Florida Made Nearly 20,000 Immigration Arrests In 2025

Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

Nearly 20,000 immigration arrests were made in Florida in 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a Jan. 5 press conference highlighting his state’s immigration enforcement standards.

Of that total number, 10,000 arrests were made as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Tidal Wave, and 7,674 were taken into custody by Florida’s highway patrol officers.

Those arrested included more than 6,300 people with criminal records, including violent and sexual offenses, as well as several hundred of the total 1,200 child predators arrested in the state that year.

It did not include any arrests made by federal agents or self-deportations, which authorities said reached about 1,000 people going through the state’s program alone.

DeSantis held the press conference at Deportation Depot outside Jacksonville, from which authorities said 93 deportation flights carried away 2,926 people in the few months the site was in operation last year.

Deportation Depot followed the establishment of the Alligator Alcatraz detention and deportation center deep in the Everglades.

DeSantis said that both facilities now had a federal immigration judge on site to expedite the deportation process.

He also announced that his administration was awaiting DHS approval to open a third detention and deportation center in North Florida that would be called the “Panhandle Pokey.”

The governor also suggested that a fourth site could open this year in South Florida, but he did not go into details.

DeSantis emphasized that the creation of every facility was meant as a temporary solution to support federal agents who have run out of space to keep illegal immigrants off the streets.

Although it is not clear how temporary they are, DeSantis expressed his hope that the federal government could expand its bed space and eliminate the need for any state intervention.

Dave Kerner (C), executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, describes the state's collaborative efforts with the federal government in immigration enforcement while speaking at a press conference at Deportation Depot in Sanderson, Fla., on Jan. 5, 2026. Natasha Holt for The Epoch Times

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said his department and its partners in the Florida Department of Children and Families were continuing to work with the Trump administration to find the estimated hundreds of thousands of children who were brought into the country unaccompanied.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced the Department of Transportation was going to build another major highway checkpoint and close up what he called “a major hole” along the state’s northern border.

“We’re breaking up the fuel thefts,” he said. “We’re breaking up the stolen vehicles, the human trafficking, the illegals that we are catching, not only illegals, but the just bad folks ... making a big difference.”

Authorities pointed to Florida’s immigration legislation signed in February 2025, which required all state, county, and local agencies inside and outside of law enforcement to enter into 287(g) agreements and support the Department of Homeland Security’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.

“Every state agency in Florida has made a 287 (g) Task Force arrest,” said Anthony Coker, State Board of Immigration Enforcement executive director.

“I think that it’s unprecedented, number one, but it also speaks to the leadership of our Cabinet and our governor really leading the way on immigration, and the state directors that are buying into it [have] been amazing.”

Coker said that state agency directors and county sheriffs have worked to build personal relationships with federal partners, and they continue to act on their own through self-initiated operations.

“The Florida blueprint of immigration enforcement has been widely recognized as being the gold standard of state-level immigration enforcement,” Coker said. “As we begin 2026, we’re excited for the opportunity to partner with other states and have them see as much success as we have.”

Many of these arrests came from engagements such as traffic stops by the Florida Highway Patrol.

“Is it easy? No,” said Dave Kerner, executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

“It’s not easy. Is it combative? It’s very combative. I can count at least 10 troopers who have been injured as a result of immigration enforcement operations, and seriously injured.

“But the point is, it can be done.”

The governor said that the enthusiasm for working with the federal government is not felt everywhere across the state, and he said that he is prepared to take action against anyone found “breaching duties.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 10:00

Resilience Of US Economy Showing "Signs Of Cracking" As US Services PMI Disappoints

Following yesterday's US Manufacturing ISM survey disappointment, this morning we get yet more soft survey data - this time a look at the Services sector via S&P Global.

The final (December) US Services PMI data was a disappointment, printing 52.5 vs 52.9 expected...

Source: Bloomberg

While the print was a disappointment, it remains above 50 - expansion - but new business inflows rising to the weakest degree in over a year-and-a-half, growth of activity faltered and was the lowest since last April.

Confidence in the outlook also weakened, whilst employment volumes stagnated, failing to rise for the first time since last February.

The S&P Global US Composite PMI recorded 52.7 in December, down from 54.2 in the previous month.

Business activity continued to expand in December, rounding off another quarter of robust growth, but as Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, points out, "the resilience of the US economy is showing signs of cracking."

"New business placed at services providers showed the smallest rise in some 20 months which, accompanied by the first fall in orders placed at manufacturers for a year, points to a broad-based weakening of demand growth.

"Not only has service sector business activity slowed in response to concerns over order books, with the December surveys signaling the weakest economic expansion since last April, but the number of companies cutting headcounts has exceeded those reporting higher employment for the first time since February.

Optimism is fading...

"We also enter 2026 with future output expectations running much lower than seen at the start of 2025, fueling concerns that December’s slowdown and job market malaise could spill over into the new year.

"Confidence has been dampened principally by uncertainty over government policy and the broader economic outlook, with tariffs and affordability featuring as common threads throughout companies’ more cautious views on their prospects.

Affordability worries are underscored by companies reporting an "increased impact of tariffs on both input costs and selling prices in December," suggesting we could see the unwelcome combination of slower economic growth and stubbornly high inflation at the start of the new year.

However, Williamson notes that "there is an expectation among many companies that lower interest rates and government policy will start to boost demand again as the new year proceeds."

 

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 09:55

Fairfax Financial Takes 22% Stake In Under Armour As UBS Sees "Turnaround Stock"

Struggling apparel brand Under Armour, founded and currently led by Kevin Plank, has seen its market capitalization collapse after years of missteps, brand erosion, and tough global competition. However, a newly disclosed filing shows that a Canadian financial holding company has taken a sizable stake, alongside a recent, more constructive turnaround call from UBS. This suggests the struggle phase may finally be nearing an inflection point.

