Market Beats | Tesla Proposes $1 Trillion Pay Package for Elon Musk; US Unemployment at Three-Year High; Bank of America Now Expects Fed Rate Cuts in September and December; 450 Workers Detained at Hyundai’s EV Battery Plant; EU Fines Google Nearly €3 Billion Over Adtech Practices

—— US Unemployment at Three-Year High; Tesla Proposes $1 Trillion Pay Package for Elon Musk; Bank of America Now Expects Fed Rate Cuts in September and December; 450 Workers Detained at Hyundai’s EV Battery Plant; EU Fines Google Nearly €3 Billion Over Adtech Practices

1. US Unemployment at Three-Year High

US job growth cooled notably in August, with nonfarm payrolls rising just 22,000, while June’s data was revised to show the first decline in employment since 2020. The jobless rate climbed to 4.3%, the highest since 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The report stoked concerns the labor market may be headed for a deeper downturn. Recent data already pointed to fewer job openings, slower hiring, and softer wage gains, all weighing on economic activity.

Several sectors posted outright job losses in August — including information, financial activities, manufacturing, the federal government, and business services. Hiring was concentrated in health care, and excluding that sector, total employment has fallen in three of the past four months. “The labor market is going from frozen to cracking,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “This is a white-collar and a blue-collar jobs recession.”

Although July payrolls were revised slightly higher, the June revisions worsened the overall picture. The downward adjustments, the largest since 2020, led President Donald Trump to fire the BLS commissioner, accusing her of manipulating data without evidence. He has nominated EJ Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, to the role, pending Senate confirmation.

Following the report, traders reinforced bets on a quarter-point Fed rate cut at the Sept. 16–17 meeting. The S&P 500 pared earlier gains and Treasuries rallied.

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2. Tesla Proposes $1 Trillion Pay Package for Elon Musk

Tesla Inc. has proposed a new compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth around $1 trillion, an unprecedented package in US corporate history. The long-term proposal aims to incentivize Musk to remain at Tesla’s helm, with ambitious targets such as expanding its robotaxi business and raising the company’s market value to at least $8.5 trillion from about $1.1 trillion today. The plan spans 10 years. If all milestones are met, Musk’s stake would rise to at least 25%, aligning with his publicly stated goal.

The move follows the invalidation of Musk’s 2018 compensation deal — worth over $50 billion — by a Delaware court. While Tesla appeals, the board is seeking alternatives, including an interim stock grant of about $30 billion issued in early August. Friday’s filing also revealed a non-binding shareholder proposal for Tesla to acquire a stake in Musk’s AI startup xAI, which he has previously discussed. Both proposals will be voted on at the annual shareholder meeting on November 6.

The package underscores Musk’s dominant influence over Tesla, despite the heavy demands of running multiple companies. Musk, who has been Tesla’s CEO since 2008, also oversees SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company. In a May interview, he reaffirmed his commitment to leading Tesla for at least the next five years.

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3. Bank of America Now Expects Fed Rate Cuts in September and December

Economists at Bank of America Corp. now forecast two Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year, in September and December, citing weak August employment data. This marks a shift from their previous outlier call that no action would come until next year.

“There is now clearer evidence of deterioration in labor demand, not just supply,” economist Aditya Bhave wrote in the report. The new forecast also includes three additional quarter-point cuts in 2026 starting in June, which would bring the policy rate down to a target range of 3%-3.25% from the current 4.25%-4.5%.

Core PCE inflation is projected to hit 3% in August and rise further through year-end, preventing the Fed from raising rates in October. The new outlook is in line with market expectations and the consensus across Wall Street.

Until now, Bank of America had been the only major Wall Street bank not forecasting a September cut. Since April, its official call was for rate cuts to begin in the second half of 2026, totaling 100 basis points. But after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole comments on Aug. 22, the economists acknowledged that “the risks have obviously shifted meaningfully toward a cut” in September. Still, as recently as Sept. 3, they had warned that “rushing to cut rates could translate into a policy error” given a supply-driven labor market slowdown, core inflation near 3%, and an economy showing signs of re-acceleration.

