<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Divided Nation, Fragile Market
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The most newsworthy thing to emerge from the president&rsquo;s address to Congress last night took place before he ever took the podium.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2SNmY5c4crtSnLMZnePZcD/0c17d616047cda1b1a0e55e760b07150/trump-this-is-not-normal.png" alt="This Is Not Normal Sign" />
Holding up that sign is Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) &mdash; a third-term Congress member from Albuquerque.
The most newsworthy thing is that the Democratic Party is still on its heels after the 2024 elections.
Or to put it more bluntly, they still don&rsquo;t get it.
Really, who other than the most committed Democratic partisan is energized by that hoary old recycled-from-2017 message?
Look, you can oppose many of this president&rsquo;s policies &mdash; goodness knows I do &mdash; and still understand that &ldquo;normal&rdquo; is what a plurality of the electorate soundly rejected four months ago today.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Ahead of the speech last night, Paradigm&rsquo;s own Mason Sexton told his readers that the address &ldquo;will further expose the deep divide and political polarization that exists between the two parties.
&ldquo;&lsquo;A recent survey by Pew Research has shown that ideological thinking &lsquo;is now much more closely aligned with partisanship than in the past.
&ldquo;&lsquo;As a result, ideological overlap between the two parties has diminished: Today, 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican. Partisan animosity has increased substantially over the [past two decades].&rsquo;
&ldquo;Each party's share of a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994. Most of these intense partisans believe the opposing party's policies &lsquo;are so misguided that they threaten the nation&rsquo;s well-being.&rsquo;&rdquo;
[That&rsquo;s literally the language the Pew pollsters use when querying everyday folks.]
Perhaps you got a sense of that divide from the mailbag section in yesterday&rsquo;s edition &mdash; featuring reactions to the Trump-Zelenskyy fracas last Friday. One side labeled Trump &ldquo;a petulant, amoral schoolyard bully&rdquo; while another described Zelenskyy as &ldquo;an entitled dwarf in sweatpants.&rdquo; (More where that came from later in today&rsquo;s edition&hellip;)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Wherever you stand, know this: Partisan divides have consequences in the markets.
Too soon to say what the precise fallout from last night&rsquo;s address will be. But Mr. Sexton says this much is certain: &ldquo;It will be sharp, sudden and disturbing to the natural order of things.&rdquo;
Credit where it&rsquo;s due: Mason called the minor meltdown that hit the market at the start of this week. On Monday he said: &ldquo;We continue to believe that a &lsquo;retest&rsquo; of the 1/13/25 low is likely by late March or early April and that we could see a &lsquo;big down day&rsquo; on or about March 12.&rdquo;
Yesterday&rsquo;s sell-off fulfilled that forecast: While the S&amp;P 500 took a 3% spill in two days, readers of The Map pocketed a 3% gain in the same time frame.
Looking ahead, he says &ldquo;a major correction is unfolding, and this is just the beginning.
&ldquo;We remain concerned about the macro risks, technical signals and cyclical pressures suggesting that this market is far from stable.&rdquo;
For several weeks, we&rsquo;ve told you how March 20 is a date Mason has circled on his calendar. That&rsquo;s only 15 days away now.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Follow the Bouncing Tariff News
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />On the day after Trump&rsquo;s speech, the big market story is another potential pivot on tariffs.
As we mentioned yesterday, 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports are now in effect. But some of them might be lifted as early as the time you open this email.
Reminder: The Canadian and Mexican tariffs aren&rsquo;t about trade as much as they&rsquo;re about drug trafficking, especially fentanyl. It appears they&rsquo;ll be adjusted if the White House thinks there&rsquo;s progress on that front.
Said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Bloomberg TV this morning: "My thinking is it's going to be somewhere in the middle. So not 100% of all products and not none.&rdquo;
But don&rsquo;t expect a similar pivot with the new 10% tariff on Chinese goods &mdash; which definitely got Beijing&rsquo;s back up.
&ldquo;The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports,&rdquo; says a brusque statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. &ldquo;Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating.&rdquo; (<a href="https://x.com/MFA_China/status/1896904623589621816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The whole thing</a> is worth a read.)
During his speech last night, the president confirmed he will impose &ldquo;reciprocal&rdquo; tariffs on all nations effective April 2. "Whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That's reciprocal - back and forth. Whatever they tax us, we will tax them.&rdquo;
Trump&rsquo;s warm relationship with India&rsquo;s Prime Minister Modi notwithstanding, he called out India by name: "India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%."
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />While traders await the latest word on the Canadian and Mexican tariffs, the major U.S. indexes are slipping a bit.
At last check, the S&amp;P 500 is down 0.4% to 5,755. The Dow&rsquo;s losses are more modest, the Nasdaq&rsquo;s steeper.
Gold is holding its own at $2,921 while silver has rallied big &mdash; up 55 cents as we write to $32.47. And the HUI index of mining stocks is up 2.8% to 322.
Traders in the oil market seem to be betting that tariffs will put a hurt on global trade and thus on global demand for crude: At last check a barrel of West Texas Intermediate is down over 4% to $65.45. At that price, crude is testing a low that held consistently last fall. If it cracks, our Jim Rickards&rsquo; forecast of sub-$60 oil could come about even sooner than he expects.
No joy in crypto-land with Bitcoin a hair below $88,000.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />You Can Profit From Mr. Market&rsquo;s Overreaction
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;I love buying high-quality companies that get dragged down by news that has nothing to do with their business,&rdquo; writes Davis Wilson at our sister e-letter The Million Mission.
Companies that are largely immune to tariffs sold off yesterday and the day before, along with everything else.
&ldquo;Tariffs hurt companies with heavy international supply chains,&rdquo; Davis reminds us &mdash; &ldquo;industrials, automakers and retailers with global sourcing will feel the squeeze.
&ldquo;But some companies are almost completely insulated from these policies, yet their stocks are falling anyway.&rdquo;
Among the companies Davis has in mind are Facebook parent Meta Platforms. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t manufacture goods, and its revenue comes from businesses buying ads. Tariffs don&rsquo;t change its business model. With unmatched scale, AI-driven ad targeting and record earnings growth, Meta is an unstoppable force in digital advertising, driving higher engagement and monetization.&rdquo;
Other names in this bucket are Uber Technologies (UBER) and Fannie Mae (FNMA) &mdash; which Davis <a href="https://million-mission.com/posts/buy-alert-extremely-rare-5x-return-opportunity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> last month as a rare opportunity to make five times your money without buying options.
&ldquo;If you already own these stocks, sit tight,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And if you don&rsquo;t own them yet, consider this your buy alert.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Follow-up: Reprieve for Small Business
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Small-business owners now have an indefinite reprieve from onerous new regulations.
&ldquo;The U.S. Treasury Department said it won&rsquo;t take enforcement action against American companies for not divulging ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act,&rdquo; per The Wall Street Journal.
Passed in 2021, this law requires up to 32 million small businesses to file a new form about their &ldquo;beneficial ownership&rdquo; with FinCEN, the Treasury&rsquo;s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It was yet another attempt by the feds to stop &ldquo;money laundering&rdquo; via anonymous shell companies.
As we mentioned here in January, the deadline to comply was New Year&rsquo;s Day. But as of Dec. 2 last year, fewer than a third of businesses affected by the law had gotten around to submitting the paperwork.
The National Federation of Independent Business tried to challenge the law in court with no success. Technically the law remains in effect. But in a statement on Sunday, the Treasury said it won&rsquo;t enforce any penalties against U.S. citizens or companies that run afoul of the law.
That&rsquo;s not as good as outright repeal &mdash; which would take an act of Congress &mdash; but it&rsquo;s not a first for a Trump presidency. Enforcement of the &ldquo;individual mandate&rdquo; to buy health insurance under Obamacare was suspended during the Trump 45 years. (And it&rsquo;s being dialed back again now.)
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: Ukraine, Income Taxes
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />About that polarized response I mentioned earlier to <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/zelenskyy-just-rescued-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting&hellip;</a>
&ldquo;Unsubscribe me. I feel dirty just reading your bull****,&rdquo; says one reader. &ldquo;Trump is Putin's bitch and are you such a fool you can't see it?
&ldquo;It was disgusting and immoral what happened. And you give investment a bad name. What is your Russian name? Trump acted like the thugs from the KGB. Please stop the bull**** just &lsquo;cause you wanna get rich and you don't give a **** about anybody else but yourselves.&rdquo;
On the flipside, &ldquo;Trump should end the war by making new alliances with Russia,&rdquo; counters another.
&ldquo;Russia has more minerals than Ukraine anyway! Zelenskyy and his Ukraine government are extremely corrupt. We should not be supporting them in any way. We should also get out of NATO and bring our troops home from Europe.&rdquo;
Dave responds: To the first reader, I realize you&rsquo;re gone now &mdash; but if Ukraine&rsquo;s cause is that important to you, there&rsquo;s nothing stopping you from kitting up and hopping the next plane to Kyiv. Sounds like they could use the help about now.
To the second reader, why on earth should Washington pursue an alliance with Moscow? I realize many conservatives look kindly upon Putin as some sort of anti-woke icon or protector of Christendom or whatever&hellip; but come on.
George Washington&rsquo;s warning in his farewell address about &ldquo;sympathy for a favored nation&rdquo; really applies to both sides here&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;I agree with James Altucher that a consumption tax should replace the federal income tax altogether,&rdquo; a reader writes after <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/nix-the-income-tax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">yesterday&rsquo;s Bullet No. 1</a>.
&ldquo;Before 1913 (when the 16th Amendment was ratified, authorizing federal income tax, the federal government got its income from revenue tariffs and use/excise taxes.
&ldquo;But if the 16th Amendment is not repealed, we would end up with both federal VAT and income taxes, like in Europe.&rdquo;
Dave: You are absolutely right and I&rsquo;ve said as much now and then for several years.
Ditto for Trump&rsquo;s occasional musings about replacing the income tax with tariffs, harking back to those pre-1913 days. It would have to come with repeal of the 16th Amendment.
Of course, there&rsquo;s a related issue which my old colleague Jeffrey Tucker pointed out a few weeks ago. He gets the last word today&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/fbYWAWQy8zaYL0PpidjRw/6147fbd6a1ced5cc0c57d28f22b1ba94/tucker_tweet.png" alt="tucker tweet" />

shutterstock 1841229298 (1)

Paradigm Pressroom’s 5 Bullets is a daily e-letter covering the economy and the markets, reaching 120,000 paying subscribers of the renowned financial publishing firm Paradigm Press.

Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

Mason Sexton says the market fallout from Trump’s address "will be sharp, sudden and disturbing to the natural order of things.”

