Bloomberg — 2026-05-22#

Lead Story#

Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve during a White House ceremony where President Donald Trump urged him to “just do your own thing”. Warsh takes the helm at a precarious moment for the US economy, as bond traders fully price in a rate hike this year and Fed Governor Christopher Waller warns that rising inflation could force the central bank to resume policy tightening.

Markets & Economics#

• Global Long Bond Yields Hit Highest in Almost Two Decades: The selloff in longer-maturity government bonds has pushed yields to levels last seen during the global financial crisis, as the ongoing energy shock from the Iran war reignites global inflation fears.
• Bellwether Industrial Metal Copper Is Trading Like an AI Stock: Copper is breaking its traditional correlation with the global industrial economy, surging instead on bets that skyrocketing power consumption for artificial intelligence data centers will fuel massive grid demand.
• India RBI to Pay Record Dividend, Misses Market Estimates: The Reserve Bank of India will transfer a record 2.87 trillion rupees ($30 billion) to the government, though the payout fell short of expectations as energy prices strain public finances and the central bank defends a plunging rupee.
• SEC Delays Prediction Market ETFs From Roundhill, GraniteShares and Bitwise: The US securities regulator has stepped in to stall upstart fund issuers seeking to wrap election and recession bets into exchange-traded funds, while a House panel separately investigates potential insider trading on platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi.

Business & Industries#

• SpaceX Starship Deploys Mock Satellites During Pre-IPO Test: Elon Musk’s rocket venture successfully reached space and deployed dummy Starlink craft in a high-stakes test that bolsters its pitch to investors ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering.
• Puig Falls After Estee Lauder Deal Fails Amid Tilbury Strain: Shares of Spanish retail group Puig plunged following the collapse of a proposed multi-billion-dollar tie-up with Estee Lauder, reportedly derailed by compensation demands from makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury.
• Lantheus Weighs Potential $7 Billion Sale Following Offer From Curium: The radiopharma company is exploring a sale after receiving a takeover offer from Curium that would value the business at approximately $7 billion.
• Chrysler Reverses Luxury Strategy, Turns to $30k Models: Amid crushing vehicle inflation, Stellantis is abandoning its luxury-first strategy for Chrysler, pivoting to affordable SUVs and sub-$30,000 models to win back mainstream American car buyers.

Policy & World#

• Director of National Intelligence Chief Gabbard Is Stepping Down: Tulsi Gabbard is resigning as the US spy chief, citing her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis, and will be replaced by former CIA officer Aaron Lukas.
• UAE Joins Saudis, Qatar in Urging Trump Not to Restart Iran War: Gulf nations are pressing the US to give mediated negotiations a chance as a fragile ceasefire holds, though progress remains undercut by disputes over uranium enrichment and proposed tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Indonesia to ‘Listen to Market’ on New Commodity Export Body: Following a shock export revamp that sowed confusion across global palm oil markets, the chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund Danantara signaled a more conciliatory approach to building the nation’s new oversight body.
• German Government Balking at Price for Pre-IPO Stake in Tankmaker KNDS: Berlin is reportedly pushing back on the financial terms for acquiring a proposed 40% stake in tank manufacturer KNDS NV ahead of its planned multi-billion euro summer listing.

Opinion & Analysis#

• The FDA’s About-Face on Flavored Vapes Will Prove Deadly for Kids: Michael R. Bloomberg argues that the White House’s reversal on flavored vape bans threatens to undo the 21st century’s most significant public health achievement: the widespread decline in youth smoking.
• The Desperation of AI Titans Is an Ominous Sign: Anthropic’s $1.25 billion monthly lease of a SpaceX data center—despite Elon Musk previously calling the AI firm “misanthropic and evil”—highlights how the voracious need for physical compute infrastructure is creating strange bedfellows ahead of potential tech IPOs.