What's happening: U.S. Supreme Court overturns Trump tariffs, paving way for $130B in refunds
The Supreme Court ruled 6‑3 that the Trump administration’s “Liberation Day” tariffs were unlawful, restoring congressional authority over trade barriers. The decision opens the door for importers to seek refunds of roughly $130 billion collected by the Treasury, with industry estimates of up to $175 billion in potential recoveries.
Also developing:

BP reported 2025 earnings of $7.5 bn, a 15% drop from the previous year, as crude prices fell roughly 20%. The oil major lifted its cost‑saving goal to $5.5‑$6.5 bn by the end of 2027, up from a $5 bn ceiling, and halted its share‑buyback programme while selling a 65% stake in Castrol. Debt sits near $22 bn, prompting tighter balance‑sheet discipline. New chief executive Meg O'Neill, arriving in April, is expected to double down on oil and gas operations after a recent retreat from renewables.
An Atlantic Council survey of 447 experts from 72 nations paints a bleak picture of the world in 2036. Most respondents expect China to become the top economic power, while the United States retains military superiority, creating a bipolar or...
Cosco Shipping Car Carriers has launched a monthly ro‑ro liner linking the Beibu Gulf ports of Qinzhou and Nansha with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The service, operated by the vessel Cosco Shengshi, will transport roughly 2,000 commercial vehicles...

France’s finance minister Roland Lescure warned against a blanket 30% tariff on Chinese imports, urging a targeted approach instead. A government planning commission has recommended a sweeping duty or a euro‑yuan depreciation to shield European industry. Lescure highlighted China’s unsustainable...

ECB Vice‑President Luis de Guindos told Econostream that inflation has fallen to 1.7% headline and core inflation is edging toward the 2% target, while the euro‑area economy is proving more resilient than expected. He highlighted downside risks from geopolitical flashpoints and...

Australian legume exporters posted a dramatic December surge, shipping 588,122 tonnes of chickpeas and 410,805 tonnes of lentils, up 57% and more than double respectively from November. India dominated demand, taking 63% of chickpeas and 39% of lentils, while Bangladesh and Pakistan...

The episode examines how China’s digital yuan (e‑yuan) reshapes the internationalization of the renminbi by focusing on usage rather than ownership. It explains that traditional barriers were convertibility and capital controls, which limited the ability to sell or move RMB...

VanEck’s Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMBX) posted a 5.56% 30‑day yield and outperformed both its benchmark and U.S. Treasuries in January 2026, driven by strong local‑currency exposure and carry. The fund’s portfolio now holds 48% hard‑currency sovereigns, with notable additions...

Emmanuel Macron: « Now is the time for the EU to launch a joint borrowing capacity, through eurobonds. » https://t.co/NqqbjjecXk
Chinese energy‑storage giants are signing multi‑GWh deals worldwide, signalling a rapid international expansion in 2026. Cornex will deliver 5.5 GWh to Saudi Arabia, while CATL, together with Schroders Greencoat and Lochpine Capital, targets up to 10 GWh of European battery‑storage projects. Tianneng...
Stock markets may sour if this week’s US economic data casts doubt on Fed rate cut speculation. #stockmarkets #Fed #Economy #InterestRates #USD #Macro #trading https://t.co/ZEfchApMC0

U.S. Treasury yields slipped across the board for the week ending February 6, 2026. The benchmark 30‑year rate fell 0.02 percentage points, while the 10‑year yield dropped 0.04 points to 4.22 %. The 3‑year Treasury rate settled at 3.57 %, reflecting a modest broad‑based decline. These...
AI anxiety often misses the key margin: it’s not “humans vs machines,” it’s “humans who use machines vs humans who don’t.” The tech shifts who’s productive—and who gets paid. Remember, you don't need to outrun the bear. https://t.co/jULdqTdCrU

US grain storage capacity expanded steadily from 2000 to 2019, adding roughly 350 million bushels per year, but growth has essentially stopped after 2020. Meanwhile, crop production kept rising, pushing the surplus capacity margin down to just 5 % in 2025. On‑farm...
Elevra Lithium has signed a non‑binding MOU with Canada’s Mangrove Lithium to off‑take up to 144,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year from the North American Lithium (NAL) project in Quebec. The supply would begin in 2028, scaling to full...
The Trump administration’s 2025 trade strategy oscillated between aggressive, unpredictable tariff threats and a quieter push for long‑standing trade objectives. While high tariffs and threats destabilized markets, the administration began issuing exemptions and rolled back many threats, stabilizing tariff levels...

