AI is Not About to End the Human Race; Oil Remains Pricey; Senate Hopes to Move Forward on CLARITY Act; Pause or Hike for the FOMC in Focus

With a FOMC rate policy decision due on Wednesday, investors traded with a timid mindset to open the week. Each of the major indices took losses for the day, though the declines were not very deep. AI-related stocks led the declines, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggested slowing the pace of innovation in the technology in a wordy warning posted on the internet.

Amodie was joined in the cuationary note by OpenAI's Sam Altman, who chimed in about AI's abilities to exceed human control. The market took the warnings in stride, without panic. President Trump chimed in on his Truth Social platform, vhiding the tech executives for being alarmist while reiterating the need for the United States to remain number one in the AI race, outpacing China.

The entire back-and-forth was little more than empty rhetoric on both sides of the argument. AI is certainly a great technological innovation, but fears of it destroying the human race seem to be mostly overblown science fiction. The models are getting smarter, and faster, but Amodei's and Altman's pleas for pacing the advancements are illogical and unworkable in the larger scheme of things. Individual companies aren't going to slow development over safety issues and China is certainly not going to pace themselves in development of their LLMs.

The markets have more to chew on these days than fears of AI becoming sentient and wiping out the human race. Policitians and generals are doing a bang-up job in that regard, with wars raging in the Middle East and Ukraine, with no end in sight for either conflict.

On the finance side, treasury yields popped higher Monday, with the peaks just before 9:30 am ET when the yield on the 10-year note briefly surpassed 5.01% and the 30-year bond yield rose other than 5.38%.

With the opening bell just minutes ahead, the 10-year yield is holding right around 4.99%, with the 30-year yielding 5.36%. These are levels that most traders owuld have considered panic points just months ago, though today's reality (and probably tomorrow's rate hike) has put a different spin into play. The riased interest rates are only going to cost the U.S. government about $60 billion a year in extra expense, and, of course, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has deep inner knowledge that will keep America from defauting on its $40 trillion debt load. He's an economic shaman, after all.

Oil prices reamin over $100/barrel for both Brent and WTI crude.

Stock futures are drfting higher heading toward what looks to be a flat open. Gold and silver continue to be beaten down, creating a buying opportunity for individuals and central banks alike.

Bitcoin got a boost on Monday in hopes that the Senate would pass a procedural vote on the CLARITY act, though Monday's gains have already been taken back. The measure requires 60 yes votes and there doesn't appear to be adequate Democrat support to move it forward. The vote is scheduled for later today.

Meanwhile, your AI assistant is eating your lunch...

At the Close, Monday, September 14, 2026:
Dow: 52,421.20, -152.09 (-0.29%)
NASDAQ: 26,186.41, -146.62 (-0.56%)
S&P 500: 7,619.98, -37.00 (-0.48%)
NYSE Composite: 24,205.39, -126.18 (-0.52%)