Divided Nation, Fragile Market

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Nix the Income Tax
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Even if the Trump administration is cutting personnel at the IRS, it&rsquo;s probably not a good idea to blow off filing your 1040 this spring.
About 6,700 positions are being eliminated, mostly new hires who hadn&rsquo;t made it through their probationary period yet &mdash; roughly 7% of the total workforce.
Nearly half of those positions belong to the Small Business/Self-Employed Division. That&rsquo;s excellent news, seeing as over the years the agency has aggressively shaken down small-business owners and the self-employed for inflating deductions and (especially) underreporting income.
But if the thought of simply not filing has crossed your mind&hellip; well, as Inspector Harry Callahan put it in a different context, &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to ask yourself one question: &lsquo;Do I feel lucky?&rsquo;&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;America ran just fine without an income tax for most of its history,&rdquo; says Paradigm&lsquo;s James Altucher. &ldquo;Actually, not just fine &mdash; the economy BOOMED.
&ldquo;The country grew from a scrappy collection of states to a global powerhouse, all without taking a cut of your paycheck.&rdquo;
Chances are you know James as our resident AI and crypto authority. But for over a decade now he&rsquo;s also presided over a wide-ranging podcast with the refreshingly simple title The James Altucher Show.
And in a recent edition, he laid out a comprehensive plan to do away with the IRS: &ldquo;No more IRS audits, tax filings or loopholes,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;You keep 100% of what you earn. No payroll deductions. No filing in April. No audits. Nothing.&rdquo;
What&rsquo;s more, James says under his scheme Uncle Sam wouldn&rsquo;t lose a dime of revenue. And yet the U.S. economy would grow by an additional $3.75 trillion a year.
How can it be done?
<a href="https://lnk.to/USEIRS?vid2=f7584bb8d0f8b4ef03ea4a2a79cb9ffebd5601637dfb4b221b21055bfe10aa56fb9565c7166c12ea93687031263ed97489aead8f437e4ddd1cfcbcd5e6a6bb06&amp;utm_campaign=ALC_Issue_02.27.25_&amp;utm_source=Iterable&amp;itbl_templateId=16704608&amp;itbl_campaignId=12752343&amp;utm_medium=Email">Hear him out at this link</a>. It&rsquo;ll take only 29 minutes of your time. And it&rsquo;s a great opportunity to listen to James opine about something outside his wheelhouse. Enjoy.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Meanwhile, James is gearing up for the event of the year that&rsquo;s inside his wheelhouse.
One week from today, James and his team of analysts will host a livestream from the annual SXSW confab in Austin, Texas. The theme couldn&rsquo;t be more timely: Tech Turning Point 2025.
Hoo boy, is there ever a turning point. Those &ldquo;Magnificent 7&rdquo; stocks don&rsquo;t look so magnificent these days, do they?
And yet&hellip; big money is making big moves in the tech space. James says when it comes to AI, the top is not in &mdash; but the most lucrative opportunities aren&rsquo;t where you probably think.
Everything that&rsquo;s Altucher-adjacent will be on the table next Tuesday &mdash; AI, crypto, quantum computing, biotech and of course the impact Elon Musk and Donald Trump are having on all of them.
This is a free event strictly for your enlightenment and enjoyment. We won&rsquo;t try to sell you anything.
It gets underway next Tuesday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. We&rsquo;ll send you more information and a link to the event as we get closer to the day &mdash; watch this space.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Tariff Tension
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Whether it&rsquo;s tariffs (the mainstream explanation) or simply a market that got out too far out over its skis (more likely)... the S&amp;P 500 has given up all its gains since Election Day.
After we went to virtual press yesterday, President Trump announced that 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico were definitely happening. (Indeed, they&rsquo;re in effect this morning.) Ditto for a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, on top of the 10% tariff imposed last month. (All three nations have announced tit-for-tat tariffs themselves.)
The market&rsquo;s gains up to that moment yesterday instantly went poof. The S&amp;P ended the day with a 1.8% loss. Checking our screens this morning, we&rsquo;re looking at another 1.8% drop. The Dow is taking the blow slightly better, the Nasdaq slightly worse.
At 5,742 the S&amp;P is indeed back to Election Day levels. If it makes you feel any better, this number was a record high in early October.
Yes, the market fell out of bed as soon as Trump made the announcement yesterday. But as we often point out on occasions like this&hellip; whenever the market goes up too far too fast, there will always be an excuse to sell.
If it weren&rsquo;t tariffs this time around, it would be something else.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> That&rsquo;s not to say tariffs won&rsquo;t have an impact. They will.
Folks in the know say we&rsquo;re looking at potential supply-chain disruptions for steel and other metals, fertilizer and auto parts.
And we&rsquo;re looking at higher prices for a vast array of consumer goods from cars to mobile phones to beef to avocados to lumber. &ldquo;The easier thing to do might be to list the products that won't be affected,&rdquo; quips Reason writer Liz Wolfe.
And more is coming, the president promises&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/rTpau3QiKKp4JfHiY3StO/c914af9a3c896ba1160715df6b318928/TrumpTweet-3-4.png" alt="trump tweet" width="540px" />
That could be interesting. As one commenter on X says, &ldquo;I hope the ppl of America develop a taste for soybeans.&rdquo; (No, thanks.)
To date, Trump has made little effort to sell the American people on the necessity of the sacrifice they&rsquo;ll inevitably make. He&rsquo;ll have a chance to remedy that tonight in an address to a joint session of Congress.
[Editor&rsquo;s note: We&rsquo;re told the theme of the address is &ldquo;The Renewal of the American Dream.&rdquo; And our Jim Rickards believes during the speech Trump will drop &ldquo;a bombshell surprise no one sees coming&rdquo; &mdash; benefiting one company in particular.
That&rsquo;s based on a signal from Jim&rsquo;s patented AI stock software, Project Prophecy 2.0. A very similar signal occurred just before Election Day &mdash; which Jim used to help readers make 102% gains in less than two weeks.
For obvious reasons, you&rsquo;ll want to act before the speech tonight &mdash; which as a practical matter means you&rsquo;ll want to act before the market closes today at 4:00 p.m. EST. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2417760">Click here and Jim will lay out the stakes</a>.]
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Crypto: Do-or-Die Time
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Whatever happens next in the crypto space might hinge on Trump&rsquo;s address tonight.
As we mentioned in yesterday&rsquo;s edition, the president gave a momentary lift to Bitcoin, Ethereum and three other coins with the announcement of plans for a &ldquo;U.S. Crypto Reserve.&rdquo;
And we do mean momentary. Bitcoin instantly shot up $9,000 to about $94,100, only for the entirety of the rally to fade within 24 hours. This morning we&rsquo;re looking at a number under $83,000. The other coins Trump mentioned have made similar moves.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;BTC is living on prayer every day it trades below $90K,&rdquo; says Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner.
&ldquo;To be clear, I believe Bitcoin has a long road ahead. That road merely leads to the downside if it&rsquo;s trading below its December low. The late-2024 low marks a psychological level that put a floor in Bitcoin until last week.&rdquo;
Barring a quick recovery to $90K, &ldquo;We will likely see lower prices in the weeks ahead,&rdquo; says Greg. &ldquo;In fact, I bet Bitcoin makes a beeline for $73,000, a likely landing spot marking the top of 2024&rsquo;s sideways range.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5jIlzvlfTjI1JRzie8hvvZ/c2716e9768f0c86877321685e6c609a1/3.4_5_Bullets_Chart.png" alt="do or dir for the crypto king" width="540px" />
&ldquo;No, that&rsquo;s probably not the end of the world for Bitcoin,&rdquo; Greg allows. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll turn out just fine after a longer drawdown and consolidation.
&ldquo;Or perhaps Trump will make claims during tonight&rsquo;s address that steer buyers toward BTC and the entire crypto space.
&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t hold my breath. Instead, I&rsquo;ll focus on the levels.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> As for hard assets, gold has reclaimed the $2,900 level for the first time since Thursday &mdash; the bid back to $2,907 at last check.
But the move lacks conviction. Silver and the miners aren&rsquo;t confirming. Indeed, silver is losing ground at $31.55. And the HUI index of mining stocks is down over three-quarters of a percent to 309.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Oil Low and Going Lower
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> With OPEC planning to open the spigots, the price of crude sits near a three-month low at $67.48.
OPEC oil ministers have confirmed they&rsquo;re going ahead with plans to step up production starting next month &mdash; a move the Financial Times calls &ldquo;unexpected.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Saudi Arabia and seven other members of the OPEC+ group had previously delayed a plan to unwind long-standing output cuts several times and traders had widely expected it to be postponed again.&rdquo;
Instead, production will be gradually bumped up by 2.2 million barrels a day over the next 18 months. (Total global production in 2023 was 96.4 million barrels a day.)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> A drop in oil prices comes as no surprise to readers of Rickards&rsquo; Strategic Intelligence. And it&rsquo;s likely not over.
Looking back over the last two years, &ldquo;Oil prices have been stubbornly high,&rdquo; Jim observed only yesterday. &ldquo;This persistence is somewhat surprising.
&ldquo;Over the same period, headline inflation has dropped from 5.0% to 3.0%, global growth has slowed, growth in Germany, Japan and the U.K. are at or near recession levels and there has been a glut in oil supply notwithstanding sanctions on exports of Russian oil (which have failed badly).
&ldquo;This strength in oil prices is about to end. The supply glut continues. With an end to the Ukraine war in sight, Russian oil will once again flow freely. Trump&rsquo;s &lsquo;drill, baby, drill&rsquo; policies will increase U.S. supply from offshore sources and new drilling on federal lands. Even the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline may bring more Canadian oil to U.S. users.
&ldquo;Meanwhile, growth continues to slow in developed economies and Chinese growth is slowing rapidly due to high debts, declining demographics and global trade wars.&rdquo;
Jim&rsquo;s bottom line: Don&rsquo;t be surprised if crude plunges to $60 or even lower in the coming year.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: The Oval Office Showdown
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> An offhand request for reader input on the Trump-Zelenskyy confrontation at the White House netted a prolific response we didn&rsquo;t expect.
Pasted into a Word document it comes out to 27 pages. Not as many as our broad inquiry &ldquo;What happened to America?&rdquo; in 2023 (33 pages)... or our 2020 inquiry about what a &ldquo;socialist takeover&rdquo; would mean to you (43 pages!)... but still substantial.
In the interest of brevity we&rsquo;re truncating many of the responses&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;How anyone can watch that Trump/Zelenskyy press conference and not see Trump as a petulant, amoral schoolyard bully is absolutely beyond me,&rdquo; says a not-atypical response.
&ldquo;Zelenskyy behaved admirably and with incredible restraint right up to the point where Trump made it clear he sees moral equivalency between Putin, a brutal authoritarian dictator, and Zelenskyy, a man who&rsquo;s spent the last three years trying to defend his country against invasion from said brutal authoritarian dictator.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I have never been so embarrassed for my country as I was last Friday!&rdquo; says another. &ldquo;Trump and Vance were wrong as two left shoes! And Yes Zelenskyy Was Set Up!&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;I laughed out loud watching what seemed like a comedy show in the Oval Office,&rdquo; a reader writes.
&ldquo;I watched an entitled dwarf in sweatpants poke the bear and then sit back with arms crossed arrogantly as though he won.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I believe Zelenskyy's meltdown handed Trump a huge opportunity to get the hell out of there,&rdquo; says another. &ldquo;We've spent billions and have nothing to show for it, other than a heightened prospect of World War III. Run, Donald, RUN!!!! The Europeans are scrambling in the face of actually fighting the war on their own and paying for it for once.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;I thought you guys had it all wrong about this not being a trap,&rdquo; reads one observation.
&ldquo;My rationale was that Trump knew the deal was not the deal he wanted, so he and his bro (Vance) decided to blow it up. Yes, I did watch the entire debacle and, yes, I am a rational person.
&ldquo;However, after seeing how the market reacted to this tiff and how European leaders reacted I believe you are correct. The economic and political indicators point to a spontaneous situation.
&ldquo;Also, I think Trump screwed up by revealing information he was not supposed to. I am referring to his telling Zelenskyy he is running out of soldiers. Russia heard it and that is why they started hitting Ukrainian training bases and stopped bombing hospitals. I don't think Trump did this on purpose, at least I hope not.
&ldquo;I do think this was a mistake, hence another indication of a spontaneous situation, not a contrived one.&rdquo;
Dave responds: It&rsquo;s not exactly a state secret that Ukraine is &ldquo;running out of soldiers.&rdquo; The historian Michael Vlahos compares Ukraine&rsquo;s losses to those of France in World War I.
As we write, Zelenskyy seems to be backtracking &mdash; calling Friday&rsquo;s events &ldquo;regrettable&rdquo; and saying he&rsquo;s ready to sign a minerals deal with Washington &ldquo;at any time.&rdquo;
That comes roughly 12 hours after Trump cut off all U.S. military aid to Ukraine &mdash; even materiel that was already being unloaded off ships in Poland.
All that said, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine how Trump could return to negotiations now without seriously losing face&hellip;
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 1693649134

“America ran just fine without an income tax for most of its history,” says Paradigm‘s James Altucher. “Actually, not just fine — the economy BOOMED.

