The problem with America's institutions, both in government and business, is that leaders no longer feel obligated to abide by shared rules and standards, laments @gmukunda (via @opinion) https://t.co/Cmo0lMaP4b ...

Market Overview - U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday following a more than 1% gain in major indices on Wednesday after President Trump withdrew tariff threats against the EU [1] - The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.24%, while the two-year bond was at 3.59%, with a 95% likelihood of unchanged interest rates projected for January [2] Index Performance - Dow Jones increased by 1.21% to 49,077.23 - S&P 500 rose by 1.16% to 6,875.62 - Nasdaq Composite gained 1.18% to 23,224.82 - Russell 2000 saw a 2.00% increase to 2,698.17 [10] Stocks in Focus - Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was up 1.60% in premarket trading, projected to post quarterly earnings of 8 cents per share on revenue of $13.38 billion [7] - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) rose 1.06% after announcing a multiyear partnership with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team to integrate cloud and AI technologies [7] - Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) jumped 5.64% following positive updates on a cancer therapy study in collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. [7] - The Metals Company Inc. (NASDAQ: TMC) gained 5.51% after a new rule by NOAA modernized regulations for deep-seabed mining permits [16] - Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) increased by 2.73% as CEO highlighted a memory chip shortage due to rising AI demand [16] Analyst Insights - BlackRock maintains a "pro-risk" investment stance for early 2026, driven by AI's transformative power and a supportive macroeconomic backdrop [11] - They expect the Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates, supported by a softening labor market and declining inflation [11] - BlackRock prefers equities over government bonds, keeping an underweight position on long-term U.S. Treasuries due to fiscal sustainability concerns [13]

The first one is that the way the head was fired and she was fired just following data releases that the president liked that erodess institutional integrity and institutional integrity is very important in the US economy. The second focus is on the problems we having collecting and estimating data. These have been longstanding problems that have been getting worse.The reporting level has come down. the methodology used for estimating when you don't have the data is breaking down. So there are fundamental i ...