Baltic
Dry Index. 1923 -13 Brent Crude 68.12
Spot
Gold 4989 Spot Silver 77.53
U
S 2 Year Yield 3.50 +0.03
US
Federal Debt. 38.705 trillion US GDP 31.132 trillion
“When you are a Chancellor of Very Little Brain, and you Think
of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside
you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people
looking at it.
UK Chancellor Reeves, with apologies to A.A. Milne & Winnie-the-Pooh.
Yesterday we wrote “As the winter Olympics open in Italy today, will it be Black Friday in stocks, crypto and silver? Which of the three will win the gold for the biggest decline or rebound?
As it turned out on rebound Friday, stocks won gold, crypto won silver, and silver won, well bronze, all three for strong rebounds.
The
US stock casinos now trade like super volatile commodity markets.
When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product
of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done
John Maynard Keynes
Dow
surges 1,200 points for first close above 50,000 in sharp rebound from tech
rout: Live updates
Updated
Fri, Feb 6 2026 5:43 PM EST
Stocks
surged on Friday as technology stocks recovered following several days of heavy
selling in the sector and bitcoin rebounded
following a rout that took the popular cryptocurrency down more than 50% at one
point.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced
1,206.95 points, or 2.47%, closing at 50,115.67. Friday marked the first time
the Dow exceeded
the 50,000 level. The S&P
500 jumped 1.97% and ended at 6,932.30, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced
2.18% to 23,031.21. With those moves, the S&P 500 climbed back into the
green for 2026.
Even
with Friday’s pop, the S&P 500 posted a 0.1% decline for the week, while
the Nasdaq fell 1.8% on the week. The 30-stock Dow rose 2.5% week to date,
benefiting from some rotation into some economically cyclical stocks even as
the overall market was weighed down by tech selling.
Nvidia and Broadcom were two of the key
winners Friday, with the former increasing by nearly 8% and the latter growing
7% following big declines earlier in the week. Other stocks such as Oracle and Palantir Technologies also
bounced back as investors reconsidered some of the names at cheaper levels.
Oracle and Palantir each rose 4%. Some key software stocks like ServiceNow — which has been
the epicenter
of the tech sell-off because of an artificial intelligence disruption
fear of software — remained weak on Friday, however.
“We’re
in a gold rush right now with AI,” said Falcon Wealth Planning founder Gabriel
Shahin.
“You
have the investment that Google is making, Nvidia is making, that Meta is
making, that Amazon is making. There is money that will be deployed,” he also
said. “It’s just the carousel [of money movement] sometimes scares people.”
Shahin
believes the market is in the midst of a “great recalibration,” where investors
are going to move further out of growth stocks and into value. Over the coming
months, his bet is on large-cap value names. That played out Friday, with
investors buying up shares in areas such as industrials and financials. In
those sectors, Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs were standouts,
supporting the Dow’s outperformance with their rise of 7% and 4%, respectively.
Small-cap stocks also saw a boost: The Russell 2000 index rallied
3.6%.
Bitcoin
recouped some losses Friday, adding 10% and touching a session high of
$71,458.01 after briefly
sinking below $61,000 overnight to its lowest level since October 2024
— more than 52% off from its record high of $126,000 hit in early October 2025.
Friday’s move higher helped ease some of the risk-off concerns among investors
that recently plagued the broader market. The cryptocurrency has lost 16% this
week, however.
The
week was bleak heading into Friday, with the S&P 500 on pace for its worst
week since last October and the Nasdaq Composite on track for its worst week
since the tariff-related market plunge of last April. Friday’s pop pared those
declines significantly.
Amazon was an outlier Friday,
as shares sank more than 5% after the e-commerce giant posted earnings per
share slightly
under analyst expectations and told investors to expect $200
billion in capital expenditures this year.
Stock
market news for Feb. 6, 2026
Gold
bounces back on softer dollar, U.S.-Iran concerns; silver rebounds
Published
Thu, Feb 5 2026 11:30 PM EST Updated Fri, Feb 6 2026 4:02 PM EST
Gold
rebounded on Friday and was set for a weekly gain, helped by bargain hunting, a
slightly weaker dollar and lingering concerns over U.S.-Iran talks in Oman,
while silver recovered from a 1-1/2-month low.
Spot
gold rose 3.9% to $4,954.92 per ounce by 2:18 p.m. ET (1918 GMT), recouping
losses during a volatile Asia session following Thursday’s 3.9% decline. The
yellow metal was headed for a weekly gain of about 2%.
U.S.
gold futures for April delivery settled 1.8% higher at $4,979.80 per ounce.