Fairfax Financial Holdings disclosed a 22.2% ownership stake in UA Class A common stock in a new Schedule 13D filing, stating that the position was acquired for investment purposes and could be adjusted over time.

Fairfax has become the top shareholder. 

The revelation sent UA shares up 5.5% in pre-market trading in New York. Shares have imploded over the years, falling back to roughly 2010 levels, largely because the brand failed to remain relevant.

In September, UBS analyst Jay Sole wrote to clients, "We think sentiment will turn positive in FY27, driving stock outperformance."

Just days ago, Sole told clients, "We view UAA as a turnaround stock."

UAA is back. 

The analyst explained why:

We believe improving sales growth will cause the stock's valuation to increase: We view UAA as a turnaround stock. We believe UAA will achieve a 25% 5-yr. EPS CAGR and this growth will positively surprise the market. Importantly, we expect UAA to deliver considerable innovation and better leverage its brand name, which should help drive 2nd derivative improvement in the company's North America revenue growth rate. Our view is an improving North America sales growth rate will boost the stock’s valuation. Our $8 price target is 61% above the current stock price.

Investors materially undervalue the Under Armour brand name, in our view: Under Armour remains one of the world’s best known and liked athletic wear brands. UBS Evidence Lab's 11th annual global athletic wear survey reinforces our conviction in this view. Survey results indicate Under Armour’s brand name belongs in the same class of brands such as Lululemon, Jordan, Adidas, Puma, On, Hoka, Skechers, and New Balance. The average market cap for these brands which are publicly traded as standalone entities is $19B vs. just $2.1B for UAA. We’re not saying UAA is worth $19B, but rather the valuation differential between UAA and its competitors is far too wide in our view.

Two key survey takeaways:

• UAA's unaided brand awareness, purchase intentions, and attributes are strong. These stats are the main reasons we continue to believe the Under Armour brand name is powerful. Under Armour's unaided awareness is 4th globally for all athletic apparel brands, trailing only Nike, Adidas, and Puma (Fig. 4). With respect to athletic apparel purchase intentions, UAA ranks 4th among the global brands, behind just Nike, Adidas, and Puma (Fig. 12). Also, global consumers continue to associate Under Armour with phrases such as "high quality products" and "good for doing sports" more than they do for most other brands (Figs. 19-20).

• Product innovation will catalyze sales growth acceleration, in our view. Roughly 34% of global survey respondents associated the brand with innovation, but this is down ~500 bps y/y to a 8-yr. low (Fig. 29). This probably explains part of UAA's recent financial trend. However, we believe UAA's innovation will improve significantly (link) and this will drive better consumer perceptions as well as more loyalty (Fig. 39), conversion (Fig. 39), and full price selling (Fig. 45).

ZeroHedge Pro subscribers can read the full note in the usual place, where Sole lays out the detailed thesis supporting an $8 price target.

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 09:40

Vistra Jumps After Buying 10 Nat Gas-Fired Power Plants For $4 Billion

It didn't take long for markets to get a reminder of the screaming shortage of energy assets needed to energize the AI revolution. 

Late on Monday, electricity supplier Vistra agreed to pay $4 billion for 10 natural gas-fired power plants in the US Northeast and Texas to expand the electricity supplier’s generation capacity in fast-growing energy markets.   

The acquisition, which was funded with $2.3 billion in cash, $900 million in Vistra stock and the assumption of $1.5 billion in debt (partly offset by expected tax benefits) includes assets with a total capacity of 5.5 gigawatts on three major US grids: New England, Texas and PJM, the system that spans New Jersey to Chicago. 

The acquisition includes three combined cycle gas turbine facilities, two combustion turbine facilities located across PJM, four combined cycle gas turbine facilities in ISO New England and one cogeneration facility in ERCOT. The generators were purchased from Cogentrix Energy, which is indirectly owned by funds managed by Quantum Capital Group. 

"The addition of this natural gas portfolio is a great way to start another year of growth for Vistra as we've completed, acquired, or developed projects in each of the competitive power regions where we operate," said Vistra CEO Jim Burke.

This acquisition follows Vistra's $1.9 billion deal in May 2025 for seven gas-fired plants with nearly 2,600 megawatts of combined capacity from Lotus Infrastructure Partners, and will diversify and expand Vistra's geographic footprint by adding 5,500 megawatts of net capacity across some of the major power regions in North America.

The US Energy Information Administration estimates electricity consumption in the country to reach record highs in 2026, driven by surging demand from data centers racing to support Big Tech's growing AI ambitions.

Power providers are increasing their portfolios of power assets, and gas-fired plants in particular, to meet surging demand from electricity-hungry data centers.

The artificial intelligence boom has triggered a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the historically volatile independent power sector by spurring unprecedented demand growth. In response, investors have been bidding up power stocks as if they were tech giants.

Vistra has been on a buying spree since the $6.8 billion acquisition of a nuclear fleet in 2024 and the $1.9 billion purchase of seven gas plants in May. Rivals like NRG Energy and Constellation Energy Group also have been snapping up gas-fueled units in multibillion-dollar deals in recent months.

Gas plants are seen as ideal sources for around-the-clock data center demand. But, as Bloomberg notes, a key challenge is that the cost of building big new gas plants has more than doubled and new turbine orders won’t get delivered until at least 2030.

Vistra said it paid about $730 per kilowatt for the 10 generators owned by Cognetrix, which is slightly less than the $743 paid for seven plants last year. That’s about one-third the average cost for a new gas power plant, according to November 2025 report by BloombergNEF, suggesting that the deal was an absolute steal for Vistra. 

