Business & Markets — September 22, 2026

Fed official warns inflation fight will be ‘painful.’ Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the central bank may need to cause economic pain, including higher unemployment, to curb stubbornly high inflation following last week’s rate hike.

Fast Company · Read more ↗

Bitcoin reaches eight-month high. Bitcoin rose to an eight-month high Monday despite ongoing regulatory uncertainty, a sign of strong investor risk appetite even as bond yields keep climbing.

MarketWatch · Read more ↗

Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz. Iran reportedly offered for the first time to reopen the strait within seven days if the U.S. eases military pressure. Oil prices fell Tuesday on diplomacy hopes ahead of the UN General Assembly.

According to CNBC, the report drove an immediate market response beyond crude, with U.S. stock futures trading mixed as traders weighed the prospect of renewed talks between Washington and Tehran. The proposal is conditional, tying any reopening of the waterway to a pullback in American military actions rather than an unconditional move, and its timing coincides with the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.

CNBC · Read more ↗

Paramount settles states’ suit over Warner deal. Paramount reached a settlement with the 12 state attorneys general suing to block its $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, removing the deal’s biggest obstacle.

The agreement was reported by The Associated Press, which cited a source familiar with the matter. Paramount, which is owned by Skydance, faced a coalition of a dozen state attorneys general whose lawsuit represented the chief legal challenge to the transaction. With that case resolved, the combination of the two media companies no longer faces the litigation that had stood as its most significant impediment.

AP News · Read more ↗