News and my thoughts from the past week (15Dec25)
McDonald’s removed its AI-generated Christmas commercial after it went viral for being terrible. - X user HedgieMarket. Not every AI product is good and tasteful. I think it’s part of what I call the AI Dunning-Kruger effect. The people excited to use AI aren’t equipped to judge its outputs. Those who are equipped tend not to use it. - X user David V Stewart.
EVERY TIME JAPAN HIKES RATES, BITCOIN DUMPS 20–25%. NEXT WEEK, THEY WILL HIKE RATES TO 75 BPS AGAIN. IF THE PATTERN HOLDS, $BTC WILL DUMP BELOW $70,000 ON DECEMBER 19. POSITION ACCORDINGLY. - X user OxNobler.
Crypto whale ‘James Wynn’ says a major crash is coming and longs will be “annihilated.” - X user Bitcoin Junkies
We have been informed about earthquakes, famines, pestilences, wars, and severe storms by St. Matthew & St. Luke. Let us prepare.
Recent reports highlight OpenAI’s challenges: HSBC projects $500B losses by 2030 due to high cash burn. Investors like Michael Burry predict collapse, citing insufficient funding. Losses reached $7.8B in H1 2025. Deals like Windsurf fell through, and partners hold $100B debt. However, no confirmed shutdown yet—it’s speculative amid AI competition. - Grok
JPMorgan is the largest lender to data center infrastructure so far in 2025, with exposure reaching nearly $6B in project level debt. - X user Wall St Engine
150,000 people have been killed and 10 million displaced in Sudan. Decades of atrocities have culminated in one of the worst humanitarian crises on Earth. - X user House Foreign Affairs Committee
Major investors are DUMPING Japanese government bonds: The Bank of Japan, domestic banks, insurers sold -¥10.7 TRILLION in Japanese Govt Bonds (JGBs) in September, the most EVER. Demand for Japanese debt is falling; no wonder yields are rising. - X user Global Markets Investor
US bottom earners are feeling the MOST PAIN in the world’s largest economy: Wage growth for the bottom 25% of earners has fallen to the lowest in 8 years. It has now remained below the wage growth of the top 25% for nearly 2 years, something that has not happened in at least a DECADE. So uneven economy. - X user Global Markets Investor
Oracle’s credit default swaps hit 141 basis points this week. The highest since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. - X user Shanaka Anslem Perera
Population collapse continues to accelerate - Elon Musk
China has sold $32 BILLION of US government bonds in 3 months, bringing its total to $700.5 billion, the lowest in 17 YEARS. China’s holdings have declined +$600 billion since 2013. China is diversifying from USD - X user Global Markets Investor
High-income U.S. households earning over $150,000 now make up a record 34% of all households, up 29 points since 1965, while the middle class has fallen to a record-low 45%, down 11 points, per Bloomberg.
26% of Americans say they spend more than they earn, per YF.
The average U.S. credit card balance is $6,523 as of September 2025. The U.S. credit card balances have climbed to $1.21 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 2025 report. Source: EconomyApp. Is this a concern?
“If you think beef is expensive now, just wait until next year when prices could soar nearly 60%,” per FORTUNE
Switzerland REJECTS Palantir Software. Palantir Software Poses Devastating Risks - Netz Politik. After a risk assessment of the use of Palantir software in Switzerland, the US corporation was rejected, despite years of courting by authorities and the army. The Swiss consider the risks too great. The fear is that Palantir is handing over sensitive data to the US and from there to Israel. - X user Megatron
Warren Buffett protégé quits in blow to Berkshire Hathaway, Todd Combs exits stock-picking conglomerate as ‘Oracle of Omaha’ prepares to retire - Telegraph UK
People stop paying their credit cards first. Then they stop paying their auto loans. And lastly their mortgage payments. - X user Jon Brooks
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says: “Europe has driven business out, driven investment out and driven innovation out”
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