Watch Live: Will Fed Chair Powell Push Back Against The ‘Not Hawkish’ Dots? Given that Powell and his pals were flying blind into this meeting, just how will he defend his actions (and hint at his outlook) considering it exposes even more guesswork among the groupthinkers than normal. Powell’s previous comments were the hawkish signal that sank stocks and bonds and needed Fed’s Williams to stop the pain… Will Powell let the […]

Gunboat Diplomacy Returns: US Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuela Gunboat diplomacy was on full display Wednesday afternoon after Bloomberg reported that U.S. forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. This move underscores the Trump administration’s Monroe-2.0 posturing as Washington seeks to reassert control over the Western Hemisphere after years of neglect. Bloomberg cited sources […]

‘Most Divided’ Fed In 37 Years Cuts Rates; Restarts Balance Sheet Growth Tl;dr: The FOMC cut rates by 25bps to 3.50-3.75% as expected, with a 9-3 vote split; Miran sought a 50bps cut, while Goolsbee and Schmid preferred no change. It reiterated data dependence, signalling further adjustments will hinge on the evolving outlook, labor market conditions, inflation dynamics, expectations, and global and financial developments. […]

FTA Threatens To Cut Funds To Chicago Transit Authority After Woman Set On Fire Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times, The Federal Transit Authority has threatened to withdraw funding for Chicago’s public transport network if the city doesn’t “measurably reduce assaults on transit workers and passengers” and address “unsafe conditions that have contributed to increased crime.” FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro on […]

“Bud Light” Moment Hits Cracker Barrel: Stock Crushed, Traffic Slides, Guidance Slashed Cracker Barrel shares are lower in premarket trading after posting softer-than-expected quarterly sales and cutting full-year revenue and profit guidance. Customer traffic dropped more than anticipated, driven in part by backlash after the casual dining chain effectively “Bud Lighted” itself with a disastrous woke rebranding. The rebranding […]

Obamacare Was Not A Failure Authored by Connor O’Keefe via The Mises Institute, “You have turned, Mr. President, the right of every American to have access to decent healthcare into reality for the first time in American history.” Those are the words then-Vice President Joe Biden said to President Obama in the East Room of the White House on March 23, 2010, as he prepared to sign the Patient Protection and Affordable Care […]

Trump Says National Guard Member Who Survived DC Shooting ‘Stood Up Today’ Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump said on Dec. 9 that West Virginia National Guard member Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, who was critically injured after being shot in Washington last month, has stood up from his bed and is showing signs of recovery. Wolfe and fellow National Guard member Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom were shot […]

Intel Shares Fall After Lawsuits Claim US Chipmakers Aided Russian Weapons Intel shares slipped in early trading Wednesday after the company was named in a series of lawsuits accusing major U.S. chipmakers of failing to stop their technology from ending up in Russian weapons used against civilians in Ukraine. Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Texas Instruments — along with Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway–owned […]

Deep Discounts Tempt Indian Refiners To Seek Non-Sanctioned Russian Oil Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, The majority of India’s biggest refiners are buying Russian oil from non-sanctioned sellers and traders as widening discounts of Russia’s crudes to benchmarks are tempting the price-sensitive Indian importers, sources involved in the purchases told Bloomberg on Wednesday.  Before the latest sanctions on […]

Russia Rejects New Zelensky Offer Of ‘Energy Ceasefire’ As Grid Repair Woes Worsen Russia has rejected a new Zelensky proposal for an “energy ceasefire.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has explained that Russia wants a “long-term peace” and not a just a temporary ceasefire. Zelensky has offered a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure if Russia agreed, mirroring something which had only briefly been in effect at the start […]

WTI Holds Losses After Big Product Inventory Builds, US Crude Production Nears Record Highs Oil prices extended their recent decline this morning as concerns about global oversupply continued to weigh on sentiment. Crude has been trapped in a tight $4-a-barrel range since the start of November, as oversupply concerns vie with geopolitical risks surrounding the flow of sanctioned Russian barrels into nations including India. […]

The Fiddle-All Reserve By Michael Every of Rabobank The RBA rates hold decision generated two notable headlines from the Australian Financial Review: ‘RBA is worried it cut interest rates too far’; and ‘RBA is caught in Ray Dalio’s Doom Loop’. The Bank of England says Chancellor Reeves’ budget will lower inflation by 50bps in 2026, backing the view that they will give the public an Xmas rate cut next week. Of course, […]

