Baltic Dry Index. 1532 -34 Brent Crude 63.60
Spot Gold 4616 Spot Silver 91.34
US 2 Year Yield 3.56 +0.05
US Federal Debt. 38.613 trillion US GDP 31.068 trillion.
"Get a good night's sleep and don't bug anybody without asking me”.
President Trump Nixon.
AI is starting to take US jobs, and Wall Street bankster jobs at that. Who knew banksters were the most replaceable jobs in America?
Politicians next? Well politicians probably last.
Asia shares near record high on AI optimism,
dollar up on receding Fed cut bets
January 16, 20262:14 AM GMT
SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Asian stocks
advanced on Friday as the artificial intelligence boom regained momentum, while
the dollar held near a six-week high after upbeat U.S. economic data left
traders trimming bets on rate cuts there.
Oil prices were nursing losses and
safe-haven gold and silver fell after U.S. President Donald Trump adopted a
wait-and-see posture towards
the unrest in Iran, having earlier threatened intervention.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS),
opens new tab was up 0.5% and hovered near a record high hit in the
previous session, as stellar results
from Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW),
opens new tab breathed new life into the AI trade.
The U.S. and Taiwan also clinched a
trade deal on Thursday that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor
powerhouse's exports, directs new investments towards the U.S. technology
industry and risks infuriating China.
Overnight, gains in technology and
financial stocks sent Wall
Street higher, with Nasdaq futures up 0.22% in the Asian session.
S&P 500 futures similarly tacked on 0.15%.
"We know there's lingering doubts
about the spend around capex and AI more broadly, and I guess with the TSMC
report yesterday being pretty solid and sounding optimistic, it certainly
provided a much needed shot in the arm for those AI names which have been
struggling on Wall Street in recent months," said Tony Sycamore, a market
analyst at IG.
"I wouldn't say it galvanised or
basically shot them higher, but it certainly provided some much needed
reassurance there, that everything remains on track."
Japan's Nikkei (.N225),
opens new tab fell 0.42%, weighed down in part by a recovery in the
yen which has retreated from an 18-month low.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.38% while FTSE
futures eased 0.18%, after European shares scaled a record high on Thursday.
In currencies, the dollar hovered near a
six-week high, after a slew of upbeat U.S. economic releases including data
that showed the number of
Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell
last week.
The euro languished near a 1-1/2-month low
and bought $1.1606, while sterling slipped 0.06% to $1.3376.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar
stood at 99.36, not far from Thursday's top of 99.493, its highest since
December 2.
"Mounting evidence of stable labour
conditions is lowering the odds of an April cut, as fixed income watchers grow
increasingly confident that the next benchmark drop will come from Chair
Powell's successor in June," said Jose Torres, senior economist at
Interactive Brokers.
Markets are now pricing in a 67% chance
that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on rates in April, up from 37% a month
ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Odds for a steady outcome in June have
also risen to 37.5%, compared to 17% last month.
The yen was 0.1% stronger at 158.48 per
dollar, though it was not too far from an 18-month trough of 159.45 hit earlier
in the week.
The currency has been sold off on the
prospect of a snap
election in Japan as early as next month, which investors bet could
pave the way for expanded fiscal stimulus from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
"For Takaichi, the snap poll offers
the chance of a stronger mandate at home and abroad - but failure would likely
spell a swift end to her premiership," said Daniel Hurley, portfolio
specialist at T. Rowe Price.
In the oil market, prices were recovering
from their steep fall in the previous session after Trump's watered-down
comments on Iran allayed concerns over potential military action against Tehran
and oil supply disruptions.
Brent futures were up 0.11% at $63.83 a
barrel, having tumbled more than 4% in the previous session. U.S. crude was
similarly up 0.2% at $59.31 per barrel, after a 4.6% fall on Thursday.
Spot gold was down 0.16% at $4,607.50 an
ounce.
Asia
shares near record high on AI optimism, dollar up on receding Fed cut bets |
Reuters
Stock futures are little changed after rally in
banks and tech lifts major averages: Live updates
Updated Fri, Jan 16 2026 7:38 PM EST
Stock futures were near the flatline
Thursday night after a rally in banks and tech names boosted the major
averages.
