Anthropic “Mythos” Scare Triggers Emergency Bessent–Powell Cyber Summit as Futures Drift Before the Inflation Gauntlet

U.S. equity futures are essentially flat this morning — S&P 500 futures hovering near 6,860, down a marginal 0.05% — but the calm masks an unusually loaded Thursday. The dominant pre-market story is not macroeconomic: Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned top Wall Street bank CEOs to an emergency meeting at Treasury headquarters in Washington on Tuesday to warn them about cybersecurity risks posed by Anthropic’s new “Mythos” AI model. The implications for financial infrastructure security are still being digested.

Meanwhile, the market faces what we’ve been calling the “inflation gauntlet” — today brings both the March CPI print and the February core PCE release at 8:30 AM ET, a rare same-day doubleheader that will either validate or undercut the Fed’s patient stance. Consensus calls for March headline CPI at 3.4% year-over-year (up from 2.4% in February, driven by post-ceasefire energy resets) and core CPI at 2.6%. The February core PCE is expected at 2.83%, down from 3.1% previously. Any significant upside surprise would likely trigger a rapid repricing of rate-cut expectations.

Yesterday’s session extended the ceasefire rally for a fourth consecutive day. The S&P 500 closed at 6,824.66 (+0.62%), the Dow gained 0.58% to 48,185.80, and the Nasdaq-100 rose 0.72% to 25,082.09. The VIX fell 7.75% to 19.41 — its first close below 20 since the Middle East conflict began. But this morning’s pre-CPI positioning is cautious, and the Anthropic news adds an unexpected layer of uncertainty.

Pre-Market Snapshot

Overnight Developments

Anthropic “Mythos” Model Sparks Cybersecurity Emergency

The biggest pre-market story comes from Bloomberg: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Fed Chair Jerome Powell assembled the CEOs of major Wall Street banks at Treasury headquarters on Tuesday for an urgent briefing on cybersecurity threats posed by Anthropic’s new “Mythos” AI model. According to people familiar with the private discussions, regulators wanted to ensure banks are aware of future risks from Mythos and similar frontier models, and are taking precautions to defend their systems.

This comes amid a rapid escalation in the AI arms race. Anthropic has reportedly hit $30 billion in annualized recurring revenue, OpenAI is at $24 billion, and Perplexity has crossed $450 million — a sixfold increase from early 2025. Anthropic recently allowed Apple and Amazon to test the more powerful Mythos model, and a Claude Code source code leak in early April added to concerns about AI security vulnerabilities. The meeting signals that Washington now views frontier AI models as potential systemic risks to financial infrastructure, not merely productivity tools.

Ceasefire Continues to Fray

The fragile Middle East ceasefire remains intact in name but is deteriorating in substance. Israel conducted fresh strikes on Lebanon overnight, Iran continues to demand cryptocurrency-based fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz (per the Financial Times), and VP Vance is traveling to Islamabad on Saturday to shore up the broader diplomatic framework. Oil prices reflect the tension: WTI crude rose 1.35% to $91.14 overnight, and Brent is holding near $96.54. The “ceasefire premium” in energy markets is clearly not gone — it has merely morphed from a war premium into a compliance-and-enforcement premium.

Meta’s $14 Billion Muse Spark Bet

Meta Platforms unveiled “Muse Spark,” an AI content-generation platform backed by $14 billion in investment. Notably, Meta is breaking from its open-source tradition — Muse Spark will be a proprietary, closed-source offering, signaling a strategic pivot toward monetizable AI products. The stock rose 2.61% yesterday and the market is still digesting the implications for Meta’s capital allocation and competitive positioning against Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT ecosystem.

SpaceX Posts $5 Billion Loss on AI Spending

The Information reported overnight that SpaceX posted nearly $5 billion in losses last year, driven largely by aggressive AI infrastructure spending. While SpaceX remains private, the report underscores the staggering capital demands of frontier AI development — and raises questions about whether even the most well-funded private companies can sustain these burn rates.

Global Markets

Europe is modestly higher this morning. The DAX is up 0.22% to 23,858, the FTSE 100 has gained 0.12% to 10,615, the CAC 40 is up 0.25% to 8,266, and the Euro STOXX 50 has added 0.29% to 5,914. European markets are largely in wait-and-see mode ahead of the U.S. inflation data.

Asia closed mixed overnight. The Nikkei benefited from continued yen weakness, while the Hang Seng retreated slightly as China EV export data — a remarkable 349,000 units in March, up 140% year-over-year according to Finimize — failed to offset broader concerns about trade tensions and the Anthropic cybersecurity story breaking during Asian hours.

