Baltic
Dry Index. 1803 +74 Brent Crude 65.33
Spot Gold 4800 Spot Silver 93.42
US 2 Year Yield 3.60 unch.
US Federal Debt. 38.638 trillion US GDP 31.085 trillion.
January 22, 1771 Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain
In Davos, he came, he saw, he folded. In yet another TACO, President Trump hastily retreated on Greenland in the face of a united EU and UK threatening severe retaliation if President Trump went through with his latest threatened tariff attack on Europe.
The stock casinos soared in a relief rally at Trump’s latest TACO. But what a way to run the G-7. Still it raises the awkward question did anyone team Trump profit from Trump's latest TACO?
South Korea’s Kospi breaches 5,000 as Asia stocks
rebound after Trump walks back on Europe tariff threats
Published Wed, Jan 21 2026 6:52 PM ESTSouth
Korea’s Kospi breached
the 5,000 mark Thursday as markets in Asia rebounded after U.S. President
Donald Trump walked back on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries
over Greenland.
Trump also said at the World Economic
Forum in Davos that he
would not use force to acquire the Arctic island, calming nerves over
a possible U.S. military action, adding that he had “formed
the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” along with
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The Kospi was last up 1.99%, while the
small-cap Kosdaq index gained 1.73%.
Battery maker Samsung SDI soared 15.28%,
while conglomerate Doosan gained 8.61%, and heavyweight Samsung Electronics
climbed 3.95%.
The country’s economy unexpectedly shrank 0.3%
on a quarterly basis in the October to December period, its sharpest
contraction since 2022.
Gross domestic product grew 1.5% year on year, while full-year economic growth
slowed to 1%, the weakest since 2020, when output contracted 0.7% during the
pandemic.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.87%, on
pace to snap its five-day losing streak, while the broad-based Topix rose
0.88%. Japan saw its December trade figures released today, with the 5.1%
export growth missing Reuters-polled analysts’ estimates.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the
trend, falling marginally and seeing losses mainly in basic materials stocks,
while the CSI 300 index on mainland China was flat.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up
0.71%, after falling in the previous session.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged
1.21%, the S&P 500 gained
1.16%, while the Nasdaq
Composite advanced 1.18%.
Asia-Pacific
markets today: Nikkei 225, CSI 300, Kospi
Trump Backs Down on Taking Greenland by Force
January 21, 2026 at 11:36 PM GMT
For much of last year, something called
the “TACO trade” became quite the sensation on Wall Street. Short for “Trump
Always Chickens Out,” it was an often-profitable bet the US president’s tariff
threats against countries and industries would eventually end with him backing
down and declaring victory. Though—and especially in the case of China—this
sometimes resulted in a “deal” more favorable to the target than the US.
While doubts have been growing about the TACO trade’s efficacy, Wednesday’s rousing market
close showed there still may be something to it. After weeks of fresh
threats to buy, annex or invade Greenland, and resulting European fury about an America gone rogue, Trump backed down on using force. He also retreated on promised tariffs against European nations who oppose his territorial ambitions. But
the Republican said he still wants Greenland.
Despite his subsequent claim of a
“framework of a future deal” for Greenland sans details, the Danes are having
none of it. Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen rejected any talks on a
takeover. “We will not enter into any negotiations on the basis of giving up
fundamental principles,” he told reporters in Copenhagen. “That is something we
will never do.”
What You Need to Know Today
Also at Davos, Citadel’s Ken
Griffin said heavy selling of Japanese government bonds this week should serve
as an “explicit warning” to US politicians to improve the nation’s finances.
“The bond vigilantes can come out and extract their price,”
Griffin told Bloomberg Television. “What happened in Japan is a very important
message to the House and to the Senate: You need to get our fiscal house in
order.” The Republican-controlled Congress last summer pushed through a massive
tax-and-spending bill sought by Trump that, largely through tax cuts to
corporations and the wealthy, set the US on a path to $40 trillion national debt.