The $DXY has dropped sharply today. A big picture look at the trade-weighted Dollar index vs an equally-weighted variant: https://t.co/sqTvcv4ihu

Gold is back above $5,000. The rally in precious metals is reckless and crazy, but so is global fiscal policy. At some point over the past 20 years, policy makers who believe in keeping public debt stable stopped existing. Makes...

Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called a snap election that delivered a historic super‑majority for the Liberal Democratic Party, winning 316 of 465 lower‑house seats. The result gives the LDP unprecedented legislative power to push Takaichi’s agenda without...
Employment in S&P 500 companies is 18% of total US employment, but 35 cents of every dollar that goes into the SPX goes to 7 companies. This is a market structure problem and a major issue with our 401k system.

Imported solar panels are no longer subject to Section 201 tariffs after they expired on February 6, 2026, ending an eight‑year protection regime that began under the Trump administration. The tariffs, which started at 30 % and gradually declined to 14 % by 2025, were...

Hapag‑Lloyd posted a Q4 2025 EBIT of $200 million, a 75% drop from the same quarter a year earlier, yet still managed a full‑year profit of $1.1 billion despite plunging spot rates. Container volumes rose modestly, adding 200,000 TEU in Q4 and...
TechMet, the US‑backed critical‑minerals investment vehicle, is seeking up to $200 million of new capital to broaden its portfolio after raising $300 million last year, including $180 million from the Qatar Investment Authority. CEO Brian Menell announced the raise at the 2026 Mining...

In a February 9, 2026 speech to the European Parliament, ECB President Christine Lagarde reaffirmed the central bank’s independence while emphasizing its accountability to elected officials. She reported that headline inflation has fallen to 1.7% in January and is expected...

The episode examines the interim U.S.-India trade deal announced in February 2026, which cuts U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18% and obliges India to cease Russian oil imports in favor of U.S. energy supplies. It traces the...

The episode examines the increasingly fraught relationship between Mexico’s President‑elect Claudia Sheinbaum and former U.S. President Donald Trump, focusing on five intersecting issues: Mexico’s humanitarian aid and oil shipments to Cuba, alleged ties between Venezuela’s Maduro regime and Mexico’s Morena...

In April 2025 President Trump issued an executive order authorizing U.S. companies to mine critical minerals in international waters, directly contravening the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The move aims to secure rare‑earth supplies amid...

The European Union announced plans to replace its $44.10‑per‑barrel Russian oil price cap with a comprehensive ban on maritime services for Russian crude, pending member‑state approval. The ban would block hull, machinery, and insurance services, pushing Russia toward the uninsured...

Professor Eric Hilt’s 2026 paper traces the evolution of financial crises over two centuries, highlighting how regulatory regimes and banking structures shaped their frequency and character. Early crises were often sparked by banking panics, while the post‑World War II regulatory era...

The latest "Talk Your Book" episode breaks down the three A’s shaping the U.S. economy—asset prices, artificial intelligence, and the affluent consumer. It highlights a widening market breadth and offers a framework for valuing the world’s largest firms. The discussion...
Altona Rare Earths announced that the U.S. Trade & Development Agency will support its Monte Muambe project in Mozambique, prompting a 76% surge in the company's London‑listed shares. The backing aims to map technical and financial routes for extracting rare‑earth...

The episode explains that China’s official macro debt ratio hit a record 302.3% of GDP in 2025, driven primarily by government borrowing while household and private company debt fell. It highlights the real‑estate crisis as the catalyst that halted household...

In this episode J. William DeMarco argues that recent Chinese military activities around Taiwan are less about rehearsing an invasion and more about a strategy of paralysis—using encirclement, law‑enforcement vessels, and limited rocket fire to create economic and political pressure...