Macro and Rates

The 10-year Treasury yield is ticking higher at 4.28% this morning, up 2 basis points from yesterday’s close of 4.26%, as traders position for the CPI/PCE doubleheader. The yield curve remains mildly inverted — a persistent signal that rate-cut expectations have been pushed out significantly since the ceasefire reignited inflation concerns through energy prices.

Gold pulled back modestly overnight, with spot prices at $4,750.72 after touching $4,795 yesterday. The pullback is typical pre-CPI positioning: gold traders tend to reduce exposure ahead of major inflation prints, then re-enter on the data. If CPI comes in hot, expect gold to rip past $4,800 as rate-cut bets evaporate. If it’s cool, gold could test $4,700 support.

WTI crude oil is firmer at $91.14, gaining 1.35% overnight. Brent crude remains elevated near $96.54. The Iran Hormuz toll situation is providing a persistent bid under energy prices, and the physical oil market remains tight. Any surprise escalation over the weekend — particularly around the Vance-Islamabad visit — could push Brent back above $100.

Bitcoin is treading water at $71,658, down 0.16%. CoinDesk notes that BTC has now failed to break $73,000 for the third time since the ceasefire, creating a well-defined triple-top pattern. Crypto-specific news is adding noise: Adam Back publicly denied being Satoshi Nakamoto after a New York Times investigation, and the Iran crypto-toll story continues to highlight Bitcoin’s evolving role in geopolitical sanctions evasion.

Corporate News

Analyst Actions and Ratings

• UBS initiates Netflix (NFLX) at Buy with a $1,300 price target, citing the company’s dominant position in ad-tier streaming and international subscriber growth.
• Palantir (PLTR) receives a sell rating from Seeking Alpha analysis after the stock fell 7.26% yesterday. The bear case centers on valuation disconnect relative to near-term revenue visibility.
• Micron Technology (MU) highlighted as a major beneficiary of AI memory demand, with the “opportunity of a generation” in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for data centers.
• NVIDIA (NVDA) 2026 outlook remains constructive per sell-side consensus, though some analysts note that customer diversification (AMD, custom silicon) could moderate upside.

AI Revenue Arms Race

The frontier AI companies continue their extraordinary revenue acceleration. Anthropic is now at $30 billion ARR, OpenAI at $24 billion, and Perplexity at $450 million. OpenAI is reportedly preparing to launch an advertising product — a significant strategic expansion that puts it in direct competition with Google’s core business. This is a space investors need to watch carefully, as the line between AI infrastructure and AI-powered services is rapidly blurring.

REITs Outperforming in Q1

Real estate investment trusts posted a quietly strong first quarter, outperforming the broader market. Seeking Alpha highlights that REITs benefited from the rate-cut uncertainty — the asset class tends to attract flows when fixed-income yields are volatile, as investors seek tangible-asset backing with income. The top three picks for reliable income in volatile markets include industrial, healthcare, and data-center REITs.

Premarket Movers

Economic Calendar — Thursday, April 10

Earnings Watch

Today’s earnings calendar is light domestically, but the real action begins Monday: Goldman Sachs (GS) reports Q1 2026 earnings on April 13, followed by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) on April 14. These two reports will set the tone for the entire bank earnings season and will be the first major test of how Wall Street fared during the volatile ceasefire period.

Goldman in particular is worth watching given the Anthropic cybersecurity meeting — questions about banks’ AI spending, cyber defense investment, and trading revenue from the energy volatility spike are all likely to dominate the earnings call. Consensus expects GS to report strong FICC trading revenue but weaker advisory fees given the M&A slowdown during the conflict.

The AlphaEdge Prediction

Base Case (65% probability): The S&P 500 trades in a 6,790–6,870 range today. The CPI headline number comes in at or near consensus (3.4%), which the market has largely priced. Core PCE prints near 2.83%, allowing the Fed’s patient narrative to hold. The Anthropic story generates headlines but doesn’t materially move equities beyond the cybersecurity sub-sector. We close near 6,830–6,850.

Bull Case (20% probability): Core PCE surprises below 2.75%, triggering a wave of rate-cut repricing. June cut probability jumps from ~25% to ~45%. The S&P 500 breaks above 6,870 and tests 6,900 on a Treasury yield decline. Tech leads, with growth stocks outperforming.

Bear Case (15% probability): Core CPI and/or core PCE come in meaningfully hot (CPI above 2.7%, PCE above 2.95%). The 10-year yield jumps toward 4.35%, equity futures sell off sharply, and the VIX spikes back above 21. The S&P 500 tests the 6,750 support level. The Anthropic story amplifies risk-off sentiment as traders worry about financial system vulnerabilities.