Nix the Income Tax

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Zelenskyy Just Rescued Trump
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Yes, you read the subject line of today&rsquo;s edition right: Ukraine&rsquo;s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just pulled Donald Trump&rsquo;s chestnuts out of the fire.
We won&rsquo;t dwell on the who, what, when and where of the spectacle at the White House on Friday. You&rsquo;re familiar with it by now.
Although, as Matt Taibbi writes at his Racket News page on Substack, &ldquo;It takes a special type of person to show up uninvited to the White House and accuse the president of being Putin&rsquo;s bitch in the middle of demanding continued billions from him in military support.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> We&rsquo;re seeing much online chatter suggesting that Trump and Vice President Vance somehow &ldquo;ambushed&rdquo; Zelenskyy &mdash; and maneuvered him into making a fool of himself. 
But the evidence is unpersuasive.
&ldquo;Anyone who rationally watches the full 50 minutes will see it was not an &lsquo;ambush,&rsquo;&rdquo; tweets independent journalist Michael Tracey.
&ldquo;The first 40 minutes were normal and cordial. Then came the self-inflicted meltdown by Zelenskyy.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> But don&rsquo;t take it from us. Take it from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
On the Sunday talk show circuit Bessent made it clear that Trump was ready to sign a deal on Friday &mdash; in which the U.S. government would gain access to the proceeds from an &ldquo;investment fund&rdquo; that would develop Ukraine&rsquo;s mineral resources.
&ldquo;All President Zelenskyy had to do was come in and sign this economic agreement, and again show no daylight &mdash; no daylight &mdash; between Ukrainian people and the American people, and he chose to blow that up,&rdquo; he told CBS.
Bessent went on to say the deal aimed &ldquo;to further intertwine the American people and Ukrainian people and show no daylight. To show the Russian leadership that there was no daylight. And President Zelenskyy came into the Oval Office and tried to relitigate in front of the world the deal.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Just two days before the meltdown in the Oval Office, we observed that the minerals deal was a sign Trump was failing his <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/nvidias-buyout-bait#3">&ldquo;Vietnam moment.&rdquo;</a> But Zelenskyy came to Trump&rsquo;s rescue &mdash; even if he didn&rsquo;t intend to.
Daniel McAdams, director of the Ron Paul Institute, addressed Trump on X: &ldquo;You have escaped a potentially disastrous entangling alliance - this time with a guy who craps in your office and insults you to your face.
&ldquo;You have now an INCREDIBLE opportunity to WALK AWAY from Joe Biden's IDIOTIC proxy war with Russia through Ukraine. You will come out smelling like a rose - if you just walk away!&rdquo;
At the moment, that seems to be how events are shaping up: Treasury Secretary Bessent said yesterday the minerals deal is no longer on the table.
In addition, The Washington Post reports that Trump is now thinking about cutting off all U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again,&rdquo; says Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) &mdash; who&rsquo;s visited Ukraine nine times since the war began three years ago.
Matt Taibbi: &ldquo;Trump now can&rsquo;t remain committed to Ukraine even as a threatened option in negotiations, since Zelenskyy just arranged it so that Trump will look like he surrendered to his suitless &lsquo;ally&rsquo; if he does.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Still, the present moment is fraught with danger.
European leaders met over the weekend with Zelenskyy &ldquo;to forge a Ukraine peace plan to present to President Trump,&rdquo; as this morning&rsquo;s Wall Street Journal puts it.
At this stage it seems unlikely Trump would bite on anything they come up with. (Which is one reason why shares of European defense stocks like Germany&rsquo;s Rheinmetall and Italy&rsquo;s Leonardo leaped as much as 15% today.)
But there&rsquo;s always the risk of a provocation &mdash; some sort of &ldquo;incident&rdquo; that would trap Trump and pull him back into the morass.
Even if Zelenskyy is finished, &ldquo;I doubt those who have long lusted for Russian blood are quite ready to concede defeat,&rdquo; tweets the military analyst William Schryver. &ldquo;So we are now at a dangerous crossroads. If there is a last desperate play left to make, it will come soon.&rdquo;
&ldquo;This is a five-alarm fire,&rdquo; adds the military affairs podcaster Bill Buppert. &ldquo;NATO is trying to go kinetic against an armed nuclear power for no satisfactory reason that improves the national security posture of America.&rdquo;
Addressing Trump, Buppert writes, &ldquo;It is time to start the emergency Time Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD) process to return all American troops and their dependents home from Europe starting with the U.K.&hellip; Whatever equipment that can&rsquo;t be returned, destroy it in place.&rdquo;
As we did last week, we give the last word to Paradigm&rsquo;s macroeconomics maven Jim Rickards. As he put it earlier in February, &ldquo;Trump can&rsquo;t afford to become consumed by Ukraine if he wants to achieve the rest of his agenda on trade, immigration and real growth.&rdquo;
[Editor&rsquo;s note: What do you think? Do you think Trump and Vance laid a trap? Or did Zelenskyy sabotage himself? And do you worry about the near future? Write here: <a href="mailto:feedback@paradigmpressroom.com">feedback@paradigmpressroom.com</a>]
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />The Crypto Pop-and-Drop
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The big market story today is crypto &mdash; which shot higher yesterday on the heels of a Trump announcement&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1vPof51f3FSnaT9LVmF4dB/241e9e1412ead0e33df149fb96bacb60/trump-tweet.png" alt="trumpt tweet" width="540px" />
Someone must have reminded him he overlooked something important and so he then added: &ldquo;And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the Reserve. I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!&rdquo;
Bitcoin leaped from about $85,000 to over $92,000 almost instantly. Many other cryptos followed suit.
Now the buzz is wearing off, Bitcoin at $90,465 &mdash; basically back to last Tuesday&rsquo;s levels.
Bloomberg ventures the reserve concept &ldquo;was greeted with skepticism in the industry, with investors questioning the project&rsquo;s merits.&rdquo;
Well, yes. We said as much in the form of a meme last summer after Trump talked up the reserve idea at the big Bitcoin conference in Nashville&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/HPinokeqRaIT63lBK69eH/7bdd07734bd0436258ed6c1045aa7383/GlockeTweet.png" alt="Glocke Tweet" width="540px" />
Perhaps we&rsquo;ll get some more detail, real meat on the bones, when White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks convenes an industry summit on Friday.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> As for more traditional asset classes, stocks are a mixed bag to open the new week after getting roughed up last week.
At last check the Dow is slightly in the green and the Nasdaq is slightly in the red. The S&amp;P 500 is almost pancake-flat at 5,955 and down about 3% from its record close on Feb. 19.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a new price target of 5,535. That&rsquo;s only a 7% drop,&rdquo; writes Rude Awakening editor Sean Ring <a href="https://rudeawakening.info/posts/macr-gentlemen-preferred-bonds">in his chart-a-palooza</a> that he publishes on the first business day of each month.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re an optimist, it&rsquo;s a nice breather. If not, it&rsquo;s the beginning of something more sinister.&rdquo;
Gold is trying to pick itself up off the floor after last week&rsquo;s pummeling &mdash; up $27 as we write to $2,884. Silver&rsquo;s up 61 cents to $31.72.
Crude, which ended last week below $70, has shed another 50 cents to $69.26.
The lone economic number of the day is the February ISM manufacturing index &mdash; in positive territory for a second-straight month, after 26 straight months of readings suggesting the U.S. factory sector was shrinking.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Bad Look
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Coincidentally or not, Trump&rsquo;s crypto reserve announcement gets a rather different Trump-crypto story out of the news cycle.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping market-manipulation charges against Justin Sun, the man behind the Tron cryptocurrency among other crypto ventures.
To be precise, SEC lawyers asked a federal judge to put the case on hold: &ldquo;In this case,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay.&rdquo;
Sun happens to be a leading investor in World Liberty Financial &mdash; the crypto project backed by the Trump family. He&rsquo;s bought $75 million of World Liberty tokens.
Maybe there&rsquo;s nothing untoward about any of this. But it&rsquo;s an awful look only a few weeks on the heels of <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/two-executive-orders-trump-must-sign-now?vid2=f7584bb8d0f8b4ef03ea4a2a79cb9ffebd5601637dfb4b221b21055bfe10aa56fb9565c7166c12ea93687031263ed97489aead8f437e4ddd1cfcbcd5e6a6bb06&amp;utm_campaign=FMF_Issue_01.22.25&amp;utm_source=Iterable&amp;itbl_templateId=16237808&amp;itbl_campaignId=12383495&amp;utm_medium=Email#4">the TRUMP and MELANIA </a><a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/two-executive-orders-trump-must-sign-now?vid2=f7584bb8d0f8b4ef03ea4a2a79cb9ffebd5601637dfb4b221b21055bfe10aa56fb9565c7166c12ea93687031263ed97489aead8f437e4ddd1cfcbcd5e6a6bb06&amp;utm_campaign=FMF_Issue_01.22.25&amp;utm_source=Iterable&amp;itbl_templateId=16237808&amp;itbl_campaignId=12383495&amp;utm_medium=Email#4">memecoins</a>.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3A10OLhvGzQYpgHN1cTMZI/ddb4d58636ab152c5fb5cf13f080c320/H.E.Tweet.png" alt="H.E Tweet" width="540px" />
We already called Sun&rsquo;s ethics into question last year &mdash; when he complained about the tone of a CoinDesk article discussing his $6.2 million purchase of an &ldquo;artwork&rdquo; featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall.
Because Tron is a major sponsor of CoinDesk&rsquo;s annual Consensus conference, it seems Sun leaned on management hard enough that CoinDesk nuked the article from its website and let go three top editors.
Anyway, the judge in the market-manipulation case agreed to put the case on pause. As the Gizmodo site sums up, &ldquo;Sun&rsquo;s legal troubles seem to be fading away.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />You Can&rsquo;t Ignore India
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;You can love India, or you can hate India. But you cannot ignore India.&rdquo;
Our own Jim Rickards heard that saying, or a variation on it, frequently during a two-week visit recently.
He marvels at India&rsquo;s growth since his first visit over 40 years ago. &ldquo;You cannot ignore India in any geopolitical analysis or portfolio allocation,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;I spent time with locals in Dharavi, sometimes called the world&rsquo;s largest slum although Indians take offense at the word slum,&rdquo; says Jim. Dharavi packs 1 million people into about one square mile of Mumbai.
&ldquo;The dirt, lack of sanitation and unsafe working conditions in Dharavi were undeniable,&rdquo; he allows. &ldquo;Still, what impressed me most was the sheer energy of the place. Thousands of small businesses, including many manufacturing operations, were thriving. They were all hole-in-the-wall arrangements. Labor costs were minimal, regulation almost nonexistent and many appeared unsafe with open fires, exposed machinery and dark working conditions.
&ldquo;Remarkably, it is estimated that annual revenues from the businesses in Dharavi exceed $1 billion.&rdquo;

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3SvPxYJUmBbFGLJ5J0WWYn/299ce1d40df98dc263af2aded95dc328/cardboard.png" alt="cardboard" width="350px" />

A cardboard recycling business in the heart of Dharavi [Jim Rickards photo]
Jim says India is best thought of as a country with 1.1 billion impoverished people and 300 million more leading a comfortable life.
Note that 300 million number. &ldquo;A U.S.-sized middle-class population already exists in India,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;with 1.1 billion more people waiting to join the ranks. The growth potential is almost beyond comprehension.
&ldquo;The key to unlocking that growth potential rests with public policy,&rdquo; Jim adds. Clearing up land titles for the poorest residents will help. &ldquo;Beyond that, India needs to keep its big-brain technical workers at home instead of watching them head off to the U.S., Australia and Canada.&rdquo;
Jim believes Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made strides in those areas over the last decade &mdash; and he says it&rsquo;s no accident that Modi was among the first foreign leaders to visit Donald Trump at the White House.
&ldquo;Modi&rsquo;s pragmatic relationship with Trump and India&rsquo;s enormous growth potential now being unlocked make India the go-to destination for foreign direct investment for the foreseeable future.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Comic Relief
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> We wrap up today with an entry from the meme-o-sphere that neatly joins the end of <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/sunspots-and-markets">Friday&rsquo;s edition</a> with the start of today&rsquo;s&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/m5SbiGoRKMiDk0jjt3lzT/e465dc3f8966afe92de6f5be7cb92d01/trump-meme.png" alt="trump meme" width="540px" />
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

dap-ukraine-president-zelenskyy-540

Yes, you read the subject line of today’s edition right: Ukraine’s Pfresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy just pulled Donald Trump’s chestnuts out of the fire.

