Open: 63.76 Close: 63.93 Change: 0.17

Today's Summary

Mortgage rates adjusted for inflation are going to 2-3%, mainly because Trump will be pushing mortgage down this summer when Powells replacement is installed. 2025 is likely to be the worst year for job growth outside of a recession since 2003. ICE shooter in Minneapolis was an Iraq war veteran, author says. Those who resist just might get shot, so we better think twice before protesting or resisting tyranny. Average age of first-time home buyers rose from 31 in 1981 to 38 in 2025. Median salary of neophyte home buyers has nearly quadrupled. Jerome Powell should resign unless he inflates home prices!!!! Donald Trump has threatened further military action to remove acting president Delcy Rodriguez from office if she does not comply with US plans for Venezuela. Delcy has struck a fine balance between fierce assertions of independence and a pragmatic readiness to cooperate peacefully. The Justice Department served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday. The killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis this week came as Republicans in Congress were planning to bring a homeland security spending bill to the House floor. Fed Balance Sheet drops by $67 billion for the week by Wolf Richter. Headline payrolls data is “just OK” at +50K – barely expansionary – but, given the likely substantial revisions, this is likely in negative territory. Case-Shiller National Index increased 1.3% year-over-year (YoY) in September. Florida median home price fell 3.9 percent from $886,960 in October to $852,680 in November. November existing home sales were down 0.5% YoY through November, and sales last year were the lowest since 1995. A new retention policy in Mississippi is the key to the states success, says Kelsey Piper. Tampa home prices are down 4.2% year over year – the steepest drop among the 20 cities, marking Tampas 12th consecutive month. Full-year/Q4 earnings season begins next week, and investors will pay particular attention. Noah Smith says protectionism is essential in order to de-risk the reindustrialization of China. The world loves everything Japanese, but Japan doesnt realize it. Greenfield FDI can help counter that increasing insularity, says author. In 2022 net FDI inflows to Japan were slightly greater as a proportion of the economy than in either China or South Korea. Most of Japans greenfield investment is in semiconductors. VanEck released a new report on Bitcoins long-term capital market assumptions today, projecting strong growth over the next several decades. Visa expanded its stablecoin pilot to more us banks and to include settlement. US Senate banking committee faces mounting pressure ahead of key vote on crypto market structure bill next week. South Korea is reportedly preparing to open its financial markets to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds this year. Banks are lobbying to kill crypto rewards to protect a hidden $1,400 tax on every household. Ford is writing down $19.5 billion, with additional EV losses of $13 billion. Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase to a Buy rating while simultaneously downgrading eToro. South Koreas Supreme Court rules Bitcoin held on exchanges can be seized under Criminal Procedure Act. Boston Dynamics debuts commercially deployable version of Atlas humanoid robot at CES 2026. China is moving out of a build, baby, build phase and into a more strategic phase of energy policy. BNY signaled on Friday that it will begin issuing digital representations of customers deposits on the blockchain. Andreessen Horowitz raised more than $15 billion across five funds to propel future technologies. Monero surged to a fresh all-time high on Sunday, lifting the privacy-focused crypto above $592. Somalia is collaborating with Turkey to explore its hydrocarbon potential. Iran has raised oil output to near pre-sanctions levels by offering discounted crude and relying heavily on Chinese independent refiners. Speculators placing record bets on Chinas metals markets.