding bill through mid-December. Details in Congress section.

Olive oil or weapons? Ukraine says Russia is using cargo ships to ferry weapons to ports on the Black Sea. Details in Russia/Ukraine section.

The risk of civil unrest has spiked across the globe as developed nations and emerging markets alike grapple with spiraling inflation and upheaval exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a report.

Global food prices fell for a fifth month after demand for some products weakened and there was a seasonal uptick in supplies. A United Nations index of world food costs dropped 1.9% in August from the previous month,

The Japanese yen slumped past the key level of 140 per dollar for the first time in almost a quarter of a century, a move that may extend as the divergence between U.S. and Japanese monetary policy widens. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index was nearly 300 points lower this morning.

Eurozone producer price inflation continued to accelerate in July, with the producer price index (PPI) surging to a record 37.9% above year-ago levels.

China’s central bank says it has room for monetary policy moves. Details in China section.

Gas prices extended their decline heading into the Labor Day weekend, which is shaping up to be a busier period for travelers than it was last year.

Three-year RFS mandates coming. Details below.

A new approach to car batteries is about to transform EVs. While the U.S. may be getting more electric-vehicle battery plants, but that’s only half the battle in the EV supply chain. Details on both topics in Energy & Climate Change section.

The cost to grow food is soaring, according to a new USDA report on farm income, but higher farm income will help temper those input costs for many.

Chinese firms have booked at least 40 cargoes of soybeans from the US, Brazil and Argentina in the past two weeks alone, Bloomberg reports. Details in Market section.

One of the U.S. top antitrust regulators is backing the White House’s bid to change the way chicken companies pay farmers. Details below.

For the first time in 25 years, the month of August did not have a named storm. But things appear to have changed quickly in the tropical Atlantic.

On Thursday, California lawmakers voted to keep the state’s last nuclear plant online in a bid to ease anticipated electricity-supply shortages. Details in Energy & Climate Change section.

Starbucks named consumer products executive Laxman Narasimhan as its new chief executive, months after former head Howard Schultz temporarily took over. Narasimhan has served as CEO of U.K.-based Reckitt Benckiser for the past three years. Starbucks stock is down 27% over the past 12 months, more than twice the slump seen by the S&P 500. International sales that account for one-fifth of revenue are vulnerable to the strong dollar.

St. Louis jury on Thursday sided with Monsanto in the latest Roundup cancer trial. Details below.

Weekend air, car, cruise ships, hotel rooms, and tour bookings are up 22% domestically over last year, and 104% for international travel, AAA said. The average lowest airfare is $179, up 20% from last year; the average midrange hotel room is $233; and the lowest car rental rate is $89.

Election Day 2022 is 67 days away. Election Day 2024 is 795 days away.

Equities today: Global stock markets were mixed overnight. U.S. Dow opened up around 270 points, but is currently around 110 points higher. In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong -0.7%. China +0.1%. India +0.1%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.6%. Paris +0.5%. Frankfurt +1.4%.

U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow rose 145.99 points, 0.5%, to 31,656.42. The S&P 500 added 11.85 points, 0.3% to 3,966.85, after falling as much as 1.3% earlier in the session. The Nasdaq eased 31.08 points, 0.3% to 11,785.13, a fifth straight down day.

Investors pulled a net $10.6 billion out of equity mutual funds and ETFs in the week ended Wednesday, according to Refinitiv Lipper. That was the largest weekly outflow since the period ending June 15 — the day before the S&P 500’s lowest close this year.