S&P 500 futures gained
0.1%, while Dow Jones
Industrial Average futures added 30 points, or less than 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced
nearly 0.2%.
Major U.S. stock indexes rallied across
the board in Thursday’s regular trading. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each jumped
nearly 0.3%, while the 30-stock Dow added
0.6%. The small-cap Russell
2000 index outperformed, advancing almost 0.9%.
Chip stocks were among the market’s
biggest winners in the session after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company gave blowout
fourth-quarter results, reigniting hopes for the artificial intelligence
trade. Taiwan Semi jumped more than 4%, while Nvidia and AMD gained about 2% each.
Further, the U.S. and Taiwan reached a trade
agreement in which Taiwanese chip and tech companies will invest at
least $250 billion in production capacity in America.
Bank stocks also got a boost after Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley posted solid
fourth-quarter results. Goldman shares gained more than 4%, while Morgan
Stanley added nearly 6%.
“The fundamentals are really healthy.
You’re looking for above-average earnings growth, margins, sales revenue, the
Fed cutting interest rates likely this year. That’s all positive,” Larry Adam,
Raymond James chief investment officer, said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.”
To be sure, Adam said he’s slightly
cautious coming into 2026. Risks to the market’s gains include expensive
valuations, which leaves the market vulnerable to disappointments, the
investment chief said. He added that retail investors also already own a record
amount of equity, and that the U.S. is readying for midterm elections that
could lead to an uptick in volatility.
Investors are preparing to close out a
hectic week. They’ve been grappling with a slate of headlines out of
Washington, running the gamut from heightened geopolitical risk in Iran and
Greenland to worries over threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence.
The major averages are heading for losses
on the week, with the S&P 500 off 0.3% and the Nasdaq down 0.6% in the
period. The Dow is down 0.1% week to date.
Stock
market today: Live updates
|
Wall Street
Has Been Busy Cutting Employees January
15, 2026 at 11:16 PM GMT More
workers on Wall Street are getting dismissed than at any time in a decade it
would seem. The biggest US banks have said they’re slashing employees in the
name of cost-cutting, with the six largest—JPMorgan, Bank of
America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan
Stanley—retaining 10,600 fewer workers in December from a year earlier. In
the aftermath of Covid-19, pink slips came with the explanation that banks
were correcting for over-hiring that was spurred by a pandemic deal boom. But
these days, the reason is evolving into how artificial intelligence may be replacing more people. What
You Need to Know Today So
while all those careers get
short-circuited, the banks themselves are firing on all thrusters. Wall
Street’s five giants reported a record $134 billion of trading revenue from
last year and an upswing in dealmaking. The
economic and political maelstroms triggered by Donald Trump over the past
year have been catnip for traders as clients rushed to reposition their
portfolios. At the same time, the Republican president’s deregulatory agenda
and Federal Reserve rate cuts combined to revive a moribund environment for
mergers and acquisitions. The trading surge is in “middle innings,” Morgan
Stanley Chief Executive Officer Ted Pick told analysts. “We’re in that sweet spot right now.” Wall
Street Dismissing Workers at a Decade-Record Rate: Evening Briefing -
Bloomberg |
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In other news, it’s Davos market rigging time
again.
Davos: Economic war is the ‘biggest global risk’
Wednesday 14 January 2026 2:49 pm
Trade wars and economic disputes between
global powers are the biggest risk to the world over the next two years,
business leaders, academics and government officials have said in a report
ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting.
Nearly a fifth of respondents in a survey (18 per
cent) by the World Economic Forum said “geoeconomic confrontation” was the
biggest threat to the world, beating other issues such as state-based armed
conflict, climate change and disinformation.
The survey of 1,300 key figures, who
mainly work in global businesses but also come from civil society organisations
and different governments, said clashes between economies could put the world
under threat.
The issue of “geo-economic confrontation”
jumped eight places in the ranking of immediate threats to world order compared
to last year’s survey. Economic downturn and inflation also rose through the
risk ranking.
The publication of the World Economic
Forum –
whose Davos conference attracts some of the most influential figures from
across the world – report follows a turbulent start to the year.
