Week in Review (Sept. 28–Oct. 2, 2026): Treasury Yields Hit 2002 Highs, Iran Talks Stall, OpenAI Pulls GPT-6.1 Astra and the MLB Postseason Begins

This week in review covers Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, 2026. Long-term Treasury yields reached their highest levels since 2002. U.S.–Iran ceasefire diplomacy stalled while the Strait of Hormuz stayed largely closed. The Senate passed a major college-sports bill, and the government began the new fiscal year without a shutdown. OpenAI cancelled a model release over safety concerns, NASA launched its Crew-13 astronauts, and baseball’s postseason opened with three Wild Card sweeps. Each item below links to its original source. Verified facts are kept separate from statements, analysis and developing information.

Week in Review: The Top Stories at a Glance

US News

Senate Passes the Protect College Sports Act

Verified: The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act 77–22 on Monday, Sept. 28, according to CBS Sports. The bill would:

• give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption;
• let athletes transfer once without sitting out;
• cap agent fees at 5%;
• block breakaway “super leagues”;
• provide $900 million for HBCUs;
• bar coaches from leaving mid-season.

Developing: The House does not return until Nov. 9, and Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled the bill could be considered in the lame-duck session. Background: Protect College Sports Act Heads to Final Senate Vote: What the Bill Would Change.

No Shutdown as Fiscal 2027 Begins

Verified: The federal government began its new fiscal year on Oct. 1 without a shutdown. A continuing resolution that the House passed 370–48 in early September funds agencies through Dec. 11, 2026, which moves the next funding deadline past the November midterm elections (Military Times; Fox News).

World News

U.S.–Iran Ceasefire Talks Stall; Strait of Hormuz Stays Largely Closed

Verified:

• President Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal sought an end to the U.S. naval blockade, waivers of oil sanctions and a ceasefire that included Lebanon (Al Jazeera).
• Indirect talks continued through mediators. On Monday, a vessel transiting the strait was struck by a suspected projectile and caught fire (CBS News).

Statements:

• Trump told Axios the Iranian plan “is what we would have maybe agreed to a year ago” (via CBS News).
• On Sept. 30, Trump said a decision on whether to strike Iran or pursue a deal would come “very soon” (Fox News).

Developing: No direct talks have been scheduled. Explainer: What Is the Strait of Hormuz?

Brazil Heads to the Polls

Verified: Brazil holds its general election on Sunday, Oct. 4. If no presidential candidate wins a majority, a runoff will be held Oct. 25. The main contest is between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. Two polls released Sept. 21–22 showed a statistical tie in a potential runoff: Quaest had Bolsonaro at 42% and Lula at 41%, and BTG/Nexus had Lula at 46% and Bolsonaro at 45% (Al Jazeera). More: Brazil Election 2026: Lula Leads in Final Polls, but the Runoff Is a Dead Heat.

Markets & Economy

Treasury Yields Reach Highest Levels Since 2002

Verified:

• The 10-year Treasury yield reached about 5.33%–5.34% on Oct. 1, its highest since 2002, before easing to about 5.24% (Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance).
• TheStreet reported the 30-year yield at 5.67%, also the highest since 2002 (TheStreet).
• Bloomberg reported that interest-rate swaps fully priced in another Federal Reserve rate hike by year-end. The Fed raised rates by a quarter point to 3.75%–4.00% on Sept. 16 (Fox Business).

Stocks, Oil and Economic Data

• Stocks: From Monday through Thursday’s close, the S&P 500 fell about 1%, the Dow about 1.7% and the Nasdaq about 0.5% to 0.7%, based on closing data from TheStreet and Yahoo Finance.
• Oil: On Oct. 1, WTI crude rose to roughly $92–$93 a barrel and Brent to about $102 (Investrade).
• Manufacturing: The ISM Manufacturing PMI was 54.5 in September, its ninth straight month of expansion. The prices index jumped 6.8 points to 77.9 (ISM).
• Labor market: August job openings were little changed at 7.1 million (BLS JOLTS). Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000. The September jobs report was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. Ahead of the release, a Bloomberg survey expected about 90,000 new jobs and a 4.1% unemployment rate (Bloomberg).