Agriculture markets yesterday:

• Corn: December corn futures fell 12 1/2 cents to $6.58.
• Soy complex: November soybeans fell 27 3/4 cents to $13.94 3/4, the contract’s lowest closing price since Aug. 17. October soymeal rose $1.90 to $422.60, while October soyoil plunged 363 points to 65.27 cents.
• Wheat: December SRW wheat fell 37 1/4 cents to $7.94 1/4, the contract’s lowest close since Aug. 25. December HRW wheat fell 44 1/2 cents to $8.68. December spring wheat fell 43 cents to $8.86 1/2.
• Cotton: December cotton fell the daily 500-point trading limit to 108.21 cents, the lowest closing price since Aug. 11.
• Cattle: October live cattle rose 22.5 cents to $142.80, while October feeder cattle rose 87.5 cents to $184.35.
• Hogs: October lean hogs rose 42.5 cents to $91.95. The CME lean hog index fell $1.74 (as of Aug. 30) to $107.62, the lowest since early June, and is expected to drop another $1.36 today.
  

Ag markets today: Corn, soybeans and wheat bounced back from recent losses in a round of corrective buying overnight that was triggered by outside markets. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, corn futures were trading around 4 cents higher, soybeans were mostly 13 cents higher and wheat futures were 9 to 11 cents higher. Front-month crude oil futures were around $1.40 higher and the U.S. dollar index was nearly 300 points lower this morning.

Technical viewpoints from Jim Wyckoff:

On tap today:

• U.S. nonfarm payrolls for August, at 8:30 a.m. ET, are expected to increase by 318,000 from the prior month, and the unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 3.5%. UPDATE: See item below.
• U.S. factory orders for July, due at 10 a.m. ET, are expected to increase 0.2% from the prior month.
• Baker Hughes rig count is out at 1 p.m. ET.
• CFTC Commitments of Traders report, 3:30 p.m. ET.

U.S. employers added 315,000 jobs last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said this morning, following a revised 526,000 advance in July, though it still represented a strong pace of growth. Total payrolls are now 240,000 higher than the pre-pandemic period.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, as more workers entered the labor force (participation rate climbed). The data indicated the long-delayed slowdown may finally have begun. However, the data, underscored the labor market on the whole remains robust

Economists projected an almost 300,000 gain in payrolls and a 3.5% jobless rate.

Wage growth eased last month. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3% in August from a month earlier. They were up 5.2% from a year earlier, nearly the same as in July. Still, that was less than the 5.6% year-over-year in March, which was the largest annual increase in 15 years of records outside of the spring of 2020, when the pandemic struck.

The labor force participation rate, or the share of adults working or seeking a job, increased to 62.4% in August from 62.1% in July, still below its pre-pandemic level. More workers joining the labor force could help sustain job growth in the coming months.

Job gains: In August, job gains were strong in professional and business services, healthcare, and retail.

Reaction: This is really what the Fed is hoping for, says former Fed official Randall Kroszner on Bloomberg TV. More people are coming back into the labor market and that helps to reduce the tightness of that market. You saw it manifest in slightly lower wage growth, he adds. Short-term Treasury yields fell, while S&P 500 index futures rose and the dollar extended losses on the day. Investors slightly pared bets that the Fed will raise interest rates by 75 basis points at its Sept. 20-21 meeting, though traders continued to see that as the most likely outcome, with about a 60% probability priced in. In just four months, the target range of the federal funds rate has jumped from near zero to between 2.25% and 2.50%. Most see rates rising to at least 3.5% this year, with additional increases expected next year.

Over half of American adults (more than 53%) are expected to travel over Labor Day weekend. An estimated 137 million of them plan to do so, matching 2021’s figures, according to a survey commissioned by the travel website The Vacationer. Two-thirds of travelers will take a car and one-quarter will fly, with the rest using other means. Link for details.

U.S. mortgage rates rise, hitting highest level since end of June. The average for a 30-year loan rose to 5.66%, the highest since the end of June, Freddie Mac said in a statement. In the four weeks through Aug. 21, new listings dropped 15% from the same period a year earlier, the biggest annual decline since the start of the pandemic, according to Redfin Corp.

The cost to grow food is soaring, according to a new USDA report on farm income. Everything that farmers use to cultivate crops from fertilizer to feed and labor are skyrocketing in price. Production costs are estimated to rise by $66.2 billion or 18% in 2022, the most ever, according to USDA.

