Indonesian Stocks Halted For 30 Minutes After Crashing On MSCI “Investability” Concerns Indonesian stocks tumbled after MSCI raised concerns about their investability and warned of a potential downgrade to frontier-market status.  The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index plunged 7.4% on Wednesday, its biggest one-day slide in over nine months; earlier in the day it crashed as much as 8.8%, triggering a 30-minute market halt, after […]

Tether To Become “Gold Central Bank” In Post-Dollar World, CEO Ardoino Says Authored by Danny Park via TheBlock.co, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told Bloomberg that he expects the company to become one of the largest gold central banks in the world. The company plans to start trading its gold reserves for additional profit. Tether owns around 140 tons of gold, worth around $23 billion, stored in a nuclear bunker in […]

Watch Live: Fed Chair Powell’s First Presser Since Grand Jury Subpoena After the ‘nothing burger’ of a Fed Statement (as expected) – no change in rates (but two dovish dissents) along with an upgrade for growth and optimism for the labor market (while inflation remains ‘elevated’) – the key issue that Chair Powell will likely address at his press conference is how long the Fed will remain on hold. Most economists forecast the Fed […]

Despite Two Dovish Dissents, Fed Holds Rates As Expected; Upgrades Growth, Lowers Labor Risks Tl; dr: Despite two dovish dissents, The Fed is likely on an “extended pause” noting strong activity data and signs of stabilization in the labor market.  However, Goldman “expects easing to resume later in the year as a moderation in inflation allows for two further ‘normalization’ cuts to take rates back to levels seen by the […]

Trump Responds To Omar Attack: ‘She Probably Had Herself Sprayed’ Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was assaulted Tuesday evening during a town hall event in North Minneapolis. Video of the incident shows a disheveled man spraying her with apple cider vinegar from a syringe (there was a polymarket for that). The spraying happened as she was calling for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) […]

Tesla Earnings Preview: Robotaxis, Optimus, Energy All In Focus Heading Into 2026 Tesla is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today, and while the headline numbers will matter, most investors are far more focused on what Elon Musk says about the company’s future. The earnings call that follows the report is expected to center on artificial intelligence, self-driving technology, robotaxis, and […]

FBI Raids ‘Ground Zero’ Fulton County Election Office In 2020 Voter Fraud Probe The FBI has raided a Fulton County, Georgia election hub that was ‘ground zero’ for voter fraud concerns in the 2020 election, Fox News reports. Agents could be seen entering the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, a new facility which opened in 2023 – and was designed to streamline their election process (we’re sure!).  According to […]

Another East Coast Storm Brewing After Widespread Power Outages Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Another winter storm system may hit the East Coast this weekend, just days after a major storm brought widespread power outages due to ice and snow across a broad swath of the eastern United States. A street during a winter storm in New York City on Jan. 25, 2026. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times “Forecasts […]

Man Shot By Border Patrol In Arizona Was Convicted Human Trafficker Who Allegedly Shot First Update (1235ET): Turns out that the man who was shot by border patrol yesterday in Arizona was a convicted human smuggler who fled incarceration, and allegedly fired first at a federal helicopter near the US-Mexico border, according to authorities.  TL;DR Guy is convicted of human smuggling in 2023 Checks out of jail for a counseling […]

Virginia Judge Halts Democratic Plans To Redistrict State Before Midterm Elections Via American Greatness, A Virginia circuit court judge has ruled that state Democratic leaders have violated constitutional procedures in attempting to engage in retaliatory redistricting efforts before the midterm elections. Virginia Democrats had sought to create a constitutional amendment allowing them to redraw congressional district maps in […]

Iran Executes Suspected Israeli Spy In High-Stakes Act Of Defiance After stern warnings from President Trump, Iran has made clear it is not executing any protesters in the wake of the raging demonstrations and deadly unrest across Iranian cities which took place and grabbed world headlines earlier this month. Trump had earlier claimed that Iran was going to execute 800, a figure that Iranian officials immediately rejected and […]

War Drums In Gulf: US Armada Arrives As Saudi Arabia, UAE Deny Airspace Access Things between Tehran and Washington are moving fast according to an eerily familiar pattern hearkening back to the lead-up to the 12-day June war, when there was some wrangling over negotiations – and talk of good faith efforts at dialogue – just before the US greenlighted a surprise Israeli attack which also saw US entry into the conflict by the close […]

Fearing US Reprisals, Mexico Halts Oil Shipment To Cuba Via The Libertarian Institute Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, has backed out of a planned oil shipment to Cuba, the country’s president appeared to confirm. The move comes after President Donald Trump insisted that “zero” oil would be sent to the island, and follows reports that Washington plans regime change there by the end of the year. Speaking during her daily press […]

