Monday Watch

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:    

• US Attacks on Houthis Will Be ‘Unrelenting,’ Hegseth Says. 
• Iran Foreign Minister Travels to Oman After US Attacks on Yemen.
• Trump May Speak to Putin on Ukraine This Week, US Envoy Says. 
• China Maps Out Plan to Raise Incomes and Boost Consumption. 
• China’s Shenzhen Further Eases Loan Policy to Spur Housing Sales
• Baidu Releases Reasoning AI Model to Take On DeepSeek.
• Market Turmoil Breaks Years of Junk Debt Outperformance in EM.
• Turkey’s Erdogan Calls on Trump to Review Sanctions on Defense. 
• Asia to Extend Stock Rally on New Chinese Measures.
• The Fed Is in Wait-and-See Mode. Investors Want Reassurance It Will Act If Needed.
• Bessent Not Worried About Market, Calls Corrections Healthy.
• Traders Gauging Stock Market’s Next Move Keep Wary Eye on Flows.
• Big Tech Stocks at Cheapest In Months Fail to Entice Wary Buyers. 
• Five Key Charts to Watch in Global Commodity Markets This Week.

Zero Hedge: 

• Judge Blocking Criminal Deportations Faces Impeachment; El Salvador Prez Says "Too Late" On 1st Batch .
• Hartnett: "Is The Market Correction Over? Here Are The Key Levels To Watch".
• Hedge Fund CIO Reveals The "4D Chess" Behind Trump's Shocking Policy Moves. 
• Rahm Emanuel Flirts With 2028 Presidential Bid - Progressives Are Already Howling.
• "Beyond Reasonable Doubt": Former MI6 Head Told Boris Johnson COVID-19 "Was Engineered In The WIV".
• Weekend News Roundup - Newsquawk Asia-Pac Market Open.
• Mike Wilson: The Correction Is Over And A Tradeable Rally Started On Friday, But A Bigger Question Looms.
• US Navy Announces Voluntary Separation For Transgender Sailors.
• Scream And Sugar: Man With 'Disfigured Genitals' Gets $50 Million In Starbucks Spill Suit.
• FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Recommendations After Canceling Routine Meeting With Advisers.
• Voice Of America Journalists Placed On Leave After Trump Dismantles 8 Federal Agencies.
• Stockman: Will Trump Really Make America Free And Prosperous Again? 
• Largest Anti-Government Protest In Serbia's History Takes Over Belgrade.
• Columbia University Expels Some Students Involved In 2024 Hamilton Hall Takeover.
• NAACP Backs High School Runner Who Bashed Competitor In Head With Baton.
• Elon Musk's SpaceX Capsule Docks With ISS To Rescue Stranded Boeing Astronauts.
• Business Leaders Call For 8 Million Migrants To Replace Dead Ukrainians.
• Switzerland Is 2025's Best Country To Live & Work In.
• Brussels Blows €4.4 Billion Taxpayers' Money Supporting Clean Energy Transition In South Africa.
• How Barack Obama Built An Omnipotent Thought-Control Machine... And How It Was Destroyed.
• Trump Orders New Large Scale Strikes On Iran-Backed Houthis In Yemen.
• A New Beltway Intrigue: Follow The Biden EPA Money.
• Communist Cuba Plunges Into Power Blackout Hell.

Wall Street Journal:

• Trump’s New World Order Tests the Dollar.
• Make America Smart Again. 
• Meat Will Make America Healthy Again. Federal guidelines favor inferior plant-based protein.
• Slumping Stocks Threaten a Pillar of the Economy: Spending by the Wealthy.
• How MAHA Moms, RFK Jr. Are Spooking Food Companies.
• In Yemen Strikes, Trump Takes On a Group That Has Outlasted Powerful Foes.
• Stuck NASA Astronauts Plan for Return to Earth This Week.
• Employers Get Big Drug Discounts Through Program for Poor Hospital Patients.
• Nvidia’s Next Act Needs to Be Even Bigger .
• Inside the Chinese Region That Has Become a No-Go for Western Firms.
• Big Retailers’ Hardball Tariff Playbook: Haggle, Diversify, Raise Prices.

