Stocks were poised for a mixed open Friday as futures struggled for

direction ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's hotly-anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.

After Nvidia's earnings helped lift sentiment in the prior session, futures on the S&P and the Nasdaq were down, while the Dow was in positive territory.

The moves come as investors question how the Fed will respond to the Treasury's intervention in the bond market, and seek insight into Warsh's view on inflation and whether the Fed will hold rates in September.

On the opening day of the symposium on Thursday, some Fed members warned of the risks of inflation staying elevated, hinting at a possible need to raise interest rates in the coming months.

Markets are set to hang on Warsh's every word, and what he says, or doesn't say, today at 10:00 ET has the potential to move the market in a considerable way, according to Swissquote.

Warsh will attempt to restore confidence in the Fed's commitment to containing inflation, ease concerns around fiscal dominance, convince markets that less reliance on forward guidance won't undermine stability, and build trust in the Fed's taskforces, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.

It added that these are ambitious goals, and given his aversion to forward guidance, there is a risk that markets will judge his comments as insufficiently forceful on inflation, which could cause the dollar to fall.

Stocks to Watch

Affirm gained 12% after the company beat Wall Street's quarterly estimates.

Autodesk was down 4% after its third quarter and full-year earnings outlook fell short of expectations.

Gap shares surged 13% after the company brought in a retail veteran to help boost sales at its Old Navy brand.

Marvell Technology fell 8.4% after the company's second-quarter earnings report.

Paypal shares tumbled 13% after a report that Advent International and Stripe abandoned attempts to buy the company.

Watch For:

Chicago Business Barometer for August; University of Michigan Final Consumer Survey for August; Canada GDP for June and for 2Q

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- Judge Rules Trump Administration's Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Unlawful

- How the AI Investment Craze Is Keeping the Global Economy Afloat

- Timber Was Gold in the South-Until a Market Collapse Crushed the Forest Economy

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar was flat, awaiting new impetus from the keynote speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later today.

Bonds:

Treasury yields rose marginally with bond investors waiting to hear Warsh's address for insight on the Fed's ability and willingness to help Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the fight to keep long-term interest rates down.

Schroders remains tactically positive on government bonds, with higher real yields creating more attractive valuations.

"We retain confidence in central banks' ability to navigate policy appropriately and see duration as a useful complement to our pro-cyclical positioning."

Steeper government bond yield curves are likely to be a durable feature of the rates landscape, Goldman Sachs said, anticipating that the inflation and fiscal drivers of higher term premium will prove persistent.

"Despite mild spot inflation news, ongoing energy volatility and the AI borrowing boom are keeping G-10 bonds under pressure, especially at the long end of the curve. We think high and sticky term premium can coexist with lower rates volatility."

Energy:

Oil prices edged lower but traded above midweek lows, as hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz faded.

The White House has told mediators the U.S. will not return to temporary peace terms agreed with Iran in June.

Metals:

Gold futures remained supported by investors fretting over U.S. fiscal issues, ANZ said. Investors are buying gold as they seek protection from runaway budget deficits and a weaker dollar.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Nvidia Insists It Can Keep Printing Money to Fund the AI Boom

Nvidia was closing in on a landmark agreement to help OpenAI secure one of the world's largest planned data-center projects when Colette Kress, the chips firm's chief financial officer, pumped the brakes.

Concerned about negative investor reaction to a Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia was in talks to financially guarantee a project expected to cost more than $500 billion, Kress pushed for a scaled-back deal, according to people familiar with the matter. In the end, Nvidia agreed to backstop less than half of the original amount discussed.

U.S. Servicemember, KPMG Employee Are Targets of Prediction Markets Crackdown

Federal authorities are preparing charges against a U.S. servicemember suspected of placing Polymarket bets on military operations that earned him more than $1 million, part of a coming batch of insider trading cases, according to people familiar with the matter.

The serviceman, who has been under scrutiny since the spring, made successful bets related to military strikes in Iran and Venezuela on the prediction market, the people said. It is one of several investigations that have looked at members of the armed forces who traded war contracts that referenced the timing and outcome of military operations.

Why the Drugmaker Behind a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough Stayed Independent

Earlier this year, an oncology biotech with no drugs on the market-just promising research-was attracting takeover interest. Revolution Medicines stayed independent.

This week, that bet paid off.

French, Spanish Inflation Accelerated in August

Inflation jumped in France and Spain in August as elevated energy costs continued to push price growth above target, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank ahead of its September rate decision.