Lagarde Ditches Davos Dinner as Lutnick Criticizes Europe
European Central Bank President Christine
Lagarde abruptly walked out after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick started
attacking European nations. Read the Story
More
Trump
Backs Down on Taking Greenland by Force: Evening Briefing Americas - Bloomberg
Division in Davos: EU warns tariffs could hit US
‘very quickly’
Wednesday 21 January 2026 11:00
am | Updated: Wednesday 21 January 2026
11:01 am
The EU has warned that its retaliatory
tariffs could be implemented “very quickly” after President Trump doubled down
on his desire to annex Greenland.
The EU’s economic commissioner Valdis
Dombrovskis, said the EU was prepared
to respond to US tariff threats, dialling up the risk of an extraordinary clash
between the world’s largest economy and largest economic bloc.
He told the Financial Times in Davos that
nations were still working to find a “constructive solution” but that counter-tariffs could be
applied “very quickly”.
In an event on Wednesday morning, Nato
secretary general Mark Rutte attempted to assure business chiefs and
strategists that he was helping to ease tensions between the US and the EU
“behind the scenes”.
He also said global powers were “dropping
the ball” on threats from Russia and support for Ukraine amidst rising tensions
around Greenland’s sovereignty.
But on Tuesday night, Trump held firm on
his stated ambition to take over Greenland, which is an autonomous territory in
the Kingdom of Denmark.
He warned that European leaders would “have
to find out”
to see how far he would be willing to go, keeping the possibility of military
action open.
The US president also emphasised there was
“no going back” on his plan to take over Greenland, later adding that Nato
countries would be “very happy” with proposed solutions.
“I know we’ll come to [Nato’s] rescue, but
I just really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours,” he also
said.
Davos rifts brew
Tuesday’s events at the World Economic
Forum conference featured policymakers clashing on stage in various Davos panel
events and political leaders challenging US allies to stand up to Trump.
French president Emmanuel Macron accused
Trump of “bullying” and warned of a shift to a “world without rules”.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney,
formerly the governor of the Bank of England and known for his support in
multilateral organisations, said the rules-based international order was
suffering from a “rupture, not a transition”.
“Middle powers must act together because
if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said in his Davos speech.
More
Division in Davos:
EU warns tariffs could hit US ‘very quickly’
In other news.
US Auto Market Share in Canada Hits Record Low on
Tariff Turmoil
January 16, 2026 at 12:15 PM GMT
US factories’ share of the Canadian
vehicle market has tumbled to a new low, as automobile tariffs upend an
industry that for decades enjoyed tight cross-border integration.
Just 36% of passenger vehicles imported to
Canada were manufactured in the US during the first 10 months of 2025. That
compares with an average of 49% in the 10 years before that, according to
Statistics Canada imports data.
Canada is the largest buyer of
American-made new cars and trucks, by far. But the numbers help illustrate how
the trade war started by President Donald Trump’s administration has
changed the business. Mexican and South Korean-made vehicles are gaining a
bigger share of sales at Canadian auto dealers.
Trump put tariffs on foreign-made vehicles
in April, prompting Canada to retaliate with tariffs on US cars and trucks. But
the Canadian government grants some exemptions for automakers that still
produce vehicles in Ontario, such as Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co.
“A number of manufacturers paused imports
into Canada of certain US-built models, and others shifted sourcing to other
countries,” said Andrew King, managing partner of DesRosiers Automotive
Consultants Inc.
The firm’s data indicates that Tesla Inc. has begun
shipping cars into Canada from its German plants, getting around Canadian
tariffs. Subaru
Corp. is
another example, King said. “They have changed sourcing to import more product
from Japan and less from the US.” Neither Tesla nor Subaru assembles vehicles
in Canada, so their US-made products are subject to Canadian counter-tariffs.
The Canadian auto sector has been roiled
by the trade war. Stellantis
NV canceled
plans to make its Jeep Compass in Ontario in favor of an Illinois plant,
keeping thousands of workers on layoff. The company was then served
a default notice by
the Canadian government, which says the automaker violated earlier agreements
that it signed to receive taxpayer assistance.
In October, GM said it’s ending the
production of electric
delivery vans at
a different Ontario plant. Honda Motor Co. postponed
plans to invest $11 billion to build out
its Canadian EV supply chain.
