The economic symposium down in Jackson Hole was about as hawkish as investors could have expected, sending markets into a tailspin on Friday. All three major averages slumped between 3%-4%, sending risk-off signals to other sectors and asset classes (Bitcoin fell below $20K for the first time since early July). Sentiment may remain dented in the week ahead, or stay at somewhat of a standstill until the release of fresh market data (home prices on Tuesday and the jobs report on Friday).

Facebook parent Meta Platforms has reached an undisclosed settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed over the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal. The episode saw the U.K. consulting firm harvest up to 87M Facebook users' data for use in political ad campaigns. The two sides provided no details about the settlement, although some had speculated that META could face hundreds of millions of dollars in damages if it lost the suit.

Chinese tech stocks, including Alibaba, JD.com, and Baidu gave up their gains on Friday, and are slipping again this morningt, despite an agreement to let American auditors access to New York-listed Chinese firms. The preliminary deal was signed off by the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. According to the PCAOB, inspectors can already be on the ground by the middle of next month to begin inspections.