For: September 29, 2026
>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed lower yesterday to start the week. Stocks fell as Treasury yields traded above five-percent and A-I shares including AMD and Micron Technology edged lower. Investors are awaiting the release of key economic data this week with the closely watched September jobs report due out Friday. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 347 points to 51-481. The S&P 500 fell 59 points to 76-83. The Nasdaq dropped 248 points to 26-820.
>>$15-Billion Steel Plant Planned For Southeast Iowa
(Washington DC) -- President Trump is announcing plans for a new 15-billion-dollar steel plant in southeast Iowa. Trump says the Mesabi [[ meh-SAW-bee ]] Metallics facility in Lee County will be the largest steel manufacturing plant in U.S. history. The facility is expected to create about 1,750 permanent jobs in Iowa, paying an average of nearly 49-dollars-an-hour, along with up to six-thousand construction jobs during the buildout. Trump also says the plant could add an estimated 95-billion-dollars to the U.S. economy. The facility is expected to begin production in 2030.
>>OpenAI Stops Release Of New AI Model Over Safety Concerns
(San Francisco, CA) -- OpenAI says it's pausing the release of its latest AI model after it failed in-house safety checks. The company announced Monday that the model, GPT-6.1 Astra, failed to meet requirements for sticking to the scope and authorization of its tasks and what it reports back to the user about its activities. Similar safety concerns have been raised about other AI models that have engaged in boundary-pushing, oversight evasion, and incomplete disclosure.
>>Tech Companies To Testify In Front Of New York City Council
(New York, NY) -- Major tech companies are going to testify in front of the New York City Council regarding the potential dangers of AI. This marks the first public testimony under oath from AI companies after several whistleblowers and executives issued warnings about the need for regulation. Speakers for companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta will all attend next Monday's hearing in front of the entire 51-member body. The council also sent a subpoena demanding someone from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI company to attend.
>>Walmart Says No To AI Pricing
(Bentonville, AR) -- Walmart says it will not use artificial intelligence or customers' personal information to set individual prices. CEO John Furner says the company will "price the product, not the person," including when shoppers use its AI assistant, Sparky. Walmart also says its employees will continue overseeing pricing and that it will not use dynamic pricing based on individual customers. Meanwhile, Walmart is rolling out digital price tags nationwide, replacing traditional paper labels. The company says the new technology will let stores update prices in minutes and help employees locate products that need restocking.
>>Pepsico Raises Prices
(Purchase, NY) -- Shoppers will soon pay more for some popular PepsiCo snacks and drinks, including Doritos, Ruffles and SunChips. The company says prices on certain products will rise by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage, with increases expected by the end of the year or early 2027. PepsiCo says the hikes are meant to keep pace with inflation and offset higher commodity, packaging and transportation costs. That comes just months after the company cut prices on some larger snack bags by as much as 15-percent. PepsiCo says prices on the affected products are still expected to remain below their levels before those earlier cuts.
