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Today's Summary

Total household debt outstanding in Q4 rose by 1.05% from Q3 to $18.8 trillion. Delinquencies increased across all three major loan types – Conventional, FHA, and VA – in the last three months of the year. FHA loans reached a delinquency rate of 11.52 percent, the highest level since 2021. Sales of single-family homes that closed in January plunged seasonally adjusted by 9.0% from December, to an annual rate of 3.53 million sales. Food prices barely ticked up in January after the surge in December, and gasoline prices plunged. Wolf Richter says there is no replacement for gold outside of promissory notes. Wolf Richters says he was wrong to ask a civil question about why only 35% of used vehicles are financed. The average new car price is over $49,000, making used cars, while expensive, a more budget-friendly. Constellium SE reports strong fourth quarter and full year 2025 results; provides full year 2026 guidance. German economic think-tank on Tuesday revised its forecast for a 1 per cent population decline by 2050 to nearly 5 per cent. Home values have historically served as a strong indicator of the health of a city. Chicago leads all cities with a 5.0% price increase year-over-year, followed by New York at 5.4% and Cleveland at 3.4%. Only a handful of major metro areas saw a decline in the previous month (versus 16) Los Angeles, San Diego and San Diego markets saw declines in October. Chinas fertility to end its bid to dominate the world is in for severe disappointment. South Korea implemented a very substantial “baby bonus”, equivalent to about $700 per month, and it had the effect of reducing the fertility decline by 4.7%. To reach 2.07, we would need a 21% increase in birth rates. Maya, a Philippine digital bank whose platform includes a regulated crypto trading arm, is reportedly exploring a U.S. IPO that could raise up to $1 billion. Abu Dhabi-based Al Warda Investments increased its bitcoin exposure via BlackRocks IBIT to 8.2 million shares by the end of 2025. Goldman Sachs disclosed roughly $2.36 billion in total crypto exposure. Spot BTC ETFs have become the most straightforward institutional wrapper for holding Bitcoin exposure. BlackRock says it would seek to keep 70% to 95% of the funds ETH staked. Peer-to-peer systems reduce reliance on a single endpoint, but trade off reliability, battery life, and delivery guarantees. Bitcoin price is down 46% from record high near $126,000 set in early October 2025 and trading around $67,470 as of press time. Whale-held BTC supply increased by 200,000 BTC over the past month to more than 3.1 million BTC. Bitcoin may enter a consolidation phase as it looks for new catalysts. Strategy reported its fourth-largest Bitcoin purchase of the year on Tuesday. Strategy established cash reserves last year to avail concerns that firm might not be able to meet costs. Abu Dhabi-based funds held more than $1 billion in BlackRocks spot Bitcoin. OilPrice.com offers exclusive Intel All Prices. Starboard Value sees as much as a $21 billion valuation bump if Riot captures its potential in the sector. Ovintiv to sell Anadarko energy assets in $3 billion deal expected to close early in the second quarter of the current year.