--One of the main logic bombs for Americans was that the demographics who were present and largely charged with the “insurrection” claims from that day were unarmed, despite being a demographic that is well known to probably own firearms.
--To be fair, Biden’s DOJ did bring weapons charges against many J6ers, but the actual “weapons” in question were often bike racks, flagpoles, and other things that no rational human being outside of DC prosecutors would consider as such.
--There was one person who brought and discharged a firearm in the scaffolding that day; when one looks into that person, who had killed someone in Utah, been rolled up for it, then released without charges, it starts to look like there may be a “there there.”
--There’s a lot to this story that can’t quite be covered here, so read the thread:
x.com/NationalFile/s…
-The nationwide arrests of criminal immigrants by ICE surpassed 500 today.
War/Military:
-There are a lot of stories going around that Rubio, at the order of Trump, has halted UKR aid and paused nearly all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt.
--From what I can gather, the UKR bit isn’t exactly true; while some development aid was cut, not all funding was.
--People are wondering why Israel and Egypt would continue receiving aid. If you remember, the Houthis stopping traffic through the Suez pretty much destroyed Egypt’s economy.
--They were also recently amassing troops near their border (we discussed this a week or so ago), so this could be a hope of staving off another conflict in the region.
-This story about UKR, however, seems to be true: the UKR MIL Chief Army Psychiatrist was arrested in a $1mm corruption charge:
bbc.com/news/articles/…
-On another note, Zelensky is demanding 200k “peacekeepers” to enforce any ceasefire agreement with RUS.
--As NATO could only provide around 40k, he’s essentially saying that the US needs to send +150k troops to UKR.
Hard no.
sofx.com/zelensky-calls…
-Taliban POW American Ryan Corbett has now been released after being held in Afghanistan since 2022.
-Multiple hostages held by Hamas have now been released and sent home, some to their homes in the US (they were holding US citizens hostage) and some to their homes in Israel.
-It was largely drowned out with everything going on, but US forces began withdrawing from Conoco Gas Field in Syria on 1/19.
-US PMCs have arrived in Israel and will be managing checkpoints in Gaza in line with the new ceasefire agreement.
--On a personal note, I saw this contract when it was sent out; based on the caliber of people it’s hiring and what they are paying, I would highly suggest that anyone considering f-ery in that specific region consider otherwise.
--It would not go well for you.
sofx.com/us-security-co…
-Over 200 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the Eastern Congo as the M23 rebel group pushes forward and has been clashing with the DRC military.
sofx.com/m23-rebel-adva…
Markets/economics:
-DOGE has apparently identified between $1-2 trillion worth of GOV spending that can be cut, with approximately $420mm of direct DEI contracts that have been canceled and 2 leases that have been canceled.
--I know a lot of very intelligent macro financial people who were worried that DOGE cutting GOV spending would actually be harmful for growth.
--As with most Americans, I’m certain they don’t really understand just how much taxpayer money is spent on $0 value-add vanity projects, especially abroad (how are transgender programs in Pakistan supposed to add to US GDP?).
-Moody’s has upgraded the credit rating of Argentina by one notch to Caa3, citing Milei’s efforts to stabilize the government’s finances as lowering the likelihood it will renege on debt obligations.
-The major US indices ended Friday trading in the red after a pretty good week.
-Gold ended at $2,777.40, in reach of the $2,800 high.
-European markets didn’t have a great trading day, either, with the French CAC 40 being the only major one to stay in the green all day Friday.
--To be fair, Biden’s DOJ did bring weapons charges against many J6ers, but the actual “weapons” in question were often bike racks, flagpoles, and other things that no rational human being outside of DC prosecutors would consider as such.
--There was one person who brought and discharged a firearm in the scaffolding that day; when one looks into that person, who had killed someone in Utah, been rolled up for it, then released without charges, it starts to look like there may be a “there there.”
--There’s a lot to this story that can’t quite be covered here, so read the thread:
x.com/NationalFile/s…
-The nationwide arrests of criminal immigrants by ICE surpassed 500 today.
War/Military:
-There are a lot of stories going around that Rubio, at the order of Trump, has halted UKR aid and paused nearly all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt.
--From what I can gather, the UKR bit isn’t exactly true; while some development aid was cut, not all funding was.
--People are wondering why Israel and Egypt would continue receiving aid. If you remember, the Houthis stopping traffic through the Suez pretty much destroyed Egypt’s economy.
--They were also recently amassing troops near their border (we discussed this a week or so ago), so this could be a hope of staving off another conflict in the region.
-This story about UKR, however, seems to be true: the UKR MIL Chief Army Psychiatrist was arrested in a $1mm corruption charge:
bbc.com/news/articles/…
-On another note, Zelensky is demanding 200k “peacekeepers” to enforce any ceasefire agreement with RUS.
