Goldman Finds Consumer Trends Remain Solid Amid K-Shaped Economy Fears Goldman analysts Scott Feiler and Eric Mihelc updated clients this week with the latest read on consumer health. The key takeaway: spending trends remain resilient heading into spring, even as the K-shaped economy narrative dominates the news cycle and the Trump administration continues to push affordability measures. “It seems like consumer trends are still […]

US Retains Right To ‘Militarily Secure’ Chagos Air Base, Trump Says Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 5  he retained the right to “militarily secure” the U.S.–UK Diego Garcia air base in the Chagos Islands, if future arrangements threatened American access. Trump has criticized the UK’s decision to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, calling it […]

Guac Relief: Avocado Prices Tumble Ahead Of Super Bowl Guacamole, wings, pizza, chips, and beer dominate the typical Super Bowl menu, as the weekend becomes one of the world’s highest food-consumption sporting events. We have good news for consumers. First, as we reported earlier, PepsiCo announced it will slash prices by 15% on snack brands such as Lay’s and Doritos. The second piece of good news is on the avocado front. Prices […]

Soros Praises Spain’s Sánchez For Mass Amnesty Of 500,000 Illegals Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Alex Soros, son of billionaire George Soros, has lavished praise on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for granting legal status to up to 500,000 illegal migrants, stating that Sánchez shows “what real leadership looks like” by confronting issues with policies that are “both principled and pragmatic.” […]

HSBC Encouraging Departures By Offering “Little To Zero” Bonuses For Underperformers HSBC is preparing to award little or no bonuses to some bankers as it adopts a tougher, performance-driven pay model similar to its US rivals, according to Bloomberg. Underperforming staff in investment banking and wealth management — including some managing directors — may be encouraged to leave after bonuses are paid in the coming weeks, […]

Trump Endorses Orbán As Budapest Warns Brussels “Keep Your Hands Off Our Elections” Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, U.S President Donald Trump has endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for re-election ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election, praising him as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and saying he has his “complete and total” backing. In the message posted Thursday on Trump’s […]

Year Two Of The Largest Ever Global LNG Supply Wave Is Hitting Markets Roughly two and a half months after Goldman’s head of Global Commodities Research, Samantha Dart, laid out a timeline for what she called the “largest ever” LNG supply wave to hit global markets, she published a new client note late this week reiterating that the “supply wave is still on track.” “2025 was year one of what we see as the largest ever global LNG […]

Watch: Comedy Writer Testifies Before US Congress On UK’s Chilling Free Speech Crackdown Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Graham Linehan, the Irish comedy writer, testified before the US House Judiciary Committee, detailing how Britain’s authorities hounded him over online posts challenging trans ideology—exposing the chilling grip of censorship under Keir Starmer’s government. His appearance underscores […]

Is Narrative Warfare Driving Washington’s UN Pullback? Authored by Charles Davis via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Commentary On a gray morning in Geneva, a human-rights advocate walks into the Palais des Nations and scans the room the way you’d scan a street corner for gang members in a hard neighborhood. Not for gangbangers, though; for “civil society.” For the suited delegates with NGO badges who film speakers a little […]

These Are The World’s 12 Largest Impact Craters A single asteroid strike can reshape a planet, and Earth’s history is marked by several cataclysmic impacts. This map by Julie Peasley for Visual Capitalist uses data from the Earth Impact Database to showcase the 12 largest confirmed impact craters on Earth, ranging from massive basin-forming events to relatively recent collisions. The World’s Largest Craters by Diameter […]

How A Bad Night’s Sleep Affects The Brain’s Cleaning System Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Most of us have experienced this: You stayed up a bit too late the night before, and although your body turned up to work, your mind was elsewhere. CLIPAREA l Custom media/Shutterstock Blanking out during the day is common for the sleep-deprived, and now researchers have found out why it happens. When […]

This Is Where Birth Rates Are Highest In The US Birth rates in the U.S. have been declining for decades, but that decline has hit some states faster than others. The projections in this visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, are from SmartAsset, who analyzed results from U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 1-Year American Community Survey. The number shown for each state represents births per 1,000 people, and is based […]

Florida To Make Gold & Silver Official Means Of Payment Authored by Paul Craig Roberts, The Florida legislature has begun to move legislation (HB 999) to enact their prior approval for gold and silver coins to be legal tender in Florida. This legislation will exempt gold and silver coins from sales tax in Florida. It also means that within Florida, there will be a means of payment independent of digital money created by […]

