⚡ TODAY IN HISTORY

On October 5, 1947, Harry Truman gave the first televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americans to eat less meat and poultry so grain could feed postwar Europe. In 2011, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died at 56. Today? President Trump named the leaders of a new federal AI task force in a Sunday post on Truth Social.

TOP NEWS

Iran says Hormuz stays shut until the US meets 7 conditions 1/5 OF WORLD OIL

After a US reply arrived through Qatari mediators last week, Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Sunday the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until Washington accepts seven terms from a June interim deal. The waterway between Iran and Oman carried one-fifth of global oil and gas before US and Israeli strikes on Iran started the war on Feb. 28.

US employers add just 29,000 jobs in September 4.2% JOBLESS

Hiring slowed sharply last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% and yearly wage growth eased to 3%. The soft report lowered Wall Street’s expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again this year.

Key US borrowing rate hovers near a 24-year high 5.28%

Fears that costly oil will feed inflation drove the 10-year Treasury yield, which guides mortgage and loan rates, to its highest level since 2002 last week. The yield stood at 5.28% early Monday, even after Friday’s weak hiring data.

Gas averages $4.36 a gallon, up $1.20 from a year ago +38% IN A YEAR

Oil prices lifted by the Iran war kept the national average for regular gas at $4.36 on Sunday, according to AAA. Drivers paid a record $4.33 a gallon on average in September, 50 cents above the previous high for that month, set in 2023.

Brazil’s presidential race heads to an Oct. 25 runoff 56M VS. 53M VOTES

No candidate won a majority in Sunday’s first round, so right-wing Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a second vote. Flavio Bolsonaro finished first with about 56 million votes to Lula’s nearly 53 million, beating polls that had shown Lula ahead.

WORLD

Euro sinks to a 17-month low on French debt fears $1.1161

Investor worry over France’s debt and political gridlock before its April 2027 presidential election pushed the euro to $1.1161 in Asian trading Monday, its weakest level since May 2025. On Friday, the gap between French and German 10-year borrowing costs grew past 1.5 percentage points, the widest since 2012.

Reports: FlyDubai copilot aimed to crash jet into Israel’s main airport 174 ABOARD

Israeli officials say the Omani copilot of FlyDubai Flight 1073 stabbed the Indian captain on Sept. 30 as the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv jet neared Israel, sending it into a steep dive. Passengers and crew subdued the copilot, and the plane landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities arrested him.

Six-week-old Greek-run tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz

An unknown projectile hit the engine room of the Lipsi, a Liberia-flagged tanker managed by Greece’s Dynacom, on Sunday, leaving the ship disabled and adrift, maritime security reports said. The Lipsi is the third Dynacom tanker hit near Hormuz in less than three months.

Tehran rules out nuclear talks for now

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said this weekend that talks with Washington must first focus on Hormuz, and that restoring security there requires clear US steps. President Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day plan to reopen the strait in late September.

Iraq sends a supertanker through Hormuz for the first time in decades

Iraq chartered a state supertanker to carry crude through the blocked strait over the weekend, Yahoo Finance and the shipping outlet TradeWinds reported. Before the war, more than 100 ships a day crossed the waterway, and traffic remains far below that level.

POLITICS

Trump renews $5,000 check pledge tied to a GOP win $1.2T COST

Four weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, President Trump repeated in a Saturday video that every adult citizen will get $5,000 if Republicans keep both the House and Senate. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget puts the price at about $1.2 trillion, and the payments would need approval from Congress.

Democrats lead Senate polls in Texas, Alaska and Ohio

New York Times/Siena polls released Saturday show Democrat James Talarico ahead of Republican Ken Paxton 51% to 45% in Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate race in nearly four decades. Democratic candidates also lead by 7 points in Alaska and 3 in Ohio, trail by 1 in Iowa and are tied in Kansas.

Spy chief Jay Clayton will run Trump’s new AI task force 120-DAY DEADLINE

A week after AI executives signed a voluntary self-policing pledge at the White House, President Trump on Sunday named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to lead a “Super Intelligence Force” that reports to Trump and chief of staff Susie Wiles. Clayton told The Wall Street Journal the group has 120 days to report on the technology’s risks and benefits.

Supreme Court opens its new term with a climate case

The justices hear arguments Monday as Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil try to block a lawsuit from Boulder, Colorado, that seeks damages tied to climate change, one of dozens of similar suits. The Trump administration backs the energy firms, and this term’s docket also includes immigration detention and AR-15-style rifles.

Tennessee halts executions after Christa Pike survives lethal injection

Christa Pike, sentenced to death for a 1995 murder she committed at 18, survived two doses of execution drugs on Sept. 30 and was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Republican Gov. Bill Lee called the outcome “deeply disturbing,” ordered a review and postponed the state’s only other execution set for this year.

MARKETS

Nasdaq 100 closes at a record as rate-hike bets fade 30,808

Friday’s soft jobs data eased fears of another Federal Reserve rate increase, lifting the S&P 500 by 0.7% to 7,722.72, less than 1% below its August peak. Tech shares led the rally, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1% to finish at an all-time high.

Stock futures dip before Monday’s open

Climbing bond yields kept traders cautious in premarket trading, with S&P 500 futures down about 0.1% and Dow futures off 0.2%. Few companies report Monday, but PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines and Levi Strauss post results later this week.

Brent crude holds above $100 a barrel

With Hormuz still largely closed, Brent, the global oil benchmark, traded at $101.25 Monday morning, down 0.9% on the day. West Texas Intermediate, the main US grade, sat near $90.53.

Gold edges toward $4,200 an ounce

Gold futures rose 0.65% to $4,189.20 early Monday while the dollar held near a 17-month high against the euro. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, gained 0.8% to about $86,000.

Asian shares rise 1% after Wall Street’s tech run

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index climbed 1% Monday after Friday’s Nasdaq record. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.9% at the open as French debt worries spread from bonds to stocks.

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Verity’ opens at No. 1 with $32.6 million 3,510 THEATERS

Amazon MGM’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling thriller beat the $27 million that BoxOfficeReport had forecast for its debut weekend. ‘Resident Evil’ placed second with $12.5 million, lifting its three-week total to $124.9 million.

Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ debuts in fifth place

Warner Bros.’ ‘Digger,’ the first film in nearly a decade in which Tom Cruise headlines something other than an action sequel, earned $8 million in its opening weekend. BoxOfficeReport had projected an $11 million start.

Springsteen and Joan Baez play a protest festival near Washington

One month before the midterms, Bruce Springsteen performed with Joan Baez on Saturday at the Power to the People festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on a bill that also listed Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews. Part of ticket sales goes to VoteRiders and HeadCount, two groups that help people register and vote.

Zach Bryan breaks Gillette Stadium’s attendance record

Country singer Zach Bryan set the crowd record Saturday at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on the second of two nights there, TMZ reported. In September 2025, Bryan drew the largest single-ticketed concert crowd in US history at Michigan Stadium.

‘Avengers: Endgame’ re-release drops 83% in week two $894.6M TOTAL

Disney’s ‘Endgame’ encore opened in first place last weekend with $26.1 million, then lost its IMAX screens and took in $4.4 million this weekend. The 2019 film’s domestic total now stands at about $894.6 million.