Four Fingers News — Monday, August 3, 2026
Day 157. The MLB trade deadline is 6 p.m. Eastern. By tonight Skubal will be a Dodger, Arraez a Phillie, and two dozen other players will belong to teams they didn’t wake up expecting. It works because both sides agreed on the clock, the rules, and the price of walking away.
Now count the other deadlines in the news. Aug 8: Trump tells Russia to cut a deal or face 100 percent tariffs. The Kremlin says it’s immune. Ten-day ceasefire window for Tehran. Tehran says it’s not negotiating. Five days on one clock, ten on the other, zero takers on either.
A deadline is just a date until somebody believes it. Baseball figured that out decades ago. Diplomacy is still working on it.
Pouring one for the waiver wire.
President Trump said late Sunday he had scrapped what he called “the biggest attack since WWII” on Iran after a plea from Tehran and appeals from Gulf allies, and that negotiations would resume Monday afternoon with a Strait of Hormuz deal “imminent.” Iran’s foreign ministry countered that it has no talks scheduled with Washington and is dealing only with Oman on a temporary passage through the strait, shut since fighting resumed Jul 8. Crude sold off hard at the open; Dow futures rose.
With about 300 S&P 500 companies reported, roughly 85% have beaten estimates and profit growth is tracking above 47%, leaving the index near its highs after ending July around 7,490. A dense data week follows: JOLTS openings, jobless claims and Friday’s July payrolls, where forecasters see about 83,000 hires and 4.3% unemployment.
A Hamas official said the US-backed roadmap for the group to surrender its weapons and for Israel to withdraw will stall unless Israel halts an air campaign that killed at least 19 people overnight. Israel says the plan cannot hold while Hamas stays armed, and President Herzog insists the group be “fully disarmed.”
Three fast-moving fires — Old Trails, Fairview and Autumn Lane — have burned past 7,000 acres at zero containment since Saturday, destroying more than 700 homes and businesses and pushing roughly 65,000 people from their homes. Mayor Lisa Brown called it “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.”
Trump’s ultimatum for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face 100% secondary tariffs falls Friday, but the Senate bill meant to arm it has stalled over Democratic objections to widening his tariff authority. Russia has kept up its strikes and shown no move toward terms.
The deadline lands Monday at 3 p.m. Pacific with an unusually thin market, as few contenders have dropped out to become sellers. Seattle, having already sent Luis Castillo to the White Sox, is fielding calls on Randy Arozarena, George Kirby and Emerson Hancock.
The Fed left its benchmark at 3.50–3.75% for a fifth meeting in July, but three officials dissented in favor of raising and the median projection now points to 3.8% by year end. Core PCE inflation has climbed to 3.3%, still well above the 2% target.
You’re receiving the morning dispatch from Four Fingers News.