So far in 2026, President Trump has
captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in part to gain control over
the world’s largest oil reserves, Greenland’s sovereignty has been threatened
over natural resources and economists have predicted that another energy shock
could be triggered by a conflict
in Iran amid
the killing of thousands of protestors in the country.
Responses were collected between August
and September last year, reflecting concerns about Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin
and Trump’s next move after a trade war erupted in April last year and the US
built closer ties with Russia to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine.
World Economic Forum managing director
Saadia Zahidi offered stern words for the credibility of international laws
that govern countries’ diplomatic relations.
“Rules and institutions that have long
underpinned stability are increasingly deadlocked or ineffective in managing
this turbulence,” Zahidi said.
Davos leaders concerned about climate
change
The biggest threat over a ten-year horizon
was extreme weather events, followed by biodiversity loss and “critical change
to Earth systems”.
It suggests that climate-related issues
are serious long-term concerns for world leaders, along with “adverse outcomes”
of AI and the proliferation of fake news through “misinformation and
disinformation”.
When asked which issue “best
characterises” the terms of global cooperation on risks in 10 years, some 68
per cent said they expected middle and great powers to “contest, set and
enforce” regional rules and norms.
The “reinvigoration of the US-led,
rules-based international order” was a prediction for diplomacy terms for just
6 per cent of respondents.
President Trump, Keir
Starmer and
EU leaders are expected to attend Davos next week, with talks on Ukraine’s
future expected to be held.
Starmer and Rachel Reeves will meanwhile
hope they can secure further investments in the UK at the business-focused
meeting in the Swiss Alps, with the Chancellor expected to attend a meeting
with JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon.
Davos: Economic
war is ‘biggest global risk’
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
More
Americans are filing for bankruptcy. Here's what's behind the surge.
Updated
on: January 15, 2026 / 4:09 PM EST
New
data shows more Americans are filing for bankruptcy, the latest indication
that price
pressures and an uneven economy are leaving some households strapped
for cash.
Total
consumer bankruptcy filings jumped 12% from 478,752 in 2024 to 533,949 in 2025,
according to Epiq AACER, a platform that provides U.S. bankruptcy filing data.
Epiq, which tracks Chapter 7, Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 filings, relies on data
provided through the U.S. Courts' PACER system, an electronic database that
houses federal court records.
The
surge in filings comes as American consumers — and businesses — face a slate of
economic pressures, ranging from sticky inflation to elevated borrowing costs,
experts told CBS News.
John
Rao, a senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, said Americans
typically hold off on filing for bankruptcy as long as they can, meaning the
conditions that led them to file for bankruptcy may not necessarily be tied to
current economic issues.
"There
is often a lag before economic conditions translate to higher
bankruptcies," he said.
Still,
he said the rising cost of medical insurance, mounting credit card debt and
the restart of student loan repayments are serving as some
of the major catalysts for bankruptcies. Inflation has also made it tougher for
Americans to cover expenses while paying down their debt, he added.
"There
comes a point where the mounting bills, the increasing balances on credit
cards, all those things just weigh people down so much," Rao said.
A December
CBS News poll found most Americans are struggling to afford basic
living costs in the U.S., including health care, food and housing.
More
More
Americans are filing for bankruptcy. Here's what's behind the surge. - CBS News
UK economy grows more than expected
Thursday 15 January 2026
7:55 am
The UK economy grew more
than expected in November last year, official data has shown, reflecting
businesses’ nerves about Rachel Reeves’ Budget measures.
New Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed growth in the UK economy
inching up
Business analysts warned
over several months that pre-Budget speculation had dampened spending and
investment levels.
The figures will also
pile pressure on Reeves and the rest of the Labour government, with economic
growth being the party’s central mission.
A Bloomberg poll of economists
predicted zero growth earlier this week before the prediction was revised up to
0.1 per cent growth.
Over a three-month
period, ONS researchers said the UK economy grew 0.3 per cent.
“The economy grew
slightly in the latest three months, led by growth in the services sector,
which performed better in November following a weak October,” said Liz McKeown,
director of economic statistics at the ONS.
Disappointing figures for
November came in construction, which suffered a decline in output of 1.3 per
cent over the month.
The data body is expected
to offer an estimate for economic growth over the calendar year when December
figures are published next month.
