February 20
S&P Oil FX Gold Silver 10Y USH
S&P is up 0.47% | 3:37
Dollar index is down 0.26% to 97.67
10Y is 4.092%, higher by 1.2bp
Oil up 0.05% to $66.43
Gold is up 1.50% to $5,073. Safe haven demand.
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN TRUMP TARIFFS
Chief Justice Roberts authors opinion saying tariffs are taxes, and therefore are up to Congress | Asia
‘As they interpret the statute, the President could, for example, block all imports from China but cannot order even a $1 tariff on goods imported from China. That approach does not make much sense’ | Fedrl
There are many laws that explicitly authorize the president to impose taxes on imports, but they include limits that Trump was keen to avoid. | Reas
Trump Has ‘Great Alternatives’ | PW
“Trump says ‘other alternatives will now be used to replace’ his sweeping tariffs that the Supreme Court rejected,” the Associated Press reports. “‘We have alternatives. Great alternatives,’ Trump said.”
Trump to sign new 10% global tariff after Supreme Court defeat | NYP
“Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said.
At the same time, the Trump administration will launch “various investigations” under Section 301 of the same act, which allows the US Trade Representative to investigate and impose tariffs when foreign trade practices are “unjustifiable” and “burdens or restricts” US commerce | AlJaz
Wall Street Journal: “President Trump said he would sign an order on Friday to impose a 10% global tariff under a different authority, ‘over and above our normal tariffs already being charged.’ Trump said all national security tariffs under Section 232 and existing Section 301 tariffs would remain in place.”
In a major ruling on presidential power, Supreme Court struck down tariffs | Scotus
By a vote of 6-3, the justices ruled that the tariffs exceed the powers given to the president by Congress under a 1977 law providing him the authority to regulate commerce during national emergencies created by foreign threats. The court did not weigh in, however, on whether or how the federal government should provide refunds to the importers who have paid the tariffs, estimated in 2025 at more than $200 billion.
rl
Atlanta Fed GDP now growth estimate for the 1st quarter 3.1%
Results and guidance by Nvidia next week will serve as bellwether for the global AI demand
Economic data: producer prices, housing prices, consumer confidence, and leading indicators
NYC employs 364,000 government employees, of which only 31% of are white. | Insta
KR: That many?
The Doctor will see you now.
‘Watch out,’ says the homeowner, ‘my dog might bite.’
‘I don’t care’...says the robot.
Susan Rice makes threat to prosecute and punish any company helping Trump
“If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to play by the old rules…they’ve got another thing coming." “There will be an accountability agenda." “This is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget."
Trump orders Pentagon, other US agencies to release files on UFOs and aliens
While he did not specify whether classified documents would be released to the public, Trump added that the files should include "any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters".
Try the new Grok 4.20 public test release via http://Grok.com
or the app | Elon
Grok 4.20 will design cool websites for you. You just describe what you want… and Grok builds it for you and it's powerful enough to do it in one shot
Debt Rattle
* The Pentagon has been pushing every major AI lab to remove their safety restrictions for military use.
* Virginia Roberts Giuffre wrote multiple times that if she died, it wouldn’t be from suicide
Trump has managed to maneuver himself into a position that makes a long war on Iran all but inevitable. | Moon
Deploying such a large force is extremely costly. Pressure will increase quickly to use it or to stand down. Iran will retaliate with waves of drones and older missiles. The aim will be to exhaust U.S. missile defenses. During last years 12-day war it took Iran about eight days to achieve that. Thereafter it used newer missiles which were able to hit their targets in Israel will unexpected precision.
MIT Prof Ted Postol: Attacking Iran Means What for Israel? | Wauck
With Shaky Reasoning, Trump Weighs Limited Initial Strike On Iran To Force A Deal | Zero
The idea is based on two deeply questionable premises:
* that air strikes alone will compel Iran to give up its defensive ballistic missile capabilities, and halt all nuclear enrichment
* that Iran won't retaliate for an American "limited strike" in a way that sends the United States, Israel, Iran and perhaps even Russia and China racing up an escalation ladder
Democratic Party leaders are doing nothing to oppose Trump’s war plans for Iran | Cons
because they quietly support those plans. They just don’t want to be the ones pulling the trigger.
If Trump, despite warnings from JD Vance and Tulsi Gabbard, chooses to launch an unprovoked war against Iran, I would not be surprised if Iran decides to launch its retaliatory strike before the US bombs and missiles hit targets in Iran. | John
The U.K. is reportedly preventing the U.S. from using Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford to attack Iran. | Insta
PM Starmer just killed the UK-US "Special Relationship. demoting the UK to the status of unreliable US allies like Turkey.
Email: wkidder42@gmail.com
Text: 1 646 257 2130
Voice: Use WhatsApp +1 646 257 2130
at 1:00 AM