Vistra expects to close its latest purchase this year, pending federal and certain state regulatory approvals. Goldman Sachs & Co served as financial advisor and agreed to provide up to $2 billion in bridge loans. Evercore served as financial adviser to Cogentrix.

Vistra’s shares climbed as much as 6.6% in late trading Monday.

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 09:25

Colombia & Brazil Bolster Armed Forces At Borders, Bracing For Venezuelan Refugee Influx

After the weekend US military action in Venezuela, which triggered mixed reactions around the globe, Colombia and other nations in the region are preparing for a possible influx of refugees.

Sunday saw Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez order the deployment of 30,000 troops to the Venezuelan border to strengthen security, and this move coincided with putting emergency measures in place to assist displaced civilians.

Getty Images

There's been a much heavier military presence, for example, at the key Simon Bolivar International Bridge over the Tachira River linking Colombia and Venezuela near the border city of Cucuta. Colombian military armor has been observed there, according to regional reports.

However, these same reports say traffic has moved normally there, despite the extra security measures. Colombia had condemned the Trump-ordered action to capture Venezuela's Maduro, in part worried about a potentially destabilizing effect on the region.

Defense chief Sanchez has confirmed that security forces had been "activated" to deter any retaliatory actions by armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Segunda Marquetalia, both which have operated largely unchecked inside Venezuela for years.

But without doubt Colombia's own armed groups have long exploited the rugged 1,300+-mile long frontier with Venezuela for drug trafficking and as a sanctuary from Colombian military operations.

Brazil too is bracing, after for years regional countries had to deal with millions of Venezuelans leaving their country and spiraling economy. The Wall Street Journal describes, "Roraima, the Brazilian state that serves as the main crossing point into the country, closed its border with Venezuela early Saturday, while Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he had deployed security forces at the country’s border in case of a 'massive influx of refugees.'"

"Some eight million Venezuelans have already fled their country in recent years, equivalent to about a quarter of the country’s population, putting pressure on public services in border regions and sparking xenophobic attacks," the report notes.

There are fears that there could be some kind of new internal fighting erupt in Venezuela, after Maduro's now former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as president. A fresh insurgency, or also counter-revolution, could emerge - but so far Caracas has remained relatively stable, with Trump telling new President Rodríguez to "behave".

But there are already reports that the new leader is reverting to tactics of the old, with several Tuesday headlines stating Venezuela launches wave of repression after US seizure of Nicolás Maduro.

via Wiki Commons

And a further source describes, "As the government continued to churn inside the presidential palace Miraflores, Venezuela’s military counterintelligence officials have been patrolling the streets of Caracas, according to at least two witnesses.

"At least seven journalists and members of the press were detained on Monday morning and early afternoon, most of them at the National Assembly and its surroundings, according to the national press workers syndicate," the report adds, before detailing further: "Heavily armed security forces and pro-government motorcycle gangs known as colectivos were seen roaming the capital, at times stopping drivers and checking their phones. While they aren’t as influential as they were at the height of Maduro’s power, the State Department has said they have been responsible for killings during protests."

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 08:45

Global Stock Rally Fizzles, Futures Flat As Market Rotations Accelerate

US equity futures are flat with small caps underperforming as geopolitics dominate headlines, including aftershocks from the Maduro seizure and a potential US/EU deal that provides a security guarantee for Ukraine potentially with American soldiers maintaining a presence in Ukraine. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are flat as a rotation into regional shares broadened and investors awaited fresh data to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rates; Nasdaq futures gain 0.2% even as Mag 7 names are weaker premarket ex-NVDA which is leading Semis higher after Jensen Huang's CES presentation. Futures took a brief spill overnight just around 3am ET when China announced it would launch export controls on Japan, which is negative for heavy machinery; futures then promptly recovered. Defensives are leading Cyclicals ex-Energy. Bond yields are higher by 1-2bp with USD also bid. Major European markets are mixed with UK leading and France lagging. Asian stocks are off to their best start since 2012 with the MXAP up 3% YTD. Today's US economic calendar includes December final S&P Global US services and composite PMIs at 9:45am. Scheduled Fed speakers include Barkin (8am) and Miran (8:30am)

In premarket trading Mag 7 names are mixed, with Nvidia gaining 0.6% as CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s much-anticipated Rubin data center processors are in production and customers will soon be able to try out the technology.(Alphabet +0.2%, Microsoft is flat, Amazon -0.08%, Meta +0.9%, Apple -0.3%, Tesla -0.6%).

• Aeva (AEVA) jumps 23% after the company announced that its 4D LiDAR technology has been selected for the Nvidia Drive Hyperion autonomous vehicle reference platform.
• Core Scientific (CORZ) climbs 4% as BTIG upgrades to buy as the dust settles following shareholder rejection in October of its acquisition by CoreWeave.
• Frontier Group (ULCC) falls 3% after BofA cut the recommendation on the airline to underperform, expecting cost challenges in 2026 as aircraft rental fees rise.
• Microchip (MCHP) rises 4% after the analog chipmaker’s net sales forecast for the third quarter beat the average analyst estimate. Analysts note that the strong sales numbers highlight broad-based recovery.
• Oculis (OCS) rises 8% after the drug developer said its experimental therapy, Privosegtor, was granted the FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of optic neuritis — inflammation of the eye nerve.
• OneStream Inc. (OS) soars 22% as buyout firm Hg is in advanced talks to acquire the financial software maker, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Vistra Corp. (VST) climbs 4% after agreeing to pay roughly $4 billion for 10 natural gas-fired power plants in the US Northeast and Texas to expand the electricity supplier’s generation capacity in fast-growing energy markets.
• Zeta Global (ZETA) rises 9% after the software company announced that it has entered a strategic collaboration with OpenAI to power conversational intelligence and agentic applications behind Athena by Zeta, its superintelligent agent built for enterprise marketing.

