Baltic Dry Index. 2129 +17 Brent Crude 71.26
Spot Gold 5221 Spot Silver 91.91
US 2 Year Yield 3.43 unch.
US Federal Debt. 38.729 trillion US GDP 31.184 trillion.
If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not
safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these
organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents
also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made
of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
Frederic Bastiat
With
President Trump’s State of the Union address well covered in mainstream media,
my only comment this morning is that it sounded like a desperate party
political attempt to demonise the Democrats ahead of the November mid-term
elections. Only four of the nine Supremes bothered to attend.
In
the stock casinos, the longest rambling State of the Union address is having
little effect so far.
More
private credit fears.
South
Korea and Japan stocks hit fresh highs amid regional gains after Wall Street’s
AI relief rally
Published
Tue, Feb 24 2026 6:47 PM EST
South
Korea and Japan stocks hit record highs Wednesday amid gains in the region,
after a tech-driven rally on Wall Street that was fueled by easing concerns
around artificial intelligence-led disruption to select industries.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped over 1.4%
to a fresh high, while the Topix added 0.3%.
Similarly,
South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.72% to breach the 6,000 mark for the first time.
Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose 0.6% and 0.88%,
respectively.
The
small-cap Kosdaq added 0.16%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed
1.13%.
Hong
Kong Hang Seng index rose
0.39%, while mainland’s CSI 300 added 0.49%.
Taiwan’s
benchmark stock index rose 1.8% to a record high for the fifth straight
session.
Bitcoin jumped about 2%,
back to $65,000 levels after
sliding below $63,000 briefly on Tuesday.
“The
global economy appears to be on slightly firmer footing as the effects of
fiscal and monetary policy continue to support activity. Financial
markets, however, have struggled to establish a clear direction amid several
headwinds,” BMI said in a report on Wednesday, in reference to the AI-driven
whipsaws lately in addition to heightened geopolitical risks.
“We
assign a 50% probability to a US-led military attack on Iran, which is
contributing to an elevated risk premium in oil prices and, to some extent, US
dollar strength,” BMI’s analysts said.
Investors
are also assessing U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
“We
are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard
those secret words: we will never have a nuclear weapon. My preference is to
solve this through diplomacy,” Trump said during the address.
The
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.72% at $66.1 per barrel,
while Brent Crude futures rose 0.73% to $71.29 per barrel.
Overnight
in the U.S., equities rose, led by gains in Advanced Micro Devices and software
stocks. Shares of AMD jumped 8.8% after Meta Platforms announced
a multiyear
deal with the semiconductor company.
The
new partnership entails deploying up to 6 gigawatts of AMD’s graphics
processing units for AI data centers. Meta will also invest in AMD through a
performance-based warrant for up to 160 million shares of the chipmaker.
The
move comes a week after Meta said
it’s using millions of Nvidia chips
in its data center buildout. Shares of the AI chip darling rose 0.7%.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.77% to
close at 6,890.07, while the Nasdaq
Composite rose 1.04% and settled at 22,863.68.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added
370.44 points, or 0.76%, and ended at 49,174.50. The 30-stock index was
supported by a nearly 2% rise in Home
Depot shares after the company’s earnings beat
expectations for the first time in a year. IBM shares, which tumbled
in the prior trading day as a result of aforementioned AI fears, also
added to the Dow’s gains.
Asia-Pacific
markets: Nikkei 225, Kospi, Hang Seng Index
New Warning on Private Credit Dangers
February 24, 2026 at 10:59 PM GMT
Activist investor Boaz Weinstein is stepping
up his warnings on private credit, saying the turmoil surrounding Blue
Owl Capital’s funds is exposing deeper cracks in the $1.8 trillion industry. “I
think we are in the super-early innings of the wheels coming off the car,” the
Saba Capital Management founder said Tuesday at a conference in Miami Beach,
Florida.
The inherently opaque industry has
been reeling from worries about lending standards and overspending on
artificial intelligence. After Blue Owl, an alternative investment
firm, restricted redemptions in one vehicle and began selling loans to raise
cash for investors, Saba along with Cox Capital Partners announced
cash tenders for stakes in three funds Blue Owl managed—at steep
discounts to their stated value.
Others have sounded warnings as well.
JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon yesterday drew parallels
with the years leading up to the 2008 global financial crisis, when Wall
Street’s scramble to make loans nearly
collapsed the global financial system. —Jordan
Parker Erb
New
Warning on Private Credit Dangers: Evening Briefing Americas - Bloomberg
Jamie Dimon says ‘watch out’ as lofty asset prices
add to economic risks: ‘My anxiety is high’
Published Mon, Feb 23 2026 8:57 PM EST Updated
Tue, Feb 24 2026 8:17 AM EST
JPMorgan
Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said
Monday that he was anxious over the U.S. economy, citing elevated asset prices
and a competitive environment in banking that reminded him of the pre-2008
crisis years.
Even as economists tout the Trump
administration’s tax and deregulatory policies as boosting economic growth this
year, Dimon said during an annual investor update that his own tendencies were to
consider what could go wrong when expectations are riding high.
“My own view is people are getting a
little comfortable that this is real, these high asset prices and high volumes,
and that we won’t have any problems,” said Dimon, who was dressed in black and
wore a brace on one of his hands.
Inevitably, Dimon said, the economic cycle
will turn, leading to a wave of borrower defaults that would broadly affect
lenders, and often impacting industries few people expect, he said.
“There will be a cycle one day … I don’t
know what confluence of events will cause that cycle. My anxiety is high over
it,” Dimon said. “I’m not assuaged by the fact that asset prices are high. In
fact, I think that adds to the risk.”
More
Jamie
Dimon says 'watch out’ as lofty asset prices add to economic risks: ‘My anxiety
is high’
Trump's draconian bank decree to expose illegal
migrants sparks Wall Street panic
February 24, 2026
Donald
Trump plans to force banks to collect citizenship data from customers
and share it with the government, according to a report.
Banks would be required to obtain
documents such as passports and green cards from new and existing clients, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
The discussions have alarmed banks in
recent days as Trump weighs using an executive order to force the policy
through without congressional oversight,
with the Dow Jones US Banks Index down 0.6 percent on
Tuesday.
The White
House told the Daily Mail: 'Any reporting about potential policymaking
that has not been officially announced by the White House is baseless
speculation.'
Lenders fear costly re-documentation,
legal liability if accounts are wrongly restricted, and a withdrawal rush if
customers believe their immigration status could be passed to federal
authorities.
Banks already collect passports and ID
documents under anti-money laundering rules, but do not currently record or
report citizenship status.
Foreign nationals can legally open US bank
accounts, unlike in much of Europe, where proof of legal residency or a local
tax number is typically required.
Trump is seeking new avenues to bolster
his immigration crackdown after enforcement operations on the streets of
Minneapolis and Chicago drew backlash.
A White House official told the Journal
that the new plan was being discussed inside the Treasury Department, but had
not been approved.
The Treasury's Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which tackles money laundering and terror
financing, could be used to collect the information, sources said.
Banks are already required to flag large
or suspicious transactions to FinCEN.
Trump has already used existing FinCEN
powers to target alleged welfare fraud in Minnesota's Somali community.
FinCEN last month ordered banks and other
financial institutions to flag overseas transactions larger than $3,000,
lowered from the existing $10,000 threshold.
Banks have complained, arguing that the
$10,000 limit is already too low and difficult to comply with.
Trump's
draconian bank decree to expose illegal migrants sparks Wall Street panic
In other news.
China’s leverage rises before high-stakes summit
as Supreme Court curbs Trump tariffs
Published Mon, Feb 23 2026 12:52 AM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to
strike down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has strengthened China’s
hand ahead of a summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping, where Beijing is
expected to push for reduced U.S. support for Taiwan, analysts said.
In a ruling Friday, the court said Trump
wrongfully invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to
implement broad tariffs.
That decision has weakened Trump’s
negotiating leverage as he prepared for a trip to Beijing in April, said Wendy
Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“He has effectively had his wings clipped
on his signature economic policy,” said Cutler, who was also a former U.S.
trade representative.
Trump will visit China from March 31 to
April 2, the first trip by an American president since his last visit in 2017.
Xi is also expected to make a state visit to Washington later this year.
Analysts said the ruling could change the
dynamics around efforts to extend a trade truce negotiated last year and
complicate Trump’s push for Beijing to buy large quantities of U.S. soybeans,
Boeing aircraft and energy exports.
“It limits Trump’s ability to deploy
tariffs at will, reduces pressure on Beijing to expand soybean purchases or
ease rare earth access, and gives China leverage to push for the removal of the
remaining 10% tariffs linked to fentanyl,” said Dan Wang, China director of
Eurasia Group.
