Trump’s Ukraine-Russia Deal: Lithuania Says Europe Must Move on Frozen Assets

Market Trends & Geopolitics - Traders increase bets on a rate cut by the Fed next month [1][48] - Marco Rubio says talks with U S -backed peace plans with Russia could extend past Trump's deadline [1][48] - There is considerable pressure coming through on Ukraine from the United States [9] - European leaders surprised by the 28 point plan on Ukraine that the U S put out [52] - Lithuania has accused Russia of violating its airspace and sabotaging Poland's railway [84] - The U S government accuses the group whose name translates are being led by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro [60] Company & Industry Dynamics - BHP backs off from another attempt to take over Anglo American [2][48] - Mining industry will continue to look at opportunities to acquire copper assets [29] - U K 's CEOs are bracing for a Chancellor Rachel Reeves to pop costs on their businesses in the budget [31] - Private credit has fundamentally changed to the structure of credit markets [39] - HSBC is active in lending to SMEs [45] Financial Markets & Investments - S&P futures are up 0 7% in anticipation of a Fed pivot with dovish commentary [2] - Germany's business confidence index at 88 1 versus estimates of 88 5% [3] - Defense stocks have been darling trades [14] - Defense segment of the market trading at 32 times forward 12 month multiple to about 10 for banks [17] - Banks are at the center of the region in the big wave of savers moving into investments, we talk about 14 trillion waiting to be deployed [19] - Gold has been a massive outperformer, up around 50% this year [63] - Alamos Gold CEO sees gold ultimately trading substantially higher than what it is today, potentially reaching $5,000 an ounce by 2026 [69][75]