In other corporate news, AB InBev will reacquire a 49.9% stake in US metal plants from a consortium of investors for $3 billion. Electricity supplier Vistra agreed to pay roughly $4 billion for 10 natural gas-fired power plants in the US Northeast and Texas. Software company Zeta Global announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI.

The New Year rally appears to be losing steam, despite renewed appetite for the AI trade and cyclicals over defensives. Some of the biggest action is in commodities, with an index of base metals surging to the highest since March 2022 and copper rising above $13,000 a ton for the first time, which needless to say, is and will be inflationary. At the same time, stocks in Asia surged, but as Bloomberg notes, are now getting dangerously overbought, along with markets in Europe and emerging markets. The S&P 500’s 14-day relative strength index also suggests that US stocks might have further room to run, in contrast with other regions that have surpassed levels typically seen as overbought. Macro and geopolitical risks are numerous, with Venezuela, Greenland and Taiwan all in the headlines today. 

Stock investors have so far been largely unfazed by tensions in Venezuela, extending a three-year bull run that’s been fueled by demand for AI–linked shares. The next leg of the rally will depend in part on how quickly the Fed moves to further ease monetary policy, with business activity and jobs market data due this week to help shape rate expectations.

“We are waiting for data,” said Emilie Tetard, a cross-asset strategist at Natixis. “Before this data, as macro uncertainty is probably stronger in the US vs. the rest of the world, it’s a good time to put in place the diversification.”

Meanwhile, US oil producers such as Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips extended gains on President Donald Trump’s plans for the reconstruction of Venezuela’s crude industry.

The AI narrative is getting a boost from announcements at CES. AMD unveiled a new chip for corporate data centers, with CEO Lisa Su noting on AI that “we don’t have nearly enough compute for what we could possibly do.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s highly-anticipated Rubin processors are on track for deployment by customers in the second half. “Demand is really high,” he said. And Intel’s comeback bid is relying on laptops shown at CES that are based on processors with a new design. As Bear Traps report Larry McDonald puts it, "the Pumpmaster is on Stage Again": Nvidia CEO Huang keynote address confirmed that Vera Rubin is now in full production and is expected to propel Nvidia back into the position of undisputed technical leader. Jensen noted that Vera Rubin contains 6 separate, revolutionary chips, and in years past, each one would have been made by a separate company, but Nvidia does them all itself. 

In the geopolitical sphere, Venezuela’s new acting president Delcy Rodríguez is seen as a choice that could stabilize Venezuela’s oil-based economy and facilitate American business. Elsewhere, Trump’s rationale for intervening in Venezuela is fueling concerns among European officials that they could soon face an existential dilemma over Greenland.

Elsewhere, the data may be on the side of bulls. According to Bloomberg, there have been just four years when the S&P 500 fell at least 15% and and still managed to achieve an annual advance of 15% or more. It happened in 1982, 2009, 2020 — and in 2025. The previous cases have all been followed by strong gains during the next year. Still, Wall Street bulls need a lot to go right if 2026 is going to deliver a fourth straight year of double-digit returns. Read more in today’s Taking Stock.

European stocks are mixed regionally, with the broad Stoxx 600 higher by 0.2%; health care leads, tech lags while miners are lifted after copper surged to a fresh record amid a renewed rush to ship the base metal to the US. Consumer products and services shares lag, with Adidas tailing the sector. Here are some of the biggest movers on Tuesday:

• InPost shares rise as much as 20% after the Polish logistics firm announced it had received an indicative proposal regarding a potential acquisition.
• Next shares climb as much as 3.7%, the most since October, after the fashion retailer reported strong Christmas sales and boosted its profit guidance for the fifth time this financial year.
• Tesco shares climb as much as 3.4% after Worldpanel by Numerator said the British grocer had increased sales and market share in the run-up to Christmas, taking its greatest slice of shoppers’ spend in more than a decade.
• Daimler Truck shares rise as much as 5.6%, hitting the highest level in four months, after the release of positive data for a key measure of North American truck orders.
• SMG Swiss Marketplace Group shares surge as much as a record 17%, after it announced an “amicable” agreement with Switzerland’s Price Supervisor regarding investigations into the Ricardo platform and SMG Real Estate business.
• Infineon shares rise as much as 5.1% after US peer Microchip gave an upbeat forecast and Bank of America lifted its price target, partly due to AI server exposure.
• Adidas shares fall as much as 7.6% after Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform, predicting a “material stepdown” in growth for the sportswear sector. Retailer JD Sports was cut to neutral, and its shares fall 7.2%.
• DSM-Firmenich shares drop as much as 1.3% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to equal-weight, citing lingering uncertainty around the animal, nutrition and health exit structure and tough mid-term strategic targets for the core business.
• Liontrust Asset Management shares sink as much as 7.7%, the most in six months, as Deutsche Bank analysts cut their recommendation on the firm to sell from hold, and slash the target price by a third.

“It reflects a continuation of a theme that we are in the early innings of, which started last year, i.e. that US exceptionalism has peaked and has started to unwind,” Raymond Sagayam, managing partner at Banque Pictet & Cie SA, told Bloomberg TV.