CNBC:  

• Scott Bessent says the White House is heading off a financial crisis.
• ‘See you in four years’: Canada flexes economic muscle as tariff negotiations continue.
• China is outspending and outpacing the U.S. in the race to nuclear fusion, as AI power needs surge.
• Top Wall Street analysts favor these 3 stocks for the long term.

MarketWatch.com:  

• Why this Wall Street strategist says investors should stick with U.S. stocks despite recession fear.

NewsMax:

• Trump Puts Iran 'on Notice'.
• Spurred by Trump, Europe Debates Military Draft.
  

Fox News:

• Trump admin begins dismantling government-funded news outlet, calling it 'giant rot' .
• Terrorists post cryptic video of American flag-draped coffins after Trump vows 'hell'.
• Liberal network host declares she's leaving the Democratic Party in revolt, can't be stopped.
• Dem governor grants clemency to man caught with enough drugs to poison 278,000.
• Trump responds after deported 'monsters' receive rough welcome at notorious Central American prison.

TheGatewayPundit.com:

• Rubio Absolutely Destroys Brennan: ‘You Should Watch the News’ — Exposes Leftist Hypocrisy on Free Speech.
• REPORT: Far Left NPR Journalist Danielle Kurtzleben Revealed as the Woman Who Hit President Trump in Face with a Boom Mic — Laura Loomer Breaks the Story.
• Update From Bucharest: After Deep-State Cancelled Romanian Elections and Blocked Favorite Georgescu From Running, Right-Wingers Gather Around Candidacy of George Simion.
• Progress: USC Removes DEI Office.
• “Oopsie, Too Late” El Salvador President Mocks Judge Boasberg After Flights Land With Several Hundred Venezuelan Gang Members Deported by President Trump.
• Pete Hegseth Discusses Air Strikes on Iran-Backed Houthis with Maria Bartiromo — “We are Sitting on Four Years of Deferred Maintenance from Joe Biden” (VIDEO).
• Trump Provides Update on Epstein and Other Classified Files: ‘It’s Moving Along Rapidly’.
• Democrat Party’s Favorability Crashes to Historic Low Since 1992 as Americans Reject Radical Left Agenda, According to Far-Left CNN Poll.
• Rep. Brandon Gill Moves to Impeach Obama Judge James Boasberg for Blocking Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act.
• Dumber Decade: Report Shows Human Reasoning, Attention, Problem-Solving, Declining Substantially Since 2010.
• Judge Merchan and His Daughter: A Multi-Million Dollar Business at Trump’s Expense.
• BOOM! Right Track Polling Number Is Highest in 13 Years! – Since 2012 – And Up 17 Points in 4 Months!
• Sen. John Fetterman Dunks on AOC, Doesn’t Care For Her Views: ‘I’m Going to Sleep Just Fine’.
• MUST READ: The Left’s Judicial Insurrection Against Trump Is a Constitutional Crisis — Here’s Why It Must Be Stopped.
• Van Jones Says Democrats Are Flipping Out Over Chuck Schumer: ‘Never Seen This Level of Volcanic Anger’ (VIDEO).

The Epoch Times:

• The CCP’s Anti-US Agenda: A Longstanding Strategy Now Gaining US Attention.
• Lawmakers Urge Trump to Bolster US Cyber Offense to Face China’s Hacking.

Around X:

• @elonmusk

• NEW - David Sacks Exposes Real Reason Swamp Dems Are Hysterical About Musk’s DOGE Cuts. “Then it hit me, they actually have come to believe that this taxpayer money is theirs and by returning it to the Treasury, Elon is stealing from them.” David Sacks just nailed the swamp’s meltdown over Elon Musk and DOGE, arguing they’re raging because they see taxpayer cash as their personal piggy bank—not the American voter’s. Exactly. (video)
• Interest expense of US Government. Massive problem. Being fixed. (graph)