Zelenskyy Just Rescued Trump

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Follow-up: China&rsquo;s Tariff WMD 
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we&rsquo;re ready to fight till the end."
Yesterday we briefly touched on a brusque statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry in response to the latest Trump tariffs. It deserves more attention today &mdash; not least because it&rsquo;s getting overlooked by liberal legacy media and conservative &ldquo;new media&rdquo; alike.
In fact, the whole thing is worth a block quote, something we rarely do&hellip;
<blockquote>The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. Our countermeasures to defend our rights and interests are fully legitimate and necessary.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The U.S., not anyone else, is responsible for the #FentanylCrisis inside the U.S. In the spirit of humanity and goodwill toward the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the U.S. in dealing with the issue. Instead of recognizing our efforts, the U.S. has sought to smear and shift blame to China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes. They&rsquo;ve been PUNISHING us for helping them. This is not going to solve the U.S.&rsquo; problem and will undermine our counternarcotics dialogue and cooperation.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating. If the U.S. truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China by treating each other as equals.</blockquote>
<blockquote>If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we&rsquo;re ready to fight till the end.</blockquote>
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;This leaves zero room for interpretation: China is clearly signaling they won&rsquo;t be cowed by Trump,&rdquo; tweets the internet entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand.
In 2010, Bertrand co-founded HouseTrip &mdash; an online platform geared toward rental-house sharing in Europe. He sold it to TripAdvisor in 2016. Married to a Chinese woman, he has quite the global perspective; I don&rsquo;t agree with everything he says but his feed on X is worth checking out.
As Bertrand sees it, China&rsquo;s defiant stance contrasts with what we&rsquo;ve seen from other governments since Trump&rsquo;s inauguration &mdash; to wit, Colombia&rsquo;s president folding like a lawn chair and agreeing to take back migrants expelled from the United States.
Ironically, &ldquo;This will probably earn China even more respect from Trump (and the rest of the world) than a subservient approach,&rdquo; Bertrand avers.
&ldquo;As the Chinese saying goes, if you retreat one step they'll want to advance one step.&rdquo;
Interesting. Brings to mind something Trump said on the campaign trail last June: "We have enemies on the outside &mdash; China, Russia, North Korea. But they're not really enemies if you have a smart president. They're not enemies, you&rsquo;ll make them do great."
And something he said on Inauguration Day: &ldquo;My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.&rdquo;
For the sake of our peace and prosperity, let&rsquo;s hope that&rsquo;s the case.
Of course, getting from here to there could be a hair-raising experience.
Which brings to mind a tariff-themed warning from Paradigm&rsquo;s macroeconomics maven Jim Rickards that landed in your inbox yesterday.
In case you didn&rsquo;t see it, he said, &ldquo;While everyone has been focusing on Canada and Mexico,
China has been preparing <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2418552">a </a><a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2418552">trade war WMD</a> of its own.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s set to launch in four more days &mdash; &ldquo;and President Trump is prepared to fire back with a &lsquo;kill shot&rsquo; of his own,&rdquo; says Jim.
If you have money in the markets, you won&rsquo;t want to pass up Jim&rsquo;s urgent briefing from Pentagon City. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2418552">Click here to watch immediately</a>.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Crypto Revival
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Hmmm&hellip; Bitcoin has climbed back above $90,000.
$90K is the number that Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner told us on Tuesday was a line in the sand. A recovery to that level would bode well for the flagship crypto; otherwise a drop to $73K might be in the cards.
Checking our screens Bitcoin is up to $90,692 &mdash; perhaps in anticipation of concrete news emerging tomorrow from a crypto summit hosted by White House crypto-and-AI czar David Sacks.
Context: In January, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC that the banking industry is ready to &ldquo;come in hard&rdquo; on crypto &mdash; once the new administration clarifies the rules of the road.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are already experimenting with blockchain technology,&rdquo; Paradigm&rsquo;s own crypto and AI authority James Altucher reminds us.
&ldquo;And now, as Washington prepares to clarify cryptocurrency regulations, banks are getting ready to act.
&ldquo;The biggest development? Banks might soon let you put your checking account on the blockchain. They're calling it &lsquo;tokenized deposits.&rsquo; (Don't worry about the fancy name &mdash; it just means your money moves at internet speed.)
&ldquo;This is a complete U-turn from just a year ago. Under the previous administration, banks were told to stay away from crypto. Now, they're being encouraged to dive in.
&ldquo;Even the usually strict FDIC (the people who insure your bank deposits) is changing its tune. They're working on new rules to let banks offer crypto services without jumping through endless hoops.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Three consequences: &ldquo;First, cryptocurrency is about to become much easier to use,&rdquo; says James.
&ldquo;Instead of dealing with complicated crypto exchanges, you might soon buy Bitcoin through your regular bank account.
&ldquo;Second, sending money across borders could become as easy as sending an email.
&ldquo;And third &mdash; this might be the biggest one &mdash; we're watching the birth of a new financial system. One that combines the safety of traditional banks with the speed of cryptocurrency.
&ldquo;For investors, this is like watching the internet boom of the 1990s all over again. But this time, the banks aren't fighting the technology. They're embracing it. And they're bringing trillions of dollars with them.
&ldquo;The crypto market is already worth over $2 trillion. Imagine what happens when JPMorgan's $3.9 trillion in assets starts flowing into the space. Or when Bank of America's 68 million customers can buy Bitcoin as easily as they check their balance.
&ldquo;We're not just talking about price increases. We're talking about a complete transformation of how money moves around the world. And it's happening right now.&rdquo;
On the heels of the White House crypto summit tomorrow, James will host an exclusive online event for Paradigm readers next Tuesday &mdash; live from the SXSW confab in Austin, Texas.
Of course, crypto is only a small part of an ambitious agenda. Among the topics James says he and his team will cover&hellip;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Are artificial intelligence stocks in a bubble that&rsquo;s ready to pop?</li>
<li>&ldquo;How will Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shake up drugmakers and biotechs?</li>
<li>&ldquo;Can quantum computers become the next trillion dollar-industry, or are they just sci-fi hype?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
There will be no hard sell &mdash; no selling at all, matter of fact. It all gets going next Tuesday the 11th at 2:00 p.m. EDT.<a href="https://paradigmpressgroup.com/techturningpoint2025">Here&rsquo;s the full agenda</a>; you&rsquo;ll want to bookmark that website because that&rsquo;s where the live event will be hosted.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Actually, This Is Normal
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> As lousy as the recent stock-market sell-off might feel, it&rsquo;s shockingly normal by the standards of the last couple of years.
Going back to the start of the current bull market in late 2022, &ldquo;there have been four major sell-offs in the S&amp;P 500 between 5&ndash;10%,&rdquo; says Paradigm trading pro Enrique Abeyta.
This chart is a little messy, but it&rsquo;s the only way to illustrate his point.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1fs0aknZl5wB7p0Kkmsavb/76877a6d9c93855fd94ce7ad78d7cbe8/SP500-3-6.png" alt="S&amp;P 500" width="540px" />
&ldquo;As painful as this pullback has been,&rdquo; says Enrique, &ldquo;you will see in the chart that it&rsquo;s fairly ordinary compared with what we have seen so far. It&rsquo;s also very typical of a normal bull market.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> In the meantime, the major U.S. stock averages are gyrating with every new tariff headline.
After we hit &ldquo;send&rdquo; on yesterday&rsquo;s edition, Donald Trump said automakers who comply with the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade accord signed during his first term will be exempt from the new Canadian and Mexican tariffs for 30 days. Mr. Market rebounded, the S&amp;P 500 ending the day up 1.1%.
Today, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says additional one-month exemptions are in the cards. But with no additional clarity, the sell-off has resumed. At 5,794 the S&amp;P 500 is down more than three-quarters of a percent on the day &mdash; but still higher than Tuesday&rsquo;s close.
For the moment, watching precious metals is like watching paint dry &mdash; gold at $2,915 and silver at $32.66. Crude is rebounding slightly, but remains under $66.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Republicans Back Financial Cancellation
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Go figure: Republicans are about to make &ldquo;financial deplatforming&rdquo; a thing again.
Over the years we&rsquo;ve chronicled how payment platforms like PayPal and Venmo would cancel the accounts of people who expressed opinions online that the platforms deem &ldquo;hate speech&rdquo; or &ldquo;misinformation.&rdquo;
And it wasn&rsquo;t just racism or COVID dissent that were causes for cancellation: For instance, PayPal stopped processing donations to the venerable alt-news website Consortium News because its writers expressed opinions about Ukraine that ran counter to official narratives.
Strangely, on its way out the door the Biden administration implemented a rule in December forbidding this sort of financial cancellation on ideological grounds.
It was part of a general overhaul of rules at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) governing non-bank financial services like PayPal, Apple Pay and Zelle.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Yesterday, the Senate voted to kill this rule.
The vote was 50-47 &mdash; with every Republican on the floor voting &ldquo;yea&rdquo; except Missouri&rsquo;s Josh Hawley.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to hear the GOP call themselves the free speech party ever again,&rdquo; tweets the provocateur Laura Loomer.
Ms. Loomer is a garbage human &mdash; but she&rsquo;s not wrong. And she knows the phenomenon firsthand, having been cancelled over the years by PayPal, GoFundMe and Uber.
&ldquo;You can oppose the ideological bias of CFPB,&rdquo; she says, &ldquo;while also not voting to repeal consumer and free speech protections when we 100% have a monopoly in our country by Big Tech companies as it relates to payment services.&rdquo;
A companion bill in the House is still in committee. As far as we know, the White House hasn&rsquo;t taken a stand on the legislation.
Gee, that might be an interesting question to ask for one of the &ldquo;new media&rdquo; outlets who&rsquo;ve been granted White House press passes.
No, I&rsquo;m not holding my breath. And yes, on a lark I did apply for one. Heh&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: JFK Again
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> From a longtime reader who doesn&rsquo;t write to us often&hellip;
&ldquo;I always enjoy reading your take on the news, and the frequent tongue-in-cheek humor (even if I don't agree with 100% of your assertions).
&ldquo;Over the years, you have poked fun at Bezos' newspaper and its pretentious slogan &lsquo;Democracy Dies in Darkness.&rsquo;
&ldquo;It occurred to me that a more accurate slogan would be &lsquo;Democracy Died in Dallas.&rsquo;
&ldquo;You folks at Paradigm have written some excellent pieces over the years on how Nov. 22, 1963 was <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/from-jfk-to-jeffrey-epstein">a true watershed moment</a>. One can make a strong case that the Kennedy presidency represented the last time (perhaps until now, I say with skepticism) that the will of the American people had any meaningful influence in Washington.
&ldquo;Kennedy's death paved the way for the unelected bureaucrats, three-letter agencies and the lobbyist/think tank cartel (through their pet politicians) to take control of our federal government and lead us down the war and deficit spending pathway that we've been on ever since.
&ldquo;As one of the minority who thinks DJT is neither Hitler reborn nor the second coming of Christ, I remain optimistic yet highly skeptical that the course we've been on the last 60 years might be reversed. There's a lot to be done, and it all comes with some amount of short-term pain for the American people. But lifesaving surgery is never painless, nor is recovery and rehabilitation quick.&rdquo;
Dave responds: And there&rsquo;s so much that could go wrong on the operating table!
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

awn-hero-img-02-04-25 Container US of America crashed Container China trade war concept. US of America and chinese flags containers .

shutterstock 1397204081

Yesterday we briefly touched on a brusque statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry in response to the latest Trump tariffs.

Follow-up: China’s Tariff WMD

shutterstock 250528144

For decades, there’s been a niche of analysts who see a link between sunspots and events in the economy and markets.

Sunspots and Markets

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />The Gold Hype Is Getting out of Hand
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />No one takes a back seat to our Jim Rickards as an advocate for gold in anyone&rsquo;s investment portfolio&hellip; but even he says the current hype &ldquo;has run far ahead of the reality.&rdquo;
Maybe the hype is already wearing off if the spot price of the Midas metal is any indication. After spending most of the last three weeks over $2,900 an ounce, it&rsquo;s down another $43 this morning to $2,873.
For starters, Jim says the impending &ldquo;audit&rdquo; of the U.S. government&rsquo;s gold at Fort Knox, Kentucky is likely less than it&rsquo;s cracked up to be &mdash; even if Donald Trump and Elon Musk show up in person.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certain that visit will be the mother of all photo-ops,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;Of course, Trump and Musk will not be conducting a real audit in the financial sense. They&rsquo;ll just look around and show that the gold is actually there. This should lay to rest the rumors and ill-founded theories that the gold is somehow missing or has been shipped to JPMorgan. It hasn&rsquo;t been.&rdquo;
If nothing else, the flurry of interest in recent days has been good for a chuckle or two&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1OukbcmGfvFLbKfKSaXzl8/6910e3a86cd204e269529f4a61afd728/Xhabib.png" alt="Xhabib" width="540px" />
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Then there&rsquo;s the matter of the U.S. government &ldquo;revaluing&rdquo; the gold on its books.
As we&rsquo;ve mentioned a couple of times this month, the Treasury&rsquo;s gold stash is still valued officially at a mere $42.22 an ounce &mdash; a relic of the chaos that ensued when President Nixon cut the dollar&rsquo;s last tie to gold in 1971.
&ldquo;The U.S. has 8,133 metric tonnes of gold bullion in three locations &mdash; Fort Knox, West Point and the Denver Mint,&rdquo; says Jim. &ldquo;That gold has a current market value of $771 billion.&rdquo;
What difference does that make?
&ldquo;The Federal Reserve currently holds a gold certificate issued by the U.S. Treasury in 1934 in compensation for the transfer of gold bullion from the Fed to the Treasury on orders of Franklin Roosevelt,&rdquo; Jim explains. &ldquo;That certificate is valued on the Fed&rsquo;s books at $42.22 per ounce.
&ldquo;If the Treasury ordered the Fed to write up the value to market, that would add $760 billion to the Treasury&rsquo;s general account, which could be used to finance the U.S. government without adding new debt.&rdquo;
Which is fine as far as it goes. The problem is that this revaluation is only a one-shot deal. It doesn&rsquo;t generate a recurring revenue stream for Uncle Sam.
&ldquo;In principle,&rdquo; says Jim, &ldquo;you could repeat the process if gold went higher in the future but that's uncertain and not completely reliable like taxes, leases and tariffs.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> To address that lack of a recurring revenue stream, online rumor-mongers say the Trump administration is this close to adopting one or more Rube Goldberg schemes that Jim says are &ldquo;nonsense.&rdquo;
Jim summarizes the rumors like this: &ldquo;The U.S. could sell gold and use the proceeds to buy foreign government bonds that ostensibly produce higher yields than U.S. Treasuries. An alternative is to issue Treasury bonds backed by gold that would (in theory) carry a zero interest rate because they are &lsquo;inflation proof.&rsquo; This creates an arbitrage between higher-yielding foreign government debt and supposedly zero-interest U.S. Treasury debt that produces income for the Treasury.&rdquo;
Jim says there are several problems with these schemes&hellip;
<ul>
<li>The government already has inflation-adjusted Treasuries. Maybe you&rsquo;ve heard of them &mdash; TIPS or Treasury inflation-protected securities. &ldquo;An inflation-proof gold-backed bond is therefore redundant&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>While gold helps preserve your purchasing power over time, the gold price isn&rsquo;t closely correlated with the inflation rate. &ldquo;In the past 2&frac12; years, gold has gone up 80% and cumulative inflation has been around 10%,&rdquo; says Jim. Under those circumstances, &ldquo;indexing Treasury bonds to gold prices would have resulted in windfalls for investors and a huge loss for the Treasury&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Finally, what&rsquo;s the point of monetizing a gold reserve and using the proceeds to buy foreign government bonds? &ldquo;The Fed could just buy them with printed money and the Treasury could just buy them with borrowed money.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
Jim&rsquo;s bottom line: &ldquo;I recommend gold as an investment asset and own it myself.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just not the case that the Treasury has to mess around in gold, bond and currency markets to achieve some opaque goal that can be achieved directly just by leaving the gold in Fort Knox and issuing TIPS.&rdquo;
There you go. Sorry if we took you into the weeds today, but we&rsquo;ve had inquiries from readers eager to hear Jim&rsquo;s take on gold revaluation &mdash; and we&rsquo;re happy to provide a needed corrective to the online hype.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Crosscurrents
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />It&rsquo;s a day of many crosscurrents affecting markets &mdash; tariffs, economic numbers and of course Nvidia&rsquo;s earnings.
After we hit &ldquo;send&rdquo; on yesterday&rsquo;s edition, the stock market&rsquo;s morning gains evaporated. And while too often the financial media reach for &ldquo;reasons&rdquo; behind every jot and tittle in the indexes&hellip; it&rsquo;s clear in this instance that the decline began moments after Donald Trump began musing to reporters about a 25% tariff on imports from Europe.
That was just chatter, though. This morning Trump confirmed he&rsquo;s going through with plans for 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, effective next Tuesday. In addition, he&rsquo;s slapping another 10% tariff on Chinese imports &mdash; on top of the 10% tariff imposed earlier this month.

[Editor&rsquo;s note: This development affirms Jim Rickards&rsquo; forecast that Trump is just getting started with a new trade war.
If you knew how to play it just right, the trade war during Trump&rsquo;s first term could have handed you a 1,372% return in only eight weeks.
This time, Jim says the stakes are even higher &mdash; <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2416695">as he explains in this urgent message from Pentagon City</a>.]

