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Happy Monday. National park enthusiasts take note: The White House is considering a land swap with a private developer in Yosemite.
Stock futures are lower this morning after a strong week for all three major indexes.
Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.
1. The Tar Heel Story
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh en route to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, August 30, 2026.
Financial leaders and monetary policy makers are scheduled to meet this week in Asheville, North Carolina, to meet the Group of 20, where tariffs on U.S. trading partners and sanctions against Iran are expected to be high on the agenda.
Here’s what you need to know:
2. August rush
Traders at work at the New York Stock Exchange on August 25, 2026.
new york stock exchange
Today is the last day of August, and Wall Street is gearing up for a tumultuous but triumphant month. The main stocks that rose in August were in the tech sector; Nvidia, microsoft and micron.
High-tech oriented Nasdaq Composite and S&P500 Both companies are on track for their first wins in three months, up about 4% and 3%, respectively, in August. of Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by about 2%, marking the fifth consecutive month of victory.
However, the ending may be turbulent. Stock futures are falling this morning on renewed fighting in Iran. Follow live market updates here.
3. More strikes
On May 2, 2026, the tanker LNG ENTERPRISE offloads liquefied natural gas from the Lake Freeport LNG Terminal in the United States to the Levitusa Terminal near Athens, Greece. LNG shipments from the United States to Europe have become critical as the Iran conflict disrupts global gas supplies.
Null Photo | Null Photo | Getty Images
Iran reportedly targeted two US military bases in Jordan today after the US military struck two rocket launchers on Tehran’s Larak Island, marking the first exchange of attacks between the US and Iran in more than a month.
Sunday’s U.S. strike, confirmed to MS NOW by U.S. Central Command, came amid concerns by the U.S. military that Iranian forces were preparing to fire mine-laden rockets into the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices rose more than 3% this morning following the strike. President Trump also announced Friday an agreement with Venezuela to control more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves. President Trump said the deal would come at “no cost” to American taxpayers.
4. The screen becomes dark
A demonstrator holds a “Stop Data Centers” sign as U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the General Motors Proving Ground Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan, on Monday, July 27, 2026.
Sarah Rice | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Technology company executives have long touted their products as a way to make the world a better place. But CNBC’s Ashley Caputo writes that Americans are increasingly feeling the opposite as the backlash against artificial intelligence coincides with social media’s “Big Tobacco” moment.
More than half of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increasing use of AI in daily life, up from 37% in 2021, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, a CNBC survey of young Americans found that their trust in AI company executives was even lower.
In addition, there is growing concern about the impact of social media use on young people. Last week, Meta Inc. agreed to settle a social media addiction lawsuit brought by a group of state attorneys general for about $17 billion. Mike Moore, the former Mississippi attorney general who took on Big Tobacco, is now helping the state’s administration craft a basic settlement with the social media company.
5. Alphabet Soup
Economists have long described the post-pandemic economic recovery as “K” shaped. There is currently little agreement on the shape of the economy, with some wondering whether “C” or “E” is more appropriate. Joel Mokyr, a Nobel Prize-winning economic historian, told CNBC that it can start to feel like “alphabet soup.”
The use of letters to describe the state of the economy has been around for decades. Choosing a letter to describe the economy tends to be popular after recessions, but it is unusual for its shape to be widely debated years after an economic recovery. The fact that it’s happening today may highlight the growing awareness of wealth inequality in the United States.
daily dividend
This week we will be following:
—CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan, Justin Papp, Garrett Downs, Fred Imbert, Anniek Bao, Justina Lee, Ashley Capoot, Sawdah Bhaimiya and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.
Luke Fountain helped produce this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.