• @WallStreetApes

• Joe Rogan and Elon Musk point out the INSANE details surrounding the Butler, Pennsylvania Donald Trump assassination attempt shooter. - The assassins house was PROFESSIONALLY scrubbed. - His home was scrubbed so well there wasn’t even silverware left in the home. - No footprint on the internet. - No social media footprint (completely wiped). - He was in a BlackRock commercial. - Joe Rogan says some individuals inside BlackRock may have “recognized that it's beneficial to them if he gets assassinated”. - There was never a formal report. - There was never press conferences where they detailed all the information they know currently and where the investigation stands at the moment... (video)
• EXPOSED! Department of Education is laundering money back to the Democrat Party. “This is why Democrats are losing their minds over Elon Musk. It's all about money”. Rep Harriet Hageman “The Federal Department of Education spends it as a budget of about $280 billion a year. Less than 25% goes to educating our students. So where does the other $220 billion go? It goes to a bureaucracy, it goes to a consultant, and that consultant then donates money BACK TO DEMOCRATS, and then it goes to a different consultant, and then it goes to an NGO. I mean, IT IS MONEY LAUNDERING and money churning at its absolute best.” (video)

• @CollinRugg

• NEW: Americans' favorability of the Democratic Party has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded in CNN's polling history. I couldn't think of a more deserving group of people for this accomplishment. Only 29% of Americans have a favorable view of the Democratic party, the lowest ever recorded in CNN's 30-year polling history. "It is the lowest ever recorded for Democrats in CNN polling going back more than thirty years. As you can see, the party's numbers dropping a staggering 20 points in just four years." (video)

• @Libsoftiktok

• Today, the first 238 Tren de Aragua criminals and 23 dangerous MS-13 members—including top ringleaders—arrived at El Salvador’s CECOT prison from the U.S. This is exactly what I voted for! (video)

• @JeninYounesEsq

• A miracle has happened. The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret. The lab leak theory was censored on social media because of "pressure from the administration ... we shouldn't have done it."

• @amuse

• CLOSED BORDER: Democrats are actively training illegals and their families to avoid arrest and how to resist once in custody. This is not safe for federal agents. Someone is going to get killed. (video)

• @MarioNawfal

• PAID PROTEST? ANTI-TESLA DEMONSTRATOR ADMITS HE’S ON THE PAYROLL. A protester holding a "DEFUND DOGE" sign outside a Tesla store openly admitted: "Yeah, I get paid to be out here. Absolutely; 100% I'm getting paid for this." The question is: Who’s footing the bill? (video)

• @newtgingrich

• Those upset by the emerging dictatorship of district court justices behaving as though they were president should read the Judiciary Act of 1802. Jefferson and his party completely revised the court system and abolished a series of federalist judges they deemed illegitimate. A warning to the current out of control judiciary.

• @CartlandDavid

• Big Pharma is "making $60 billion a year selling us vaccines, but they're making $500 billion a year selling remedies for injuries caused by vaccines". "This is a really great business plan for these companies. You make people sick and then you sell them the lifetime cure." (video)

• @FFT1776

• SHE’s been DOGE’d. DHS is forcing her to sell her 2024 BMW … cut her food stamps from almost $4,000 a mom to $88 a month … removed her cash assistance & will no longer pay 95% of her rent. … Why? SHE’s MAKING money on TikTok and frauding the system. DOGE is working! (video)

• @CartlandDavid

• Thomas Massie comments on the House Passing His Amendment to Prohibit mRNA Vaccine Factories: “Scientists, funded with your tax dollars, are trying to turn edible plants like lettuce and spinach into mRNA vaccine factories. It's dangerous to play God with our food. The House just passed my amendment to prohibit USDA funding of this research.” (video)

• @WarClandestine

• Trump speaks on the Epstein files! He says, “Pam Bondi has done a phenomenal job in every respect”. “The bottom line is, the records are getting out”. Trump just told you with his own mouth that everything is on schedule. Patience. (video)

• @zerohedge

• About those "random" tariffs, the US has lower trade barriers than ANY other G20 nation. (graph)

• @MichelleMaxwell

• She really makes the case for Trump’s Tariffs and bringing manufacturing back to America. (video)

• @BryceMLipscomb

• MAHA WARNING: As some of you know, I am invested in the booming marijuana industry, well no more. On a visit to one of the packing plants in Michigan, I noticed several men in hazmat suits entering the growing room. These people began spraying massive amounts of chemicals, which all read, “DO NOT GET ON SKIN” or “DO NOT ENHALE”. These chemicals are not necessary to the process, what it does is keeps infestation off of the plants. My thought was why would we worry about infestation, when we are growing indoors, in a lab? Something doesn’t smell right to me & I am leaving the marijuana industry & will only use product I grow, if at all. Stay vigilant my fellow tokers. They are poisoning the marijuana you smoke.
  