By and large, Mr. Market is taking this new development in stride: At last check the Dow is up nearly 1% while the Nasdaq is down less than a half percent. The S&amp;P is splitting the difference &mdash; up a smidge to 5,962, squarely in the middle of its trading range going back to Election Day.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> We touched on gold&rsquo;s swoon earlier. Silver&rsquo;s also getting smacked &mdash; down 46 cents to $31.40. The HUI index of mining stocks sits at 314, a four-week low.
But crude is perking up after the Energy Department released its weekly inventory numbers. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate is up a little over 2%, back above $70.
Crypto continues sucking wind &mdash; Bitcoin barely over $85,000, another low last seen the week after Election Day.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The day&rsquo;s economic numbers are a mixed bag &mdash; challenging conventional wisdom about an impending slowdown in the economy.
To be sure, first-time unemployment claims in the week gone by jumped to 242,000, the highest reading since mid-December.
CNN was quick to say the number suggests &ldquo;that cracks may be forming in America&rsquo;s long-solid labor market&rdquo; &mdash; but one week rarely tells the whole story. The four-week average is still tame compared with much of last summer and fall.
Elsewhere, orders for durable goods &mdash; anything built to last three years or longer &mdash; surprised big to the upside &mdash; rising 3.1% from December to January.
And that number wasn&rsquo;t skewed too much by orders for aircraft and military hardware &mdash; which are notoriously noisy from month to month. If you exclude those two categories, orders for &ldquo;core capital goods&rdquo; jumped a firm 0.8%, way beyond the expectations of Wall Street economists for a 0.5% rise.
As for NVDA&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" /> What Now, NVDA?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The reaction to Nvidia&rsquo;s numbers is disappointment. Not extreme disappointment, but disappointment nonetheless.
At last check Nvidia is down 3.5% on the day. The headline figures were splendid &mdash; sales leaped 78% year over year &mdash; but profit margins are getting squeezed by high costs.
CEO Jensen Huang said all the right things about the arrival of the upstart Chinese AI engine DeepSeek: Contrary to initial impressions, DeepSeek has &ldquo;ignited global enthusiasm&rdquo; that will result in more demand for computing resources that his company will be delighted to meet.
Perhaps the one thing that went *clank* during the conference call was the answer to a question about the potential impact of Trump tariffs: Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress gave a tepid reply about how the firm will comply with all export controls and tariffs &mdash; rather than a firm promise to raise prices to offset the tariffs.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />So what does it mean for NVDA during the remaining 10 months of 2025?
In our sister e-letter Truth &amp; Trends, Paradigm trading pro Enrique Abeyta points out that Nvidia&rsquo;s share price has been flat since last June.
Yes, there&rsquo;s been a lot of volatility along the way &mdash; in fact, NVDA lost $980 billion in market cap during January, very nearly fulfilling Enrique&rsquo;s forecast of a $1 trillion drop sometime this year.
But all told, it&rsquo;s a very normal period of &ldquo;consolidation&rdquo; after a furious run-up starting in early 2023. Some investors are taking profits; others are moving in to take their place.
Looking ahead, &ldquo;If the company can continue to meet and beat numbers, then I think the stock will be just fine,&rdquo; Enrique writes. &ldquo;At some point, the stock price will start grinding higher again to reflect the accrued earnings. It is unlikely to go up as much as before because the company is neither beating numbers by as much nor growing as much.&rdquo;
Longer term, Enrique remains concerned that Silicon Valley&rsquo;s massive buildout in AI hardware has gotten ahead of itself &mdash; and the industry will shift its focus to software. Should that happen, &ldquo;you will see a reduction in spending on NVDA chips.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Mailbag: Chinese Stocks
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />As promised yesterday, we&rsquo;re opening a voluminous mailbag of replies to this question: &ldquo;Would you consider investing in Chinese stocks despite the prevailing negative sentiment, or do you believe the risks outweigh the potential rewards?&rdquo;
One reader examines the question strictly from a risk-reward viewpoint and concludes: &ldquo;There are too many major issues still looming over China's economy to even consider investing in China stocks and business.&rdquo;
The bulk of the replies, however, wrestled with a moral component&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Why would you support our adversaries by investing in their stocks?&rdquo; writes a reader.
&ldquo;Does the lure of possible profits justify aiding and abetting our enemies? Shame on you for even suggesting that.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Absolutely not!&rdquo; says another. &ldquo;China, the CCP, is deceitful, underhanded and ideological in their commitment to destroy and take over America by any means.
&ldquo;Given their requirements and demands on Chinese companies, any support of a Chinese company is aiding and abetting the enemy, either presently or eventually. It&rsquo;s not a maybe, it&rsquo;s a given.
&ldquo;I will not knowingly be a party (or an investor) to any company, organization or entity that is affiliated with China or beholden to the CCP &mdash; willingly or unwittingly.
&ldquo;The modest amount of money that I could make from such investments pales in comparison to my loyalty and love of this country.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />On the flip side, &ldquo;I have enjoyed the profits from the investments that we have made in Alibaba (BABA),&rdquo; a reader writes &mdash; &ldquo;so I don&rsquo;t have any problem profiting from any stock no matter what country it&rsquo;s coming from.&rdquo;
(Perhaps that reader belongs to Zach Scheidt&rsquo;s Income Alliance, which has booked a couple of gains on BABA this month.)
Says another: &ldquo;While not a MAGA, my personal views tend to lean more toward the Republican philosophies &mdash; I have no problem investing in Chinese stocks.
&ldquo;I'm not convinced that everything that is needed or wanted can or should be created, manufactured and consumed in the U.S.
&ldquo;My viewpoint when investing (minor investing as it may be) is to make money. Sometimes that means investing in things that I don't agree with, if those are the things that are making money at the moment.
&ldquo;Why would I want to miss out on making my portfolio better, just to make a point that I don't agree with their viewpoint?&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Chinese Stocks: The View From Here
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />This question is not new to your editor. In fact, I&rsquo;ve been wrestling with it since at least 2021.
In the gone-but-not-forgotten trading service I ran with Alan Knuckman, The Profit Wire, we got grief now and then for recommending call options on the U.S.-traded shares of Chinese companies.
The problem I pointed out is that if you start screening recommendations for one ethical objection &mdash; like China &mdash; you have to start screening for others. By the end of the process, there might be nothing to invest in at all!
Over time, we generated 100% gains on a scandal-scarred bank (Wells Fargo)... a miner with a checkered environmental record (Freeport-McMoRan)... and a maker of the COVID shots (Pfizer).
&ldquo;With almost every recommendation,&rdquo; I wrote in late 2021, &ldquo;someone could object to something and accuse us of enabling villainous activity.&rdquo;
And so we chose not to screen for such things &mdash; following the research and the data wherever they led us.
Now and then over the years, I&rsquo;ve cited the words of the late Harry Browne, a pioneer of the investment newsletter biz.
&ldquo;Maximizing profits and conforming to social policies are separate endeavors,&rdquo; Browne wrote in 1995. &ldquo;You can cater to one endeavor only at the expense of the other.
&ldquo;The stock exchange isn&rsquo;t a pulpit. If you want to promote a particular environmental policy, political philosophy or other personal enthusiasm, do it with the profits you make from hardheaded investing."
And if Browne&rsquo;s words don&rsquo;t ring true for you&hellip; and if a particular newsletter or trading service recommends something you find objectionable&hellip; well, there&rsquo;s always a new recommendation coming next week or next month.
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 2274853559

Jim Rickards is an advocate for gold in anyone’s investment portfolio… but even he says the current hype “has run far ahead of the reality.”

Gold’s Hype Cycle (You Are Here)

shutterstock 328492328-2

James Altucher sees activity with a small player that’s perfect buyout bait for Nvidia.

Nvidia’s Buyout Bait

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Nvidia&rsquo;s AI Weather Wizard
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> In the rapidly evolving field of weather forecasting, Nvidia's CorrDiff is making significant strides. 
This generative AI weather model, part of Nvidia&rsquo;s Earth-2 platform, enables kilometer-scale forecasts of wind, temperature and precipitation with unprecedented precision.
By employing diffusion modeling &mdash; similar to that used in text-to-image generation &mdash; CorrDiff sharpens the resolution of coarse weather models from a 25-kilometer scale down to 2 kilometers.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/7HpIsPS2CHdZCeQlNXqc1y/156f3519c2e548bf357efc42af77da7d/Screenshot_2025-02-25_at_8.00.42_AM.png" alt="NVIDIA" width="540px" />
CorrDiff's capabilities extend beyond mere resolution enhancement. It can also predict variables not present in the input data, such as radar reflectivity, which is crucial for determining rain location and intensity.
In fact, the model generates weather patterns at 12 times higher resolution than its training data, derived from the Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> One of the most impressive aspects of CorrDiff is its groundbreaking energy-efficiency. 
The optimized CorrDiff for U.S. data operates 500 times faster and is 10,000 times more energy-efficient
CorrDiff for U.S. data operates 500 times faster and is 10,000 times more energy-efficient than traditional high-resolution weather prediction using central processing units (CPUs).
This dramatic improvement in efficiency translates to substantial real-world benefits.
For instance, Taiwan&rsquo;s National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction has deployed CorrDiff, resulting in an estimated gigawatt-hour of energy savings.
This level of efficiency means tasks which previously cost nearly $3 million on CPUs can now be accomplished for about $60,000 using a Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU.&nbsp;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> And CorrDiff&rsquo;s energy-efficiency extends beyond cost savings: It enables more frequent and detailed forecast updates, which is crucial for tracking rapidly evolving weather phenomena. 
Imagine what a game changer CorrDiff would have been for the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires&hellip;
<ul>
<li>It could have provided high-resolution, localized weather forecasts, predicting wind patterns, temperature and precipitation at a 2-kilometer scale. This precise data could have enabled early detection of wildfire conditions, allowing for more targeted prevention and response efforts.</li>
</ul>
Overall, CorrDiff&rsquo;s combination of precision and efficiency positions this AI tool as a key technology in our efforts to understand, predict and mitigate impacts of extreme weather events.
We can anticipate more accurate, timely and potentially lifesaving weather forecasts, underscoring the future of meteorology, powered by artificial intelligence.

[Attention AI investors: Mark your calendars for Feb. 26. At 4:00 p.m. ET, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang is preparing to make a groundbreaking announcement that could send shock waves through the semiconductor industry.
Our sources indicate that a little-known company with over 10,000 patents might be the key to Nvidia's ambitious AI plans for 2025.
But time is of the essence. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2415658">Position yourself now</a> before this unknown semiconductor stock potentially skyrockets. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2415658">Click here for immediate details,</a> and secure your place in the AI-driven future.]

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />What&rsquo;s Buried in Fort Knox?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;One topic that is gaining momentum is the interesting move of DOGE auditing the gold at Fort Knox,&rdquo; says Paradigm&rsquo;s macro authority Jim Rickards. &ldquo;In fact, President Trump announced at the recent CPAC conference that he would be going to Kentucky to see if the gold is still there.
&ldquo;An audit would help restore the confidence of U.S. citizens in government representations,&rdquo; he continues, &ldquo;but there is no reason to doubt that the U.S. has exactly the amount of gold that it represents, about 8,133 metric tons.
&ldquo;What&rsquo;s more interesting to me could be the revelation of how much U.S. gold is leased. Leasing is a way of giving gold to borrowers in exchange for fees, which injects more gold into the banking system than actually exists in physical form.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a can of worms that only a few experts understand, and [something] the government has definitely not wanted to acknowledge. DOGE may open the can of worms, so we will keep an eye out for these developments.
&ldquo;If there are any discrepancies between the reserves in Fort Knox and the figures that have been reported,&rdquo; Jim adds, &ldquo;it could send shock waves through global gold markets.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll monitor this trip if it materializes.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Speaking of gold, the precious metal is slumping today: down almost 2% to $2,907 per ounce. Silver, likewise, is down about 2.75% to $31.70. Also in the commodities space, crude is down 2.5% to $68.95 for a barrel of WTI.
Stocks aren&rsquo;t faring much better. The three major U.S. indexes are in the red today, with the tech-laden Nasdaq down 1.70% to 18,950. Meanwhile, the S&amp;P 500 is down almost 1% to 5,925 while the Dow is down 0.15% to 43,395.
<ul>
<li>Per the major economic indicator today, consumer confidence dropped sharply in February, according to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index. The index published this morning came in at 98.3, down 7% from January &mdash; making it the lowest reading, in fact, since August 2021. </li>
</ul>
Finally, you guessed it, crypto is getting clobbered. Bitcoin is down a jaw-dropping 7% to $87,600 at the time of writing. Ethereum? Down 8.5% to $2,425.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />From Dumpster Fire to Market Darling
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;The message is loud and clear: The world&rsquo;s second-largest economy is a dumpster fire. It&rsquo;s toxic. It&rsquo;s off-limits. Do not touch!&rdquo; outlines Paradigm&rsquo;s chart hound Greg Guenthner.
&ldquo;China has played the villain for decades,&rdquo; he emphasizes. &ldquo;Of course, some truths lurk under these headlines&hellip;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Tariffs are real</li>
<li>Chinese organized crime is laundering dirty drug money</li>
<li>And the U.S. tech industry and other international businesses are relocating to other emerging markets including Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico,&rdquo; says Greg. Anywhere but China. </li>
</ul>
&ldquo;But diversifying away from China is old news&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Suddenly, investors are waking up to a China recovery they&rsquo;ve been conditioned to ignore or even hate. And it comes just as U.S. stocks begin to falter,&rdquo; Greg notes.
&ldquo;Savvy investors who weren&rsquo;t afraid to buy China are already reaping the rewards. Here&rsquo;s how you can play it&hellip;
&ldquo;Just look at the powerful rallies in some of the strongest Chinese names,&rdquo; he says, including &ldquo;the incredible follow-through in Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. (BABA).
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3nyYD5lBqxClafj6XYAxkh/27eb91c4f8967c636241696094867a3b/5Bullets_BABABreakout_022525.png" alt="BABA chart" width="540px" />
&ldquo;BABA is finally breaking out of a multiyear base that has trapped shares since early 2022,&rdquo; says Greg. &ldquo;We have to believe this is a massive change in trend happening right now.
&ldquo;We first mentioned this stock breaking out back on Feb. 11. Since then, the stock has rallied more than 30% &mdash; a huge move in only seven trading days.
&ldquo;This rally might just be getting started,&rdquo; Greg forecasts. &ldquo;BABA will be in play for a long time following this base breakout. It should stay on your &lsquo;buy the dips&rsquo; shortlist &mdash; especially if it retests its breakout zone in the $120 area.
&ldquo;If you want to get involved in the big China comeback, sitting on your hands and waiting for BABA to consolidate isn&rsquo;t your only option&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;There are a couple of strong China names that are close to breakout levels, and both of these stocks have the potential to post BABA-esque moves in the weeks and months ahead,&rdquo; he adds.
<ol>
<li>&ldquo;Online music company Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) continues to build toward the important $14 level,&rdquo; Greg says. &ldquo;If TME can break above $14, it has a great chance at extending higher. (Just keep in mind earnings are coming up on March 18)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li value="2">Next, there&rsquo;s TAL Education Group (TAL), which was hitting fresh six-month highs [early] last week. TAL is now knocking on the door of new 52-week highs. If it can post a close above $15.50, we&rsquo;re looking at prices not seen since mid-2021. (Even better, earnings aren&rsquo;t due until April, which should allow plenty of time to clear those breakout levels.)&rdquo;</li>
</ol>
Greg&rsquo;s takeaway: &ldquo;Tunnel-vision traders who focus solely on U.S. names are getting left behind. Don&rsquo;t be one of them!
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care if you&rsquo;re a short- or long-term trader,&rdquo; he concludes, &ldquo;China will be in play for the rest of the year.&rdquo;
[Help Paradigm&rsquo;s editors settle a watercooler controversy: Would you consider investing in Chinese stocks despite the prevailing negative sentiment, or do you believe the risks outweigh the potential rewards? <a href="mailto:feedback@paradigmpressroom.com">We value your feedback!</a>]
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />XAI: &ldquo;Rewrites the Playbook&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Just weeks after Trump dismantled Biden's AI restrictions, Musk's xAI dropped a bombshell: Grok 3, a model that&rsquo;s rewriting the AI playbook,&rdquo; writes Paradigm&rsquo;s science-and-tech investor Ray Blanco.
&ldquo;While OpenAI was busy rejecting Musk&rsquo;s $97.4 billion takeover bid last week, xAI was quietly putting the finishing touches on what today is being called the world&rsquo;s most powerful AI.
&ldquo;Both Google and OpenAI have been around for years,&rdquo; Ray notes. &ldquo;On the other hand, xAI is barely a year old, a baby by comparison. Despite being years younger, xAI&rsquo;s Grok 3 has leapfrogged both in key benchmarks.
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Grok 3 was trained on over 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips, and xAI is already installing the next-generation Nvidia B100 chips, which pack four times the punch</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>They're expanding their &lsquo;Colossus&rsquo; supercomputer cluster in Memphis from 250 megawatts to 1.2 gigawatts. They&rsquo;re installing generators to make enough power to run a small city, all dedicated to pushing AI forward.</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;However, it&rsquo;s Grok&rsquo;s new capabilities that have the AI community talking&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;With Grok&rsquo;s new DeepSearch features, xAI's new AI agent does more than answer questions. It shows its work!&rdquo; Ray emphasizes.
&ldquo;One of the missing pieces that enterprises need for serious research and analysis is a reasoning-based approach,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;Add in the upcoming voice features with natural inflection and tone and you can see why OpenAI&rsquo;s Sam Altman might be getting nervous.
&ldquo;Again, the speed at which xAI has taken the crown is breathtaking. Everything at xAI was focused on speed,&rdquo; says Ray.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/38EOGf15HHKAT1X49I7SXH/874fc5c53a91bd8b81162a7d915a9c8e/Map.png" width="540px" />

