Fed's Cook Warns AI and Oil Will Keep Inflation Hot as CarMax Profits Jump 81%

Tuesday, 29 September 2026. A Federal Reserve governor has signalled that interest rates may have further to rise, while CarMax surprised with an 81% jump in earnings. Here is what is going on as Wall Street opens.

Fed's Lisa Cook: AI and oil will keep inflation hot

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Monday she expects continued pressure on inflation from the AI buildout, higher oil prices and supply-chain disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East (Reuters, Yahoo Finance).

• Cook said the labour market 'appears to be well positioned to handle an increase in rates', and that inflation has been 'too high for too long'.
• She expects AI productivity gains to bring 'modest disinflation within the next few years', but not in time to offset inflationary pressure later this year.
• US inflation was about 3.8% in the 12 months to August, roughly double the Fed's 2% target (Reuters).
• The Fed raised rates by 0.25 percentage points in September, its first hike in three years, and projects one more increase by the end of 2026.
• Markets are pricing in roughly a 70-75% chance of another hike at the Fed's October meeting (Reuters, Yahoo Finance).

Markets steady after Monday's sell-off

• US stock futures were modestly higher before the open, with Nasdaq futures up about 0.4% (Investopedia).
• The 10-year Treasury yield eased to about 5.21%, down from Monday's 19-year high close of 5.24% (Investopedia, Trading Economics).
• US crude oil fell around 1.4% to about $91.30 a barrel, while gold held near $4,185 an ounce (Investopedia).
• Bitcoin opened at $83,488 on Tuesday and was trading around $84,400 later in the morning (Yahoo Finance, Investopedia).

CarMax earnings jump 81%

CarMax reported fiscal second-quarter results for the three months to 31 August, beating expectations on both revenue and profit (CarMax press release, WTOP/AP).

• Revenue rose 19.5% to $7.9 billion.
• Diluted earnings per share rose 81.3% to $1.16, up from $0.64 a year earlier.
• Combined retail and wholesale unit sales rose 14.7% to 387,735, with comparable-store used unit sales up 13%.
• CarMax Auto Finance income climbed 32.1% to $135.6 million.
• The company plans to resume modest share buybacks this quarter and will give a strategic update on 3 November.

What to watch today

US consumer confidence for September and August JOLTS job openings data are due at 10am ET (3pm UK time). Carnival also reports third-quarter results today, with its earnings call at 10am ET.

Sources

• Reuters - Fed's Cook sees further inflationary pressures ahead
• Yahoo Finance - Fed's Lisa Cook warns AI won't save the economy from near-term inflation
• Investopedia - 5 things to know before the stock market opens
• Trading Economics - US 10-year Treasury yield
• Yahoo Finance - Bitcoin and ethereum prices today
• CarMax - Second quarter fiscal 2027 results
• WTOP / AP - CarMax fiscal Q2 earnings snapshot
• Carnival - Third quarter 2026 earnings event