The UK economy grew at a
faster pace in the earlier parts of the year as finance chiefs rushed to invest
in goods and services to get ahead of expected tariffs from President Trump and
higher tax levels from April.
The ONS has said that
growth in the first quarter of 2025 was 0.7 per cent before dropping to 0.2 per
cent and 0.1 per cent in the second and third quarters of the year.
More
UK economy grows more than expected
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section. Updates as they get reported.
Why lithium power banks are becoming a real home fire risk, not
just a travel problem
14 January 2026
Lithium power banks were sold as the
perfect travel accessory, yet the real hazard is now sitting on your kitchen
counter, nightstand, and home office desk. As you add more portable batteries
to keep phones, laptops, toys, and tools running, you are also stacking up a
new category of home fire risk that behaves very differently from a frayed cord
or a forgotten candle. Understanding how these compact energy packs fail, and
how to live with them safely, is quickly becoming as basic as knowing where
your smoke alarms are.
The same chemistry that lets a slim
power bank recharge your phone several times can, under the wrong conditions,
turn it into a blowtorch that is difficult to extinguish and fast to spread.
Fire agencies and safety experts now treat lithium power sources as a distinct
hazard, not a niche concern for electric vehicles or industrial sites. If you
use portable batteries at home, you need to treat them as serious fire loads,
not harmless gadgets.
The quiet spread of lithium into every corner of your home
You probably think of power banks as
accessories for travel days and long commutes, but the underlying lithium cells
are now embedded in almost everything you plug in at home. Guidance on Lithium, Ion Battery Safety notes that these batteries are increasingly
found in devices and systems that the public and first responders rely on, from
phones and laptops to backup power supplies and home medical equipment. Each
new device you add may only hold a few watt-hours, yet collectively they turn
your living room and bedrooms into dense clusters of stored energy.
That ubiquity matters because it
multiplies the number of potential failure points inside your walls. A separate
advisory on how Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly used across a wide range of applications
underscores that the same chemistry powering e-bikes and power tools is also
inside the slim bricks you toss into drawers. When you treat those bricks as
disposable clutter, you ignore the fact that they share the same basic fire
behavior as larger packs that already worry fire departments.
Why power banks behave so differently when they fail
Traditional household fires usually
start small and smolder, giving you time to notice smoke or a burning smell.
Lithium packs, including the ones inside power banks, can instead jump almost
instantly into what experts call thermal runaway, a chain reaction where
internal temperatures spike and flammable gases vent in seconds. Federal
guidance on risks and response strategies explains that overcharging and overheating can
push a cell beyond its designed capacity, triggering rapid heating that is
difficult to stop once it begins.
Once a cell enters that state, the fire
is not just about the plastic case or nearby fabric, it is being fed from
inside the battery itself. Technical analysis of causes of lithium ion battery fires notes that internal structures like the
cathode and anode can be damaged by defects or abuse, leading to short circuits
that ultimately produce flames. In a compact power bank, several cells are
packed tightly together, so one failing cell can quickly ignite its neighbors,
turning a pocket-sized device into a concentrated jet of fire.
From travel accessory to bedside ignition source
Power banks migrated from carry-on bags
to nightstands and sofas without much thought about how that changes your
exposure. You now leave them plugged in overnight next to pillows, blankets,
and curtains, or charging on top of paperwork and books. A consumer advisory
on Lithium, Ion Battery Fires, What You Need, Know stresses that your house is full of devices
powered by lithium cells and that if you notice any of them swelling,
overheating, or emitting an odor, you should stop using them immediately to
avoid fires resulting from these devices. A swollen power bank on a wooden
nightstand is not a cosmetic issue, it is a warning sign that the pack is
becoming an ignition source.
More
Why lithium power banks are becoming a real home fire risk, not just a
travel problem
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
Another
weekend and on Monday the grate and the not so good, gather in Davos
Switzerland to divvy up the spoils of banksterism 2026. Unhappily for the rest
of us, we have to guess at where their leftover crumbs might fall.
Hopefully,
President Trump won’t be kidnapping any more dictators this weekend in his
demand to be given a Nobel Peace Prize. Have a great weekend everyone.
"When a President does it, that means that it is not
illegal”.
President Trump Nixon.
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