economy May 18, 2026

Economic & Market Watch

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Our weekly download features both a big-picture economic dashboard and an in-depth intelligence brief covering a single facet of the economy.

In this week's brief: Much Higher Interest Rates for Much Longer.

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Economic & Market Watch is on hiatus the week of May 25, returning June 1.

In the News

Economy

Homebuilder sentiment edged up to 37 points in May after a sharp drop in April. Nonetheless, a reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment.
U.S. Treasury yields were mostly steady Monday after last week’s global bond sell-off drove them sharply higher. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped by less than 1 basis point to 4.59% after earlier reaching its highest level in 15 months.

Markets

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded above $104/barrel Monday morning, slightly reversing its earlier gains as an Iranian media outlet reported that the U.S. proposed a temporary waiver of sanctions on its oil, a key demand by Tehran to agree to a peace deal.
Utility and energy shares drew investor attention after NextEra Energy announced a $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, underscoring growing demand for electricity infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and data center expansion.

Current Events

According to Fars news agency, Iran has launched a bitcoin-backed insurance service, Hormuz Safe, for shipping companies transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The service offers verifiable coverage for cargo moving through the Persian Gulf and nearby waterways.
A new report on PJM Interconnection by Monitoring Analytics, a federally mandated independent watchdog, warned that rapidly expanding AI data centers are contributing to sharply higher wholesale electricity prices across the nation’s largest power grid.

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CFC's economic research team—John Suter, Sam Kem and Antony Davies—share their expert, yet easily digestible, perspective on what you need to know.

Have feedback about the podcast? A topic you'd like the EMW team to cover? Get in touch at economicresearch@nrucfc.coop.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Trading Economics