Source: MGLW, Harvard Public Health A map used in a xAI presentation at a July 9 Memphis City Council meeting
&ldquo;XAI has also cracked the code on building large-scale GPU clusters with shared memory. Elon is proving that AI scaling laws still hold &mdash; more compute power really does mean better AI.
&ldquo;Furthermore, xAI&rsquo;s planned expansion to 1 million GPUs will give them 40 times the compute power used to train Grok 3.
&ldquo;The AI race is entering a new, frenzied phase where raw computing power, combined with technical innovation, is creating unprecedented advantages.
&ldquo;Companies that can harness this scale &mdash; whether through partnerships, infrastructure or direct investment &mdash; will be the ones to watch,&rdquo; Ray predicts.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />It&rsquo;s NOT Just a Jeep Thing
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Jeep owners are fuming over an unexpected passenger in their vehicles: persistent pop-up ads. These digital hitchhikers are appearing on infotainment screens, pestering drivers to sign up for extended warranties every time they hit the brakes.
The ads, promoting &lsquo;Peace of Mind&rsquo; through FlexCare Extended Care Premium Plans, are more stubborn than a Wrangler stuck in mud. Even clicking the 'X' doesn't deter them &mdash; they just pop right back up at the next stop.
Stellantis, Jeep&rsquo;s parent company, claims the ubiquitous ad is just a &ldquo;temporary software glitch.&rdquo; And they assure Jeep owners that they&rsquo;re fixing the bug. But let's be real: How many &ldquo;glitches&rdquo; conveniently upsell products?
But this incident might be a foreshadowing of things to come. Ford, for instance, has patented a system that could use a vehicle&rsquo;s speakers, screen and even GPS to bombard you with personalized ads.
But as cars become more connected, privacy concerns are shifting into high gear. With some automakers already caught selling driver data, it&rsquo;s clear that our vehicles are becoming rolling data mines.
So next time you're in your car, remember&hellip; Big Brother might be riding shotgun. 
Until next time, reader, take care!
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/emily-clancy.png" alt="Emily Clancy" width="250px" align="left" />
Emily Clancy Associate editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 712360393

In the rapidly evolving field of weather forecasting, Nvidia's CorrDiff is making significant strides. 

Extreme Weather Alert 

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />The $38 Billion Question
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> For the last two years, it&rsquo;s been the single-most anticipated report of earnings season.
Ever since ChatGPT brought AI into the public consciousness in late 2022, the bellwether company to watch has been Nvidia.
Not only is it the premier chipmaker for AI applications&hellip; NVDA stands apart from its &ldquo;Magnificent 7&rdquo; brethren by reporting its numbers weeks after the others. In other words, it doesn&rsquo;t get lost in the shuffle with Microsoft, Google and the rest.
The other six issued their numbers last month. So the spotlight on NVDA will be especially bright when the company reports after the closing bell Wednesday.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The financial media&rsquo;s buildup to NVDA&rsquo;s numbers each quarter can get really tedious.
Here&rsquo;s Yahoo Finance this morning: &ldquo;Analysts expect Nvidia to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.84, up 63% from the year prior. Meanwhile, revenue is projected to be $38.26 billion, up 73% from the same quarter last year.
&ldquo;Investors will be waiting to hear what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says about the environment for AI chip demand and whether he will address potential rising competition in the AI space from China's DeepSeek.&rdquo;
Well, yes. But those are the obvious angles.
Less obvious is this, according to Paradigm&rsquo;s AI authority James Altucher: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve already uncovered evidence Nvidia is preparing for a bold move.&rdquo;
That evidence turns up in James&rsquo; proprietary AI-assisted trading model. And the model strongly suggests Jensen Huang will make that bold move in conjunction with NVDA&rsquo;s earnings release.
If you&rsquo;re a subscriber to Altucher&rsquo;s True Alpha, you&rsquo;re already hip to what we&rsquo;re talking about. If you&rsquo;re not, James says, &ldquo;Time is running out for you to act on what could become the <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2415175">biggest investment opportunity of 2025</a>.&rdquo;
And yes, James says you can capture maximum profit potential only if you act before Huang hops on the conference call Wednesday afternoon &mdash; <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2415175">for reasons he&rsquo;ll lay out as soon as you click here</a>.

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Three Years Later
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Three years after Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine, Washington&rsquo;s sanctions on Moscow are a proven failure &mdash; and an ongoing threat to the U.S. dollar.
It was on this day in 2022 that Russian forces moved in. Within 48 hours, the Biden administration imposed unprecedented sanctions &mdash; not only cutting off Russia from the global financial-messaging network called SWIFT, but freezing $300 billion in dollar-based assets held by the Russian central bank.
Paradigm macroeconomics maven Jim Rickards was among the very few pundits who correctly warned beforehand that 1) Russia would invade to forestall Ukrainian entry into the NATO alliance and 2) Washington&rsquo;s ensuing sanctions would backfire.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5TocUeo0XBN6dCLFQh7ML4/90d04393627817f0d6b2c3686776bc6d/JimTweet.png" alt="jim tweet" width="540px" />
As we mentioned in this space on Jan. 13, 2022 &mdash; in an edition titled <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2022/01/13/ukraine-and-the-end-of-the-dollar/">&ldquo;Ukraine and the End of the Dollar,&rdquo;</a> we pointed out that Russia&rsquo;s gold stash, measured as a percentage of its economy, is the biggest in the world. It frees President Vladimir Putin&rsquo;s hand in a way Western leaders couldn&rsquo;t conceive.
The rest of the story is familiar by now if you keep up with these virtual pages: Governments throughout the &ldquo;Global South&rdquo; began to wonder if they too might be subject to such extreme acts of economic warfare. They lightened up on their holdings of dollar-based assets&hellip; and loaded up on gold.
In a single year, the dollar&rsquo;s share of total global currency reserves plunged from 55% to 47%.
Meanwhile, the dollar price of gold soared from $1,800 in early 2022 to over $2,900 now.
While Europe swore off imports of Russian energy, Russia readily found new customers in China and India. The disruptions to global supply were severe, and the transition was anything but seamless &mdash; especially if you remember $5-a-gallon gasoline in the summer of 2022 &mdash; but Russia is doing just fine, thank you very much.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;The Russian economy is growing faster than the U.S. economy,&rdquo; Jim Rickards said in this space a few days ago.
&ldquo;Its currency has stabilized at a level not far from where it was when the war began and unemployment is near an all-time low. The Russian economy is on a war footing and operating near full capacity with the ability to manufacture advanced weapons that the West cannot.&rdquo;
Yeah, remember all the chatter three years ago about how Moscow was scavenging the country&rsquo;s supply of dishwashers for semiconductors to install in its weaponry?
Mainstream media had to abandon their &ldquo;Ukraine is totally winning&rdquo; narrative last year, even before the election. The reality was too overwhelming.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> And while it seems Washington and Moscow are coming to some sort of new detente under the Trump 47 administration&hellip; a major stumbling block remains.
It seems Donald Trump is determined to obtain rights to the cash flow from Ukraine&rsquo;s natural resources.
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells CBS News, &ldquo;We explained to them, look, we want to be in a joint venture with you not because we&rsquo;re trying to steal from your country but because we think that&rsquo;s actually a security guarantee &mdash; we&rsquo;re your partner in an important economic endeavor, we get to get paid back some of the money the taxpayers have given, close to $200 billion, and now we have a vested interest in the security of Ukraine.&rdquo;
A &ldquo;security guarantee&rdquo; &mdash; and &ldquo;a vested interest in the security of Ukraine&rdquo;?
Sounds like a recipe for Washington to remain entangled in a part of the world that bears no relevance to the lives of everyday Americans.
Is Trump incapable of cutting his losses? (Or, to be more precise, Joe Biden&rsquo;s losses?)
Besides, the most valuable Ukrainian minerals &mdash; the so-called rare earth elements &mdash; lie mostly under territory that Moscow will control in a postwar settlement. Otherwise, Ukraine has mostly coal and iron ore &mdash; both of which exist in abundance throughout much of the planet.
So what&rsquo;s in it for you and me, really? And when will Trump try to explain how this aligns with an &ldquo;America first&rdquo; agenda?
Many more chapters remain to be written in this story &mdash; and as has been the case throughout, we&rsquo;ll keep you well ahead of the mainstream.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Not a Black Monday
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />For much of the weekend, murmurings of a &ldquo;Black Monday&rdquo; could be seen and heard online. So far, it hasn&rsquo;t materialized.
After we went to virtual press on Friday, the stock market fell out of bed. The Nasdaq ended the day down 2.2%, the Dow and the S&amp;P both down 1.7%. The losses erased most of the gains accumulated earlier in the week.
There was no obvious &ldquo;reason&rdquo; for the selling. The mainstream settled on a pair of punk economic numbers&hellip;
<ul>
<li>The &ldquo;flash PMI&rdquo; readings were a nasty surprise. Manufacturing was fine, up from 51.2 to 51.6 &mdash; any number over 50 indicates growth. But services, a much bigger slice of the U.S. economy, plunged from 52.9 to 49.7. The typical Wall Street economist was expecting a services reading of 53.0</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey was also a shock &mdash; coming in at 64.7, far below the &ldquo;expert consensus&rdquo; calling for 68.0. Worse, the typical consumer expects inflation of 4.3% in the year ahead &mdash; the highest reading since late 2023. The Federal Reserve pays close attention to this number when deciding what to do with interest rates, and a number like this does nothing to encourage additional cuts.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>➢ Not-so-fun fact: Five years ago today the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2020/02/24/the-p-word/">On that day</a> we had the distinct displeasure of introducing you to the term &ldquo;social distancing&rdquo; &mdash; weeks before the control freaks and power trippers made it both mainstream and mandatory.</blockquote>
Or maybe it wasn&rsquo;t the numbers or a virus at all. Maybe it was the news that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon dumped a third of his JPM shares &mdash; about $234 million worth.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Whatever the case, &ldquo;The drop was especially painful,&rdquo; says Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner &mdash; because the S&amp;P 500 &ldquo;just logged new all-time highs Wednesday afternoon. The S&amp;P is now negative on the month and up just about 2.6% year to date.&rdquo;
But Friday&rsquo;s losses are not carrying over into today &mdash; at least not for the S&amp;P. Checking our screens, the index is ever so slightly in the green at 6,018. The Dow is up about a third of a percent but the Nasdaq is down about 0.4%.
Gold poked its nose over $2,950 earlier in the day but now it&rsquo;s back to $2,942. Silver is in the red at $32.24. Crude is up slightly to $70.68.
Bitcoin&rsquo;s late-week rally was squelched the moment news broke of the biggest crypto exchange hack in history. Management at the Bybit exchange promises everyone will be made whole, but Bitcoin&rsquo;s been knocked back below $95,000 regardless.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Startling Stat
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> For the record: There&rsquo;s a new eye-popping number confirming how the American middle class has been hollowed out.
Per Federal Reserve figures pulled apart by Moody&rsquo;s Analytics, the top 10% of income earners &mdash; households making $250,000 and higher &mdash; now account for 49.7% of all consumer spending.
Three decades ago &mdash; when Billy Madison was tops at the box office and Microsoft was still months away from rolling out Windows 95 &mdash; those top earners accounted for only 36%.
In just the last year, high earners grew their spending 12% &mdash; while the middle class and the working class tightened their belts.
&ldquo;The finances of the well-to-do have never been better, their spending never stronger and the economy never more dependent on that group,&rdquo; Moody&rsquo;s economist Mark Zandi tells The Wall Street Journal.
Which sorta begs the question: How relevant is an abstraction like &ldquo;the economy&rdquo; when so few people are propping it up?
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />It&rsquo;s &ldquo;Russian&rdquo; &mdash; but It&rsquo;s Not Cancelled
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />While we commemorate the third anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, we also pause to note a return to sanity.
Remember the initial weeks after the invasion?
The outrage against all things Russian on social media? The bars that would no longer serve Stolichnaya vodka (even though it&rsquo;s made in Latvia)? The symphony orchestras that canceled performances of Tchaikovsky (who lived in the 19th century)? We chronicled it in real-time.
Well, somehow, &ldquo;white Russians in a can&rdquo; have managed to survive all that&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2iWSblolkHNr00VzHFjONk/5602b3c6437273e28653a42814c6b320/Cutwater.png" alt="cutwater" width="540px" />
Cutwater Spirits &mdash; a unit of Anheuser-Busch &mdash; introduced its White Russian canned cocktail in December 2020.
A web search turns up no evidence that the name was a drag on sales during 2022 &mdash; and the product has become so ubiquitous that it&rsquo;s even sold in the rural corner of the world where your editor lives and trends don&rsquo;t show up until years after they do elsewhere.
Yes, I&rsquo;ve tried it. It&rsquo;s fine &mdash; but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll have it again simply because I don&rsquo;t know what the ingredients are in the coffee cream liqueur. Might there be high-fructose corn syrup? Wouldn&rsquo;t surprise me.
One wonders what Jeffrey &ldquo;The Dude&rdquo; Lebowski would think of it, no?
(&ldquo;Way too sweet,&rdquo; says a remark on the r/lebowski Reddit board. Can&rsquo;t disagree, come to think of it&hellip;)
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

