• Markets: It’s a big week for economic data, with updates due on job numbers, inflation, and consumer confidence (more on those later). Investors will also be watching bond yields and their impact on borrowing costs, especially in the AI space.
• Stock spotlight: Meta’s stock took a hit on Friday after Goldman Sachs questioned the revenue math used to justify massive AI infrastructure investments, but the company’s new Muse AI agent could inspire a change of heart today as it continues to top app charts.

TRADING PLACES

Retail trading is a bit like saying the phrase “6-7.” It was all the rage last year, but it’s been much less popular in 2026. As a result, average joe investors have ceded some of their influence on markets back to institutional traders.

Turning down the volume

Retail investors—who tend to lack the sophisticated expertise and fleece vests that professional traders possess—are often referred to as “dumb money,” and, historically, they didn’t account for huge proportions of trading volume. But things changed during the pandemic, when zero-commission trading, social media coordination, and home-baked sourdough fueled a retail revolution, thanks in part to the rise of meme stocks.

Most experts thought the dumb money trend would fade away, but it proved resilient. By 2025, it was looking smarter than ever, thanks to the TACO trade, where individual investors bought market dips on the assumption that President Trump would roll back policy proposals, while institutional investors watched the volatility from the stands.

But things have started to flip back this year, and the so-called smart money is at the front of the parade again. According to a CNBC report:

• Retail investors’ share of S&P 500 trading volume is now more than three percentage points below the five-year average, according to Goldman Sachs.
• Meanwhile, institutional investors’ options flow is three times higher than it usually is in September, according to data from Vanda Research.

Where have all the retail investors gone?

Some are handing their decision-making over to AI agents, which, with the right prompts, can act like boring dispassionate hedge fund managers that might be more content to ride out long-term waves (and, theoretically, make fewer trades).

Others are stepping away from stocks and taking advantage of the highest bond yields in more than a decade. Through August, $625 billion net flowed into US bond funds so far this year—the highest that number’s been since 2010, according to research firm Morningstar.

Meanwhile, in an uncertain macro environment, institutional investors are still finding horses to bet on. They’re just being more selective and sticking to specific AI stocks, like Meta, according to Viraj Patel, global market strategist at Vanda.—BC

      

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World

Tour de headlines

A scene from Edgewater, NJ. Anadolu/Getty Images

🌀 Deadly nor’easter left 100,000+ without power. The storm, the first of perhaps several to strike the US East Coast this year due to an El Niño climate pattern, brought widespread power outages to the Connecticut and New Jersey shores as well as Long Island and other parts of New York state. In some areas of Massachusetts, rain totals exceeded 7 inches. Boston Logan and NYC LaGuardia topped the list of worst airport service disruptions yesterday, stranding thousands of travelers. The storm killed at least one person: A New York City housing authority worker died on Saturday due to a fallen tree.

🚨 Five suspects held for terror probe involving UK air base. Around 12:45am local time yesterday, British police arrested five men under suspicion of preparing for a terrorist attack involving explosives outside of RAF Fairford. The air base, about 100 miles west of London, is operated by the US under an agreement dating back to the Cold War. The US Air Force has used it to deploy B-1 and B-52 bombers to Iran. President Trump said of the incident, “They were looking to do big damage to our fort. And working with the British worked out great.” The identities of the men and their potential motive were not disclosed yesterday.

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 Trump rejected Iran’s latest Hormuz proposal. At the UN gathering on Friday in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters that the Strait of Hormuz could be restored to “normal maritime passage” within seven days “if the necessary conditions are met.” But on Saturday, President Trump said he rejected the deal as unacceptable. Iran’s proposal hewed closely to the memo of understanding both nations signed in June, but abandoned shortly thereafter. Kirsten Fontenrose, who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, said that because the MOU was viewed as a bad deal in the US, Iran was “pushing against a very closed door.” Indirect discussions between the US and Iran are ongoing.—HVL

Sure, jolly

The Muse mascot, Jolly, on a billboard. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

“I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me” is the Taylor Swift lyric that six monthly autopays are whisper-singing from your credit card statement. And Meta’s Muse AI agent has won over some users by reducing subscription bloat.

Not-so-niche application

While skeptics fear for early adopters loading their personal information into Muse for help with tasks, the app’s popularity is growing. It’s overtaken ChatGPT as the No. 1 free app on the Apple App Store and Google Play charts for US downloads.

Among other functions, Muse can successfully identify and cancel unwanted recurring charges for everything from fitness streamers to electrolyte supplements. And a lot of people have them:

• Subscription spending rose 7.7% year-over-year in July, faster than overall credit card spending, according to payment data from Bank of America.
• Research cited by CNBC showed that many people won’t cancel unwanted recurring subscriptions unless they are forced to.

