Trump ve Xi yapay zeka devleriyle yemek yiyor ve Meta sahneye çıkıyor: Bu hafta ne izlenmeli?

Trump and Xi dine with AI titans and Meta takes the stage: What to watch this week

Ethan Wolff-Mann · Senior Editor

Mon, September 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM GMT+3 7 min read

• META -2.43%

With the Fed decision and most of the earnings season in the rearview, the last full week of September presents a lighter slate of scheduled financial programming — opening the door for whatever wild-card news the universe has in store.

For instance, a giant must-watch meeting between President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that is set to feature AI's biggest figures, and a big conference from Meta.

Last week saw stocks mostly tread water despite the first Fed rate hike since 2023, as investors did a lot of looking around at bonds and stocks, trying to get a read on the market's various rooms.

Trying to figure out what the Fed hike actually means — and whether it will make any difference to inflation — will be high on the week's to-do list. Stocks have largely drifted as the two competing forces have canceled each other out: High bond yields and strong earnings forecasts.

Read more: How the Fed rate decision affects your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments

While the earnings calendar is relatively calm, we'll have our eyes on corporate reports from Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) and Darden Restaurants (DRI), which will provide checks on consumers and, in Costco's case, a key place where the inflation rubber meets the road. We'll also be watching commentary from KB Home (KBH) as mortgage rates surge once again.

Without any big economic data releases, some of the more niche data may find itself taking center stage. Keep an eye on our calendar.

Trump and Xi get ready for dinner with the AI titans

President Trump will be hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week for the second time in 2026.

Quite a lot has happened since Trump's visit to China in May: a sticky war with Iran, a corresponding energy crisis, and growing risks amid an AI arms race between the two countries, just to name a few plot points.

Going into this, one has to imagine Trump is looking for wins with a low approval rating and that growing laundry list of things that are worrying the public — in a bipartisan fashion, no less.

The obvious thing markets are looking for is a continuation of the two countries' trade truce ahead of its November expiration. While that's broadly expected, any meeting between volatile parties could always devolve into something worrying.

Especially when touchy subjects like Taiwan or a war without any visible off-ramp are being discussed.

It's not hard to see how the latter subject could present problems: China, which is close to Iran, has allegedly been circumventing sanctions and possibly even sharing intelligence with Tehran.

One thing both parties may be aligned on is brushing aside AI risks, as both Xi and Trump seem to have little appetite for curbing the arms race.

But with numerous AI titans attending a state dinner on Thursday — OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang among those confirmed — things could get interesting.

And, like anything involving the Trump administration and negotiations, be ready for the unexpected.

Markets look to FedSpeak and oil for answers

We noted that markets have had a tough time trying to parse last Wednesday's Fed hike.

Wall Street rightly noted that the Fed can't control the oil crisis, and as BlackRock's Rick Rieder deftly pointed out, inflation is happening in the part of the economy that isn't cyclical. That is to say: stuff that is more of a need than a want, like healthcare and utilities. And you can't really suppress demand for that, now can you?

At the same time, the bond market is just a little happier. And stocks have hardly moved.

This head-scratching is why Wall Street will be looking toward FedSpeak to try to make sense of things. As TD's macro research team pointed out in a research note, New York Fed president John Williams is "the highlight, although he will likely sound noncommittal on October."

Others, such as Barr, Jefferson, Goolsbee, Barkin, Paulson, and Hammack, will round out a busy schedule of commentary. But TD notes that Paulson, who's been a dove, should be the one to watch as "a signal for how hawkish the Committee has shifted."

As everyone's been rightly saying, the FedSpeak is only part of the equation. The other part is "oilspeak." Any news of supply changes would be welcome relief to markets.

Meta and Qualcomm take the stage from both sides of the AI spectrum

Meta (META) kicks off its Connect conference on Wednesday, and the company is expected to unveil a new version of its glasses, fresh off Snap's foray into the space.

The company recently launched a subscription platform called "Meta One," in an effort to monetize its AI business for consumers.

While the enterprise aspect of the AI revolution has mostly been the factor driving markets, recent developments from Apple and Meta have thrust AI's consumer potential into the limelight.

According to Reuters, Meta's new wearable may be camera-free, adding a new wrinkle to the recent boom in hardware innovation beyond the phone.

Markets will also see some action on the infrastructure side of the AI supply chain with Qualcomm's (QCOM) Snapdragon Summit, which kicks off on Tuesday in Hawaii.

Economic and earnings calendar

Monday

Economic data: Chicago Fed national activity index, August (-0.06 expected, -0.08 previously)

Earnings calendar: No notable earnings.

Tuesday

Economic data: ADP weekly employment change, week ended Sept. 5 (+16,250 previously); Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing index, September (-10.6 previously); Richmond Fed manufacturing index, September (4 previously); Richmond Fed business conditions, September (-12 previously)

Earnings calendar: THOR Industries (THO), KB Home (KBH)

Wednesday

Economic data: MBA mortgage applications, week ended Sept. 18 (-4.1% previously); S&P Global US manufacturing PMI, September preliminary reading (53.6 expected, 53.9 previously); S&P Global US services PMI, September preliminary reading (56 expected, 56.5 previously); S&P Global US composite PMI, September preliminary reading (56 previously)

Earnings calendar: Cintas Corporation (CTAS), Paychex (PAYX), General Mills (GIS), H.B. Fuller Company (FUL), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL)

Thursday

Economic data: Current account balance, second quarter (-$226.8 billion previously); Initial jobless claims, week ended Sept. 19 (196,000 previously); Continuing claims, week ended Sept. 12 (1.73 million previously); New home sales, month-on-month, August (+1.3% expected, -10.5% previously); Building permits, month-on-month, August final reading (-2.7% previously); Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity, September (10 previously)

Earnings calendar: Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC), BlackBerry (BB), Scholastic Corporation (SCHL)

Friday

Economic data: Durable goods orders, August preliminary reading (-0.3% expected, +1.1% previously); Kansas City Fed services activity, September (-3 previously); U. Mich. sentiment, September final reading (47.8 expected, 47.8 previously); U. Mich. current conditions, September final reading (50.9 previously); U. Mich. expectations, September final reading (45.8 previously); U. Mich. 1-year inflation, September final reading (+4.6% previously); U. Mich. 5-10 year inflation, September final reading (+3.4% previously)

Earnings calendar: Tamboran Resources Corporation (TBN)

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