August 21 Members' Morning Briefing: Trump Unable to Compete Against U.S. Treasury Secretary, Plans to Impose "Most Severe Sanctions in History" on Iran; Walmart Sales Growth Hits Lowest in Over Six Years

1. 【Trump “No Match” for Treasury Secretary, Says Upcoming Measures on Iran to Be “Most Severe Sanctions Ever”】 US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated on August 20 that he will hold a press conference on the 24th (next Monday) to detail the US's action plan against Iran. According to CNBC reports, Bessent described the upcoming measures as a “combination punch”: one hand is the already-implemented maritime blockade, the other is the “most severe sanctions in history,” directly targeting Iran’s current regime. He said this strategy “will be effective in Iran,” and bluntly claimed the US aims to “bring down this regime.”

2. 【Walmart’s Sales Growth Hits Six-Year Low】 Walmart, the largest US retailer, posted its weakest same-store sales growth in more than six years for the past quarter, adding yet another warning sign to already fragile US consumption.

In the second quarter of fiscal year 2027 ended at the end of July, Walmart US comparable sales (excluding fuel) grew only 2.6% year-on-year, not only below the lowest analyst expectations, but also well down from 4.1% in the previous quarter, marking the slowest growth rate in over six years. After the earnings report, Walmart’s pre-market share price dropped as much as 6%, and fell up to 9% at the intraday low.

3. 【Bessent Expands Buyback, But 30-Year US Treasury Yield Returns to Pre-Intervention High the Next Day】 On Thursday, the 30-year US Treasury yield rose more than 7 basis points to 5.27% at one point, nearly rebounding to the level before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the expansion of long-term bond buybacks on Wednesday. It then slipped slightly to around 5.25% after Bessent’s remarks. This means that the market only responded positively to the effort to “stem the bleeding” on long-term Treasuries for about one day.

4. 【US National Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion for First Time】 According to US Treasury daily data released this week, as of the close on August 18, the total outstanding federal government debt reached $40.047 trillion, surpassing the $40 trillion mark for the first time in history. Of this, around $32.27 trillion is held by the public and about $7.78 trillion is held internally by the government. The one-day increase topped $60 billion, and roughly $1 trillion has been added in the past three-plus months. In less than five years, the debt level has grown by one-third.

5. 【US August Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Hits Five-Year High】 On August 20 (US Eastern Time), the Philadelphia Fed released its August Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, showing that the diffusion index measuring current overall activity rose further from 41.4 in July to 47.4, the highest since April 2021 and close to a five-year high, far exceeding market expectations of 25.0. However, beneath the hot headline number, there was divergence: several current subindexes such as new orders, shipments, and prices actually fell compared to July, while only the employment subindex jumped against the trend.