throwing Fed independence out the window. It’s really happening because Powell isn’t lowering interest rates fast enough. Powell was appointed Fed governor by Donald Trump. Good luck finding a new governor when prison time is on the table. Gold (GLD) rose 2% on the news.

China has become the top provider of capital for new projects around the world, replacing the US. It may be why the Chinese stock market was up 44% last year, and the Chinese Yuan appreciated. Last week, the US resigned from dozens of international organizations. The US has retreated from the international scene except for the three attacks on foreign countries in nine months. Uncertainty reigns supreme.

forcing consumers into the hands of loan sharks, who charge much higher rates. Visa (V), where I was about to issue a trade alert to buy, plunged 5%. Master Card (MA) did the same. American Express (AXP) took an 8% hit.

(NFLX) hit a new nine-month low on the news. The David Ellison-led company also said it plans to nominate ‌directors to Warner Bros Discovery's (WBD) board, in one of its most aggressive steps yet to convince shareholders that its hostile $30-per-share cash bid is superior to the $27.75-per-share cash-and-stock offer from Netflix. Avoid (NFLX) for now, even though it is a great company, as it will be stuck in litigation purgatory for a year or two.

Apple (AAPL) plans to use a 1.2 trillion-parameter artificial intelligence model developed by Alphabet's Google to help power a revamp of its Siri voice assistant. After an evaluation, the companies are finalizing a deal that would have Apple pay about $1 billion a year for access to Google's technology, the report said. Buy (AAPL) on dips as a big AI announcement is coming.