But higher farm income will help temper those input costs for many as Thursday we reported USDA revised its 2022 farm income forecast significantly higher and now sees net farm income reaching $147.7 billion this year — up from its February forecast of $113.7 billion. Overall, USDA expects net farm income in 2022 to increase $7.3 billion, up 5.2% from 2021.

Eurozone PPI surges to record-high. Eurozone producer price inflation continued to accelerate in July, with the producer price index (PPI) surging to a record 37.9% above year-ago levels. Energy costs again made the biggest upward move, surging 97.2% from year-ago. But excluding energy, producer prices still jumped 15.1% annually.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index is lower in early U.S. trading, on a corrective pullback after hitting a 20-year high on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is fetching 3.263%. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield this week hit a 15-year high and is presently trading at 3.503%. Crude is higher, with U.S. crude around $88.20 per barrel and Brent around $93.95 per barrel. Gold and silver futures were higher, with gold around $1,717 per troy ounce and silver around $17.80 per troy ounce.

• OPEC+ meeting Monday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, who agreed to collectively increase production by 100,000 barrels a day in September, will hold their next meeting on Monday.

• A look at domestic natural-gas stockpiles is a chilling reminder of price spikes that could surface during the winter — and of even more danger for Europe, the Wall Street Journal reports (link). U.S. natural gas inventories inched up by 61 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 26, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. That leaves stockpiles 11.3% lower than their five-year average — a gap that has widened throughout the so-called injection season, when natural-gas inventory builds up ahead of winter. The largest driver of natural gas demand growth this summer has been power — driven by hot weather as households and offices cranked up air conditioning.

• Chinese firms have booked at least 40 cargoes of soybeans from the US, Brazil and Argentina in the past two weeks alone, Bloomberg reports (link), citing people familiar with the transactions. The purchases are to take advantage of improved processing margins, and to rebuild stockpiles ahead of Chinese festivals that run from the autumn through to the Lunar New Year, said the people. Most of the cargoes are for loading in September and October, although some have been booked for next year, they said.

• StoneX cuts corn crop forecast, raises soybean estimate. Commodity brokerage firm StoneX lowered its U.S. corn production estimate to 14.168 billion bu. on a yield of 173.2 bu. per acre, down from 14.417 billion bu. and 176.0 bu. per acre in early August. StoneX raised its soybean crop estimate to 4.515 billion bu. on a yield of 51.8 bu. per acre, up from 4.490 billion bu. and 51.3 bu. per acre previously.

• The toll of extreme flooding on Pakistan’s food security is becoming apparent: large swathes of farmland under water, crops and stockpiles washed away, homes and livelihoods wiped out.

• For the first time in 25 years, the month of August did not have a named storm. But things appear to have changed quickly in the tropical Atlantic. On Thursday, the National Hurricane Center announced that Tropical Storm Danielle, currently in the North Atlantic, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Saturday. Danielle is not a threat to any land at this time, forecasts show, and it is expected to remain fairly stationary through the weekend.

• NWS weather: Dangerous and record-breaking heat continues to impact the West... ...Unsettled weather with isolated-to-scattered flash floods possible over the next few days across much of the south-central United States before extending eastward into the Ohio and Tennessee valleys by Saturday... ...Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening from parts of the central Plains to the Upper Midwest.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Corrective rebound overnight
• Brazilian soybean exports slowed; corn shipments surged in August
• Russia again lowers wheat export tax
• PBOC say it has room for monetary policy moves (details in China section)
• China soybean auctions continue
• Retailers shift beef focus as grilling season winds down
• Cash hog prices continue to fall

— Summary: The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog left the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine. Five inspectors will remain at the facility for several more days. The U.N. aims to set up a permanent monitor at the power station, which has been the site of intense shelling in recent weeks. Ukraine hopes the inspection will lead to the “demilitarizing” of the plant, but Russia says it will not withdraw its forces. Separately, Ukrainian military officials claim Russia has suffered “significant losses” in the south to both its manpower and equipment as Ukraine tries to prevent Russia from resupplying its troops.

