The Wrap-Up for Friday, December 19

Geopolitical & Economic Policy - US President considers potential actions regarding Venezuela, including possible oil tanker seizures, while remaining ambiguous about the ultimate goal concerning President Maduro [1] - US President asserts that tariffs are a permanent aspect of trade policy [2] Monetary Policy & Interest Rates - Bank of Japan (BOJ) increased short-term interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, reaching the highest level since 1995 [2] - The BOJ's move resulted in the country's 10-year benchmark bond exceeding 2% for the first time since 1999 [2] - BOJ anticipates that real interest rates will remain significantly negative [3] Technology & AI - US government is reviewing NVIDIA's H200 AI chips, potentially impacting shipments to Beijing; Commerce, State, Energy, and Defense departments have 30 days to provide input [3] - OpenAI is reportedly discussing a new $100 billion funding round, potentially valuing the company as high as $830 billion [5] - Meta Platforms is reportedly developing a new image and video AI model named Mango, with a planned release in the first half of next year [5] Financial Regulation & Market Activity - US House leadership considers a vote on a bill banning congressional stock trading as early as next year [4] - President Trump supports a ban on congressional stock trading but excludes the executive branch [4] - Coinbase is suing Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut over their attempts to regulate prediction markets, arguing that Congress has already granted the CFTC authority [6]