Asian equities rose to a fresh record high, with a rally in Chinese shares helping fuel stronger risk appetite for the region. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.2%, poised for a fourth straight day of gains in what is poised to be its best-ever start to a year. Tech again remained a focus, with TSMC, SK Hynix and Hitachi among the biggest contributors to the benchmark’s advance. Key gauges in mainland China, Hong Kong as well as Japan rose more than 1%. China’s onshore CSI 300 Index climbed to the highest in four years on enthusiasm for the country’s AI industry and growing signs of an economic recovery. Investors hope for an extension of last year’s gains as Beijing backs key sectors and implements measures to curb excessive competition and revive the ailing property market. A subindex of financial shares also helped boost the Asian benchmark, after US peers climbed overnight. Japanese banks jumped after central bank Governor Ueda said he intends to keep raising rates in line with inflation. The rally in Asian stocks at the start of the year underscores their rising appeal for global investors wary of high tech valuations in the US and the prospect of a weakening dollar. It also points to the room left to run in the region’s tech shares, with Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. powering the gains over the past few days.

In FX, German inflation weighed on the euro, lifting the Bloomberg Dollar Index higher by 0.1%. G-10 FX moves are limited.

In rates, treasuries hold small losses in early US session, unwinding a portion of Monday’s gains with oil futures rising further and stock index futures stalled near record highs. European bonds outperform following soft German regional inflation prints. US yields are 1bp-2bp cheaper with curve spreads steeper; 2s10s topped 72bp, approaching 2025 wides; 10-year near 4.17% is about 1bp cheaper on the day, with bunds and gilts in the sector outperforming by about 3bp. German yields are lower by around 2bps across the curve following soft regional inflation metrics. In contrast, US yields are higher with the curve bear-steepening.

In commodities, WTI crude futures are building on yesterday’s gains, up 0.3%. There’s mixed fortunes for precious metals with spot silver higher by 2.2%. Gold faded initial gains and is now up just 0.2% while LME copper hit further all-time-highs, up 1.3%.Bitcoin has slipped throughout the session, trades lower by 0.4%. 

US economic calendar includes December final S&P Global US services and composite PMIs at 9:45am. Scheduled Fed speakers include Barkin (8am) and Miran (8:30am)

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 mini little changed
• Nasdaq 100 mini +0.2%
• Russell 2000 mini -0.3%
• Stoxx Europe 600 little changed
• DAX little changed, CAC 40 -0.6%
• 10-year Treasury yield +1 basis point at 4.17%
• VIX +0.3 points at 15.15
• Bloomberg Dollar Index little changed at 1203.74
• euro little changed at $1.1715
• WTI crude +0.2% at $58.43/barrel

Top Overnight News

• China imposed controls on exports to Japan that could have military use, intensifying a dispute between Asia’s top economies over remarks Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi made last year on Taiwan. BBG
• Trump asked Marco Rubio to oversee an economic and political overhaul of Venezuela, leading a team that includes officials working on energy, finance and military police, White House adviser Stephen Miller said. BBG
• In late night Truth Social post, Trump announced that Danish territory is now an American “protectorate.” Denmark and the broader NATO alliance are extremely concerned the US could imminently seize Greenland and paralyze the NATO alliance. The Atlantic
• Trump said he believes the U.S. oil industry could get expanded operations in Venezuela "up and running" in fewer than 18 months. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue," he said. NBC
• Nvidia’s Rubin data-center chips are now in production as strong AI demand drives the need for more powerful systems, CEO Jensen Huang said. Rival AMD unveiled a new AI chip for corporate data-center use. BBG
• Nvidia said it has seen strong demand from customers in China for the H200 chip that the Trump administration has said it will consider letting the chipmaker ship to that country. BBG
• The Trump admin is planning to meet with executives from U.S. oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production. The meetings are crucial to the administration's hopes of getting top U.S. oil companies back into the South American nation. RTRS
• MCHP +430 bps in premkt after issuing its second upside preannouncement of the quarter, indicating potential recovery in demand for industrial and automotive chips.
• Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at a GOP member retreat at 10:00am ET on Tuesday and will participate in a policy meeting at 2:30pm ET. 
• Trump posted "Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS". Full post "Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT".

Trade/Tariffs

• China Commerce Ministry imposes export controls on dual-use items to Japan, effective immediately

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks were mostly higher following the positive handover from Wall Street, where all major indices gained amid outperformance in energy and a softer yield environment. ASX 200 was the laggard with the index dragged lower by weakness in defensives and the top weighted financial sector, while metal and mining stocks were boosted after the recent climb in underlying commodity prices and reports of an AUD 8.8bln takeover offer for BlueScope Steel. Nikkei 225 rallied at the open to back above the 52,000 level with the advances led by mining and tech-related stocks. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the predominantly upbeat mood, with outperformance in Hong Kong helped by strength in some property names and miners, while aluminium producer China Hongqiao Group led the advances as aluminium prices printed fresh three-year highs.

Top Asian News

• Japan sold JPY 1.96tln 10yr JGB, b/c 3.30x (prev. 3.59x), average yield 2.095% (prev. 1.872%). Lowest accepted price 99.99 vs prev. 98.53. Average accepted price 100.04 vs prev. 98.57. Tail in price 0.05 vs prev. 0.04.
• Japan's nuclear regulator said no irregularities at Chugoku Electric's (9504 JT) Shimane nuclear power plant following the earthquake.
• Earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 strikes at the Shimane Prefecture in Japan, according to NIED

European bourses (STOXX 600 U/C) opened with very modest gains, but have indices have since slipped a touch off best levels to show a bit more of a mixed picture in Europe. European sectors are mixed, with Health Care, Energy, and Basic Resource leading. Energy is advancing on higher crude prices, despite the absence of a clear catalyst. On a stock-specific basis, the sector is also being supported by gains in heavyweight names such as Shell (+1.6%) and BP (+1.9%). Meanwhile, sentiment in Basic Resources has been underpinned by strength in metal prices.