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Ever since ChatGPT brought AI into the public consciousness in late 2022, one bellwether company has been the one to watch. 

The $38 Billion Question

In general, your editor doesn't like calling people names. But I’m making an exception today.

Altman and Karp: Shape-Shifting Scum

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />SpaceX Makes History (Again)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />SpaceX made history with a jaw-dropping rocket launch that crossed international borders. On Tuesday, the company's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and stuck the landing in the Bahamas.
This groundbreaking mission saw the Falcon 9&rsquo;s first-stage booster touch down on the &ldquo;Just Read the Instructions&rdquo; droneship, which was strategically positioned off the Bahamian coast.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2Z8TLgzzBk9OAl6YhGWUJK/023ca26c120ab0143967b36216869219/SpaceX.png" alt="spacex" width="450px" />

Courtesy: SpaceX SpaceX successfully lands a Falcon 9 rocket on a droneship stationed off the Bahamas
The landing, occurring just under eight minutes after liftoff, marks the first time a rocket has taken off from one nation, reached space and landed in another country.
Why the Bahamas? The Bahamas location is about practicality. Calmer waters near Exuma Island offer more reliable landing conditions compared to the choppy open Atlantic. Plus, the area&rsquo;s milder winter weather means fewer launch delays.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Tuesday&rsquo;s mission was a success on two fronts. It not only validated SpaceX&rsquo;s innovative new landing strategy but also successfully deployed 23 Starlink satellites into orbit, further bolstering the company&rsquo;s expanding internet constellation.
And launching from Florida&rsquo;s Space Coast, SpaceX is now able to optimize its trajectories, allowing for larger satellite payloads per mission. This capability also paves the way for groundbreaking human spaceflight opportunities, such as the upcoming Fram2 mission (reportedly happening sometime this spring) which aims to explore Earth from polar orbit.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5tTQusxKgO8NehR4GC0mCD/6331f6cb55dae113efb01bad699c21cb/Screenshot_2025-02-20_at_11.59.02_AM.png" alt="SpaceX Tweet" width="540px" />
With its most recent achievement, SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of what&rsquo;s possible in spaceflight, making the extraordinary seem almost routine.
As the company eyes even more ambitious goals, including trips to the moon and Mars, this Bahamian touchdown serves as a powerful reminder of how far SpaceX has already come.

[A Rare &ldquo;All-Reader&rdquo; Alert: One ticker symbol lets you grab a pre-IPO stake in Elon Musk&rsquo;s biggest, most ambitious project of his life&hellip; SpaceX.
<blockquote>➔ First, Elon bet it all on PayPal and made millions...</blockquote>
<blockquote>➔ Then he bet it all on Tesla and made billions...</blockquote>
<blockquote>➔ Now, with the help of SpaceX, he&rsquo;s set to make trillions&hellip;</blockquote>
This is one of the only chances you&rsquo;ll ever have to own a pre-IPO stake in an Elon Musk company &mdash; before it goes public.
All it takes is THREE easy steps, detailed <a href="https://pro.crowdability.com/m/2414052">here</a>. There&rsquo;s no paywall. No subscription. No credit card required to get this ticker symbol.
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<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Trump Fights the Fed?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The Fed&rsquo;s January meeting minutes, released after we went to virtual press yesterday, suggest that Trump's strategies could put a wrench in the gears of disinflation. Specifically, the Federal Reserve warns that American wallets might feel the pinch if President Trump&rsquo;s tariff ambitions come to fruition.
Fed &ldquo;minutes,&rdquo; we remind you, aren't your typical meeting notes. Rather than an objective record, they're a carefully crafted political document, designed to guide market perceptions while often obscuring the full picture.
Meanwhile, even as Trump clamors for interest rate cuts, the Fed is standing pat, maintaining rates between 4.25&ndash;4.5% &mdash; the highest rates, in fact, since 2007. And Fed Chair Powell insists they&rsquo;re not rushing to slash rates further.
&ldquo;Analysts predict the Fed will likely cut the benchmark interest rate only once in 2025, with a big possibility of no rate cuts at all,&rdquo; says the BBC.
Trump, however, vows to &ldquo;demand&rdquo; immediate rate cuts. (It's a familiar demand from his first term, when Trump dubbed Fed officials &ldquo;boneheads&rdquo; and likened Powell to a golfer who can&rsquo;t sink a putt.)
Of course, this high-stakes game of economic-policy chicken raises eyebrows about the Fed&rsquo;s supposed political independence. As Trump&rsquo;s tariffs loom large, threatening to fan the flames of inflation, will the Fed withstand the heat of political pressure?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Exploring the market landscape today, stocks are getting a beatdown. The Big Board is faring the worst &mdash; down 570 points or 1.3% &mdash; to 44,050. Meanwhile, the tech-laden Nasdaq and S&amp;P 500 are both down about 0.70% to 19,915 and 6,100 respectively.
<ul>
<li>Notably, Walmart (WMT) announced Q4 earnings yesterday. The company reported strong performance, with revenue rising 4.1% to $180.6 billion, beating analysts expectations. Despite the positive results, WMT shares are down almost 7% at the time of writing due to cautious guidance for the rest of the year.</li>
</ul>
Taking a peek at commodities, oil is up 1% to $73 for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate. As for precious metals, both gold and silver are catching bids. The price of gold is up 0.70% to $2,957.20 per ounce while silver&rsquo;s up 1.15% to $33.40.
As for the market that never sleeps, Bitcoin is up 1.60%, just under $98,000. And Ethereum is up 0.30% to $2,725.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />The Rise and Fall of NYC&rsquo;s Congestion Toll
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> New York City&rsquo;s congestion pricing program, implemented on Jan. 5, 2025, has sparked heated debate. The program, which charges most vehicles $9 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours, was designed to reduce traffic, fund public transit and decrease vehicle emissions.
On the other hand, the program has been characterized as a regressive tax that unfairly burdens the middle class while benefiting wealthier Manhattan residents who are less reliant on cars.
NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino expresses the frustration felt by many: &ldquo;You can only push people so far. Otherwise law-abiding people who follow the rules and want to be left alone can only tolerate so much nickel-and-diming by a government that seems out to screw them at every opportunity before they've had enough.&rdquo;
To wit, one unintended consequence of the congestion program has been the emergence of so-called &ldquo;ghost cars&rdquo; with manipulated license plates attempting to evade toll cameras.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Now the controversy has escalated to the point where the U.S. Department of Transportation has rescinded approval of the congestion pricing system altogether. 
&ldquo;New York state&rsquo;s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small-business owners,&rdquo; says Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Predictably, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has contested the federal order to terminate the program in court, arguing that it has already yielded positive outcomes such as decreased traffic congestion and improved travel times
&ldquo;New York&rsquo;s toll plan, inspired by cities such as <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/maxed-credit-card-now-what#4">London,</a> Stockholm and Singapore, is&rdquo; &mdash; er, was? &mdash; &ldquo;the nation&rsquo;s first congestion-pricing system,&rdquo; the Wall Street Journal notes.
&ldquo;[Gov.] Hochul delayed the start of the tolls in June after years of planning, citing concerns of the costs. She later brought it back with a lower fee.&rdquo;
Amid soaring inflation? That&rsquo;s already ravaging household budgets? New York City&rsquo;s congestion toll adds insult to injury &mdash; especially for New Yorkers who can least afford to take another financial hit.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Middle Earth: &ldquo;Everyone Must Go!&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> New Zealand&rsquo;s latest $285,000 (USD) tourism campaign &mdash; &ldquo;Everyone Must Go!&rdquo; &mdash; sounds less like an invitation and more like a government diktat. 
(Or perhaps it's a subtle hint to join the record-breaking exodus from the country? More on that in a moment.)
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5RZV2XMNcxFz08bLYhroPT/d026b90a38ad1414ff4e2c4cef670bbe/NationalPark.png" alt="national park" width="540px" />
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, however, claims the campaign&rsquo;s controversy is &ldquo;a great thing&rdquo; because, at least, people are talking. Meanwhile, the Labour Party&rsquo;s tourism spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel likens the slogan to New Zealand being &ldquo;in a clearance bin at a sale.&rdquo; Oh, dear&hellip;
But the irony is palpable. While the government tries to lure Australian tourists in particular, New Zealanders are fleeing the country in droves.
&ldquo;Official figures show that there were nearly 130,000 departures last year,&rdquo; the BBC reports, &ldquo;though that was offset by the arrival of nearly 160,000 immigrants.&rdquo;
This tourism fiasco is just the latest in a series of missteps. Remember the immigration boom under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern? Only to face rising unemployment and a recession in 2024.
Now, with official unemployment at 5.1% in December 2024 &mdash; and underemployment at 12.1% &mdash; immigrants and Kiwis alike might well wonder if they should stay or go.
In the end, New Zealand's tourism campaign perfectly captures the country's state: a beautiful landscape with a slightly desperate undercurrent. Come for the scenery, yes, but don&rsquo;t stay expecting a job.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Nuclear Renaissance (and &ldquo;Bean Counters&rdquo;)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Perhaps this long weekend is the right time to share my experience in following <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/vance-vision#4">nuclear power</a> with you,&rdquo; writes a longtime reader and frequent contributor.
&ldquo;I started in 1974 as a consultant to Florida Power and Light writing procedures for the control of nuclear documents. After that I was an assistant project manager building two GE Mark II boiling water reactor plants for CFE in Mexico.
&ldquo;I should add that those plants have been running without incident since they were brought online. Of course, the cost overruns and schedule delays were legendary, but despite that they are working just fine.
&ldquo;I have found it frustrating to learn that safe and inexpensive nuclear power could be built and generated for less than the cost of coal plants, using molten salt reactor technology that was developed and proven at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1960s.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;The economic reasons why the development of this technology has been stymied are various, but the main culprit is the bureaucratic largesse of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and their support of myths about radiation,&rdquo; our reader continues.
&ldquo;While the imputed costs of the consequences of having blocked such progress will never be recovered, the actual taxpayer costs for propagating baseless radiation policy are monumental.
&ldquo;China is building and operating molten salt reactors of various power ratings already. Indonesia is in the process of implementing commercial-sized 500 megawatt modular units built in shipyards. In the U.S. we are making mud pies with dirt.
&ldquo;Investable opportunities in cheaper-than-coal molten salt fission technology are probably still a decade away, if we can defer going bankrupt until then.&rdquo;
Emily: To our reader&rsquo;s point, in September 2024 &mdash; in one of my Saturday highlight issues &mdash; I outlined Constellation Energy&rsquo;s deal with Microsoft to revive a reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island &mdash; marking the first time a U.S. nuclear reactor would be brought out of retirement.
According to a report from the <a href="https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0825/ML082560250.pdf">Nuclear Regulatory Commission</a> as well as a <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/books/three-mile-island/paper">2004 book</a> published by University of California Press, the 1979 &ldquo;partial meltdown&rdquo; at Three Mile Island caused no casualties or lasting environmental damage.
But coupled with anti-nuclear activism, the incident led to onerous regulations plus a significant slowdown in nuclear plant construction and innovation.
Not to mention: &ldquo;[Activists] conflated nuclear weapons with nuclear energy,&rdquo; says Eric Dawson, co-founder of Nuclear New York. &ldquo;And they made it their mission to shut down nuclear energy.&rdquo;
A misunderstanding which persists today&hellip; But the tides might be turning?
Per a Feb. 5 order signed by newly confirmed Energy Secretary Chris Wright: &ldquo;The long-awaited American nuclear renaissance must launch during President Trump&rsquo;s administration.
<blockquote>As global energy demand continues to grow, America must lead the commercialization of affordable and abundant nuclear energy. As such, the department will work diligently and creatively to enable the rapid deployment and export of next-generation nuclear technology.</blockquote>
But a letter that American Nuclear Society CEO Craig Piercy addressed to Secretary Wright offers a dose of reality: &ldquo;You will spend more time than you think preparing budgets, arguing with the Office of Management and Budget over what&rsquo;s included, and then defending said budgets on Capitol Hill.
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let the bean counters steal from you!&rdquo;
Words to live by. And on that note&hellip;
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/emily-clancy.png" alt="Emily Clancy" width="250px" align="left" />
Emily Clancy Associate editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

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SpaceX makes history with a jaw-dropping rocket launch that crossed international borders.

