Investors Question Kevin Warsh’s Credibility & People Are Talking Less?
July 30, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readFed Confusion, AI Spending Gaps, and the Quiet Decline of Human Conversation
The Federal Reserve held rates steady yesterday, but the drama came from three dissenting officials who wanted a hike — the first time since 2016 that three policymakers broke ranks in the same direction — and from a bond market that promptly pushed the 30-year yield above 5.2%, its highest level in 19 years. Meanwhile, Meta and Microsoft both reported earnings, and the difference in how investors treated them came down to a single question: can you actually make money from all that AI spending?
Kevin Warsh's Credibility Problem
New Fed chair Kevin Warsh is running an unusual experiment. He's been deliberately vague about the central bank's future moves, trying to wean markets off the traditional forward guidance that investors have come to expect. The statement the committee released was nearly identical to last month's, frustrating analysts who wanted clearer commitments about when the Fed would actually raise rates to fight inflation.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Morning Brew Daily
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (01:01) **eBay Settles Harassment Lawsuit with Journalists** - eBay agrees to a $56 million settlement with a couple who were harassed by company security in 2019 after publishing critical articles.
- 2 (03:27) **Fed Holds Rates Steady Amid Split Vote and Market Revolt** - The Fed votes 9-3 to keep rates unchanged, with three officials dissenting in favor of a hike for the first time since 2016.
- 3 (08:37) **Meta Earnings: AI Spending Spooks Investors** - Meta reports a 91% decline in free cash flow as costs surge 55% year-over-year, with shares falling 9% after hours.
- 4 (11:37) **Microsoft Earnings: AI Investment Pays Off** - Microsoft reports strong earnings with Azure revenue growing 43% and 30 million paid Copilot subscribers, sending shares up 8% after hours.
- 5 (14:09) **Market Broadening Beyond Big Tech** - The equal-weighted S&P 500 hits an all-time high as consumer stocks like Starbucks and Chipotle report strong earnings, shifting investor focus away from the Magnificent Seven.
- 6 (17:02) **Neil's Numbers: Record Air Travel Day** - Last Thursday was the busiest day ever for commercial aviation, with 153,359 flights tracked, driven by summer travel demand.
- 7 (19:42) **Daily Marijuana Use Surpasses Cigarettes** - For the first time, more Americans (21.4 million) use marijuana daily or near-daily than smoke cigarettes (19.9 million) or drink alcohol frequently (17.2 million).
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
#900: A divided Fed holds interest rates but three members wanted to hike it up. Meta shares dip after reporting an earnings miss as it keeps spending money on data centers. Microsoft beat expectations thanks to its partnership with Anthropic. Then, Neal shares numbers on the busiest commercial flight day on record, weed being more common than cigarettes, and why nobody is talking to each other anymore. Finally, NYC just released a short list of property owners subject to Mamdani’s luxury tax on second homes.
Got difficult questions? Head to https://www.claude.ai/mbd to answer them.
Get tickets for our trivia tournament!
https://caveat.nyc/events/the-morning-brew-trivia-tournament-2026-07-30
Grab tickets to our Performance Revue show! https://www.morningbrew.com/events/brew-performance-revue-2026?utm_campaign=performance_revue_2026&utm_source=mbd
Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app.
Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from this podcast
Morning Brew Daily →