For Beijing’s part, it could use the
opportunity to press Washington to ease technology export controls, remove
certain Chinese entities from U.S. sanctions lists, and cut back arms sales to
Taiwan, said Xinbo Wu, director at Fudan University’s Center for American
Studies.
″[The ruling] certainly helps strengthen
China’s position in its negotiation with the U.S,” Wu said.
More
Supreme Court
tariff ruling boosts China’s leverage before Trump-Xi summit
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.
A
Warning From JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon
Feb.
24, 2026 7:30 AM ET
Aggressive
competition and lower credit standards are leading some firms to take higher
risks to boost profitability metrics, according to JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon.
Market participants should stay vigilant and prepare for potential shifts in
credit quality, especially given growing risks in private credit, non-bank
lenders, fintech, and the AI disruption. Should the cycle go south, it might
also take some unsuspecting victims down with it, as the battle for yield
intensifies across the industry.
Quote: "You feel stupid when everyone’s coining money and
everyone's great... it does feel really good," he declared during the
company's annual investor update. "And then when I think about all the
factors taking place, I take a deep breath and say, 'Watch out!' Unfortunately,
we did see this in '05, '06, and '07—almost the same thing—the rising tide was
lifting all boats, and everyone was making a lot of money. I see a couple of
people doing some dumb things. They are just doing dumb things to create net
interest income."
"There's always a surprise in a credit cycle. The surprise has often been
which industry [is hit hardest]. You didn't expect utilities and phone
companies in '08, '09, and this time around, it might be software because of
AI. There will be a cycle one day... I don't know what confluence of events
will cause that cycle. My anxiety is high over it. I'm not assuaged by the fact
that asset prices are high. In fact, I think that adds to the risk."
Track record: As the CEO of the largest bank in the U.S. and at the
helm for more than two decades, Dimon definitely has insight into the latest
happenings on Wall Street and the economy. His conservative risk management and
approach to strong capital positioned the bank ahead of its peers in the 2008
financial crisis, and he has made bold calls like disputing the
"transitory" inflation myth in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic
and warning that the Fed would have to aggressively raise interest rates. Some
of his other forecasts have not panned out, like the "economic
hurricane" of 2022 and the "pending recession" of 2023, as well
as his stance on Bitcoin that went from being dubbed a "fraud" and
"pet rock" to offering crypto services to JPMorgan's (JPM) clients.
A Warning From
JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon | Seeking Alpha
UK
manufacturing giant plunges into administration - works with Jaguar and Land
Rover
In
the latest blow to the motoring sector a UK manufacturing giant has plunged
into administration.
22:49,
Mon, Feb 23, 2026 Updated: 22:52, Mon, Feb 23, 2026
A
UK engineering company that has worked with the likes of Nissan and Land Rover has plunged
into administration. Efforts are now
underway to find a buyer for JRM Advanced Engineering, an engineering and
manufacturing firm in Northamptonshire.
The
advanced engineering firm was placed into administration earlier this month, on
February 12 2026, with details emerging on February 18. Gary Pettit of PBC
Business Recovery and Insolvency has been appointed to oversee the process. The
company works across the motorsport, aerospace and marine industries.
Operations
are currently paused while the administrator reviews the company’s financial
position and potential recovery routes. Several parties have already expressed
interest in acquiring the business.
The
administrator aims to secure a sale that would allow trading to restart and
help protect jobs, subject to due diligence and agreement on commercial terms.
The
company has focused on high-performance chassis development and innovative
suspension solutions, alongside building advanced powertrains, including
projects involving hydrogen fuel cell technology.
ts
engineers have also contributed to the development of an all-new
battery-electric sports car.
JRM
Advanced Engineering delivered what it described as a “credible engineering
package and layout concept” for Caterham’s Project V electric vehicle. The work
included concepts for both front and rear axles, incorporating lightweight
double-wishbone suspension with adjustable toe and camber settings.
More
UK manufacturing
giant plunges into administration | UK | News | Express.co.uk
Private credit was hot, and now it's not. That
has some parts of the financial world on edge.
February 23, 2026
Why it matters: A few trends — the AI scare trade
and the retail investing boom — are colliding at once and stressing a
trillion-dollar-plus piece of the economy.
State of play: Last week, everyone was talking about one private credit firm
called Blue Owl Capital.
