Bonds, Cryptos, Moderna Play Havoc With Markets. 2 Reasons for More Chaos. — Barrons.com

A major cancer breakthrough and bond market intervention by the Treasury don't look like being enough for the S&P 500 to post a weekly gain. That sounds extraordinary, but it's been a week of upheaval and stunning reversals.Maybe next week will be quieter? Oh wait, Nvidia reports earnings and there's the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium featuring Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's keynote speech.The market has been on a roller coaster. Moderna went from the index's best performer Wednesday to its worst Thursday having had a cancer vaccine breakthrough. But that wasn't even the most dramatic about-turn investors had to deal with.Bond yields jumped again as their retreat in the previous session-following the Treasury Department's plan to increase longer-dated debt buybacks-quickly faded. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then opened the door to more surprises as he touted the government's "big toolkit" to bring down yields.Another stunning volte-face is upending market dynamics-cryptocurrencies are back. Bitcoin has jumped close to 25% this week and was trading near $78,000 early Friday.If the hot money that has fired the artificial-intelligence trade this year is moving elsewhere then that could be a problem for the tech rally that has propped up markets.Nvidia's coming earnings will bring AI and chip stocks sharply back into focus, after a rare week in which they have faded into the background. The market could do with a reminder of just how strong the AI boom is-it doesn't need a U-turn on that front.-Callum KeownGet more of the journalism you love. Choose Barron's as a preferred source in Google.Pain at the Pump Could Become Major Investor HeadacheGlobal energy prices are stoking a key component of consumer fuel costs that could add to inflation pressures and broader market disruption over the coming months. Prices for diesel fuel have jumped nearly 9% over the past two months, and are up nearly 50% from last year.Take a look at what the industry calls the crack spread, which is the gross margin a refinery makes for turning a barrel of crude oil into diesel fuel. That spread hit a fresh record of more than $102 a barrel in the past week. Diesel itself is just over $5.50 a gallon.Diesel is significant because, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration explains, it is the fuel that powers around 70% of the movements of freight, rail, agriculture, and construction equipment, and is a key component of inflation when prices rise.The moves in diesel heading into the peak of the U.S. farming harvest will put additional upward pressure on consumer inflation while Treasury bond yields are testing their highest levels in years. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, calls it the market's next area of concern.The recent calm in crude prices disguises a more important message, Hansen cautions. "The world has managed to find enough barrels of oil, but it is increasingly struggling to produce and deliver enough of the fuels consumers actually need."What's Next: Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, says there might be a small amount of relief coming in the switch to winter-blend gasoline. But a shutdown Strait of Hormuz and ongoing refinery strikes will keep fuel prices elevated.-Martin BaccardaxLayoffs at JPMorgan Hit Highest Level Since 2015The banking environment is "getting close to as good as it gets," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on a second-quarter earnings call last month. But the country's largest lender is still laying off hundreds of employees.JPMorgan filed six layoff notices between February and July, affecting 774 employees in Texas, New Jersey, and California. It's the highest total since 2015 when 1,040 employees were laid off, according to WARN Database.The latest layoffs have come across JPMorgan's consumer banking, commercial and investment banking, and technology units, people familiar with the matter told Barron's. They have hit various levels of workers."This is part of our regular management of the business," a JPMorgan spokesman said. "We regularly review our business needs and adjust our staffing accordingly."The 774 employees represent less than 1% of JPMorgan's 320,560 employees. The total number of people losing their jobs is likely higher, however, because federal laws generally don't require companies to report smaller-scale layoffs.What's Next: The move comes as banks lay off employees to keep a lid on expenses and find new uses for artificial intelligence. "We are going to use AI to do a better job for clients. That's our job," Dimon said on last month's earnings call.