Wall Street Journal Morning Briefing FM-Radio | September 23, 2026

- Wall Street commentary on Alibaba Cloud’s Qixi Conference: The 20 GW computing-power target is now set to be realized, lifting the revenue ceiling for cloud services further. - From general-purpose AI to domain-specific intelligence, Qwen is accelerating its deployment of Personal Agents. Tencent’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose 5%! Meta’s Muse has gone viral, prompting a market re-rating of Tencent’s consumer-facing Agent ecosystem. Tencent’s sharp rally in Hong Kong was primarily driven by market analogies drawn from Meta’s AI Agent application Muse going viral: WeChat—boasting a massive social and mini-program ecosystem—is viewed as the most promising domestic platform for a “Chinese version of Muse.” Investors are optimistic that Tencent can leverage its mini-programs and closed-loop payment system to reduce friction in AI delivery, seizing first-mover advantage in the B2C Agent race through distribution and ecosystem strengths. Report: After hitting 200 million daily active users, Doubao begins downsizing its conversational AI team. According to the report, Doubao is China’s most widely used AI application, with DAU exceeding 200 million—but monetization bottlenecks for its conversational product are becoming increasingly apparent. Multimodal features and free usage quotas have driven up costs, while Anthropic’s rapidly growing enterprise revenues are pushing major tech firms to shift focus away from conversational AI toward enterprise services and commercialization. Overseas Trump’s UN General Assembly speech: A U.S. deal with Iran may follow the November election—and oil prices could plunge; on AI, he advocates “encouragement only, no restrictions.” Trump stated he would never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, that major decisions regarding Iran are imminent, and that options include either reaching an agreement or “destroying” Iran. He urged other countries to economically isolate Iran. Should the Iran conflict end, oil prices could even fall below pre-conflict levels. U.S. munitions stockpiles far exceed projected usage levels. He opposed international agreements regulating AI, arguing that major new technologies always pose significant challenges—but the U.S. will not slow AI development, nor stifle a technology potentially “greater than the Industrial Revolution.” Government documents will henceforth refer to “artificial intelligence” as “superintelligence.” Trump expresses support for banning diesel exports, pressuring refining stocks. Trump said he has internally advocated for a diesel export ban and expects to decide “soon” whether to implement it. Treasury Secretary Bessent confirmed the administration is evaluating the feasibility of a full or partial ban. This policy signal directly hit the refining sector: Jefferies downgraded Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum from “Buy” to “Hold” on the same day; the S&P 1500 Refining & Marketing Index fell for the second consecutive day. Trump has long championed “American energy dominance” as a core policy pillar; his current pivot toward assessing export restrictions is widely interpreted by markets as a direct reflection of mounting pre-election pressure. Trump: U.S. officials met with an Iranian delegation on Tuesday—the meeting lasted three hours. The talks with Iran went smoothly, and another meeting has already been scheduled. - Iran says the meeting—between its foreign minister and a U.S. special envoy in New York—was held “at the U.S. request.” “We have no way back!” The Middle East shockwave spreads: Trump’s rural electoral base is beginning to “crumble.” The U.S.-Iran war has now lasted nearly seven months, driving up diesel prices, raising agricultural input costs via tariffs, and disrupting exports—three pressures collectively squeezing American farmers’ livelihoods. The national average diesel price has surged to $6.49 per gallon, with fuel expenses at some farms vastly exceeding budgeted amounts. This cost crisis is also translating into political discontent, with signs of wavering support emerging even in traditionally Republican farming constituencies. Saudi Aramco has informally notified Asian refiners that crude loading at Yanbu Port is set to resume.

Diesel hits record $6.51 per gallon; top Republicans collectively pressure administration to ban exports—implementation probability stands at just 35% amid intra-party divisions

Pressure within the Republican Party is intensifying sharply. As U.S. diesel prices surge to an all-time high, Republican lawmakers from agricultural states are publicly urging the Trump administration to ban diesel exports—to ease the fuel-cost burden on farmers and truck drivers. On Monday, U.S. retail diesel prices climbed to a record $6.51 per gallon—up more than 70% since February, when the Iran war began. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa directly urged Trump to suspend diesel exports on social media platform X, writing in all capital letters: HIGH DIESEL PRICES ARE KILLING FARM INCOME. Several Iowa House members followed suit the same day, calling on the White House to “stop the bleeding,” with proposals including an export ban, suspension of fuel taxes, and fiscal support for affected businesses. The White House has explicitly rejected this proposal. A White House official stated, “The administration is not currently considering an export ban or export restrictions,” citing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s position: an export ban would be worth considering *only if* it demonstrably lowered prices—“but that is not the case.” Energy consultancy Rapidan Energy forecasts a 35% probability that the White House will implement such a ban. Legislative action begins to take shape At the congressional level, calls for an export ban have escalated from individual statements to concrete legislative proposals. U.S. Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee introduced two bills: one to immediately ban diesel exports until January 2027; the other to establish a price-trigger mechanism—automatically imposing an export ban whenever the national average diesel price exceeds $5.00 per gallon, and maintaining it until prices fall below $4.50. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week he remains open to “exploring” an export ban, adding: If we have sufficient domestic supply yet continue exporting, that could be one pathway to solving the problem. Representative Ashley Hinson called for deploying “every available option,” including suspending diesel exports and establishing a diesel relief program.

Trump Administration Tightens Rules Hindering Farmer Access to US Energy Funds

Oct 9, 2026

The Trump administration revised USDA's Rural Energy for America Program, mandating project completion prior to funding applications. This restricts farmer access to billions in grants for renewable energy infrastructure like solar and biodigesters.

reuters

2026-10-09

Trump Administration Tightens Rules Hindering Farmer Access to US Energy Funds

Trump Administration Tightens Rules Hindering Farmer Access to US Energy Funds

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