Open: 223.53 Close: 225.1 Change: 1.57

Today's Summary

Hammond: Fossil fuels still dominate the existing system, but they are decidedly absent from the future that is being built. Hammond: The economics of clean energy have already won, and these industries advantages are widening. Each of Israel and Bolivia now has a valuable (and viable) strategic partner, something that neither country had in the past. Sales of existing homes in 2025 drop to lowest since 1995, sellers massively yank listings off the market, waiting for spring. US Government Sold $654 billion of Treasuries this week, 10-Year Yield Spikes to 4.24%, Highest since Sep 2, despite 3 rate cuts. Top 0.1% of households (all 135,000 of them) are $11 trillion wealthier. Economic inequality continues to rise sharply worldwide, according to the “Global Inequality Report 2026″ by French economist Thomas Piketty and his team of researchers. DOJ issued criminal subpoenas against Minnesota officials it is pursuing. A 38 trillion dollar debt effectively limits fiscal policy response to economic crises, leaving only monetry response. Even slippery academic MMT practitioners – when cornered – admit that *inflationary* crises can occur due to MMT. In the long run, to paraphrase Keynes, we are all dead, which means we dont own anything for very long. The world is now using so much fresh water that it has entered an era of water bankruptcy. Gavin Newsom hosted conservative Ben Shapiro on his podcast to discuss ICE and Israel. Josh Shapiro says Kamala Harris vetting process was far uglier than commonly known. Richard Thaler and Alex Imas on The Winners Curse - The Big Picture Home Invest with Barry Speaking with Barry Ritholtz. US President Donald Trump has ramped up his aggression in the Western Hemisphere. Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country theyve ever known. A criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will test whether Republican loyalty to the president. Richard Tha and Alex Emos discuss their updated version of the Winners Curse. Jeffry Frieden: The second administration of President Donald Trump has remade American trade policy. Barry Ritholtz: The current administration regards the United States as overstretched and overburdened. Noah Smith: Semiconductor industry is probably the most important industry in the world. He says Japan should encourage greenfield platform FDI, in which foreign companies build factories or offices in Japan in order to create goods and services that are then exported from Japan to a third country. Smith: The more exports Japan sells, the stronger the yen. The world loves everything Japanese, but Japan doesnt realize it, says Yay Kusoi. Japanese food has increasingly become the most sought-after cuisine. Living standards grew only 6.5% between 2007 and 2022. How can Japan leverage its international appeal to get more FDI, more exports, and more global talent? What more can the government and businesses do? Make bank accounts easy for foreigners who set up businesses in Japan. China will take Nvidia chips while they are available, use them to train models to compete with American frontier variants. A new poll shows Americans now disapprove of ICE and support protests against the agency. Nasdaq seeking SEC approval for 23-hour trading schedule. Bermuda outlined plans for a fully onchain national economy. Traders holding long positions (betting on price increases) suffered more than $1.5 billion in losses over the last 48 hours. Morgan Stanley filed for a Solana Trust with the SEC. Caroline Ellison, the former co-CEO of Alameda Research and a central figure in the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is expected to be released from federal custody. Bitcoin and Solana both fell below key technical support levels as selling pressure accelerated. Makina Finance has lost 1,299 ETH, worth around $4 million, after hackers manipulated prices on one of its USDC liquidity pools. Strategy just bought 22,300 Bitcoin for $2.1 billion, the largest Bitcoin-buying firm in the past year.