-Rebecca Ungarino and George GloverAmazon Finds Time to Be a Retailer, Expanding Drone DeliveryEven as Amazon pours hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, the world's largest retailer is still finding time to be a retailer. It's a sign investors still expect growth in Amazon's core retail and services business, where rivals are attempting to erase its advantage in shipping speed.Amazon is expanding Prime Air drone delivery to nearly 500 cities and towns in the U.S. by the end of 2026. Amazon's fastest delivery option brings items in as little as 30 minutes. Most products that fit in a large shoebox and weigh five pounds or less are eligible.Amazon Prime subscribers get free drone delivery on orders of $50 or more and pay $2.99 below that. Non-Prime customers pay $4.99. Prime Air operates in Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, and Nebraska. New locations will include areas of Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho, and New York.Walmart's same-day fulfillment has proven to be a formidable competitor. The company's own drone service made its millionth delivery in May, with an average time of 23 minutes. FedEx rolled out same-day delivery with definite delivery times in March, allowing retailers to streamline their shipping.The basic idea is that faster delivery can nudge buyers to make purchases they would've otherwise delayed or forgone. Truist Securities' Youssef Squali says Amazon's ultra-fast delivery is "driving a structural shift in consumer behavior."What's Next: Even if Prime Air boosts revenue, the question is at what cost. Analysts expect the operating margin in Amazon's North America segment-which includes retail and subscriptions-to hit 8.3% in 2026 and 9.4% in 2027, up from 6.9% last year. Growing sales isn't enough.-Nate WolfAnother State Joins Those Stalling AI Data Center BuildoutStates are stalling efforts by data centers to connect to the electric grid, which could delay-though probably not derail-power companies' efforts to profit from the artificial-intelligence boom. In fact, for some companies that provide electricity, it could turn out to be a benefit.Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued the latest broadside this week with new rules that will force data centers to bring their own power sources and get community buy-in before starting construction. Earlier, New York issued a one-year data-center moratorium, and Texas has an industry "audit."The fact that data centers are under fire in states with such different politics shows just how broad-based the pushback has become. Abe Silverman, a Johns Hopkins research scholar focused on energy policy, says "We are a split country, except on this one issue."Shapiro's rules apply to projects whether or not they connect to the larger electric grid. He also removed all data-center projects from a "fast track" process the state has used to connect high-priority projects to the grid quickly. He had previously announced these standards as voluntary guidelines.Pennsylvania doesn't yet have any AI data centers, but it has attracted more than 100 data-center project proposals, with some of them needing as much power as a midsized city. Unlike some of its neighbors, the Keystone state produces more electricity than it needsWhat's Next: Jefferies analyst Paul Zimbardo thinks Shapiro's order could be a negative for companies that already own power plants in the state, such as Talen Energy, Vistra Energy, and Public Service Enterprise Group, which had been hoping to make deals with data-center developers.-Avi SalzmanHow Chinese Tech IPOs Are Outshining Their U.S. RivalsChinese IPOs are popping-and they aren't dropping. Stunning first-day gains of these recent listings make the U.S. debuts of SpaceX, AI chip maker Cerebras Systems, and AOL owner Bending Spoons look tame in comparison. It could be a matter of demand in China.First it was the nearly 500% surge for memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, on the STAR Market, and then it was this week's 460% first-day pop by Chinese humanoid robot company Unitree Robotics. Private U.S. investors aren't behind it, since it's difficult to directly buy the IPOs.Why are Chinese IPOs shooting to the moon? Matt Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist with Renaissance Capital cited "frenzied domestic demand" for both Unitree-which competes with Tesla-and for CXMT-a rival of Micron as well as South Korea's SK Hynix.These aren't the only Chinese companies that have done well. Angelo Bochanis, head of Renaissance's international IPO coverage, says mainland China IPOs raising at least $100 million have averaged a 345% first-day gain this year and that many companies have held on to those gains from their IPO price.Bochanis said that it is more difficult to go public in China than the U.S., so companies that make it to the market are perceived as being high quality firms by investors. "Potential issuers don't just err on the side of caution, they tiptoe every step of the process, including when pricing their IPOs," he said.What's Next: There are some U.S.-listed funds investing in China IPOs, like the Tema Memory ETF. Still, investors need to be cautious overall. Lori Heinel, global chief investment officer for State Street Investment Management, told Barron's that there are concerns about speculative buying and excess for AI stocks in China.-Paul R. La Monica-Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Patrick O'Donnell, Rupert SteinerThis content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.