• Russia pledged to stop selling oil to countries that impose a price cap on its imports — a ceiling which the G7 approved today. Russia warned it would stop selling oil to countries that impose price caps on Russian energy exports and said the imposition of a limit on Russian crude would lead to the significant destabilization of the global oil market. The G7 is comprised of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and Japan.

  Oil prices were higher on the news. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded 1.7% higher at $93.89 a barrel on Friday afternoon in London, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.8% to trade at $88.19.

• Ravil Maganov, the chairman of Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, and a critic of the war in Ukraine, died after falling from a hospital window in Moscow. Officials said he committed suicide; his associates think that unlikely. Maganov’s death marks the eighth shady death of a Russian oligarch in the past six months. Another former Lukoil executive, Alexander Subbotin, died in May of what local media reported as a heart attack brought on by the ingestion of toad venom to cure a hangover.
• Olive oil or weapons? Ukraine says Russia is using cargo ships to ferry weapons to ports on the Black Sea. Adding to the diplomatic pressure the war has imposed on Turkey, Ukraine has asked it to take action against at least four cargo ships that it says are transporting military equipment from a Russian base in Syria through strategic straits that Turkey controls. An international treaty allows Turkey to block navy vessels from countries at war but also seeks to protect freedom of navigation for civilian vessels. Moscow-based Oboronlogistics, which operated at least one of the ships spotted by Ukraine, said it was carrying a cargo of olive oil.

• The risk of civil unrest has spiked across the globe as developed nations and emerging markets alike grapple with spiraling inflation and upheaval exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a report (link). Of 198 countries tracked in the Civil Unrest Index, 101 showed mounting risk in the third quarter of 2022, according to research collected by intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. That’s the biggest increase since the ranking was developed in 2016, it showed.

  The potential for unrest is rising across Europe, which is bracing for a long winter of energy disruption because of the war in Ukraine — as well as the developing world, where price spikes on basic staples have triggered concern of a global food crisis.

— Bidding open for $1.4 billion rail grants. The Federal Railroad Administration is making available more than $1.4 billion for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Grant program, according to a notice set to publish in the Federal Register today. Applications are due 90 days for safety and emissions reduction projects, according to a press release (link).

— President Biden’s student-debt forgiveness plan would send more money to wealthier families than to poorer ones, but lower-income and minority households would be more likely to have their debt forgiven entirely, the JPMorgan Chase Institute found.

— China is on a mission to ensure its food security. The strategy of holding its ‘rice bowl steady,’ an urgent priority for Beijing, could be tested in IP lawyers’ offices. Link to Financial Times article.

— Xinjiang exports to U.S. hit two-year high despite Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act taking effect. Industry observers surprised by leap in reported shipments for July, as many thought number would plummet to near zero after law took effect in June. Link for details via South China Morning Post.

— China Party Congress to offer clues on overhaul of economic team. China’s Communist Party congress next month will set the stage for a possible overhaul of the country’s top economic roles, coming at a crucial time for the world’s second-largest economy. Link to article via Bloomberg.

— PBOC say it has room for monetary policy moves. China has room to adjust monetary policy as stimulus measures to support the pandemic-hit economy have been restrained and consumer inflation remains under control, a spokesperson for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said. China will continue to improve on and deploy its various monetary policy tools to support the economy and keep liquidity reasonably ample. China will pay close attention to inflation at home and abroad, avoid flood-like stimulus and keep consumer prices basically stable.

— Three-year RFS mandates coming. The Biden administration is expected to announce a rule that would detail annual biofuel blending mandates for the refining industry for a three-year period instead of just for one, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions. The switch to a multi-year target would be aimed at providing longer-term certainty to the refining and biofuels industries. EPA has a Nov. 16 deadline to set the 2023 mandates.