--As NATO could only provide around 40k, he’s essentially saying that the US needs to send +150k troops to UKR.
Hard no.
sofx.com/zelensky-calls…
-Taliban POW American Ryan Corbett has now been released after being held in Afghanistan since 2022.
-Multiple hostages held by Hamas have now been released and sent home, some to their homes in the US (they were holding US citizens hostage) and some to their homes in Israel.
-It was largely drowned out with everything going on, but US forces began withdrawing from Conoco Gas Field in Syria on 1/19.
-US PMCs have arrived in Israel and will be managing checkpoints in Gaza in line with the new ceasefire agreement.
--On a personal note, I saw this contract when it was sent out; based on the caliber of people it’s hiring and what they are paying, I would highly suggest that anyone considering f-ery in that specific region consider otherwise.
--It would not go well for you.
sofx.com/us-security-co…
-Over 200 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the Eastern Congo as the M23 rebel group pushes forward and has been clashing with the DRC military.
sofx.com/m23-rebel-adva…
Markets/economics:
-DOGE has apparently identified between $1-2 trillion worth of GOV spending that can be cut, with approximately $420mm of direct DEI contracts that have been canceled and 2 leases that have been canceled.
--I know a lot of very intelligent macro financial people who were worried that DOGE cutting GOV spending would actually be harmful for growth.
--As with most Americans, I’m certain they don’t really understand just how much taxpayer money is spent on $0 value-add vanity projects, especially abroad (how are transgender programs in Pakistan supposed to add to US GDP?).
-Moody’s has upgraded the credit rating of Argentina by one notch to Caa3, citing Milei’s efforts to stabilize the government’s finances as lowering the likelihood it will renege on debt obligations.
-The major US indices ended Friday trading in the red after a pretty good week.
-Gold ended at $2,777.40, in reach of the $2,800 high.
-European markets didn’t have a great trading day, either, with the French CAC 40 being the only major one to stay in the green all day Friday.
-Conversely, Asian markets were largely in the green all day, save for the Nikkei 225 which ended just barely in the red.
-Current bond yields:
--13-week: 4.2050
--5-year: 4.4280
--10-year: 4.6260
--30-year: 4.8480
-Most currency pairs versus the USD are moving in the thousandths, save for the USDJPY.
-BOJ decided to raise their rates from 0.25 to 0.5; the USDJPY is moving away from the “danger zone,” now at 155.92 (still not safe, but moving lower)
-As of this writing, BTC is at $104,839.47
Business:
-Pfizer will pay $59.7mm to resolve charges that a company it acquired paid “kickbacks” to doctors for them to prescribe the migraine drug Nurtec ODT.
finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-pa…
-Blackstone Energy Partners is buying a $1bn Virginia power plant (natural gas) near data centers, as reported by Reuters and shared by @chigrl :
x.com/chigrl/status/…
-Luxury brand Chanel is reportedly laying off 3% of its workforce to better adapt to economic challenges, per @MacroEdgeRes
-Bridgestone Americas will close a plant it has in Tennessee at the end of July, affecting 700 employees, per Macro Edge Research
-Santander (Bank) is considering exiting from Britain.
-Banks in Chicago (Pulaski) and Ohio (Butler Heritage Federal Credit Union) were taken over by regulators last week.
Health:
-I don’t think I mentioned this yesterday, but one of Trump’s Day 1 action items was to withdraw the USA from the WHO.
--Winning!
-Nearly 20 years after a medical study was published in journals (it has been cited 144 times) about phytoestrogens in postmenopausal women, one of the study’s authors has admitted that the study never actually took place:
retractionwatch.com/2025/01/24/pap…
Geopolitics:
-Electricity prices have surged again in Germany, now reaching over €200 per megawatt hour.
-Nigeria - the largest oil producer in Africa - joined BRICs last week.
Societal/legal/culture war
One of the more egregious of the political persecutions that took place under the Biden admin (and that’s a pretty high bar) has been dropped by the Trump admin DOJ.
Dr. Eithan Haim (@EithanHaim ) was a whistleblower at Texas Children’s Hospital, who sounded the alarm that the facility was breaking Texas law by performing gender transition surgeries on minors.
notthebee.com/article/breaki…
x.com/EithanHaim/sta…
Crazy Conspiracy:
People often think that I’m just pulling their leg or being hyperbolic when I tell them that US taxpayers are the ones funding the most radical leftwing groups, both here (domestic) and abroad.
I assure you, this is not the case. If you’ve ever actually looked into where the funding comes from for the many Soros NGOs, you’ll understand why I say this. Things that people claim Soros pays for are largely paid for by the US taxpayer via grants and some pretty complex funding mechanisms.