CME
Group had flagged a delay in publishing metals settlement, earlier in the day.
The
U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab fell 0.2%, making greenback-priced
bullion cheaper for overseas buyers.
“The
gold market is seeing perceived bargain hunting from bullish traders,” said Jim
Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
Iran’s
top diplomat on Friday said that nuclear talks with the U.S. mediated by Oman
were off to a “good start” and set to continue. The remarks could help allay
concerns that failure to reach a deal might nudge the Middle East closer to
war.
Wyckoff
said gold’s rebound lacks momentum and the metal is unlikely to break records
without a major geopolitical trigger.
Gold,
a traditional safe haven, does well in times of geopolitical and economic
uncertainty.
Meanwhile,
spot silver rose 8.6% to $77.33 an ounce after dipping below $65 earlier in the
session, but was still headed for a weekly drop, down over 8.7%, following
steep losses last week as well.
“What
we’re seeing in silver is huge speculation on the long side,” said Wyckoff,
adding that after years in a boom cycle, gold and silver now appear to be
entering a typical commodity bust phase.
CME
Group raised margin requirements for gold and silver futures for a third time
in two weeks on Thursday to curb risks from heightened market volatility.
Spot
platinum added 5.4% to $2,093.50 per ounce, while palladium rose 6.2% to
$1,717.05.
Gold
bounces back on softer dollar, U.S.-Iran concerns; silver rebounds
Tech
AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises
red flags
Published
Fri, Feb 6 2026 4:44 PM EST Updated Fri, Feb 6 2026 5:52 PM EST
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to spend
nearly $700 billion combined this year to fuel their AI build-outs.
For
investors who love cash above all else, some warning signs may be flashing.
With
the heart of tech earnings season wrapping up this week, Wall Street has a
clearer picture of how the artificial intelligence race is poised to accelerate
in 2026. The four hyperscalers are now projected to increase capital
expenditures by more than 60% from the historic levels reached in 2025, as they
load up on high-priced chips, build new mammoth facilities and buy the
networking technology to connect it all.
Getting
to those kinds of numbers is going to require sacrifice in the form of free
cash flow. Last year, the four biggest U.S. internet companies generated a
combined $200 billion in free cash flow, down from $237 billion in 2024.
The
more dramatic drop appears to be ahead, as companies invest heavily up front,
promising future returns on investment. That means margin pressures, less cash
generation in the near term and the potential need to further tap the equity
and debt markets. Alphabet held a $25 billion bond sale in November, and its long-term
debt quadrupled in 2025 to $46.5 billion.
Amazon,
which on Thursday said it
expects to spend $200 billion this year, is now looking at negative free cash
flow of almost $17 billion in 2026, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley,
while Bank of America analysts see a deficit of $28 billion. In a filing with the SEC on Friday, Amazon let investors
know that it may seek to raise equity and debt as its build-out continues.
Despite
beating on revenue for the quarter, Amazon saw its stock sink almost 6% on
Friday, bringing its drop for the year to 9%. Microsoft is down 17%, the most
in the group, while Alphabet and Meta are up slightly.
More
Tech
AI spending approaches $700 billion in 2026, cash taking big hit
AI
fears pummel software stocks: Is it ‘illogical’ panic or a SaaS apocalypse?
Published
Thu, Feb 5 2026 11:20 PM EST
The
software sector faced renewed market concerns this week after artificial
intelligence company Anthropic released new AI tools, triggering a sell-off in
software-as-a-service and data provider stocks.
Anthropic’s
new AI tools, built for its Claude “Cowork” AI agent, are designed to handle
complex professional workflows that many software and data providers sell as
core products.
The
tools and other similar AI agents target functions ranging from legal and
technology research, customer relationship management and analytics. That has
raised concerns that AI could undercut traditional software business models.
The
S&P 500 Software & Services Index, which has 140 constituents, fell
over 4% on Thursday, extending its losing streak to eight sessions. The index
is down about 20% so far this year.
Shares
of Thomson Reuters, Salesforce and LegalZoom were among
the hardest hit in U.S. trading this week, with the sell-off spreading to Asian
IT firms Tata Consultancy
Services and Infosys.
Despite
the market jitters, analysts and tech executives remain divided on the
long-term impact of these AI tools on these industries.
‘Illogical’
panic?
Among
tech leaders downplaying market concerns that AI will replace enterprise
software is Nvidia CEO Jensen
Huang.
“There’s
this notion that the software industry is in decline and will be replaced by
AI,” he said at an event on
Wednesday. “It is the most illogical thing in the world.”
