When the bond market sneezes, corporate America worries about a ‘debt-induced heart attack’

Diane BradyBy Diane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media and author of CEO Daily
Diane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media and author of CEO Daily

Diane Brady is an award-winning business journalist and author who has interviewed newsmakers worldwide and often speaks about the global business landscape. As executive editorial director of the Fortune CEO Initiative, she brings together a growing community of global business leaders through conversations, content, and connections. She is also executive editorial director of Fortune Live Media and interviews newsmakers for the magazine and the CEO Daily newsletter.

U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. President Donald Trump.
  • In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on the bond market.
  • The big story: The White House has a CEO loyalty list.
  • The markets: Up.
  • Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Another day, another twist in the bond markets. One thing CEOs don’t usually do in the face of a global bond selloff is buy gold. Although, given the decline in bond prices over the last few days, adding some gold to your balance sheet suddenly looks like a good idea.

With 30-year U.S. Treasuries hovering above 5% at one point this week and long-term bond yields rising in the U.K., France, and Japan, leaders are facing tough choices when it comes to managing risk, liquidity, and volatility.

The bond markets have been skittish for a while, serving as both a check on White House fiscal policies and a warning signal that America’s economic strengths are being put to the test. Investors are demanding higher returns from governments that aren’t doing enough to address rising debt.

When asked, most of the leaders I talk to expect their borrowing costs to trend up, not down, in this environment. Among other things, Treasury yields are the benchmark for other lending. And rising public debt tends to erode confidence in a currency and an economy.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase and a longtime deficit hawk, has been warning of a potential bond crisis for some time. His concerns were downplayed a few months ago by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Dimon also expressed concerns about the state of private credit.)

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing has called the current selloff a “reflection of, partly, political uncertainty, of a lack of reforms, of rising indebtedness.”

Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio believes the current policy environment is putting America on the path to a “debt-induced heart attack.”

What does it mean for business? There’s a recognition that concerns over deficits are not going away and likely to mount. The continued battle over the independence of the Fed doesn’t instill confidence in the central bank’s role in promoting market stability. And higher rates may be the price that everyone has to pay amid tax cuts and tariffs – the latter of which may harm consumers but do give a short-term boost to government coffers.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

Top news

White House ranks loyalty of CEOs

The Trump Administration has created a ranking of 553 companies and lobby groups based on how supportive they are of President Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill," Axios reports. Companies’ support is ranked as “strong, moderate or low.” The loyalty list "helps us see who really goes out and helps vs. those who just come in and pay lip service," a White House source told Axios. CEOs are cowed by the list, the FT’s Gillian Tett says. “When I recently participated in different private roundtables with executives and investors, there was little private criticism either. Fealty and silence is the new norm.”

Tech CEOs praise Trump at presidential dinner

President Trump hosted a dinner after a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education, at which CEOs thanked and praised the president for his pro-business stances. Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and IBM’s Arvind Krishna attended. Elon Musk was conspicuous by his absence.

Trump warns ‘fairly substantial’ tariffs on chips are coming

“I’ve discussed it with the people here, chips and semiconductors, and we’ll be putting tariffs on companies that aren’t coming in,” the president said yesterday. “We’ll be putting a tariff very shortly. You probably are hearing we’ll be putting a fairly substantial tariff, or not that high, but a fairly substantial tariff.” Trump has previously floated the idea of a 100% tariff on imported chips. Companies that have moved operations to the U.S. will be spared.

Trump: Trade deals could “unwind”

President Donald Trump signaled during an Oval Office press conference this week that his administration may have to “unwind” recent international trade deals if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't uphold his tariffs. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the court to make a decision by September 10 due to “sensitive ongoing diplomatic trade negotiations.”

Miran promises to be independent, kinda

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Suntory chairman says he broke no laws

Takeshi Niinami, who resigned as chairman of Suntory earlier this week, said he had bought a CBD supplement in the U.S. where it is legal but had never used the substance in Japan where it may not be. “I believe I did not violate any laws and am innocent,” he told reporters.

The markets

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% this morning. The index closed up 0.83% to 6,502.08, another record high, in its last trading session. STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.33% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.36 in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.03%. China’s CSI 300 was up 2.18%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 0.13%. India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.19% before the end of the session. Bitcoin rose to $112.7K.

Around the watercooler

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America’s billionaires are older than ever, with one in five already in their 80s or 90s—as millennials await the Great Wealth Transfer by Jessica Coacci

Stripe and Paradigm announce new payments-focused blockchain Tempo by Leo Schwartz

America’s billionaires are worth $5.7 trillion—but they’ve only pledged or donated $185 billion of that in the last decade by Emma Burleigh

Frustrated Wall Street analysts want Apple to buy Perplexity. It’s reportedly planning to beef up Siri to beat it instead by Dave Smith

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.

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