BREAKING: All federal employees who do not work in person by February 6 will get FIRED - President Donald J. Trump
President Donald Trump warned US federal employees to return to in-person work by February 6 or face termination. The government is offering buyouts, with departures permitted under a deferred resignation programme. Trump aims to reduce the federal workforce. "If they do not agree to show up to work in their office by February 6, they will be terminated. Therefore, we will be downscaling our government, which is something that the last 10 presidents have tried very hard to do, but failed," Trump said. "We think a very substantial number of people will not show up to work, and, therefore, our government will get smaller and more efficient," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "And that's what we've been looking to do for many, many decades," he added. We may ask these people to prove that they didn't have another job during their so-called employment with the United States of America, because if they did, that would be unlawful," Trump said Source: India Today Source image: Graphic of Donald J. Trump saying "You're fired". The Spiggle Law Firm Marketing Team thru Forbes
Why does a strong January matter?
Here's a chart shared last year (so it isn't updated for 2024 yet), but it shows a clear trend starts early in the year. Source: Carson, Ryan Detrick
The Fed held rates steady as widely expected.
The FOMC statement contains only minor changes that mark to market recent economic developments: 👉 "Labor market conditions remain solid" = Hawkish❗ 👉 "Inflation remains somewhat elevated." (The central bank notably removed reference to inflation making progress towards the goal) = Hawkish❗ The Fed will continue its QT program at an unchanged pace of $60 billion a month. The market does not expect rate cuts at least until June 2025. Source: Nick Timiraos, The Kobeissi Letter
🔴 FED CHAIR POWELL SAYS BANKS CAN NOW SERVE CRYPTO TO CUSTOMERS 🚀
Banks can serve crypto customers as long as they can manage the risk, said U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, amid allegations that the crypto industry is being cut off from financial institutions. "The threshold has been a little higher for banks engaging in crypto activities and that's because they're so new," Powell said on Wednesday when asked by a reporter during a Federal Reserve press conference about risks associated with cryptocurrency. The central bank is not against innovation, he added. Crypto firms have complained about the difficulty behind establishing and maintaining bank accounts in the U.S. Following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022, several governmental agencies, including the Federal Reserve, issued warnings on "crypto-asset risks." Source: The Block
This cycle, bitcoin is leaving "crypto" in the dust.
Source: Tuur Demeester @TuurDemeeste
S&P 500 ETF $SPY short interest has fallen near its lowest level in the last 14 years 🚨
Source: Barchart
Trump is not happy with “hawkish” Powell.
Source: @realDonaldTrump
Magnificent 7 stocks have underperformed the market in 2025:
The Magnificent 7 stocks are down -1.4% while the S&P 500 itself is up ~2.9%. Meanwhile, the remaining 493 stocks in the S&P 500 have gained +6.6%. To put this into perspective, in 2024, the Magnificent 7 stocks returned +67.4% while the remaining 493 firms gained just +5.0%.