The
influential tech leader instead argued that AI will use and enhance existing
software tools rather than completely reinventing them.
Rene
Haas, CEO of British chip designer Arm Holdings, echoed that
sentiment this week, arguing during an earnings call that enterprise AI
deployment is still in its early days and not yet massively transformative.
Haas
described recent market fears as “micro-hysteria” in comments to
the Financial Times.
Still,
concerns about the software sector predate the latest sell-offs. Hedge funds
have already shorted about $24 billion in software stocks this year as
of Wednesday. Short sellers borrow shares, sell them and aim to buy them
back later at a lower price for a profit.
Meanwhile,
Anthropic on Thursday launched what it
called an improved AI model, coming just days after its latest Claude tools
spooked investors.
Mixed
outlook
While
many tech analysts have increasingly warned that AI is going “to eat” software
over the long term, views on that risk and the latest sell-off in software
stocks remain mixed.
In
a research note on Wednesday, Wedbush Securities echoed Jensen Huang’s
comments, saying that while AI is a headwind for software providers,
the sell-off reflected an “Armageddon scenario for the sector that is
far from reality.”
“Enterprises
won’t completely overhaul tens of billions of dollars of prior software
infrastructure investments to migrate over to Anthropic, OpenAI, and others,”
the note said.
Large
enterprises, Wedbush Securities said, took decades to accumulate trillions of
data points now ingrained in their software infrastructure.
Other
analysts see more lasting pressure.
More
AI fears pummel
software stocks: Is it 'illogical' panic or a SaaS apocalypse?
In other news, Japan
to the rescue?
Japan’s
Takaichi eyes decisive mandate as polls point to snap election landslide
Published
Fri, Feb 6 2026 1:30 AM EST
Japan’s
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is poised to lead her ruling coalition to a
landslide victory in this weekend’s snap election, a Nikkei
poll has shown.
The
poll, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, showed that the Liberal Democratic
Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, were likely to
secure more than 300 of the 465 seats in the Lower House.
The
findings echo an
earlier poll by the Japanese daily Asahi
Shimbun, which also projected that the ruling bloc would gain
more than 300 seats.
The
Central Reform Alliance — an alliance of the Constitutional Democratic Party of
Japan and Komeito — is forecast to have its seat count roughly halved from the
current 167 seats, according to the Nikkei poll.
Separate
polling by Kyodo
News suggests
the LDP could secure a single-party majority of more than 233 seats on its own.
According
to Nikkei, the LDP now has its sights on surpassing 261 seats, a threshold that
would allow it to control all parliamentary committees and chair positions.
A
two-thirds majority in the Lower House would also give the ruling party the
power to override an Upper House veto when it comes to passing legislation.
The
election follows political upheaval last year, when the LDP lost its majority
in the Upper House, and a Lower House defeat in 2024, which prompted
then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign in September.
The
poll also comes as U.S. President Donald Trump publicly expressed support for
the ruling coalition, announcing in a
Truth Social post that
he planned to meet Takaichi on March 19.
Trump
added, “it is my Honor to give a Complete and Total Endorsement of her, and
what her highly respected Coalition is representing. SHE WILL NOT LET THE
PEOPLE OF JAPAN DOWN!”
Takaichi
had staked her political future on this election, vowing to resign if the
ruling coalition fails to secure a majority.
With
her high personal approval ratings, the fiercely conservative prime minister
is looking to convert that
popularity into votes for the LDP and her coalition.
Kristi
Govella, Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
previously told CNBC that a clear victory would reflect Takaichi’s personal
popularity, instead of any improvements in economic conditions in Japan.
“Little
else has changed since July when the LDP was drubbed at the polls,” Govella
added.
Japan’s Takaichi
eyes decisive mandate as polls point to snap election landslide
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.
Top
Bank of England economist in inflation warning
6
February 2026
The
Bank of England's chief economist yesterday delivered a blow to rate cut hopes.
Huw
Pill warned people not to draw too much comfort from the fall in inflation.
The
Bank said this week it expects inflation to drop to its 2 per cent target by
April – described as 'good news' by governor Andrew Bailey.
It
prompted markets to ramp up bets that interest rates will be cut this spring.
But
speaking to businesses yesterday, Pill said 'there is a risk that we draw too
much comfort' from the expected fall in inflation, which will largely be driven
by one-off factors such as measures announced in the Budget to bring down energy bills.
The
Bank is split over interest rates and voted by a five to four majority on
Thursday to leave them at 3.75 per cent –with the minority voting for a
cut.