Swap contracts show traders fully pricing in a September cut and higher odds of quarter-point reductions at each of the Fed’s remaining three policy meetings this year.

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4. 450 Workers Detained at Hyundai’s EV Battery Plant

Roughly 450 workers at Hyundai Motor Co.’s $7.6 billion facility in Georgia were detained following an employment-practices investigation, halting construction of a nearby factory that will produce batteries for electric vehicles.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said in a Thursday post on X that the workers were unlawfully employed. The raid, which also involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), focused on the battery plant construction site. Agencies are probing allegations of illegal employment practices and other serious federal crimes, the Associated Press reported, citing ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams and the Department of Homeland Security.

LG Energy Solution, a partner in the battery plant, said in a statement it is assessing the situation and working with the South Korean government and other authorities to ensure the safety and swift release of its employees and partners.

Hyundai said it is aware of the incident at its HL-GA Battery joint venture and is reviewing the matter.

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5. EU Fines Google Nearly €3 Billion Over Adtech Practices

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has been fined nearly €3 billion ($3.5 billion) by the European Union and ordered to stop favoring its own advertising technology services, a decision that risks further inflaming tensions with US President Donald Trump.

The European Commission said Google abused its dominance by giving its ad exchanges an unfair advantage over rivals. “When markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power,” EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement. “True freedom means a level playing field, where everyone competes on equal terms and citizens have a genuine right to choose.” Google immediately vowed to appeal, with Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president for regulatory affairs, saying the decision “imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money.”

The EU ruling comes at a tense moment for EU–US trade relations, with Trump repeatedly criticizing the bloc’s efforts to rein in Silicon Valley giants. Although Google faces antitrust scrutiny worldwide, it scored some relief this week when a US judge ruled that its search business would not need to be broken up to address harms alleged by the Department of Justice.

Still, Google’s adtech operations remain under pressure in the US. The DOJ is expected to file proposed remedies on Friday ahead of a Sept. 22 hearing. The department has previously floated forcing Google to divest its Ad Manager platform to address anticompetitive risks.

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6. Goldman Sachs Invests Up to $1 Billion in T. Rowe Price

ConocoPhillips plans to reduce its global workforce by 20% to 25% — or about 2,600 to 3,250 employees — by the end of 2026, in a cost-cutting effort following a steep drop in global oil prices. Most of the job cuts will take place in 2025, and will include both full-time employees and contractors.

“We are always looking at how we can be more efficient with the resources we have. As part of this process, we have informed employees that a 20% to 25% reduction in our global workforce, which includes employees and contractors, is anticipated,” the company said.

The cuts aim to preserve profitability and shareholder returns amid a 12.5% decline in oil prices this year.

ConocoPhillips joins a wave of staff reductions across the oil and gas sector: Chevron announced in February that it would cut one-fifth of its workforce, while BP said last month it would slash at least 15% of its 40,000 office staff as part of ongoing cost-reduction efforts.

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7. Bank of America Opens Private Equity Funds

Lenders to luxury fashion retailer Ssense are asking a Canadian court to approve a quick sale of the cash-strapped company, with first bids due in early October.

A group led by Bank of Montreal filed an application to the Quebec Superior Court, saying creditors had lost confidence in Ssense’s ability to oversee operations. Other lenders include Royal Bank of Canada, JPMorgan Chase, National Bank of Canada, and Bank of Nova Scotia, with total debt of about C$145 million ($105 million).

Creditors want the company placed under court supervision via Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. They are pushing for a fast-track sale process, with potential buyers contacted next week and non-binding bids due by Oct. 6. They’ve also proposed selling inventory this month to raise cash.

Ssense, once a Montreal family-run success story valued at more than C$5 billion in 2021, is now threatened by debt and eroding trust.

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