·
Facing high demand from
investors in one of its funds to get their money back, Blue Owl sold off
assets. The firm also changed the way redemptions at the fund
operate, setting off alarm bells.
How it works: Asset managers like Blue Owl, as well as
better-known firms like Blackstone and KKR, take in money from investors to
create funds which typically lend to mid-market businesses, like smaller
nonpublic companies that don't issue high-grade bonds.
·
That investor money gets
locked up for a while. Historically, that was OK because investors were often
deep-pocketed institutional types, insurance companies or pension funds not apt
to need to cash out very often.
Friction point: The dynamic started shifting about five years ago
when retail stock investing started booming, and everyone seemingly had a
Robinhood account and a stock strategy.
·
Private capital managers
wanted in. They started marketing to individual investors in a big way and
started talking about the democratization of investments.
The big picture: It's a concerning moment. Nonbank lending started
growing in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, picking up a business
the banks were retreating from, and ballooning out from there.
·
Private credit hasn't
been tested since then by any kind of prolonged economic slowdown.
Where it stands: Now, like so many other corners of the economy,
private credit is under AI stress. Firms including Blue Owl lent to
software and IT businesses.
·
Those tech companies are
seeing their valuations plummet on fears that AI could put them out of
business.
Threat level: The thing with private credit is that it's…private, "like
banks without bank regulations," writes Mark Malek, chief investment
officer at Muriel Siebert.
·
But you can't just take
your money and go, as you can with banks.
Zoom in: Previously, Blue Owl offered quarterly redemptions of up to 5% of
the value of the fund, increasingly a problem since investors wanted more.
·
Moving forward, the firm
said it would make regular payouts, but on its schedule.
The company's head of credit put it this way: "We're not halting
redemptions, we're just changing the form."
·
Investors still found
this alarming.
Reality check: Because funds limit redemption requests, the risk of
something akin to a bank run is minimal.
·
"The danger emerges
when expectations and structure collide," Malek says. "If an investor
treats a semi-liquid private credit fund like a money market account,
disappointment is almost guaranteed."
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.
Solid state battery achieves five-minute charging time
By Matt De
Prez 24 February 2026
Donut Lab has verified its new solid
state battery can achieve a 0% - 80% charge in five minutes.
Having presented the battery pack at
CES, in January, the company has commissioned an independent test of its
capability.
The tests, conducted by Technology
Research Centre VTT, evaluate the battery’s charging speed and thermal
behaviour during charging. It simulates a worst-case scenario, in which the
battery cell lacks active temperature controls and its temperature can rise
freely at extremely high charging rates.
Recharging rates are indicated using
C-rates, where 1C means that the battery is charged from empty to full in one
hour. 5C equals 12 minutes and 11C is 5-6 minutes.
Traditional lithium-ion batteries
typically charge at 1C to 3C with active cooling.
Under the specified testing conditions,
the cell was successfully charged at 5C for over nine minutes. At this charging
power, the battery cell reached an 80% state of charge in about 9.5 minutes and
a full 100% state of charge in just over 12 minutes. When discharged after
charging, 100% of the charged capacity was available from the cell.
The battery cell was then recharged
rapidly at the extreme speed of 11C. Charging from 0 to 80% was achieved in 4.5
minutes and a full 100% state of charge in just over seven minutes. When
discharged after a full charge, 98.4 to 99.6% of the battery capacity was
available for use.
“Unlike other solid state batteries
requiring high compressive pressures and undergoing volume changes of up to
15-20% during recharging cycles, the Donut Battery does not require special
compression or more extensive cooling. This greatly simplifies the structure of
battery packs and enables solutions that are cost-efficient, powerful, and
better than traditional lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy and power
density”, said Donut Lab CTO Ville Piippo.
Compared to traditional lithium-ion
batteries, solid state batteries are significantly safer and more capable in
terms of performance. As such, solid state battery technology has been
predicted to become the next big leap forward in electric mobility. The Donut
battery facilitates longer range, lighter structures, and additional
flexibility in the design of vehicles and other products. It does not contain
any flammable liquids and is not susceptible to thermal runaway in extreme
conditions.
Solid state battery achieves five-minute charging time | electric and
hybrid vehicles
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
They would be the shepherds over us, their sheep. Certainly such
an arrangement presupposes that they are naturally superior to the rest of us.
And certainly we are fully justified in demanding from the legislators and
organizers proof of this natural superiority.
Frederic Bastiat
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