Market overview

For the second quarter, commodity returns were -8.08%, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index, the benchmark.

Within commodities, the worst-performing sector was precious metals, which declined 15.67% over the period, driven by significant weakness

The boss of Snapchat says the firm would be “willing to implement” time limits for teens, following a call from Meta for it to take action.

Evan Spiegel told the BBC in an interview at the company’s California headquarters that he believed setting a maximum amount of time that young users could spend on the app could be “an important step forward for the industry.”

His comments came as the firm revealed a slew of new features for its upcoming Specs glasses, which it said could connect to Apple iPhone and Mac devices.

Meta has been pressuring other social media companies to join it in making platform changes it agreed to as part of a recent multi-billion dollar legal settlement with US states.

Instagram and Facebook-parent Meta was facing allegations from Attorneys General for most US states who said the firm deliberately designed its apps to be addictive to young users.

It agreed to pay $12.7bn and implement a two-hour daily limit for teen users across its platforms by default, in addition to muted notifications during school hours, blocks at night and other measures.

“I think it is an important step forward in the industry in terms of really identifying industry norms, and I think that would be beneficial overall,” Spiegel told the BBC. “We’ve looked really thoughtfully at the terms.”

As part of Meta’s August settlement, the company said it would implement even more stringent time limits and pay an additional $5.3bn if YouTube and TikTok follow suit. It has denied any wrongdoing as part of the deal, which will be paid over a 10-year period.

Last month, a Meta spokesperson said it was hopeful that Snap would make similar platform changes as well.

Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap have all faced a barrage of litigation alleging their apps have helped spawn a youth mental health crisis. Snap has also been accused of facilitating illegal drug sales.

When asked about the idea of a default time limit, Spiegel said: “I think that’s a really good example of something that that we’d be willing to implement.”

But Spiegel did not commit to a timeline on when Snap might take action.

“That’s something we’ve talked about internally,” he said. “I don’t have more to share today.”

He noted that Snap offers tools through its Family Center feature, which currently enables parents to track aspects of how their teens are using Snapchat.

“We want to figure out how we can be part of the solution,” Spiegel added.

YouTube-parent Google said it had no comment when asked if it planned to implement the measures in Meta’s settlement. TikTok did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Wordle players faced puzzle number 1,915 on Wednesday, a five-letter word built around a theme of delicacy and lightness that offered several accessible entry points for solvers willing to lean into descriptive, atmospheric vocabulary.

For those still working through the puzzle, several hints circulated Wednesday to help point solvers toward the answer without giving it away outright. The word describes something delicate, light and lacking in thickness or density. It is commonly used to describe smoke, hair, clouds or other wispy-looking things, and can suggest something thin and barely substantial, evoking the image of a light breeze moving strands of hair or a thin trail of smoke. Structurally, the word functions as an adjective, contains one vowel and four consonants, includes no repeated letters, and begins with the letter W.

SPOILER WARNING: Today’s Wordle answer follows below. Stop reading now if you’d rather solve the puzzle without assistance.

The answer to Wordle #1,915 for September 16 is WISPY, an adjective describing something thin, delicate or barely substantial, most often applied to smoke, hair, clouds or other light, fine-textured things that seem to drift or float rather than hold a solid form.

Puzzle guides covering Wednesday’s word noted that its relative rarity as an everyday adjective, combined with its uncommon letter combination, made it a moderately challenging solve despite the accessibility of the hints pointing toward its general meaning. Strategy guides published alongside the day’s clues cautioned solvers against assuming Wordle answers never repeat letters, noting that words like SHEEP or BLOOM have appeared as past answers and that repeated letters remain a regular feature of the puzzle’s five-letter solution pool, even though Wednesday’s specific answer did not include any repeated letters itself.

Guides also offered broader strategic advice relevant to Wednesday’s puzzle and beyond, recommending that solvers lean on consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel frameworks, using opening guesses like CRATE, PLANT or SHARE, to maximize the number of common letters tested early in a puzzle. Common five-letter word endings such as -ER, -LY, -TY, -LE and -CK were also flagged as useful patterns to consider once a solver has narrowed down several confirmed letters but remains uncertain about the final letter or two of the word.