Top European News

• 'Coalition of the Willing' to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine

FX

• DXY resides in a narrow 98.161-98.425 range after recovering from worst levels on the back of some EUR softness (more below), although price action across FX thus far has been muted vs other markets (Equities, Fixed Income, Commodities). The US docket for today only consists of S&P Services and Composite Final PMIs alongside commentary from Fed's Barkin and Miran. Perhaps more importantly, US President Trump is due to give remarks later today.
• EUR is on a softer footing, with early weakness commencing shortly after the revisions lower to the French PMIs, whilst downward revisions in German Composite and EZ PMIs further weighed on the single currency. Moreover, German State CPIs were more dovish than the Nationwide figure (at 13:00 GMT) implies. EUR/USD resides towards the bottom end of a 1.1708-1.1743.
• GBP/USD trades flat towards the bottom of a 1.3528-1.3568 range with little immediate move seen on the slight revision higher in UK Services and Composite PMIs, with EUR/GBP flat intraday in a narrow 0.8644-0.8660. USD/JPY is also flat in a 156.17-156.80 range and largely trading at the whim of the USD.
• Antipodeans also see little price action but AUD continues to be supported by the recent rally in copper and gold.

Fixed Income

• Benchmarks began the morning on the backfoot, with downside of around five and 20 ticks for USTs and Bunds respectively. Action that came as the benchmarks trimmed into and through the APAC session, with further pressure emanating from weak demand at the Japanese 10yr tap; an auction that sent JGBs lower from 132.23 to a 131.93 session trough, trimming initial gains of around 15 ticks to losses of 16 at worst.
• Since, the complex generally benefited incrementally from a dip in the risk tone as China imposed export-controls on dual-use items to Japan.
• For EGBs, no real move to the French Prelim. HICP metrics, which came in as expected M/M and slightly cooler than expected Y/Y at 0.7% (prev. 0.8%). More pertinently, the German State CPIs ahead of the 13:00GMT nationwide figure, where consensus is for the headline Y/Y to moderate to 2.0% (prev. 2.3%) and the HICP Y/Y to 2.2% (prev. 2.6%); for the respective M/M, at 0.3% (prev. -0.2%) and 0.4% (prev. -0.5%). State CPIs lifted Bunds to a 127.67 high, firmer by 27 ticks at most. A move perhaps driven by the M/M for North Rhine-Westphalia coming in at 0.0% (prev. -0.3%), cooler than the nationwide expectations, as above, for a lift to 0.2% (prev. -0.2%).
• Ahead, USTs look to remarks from Fed's 2027 voter Barkin, text and Q&A expected, before the region's own Final PMIs.
• Germany sells EUR 4.4547bln vs exp. EUR 6bln 2.00% 2027 Schatz: b/c 1.93x (prev. 1.7x), average yield 2.11% (prev. 2.05%), retention 24.22% (prev. 20.82%).

Commodities

• Crude benchmarks started the APAC session on the backfoot, paring back some of Monday's gains before extending higher as the European session gets underway, despite a lack of crude-specific drivers.
• WTI and Brent pulled back to a low of USD 57.85/bbl and USD 61.31/bbl respectively after peaking at USD 58.51/bbl and USD 61.89/bbl in Monday's session. Benchmarks then bid higher pretty aggressively despite a clear explanation for the move, reaching a session high of USD 58.67/bbl and USD 62.14/bbl before pulling back slightly.
• Spot XAU trades choppy but managing to hold onto modest gains as the yellow metal sits above USD 4450/oz. After dipping to a trough of USD 4428/oz early in the APAC session, XAU extended on Monday's gains to peak at USD 4476/oz as European traders entered the market. Thus far, the yellow metal is trading in a tight USD 26/oz band above USD 4450/oz.
• 3M LME Copper continued its bid to new ATHs throughout the Asia-Pac session, following the risk-on tone in Asian equities. The red metal opened at USD 13.1k/t and immediately bid higher, peaking at USD 13.39k/t as the European session gets underway. As equities started to pull back, led by Nikkei 225 futures, following the imposition of export controls on dual-use items to Japan by China, 3M LME Copper has started to fall lower and is currently trading at USD 13.24k/t.
• China skips retail gasoline and diesel price adjustment.
• Goldman Sachs said Chinese steel mills face an extended period of depressed margins as efforts to cut capacity in the sector goes slower than expected, while exports remain high.
• ANZ said Venezuela oil output increase is unlikely until the end of the decade as aging infrastructure will require billions of dollars in spending, according to Bloomberg.
• Morgan Stanley expects another period of softness for crude ahead, Brent to fall into the mid-high USD 50/bbl region for the majority of 2026. Expect the market to be in a "significant" surplus before then returning to balance in H2-2027.

Geopolitics

• "Syria: Israeli forces infiltrate the southern countryside of Quneitra", according to Al Arabiya.
• Israeli Air Force struck multiple sites in Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, ahead of a key disarmament meeting, according to POLITICO.
• North Korea accuses Japan of reinvasion plotting over record-high defence budget, according to Yonhap.
• Shooting reported near presidential palace in Caracas, although Venezuelan government said situation is under control.
• US House Speaker Johnson said not expecting US troops on the ground in Venezuela, according to Bloomberg's Erik Wasson.
• Witnesses reportedly heard loud blasts near the Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, according to Bloomberg's Erik Wasson.
• Al Jazeera notes report of Israeli raid on vicinity of southern Lebanese town of Al-Ghaziyah.
• US President Trump has a list of demands for Venezuela's new leader including stopping oil sales to US rivals, according to POLITICO. "U.S. officials have told Delcy Rodriguez that they want to see at least three moves from her: cracking down on drug flows; kicking out Iranian, Cuban and other operatives of countries or networks hostile to Washington; and stopping the sale of oil to U.S. adversaries".
• US President Trump said Venezuela has to be fixed before elections and that acting President Rodriguez has been cooperating with the US, while Trump's advisor Miller said Venezuela is cooperating with the US and needs US permission to do any commerce. said:. US may subsidise an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure. Would not need lawmakers to act in order for him to send US troops back into Venezuela.
• CIA reportedly concluded that Venezuela's Maduro regime loyalists were best placed to lead Venezuela after Maduro, according to WSJ.