— California lawmakers passed aggressive new climate measures, approving $54 billion in spending and voting to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. The measure prevents the state’s last nuclear power plant from closing, introduces sharp new restrictions on oil and gas drilling and includes a mandate that California stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2045. California lawmakers voted to extend the life of Diablo Canyon, the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant, by another five years. In a speech hours earlier, Gov. Gavin Newsom told lawmakers that keeping Diablo online was a crucial part of a strategy to “future-proof” California. “This is critical in the context of making sure we have energy reliability going forward,” Newsom said of Diablo Canyon, which provides roughly 9% of the state’s electricity.

The bills, passed around midnight at the end of a frenzied two-year legislative session in Sacramento, marked a victory for Gov Newsom, a Democrat who has sought to portray himself as a climate leader as he has raised his national profile and begun drawing speculation about a possible White House run. Last month, state regulators finalized a plan to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a policy that could be adopted by other states and is widely expected to accelerate the global transition toward cleaner electric vehicles.

The budget would spend a record $54 billion over five years on climate programs. That includes $6.1 billion for electric vehicles, including money to buy new battery-powered school buses, $14.8 billion for transit and rail projects, more than $8 billion to clean up the electric grid, $2.7 billion to fight wildfires and $2.8 billion in water programs to help the state deal with drought.

One of the most contentious measures passed by the legislature is a requirement that new oil and gas wells be set back at least 3,200 feet from homes, schools and hospitals, while imposing strict pollution controls on existing wells within that distance.

— Nearly one-third of states are poised to adopt California’s new clean cars rule to fully phase out new gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035, as 17 states signed onto California’s vehicle standards and the car market across the country. In total, those states make up roughly 40% of nationwide auto sales. California and its followers still need a waiver under the Clean Air Act from the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out the new regulation, known as Advanced Clean Cars II.

Already, officials from states including Washington, Oregon, and Vermont expressed plans to adopt the California standard by the end of the year. New York indicated in a meeting ahead of California’s adoption vote that it aims to follow. Massachusetts and Virginia — with trigger laws on the books that bind the states to California’s vehicle rules — also are set to join. However, in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said he wants to repeal the state’s adherence to California standards. “I am already at work to prevent this ridiculous edict from being forced on Virginians,” Youngkin said in a statement. “California’s out of touch laws have no place in our Commonwealth.” Other states can act through state agencies, some need their governor or legislature’s approval, and others require a mix.

— A new approach to car batteries is about to transform EVs. Auto companies are designing ways to build a car’s fuel cells into its frame, making electric rides cheaper, roomier, and able to hit ranges of 620 miles. Link for details.

— The U.S. may be getting more electric-vehicle battery plants, but that’s only half the battle in the EV supply chain. The tougher question now is where manufacturers will get the raw materials that go into batteries. The WSJ writes in a Heard on the Street column (link) that investment in inputs such as processed lithium and nickel needs to follow the new factories. Under the new climate law, EVs need to be assembled in North America to qualify for a $7,500 tax credit. Starting next year, half that credit will be tied to the value of “critical minerals” mined or processed in the U.S. or free-trade partners. The U.S. wants to diversify the EV supply chain away from China but doing that won’t be easy. The country could end up with two types of competing EVs: some with cheap battery parts and some with tax credits from Washington.

— Starbucks, the world’s biggest coffee chain, named Laxman Narasimhan as its next chief executive, replacing its founder, Howard Schultz. He will be tasked with implementing a “reinvention plan” to improve conditions for both workers and customers. Narasimhan will join the company in October but will only take the reins in April 2023. During that transition, Schultz said, Narasimhan will get “immersed” in Starbucks’s culture by traveling to stores worldwide and even working behind the counter at some locations.

Born in Pune, India, Narasimhan studied engineering and moved to the U.S. to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He then joined McKinsey & Company, becoming a senior partner, before shifting in 2012 to PepsiCo, where he oversaw operations in regions including Latin America and Europe. In 2019, he was hired to lead Reckitt Benckiser, the British conglomerate that makes Lysol disinfectant and Durex condoms.