US market share in Canadian auto imports
was already declining, outpaced by aggressive growth in imports from Mexico,
South Korea and Japan. Demand for Tesla EVs drove a fourfold increase in
vehicle imports from China in 2023. But then Canada imposed a 100%
tariff on Chinese EVs in October 2024, which cut that country’s market share to
just 1.3%.
On Friday, Canadian Prime
Minister Mark Carney said he’d reached an agreement with China that
alters that policy. Canada will allow in a small number of Chinese electric
vehicles at a much lower tariff rate — around 6% — in return for China lowering
its tariffs on Canadian canola.
Through October, the value of Mexico’s
auto exports to Canada had already exceeded the record high for a calendar year
at C$8.4 billion ($6 billion).
US-made cars accounted for 70% of Canadian
passenger vehicle imports in the 1990s and gradually slipped in the following
decades as challengers expanded their exports.
Bloomberg’s analysis of the Statistics
Canada data checked HS codes beginning with the digits 8703, which comprises
passenger cars, light trucks and minor categories such as golf carts and
snowmobiles.
US Auto Market
Share in Canada Hits Record Low as Tariffs Reshape Imports - Bloomberg
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.
Hmmm!
JPMorgan
CEO Dimon says credit card rate cap will be an economic disaster
January
21, 2026 12:48 PM GMT
Jan
21 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new
tab CEO
Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest
rates by the Trump administration would be an economic disaster.
The
long-time chief of the largest U.S. bank said at the World Economic Forum in
Davos that 80% of Americans will lose access to credit if the proposal moves
forward.
Trump
called for the cap earlier this month, without detailing how the plan would
be implemented, while Wall Street analysts said such a move would require
legislation and had slim odds of getting clearance.
Banking
industry bodies have strongly pushed back against the move arguing that it
would impact credit access for everyday consumers.
"People
crying the most will not be the credit card companies, it will be the
restaurants, retailers, travel companies, the schools, the
municipalities," Dimon said.
JPMorgan CEO Dimon
says credit card rate cap will be an economic disaster | Reuters
Japan’s
December exports growth drops to 5.1%, missing expectations, as shipments to
U.S. plunge
Published
Wed, Jan 21 2026 6:59 PM EST
Japan’s
exports growth in the final month of 2025 missed analysts’ estimates, rising
5.1% year on year, as shipments to the U.S. saw a double-digit decline.
Reuters-polled
analysts had estimated exports growth would remain unchanged from November at
6.1%.
Japanese
exports fell during the middle of 2025, hit by U.S. tariff worries, but saw a
rebound toward the end of the year after a trade deal with the U.S. was
announced that saw duties
slashed to 15%.
Exports
to the U.S. in December, however, resumed their decline, dropping 11.1%, after
an 8.8% jump in the prior month. The gain in November was the first time
exports to the U.S. rose since March.
Shipments
to mainland China, Japan’s largest trading partner, climbed 5.6%, while exports
to Hong Kong surged 31.1% compared to the same period last year. Exports to the
wider Asia region gained 10.2%.
Imports in December rose 5.1% year on year, jumping sharply from the 1.3% rise
seen in November, and beating Reuters estimates of a 3.6% rise.
For
full-year 2025, Japan’s exports rose 3.1%, a softer rise compared to the 6.2%
increase seen in 2024, as shipments to mainland China and the U.S. — Tokyo’s
top two trading partners — fell 0.4% and 4.1% respectively.
More
Japan's
December exports growth drops to 5.1%, missing expectations
South
Korea economic growth slows to cooler-than-expected 1.5% in fourth quarter as
construction and exports fall
Published
Wed, Jan 21 2026 6:13 PM EST
South
Korea’s economic growth slowed in the final quarter of last year as a sharp
slump in construction investment and a pullback in exports outweighed modest
gains in consumption.
The
economy expanded 1.5% in the October to December period from a year earlier,
according to the central bank’s advance estimates, missing economists’
forecast of 1.9%. That compared with 1.8% growth in the prior quarter, when the economy expanded
at its fastest pace in over a year.
On
a quarterly basis, gross domestic product contracted 0.3%, marking the steepest
slowdown since the fourth quarter of 2022. Economists polled by Reuters had
expected a 0.1% expansion.