8 Minutes to SpaceX History

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It was one of those events “no one could possibly see coming” — except someone did.

March Market Madness

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If you had any doubts about whether the present bull market still has legs… It absolutely still has legs. 

AI Bull Run: Three More Years? 

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Four Pillars of Trump&rsquo;s AI Strategy
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Earlier this week, Vance addressed the Paris AI Action Summit. His speech was a clarion call for embracing AI&rsquo;s potential rather than fearing its disruption.
Vance, in fact, articulated a pro-innovation stance that stands in stark contrast to the cautious approach of previous administrations and European counterparts.
&ldquo;We refuse to view AI as a purely disruptive technology that will inevitably automate away our labor force,&rdquo; he declared, painting a picture of AI as a tool for empowerment rather than displacement.
This perspective dovetails with the Trump administration&rsquo;s broader economic vision, emphasizing American prosperity and technological leadership.
The Vice President&rsquo;s words resonated with attendees as he outlined a future where AI enhances rather than replaces human labor.
&ldquo;The most immediate applications of AI almost all involve supplementing, not replacing, the work being done by Americans,&rdquo; Vance said, offering a reassuring message to workers concerned about job security in an increasingly automated world.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Vance&rsquo;s speech also highlighted the administration's commitment to fostering an environment of unfettered innovation.
&ldquo;To restrict its development now would not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space, it would mean paralyzing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations,&rdquo; said Vance.
This stance signals a clear departure from regulatory approaches favored by some European nations as well as the Biden administration.
Instead, the Trump administration&rsquo;s AI strategy, as outlined by Vance, focuses on several key pillars:
<ul>
<li>Innovation-first approach</li>
<li>Deregulation to foster growth</li>
<li>Protection of free speech</li>
<li>Support for American workers.</li>
</ul>
This policy direction has sent ripples through the tech industry, with many experts predicting a potential boom for AI stocks.
In terms of AI, Paradigm&rsquo;s AI expert, James Altucher, wrote a seminal white paper on the subject when he was a student at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1980s. This week, given a nationwide platform, James weighed in on Vance&rsquo;s Paris speech.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Vance knows that regulation slows down innovation,&rdquo; said James, during a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
&ldquo;When [Vance] arrived in Europe,&rdquo; James continues, &ldquo;they tried to get him to sign a document [making] AI as inclusive and safe as possible. Which are great-sounding words. But who actually defines what those words mean? Some government bureaucrats. And they&rsquo;re not going to be as smart or as savvy as the people actually building AI.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/q9xiHGZ7zgexc5OSXHVOA/5032f43d4a4debefb9e6f08f456c0133/Screenshot_2025-02-14_at_8.06.31_AM.png" alt="james" width="540px" />

Source: Fox News
&ldquo;Believe me, China will have no regulations slowing them down,&rdquo; he notes. &ldquo;If we want to be first [in this AI race], we can either choose ourselves or China. No regulation is the way to choose ourselves.
&ldquo;Either we&rsquo;re going to be the leader in AI,&rdquo; James concludes, &ldquo;or we&rsquo;re going to be at the mercy of whoever is the leader in AI.&rdquo;

[Before we move on today: James Altucher points out a little-known government document&hellip; which reveals TRILLIONS of dollars in financial transactions&hellip; that have been quietly taking place on Wall Street for weeks.
A document that&rsquo;s responsible for some of the most explosive tech-and-AI stock gains in recent memory. &ldquo;Yet almost NO ONE is talking about <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2412668">this</a> besides me,&rdquo; says James.
&ldquo;But I believe this will mark the beginning of a new paradigm shift in the stock market. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2412668">And you&rsquo;ll want to be ready for the release of big news TODAY.&rdquo;</a>]

<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The Trump administration&rsquo;s approach could unleash a wave in the AI sector, potentially leading to groundbreaking advancements and economic growth.
And the Vice President&rsquo;s Paris address marks a significant shift in global AI-policy dialogue. By rejecting the caution that has guided much of European AI regulation, the White House is positioning the United States as a haven for AI innovation and development.
As the world grapples with the implications of rapid AI advancement, the U.S. stance articulated by Vance offers a bold vision for a future where AI and human workers coexist and thrive together.
This optimistic outlook &mdash; coupled with the administration&rsquo;s commitment to deregulation &mdash; could usher in an era of technological progress and economic prosperity.
As Vance&rsquo;s words echo through the halls of power and innovation hubs worldwide, the promise of AI-driven growth looms on the horizon, offering tantalizing possibilities for investors, workers and society at large.
While challenges remain, the Trump administration&rsquo;s embrace of AI as a force for positive change sets the stage for an exciting chapter in technological history.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Inflation&rsquo;s Sticky Situation
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The 5-year breakeven inflation rate is considered a more reliable indicator than the consumer price index (CPI). 
Not to get too technical, but this inflation indicator is derived by calculating the difference between the yield on a 5-year nominal Treasury security and the yield on a 5-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Security.
In short: This rate represents what market participants expect the average annual inflation to be over the next five years.
<ul>
<li>Historically, the 5-year breakeven inflation rate has fluctuated significantly, with a record high of 3.59% in March 2022 and a record low of -2.24% in November 2008</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The current level &mdash; 2.64% as of Feb. 13 &mdash; while not at historical extremes, remains well above the long-term average of 1.94%.</li>
</ul>
This market-based indicator, consistently above 2% since late 2024, challenges the Fed&rsquo;s ability to bring price increases back to its 2% goal anytime soon.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />According to the U.S. Census Bureau, month-over-month U.S. retail sales fell by 0.9% in January, a sharper decline than the anticipated 0.2%. In fact, this was the largest monthly drop since March 2023.
Some notable findings? Auto dealers saw a 2.8% decrease in sales, while online retail, typically a strong sector, experienced a 1.9% decline.
The sharp drop in retail sales suggests the almighty American consumer might be tapped out. Given that consumer spending accounts for approximately two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, we can safely forecast a slowdown in economic growth for the first quarter of 2025.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Checking on Mr. Market today: Well, he&rsquo;s struggling. At the time of writing, the S&amp;P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq &mdash; at 6,115 and 19,950 respectively &mdash; are barely hanging onto green. Meanwhile, the DJIA is down 0.25% to 44,600.
Likewise, commodities are getting clobbered today, with one exception. Oil is down 0.70% to $70.80 for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate. And the price of gold is down almost 1% to $2,916.80 per ounce. Silver, however, is up 1.10%, over $33.
As for the crypto market, Bitcoin&rsquo;s up 0.60% to $96,750 while Ethereum is up an impressive 2.75% to $2,730.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" /> When NOT to &ldquo;Stick&rdquo; to Success
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s an important question every investor should consider: What should I do when a popular stock goes parabolic?&rdquo; asks Paradigm&rsquo;s chart hound Greg Guenthner.
&ldquo;Today, I&rsquo;m going to focus on Palantir (PLTR) and its aforementioned 25% earnings rally as a real-world, real-time example of what happens when a hot stock starts to defy gravity,&rdquo; Greg says.
&ldquo;PLTR is an intelligence/AI/software mega-play that has been marching higher for the better part of the past 12 months. Most investors can&rsquo;t seem to articulate exactly what the company does or how it does it, but that hasn&rsquo;t stopped the herd from running with the bulls.
&ldquo;PLTR finished 2024 with a gain of nearly 350%, thanks mostly to a fourth-quarter surge that has carried over to the new calendar year. Investors were then treated to an incredible 25% earnings gap last week after the company dropped strong numbers and guidance.
&ldquo;The one-day move was a marvel to behold. Here we have a stock that had already doubled since its previous earnings report, only to once again appease the animal spirits and leap to new highs.
&ldquo;But it wasn&rsquo;t done yet! Instead of attempting to fill its earnings gap (or even rest, for that matter), PLTR continued to rise double-digits since last week&rsquo;s earnings report, closing at another round of all-time highs Monday afternoon.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/7fy0QJXvlqfMT22QiZBWh/b90f3508840f71f3afb148caef13f70b/2.14_5_Bullets_Chart.png" alt="artificial euphoria" width="540px" />
&ldquo;PLTR shares are now up more than 50% year to date, and more than 360% year over year, easily cementing it as one of the most popular stocks on the market today.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;PLTR&rsquo;s abrupt move that began in January is what folks in the charting world call a hockey stick &mdash; a parabolic rally wherein a stock shoots higher in a nearly vertical ascent, forming the namesake shape,&rdquo; Greg adds.
&ldquo;Obviously, PLTR is overbought following its latest earnings rally,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;PLTR is expensive by any metric. But it was expensive coming into the year before this latest rally, too. AI has its evangelists and naysayers &mdash; and the narrative will evolve no matter what happens to this one specific stock.
&ldquo;From a purely tactical perspective,&rdquo; Greg continues, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s difficult to imagine a situation where PLTR doubles again before experiencing some sort of dramatic pullback.
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;If I were involved with PLTR, I would take at least partial profits</li>
<li>And if I were stalking this name, I would not want to start a new position at these levels.</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m interested to see how parabolic moves in popular stocks like PLTR affect the market over the next several weeks,&rdquo; says Greg. &ldquo;While I&rsquo;m not officially worried about a broad market drawdown just yet, I am keeping my antennae up for any signs of exhaustion.
&ldquo;Would a momentum reset in PLTR lead to a bigger market correction? Will we finally see that elusive 10% pullback investors have avoided for the past 16 months?
<a id="4"></a>
&ldquo;These are the questions you should keep in mind as these popular momentum stocks gap higher and run nearly every single day. Right now, the averages are challenging all-time highs and investors are being rewarded for buying the dips.&rdquo;
Greg warns, however: &ldquo;Eventually, the hockey sticks will break.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />UPDATE: The AI Power Crunch
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />In our ongoing coverage of the AI-driven energy pinch, Google underscores the severity of the grid capacity crisis facing the U.S. &mdash; especially in light of the AI race against China. 
This issue has come to the forefront since China&rsquo;s DeepSeek caused a significant drop in major energy firms&rsquo; stock prices in late January due to speculation about DeepSeek&rsquo;s more energy-efficient AI model.
&ldquo;We are in an AI race against China right now,&rdquo; says Caroline Golin, Google&rsquo;s global leader for energy market development, &ldquo;[and] we are in a capacity crisis in this country right now.&rdquo;
That said, four years ago, Google initiated an ambitious plan to operate entirely on carbon-free renewable energy. But according to Golin, Google faced insufficient capacity to support their data centers, leading the tech company to consider nuclear energy as a viable alternative.
In October, Google announced a deal to purchase 500 megawatts of power, using Kairos Power&rsquo;s small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).
These advanced designs promise faster deployment of nuclear power due to their smaller footprints and streamlined manufacturing. The first reactor is planned for deployment in 2030, with additional units coming online through 2035.
The U.S. power capacity crisis, highlighted by Google&rsquo;s concerns about infrastructure for AI development, provides critical context for Vice President Vance&rsquo;s AI optimism. It underlines the need for innovation not only in AI technology, but also in cost-effective energy solutions.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Nothing Says &ldquo;I Love You&rdquo;... 
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &hellip;like a reservation at Waffle House?!?
This Valentine&rsquo;s Day, Waffle House is serving up romance. Over 200 locations across 22 states are dimming the lights, breaking out the fancy tablecloths and transforming into the hottest date-night spot in town.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/OUg8Qih2ApsJBOClgUihT/83b0c9527eb58d6c43a073115558ec22/WaffleHouse.png" alt="waffle house" width="300px" />

Courtesy: Waffle House
For one night only, these 24/7 diners will trade their &ldquo;always open&rdquo; policy for an exclusive &ldquo;reservation required&rdquo; experience.
The tradition began in Johns Creek, Georgia, where a manager decided to sprinkle some amore into the usual greasy-spoon fare. Now, couples can gaze lovingly into each other&rsquo;s eyes over a plate of scattered, smothered or covered hash browns.
So if you're looking to impress (er, depress?) your sweetheart without breaking the bank, Waffle House has got you covered. Just be sure to make your reservation between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time.
After all, in these inflationary times, there&rsquo;s no better (er, cheaper?) way to say, &ldquo;Be my Valentine.&rdquo;
Have a wonderful weekend! Check your inbox on Monday &mdash; Presidents&rsquo; Day &mdash; for a special guest essay&hellip; We&rsquo;ll be back to our regularly scheduled format on Tuesday.
Happy Valentine&rsquo;s Day,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/emily-clancy.png" alt="Emily Clancy" width="250px" align="left" />
Emily Clancy Associate editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

5 bullets hero Benjamin Franklin face on dollar bill

shutterstock 173105252

Vance addressed the Paris AI Action Summit. His speech was a clarion call for embracing AI’s potential rather than fearing its disruption.