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Today's Summary

In real terms, national house prices are 9.4% above the bubble peak levels. Average First-Time Homebuyer Age Was 40 in 2025, up from 33 in 2021. JP Chase has withdrawn almost $350bn in cash. Peak Oil has arrived in the US without fanfare whatsoever, which sets up oil for a major bull run. Wolf Richter says inflation-adjusted wages were either flat or kept up, meaning that growing wages grew as fast or faster than inflation. The yen carry trade has long thrived and helped drive up asset prices in the U.S. and drive down Treasury yields. The 2024 Year in Review (YIR for short) was subtitled, “What is a fact?” It expressed my growing frustration. I suspect that my sources that dependably provide hard facts and hilarious anecdotes have become corrupted. The Boom-Bust Panel focused on the AI bubble while the audience was mesmerized by Peters shirt. US dollar share drops to lowest level since 1994. Central banks increased their holdings of USD-denominated assets by a hair in Q3 to $7.4 trillion. Buyers are more equally likely to get diluted/screwed. The way a couch feels matters as much as how it looks, writes Washington Post. The case-Shiller National Index increased 1.3% year-over-year (YoY) in September. California home sales rose in November from both the previous month and year for the third consecutive month to reach the highest level since September 2022. First US Bancshares, Inc. declares cash dividend of $0.07 per share. Housing Inventory decreased to 1.43 million in November from 1.52 million. Mike Green gets his own numbers completely wrong. China to hold ‘Justice Mission 2025 drills around Taiwan Dec. 28, 2025. Americas mayors are right to support small business, writes Noah Zohrans. The American right sees the “mad brute” in the ape cartoon as dark-skinned Muslim immigrants who have entered Europe in large numbers in recent years. Europe needs to act more like a country and less like a zone. China is the source of almost half of the top AI talent in the world. Global firms are realizing they cannot build a worldwide business on USD-only rails without alienating major markets. For the first time, Europe is being pulled into a currency-rail. Bitcoin price briefly crossed the $90,000 mark earlier Monday. A toxic cross-asset mix is threatening to tighten financial conditions and squeeze crypto bulls. Strategys recently purchased nearly $2 billion in bitcoin. Sberbank has issued Russias first loan backed by crypto, extending financing to Intelion Data, one of the countrys largest bitcoin mining companies. In 2025, numerous notable crypto games shut down their operations. Pudgy Penguins is hoping to produce a hugely viral moment from an animation that lasts just a minute. By years end, analysts projected Chinese chipmakers would capture 40% of the domestic AI server market. U.S. holds just 1.9 million metric tons of rare earths (2%), underscoring its reliance on trade and midstream processing to secure supply. Türkiyes production push is anchored by the Sakarya gas field in Black Sea.