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, enacted in 2021, created a rebuttable presumption that Xinjiang‑origin goods are barred from the U.S. market. U.S. Customs data show a sharp drop in UFLPA‑related detentions, from roughly $1.58 billion in 2023 and $1.40 billion in...

The episode breaks down the ASEAN Inc. portfolio—a $1 million, equally weighted allocation across seven U.S.-listed ETFs covering Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and a regional ASEAN‑40 fund—and shows it delivered a 21.3% annualized total return through February 2026, beating...

Shippers are grappling with mixed signals from carriers about returning to the Suez Canal route. Maersk said peace in the Middle East is required, yet announced two services will resume via the Red Sea with military escort. CMA CGM has shifted...
Chinese electric‑vehicle makers are eyeing Canada as a strategic foothold into North America, with a government‑approved quota of 49,000 units annually – roughly 3.8% of the market. BYD is projected to dominate the allocation, taking about 30% of the quota,...

The episode dissects Thailand’s surprise February 8, 2026 election, where Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai party captured nearly 200 seats, shifting the country’s foreign policy toward deeper engagement with China while prompting a tougher U.S. response. It highlights the immediate implications for...
In this 17‑minute episode, RANE’s South Asia analyst Misha Iqbal breaks down the key actors and forces shaping Bangladesh’s upcoming election—the first since the 2024 pro‑democracy uprising that removed Sheikh Hasina from power. Iqbal outlines the political landscape, including emerging...

Turkey recorded a historic tourism peak in 2025, welcoming roughly 63.9 million visitors and generating $65.2 billion in revenue. Visitor numbers rose 2.7% year‑over‑year, while tourism earnings climbed 6.8%, surpassing government targets. The market mix featured 52.8 million foreign tourists and 11.1 million Turkish...

President Donald Trump has turned to senior military officials to spearhead high‑stakes diplomatic talks on Iran’s nuclear program and the Russia‑Ukraine war. Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, joined indirect Iran negotiations in Oman, while Army Secretary Dan...

The latest Elliott Wave analysis notes that EUR/USD slipped during the first week of February 2026, testing the 1.1800 support zone. While the pair remains above this level, bullish sentiment persists, suggesting the wave count may still be in an...

In this week’s Oil Context Weekly, the host reviews flat crude prices slipping below $68 a barrel after geopolitical chatter between the U.S. and Iran, while noting a modestly backwardated term structure with a "smiley‑faced" futures curve extending to 2027....

In this episode, the host examines the current state of China's grain market, focusing on its ability to meet President Trump's promised soybean purchases of 8 million metric tons (294 million bushels) and the anticipated 25 million metric tons of new crop. The...
In this First Friday episode, host Paula Pant reviews the economic landscape of January 2026, highlighting a 2% S&P 500 pullback, a near‑10% Bitcoin drop, and a cooling labor market with job openings falling to 7.6 million. She discusses the surprise nomination of...
Northern Graphite has partnered with Saudi Arabia's Al Obeikan Group to build a $200 million battery‑grade graphite plant in Yanbu, slated for production in 2028. The venture will source concentrate from the revived Okanjande mine in Namibia and gives Northern a...

The FX team discusses a variety of topics: the euro bloc/ APAC FX rotation, RBA hawkish pivot, scenarios around upcoming JP elections, the dovish BoE surprise and recent US data. This podcast was recorded on 06 February 2026. This communication is...
The U.S. Geological Survey’s 2026 mineral commodities summary shows the United States now imports 100% of 16 of the 90 non‑fuel minerals it tracks, up from 15 a year earlier, and relies on foreign sources for more than half of...
Iran’s inflation, hovering around 20% and spiking above 40% during sanctions, has become a structural feature of its macro‑economy. The country’s fragmented exchange‑rate system, fiscal deficits financed by the central bank, and dominant state‑linked enterprises perpetuate price pressures. Analysts argue...
Heliostar Metals announced the first gold pour from its newly restarted San Agustin mine in Durango, marking its second operating asset after La Colorada. The open‑pit mine is projected to deliver roughly 45,000 ounces of gold from existing reserves, prompting...