Despite Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, the U.S. piled up a trade deficit of $901.5 billion in 2025, coming close to the record of $923.7 billion set in 2022.
MARKET OVERVIEW
As we had forecast, one of our Top Trends for 2026 is a Dot-com Bust 2.0, and now that reality is hitting The Street. Yesterday, U.S. equities plunged as the Wall Street gambling gang could no longer ignore the reality of how artificial intelligence will overtake human intelligence in many business sectors.
TRUMP EMPLOYS ‘PLAN B’ AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING ON ‘RECIPROCAL’ IMPORT TARIFFS
The Trump administration responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) in a 6-3 opinion that was seen as a blow to the White House’s economic agenda.
ROBOTS NOT ABLE TO FILL WORKER SHORTAGE, CHINESE EXECUTIVE SAYS
Humanoid robots are only half as efficient as humans in factory work and thus not yet able to fill any worker shortage that factories are experiencing, Michael Tam, chief brand officer for UBTech, a leading Chinese robotics designer, said in a Financial Times interview.
ISRAEL PLANNING PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE TO TAKE IRANIAN ALLIES OUT OF THE FIGHT
The IDF is preparing major strikes to take out Iranian allies in the Middle East to prevent groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis from joining the fight if a large-scale war between the U.S. and Tehran breaks out.
TRUMP PUTS U.S. ON THE PRECIPICE OF WAR WITH IRAN, HARDLY A PEEP OF RESISTANCE IN CONGRESS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA
President Donald Trump has ordered the most airpower into the Middle East since before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as the U.S. prepares for a possible war with Iran that has hardly been explained by the administration and faced essentially no pushback in the news media or by politicians in Washington.
HIGH EXPOSURE TO ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS IN EARLY YEARS CAN MAKE YOUR CHILD DUMB
Newly released research found that the more children ingested ultra-processed food earlier in life, the lower their IQs developed into their childhood, raising new concerns about diets and their impact on the developing brain.
Global Economy
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Dahaner, a U.S.-based, $150-billion life sciences conglomerate, is finalizing its acquisition of Masimo, which makes devices that monitor patients’ vital signs, for about $10 billion in cash.
TOP TREND 2024: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
After years of trying to rehabilitate late-paying commercial real estate loans, lenders are now calling in the loans at an increasing rate.
THE PRICE OF PERFECT NIHILISM
When President Donald Trump first announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to attack fishing boats and speedboats on the high seas which he said carried dangerous drugs destined for willing buyers in the United States, many of us who monitor the government for its indifference to the Constitution perceived it as truly criminal and utterly scandalous.
U.S. Economy
TRUMP ADVISOR BERATES FED BANK FOR “WORST” REPORT “IN HISTORY”
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released an analysis showing that Americans – not foreign companies or governments – are paying 90 percent of the cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
PRIVATE LENDER DUMPS $1.4 BILLION IN ASSETS, RATTLING INVESTORS
The private credit industry, a magnet for wealthy investors not long ago, has been slammed by a loss of confidence after two companies deep in private debt went spectacularly bankrupt last year.
U.S. IMMIGRATION IS DOWN 80 PERCENT, RECONFIGURING LABOR MARKET
The Trump administration’s sweeping deportation of immigrants and draconian shift on U.S. immigration policy has cut net immigration into the U.S. by 80 percent, according to a Goldman Sachs study released this month.
Trends in AI
AI “SWARMS” WILL INVADE AND DISRUPT SOCIAL MEDIA, EXPERTS WARN
AI agents may soon be massed to invade social media, mimicking humans and spreading false stories, bullying and harassing users, and undermining belief in democracy and free society, a 22 January commentary in Science magazine from the BI Norwegian Business School warned.
A LOOMING AI PRICE WAR COULD SINK STOCK VALUATIONS
An AI price war might be in the offing, a war that could shoot holes in major AI companies’ stock valuations.
AI’S PRODUCTIVITY BOON IS NOW MEASURABLE, EXPERT SAYS
Investors have sunk the market values of AI-related companies in recent weeks, worried that the technology isn’t producing bottom-line gains for businesse
Hi-Tech Science
NEWLY DISCOVERED PROTEIN RENEWS OLD BRAIN CELLS
As we age, the neural stem cells in our brains gradually weaken and are no longer able to multiply and create new brain cells. That contributes to the mental decline associated with aging.
MIT COMPUTER ENGINEERS USE HEAT AS COMPUTER DATA
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, computer engineers have found a way to capture and redirect waste heat so chips can use it to process data.
A NEW KIND OF SOLAR ENERGY
At the University of Southern California at Santa Barbara, researchers have created a substance that stores the energy of sunlight for years, then releases it when the material is treated with a catalyst or heated.