Posts by Amelia Frost
The Jobs Report Surprised To The Upside. Chances Of a Fed Rate Hike Edged Up.
Chances of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve edged up on Friday after the latest jobs report surprised to the upside. According to the CME Group’s Fed Watch tool, there is now a 52.6% chance of an increase, compared to 49.4% on Thursday. In contrast, chances that the central bank will keep rates unchanged…
Read MoreThe EU Is Joining Washington’s Economic Pressure Campaign Agasint Iran. South Korea Could Play a Military Role.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the European Union for joining the campaign to increase economic pressure on Iran, praising Brussels’ “strong and early stance.” In a social media publication, Bessent claimed that Washington “stands firm with our allies in ensuring the murderous Iranian regime cannot exploit the global financial system to fund its nuclear…
Read MoreGloria Steinem: Lessons on Living
A lesson about getting older: Age however the hell you want to. I was born in 1934. You do the math. I did look up online the oldest woman in the world, and the oldest one I could find was 130. So I have a new goal. I hope we’ll be rid of Donald Trump…
Read MorePrivate Equity Funds Are Losing to the S&P 500. Why Exclusive Investments for the Wealthy Aren’t Always Better
For years, private equity has carried an aura of exclusivity as funds are generally reserved for wealthy investors, charged substantially higher fees than ordinary index funds, and promised access to opportunities unavailable on public markets. But lately, that exclusivity hasn’t translated into better returns. Private equity funds have significantly underperformed the S&P 500 over the…
Read MoreThe World Is Entering a Higher-Rate Era. Governments, Companies and Consumers Could Foot the Bill.
The era of cheap money may be giving way to borrowing costs that could remain elevated for years, forcing governments, businesses and households to rethink how much debt they can actually afford. A global bond sell-off has pushed yields to multiyear highs across major economies,CNBC noted, raising the cost of financing everything from government deficits…
Read MoreStandard Chartered Is Bringing Bitcoin And Ether Spot Trading To UAE Institutions. It’s A First For A Global Banking Giant.
Institutional customers using Standard Chartered’s new service will not be required to keep their assets with the bank. Standard Chartered Company Website Standard Chartered has launched spot trading in Bitcoin and Ether for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first global systemically important bank to offer the service in the country as…
Read MoreTrump Says Oil Is Flowing Through Hormuz. Independent Trackers Show a Different Picture.
A widening dispute over how much oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz is creating a murky picture of one of the world’s most important energy corridors, particularly as the White House and independent shipping trackers offer dramatically different assessments of traffic through the waterway. Ship-tracking service Kpler said traffic through the Strait of…
Read MoreA Fed Governor Said He’s Inclined To Keep Rates Unchanged. Yields Fell And Stocks Had Their Best Day In Weeks.
Stocks jumped on Thursday and bond yields fell after a Federal Reserve member said he’s inclined to keep interest rates unchanged unless there is a big inflationary surprise before the central bank’s next meeting. The S&P 500 climbed 1.06%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average did so 1.18%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite overperformed, gaining 1.40%.…
Read MoreElon Musk Starts Spending Millions on Midterms. Texas and Maine Emerge as Key Senate Targets.
Elon Musk‘s political machine is beginning to deploy money for the 2026 midterm elections, offering the first concrete look at which congressional races the billionaire sees as critical to Republican hopes of maintaining power in Washington. America PAC, the super PAC backed by Musk, spent more than $800,000 across seven U.S. Senate races and several…
Read MoreOpenAI Says Artificial General Intelligence Is Here. Bernie Sanders Is Calling For a Pause of AI Development.
Senator Bernie Sanders called for an immediate pause on AI development, citing the different instances in which models have gone rogue in the past weeks. “If the leaders of the major AI companies acknowledge that they are losing control of their extremely dangerous technology, it is irresponsible for society to allow them to move forward…
Read MoreOpenAI Releases Its Latest Model, Says It Marks The Beginning Of The ‘AGI Era’
OpenAI released its latest model, GPT-6 Astra, on Thursday, with company President Greg Brockman calling it the beginning of the artificial general intelligence (AGI) era. “I think it might be about this model,” Brockman told press when asked if it could in fact herald AGI. The company claimed that Astra is a step closer to…
Read MoreA ‘Supersized’ El Niño Is Getting Stronger. The Economic Pain Could Spread Far Beyond The Countries Hit First.
A rapidly strengthening El Niño is expected to become a very strong event before the end of 2026, increasing the risk of drought, flooding and extreme heat across large parts of the world and putting additional pressure on agriculture, food supplies and energy systems. The World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that forecasts from its global…
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