Geopolitics and the Bond Markets

Bond Markets Are Now Battlefields
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/06/finance-trump-europe-us-treasurys-greenland/ 

The Crypto Industry Enables Political Corruption

One Generation Runs the Country. The Next Cashed in on Crypto
https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/trump-sons-crypto-billions-1e7f1414
Sons of top Trump administration officials made billions for their families, but their investors didn’t always fare so well. 
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/business/binance-trump-crypto.html 

Big Tech's Capex Plans

Big Tech’s AI Push Is Costing a Lot More Than the Moon Landing
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-spending-tech-companies-compared-02b90046
As a percentage of GDP, the projected spending of four tech giants for 2026 rivals the most momentous capital efforts in U.S. history. 

Dow 50000

Road to Dow 50000 Was Perilous. What’s Next Could Be Rockier.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-road-to-dow-50000-was-perilous-whats-next-could-be-rockier-da80b250 

The Dow, the Uncool Index, Has Its Moment in the Sun
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-dow-the-uncool-index-has-its-moment-in-the-sun-6afd5fbb
The Dow industrials reached 50000 this past week. The younger crowd is unimpressed.

The Financialization of the American Economy

The Finance Industry Is a Grift. Let’s Start Treating It That Way.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/opinion/capitalism-industry-financialization.html
Oren Crass:
Financialization has made American businesses less resilient, less innovative and less competitive. It has been a major cause of slow wage growth and rising inequality. It has fueled the loss of manufacturing jobs across the heartland. It has corrupted sectors in which the profit motive was never meant to reign supreme — veterinary practices, funeral parlors, campgrounds, residential treatment services, youth sports, hospitals and nursing homes, even suppliers for volunteer fire departments — consolidating and managing them with ruthless efficiency, squeezing their vulnerable customers and then pointing to the higher cash flow as “value creation.” 

Crypto's Track Record

After Slump, Bitcoin Now Trails S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Gold Over Five Years
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/after-slump--bitcoin-now-trails-s-p-500--nasdaq-100--gold-over-five-years-85785.html
 
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/technology/bitcoin-price-drop-crypto-market.html 

AI and Financial Market Turmoil

The Dark Side of A.I. Weighs on the Stock Market
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/business/the-dark-side-of-ai-weighs-on-the-stock-market.html
The prospect of disruptions from A.I. has hung over the U.S. economy for years. But this week, advances in tools precipitated a sell-off on Wall Street.

Here’s Where AI Is Tearing Through Corporate America
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-software-business-stock-market-4b17b432
The latest advances have companies—and the stock market—rethinking the software that handles jobs big and small.

 
The Week Anthropic Tanked the Market and Pulled Ahead of Rivals
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-week-anthropic-tanked-the-market-and-pulled-ahead-of-its-rivals-ef59dff1
Once a distant second or third in the AI race, the company is moving to the front with a focus on caution, coding and business clients.
 
The Software Rout Is Spreading Pain to the Debt Markets
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/the-software-rout-is-spreading-pain-to-the-debt-markets-d6dd1397
The tech sector has an outsize presence in loan portfolios, raising the risk of contagion.
 
It’s Time to Rethink Investment Advice. But Not Too Much, Our Columnist Says. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/business/market-risk-investing-index-funds.html