Trump–Xi state dinner brings pomp but little substance as borrowing costs spike
A lavish White House dinner for Xi Jinping produced warm words and no real deals, while bond yields, mortgage rates and gas prices climbed — bad news for borrowers, businesses and drivers.
- Government bond yields hit 5%, pushing 30-year mortgage rates above 7% and raising borrowing costs across the economy.
- Commercial real estate is cracking — PIMCO took a huge write-down on an office complex, with even its safest debt exposed.
- Gas is near $5 a gallon and a single diesel fill-up runs a trucker over $1,000, which feeds straight into grocery prices.
- The dinner's real story was the seating chart: Tesla, Nvidia, AMD and Apple bosses got the top table, a reminder that access is now the game.
- Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week and restart nuclear talks if the old deal is honored; the US is also quietly laying groundwork for possible military action near Cuba.
Outlook: With rates still climbing and no China breakthrough, expect more pressure on housing, commercial property and household budgets in the weeks ahead.