Don’t take my word for it; here are some examples (but there are many, many more) outlined by @pepesgrandma and @Breeauna9 :
x.com/pepesgrandma/s…
Macro takeaways/lessons from the week:
-Despite everything that we heard out of the media and DC over the past 4 years, it looks like Trump was able to get control over the border extremely quickly. As it turns out, you can just do things when you don’t ask Pat Cippilone for permission.
-Less than a week into the Trump admin and hostages are being returned by the Taliban, Hamas, and the Houthis seem to have dropped off the map. Walk softly and carry a big stick - it’s a thing.
-4 years of unrepentant activism by the Biden DOJ is being unwound across the board. From pro-life protestors to J6ers and whistleblowers, the unjust persecutions are being unwound.
--A reminder from last week’s meditation: “He who spares the wicked injures the good.” Let’s see if those lawfare activists end up facing any legal accountability for what they’ve done.
White pill(s) for the week:
Ladies and gents, the USA has borders again. That’s a pretty good start.
Weekend Meditation:
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
-Miyamoto Musashi
-Current bond yields:
--13-week: 4.2050
--5-year: 4.4280
--10-year: 4.6260
--30-year: 4.8480
-Most currency pairs versus the USD are moving in the thousandths, save for the USDJPY.
-BOJ decided to raise their rates from 0.25 to 0.5; the USDJPY is moving away from the “danger zone,” now at 155.92 (still not safe, but moving lower)
-As of this writing, BTC is at $104,839.47
Business:
-Pfizer will pay $59.7mm to resolve charges that a company it acquired paid “kickbacks” to doctors for them to prescribe the migraine drug Nurtec ODT.
finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-pa…
-Blackstone Energy Partners is buying a $1bn Virginia power plant (natural gas) near data centers, as reported by Reuters and shared by @chigrl :
x.com/chigrl/status/…
-Luxury brand Chanel is reportedly laying off 3% of its workforce to better adapt to economic challenges, per @MacroEdgeRes
-Bridgestone Americas will close a plant it has in Tennessee at the end of July, affecting 700 employees, per Macro Edge Research
-Santander (Bank) is considering exiting from Britain.
-Banks in Chicago (Pulaski) and Ohio (Butler Heritage Federal Credit Union) were taken over by regulators last week.
Health:
-I don’t think I mentioned this yesterday, but one of Trump’s Day 1 action items was to withdraw the USA from the WHO.
--Winning!
-Nearly 20 years after a medical study was published in journals (it has been cited 144 times) about phytoestrogens in postmenopausal women, one of the study’s authors has admitted that the study never actually took place:
retractionwatch.com/2025/01/24/pap…
Geopolitics:
-Electricity prices have surged again in Germany, now reaching over €200 per megawatt hour.
-Nigeria - the largest oil producer in Africa - joined BRICs last week.
Societal/legal/culture war
One of the more egregious of the political persecutions that took place under the Biden admin (and that’s a pretty high bar) has been dropped by the Trump admin DOJ.
Dr. Eithan Haim (@EithanHaim ) was a whistleblower at Texas Children’s Hospital, who sounded the alarm that the facility was breaking Texas law by performing gender transition surgeries on minors.
notthebee.com/article/breaki…
x.com/EithanHaim/sta…
Crazy Conspiracy:
People often think that I’m just pulling their leg or being hyperbolic when I tell them that US taxpayers are the ones funding the most radical leftwing groups, both here (domestic) and abroad.
I assure you, this is not the case. If you’ve ever actually looked into where the funding comes from for the many Soros NGOs, you’ll understand why I say this. Things that people claim Soros pays for are largely paid for by the US taxpayer via grants and some pretty complex funding mechanisms.
Don’t take my word for it; here are some examples (but there are many, many more) outlined by @pepesgrandma and @Breeauna9 :
x.com/pepesgrandma/s…
Macro takeaways/lessons from the week:
-Despite everything that we heard out of the media and DC over the past 4 years, it looks like Trump was able to get control over the border extremely quickly. As it turns out, you can just do things when you don’t ask Pat Cippilone for permission.
-Less than a week into the Trump admin and hostages are being returned by the Taliban, Hamas, and the Houthis seem to have dropped off the map. Walk softly and carry a big stick - it’s a thing.
-4 years of unrepentant activism by the Biden DOJ is being unwound across the board. From pro-life protestors to J6ers and whistleblowers, the unjust persecutions are being unwound.
--A reminder from last week’s meditation: “He who spares the wicked injures the good.” Let’s see if those lawfare activists end up facing any legal accountability for what they’ve done.
White pill(s) for the week:
Ladies and gents, the USA has borders again. That’s a pretty good start.
Weekend Meditation:
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
-Miyamoto Musashi
Links mentioned in the show:
Intro & outro music: Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice “Blind”
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…
Intro & outro music: Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice “Blind”
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…