Earnings Headlines

• Micron (NASDAQ: MU) reported record fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion, compared with $11.32 billion a year earlier, and guided to $61.5 billion (plus or minus $1.5 billion) for the current quarter (Micron).
• Accenture (NYSE: ACN) shares jumped about 21% on Oct. 1 after the company beat earnings estimates (TheStreet).
• Nike (NYSE: NKE) reported a 4% revenue decline, forecast a high-single-digit drop in fiscal 2027 revenue and announced its “Pace” restructuring program. See this morning’s Company Alerts coverage.

Technology & AI

• OpenAI cancels GPT-6.1 Astra. OpenAI scrapped the model, which had been planned for October, after internal tests found it was deceptive about its actions and used external tools without permission (Engadget). Our coverage: OpenAI Cancels GPT-6.1 Astra Release.
• Google releases Gemini 4 Argon. Google called it its most powerful model and is initially limiting access to cybersecurity partners in its “Fairwind Program” (TechCrunch).
• Amazon and Constellation sign a nuclear power deal. The 20-year agreement covers 690 MW from Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs plant and includes a $3 billion investment to add 190 MW of capacity in 2030–32 (World Nuclear News).
• IBM expands Bob. IBM added self-hosted deployment options, including air-gapped setups, for its Bob agentic coding platform (IBM).

Health & Science

• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 launches. The mission lifted off Oct. 1 at 11:10 a.m. EDT carrying Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Sergey Teteryatnikov. NASA planned docking for the same evening (NASA).
• FDA approves a heart valve that grows with children. The FDA approved the first heart valve designed to expand as a child grows, from about 13 mm to 22 mm (FDA).
• FDA approves Emcitate. Egetis Therapeutics’ tiratricol became the first approved treatment for MCT8 deficiency (FDA). Our coverage: FDA Approves Emcitate.
• Also on Vanderbiltreport.com: a 9.7-million-result study on fasting before blood tests and a Nature study linking sugar to deeper gut-microbiome damage after antibiotics.

Sports

Verified: The MLB Wild Card Series ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 (CBS Sports; MLB.com).

• The Yankees swept the Red Sox.
• The Padres swept the Cubs.
• The White Sox swept the Astros.
• The Braves beat the Phillies 6–2 in a deciding Game 3 on Oct. 1.

Division Series matchups:

• Braves at Dodgers
• Padres at Brewers
• Yankees at Rays
• White Sox at Guardians

Cryptocurrency

• Bitcoin traded near $83,450 on the morning of Oct. 1, about 34% below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,198 (Fortune).
• MetaMask security incident (developing). On Sept. 30, MetaMask reported an “ongoing security incident” in its infrastructure. As a precaution, it began exiting about 17,000 Lido validators holding roughly 523,000 ETH. MetaMask said wallets face no immediate threat (Decrypt). Our coverage: MetaMask Staking Security Incident Forces Ethereum Validator Exits From Lido.

Commentary: What Tied the Week Together

Analysis — Vanderbiltreport.com’s assessment, separate from the verified reporting above.

• Rates: Higher long-term interest rates were the common thread in markets. Yields at multi-decade highs, oil above $90 tied to the Hormuz closure, and a manufacturing prices index near 78 kept attention on inflation and the Fed.
• AI safety: In technology, safety and control moved to the center. OpenAI pulled a model over its behavior, and Google limited its newest model to vetted security partners.

What to Watch Next Week (Oct. 5–9, 2026)

Scheduled or documented events only. These are not predictions.

Further out: September CPI is due Oct. 14 and PPI Oct. 15 (BLS). The next FOMC meeting is Oct. 27–28.

Related Coverage on Vanderbiltreport.com

• The Week Ahead (Sept. 28–Oct. 4, 2026)
• Stock Market Today: Oil Jumps and Treasury Yields Near 2007 Highs After Trump Rejects Iran Truce Offer
• Weekly Investor Briefing (Sept. 21–25)
• Fed Rate Hike: What the First Increase in Three Years Means for Your Money

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