WTI Holds Gains After Winter Storm Sparks Biggest Total Inventory Draw Since October Oil prices hit a fresh four-month high this morning after President Trump threatened another attack on Iran, urging Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal. “Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network, adding that “the next attack will be far […]

Amazon Cuts 16,000 Jobs As Tech Layoffs Accelerate In 2026 Amazon is laying off about 16,000 more employees as it works to cut bureaucracy and respond to growing competition from AI. The move follows October’s 14,000 job cuts and the closure of its gaming unit. The company also announced it will shut down its Amazon-branded grocery and cashierless stores. A note on the company’s website on Wednesday said: “I want to let you […]

USD Pops, Yen Drops As TsySec Bessent Says “Absolutely Not Intervening” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Sara Eisen this morning that “the US always has a strong dollar policy”. This statement comes after President Trump’s apparent ‘comfort’ last night with the dollar declining… When asked if he was worried about losses in the dollar, Trump told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday: “No, I think it’s great.” […]

Trump Unveils Mercantilism 101 By Benjamin Picton, Senior Market Strategist at Rabobank The de-Dollarisation meme rolled on yesterday as the Bloomberg Dollar spot index sank to its lowest reading since February of 2022. The fall became precipitous after Donald Trump was given an opportunity by journalists to talk up the Dollar, but instead replied “no, I think it’s great” when asked whether he was concerned about its recent […]

“Not A Pullback”: Trump Dismisses Bovino Departure As Border Czar Homan Meets With Gov. Walz, Mayor Frey Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, Border czar Tom Homan said on Jan. 27 that he met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey individually amid ongoing protests against federal immigration enforcement in the state. The meetings were held as anti-ICE protests intensified in Minnesota following […]

“America Is Back!!”: President Trump Celebrates S&P Topping 7,000 As ‘Gamma Wall’ Looms After continuously hitting the ‘Gamma Wall’ discussed by Goldman’s Brian Garrett… …the S&P 500 index opened higher this morning after strong results from ASML (and a slew of AI industry headlines), trading above 7,000 for the first time… President Trump took the opportunity to exclaim “America Is Back!!” Will that jinx it? […]

TikTok Users Report Trouble Posting About Epstein, ICE, Days After Company Finalizes Sale To US Investors Censorship concerns are back in the spotlight after TikTok users claim to be having trouble posting about Jeffrey Epstein and ICE raids. Days after the company finalized a sale to a consortium of American investors who now control TikTok’s business in the US – which averted a national ban of the app over national security […]

Canadian Woman Euthanized ‘Against Her Will’ After Husband Reported ‘Caregiver Burnout’ A Canadian woman in her 80s was euthanized ‘against her will’ through Canada’s medical assistance in dying program (MAiD), after her elderly husband told doctors she had changed her mind despite telling an assessor she wanted to live, according to a report released by the Office of the Chief Coroner.  MAiD allows patients to request a […]

US Stocks Set To Open At Record High On Blowout Tech Earnings Ahead Of Fed, Mag 7 US equity futures are rallying into record territory, led by Tech as overnight earnings (ASML, SK Hynix, STX, TXN) boost the group and help fuel the AI trade, perhaps pausing the broadening theme. As of 8:00am ET S&P futures are up 0.2% pointing to a sixth-straight advance that would mark the longest winning run in almost seven months and will push […]

Deutsche Bank Shares Tumble After Offices Raided In Money-Laundering Probe Deutsche Bank shares are down over 3% in early trading following reports that German police raided their offices in Frankfurt and in Berlin on Wednesday morning, as part of an investigation into money laundering. “We confirm that the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office is on site in our offices,” a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said in an emailed […]

ASML Shares Reverse Earlier Gains After Bookings Bonanza, Job Cuts Update (0939ET): Aaaaaand, shares in ASML are now red to the tune of -1% despite the good news. *  *  *  Shares in ASML, Europe’s most valuable company which builds the ‘printing presses’ for modern microchips, exploded higher in Wednesday trade after Q4 orders blew past analyst estimates. The Dutch semiconductor company also announced job cuts to boost […]

Trump Says Noem Won’t Step Down Over Minnesota Shooting, Doing ‘Very Good Job’ Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump on Tuesday rebuffed calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step down from her position in the midst of criticism of immigration officials in the wake of a protester-involved shooting in Minneapolis over the past weekend. President Donald Trump departs for […]