*as of 10/14; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for September showed inflation rising 0.6% monthly and 3.7% annually, both above expectations, due in large part to rising gas prices and energy costs. The Core CPI reading, which excludes food and energy costs, was up 0.3% monthly and 2.6% annually, also above expectations. Public markets took a beating in response, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.1% and the Nasdaq falling 1.9%. The crypto market was down nearly 4% overall, with major coins like Solana, ZCash, and others seeing double-digit declines.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Inflation still remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target and does not appear to be slowing down. Markets reacted negatively as the chances of further rate hikes have increased. The CME FedWatch tool now places an 89% chance of at least one hike in the Fed’s two remaining meetings this year, and the median expectation is for three rate hikes by the end of 2027.

📉 Character.AI bankruptcy: The controversial chatbot platform that was once worth $1 billion in an official funding round and $2.5 billion as a result of a Google licensing deal filed for bankruptcy after it struggled to generate revenue. Disney, which once pursued legal action against the company, is buying select assets for $20 million, and the company is searching for other bidders.

🏡 Record-breaking buyer’s market: Home sellers now outnumber active buyers by 63%, the biggest gap since the post-2008 financial crash as the overall number of buyers reaches its low since at least 2013. Despite rising inventory and stagnant prices, high mortgage rates have kept potential buyers on the sidelines.

🤖 Amazon and Decart: The tech giant is reportedly in talks to buy the AI startup for approximately $7 billion, nearly double its $4 billion valuation from May. Previously, it had been reported that Anthropic was considering a $6 billion purchase of the company, but that fell through.

🏢 Rent projections: RealPage is forecasting U.S. apartment rents to grow by 2.4% over the next year. San Francisco and Milwaukee project to have the highest growth rates, while Houston and San Antonio are tapped to have the lowest, though no metros are expected to show declines.

🪙 Tokenized treasuries: BNY and Citadel Securities successfully completed a transaction using tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds in another positive step for blockchain technology.

🎨 Modigliani sculpture: Phillips is auctioning off “Tête",” a rare Modigliani sculpture, next month during New York Art Week - and it is expected to fetch $28 million to $35 million.

AI’s reputation among the public has been struggling, with polls indicating that a significant majority of Americans want the speed of its development to slow down, and many are more concerned than hopeful about AI’s role in the world. Even though there are significant risks with the technology and a tremendous amount of AI slop infecting the Internet, there are incredibly beneficial uses as well. Take cancer detection, where AI-driven technologies are already outperforming standard imaging in some cases. Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose early which leads to very low survival rates once patients are finally diagnosed. AI models have been able to detect early-stage pancreatic and bile-duct cancers earlier and with far greater accuracy, which could lead to better outcomes for patients. It’s still early, but it’s these type of potential breakthroughs that make the case for AI’s role in the future of our society.