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Hot Tips
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Trump Comments on Currencies Trash the US Dollar,
prompting ballistic moves up in (FXA), (FXE), (FXB), (EEM), and even the long beleaguered (FXY). These are all Mad Hedge long recommendations. The comments signal that there will be no future efforts by the FED to collapse the greenback. European vacations are getting more expensive by the day. Sell all dollar rallies.
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Amazon Cuts 16,000 Jobs.
The reductions take Amazon’s announced job cuts to 30,000 in three months, with Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy determined to cut management layers that began to concern executives after a pandemic-era hiring binge. Companies across industries have been trimming management layers in the name of becoming leaner and more productive. Last year, Microsoft Corp. cut thousands of workers with a focus on reducing management; Nissan Group of North America cut 20% of its top management positions; and Amtrak similarly targeted roughly 20% of its own top-level management. Your job is next.
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Gold and Silver Go Ballistic on Weak Dollar Comments,
with the barbarous relic topping a new all-time high at $5,300. Who knows how high is high? The decline of the US dollar, combined with heightened geopolitical risks and investor flight from currencies and Treasuries, has sparked a wave of investment demand in precious metals. Gold has gained around 22% already this year, smashing through $5,000 an ounce for the first time this week, while silver has surged almost 60%. Retail traders are pouring into silver plays faster than tech stocks.
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11,300 Fast Chargers to Boost EV Sales,
those charging at a 250 kw/h rate or better, enabling a full charge in 30 minutes. The time it takes to fuel an electric vehicle, long a stumbling block to EV adoption, is shrinking in the US, as more capable cars and trucks plug into a rash of new, high-speed charging machines.
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Southwest Dumps Open Seating Plan,
for the first time in 54 years. The airline’s executives say customers sought the change and touted the financial benefits to investors. I always hated it, no First Class. The change means that all Southwest passengers will know exactly where they will be sitting before they board, and some of them will pay more than $70 per leg to have a new, roomy spot up front where all the money is made.
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Consumer Confidence Hits 12-Year Low,
as the depressed jobs market weighs on the population. The Conference Board’s gauge decreased to 84.5, from an upwardly revised 94.2 last month, data on Tuesday showed. The figure was the lowest since May 2014 and fell short of all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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United Health (UNH) Dives 20%,
on Trump's effort to freeze Medicare spending in 2027. Medicare Advantage spending by seniors, paid for by the government, accounts for 70% of (UNH) business. The (UNH) CEO was assassinated last year. Rates at these levels won’t cover the cost of providing the service. Avoid (HUM), (CVS), and (UNH).
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Boeing Swing to a Fourth Quarter Profit
on Tuesday, driven by the sale of its digital aviation services provider, as well as rising jet output and stronger deliveries. Losses in its two biggest divisions were bigger than expected, however, and shares dropped. The company also recorded a $565 million charge on its KC-46 aerial-refueling tanker program due to higher estimated production support and supply chain costs.
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Gold to Hit $6,000 in 2026,
according to Deutsche Bank. The daily trading value of silver yesterday exceeded that of Nvidia (NVDA), as it has become the meme stock of the day. Commitment of professional traders in silver has hit a two-year low as they dump longs. Silver may top going into the February 17 Chinese New Year as the Middle Kingdom has become a major silver buyer.
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UPS to Cut 30,000 Workers,
as its largest customer, Amazon (AMZN) pulls more deliveries in-house. It will also shut another 24 facilities in 2026, the world's largest package delivery company said.
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A Government Shutdown is on for this Weekend,
with House democrats refusing funding for ICE during the Siege of Minneapolis. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground on this one. Expect the economy to grind to a halt as it did before. Without Senate approval of the deal by Friday, the federal government will begin a partial shutdown. The funding package needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster and pass the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-47 vote majority in the Senate, meaning Democratic support will be needed to pass the measure.
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Silver Tops $115 an Ounce,
beating the forecast for the poor man’s gold I made a year ago. Gold finally made $5,000. The retail buying has been relentless, and there is no knowing the top. When precious metals go ballistic, they can do it for a long time. Buy Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) on dips.