US Event Calendar

• 8:00 am: Fed’s Barkin Speaks on Economic Outlook
• 8:30 am: Fed’s Miran Speaks on Fox Business
• 9:45 am: Dec F S&P Global U.S. Services PMI, est. 52.9, prior 52.9
• 9:45 am: Dec F S&P Global U.S. Composite PMI, prior 53

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Happy NY to you from me for my first EMR of the year after 10 days in the Alps where my back stopped me from skiing, but the family just about managed to find enough snow to do so. Just 29 years after its release I watched Titanic for the first time during the trip, and Shaun the Sheep. Shaun the Sheep is very funny, Titanic less so.

From nautical disasters to economic ones, yesterday I published a short chart pack (link here) which documents the remarkable long-term decline of the Venezuelan economy, with a particular focus on the sharp deterioration since the early 2010s. In terms of other pieces, our new Head of Geopolitcal Research Helen Belopolsky in my team published a

quick note here on what the story tells us about Trump 2.0 in 2026 and our LatAm economist Francisco Campos published a blog here on the implications for the region.
So, in a fascinating start to the year, developments in Venezuela continued to dominate the headlines yesterday, as investors were finally able to react to the removal of President Nicolás Maduro. But for global markets, the striking thing was how most assets were almost completely unfazed by the geopolitical risk. The S&P 500 (+0.64%) closed -0.43% beneath its record high, and Europe’s STOXX 600 (+0.94%) hit a fresh record. And despite an uptick in oil prices (reversing the small dip at the Asian open yesterday), there was even a bond rally on both sides of the Atlantic too, as a weak ISM manufacturing print pushed yields lower for 10yr Treasuries (-3.0bps) and bunds (-3.0bps). 

In terms of the latest, Maduro appeared in a New York court yesterday, pleading not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges and claiming “I am still president”. Meanwhile, in Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president, calling for peace in the country. Overall, this left a sense that a smooth transition was playing out for now, though there were reports of some explosions in Caracas last night. 

Whilst global markets saw little reaction to the Venezuela developments, a few specific assets did see some outsized moves. Most obviously, there was a clear reaction among Venezuela’s bonds, with those maturing in 2027 surging by +29.28% on the day, moving up to 42.5 cents on the dollar. Another beneficiary were US oil stocks, and energy companies in the S&P 500 were up +2.67% yesterday. That included Chevron (the only major US oil company still operating in Venezuela), which posted a +5.10% increase, alongside big jumps for oil services majors SLB (+8.96%) and Halliburton (+7.84%). Last night, Trump suggested the administration might subsidise investment to rebuild Venezuela’s oil production and, according to Bloomberg, Energy Secretary Chris Wright plans to meet with oil executives this week. Meanwhile, precious metals also saw the usual uptick we normally get in times of geopolitical stress, with gold (+2.70%) and silver (+5.18%) prices experiencing strong gains as well. Silver continuing its stunning gains from recent weeks.  

Against this backdrop, oil prices had a topsy-turvy session, swinging between gains and losses through the day. Initially when markets opened, there had been optimism that Maduro’s removal would open the way for higher oil production, particularly if US companies went in to repair the infrastructure as Trump had indicated. So that meant Brent crude initially fell beneath $60/bbl, down -1.65% from its closing level on Friday. But as the session went on, those initial hopes were tempered by the realisation that it would be difficult to rebuild that infrastructure quickly, and without significant cost. In the near-term there may even be disruption to the current Venezuelan supply, forcing normal buyers to quickly purchase elsewhere. So oil prices clawed back those losses to close up +1.66% at $61.76/bbl. In Asia it's down around -0.3%. 

In the meantime, there’s also been renewed focus on Greenland, given Trump’s weekend comments that “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security”. That led to a response from Danish PM Mette Frederiksen yesterday, who said she took Trump’s threats seriously, and that “if the US chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO”. 

Whilst there were plenty of geopolitical developments, global equity and bond markets took those in their stride yesterday, with a cross-asset advance on both sides of the Atlantic. In part, that was down to a softer-than-expected ISM manufacturing print in the US, which raised hopes that the Fed would keep cutting rates this year. The headline measure for that fell to a 14-month low of 47.9 in December, and both the new orders (47.7) and employment (44.9) components were also clearly in contractionary territory. Prices paid (58.5) were within a couple of tenths of expectations. Fed funds futures were pricing in 60bps of cuts by the December 2026 meeting at the close, up +2.2bps compared with Friday. And in turn, US Treasuries rallied across the curve, with the 2yr yield (-2.2bps) down to 3.45%, whilst the 10yr yield (-3.0bps) fell to 4.16%. Overnight, they are back up +1.2bps and +2.0bps respectively. 

The prospect of faster rate cuts and the absence of a negative shock from the Venezuela developments meant it was also a good day for equities. Indeed, the S&P 500 (+0.64%) moved back within half a percent of its record high on Christmas Eve. The Dow Jones (+1.23%) reached a new record high of its own, with the small cap Russell 2000 (+1.58%) also surging as cyclical stocks outperformed. And the Mag-7 (+0.88%) rebounded after a run of 5 consecutive losses. Meanwhile in Europe, there were a whole bunch of records, with the STOXX 600 (+0.94%) and the DAX (+1.34%) both closing at record highs, whilst Italy’s FTSE MIB (+1.04%) closed at its highest level since 2000.

