US Aims to Throttle Iran's Economy; Bessent Flags Bigger Debt Buyback Potential

Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: 1) Oil headed for a substantial weekly gain, as a US push to isolate Iran’s economy raised the specter of further market disruption.Global crude benchmark Brent traded above $93 a barrel, on pace for a weekly advance of around 6%. West Texas Intermediate for October was near $86 a barrel following a five-session run of gains. 2) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he’s prepared to expand efforts to buy back costlier debt and that the administration will be unveiling a new fiscal initiative to address the highest borrowing costs in years. 3) Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest sign of overwhelming demand from investors looking to profit from the artificial intelligence boom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.