Wednesday’s puzzle continued a run of daily words that has kept Wordle’s global player base engaged more than four years after the game first became a viral sensation. The puzzle, now owned and published by The New York Times, releases a new five-letter target word to players worldwide at midnight local time each day, giving solvers six total attempts to identify the correct word, with the game’s now-familiar color-coded feedback system, green for letters in the correct position, yellow for correct letters placed incorrectly, and gray for letters absent from the word entirely, guiding players toward the solution with each subsequent guess.

Puzzle number 1,915 followed Tuesday’s answer, DEALT, continuing a stretch of daily words that trackers use to help players identify broader patterns in how frequently the game’s word selection alternates between everyday, high-frequency vocabulary and more specific or evocative terms like Wednesday’s answer. Players tracking their personal statistics through Wordle’s built-in results screen, or through the game’s companion analytical tool, Wordlebot, can compare how efficiently they solved Wednesday’s puzzle relative to the broader player base.

For solvers looking for an added challenge, Wordle continues to offer a “Hard Mode” setting, which requires players to reuse any previously revealed correct or partially correct letters in all subsequent guesses, removing the option to test entirely new, unrelated letter combinations once useful information has already been uncovered. That setting can be toggled from the game’s settings menu before starting a new puzzle each day.

Beyond the daily Wordle puzzle, The New York Times has continued expanding its broader portfolio of daily word and logic games in recent years. Those games include Connections, which challenges players to sort 16 words into four hidden categories, and the Mini Crossword, a condensed version of the paper’s traditional crossword format designed to be completed within just a few minutes. Other publishers have introduced their own competing word puzzle offerings as well, including the Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic, giving daily puzzle enthusiasts an expanding array of options to choose from beyond Wordle’s single daily word challenge.

With Wednesday’s word now revealed, players who came up short on the day’s puzzle, or those simply looking to keep an active streak alive, will have a fresh five-letter word and a new set of six guesses to work with when Thursday’s edition of Wordle resets at midnight local time.

Walmart is rolling out a weeklong fall sales event that will overlap with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, giving consumers two major discount events during the early holiday shopping season.

The retailer’s Deals & More event begins at 12 a.m. ET Oct. 5 and runs through Oct. 11, offering shoppers seven days of discounts across categories including home, tech, toys and Halloween items.

Amazon’s “Prime Big Deal Days” are scheduled for Oct. 6-7, meaning the two sales events will overlap for two days.

E COLI BLUEBERRY RECALL EXPANDING TO FROZEN MIXED BERRY PACKAGES SOLD AT WALMARTS IN 16 STATES

Walmart is rolling out a weeklong fall sales event that will overlap with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ahead of the sale, Walmart has been advertising discounts of up to 50% on home items; 40% on tech; 30% on toys, food and Halloween products; 25% on tools; and 20% on wellness items.

“Heads up — big deals coming!” Walmart states on its website.

Unlike Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, Walmart’s sale is expected to be available to all shoppers and does not require a paid membership.

WALMART MAKES CHANGES TO HOW MILLIONS OF CUSTOMERS CAN PAY AT CHECKOUT

Ahead of the sale, Walmart has been advertising discounts of up to 50% on home items, 40% on tech, 30% on toys, food and Halloween products, 25% on tools and 20% on wellness items. (Reuters/Lisa Baertlein/File Photo)

Amazon, meanwhile, said Prime Big Deal Days is an exclusive event for Prime members.

“Looking to get a head start on your holiday shopping? Prime members can start saving now ahead of Prime Big Deal Days 2026, returning October 6-7 with 48 hours of exclusive deals across more than 35 categories,” Amazon said in a press release Monday.

Amazon said Prime members will be able to shop for millions of deals on brands, seasonal items and everyday essentials when the event begins at 12:01 a.m. PDT on Oct. 6, adding that early deals are already available.

WALMART E-COMMERCE SALES SURGE AS CEO TOUTS ‘PRICE, SPEED AND CONVENIENCE’

Amazon said Prime Big Deal Days is an exclusive event for Prime members. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

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The company also encouraged shoppers who are not already Prime members to sign up or start a free trial to access the sale and other membership benefits.

