{"id":52404,"date":"2025-08-27T07:38:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bessent-outlines-fed-ai-and-geopolitical-stances-kohls-soars-on-earnings-beat\/52404\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T07:38:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:38:40","slug":"bessent-outlines-fed-ai-and-geopolitical-stances-kohls-soars-on-earnings-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bessent-outlines-fed-ai-and-geopolitical-stances-kohls-soars-on-earnings-beat\/52404\/","title":{"rendered":"Bessent Outlines Fed, AI, and Geopolitical Stances; Kohl&#8217;s Soars on Earnings Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent<\/strong> articulated a broad range of policy views, from criticizing the <strong>Federal Reserve&#39;s<\/strong> post-2008 mission drift to forecasting an <strong>AI-driven productivity boom<\/strong> as early as <strong>Q1 2026<\/strong>. He also revealed plans to present <strong>3-4 Fed Chair candidates<\/strong> to President <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> in the fall.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kohl&#39;s (<a href=\"\/stock\/KSS\">KSS<\/a>)<\/strong> reported a significant beat on its <strong>Q2 2026 earnings<\/strong>, with <strong>EPS of $1.35<\/strong> far exceeding the estimated <strong>$0.31<\/strong>, and raised its full-year financial outlook.<\/li>\n<li>Speculators have accumulated the <strong>largest short position in VIX futures since 2022<\/strong>, with <strong>hedge funds net short approximately 92,800 contracts<\/strong>, suggesting a market expectation of <em>continued low volatility<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Bessent proposed a potential <strong>$30 billion sale<\/strong> of <strong>Fannie Mae<\/strong> and <strong>Freddie Mac<\/strong> through a <strong>3% to 6% stake sale<\/strong> and highlighted <strong>Taiwan&#39;s (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>) dominance in chips<\/strong> as a <em>security risk<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Geopolitical tensions remain elevated, with the <strong>German government spokesperson<\/strong> stating that <strong>E3 snapback sanctions<\/strong> on Iran remain an option, and the <strong>IDF<\/strong> declaring the <em>evacuation of Gaza City is inevitable<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has offered extensive commentary on domestic economic policy, international trade, and geopolitical risks, touching upon the Federal Reserve&#39;s role, the impact of artificial intelligence, and strategic industry concerns. Bessent stated that the <strong>Federal Reserve<\/strong> has <em>strayed from its core monetary mission since 2008<\/em> and indicated that the administration would present <strong>3-4 candidates<\/strong> to President <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> for the next Fed Chair by the fall. He also expressed optimism about an <strong>AI boom<\/strong>, suggesting its impact on productivity could be seen as early as <strong>Q1 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On trade, Bessent emphasized that &quot;everything is on the table&quot; during discussions with China, a statement made during a Fox Business interview. He noted that while Canada was willing to join secondary tariffs, Europe remains uninterested in Russia&#39;s second round of tariffs. Bessent also dismissed concerns about the Indian Rupee becoming a reserve currency, believing that &quot;things will align with India&quot; eventually.<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury Secretary also weighed in on the housing market and critical industries. He suggested a <strong>3% to 6% sale<\/strong> of <strong>Fannie Mae<\/strong> and <strong>Freddie Mac<\/strong>, potentially raising <strong>at least $30 billion<\/strong>. Bessent further identified <strong>TSMC (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>)<\/strong> and Taiwan&#39;s dominance in chip manufacturing as a <em>security risk<\/em>, acknowledging that other semiconductor firms have performed well. He questioned the necessity of taking stakes in defense companies but suggested the possibility in other areas like shipbuilding, while affirming that <strong>Nvidia (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>)<\/strong> does not require financial support.<\/p>\n<p>In corporate news, <strong>Kohl&#39;s (<a href=\"\/stock\/KSS\">KSS<\/a>)<\/strong> delivered a strong performance in <strong>Q2 2026<\/strong>, reporting <strong>earnings per share of $1.35<\/strong> on revenue of <strong>$3.35 billion<\/strong>, both significantly exceeding analyst estimates of <strong>$0.31 EPS<\/strong> and <strong>$3.31 billion revenue<\/strong>. The retailer subsequently raised its full-year 2025 financial outlook, now projecting net sales between <strong>-5% to -6%<\/strong> (improved from -5% to -7%) and an operating margin between <strong>2.5% to 2.7%<\/strong> (up from 2.2% to 2.6%).<\/p>\n<p>Market sentiment, as reflected in the volatility index, shows a significant build-up in short positions. Speculators have amassed the <strong>largest short position in VIX futures since 2022<\/strong>, with <strong>hedge funds net short approximately 92,800 contracts<\/strong>. This indicates a widespread belief among institutional investors that market volatility will remain subdued. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries continue to be a favored safe haven asset, holding up well compared to other major bond markets. Mortgage applications saw a slight decline of <strong>-0.5%<\/strong> for the week ending August 22, with the 30-year mortgage rate at <strong>6.69%<\/strong>. The USD\/JPY pair rose <strong>0.5% to 148.14<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On the geopolitical front, a German government spokesperson confirmed that triggering <strong>E3 snapback sanctions<\/strong> remains an option following a meeting of France, Britain, and Germany with Iran in Geneva. Separately, the <strong>IDF Arabic Spokesman<\/strong> stated that the <em>evacuation of Gaza City is &quot;inevitable.&quot;<\/em> Italy&#39;s Prime Minister Meloni reiterated that the country&#39;s primary goal remains a structural cut of energy costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent articulated a broad range of policy views, from criticizing the Federal Reserve&#39;s post-2008 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[6287,3652,9476,3703,9478,3710,9530,4371,4824,5482,5601,6205,6243],"class_list":["post-52404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-scott-bessent","tag-fannie-mae","tag-kohls","tag-ai","tag-kss-stock-kss","tag-federal-reserve","tag-vix-futures","tag-china-trade","tag-geopolitics","tag-us-treasury","tag-nvda-stock-nvda","tag-freddie-mac","tag-ba-stock-ba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}