Fed Cuts, Corporate Clashes, and Free Speech Fights

18th September 2025

The Fed cut interest rates for the first time this year, lowering its benchmark to 4.00%–4.25% and signaling two more cuts could follow, though Chair Jerome Powell warned the long-term outlook remains uncertain. Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield stepped down after 47 years, saying Unilever has stifled the brand’s independence on social issues. ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over comments about Charlie Kirk’s shooting, sparking backlash from Hollywood and free speech advocates. And Moody’s flagged risks in Oracle’s $300 billion AI contracts, warning heavy reliance on a few clients and rising debt could strain the company before returns materialize. All this in today’s Read It and Eat! 

Major Headlines

• Fed Cuts Rates for First Time This Year, Hints at More to Come

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since December, citing signs of weakness in the labor market and growing unemployment risks. The move lowers the benchmark rate by a quarter point to a 4.00%–4.25% range and sets the stage for additional cuts later this year. While the decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s calls for looser policy, it was far more modest than the steep reductions he has demanded. New Fed Governor Stephen Miran, seen as closely tied to Trump’s agenda, was the lone dissenter, pushing for a deeper cut.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a careful tone in his press conference, stressing that while inflation remains elevated, the weakening job market has become the Fed’s top concern. “You see minority unemployment going up. You see younger people more susceptible to economic cycles … the labor market is weakening. We don’t need it to soften anymore,” he said. Powell emphasized the balancing act policymakers face: keeping inflation in check while preventing further job losses in an already fragile labor market.

The Fed’s dot plot (formally, the Summary of Economic Projections) highlighted that balancing act. Officials penciled in expectations for two more cuts to close out the year, alongside a slightly higher GDP forecast that mirrors some of Wall Street’s recent optimism. While the median projection of a 3.50% to 3.75% rate by year-end has broad support, the scatter of dots for 2026, 2027, and beyond underscored how murky the long-term picture remains. As Powell put it: “It would actually be surprising if you didn’t have a pretty wide range of views in this kind of highly unusual situation.”

Markets reacted cautiously. Stocks rose briefly before closing unevenly, the dollar firmed, and Treasury yields held steady. Futures now price in a better-than-90% chance of another rate cut in late October. Updated projections also showed inflation expected to end the year at 3%, still above the Fed’s 2% target, with unemployment steady at 4.5% and growth nudged higher to 1.6%. For Powell, the key message was that the Fed will move “meeting by meeting” as conditions evolve a signal that while inflation remains a concern, the health of the job market is increasingly steering the central bank’s course. Reuters 

• Jerry Greenfield Steps Away from Ben & Jerry’s, Citing Lost Independence on Social Issues

After nearly five decades, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the brand, saying the ice cream maker has lost the independence it once had to speak out on social and political issues. In a letter shared by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen on X, Greenfield wrote that Unilever, which bought the company in 2000, has stifled the activist spirit that made Ben & Jerry’s unique.

“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights,” Greenfield wrote. “That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever… It’s profoundly disappointing to conclude that independence is gone.” He argued that silencing the brand comes at a time when civil rights, voting rights, and LGBTQ protections are under increasing attack, making advocacy more urgent than ever.

Unilever recently announced it would spin off its ice cream division, including Ben & Jerry’s, into a standalone business called The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Greenfield and Cohen have pushed for Ben & Jerry’s to regain its independence, saying they don’t believe the brand belongs inside a corporation that doesn’t fully embrace its founding mission. Magnum, however, pushed back, saying it remains committed to the values that make Ben & Jerry’s iconic, even if it disagrees with Greenfield’s characterization.

The split caps years of friction between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever. The brand has accused its parent company of unlawfully ousting its CEO, undermining its merger agreement, and even blocking social media posts on issues ranging from climate change to the Gaza war. While Unilever says it has tried to keep conversations constructive, Greenfield’s departure signals just how strained the relationship has become. For him, Ben & Jerry’s was always about more than ice cream; it was about standing for something. And in his view, that voice has now been silenced. BBC 

• ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air After Comments on Charlie Kirk Shooting

ABC has taken late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely following remarks he made about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Disney-owned network confirmed the decision on Wednesday, saying Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “pre-empted indefinitely.”

During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel criticized what he called efforts by “the Maga gang” to politicize Kirk’s killing and mocked President Donald Trump’s response. His comments drew swift backlash from Trump and conservative media groups, with Trump celebrating the suspension as “great news for America.” Major broadcasters including Nexstar and Sinclair quickly followed ABC’s lead, with Nexstar saying Kimmel’s remarks were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time.”

The move has sparked a wave of reactions across Hollywood and beyond. Celebrities like Ben Stiller, Jean Smart, and Jamie Lee Curtis voiced support for Kimmel, framing the decision as an attack on free speech. The Writers Guild of America and actors’ union SAG-AFTRA also condemned the suspension, warning that silencing entertainers over political commentary poses risks to broader freedoms. Meanwhile, some fans expressed disappointment outside the Los Angeles studio, holding signs and protesting what they called censorship.

Regulators have also weighed in. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, said Kimmel’s comments showed “the sickest conduct possible” and urged Disney to act, while Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez cautioned against using the tragedy to justify broader censorship. For now, ABC says Kimmel has not been fired and discussions are underway about his return. Still, the controversy highlights how late-night television, once a refuge for comedy has increasingly become a flashpoint in America’s polarized political climate. BBC 

• Moody’s Flags Risks in Oracle’s $300B AI Contracts

Moody’s Ratings is taking a closer look at Oracle’s massive bet on artificial intelligence, cautioning that the company’s recently signed $300 billion in AI contracts come with notable risks. The credit rating agency stopped short of downgrading Oracle but highlighted concerns that could weigh on the software giant’s ambitious push into cloud and AI infrastructure.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that OpenAI had inked a deal with Oracle worth $300 billion over about five years one of the largest cloud agreements ever signed. That deal alone is expected to make up the majority of Oracle’s projected half-trillion dollars in new Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue. While Moody’s didn’t name names in its latest note, analysts said the contracts underscore both the “tremendous potential” and significant vulnerabilities in Oracle’s business model.

At the top of the list is “counterparty risk” the danger of relying heavily on just a few big AI clients to deliver on such massive commitments. Moody’s analysts compared Oracle’s data center expansion to “one of the world’s largest project financing” efforts, which carries added risk if a major customer falters. The firm also warned that Oracle’s debt is set to grow faster than its earnings in the near term, pushing leverage to around four times EBITDA, with free cash flow likely to remain negative until the projects begin to mature.

For now, Oracle retains a BAA2 issuer rating from Moody’s, keeping it at the lower end of investment grade. But the agency’s outlook remains negative, reflecting concerns that the scale of Oracle’s AI investment could strain its balance sheet before the payoff materializes. In other words, Oracle may be betting big on the future of AI, but the road to returns could be long and bumpy. Yahoo.Finance 

Minor News 

• Limewire snaps up Fyre Fest brand at auction for $245,000. Morning Brew 

• OpenAI brings on former xAI CFO Mike Liberatore. Bloomberg 

• Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley win Archegos insider trading appeal. Reuters

• Nestlé Chair Paul Bulcke resigns amid leadership tensions. Financial Times 

• Gen Z drives sharpest decline in FICO scores since 2008 crisis. Bloomberg 

• U.S. prosecutors seek 12-year sentence for Charlie Javice in JPMorgan fraud case. Bloomberg 

• PayPal climbs on Google tie-up to build AI-powered shopping tools. Reuters

• Tesla to revamp door handles after safety concerns. Reuters