• @DiedSuddenly

• 20 brands of baby formula tested POSITIVE for toxic metals! Some of the metals found: -Lead -Aluminum -Mercury -Cadmium We're calling on @RobertKennedyJr to please address this pressing matter. (video)

• @Rothmus

• What a hilarious thing for Germans, of all people, to say. Volkswagen was founded under Hitler’s regime in 1937 as part of his “strength through joy” campaign. Porsche’s founder was a member of the SS who designed tanks for the Nazis among other vehicles. BMW used forced labor from the concentration camps to build engines, motorcycles, and military equipment for the Nazis. So did Opel. So did Audi’s predecessor. And so did Mercedes-Benz who even paid reparations for their use of slave labor. German cars account for around half of the German auto market. This obviously isn’t about Naziism or other ridiculous accusations. Germany is on a path to self-destruction. Elon warned them and they hate him for speaking the truth. (video)

• @MilaLovesJoe

• Proof that the Democrat “protests” are anything but organic. Here they are paid. Note that it is a is a CASTING OFFICE. They are looking for ACTORS to be in a filmed “protest”. Wonder what protest will be in the East Village? Pathetic much? (pic)
• STUNNING EXPOSÉ: Governor J.B. Pritzker Implicated in USAID Fraud! Think you’ve seen corruption? Prepare to be shocked! Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is CONNECTED to a colossal USAID scheme! The Pritzker Family oversees 64 NGOs siphoning off MILLIONS of taxpayer funds! (video)

• @WeatherNation

• DRONE DAMAGE: Our field correspondents are on the ground in Tylertown, MS after a large and powerful #tornado tore through the community. #MSwx Take a look at the scenes below. (video)

• @OliLondonTV

• Huge swathes of the Amazon rainforest destroyed to build road for CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT. Thousands of trees are being cut down to build a 4 lane highway for the upcoming COP30 climate change summit in Belem, Brazil. (video)

• @ShadowofEzra

• A private company in California, Make Sunsets, is launching balloons to release sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, aiming to reflect sunlight and combat global warming. Sulfur dioxide is a regulated pollutant under the Clean Air Act, strictly overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. This toxic compound is notorious for triggering severe respiratory problems, causing skin burns, and fueling acid rain. And once it’s released, there’s no escape—it will return, seeping into our air, water, and food. (video)
  

• @DeborahMurtagh4

• URGENT: BREAKING NEWS FROM SLOVAKIA. A government analysis has revealed shocking findings about the vaccine that were given to the Slovak population. The preliminary results are so serious that officials have informed the U.S. Secretary of Health (RFK Jr.), the FBI, and multiple global health ministries. (video)

• @JackUnheard

• Uh…. What? Democrats just booed after it was announced that DOGE has saved American taxpayers $115 billion since January. (video)

• @IanJaeger29
  

• Senator Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican yesterday to vote “YES” on an amendment to defund DOGE. There needs to be a primary challenge for Senator Murkowski.

OpenVAERS: 

• VAERS US COVID Vaccine Adverse Event Reports. 1,024,000 Reports(+751 from prior report) Through February 28th, 2025.
  

SKirsch.com:

• Using the MGH numbers with our own VAERS queries, we have 247 cases per million doses from the MGH study divided by 5.97 cases per million doses from VAERS. 247/5.97 = 41. This suggests that the VAERS under-reporting factor (URF) is 41X.
  

Night Trading

• Asian indices are +.5% to +1.0% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 74.0 -1.0 basis point.
  
• China Sovereign CDS 49.5 -.75 basis point.
• China Iron Ore Spot 102.7 USD/Metric Tonne -1.2%.
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 37.47 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 74.9 +1.0%.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.0 +1.3%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.32%.
• S&P 500 futures -.57%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.69%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by technology and commodity shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.