Goldman: Local Resistance Against Data Centers “Are Not Slowing Development” Fierce winter weather across the eastern half of the U.S. put the power grid, data centers, and electricity prices back in focus, especially in the Mid-Atlantic, where Washington, D.C., logged its longest freezing streak since 1989. Our review of Facebook, X, media coverage, and local officials’ comments suggests that the cold snap across the Mid-Atlantic […]

Suicide Bomb Rocks Pakistan’s Capital, Over 30 Dead & 169 Wounded Via The Cradle At least 31 people were killed and 169 others injured on Friday when a suicide bomber struck a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, Pakistani officials said, in one of the capital’s deadliest attacks in over a decade. The blast happened in the Khadija al-Kubra Imambargah mosque in the outskirts of Islamabad, with […]

“Tough Choices”: Grant Cardone Puts Private Jet Up For Sale During Bitcoin Crash Minutes after Bitcoin plunged below the $70,000 handle on Thursday evening, Grant Cardone of Cardone Capital told followers on X that, with “Bitcoin crashing,” he now has to sell his $75 million private jet. “Bitcoin is crashing so I have to say bye to the love of my life. Tough choices,” Grant Cardone posted around 7:32 p.m. ET, minutes after Bitcoin […]

China Bans Stablecoin Issuance By Foreign And Domestic Companies Submitted by Cointelegraph, The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, and seven Chinese regulatory agencies published a joint statement on Friday banning the unapproved issuance of Renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The ban applies to both domestic and foreign stablecoin and tokenized RWA issuers, according […]

Bessent Says Iranian Leaders Wiring Money Out Of Country ‘Like Crazy’ Lest anyone still entertain the idea that Washington conducts military interventions abroad for the sake of “democracy” or because it “stands with the people” or for “human rights” – we bring you Thursday’s testimony of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before the Senate Banking Committee… U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Iran: We created a dollar […]

Why DeSantis Believes AI Needs Tight Regulation Now Authored by Nanette Holt & Natasha Holt via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), As Florida lawmakers debate legislation in the state’s capital, Gov. Ron DeSantis is making an all-out push to a finish line. The 47-year-old Republican is in the last year of his second four-year term as governor, making him ineligible to run again. So he’s spending his political capital as […]

Rashida Tlaib’s Terror Ties Under Scrutiny In New Watchdog Report A damning new report from ISGAP Action has thrust Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) back into the spotlight, this time with allegations that extend beyond rhetoric and directly involve national security.  U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib outside the Capitol Building in Washington DC. on Oct. 18, 2023.Celal Gunes / Anadolu via Getty Images The nonpartisan group released […]

Don Lemon Brands JD Vance “Vile Human Being” And Fake Christian Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Don Lemon, still reeling from his arrest on federal civil rights charges for disrupting a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, has turned his ire on Vice President JD Vance.  Lemon labeled Vance a “vile human being” for refusing to apologize over a reposted tweet, while insisting HE is the real […]

Soaring Trucker Rejection Rates Suggest “Epic Year” For Drivers Trucking advocacy group American Truckers United set the narrative late last year that the Trump administration’s crackdown on fraudulent, non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses that flooded US highways during the Biden-Harris regime era – linked to deadly crashes nationwide and the collapse in spot rates for mom-and-pop American truckers – was finally set to end […]

Las Vegas Neighborhood Rocked By Suspected Illegal Biolab Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), LAS VEGAS—Every morning, Raul Contreras rides his mountain bike along the quiet streets of northeast Las Vegas, passing tidy stucco homes and lawns that reflect a good quality of life. Illustration by The Epoch Times, Allan Stein/The Epoch Times, FBI, LVMPD via AP, Screenshots via The Epoch Times, Las Vegas […]

Cuba Ready To Negotiate With Trump, But Urges Dialing Down Of Pressure Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has offered to enter negotiations with Washington, but has made clear that this must happen “without pressure” – at a moment the Trump administration is seeking to economically strangle Cuba – even going so far as to openly tout the desire to see regime change. “Cuba is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States,” the […]

If You’re Free To Complain About Fascism, You Don’t Live In A Fascist Country Authored by Jenna McCarthy via Jenna’s Side, Many, many years ago—we’re talking decades—I got into a fight with a boy I’d been dating for (thankfully) not very long. I can’t even recall what the argument was about, but I’ll never forget his very last words to me: “God, you’re so stupid.” “There are plenty of insults you could fling […]