OpenAI has closed a new funding round that could total $110 billion, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $730 billion pre-money and potentially putting it on course for an IPO in the second half of the year, according to a new Financial Times report.

"Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available," the US State Department announced Friday, signaling that US strikes on Iran could be imminent,.

It provided confirmation the US government has begun evacuating "non-emergency" personnel from the embassy in Israel and their family members, citing "safety risks" amid growing tensions with Iran.

US Producer Prices came in hotter than expected in January, with the headline PPI rising 0.5% MoM (vs +0.3% exp), higher than the revised +0.4% MoM in December. This left Producer Prices up 2.9% YoY (hotter than expected but below December's +3.0%)...

The rollercoaster continues: US equity futures are in the red again, trading near session lows, and set to extend Thursday's losses with as stocks underperform after yesterday's spectacular plunge in the momentum trade as NVDA's post record-breaking earnings/guidance plunge spooked markets that nothing is resolved about where AI goes next. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures were down 0.6%, and set for a monthly loss after a whirlwind February marked by twin fears of a bubble in the AI trade and of the technology’s disruptive power. Nasdaq futures dropped 0.7%. In the latest AI contradiction, CoreWeave plunged 12% after data center operator reported a bigger-than-expected loss and higher capex fueling concern about overspending on infrastructure. But in a mirror image, Dell is 12% higher after its outlook for sales of AI servers exceeded estimates, a sign of robust demand for machines helping fuel the AI data center build-out. 10-year Treasury yields slid below 4%, while the USD is flat. Commodities are mixed, with Energy higher and Metals mixed (Silver outperforming vs Gold flat). Today's macro data focus is on PPI and Construction Spending.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to reinvent his ailing Labour government with a leftwards pivot after the Green Party captured one of its House of Commons seats via a special election.

The result underscores the recent fragmentation of UK politics and the disruption of long-held electoral certainties.

It's a disturbing commentary on our times when the concept of men and women being required by law to admit their proper biological sex becomes headline news, but here we are. 

For the past decade, transgender ideology (with zero basis in scientific reality) has surged to the forefront of our cultural zeitgeist.  Never before in the history of the western world has one tiny minority of people received so much privilege and protection from governments and the corporate establishment.  Furthermore, this small group of mentally ill people has triggered a political firestorm that is changing the face of the US. 

Authored by Laura Hollis via The Epoch Times,

There’s a revolution brewing across the Big Pond.

The British people were already fed up with the Labour government headed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. And then the man Starmer appointed to be ambassador to the United States—Peter Mandelson—was exposed as having a deep friendship with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, even after Epstein was convicted on charges of sex with a minor in 2008. Mandelson is now under investigation for possibly passing sensitive government information to Epstein. Starmer is viewed as being crippled by these revelations and losing support within his own party.

Readers have been briefed on the emerging global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply crunch, driven by soaring data center demand. We have tracked the progression of this theme for months through what seem to be almost weekly developments, ranging from notable institutional research desks and industry insiders to more recent warnings from electronics device companies about looming shortages and price spikes.

Authored by Paul Bradford via American Greatness,

For years, some of the worst actors in the tech industry were able to do as they pleased without fear of consequence.

They could construct monopolies, censor conservatives, and promote wokeness as much as they wanted. But things are beginning to change with the Trump administration. Thanks to the efforts of the White House, the days of Big Tech wantonness are over. These companies now must follow the basic tenets of the free market and stop suppressing views they disagree with.

Cocoa prices have collapsed 75% from their 2024 peaks, and Goldman’s latest note points out that the worst of the cocoa shock for chocolate makers may finally be passing after being squeezed by soaring bean costs through 2023, 2024, and into the first half of 2025. This only suggests that lower chocolate bar prices at the supermarket could materialize later this year. Against that backdrop, Goldman reiterated Buy ratings on two confectionery stocks.

Authored by Lipton Matthews via The Mises Institute,

I recently attended an event at the Prosperity Institute in the United Kingdom, and, as a foreigner listening to the discussion unfold, I found it both unsettling and clarifying.

The panel addressed the grooming gang scandal, a subject that remains profoundly uncomfortable for Britain’s political and cultural establishment. What distinguished this event was its refusal to soften the reality of what occurred or to retreat into evasive language. The discussion did not merely revisit past failures; it exposed a deeper pattern in how British institutions exercise power.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has unveiled a critical minerals agreement with Kazakhstan on Thursday as Western governments move to shift supply chains away from China, moving ahead on London's plans to diversify its critical mineral sourcing.