For
the full year, South Korea’s economy grew 1%, its slowest annual expansion
since 2020, when output contracted 0.7% during the pandemic.
Construction
investment shrank 3.9% from the previous quarter as both building and civil
engineering activity declined, according to data from the Bank of Korea.
Facilities investment fell 1.8%, led by a drop in transportation equipment.
Exports
pulled back 2.1% from the previous quarter as motor vehicles and machinery
shipments fell. Manufacturing and utilities supply, including electricity, gas
and water, dropped 1.5% and 9.2%, respectively.
More
South
Korea's economic growth slows to 1.5% in fourth quarter
UK inflation rises for first time in five months to 3.4% in December
21 January 2026
Inflation in the UK has
risen for the first time in five months to 3.4% in December, according to
official figures, suggesting the Bank of England will hold off from making a
change to interest rates next month.
The Office for National
Statistics (ONS) said the annual inflation rate, as measured by the consumer
prices index (CPI), increased from 3.2% in November, after falling in October and flatlining in the
previous three months. The figure overshot City economists’s forecasts of a
modest rise to 3.3%.
Part of the rise was
driven by volatile items such as air fares, which always jump over the
Christmas period but were compared with a particularly low level in 2024.
Higher duties on cigarettes also pushed up the reading.
Grant Fitzner, the ONS
chief economist, said: “Inflation ticked up a little in December, driven partly
by higher tobacco prices … Rising food costs, particularly for bread and
cereals, were also an upward driver.”
The increase in inflation
suggests the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will keep interest rates at 3.75% when it
meets in February. However, most economists now expect a cut in April if price
rises in the UK ease over the coming months.
Yael Selfin, chief
economist at KPMG UK, said the data likely “closes the door on a February
interest rate cut”, although rate cuts later in the year are still expected.
She added: “Despite
services inflation increasing in December, this was not reflective of
domestically generated price pressures and was largely driven by volatile
categories, such as air fares. The MPC will likely look through it,
particularly with wage growth continuing to slow, which should see services
inflation ease over the coming months.”
The chancellor, Rachel
Reeves, made tackling the cost of living a key target of November’s autumn budget, alongside £26bn of tax increases to help repair
the public finances and fund the lifting of the two-child benefit cap.
After Wednesday’s CPI
figure she pledged that 2026 would be the “year that Britain turns a corner” on
inflation.
More
UK inflation rises for first time in five months to 3.4% in December
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.
It’s looking good for silver metal
demand.
Battery
discharge in Ireland reaches record 396MW in December
For
the second month in a row, battery discharge reached a record 396MW in
Ireland’s transmission system in December 2025.
January 20, 2026
For the second month in a row, battery
discharge reached a record 396MW in Ireland’s transmission system in
December 2025.
According to the latest data from
state-owned transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid, this record was set on
Monday, 15 December, and exceeds last month’s record of 362MW, set on 25 November.
This latest record comes as
Ireland opened its wholesale market to battery storage, under a new scheduling and dispatch programme,
last November.
Overall, in December, renewables
accounted for 43.8% of electricity generation on the Irish grid. Most of the
renewable generation came from wind energy with 38.5%, up nearly four
percentage points from the previous month, while solar accounted for 0.5%.
Even though the share of solar PV
dropped during the winter season, 2025 was a record year for Irish home solar PV systems. According to data from the Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland (SEAI), a record 34,0888 households installed solar panels
last year, which represents a 16% increase from the previous year.
On Christmas Day, as peak demand shifted
from evening to lunchtime – due to ovens and other appliances being switched on
to prepare dinner –renewables provided 55% of the electricity demand during
that day.
This was not the case for New Year’s
Eve, as the celebrations took place late in the evening and night. For that
reason, there was no shift in energy demand peak, which was more aligned with
what is observed during most other evenings in the wintertime.
Diarmaid Gillespie, Director of System
Operations at EirGrid, said: “Similar to what we have seen in recent months,
December was another strong month for renewable energy with us again seeing a
significant amount of wind generation contributing to the overall fuel mix for
the month.”
Battery discharge in Ireland reaches record 396MW in December
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
January 22, 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift: A British garrison of about 150 holds off 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and several other decorations are awarded to the defenders.
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