The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, grew less than economists expected in August at 2.2% year-over-year. The data comes on the heels of the Federal Reserve's 0.5% interest rate cut issued Sept. 18, the first in more than four years. 

The inflation data supports another 0.5% interest rate cut in November, RSM US LLP Chief Economist Joseph Brusuelas said in a Friday tweet. "This is what an economic expansion looks like at full employment," he said. 

The S&P 500 traded at all-time highs above the 5,700 level this week.

Brainard Touts China EV Ban In Detroit

Lael Brainard, the director of the National Economic Council and a former Federal Reserve board member, spoke in favor of the Biden administration's proposed ban on Chinese electric vehicles Monday at the Detroit Economic Club, the same day details of the proposal were released.

The U.S. Commerce Department aims to block the import and sale of Chinese-made vehicles with key communications and automated driving systems on the basis of national security concerns. Additionally, a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles imposed by the Biden administration took effect Friday. 

"We will not allow cars driving on U.S. roads if they are using Chinese software and hardware systems," Brainard told the DEC. "We think this is very important from a national security point of view."

Meta Platforms Dives Deeper Into AI, Virtual Reality

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc META announced its latest Quest 3S virtual reality headset at the Meta Connect 2024 conference Wednesday along with updates to its Llama artificial intelligence platform and Ray-Ban smart glasses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced a prototype for Orion, Meta's holographic augmented reality glasses. 

"This isn't passthrough. This is the physical world with holograms laid on it," Zuckerberg said.

China's Stimulus Triggers Stock Rally

The People's Bank of China announced stimulus measures this week that will inject approximately $140 billion (1 trillion yuan) in liquidity into the country's banking system as well as a reduction in the mortgage rate, sending U.S.-traded China stocks and ETFs such as e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR BABA and electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc – ADR NIO higher. 

Billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he's building positions in Chinese stocks. "I didn't know that they were going to bring out the big guns," Tepper of the country's stimulus plans. 

Bernie Sanders Blasts Ozempic Cost

Novo Nordisk A/S NVO CEO Lars Jorgensen faced questions from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday about the high prices of the drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Wegovy, the weight loss version of diabetes drug Ozempic, costs $1,349 monthly in the U.S. versus $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany and $92 in the U.K., according to the committee.

"You're making huge amounts of money in this country and you're charging us far more and you haven't given me an answer as to why," Sen. Bernie Sanders, the committee's chair, said to Jorgensen during the hearing.

The CEO said: "Anything that will help patients get access to affordable medicine, we'll be happy to look into."

Photo: Shutterstock.