— One of the U.S. top antitrust regulators is backing the White House’s bid to change the way chicken companies pay farmers, a move that could potentially reshape the industry. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan praised new USDA rules that would shield poultry growers paid via the controversial “tournament system,” which pits farmers against each other in a zero-sum game for a pool of money. She also publicly urged the department to do more. The proposed regulations are “an important first step,” said Khan, a prominent voice on competition issues even as the FTC doesn’t have jurisdiction over farm sales. More rules restricting “deceptive, unfair, and discriminatory contract terms and business practices is needed,” she said.

Background: The Justice Department last month made abandonment of the compensation system a condition for proceeding with the Wayne-Sanderson Farms merger, which combined the country’s third- and sixth-largest chicken producers. Most processors including Tyson Foods Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. compensate farmers via the tournament system, which rewards farmers that end up with the biggest birds.

— Global food prices fell for a fifth month after demand for some products weakened and there was a seasonal uptick in supplies. A United Nations index of world food costs dropped 1.9% in August from the previous month, data showed Friday. The index remained at the lowest level since January. Costs fell across the board in August, with vegetable oils pushed slightly below their level from a year earlier. More palm oil supplies from Indonesia and seasonally rising outputs in southeast Asia helped push down the prices, while import demand for sunflower oil has been subdued, the FAO said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the FAO lowered its 2022 grain forecast by 1.4% as heat waves led to plummeting corn yields in the European Union.

— Summary:

• Global Covid-19 cases at 603,765,149 with 6,497,563 deaths.
• U.S. case count is at 94,649,523 with 1,047,006 deaths.
• Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center says there have been 605,702,544 doses administered, 224,113,439 have been fully vaccinated, or 68.02% of the U.S. population.

— Covid booster shots that target the most common new variants of the virus should become available in the U.S. within days, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the rollout of updated vaccines Thursday. Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed the use of the new shots after, in twin 13-1 votes, external vaccine and health experts gave their backing to boosters from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.

— Bet you… CFTC examining whether to allow bets on party control of Congress. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) plans to decide by October whether to allow Kalshi LLC, the first federally regulated financial exchange that allows trades on the likelihood of a particular event, to offer the public a way to wager on which party will control the House and Senate. In July, Kalshi asked the CFTC to evaluate its proposal. CFTC is asking the public to comment on the company’s proposal and outlined several specific questions. It wants to hear if the contracts would be gambling, and whether the CFTC should allow activity like that currently done by casinos.

— Mar-a-Lago search: A federal judge said she would make public a more detailed list of the items the FBI took during its search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home and would issue a written order in due course on Trump’s request for a third-party review of the seized materials.

— House Dems working on stopgap funding bill through mid-December. House Democratic leaders are working on a plan to take up a temporary spending bill the week of Sept. 12 that would extend current government funding levels through Dec. 16. It also gives some extra time for close contested races to play out, including the Georgia Senate race.

— St. Louis jury on Thursday sided with Monsanto in the latest Roundup cancer trial. The win puts Monsanto and its German owner Bayer AG at five trials won versus three won by plaintiffs. Link for details.

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s collars to be auctioned. Two of former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s signature collars will be auctioned online next week, along with her gloves, opera glasses, gavel, and other personal items, by Bonhams auction house, rhe Wall Street Journal reported. Bader died at age 87 in 2020. One collar from her former law clerks is embroidered with a quote by her late husband, Martin Ginsburg. Asked why he would leave his law career in New York City to follow his wife to Washington, D.C., he said: “It’s not sacrifice, it’s family.” The other collar is of woven gold glass beads, one of dozens she wore over her judicial robes. Each is priced at $3,000 to $5,000, Bonhams said. Some collars now belong to family and friends, while others were donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

WASDE | Crop Production | USDA weekly reports | Crop Progress | Food prices | Farm income | Export Sales weekly | ERP dashboard | California phase-out of gas-powered vehicles | RFS | IRA: Biofuels | IRA: Ag | Student loan forgiveness | Russia/Ukraine war, lessons learned | Election predictions: Split Ticket |