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Microsoft Jumps 7% on Second Generation AI Chips.
a potential alternative to leading processors from Nvidia and to offerings from cloud rivals Amazon and Google. The Maia 200 comes two years after Microsoft said it had developed its first AI chip, the Maia 100, which was never made available for cloud clients to rent. The Maia 200 is the most efficient inference system Microsoft has ever deployed. Developers, academics, AI labs, and people contributing to open-source AI models can apply for a preview of a software development kit.
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Core Capital Goods Rose 0.7% in November.
New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected, indicating business spending on equipment maintained a steady growth pace in the fourth quarter. The fifth straight monthly rise in the so-called core capital goods orders was reported by the Commerce Department on Monday.
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The Fed Meets this Week to Discuss Interest Rates,
but will likely take no action. Inflation has risen continuously for eight months, moving it far from the Fed’s 2% target. The announcement will come out at 2:00 PM EST on Wednesday.
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TACO Rides Again,
with Trump bailing on a trade war with Europe and claiming he won what the US already had. A major Air Force base has been at Thule since 1954. I promised you smaller returns this year with more volatility, and we are getting it in spades. The Dow sold off 1,200 points, then made it all back for an unchanged week, but we got stopped out of our Apple position.
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The “Sell American” Trade is Back on,
with Europeans discussing dumping all their US stocks and bonds, some $8 trillion worth. Markets behaved this week like this was a possibility, with US stocks, bonds, and currency all tanking. Europe would rather invest in friends than enemies. The self-immolation of America continues.
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Weekly Jobless Claims Rise,
up 1,000 to 200,000. The Labor Department's weekly jobless claims reports have, in recent weeks, been clouded by challenges adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around the year-end holiday season and turn of the year. Through the volatility, however, the labor market has remained in what economists and policymakers call a "low-hiring, low-firing" state.
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Core PCE Rises,
from 2.7% to 2.8%, according to the central bank's preferred gauge released Thursday. The personal consumption expenditures price index, a Commerce Department measure the central bank uses as its main forecasting tool, showed inflation at 2.8% for the month, both for headline and core, in line with the Dow Jones consensus. In addition, the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the rate for October was 2.7% on both a headline and core basis, the latter excluding volatile food and energy prices. The monthly figures showed a 0.2% increase for both months.
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Netflix Tanks 5% on Good Earnings but Weak Guidance.
Analysts across Wall Street cut their (NFLX) price targets after the streamer highlighted other areas of concern, such as slowing momentum in average viewing hours per member. Netflix earned 56 cents per share on $12.05 billion in revenue. That slightly exceeded the 55 cents per share and revenue of $11.97 billion. Along with slowing viewing hours, analysts were also disappointed with the company’s earnings and revenue guidance for the current quarter and its margin guidance for the full year 2026.
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Trade War 2.0 Destroys Stocks,
taking the Dow Average down 870 points, the most in four months. Volatility spiked from 16% to 26% over fears that this trade war will deliver an April result, or down 20% for stocks. Investors are in “take the money and run” mode, especially for big stocks like Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA).
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Japanese Bond Markets Crash,
taking yields up to 4.3%, an all-time high. A new stimulatory budget and a weak yen are expected to cause inflation. It rattles the world because a lot of financing was done in a formerly low-interest-rate world.
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Denmark Dumps $100 Million of US Treasuries,
their entire holdings, citing the deteriorating finances of the US government. Standard & Poor’s downgraded US debt last May. No doubt Greenland was a factor, too.
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Trump Says No Force to Takeover Greenland,
and markets rally….a bit. Once confidence is shattered, it is hard to get it back. The “Sell America” trade is back with US stocks, bonds, and currency all diving.
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Netflix Tanks 5% on Good Earnings but Weak Guidance.
Analysts across Wall Street cut their (NFLX) price targets after the streamer highlighted other areas of concern, such as slowing momentum in average viewing hours per member. Netflix earned 56 cents per share on $12.05 billion in revenue. That slightly exceeded the 55 cents per share and revenue of $11.97 billion. Along with slowing viewing hours, analysts were also disappointed with the company’s earnings and revenue guidance for the current quarter and its margin guidance for the full year 2026.
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