China’s DeepSeek Using Banned Nvidia Chips To Develop Next Major Model Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has been using ‘several thousand’ banned Nvidia Blackwell chips to develop its next major model, The Information reports, citing six people with knowledge of the matter.  The chips in question were smuggled into China through a complex scheme that involves sending them to data centers in countries that are allowed to purchase […]

USA Rare Earth Shares Volatile After Accelerating Timeline For Commercial Production By Two Years USA Rare Earth shares were up more than 3% heading into the cash open on news that the company is accelerating commercialization of its Round Top rare earth project in Texas, a move that could bring U.S. production online years ahead of most competing efforts. The cash open prompted selling pressure which dragged USAR down 3% USAR […]

F-18 Fighter Jets Flew Deep Inside Gulf Of Venezuela In Closest Approach Yet For the first time, two US Navy F/A-18 fighter jets flew deep into the Gulf of Venezuela, the body of water bordered by Venezuelan territory on three sides, in what appears to be the latest ultra-provocative show of force from Washington. Some reports say the jets lingered long in the airspace, circling the gulf for some 40 minutes. The flyover happened […]

Futures Flat With Fed Rate Cut, Oracle Earnings On Deck US equity futures are flat ahead of a Fed meeting where a rate cut is assured (the only question is whether it will be hawkish or dovish) and Oracle results later. As of 8:00am ET, S&P and Nasdaq 100 futures are unchanged, with Mag 7 stocks mixed in premarket trading (TSLA +0.5%, META -0.5%, AAPL -0.3%, NVDA -0.2%). Bond yields are mostly unchanged and the USD is flat […]

CFTC Starts Pilot Program Allowing Crypto As Collateral In Derivative Markets Authored by Stephen Katte via oinTelegraph.com, The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued updated guidance for tokenized collateral in derivatives markets, paving the way for a pilot program to test how cryptocurrencies can be used as collateral in derivatives markets. Collateral in derivatives markets serves as a security deposit, acting as […]

Trump To “Make Phone Call” Over Thai-Cambodia Border Crisis As 500,000 Flee At a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, President Trump told the crowd he will be “making a phone call” to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to urge peace and help resolve their ongoing border dispute. “Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries. We’re making peace through strength,” Trump told […]

No Wonder The World Seems Deranged… Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, Why We Fail No wonder the world seems deranged – it is deranged by the immense strength of an Old Guard clinging onto power by any means available even as the world around them spins into incoherence. There are many reasons why we fail, but perhaps the most critical one is continuing to do more of what has failed. This has many potential […]

SpaceX Reportedly Targeting 2026 IPO That Could Rival Saudi Aramco’s Historic Listing SpaceX is preparing a record-breaking IPO targeting a valuation of roughly $1.5 trillion, with expectations to raise $30 billion or more and debut in the second half of 2026. If the Bloomberg report is accurate, the offering would surpass Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing and become the largest public listing in history. The report says SpaceX […]

State Department Has Revoked 85,000 Visas Since January, Official Says Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Trump administration has rescinded 85,000 visas across all categories since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, a State Department official said on Dec. 9. The Department of State logo and U.S. flag, in this illustration created on April 23, 2025. Dado Ruvic/Reuters The official […]

Zelensky Says ‘Ready For Elections’ After Trump Indicated He’s An Obstacle To Peace Update(1435ET): Is this finally the end of the road for Zelensky? President Trump has really ramped up the pressure, in a fresh Politico interview signaling that the Ukrainian leader must begin to accept reality and make compromises, starting with holding elections. According to a fresh audio statement being circulated, Zelensky has newly responded […]

Homeownership Has Become A Luxury In Many US Cities: Report Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, Homeownership is now considered a “luxury” in most of America’s largest cities due to a shortage of homes for sale, high property prices, and elevated mortgage rates, consumer services company Bankrate said in a Dec. 8 analysis report. A typical household, which earns nearly $80,000 per year, is far short of the […]

Trump On NATO: ‘They Call Me Daddy’ Among the more notable and amusing moments from President Trump’s newly published interview with Politico is when he stated that NATO officials refer to him as “Daddy” after being proven right on the need to bolster collective defense funding through increased European budgets. This tough approach, heavily vocalized during his first term – and subject of immense pushback from European leaders at […]

First Active British Soldier Dies In Ukraine In ‘Tragic Accident’ Britain’s military has announced the death of a member of the UK Armed Forces in what officials called a “tragic accident” on Tuesday. The accident happened during a weapons trial conducted by Ukrainian forces, and inside Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence’s official statement described that the soldier “was injured in a tragic accident whilst observing Ukrainian […]