Zoom out: Investors are eyeing companies that will be negatively impacted by these developments. A Goldman Sachs note quoted by Bloomberg said that as Muse improves “at price comparison, trip booking, and dealing with customer service…industries that rely on recurring bills, negotiable pricing, and add-ons could come under pressure.”—HVL

      

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The week ahead

Ring the opening bell: In a major test for the wearable technology sector, health ring-maker Oura is expected to go public this week. Its IPO is set to price tomorrow, with a valuation that could top $15 billion. A strong showing like that could wake up a logy IPO market that currently has a Sleep Score of about 100. According to Bloomberg, no listings have raised more than $1 billion since Jersey Mike’s IPO in July.

Jobs data coming on Friday: The US added 162,000 jobs in August, which was way more than analysts were expecting. And while hiring usually picks up at the start of fall, September can also be a time for cooling off (just ask the weather and the 2026 Philadelphia Phillies). Economists expect Friday’s report to show the US economy added about 90,000 jobs this month, per Bloomberg.

Inflation check: Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data for August will be released on Wednesday. The price gauge is the Fed’s favorite inflation yardstick, and while it won’t incorporate any price information following the central bank’s decision earlier this month to hike rates, it could still help shape Warsh and company’s thinking ahead of their October meeting. How are consumers handling all of this? The Conference Board’s updated consumer confidence index will be out tomorrow morning.

But wait, there’s more:

• Memory chipmaker Micron will report earnings on Wednesday, followed by Accenture and Nike on Thursday.
• Tom Cruise and the magic of prosthetics star in Digger, which hits theaters this Friday.

Brendan’s Got Good News

At a Ford plant in Mexico, security is for the birds

A Harris hawk. Marcia Straub/Getty Images

Mondays are bad enough, so the Brew’s own Brendan Cosgrove scoured the internet for a positive news story to help you start the week off right.

A Ford Motor assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, had a bit of a security flap—flaps, really: It couldn’t keep pigeons out of the factory. And if you’re familiar with pigeons and what they like to do to shiny vehicles, you know that could be a problem. They can also mess with operations and create health risks for workers.

The plant tried to scare the pigeons away by replicating the sights and sounds of birds of prey, but it didn’t work, so they turned to the real thing. Last year, the plant hired a hawk with a perfect hawk name, El Charro, to scare the pigeons away. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s been a rousing success, resulting in an ~80% reduction in evidence of bird activity.

Big picture: Though strictly regulated in the US, birds of prey are increasingly being used to keep rats with wings at bay. Airports often turn to them to keep birds away from plane engines, and landfills and restaurants sometimes use them to scare off seagulls. And unlike poison, hawks can drive birds away without killing them all.—BC

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News

What else is brewing

• A city council in Germany halted the placement of Holocaust memorial plaques after conservatives and far-right members voted against it, sparking outrage.
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had a private dinner with President Trump last night at the White House. Amodei missed the state dinner fete last week.
• The top AI companies are investigating tens of thousands of security incidents that outside moderators would consider problematic, according to Axios.
• Leica, which makes $10,000 cameras from retro designs, has become a rare European manufacturing success story.
• The NFL went on the defensive against drones, launching drone-defense tech to mitigate disruptions. The league said there were 10,852 drone violations over its stadiums between 2021 and 2025.
• Taylor Swift won the MTV VMA for Video of the Year, the contest’s top honor. She dedicated the win to Dolly Parton. Swift is now the artist with the most MTV Video Music Awards in history (32).
• New giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived at Zoo Atlanta yesterday.

recs

• The best price-tracking tools a deals writer uses to do his job.
• How a run club side hustle became a company that made $640,000 in annual revenue.
• The small-town librarian hosting a “Bye, Bye AI” class.
• You asked, we answered: The 2027 Morning Brew Games Desk Calendar is now available for preorder.

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Play

Turntable: Your center letter this week is M, surrounded by O, A, L, P, I, and D. Can you make 42 words from those? Give it a spin. Play Turntable here.

Neighborly trivia

On National Good Neighbor Day, we’re going to give you a country that borders one (1) other on land. Name these countries’ only other land neighbors.

1. Haiti
2. Portugal
3. Qatar
4. Monaco
5. Brunei
6. The Gambia

Answer

1. Dominican Republic
2. Spain
3. Saudi Arabia
4. France
5. Malaysia
6. Senegal

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: logy, meaning “sluggish.” Thanks to Melody from Missouri for the low-key great suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.