Otherwise in Europe, Bloomberg reported yesterday that Italy planned to support the EU free-trade agreement with Mercosur. The article said that they’d back the deal when ambassadors vote on January 9, enabling the EU to sign on January 12. Meanwhile, sovereign bonds also rallied across the continent, with 10yr bund yields (-3.0bps) coming down to 2.87%, moving off their two-year high on Friday.

In Asia, equity markets are on course for their best start to a year since 2012. As I check my screens, the Hang Seng (+1.64%), Shanghai Comp (+1.19%), Nikkei (+1.09%) and the KOSPI (+0.93%) are all leading the way.  Japan's Topix is surging +1.46% to reach a record high, bolstered by widespread gains in technology, industrial, and export-oriented sectors. S&P 500 (+0.13%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.24%) futures are both inching higher along with European futures.  

10-year JGBs are +1.4bps at 2.123%, marking its highest point since 1999, after an auction that went ok. The bid-to-cover ratio was recorded at 3.30, in contrast to 3.59 from the last auction and a 12-month average of 3.24. 30-year JGB yields are up +3.9bps.  

Looking at the day ahead now, the main data releases will be the German and French CPI prints for December, along with the final services and composite PMIs for December from the US and Europe. Otherwise, central bank speakers include the ECB’s Villeroy and Cipollone, along with the Fed’s Barkin.

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 08:36

EU's Carbon Border Tax Goes Live And Trade Partners Are Not Amused

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

• The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism launched on January 1 aims to level the playing field for European steel, cement, and power producers by taxing the carbon content of imports from countries with weaker emissions rules.

• China has threatened retaliation, calling CBAM unfair and discriminatory.

• While CBAM may protect EU industry, it risks higher prices for consumers and escalating trade disputes with major exporters

On Thursday, January 1st, the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism entered into effect with the goal of improving the competitiveness of European goods manufacturers against non-EU companies operating in laxer emissions reduction frameworks.

China was the first to threaten retaliation.

It won’t be the last.

The carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM for short, was devised to remedy the unintended effects of the world’s most stringent emission-reduction standards for the industrial sphere, namely, sky-high costs that make the end product uncompetitive. This became especially painful for European makers of things such as steel and cement, where the biggest competitor is China—which does not have anything resembling the emission reduction requirements of the EU, so its steel and cement are very cheap, and buyers prefer them.

In other words, in order to boost the competitiveness of European steel and cement manufacturers—and electricity generators, too—the European Union made sure that cheaper imported steel, cement, and electricity are not that cheap anymore. China and India are unhappy about—and there are things they can do that will not help the competitiveness of European businesses.

As soon as the CBAM entered into effect, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a statement, in which it called the legislation “unfair” and “discriminatory”, Bloomberg reported.

“We will resolutely take all necessary measures to respond to any unfair trade restrictions,” the ministry said in its statement.

“CBAM is quite unpopular among major exporters to the EU, but it has already proven to be quite effective in pushing reticent countries towards building or expanding carbon pricing efforts,” one consultant specializing in carbon permit markets, told the Financial Times.

“So it’s a major policy shift for the EU to protect its own industry, while at the same time leveraging the carbon pricing idea to third countries.”

China, in fact, has its own carbon market, has had it since 2021, and it is the biggest carbon market in terms of the volumes of carbon emissions covered by it. With China, it’s not about selling the idea of carbon markets to third countries; it is about competitiveness. And China is not pleased that its competitiveness will be compromised.

In simple terms, the carbon border adjustment mechanism puts a price on the carbon dioxide emissions generated during the production of a good such as cement or steel. The price is based on calculations of the emissions from the respective industries in countries that export to the European Union. The mechanism puts a so-called default emission value for the production of a certain good, and also emission benchmarks, to be used in tandem in a way that is as of yet unclear, but some say it is, in fact, benefiting China.

Politico reported the concerns at the end of last year, citing industrial executives as saying the default values for emissions for certain countries that export to the EU were set too low to be real, including some steel production in China that, according to these estimates, turned out to be lower-emission than steel production in the EU.

“Inconsistencies in the figures of default values and benchmarks would dilute the incentive for cleaner production processes and allow high-emission imports to enter the EU market with insufficient carbon costs,” an industry representative told Politico.

“This could result in a CBAM that is not only significantly less effective but most likely counterproductive.”

Meanwhile, Indian steel imports are about to dry up because Indian steel producers appear not to have been included in the “inconsistencies”. India is the world’s second-largest steel producer after China and exports as much as 66% of its output to the European Union.

This is about to drop sharply next year because India’s steel manufacturing is done in blast furnaces fueled with coal, which is incompatible with the European Union’s emission reduction plans. The Reuters report notes steel mills could switch to electric arc furnaces, which have a lower emissions footprint, but such a switch would take time and money.

“Most of the companies are yet figuring out a way to deal with CBAM,” one analyst told Reuters. “In the near term, it is expected to slow down India's exports to EU,” Ravi Sodah, from Elara Capital, also said.

So, two of the world’s largest exporters of industrial goods, and major suppliers to the European Union specifically, are planning to respond to the CBAM by, at least in one case, curbing exports.

This would sure clear up the market for European producers, but it will not be welcome news to consumers of those goods, who would be footing the bill for what is essentially market intervention on the part of the European Union, and a protectionist market intervention, at that.

The United States is not going to be happy about it, either, and it will soon make its unhappiness known.

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/06/2026 - 08:05

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.