French consumer prices were 2.7% higher than a year earlier, up from an annual inflation rate of 2.4% in July, according to European Union-harmonized data from the country's statistics agency Insee published Friday. This was in line with a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Trump Administration in Advanced Talks for Stake in Venezuelan Oil Fields

The Trump administration is in advanced talks with Venezuela for the U.S. to take a direct stake in more than a dozen oil fields that house nearly one-third of the country's massive energy reserves.

If the two countries reach a deal, it could pave the way for independent U.S. energy producers to become involved in oil production in the Latin American country, according to people familiar with the matter. Details are still being worked out, and the deal could fall apart, these people said. Axios reported on the talks earlier Thursday.

Foreign Countries Aren't Buying Treasuries Like They Used To. How That Could Be Trouble for Bessent.

Foreign holders of U.S. government debt ain't what they used to be. That might concern Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as he looks to rein in rising yields with buybacks.

Foreigners own about 40% of the $30 trillion or so in "marketable" Treasury bonds, says Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. That's down from a peak of 50% before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Back then, though, central banks led by China and Japan dominated the market.

Death Toll Rises as Rescuers Search for Victims of Nepal Flood

More than 1,500 people are missing and at least 470 people confirmed dead in Nepal and China following Wednesday's flood, as rescue efforts continued.

In Nepal, more than 970 people are missing, including 517 foreigners, said Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority on Friday. The bodies of 469 people had been recovered, according to Nepal Police. Among the missing foreign tourists are around 65 Americans and 180 Indians, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.

Top White House Aides Were in the Dark on Ratcliffe Russia Trip

John Ratcliffe's diplomatic mission to Russia this week was so sensitive that even some senior White House officials didn't know about it ahead of time.

President Trump personally dispatched the Central Intelligence Agency chief and kept trusted aides and military leaders who normally would have been briefed on the trip in the dark about the message he would deliver to senior Kremlin figures, U.S. officials said.

Write to pierre.bertrand@wsj.com

TODAY IN CANADA 3Q Earnings:

Laurentian Bank

Economic Indicators (ET):

0830 June GDP

0830 2Q Quarterly GDP

Stocks to Watch:

Inventronics 2Q Net Income CAD 0.13M; Inventronics 2Q EPS CAD 0.027; Inventronics 2Q Revenue CAD 2.27M

Expected Major Events for Friday 00:30/JPN: Jul Detailed Import & Export Statistics

06:45/FRA: Jul Housing starts

06:45/FRA: Jul Household consumption expenditure in manufactured goods

06:45/FRA: 2Q GDP - detailed figures

06:45/FRA: Aug Provisional CPI

07:55/GER: Aug Labour market statistics (incl unemployment)

08:00/ITA: Jun Industrial turnover

09:00/ITA: Aug Consumer Confidence Survey

09:00/ITA: Aug Business Confidence Survey

10:00/FRA: 2Q OECD trade statistics release

12:30/CAN: Jun GDP

12:30/CAN: 2Q Quarterly GDP

13:45/US: Aug Chicago Business Barometer - ISM-Chicago Business Survey Chicago PMI

14:00/US: Aug University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - final

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Friday Bloomia Holdings Inc (TULP) is expected to report for 4Q.

Cambium Networks Corp $(CMBMF)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB.T,LRCDF) is expected to report $-0.13 for 3Q.

Southern Banc Co Inc (SRNN) is expected to report for 4Q.

TPI Composites Inc (TPICQ.XX) is expected to report $-1.52 for 2Q.

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ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS Abercrombie & Fitch Cut to Neutral From Buy by Citigroup

Abercrombie & Fitch Cut to Neutral From Buy by Citigroup

BWX Technologies Raised to Equal-Weight From Underweight by Wells Fargo

Everpure Raised to Buy From Neutral by B of A Securities

Extra Space Storage Raised to Outperform From Market Perform by BMO Capital

First Solar Raised to Outperform From Market Perform by BMO Capital

Macerich Raised to Overweight From Neutral by Piper Sandler

Okta Raised to Neutral From Underperform by B of A Securities

Primerica Cut to Hold From Buy by Truist Securities

Semtech Raised to Outperform From Market Perform by Northland Capital Markets

SmartStop Self REIT Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by BMO Capital

Sun Communities Raised to Neutral From Underperform by B of A Securities

Synopsys Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Baird

Waters Corp Raised to Overweight From Neutral by Piper Sandler

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.