This week on the Rich Habits Radar, Austin Hankwitz and Robert Croak unpack what the Fed’s latest minutes signal for rates, why AI is reshaping global trade, and what Google’s record nuclear deal with Constellation Energy means for the power sector.

Fed minutes: more hikes, just not yet

Minutes from the September meeting, where the Fed delivered its first rate hike in three years, point to one more increase by year-end, with October looking less likely than December. Softer wage growth gives officials room to wait, while the sell-off in longer-dated Treasuries is already tightening financial conditions on its own. The hosts frame it as a “higher for longer, but gradual” setup, with rate-sensitive sectors under pressure and their focus remaining on S&P 500 earnings growth into 2027.

The WTO’s AI trade surprise

The World Trade Organization sharply raised its global goods trade forecast to 3.9% for 2026 and 4.1% for 2027. AI-related goods drove almost half of trade growth in the first half of 2026, but the gains are concentrated: Asia leads, Europe is flat, and Middle East exports are falling sharply due to the war. The hosts’ takeaway: this is not a rising tide for all, and concentration in a handful of exporting countries is the key risk.

Google and Constellation’s record nuclear deal

Google and Constellation Energy signed a 20-year, 890-megawatt agreement to upgrade 11 existing reactors, the largest upgrade deal ever struck between a nuclear operator and a tech company. It follows similar agreements by Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. Robert’s caution: nuclear is a long-term play with heavy capital commitments, and volatility should be expected along the way.

Radar points

Quick hits include Lambda’s new pre-IPO funding round, reports that Starbucks is exploring a Chipotle acquisition, Ray Dalio’s warning of a US debt crisis, a major quantum computing raise, a $1.8 billion AI biology data initiative involving Biohub, the DOE and NIH, and a Financial Times report that OpenAI’s annualized revenue is lower than widely assumed.

Watch the full episode above.

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