Walmart and Amazon could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

US interest rates have been raised for the first time in more than three years to 3.75%-4% from 3.5%-3.75% by the Federal Reserve. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh warned they could be increased further later this year in a bid to slow rising prices.

The increase comes despite fierce opposition from President Donald Trump, who had called for rates to be cut.

The president on Wednesday accused top Federal Reserve policymakers of acting against him for political reasons.

Craig Brelsford

Hello. This is Craig Brelsford with Redchip Companies. Thank you for joining today’s event with TransCode Therapeutics, which trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker RNAZ. Joining us today is Philippe Calais, Chairman and CEO of TransCode; Zdravka Medarova, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer; and John Tattory, the Interim CFO.

We will begin with a brief presentation in a moment, and then we will open the event to your questions. Welcome to everyone joining us today on X, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

[Operator Instructions]

Before we begin, please allow me to read the safe harbor statement. This call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical facts should also be considered forward-looking statements. Of course, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.

Philippe, please go ahead.

Philippe Calais
CEO & Executive Chairman of the Board

Great. Thank you very much, and hello, everybody. It’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to describe our company today. And let’s jump in right away into the company overview. We really describe ourselves as a rare small cap company with 3 near-term catalysts. First of all, we have a very strong pedigree with some Harvard founders, and Z is one of them. She will be talking later on from Mass General and Harvard Medical School.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel shares rose 4.63% to $101.63 in midmorning trading Wednesday, up $4.49, after reports that SK hynix is in talks to make memory in the United States using Intel capacity and after Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said the company can fill only about half of customer demand for CPUs.

The stock closed Tuesday at $97.14. Premarket prints already pointed higher after The Wall Street Journal and other outlets said SK hynix was discussing a U.S. manufacturing arrangement that could tap Intel’s Ohio footprint. Neither company announced a signed deal. Traders treated the talks as a foundry-and-packaging catalyst: a memory leader needing American wafers, and Intel needing paying volume on tools that have been underused.

Tan spoke Monday at Splunk’s .conf26 conference in Denver. Asked by Cisco President Jeetu Patel why Intel’s factories matter, he said design, manufacturing and advanced packaging should sit in one company. On foundry concentration he was blunt. “So I think relying 95% on one company, especially one based in Taiwan, is very risky,” he said. TSMC held more than 70% of foundry revenue in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint.

On product, Tan said inference still runs on CPUs that schedule GPUs and applications. “CPU demand is so high that we can only serve 50% of our customers,” he said. He also said memory prices have risen five- to sevenfold and that substrates for advanced packaging remain tight. He called packaging the industry’s “Holy Grail.” On Intel’s own recovery: foundry is capital-heavy and slow. “The good news is, over the past 18 months the situation has improved.” He said 18A is in mass production with yields rising about 7% a year. Intel’s last earnings deck still pegged 14A high-volume manufacturing for 2028.

Those comments landed on a stock that has already had a violent month. Intel jumped 9% on Sept. 8, hit $106.24 on Sept. 9, then dropped more than 5% on both Sept. 10 and Sept. 14 as the broader AI-chip tape sold off. Wednesday’s bounce recouped the Monday-Tuesday stall, not the September peak. The 52-week range still runs from the mid-$20s to about $141.

The last official numbers were the second quarter: $16.1 billion in revenue, 25% higher than a year earlier and $1.8 billion above April’s outlook; non-GAAP gross margin 41.8%; non-GAAP earnings $0.42 a share. Third-quarter guidance was $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, 42% gross margin and $0.38 a share. Foundry revenue in the second quarter was $5.8 billion. Client and data-center CPU lines are still the cash engine; foundry is the option the market is trying to price.

A SK hynix deal, if it happens, would not turn Intel into a DRAM company. It would be a customer for U.S. capacity and a political win in Ohio. Tan’s 50% fill-rate line is the nearer trade: if CPUs are short, Intel can raise prices — reports already point to another PC-processor increase around Oct. 5 — and ship every wafer it can yield on 18A.

Wednesday’s $101 handle is not a verdict on 14A. It is a bid on two sentences: customers want more Intel CPUs than Intel can make, and a Korean memory giant may need a U.S. roof. Until there is a term sheet or a third-quarter print that holds the $16 billion run-rate, those sentences are the whole story.