Top
Bank of England economist in inflation warning
Next, when money was money, before America went bust and Nixon started
the Great Nixonian Error of fiat Money, communist money. Approx. 20 minutes. Spot the confusion over Suez 1956 with the 1955 year.
What £1 Bought in 1955 Britain Will BLOW YOUR MIND
(26 Loaves of Bread?!)
What £1 Bought in 1955 Britain Will BLOW YOUR
MIND (26 Loaves of Bread?!) - YouTube
Technology
Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
New zinc–air battery offers power density of 310 mW, stable
performance for 1,100 hours
6 February 2026
Researchers in China have developed new
zinc–air batteries that maintain stable charge–discharge operation for over
1,100 hours.
Developed by researchers from Donghua
University and collaborating institutions, the flexible battery prototypes
further demonstrate strong mechanical robustness, retaining performance under
repeated bending.
Researchers introduced a p–n
heterojunction catalyst that combines graphitic carbon nitride with a carbon
nanofiber network hosting dual cobalt active sites.
Advancing zinc–air batteries toward real-world applications
The research team pointed out that under
light irradiation, the catalyst significantly
accelerates oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, leading to higher power
density, improved energy efficiency, and unprecedented cycling stability in
both liquid and flexible zinc–air battery configurations.
The study offers a versatile strategy
for advancing zinc–air batteries toward real-world applications, including
grid-scale energy storage, wearable electronics, and solar-assisted power systems. By
leveraging light to enhance oxygen electrochemistry, the approach reduces
energy losses and extends device lifetime without relying on precious metals.
Zinc–air batteries offer high theoretical energy density
Researchers have also highlighted that
zinc–air batteries offer high theoretical energy density, intrinsic safety, and
abundant raw materials, making them attractive for large-scale energy storage
and flexible electronics. However, their real-world deployment remains
constrained by slow oxygen electrochemistry at the air electrode, which leads
to high overpotentials, limited power density, and rapid performance
degradation.
Published in eScience, the research’s core
innovation lies in the rational integration of photoactivity and
electrocatalysis within a single air-electrode architecture. The catalyst
consists of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets coupled to a self-supporting
carbon nanofiber framework embedded with two complementary cobalt active sites:
cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in carbon nanotubes and atomically dispersed
Co–N₄ moieties. This design forms a type-II p–n heterojunction that promotes
directional charge transfer when exposed to light, according to the study.
Upon illumination, photogenerated electrons migrate
toward the conductive carbon framework to drive the oxygen reduction reaction,
while holes facilitate the oxygen evolution reaction on adjacent sites. This
spatial separation suppresses charge recombination and lowers reaction energy
barriers. Electrochemical measurements reveal a remarkably small oxygen
reaction overpotential gap of 0.684 V under light, outperforming many
state-of-the-art bifunctional catalysts.
When assembled into practical zinc–air
batteries, the photo-enhanced system achieves a peak power density of 310 mW
cm⁻² and maintains stable charge–discharge operation for over 1,100 hours.
In the study, researchers also highlighted that
light-enhanced flexible ZABs also can reach a peak power density of 96 mW cm−2
and tolerate a wide range of bending angles (0°–180°–0°) during harsh
operation. This work offers a new platform for designing efficient
photo-electrocatalysts and advancing next-generation solar–electrochemical
energy conversion systems.
Beyond zinc–air batteries, the design
principles demonstrated here could be applied to other metal–air batteries and
photo-assisted electrochemical systems. More broadly, this work highlights a
promising pathway for integrating solar energy directly into electrochemical
energy storage, potentially bridging the gap between renewable energy
harvesting and efficient energy utilization, according to researchers.
New zinc–air battery offers power density of 310 mW, stable performance
for 1,100 hours
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Exponent
Calculator
Enter
values into any two of the input fields to solve for the third.
This
weekend’s music diversion. Sadly, another
long forgotten composer. Approx. 8 minutes.
Niccolò
Jommelli - Sinfonia in G major
Niccolò Jommelli -
Sinfonia in G major - YouTube
Next,
more fun with computers. Approx. 8 minutes.
The
Story of Dennis Ritchie
The Story of
Dennis Ritchie - YouTube
Finally, some of England’s many castles. Approx.
20 minutes. My apologies for all the hilarious
mispronunciations. Next week, the
castles of Ireland. After that Wales.
16 Castles in England To Visit in 2025 |
Beautiful Castles in Europe | England Travel Video
16 Castles in
England To Visit in 2025 | Beautiful Castles in Europe | England Travel Video
“I wonder what von der Leyen is doing," thought Starmer.
"I wish I were there to be doing it, too.”
With apologies to A.A. Milne & Winnie-the-Pooh.
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