Wednesday, June 04, 2025

Thursday Watch

Around X:

  • @ElonMusk
  • @ZeroHedge
  • @MarioNawful  
  • ELON: ALL FEDERAL SPENDING IS TAXATION. "A very important point that I think is important for people to understand is that all federal spending is taxation. Because what the federal government doesn't receive in direct revenue, they make up for in inflation. They just print money. So all federal spending is taxation. Very important principle. 
  • COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM GUTTING THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Trump promised to shut it down. His team fired 1,300+ staff. But today, a federal appeals court said: not so fast. Judge’s ruling: You can’t kill a government agency Congress created without Congress. Now, the Education Department has to reinstate everyone Trump tried to axe. Trump’s next stop? The Supreme Court, again. Shutdown dreams… on hold.
  • BREAKING: TRUMP ORDERS INVESTIGATION INTO BIDEN'S MENTAL STATE COVERUP AND AUTOPEN SCANDAL. Trump just directed AG Pam Bondi to investigate whether Biden's aides conspired to deceive Americans about his mental capacity and illegally wielded presidential powers. The investigation will examine:
  • TRUMP: WE HAVE THE HOTTEST, MOST TALKED ABOUT COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. "Six months ago, we had a nation that was as cold as ice. It was cold. The whole world was laughing at us, and they're not laughing anymore. That I can tell you now because of the people here tonight, we have the hottest, most talked about country anywhere in the world." (video)
  • SENATOR THUNE: FAILURE'S NOT AN OPTION ON THE BILL. "We're a long ways down this track. We've had like 18 different meetings now with the Senate Finance Committee, and we're committed to making a law that will make the lives of the American people better. The wheels are in motion. Failure's not an option. We will get this done one way or the other." (video)
  • GOOGLE JUST SIGNED A DEAL TO BUILD A DATA SUPERCABLE ACROSS THE PACIFIC. First cable ever in the South Pacific. 9,200 miles long, from Chile straight to Australia, with Asia in the crosshairs. It's a $550 million project, and ready by 2027. Chile’s pitch? Become the digital hub for Latin America. Boost TikTok speeds, and link mining giants in Chile & Australia with shared command centers. Oh, and it just happens to drop a massive piece of U.S.-China tech rivalry right into Latin America. 
  • CHINESE HACKERS WERE INSIDE A U.S. TELECOM LONGER THAN ANYONE KNEW. New report says Beijing-backed hackers cracked into a major U.S. telecom in summer 2023, and hid there for 7 months. Apparently corporate investigators found malware deep inside the system, meaning the breach happened earlier than previously believed. 7 months. Sitting there. Watching. Listening. Cyberwar’s not coming, it’s already in here.  
  • @LauraLoomer 
  • @TheTranscript 
  • $NVDA CFO: "GAAP gross margins and non-GAAP gross margins were 60.5% and 61%, respectively. Excluding the $4.5 billion charge, Q1 non-GAAP gross margins would have been 71.3%, slightly above our outlook at the beginning of the quarter. " (graph)
  • @GenFlynn
  • @IanJaeger29
  • @VigilantFox
  • DISTURBING: Trump Taps Palantir to Build a Master Surveillance System—And DOGE Helped Open the Door. President Trump has enlisted Palantir Technologies to build a massive, cross-agency database tracking every American citizen. This isn’t just government overreach—it’s the blueprint for a digital dragnet. Trump’s executive order called for unprecedented data sharing between federal agencies. Now, Palantir’s “Foundry” platform is being embedded in DHS, HHS, and the IRS—giving the government access to everything from your bank accounts and medical records to social media activity and more. It gets worse.
Night Trading 
  • Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.75% on average. 
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 77.0 -.5 basis point. 
  • China Sovereign CDS 50.0 -.5 basis point.
  • China Iron Ore Spot 94.8 USD/Metric Tonne -.69%.
  • Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.77 +.06%.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 37.0 -.13%.
  • Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 69.4 +.1%.
  • US 10-Year Yield 4.37% +1.0 basis point.
  • Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.6 +.3%.
  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.02%. 
  • S&P 500 futures -.07%. 
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.13%.
Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by consumer discretionary and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher .  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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