The three main benchmarks all traded higher on Monday at the end of a volatile month for Wall Street, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq flirting with its worst ever start to the year.

After an earlier nominee for a top U.S. banking regulation post was torpedoed, White House officials are determined not to let it happen again and have circled around President Joe Biden's nominees for three top Federal Reserve jobs.

A record amount of more than half a trillion dollars of debt was raised in January by companies as issuers scrambled to take advantage of attractive funding conditions before global central banks begin a tightening cycle.

U.S. job openings increased to near record highs in December, suggesting a deceleration in employment growth at the end of last year was in part due to worker shortages.

U.S. construction spending increased less than expected in December as a solid rise in private projects was partially offset by a sharp decline in outlays on public projects.

U.S. high yield bond exchange-traded funds saw record monthly outflows in January as investors ditched assets likely to be hit by an increase in market volatility and aggressive rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

U.S. private payrolls unexpectedly fell in January as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections disrupted business activity.

U.S. factory orders fall in December; Inventory investment surged at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of $173.5 billion in the fourth quarter, the second-largest quarterly increase on record.

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Friday Recap: Nasdaq ends choppy week higher,

Wall Street indexes moved higher on Friday in seesaw trading, recovering some of the ground lost in the previous session.

 

A day after Facebook owner Meta Platforms suffered the biggest loss of stock market value in history for a U.S. company, Amazon was on track to log the greatest ever one-day increase in value.

 

Growth and technology stocks rebounded on Friday, as traders weighed stellar results from Amazon.com Inc against an unexpectedly strong U.S. employment number that propelled Treasury yields higher.

 

From Hershey to Clorox and Kleenex, major consumer-product makers plot additional U.S. price hikes, signaling the fastest inflation rate in a generation may not end soon.

 

West Texas Intermediate crude surged to fresh seven-year highs on Friday on continuing supply concerns amid high demand and geopolitical tensions with Russia.

 

Gold rebounded from early weakness on Friday after an unexpectedly robust US jobs report boosted the dollar and bond yields rose to the highest in more than two years. Platinum and Palladium dropped while Silver rose.

 

Copper and aluminum prices rose on Friday, supported by thin inventories, but worries that central bank rate hikes would curb growth and metal demand capped gains.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.42 points, or 0.06%, to close at 35,089.74; the S&P 500 gained 23.09 points, 0.52%, ending at 4,500.53; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 219.189 points, or 1.58%, closing at 14,098.007.

 

For the week, the DJIA gained 364.27 points, or 1%, to close at 35,089.74. The S&P 500 rose 68.68 points, or 1.5%, ending at 4,500.53. The Nasdaq added 327.437 points, or 2.37%, closing at 14,098.007.

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In a speech to the World Economic Forum last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pitched a rebranding of the Biden-run economic agenda as a “modern supply-side” economy. This curveball claim from Yellen, as baseless and disingenuous as it is, will still have some swinging for the fence.

Yellen stated that their “new approach is far more promising than the old supply-side economics, which I see as having been a failed strategy for increasing growth.” What she failed to be clear about is that in her version of supply-side economics, the supply comes from the government, requiring the government to print more money and forging the country into deeper debt.

Yellen and her colleagues have for years argued against supply-side economics. One of their arguments that I have agreed with…(READ MORE)

New U.S. intelligence reports indicate that Moscow has been plotting the manufacture of a graphic propaganda video falsely depicting a Ukrainian attack on Russian troops as a pretext for launching an invasion of Ukraine.

 

Pentagon officials say the “false flag attack” would include staged explosions, corpses, and actors portraying mourners in order to spark outrage. The video would also purportedly feature American-supplied military equipment in an effort to implicate the U.S. as well.

 

Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said that “the Russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion…(READ MORE)

The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) resolutions committee unanimously passed a censure of Republican Representatives Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) on Thursday. The full RNC is set to vote on the measure Friday, with many expecting it to pass.

 

“Whereas, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes,” reads the resolution, “… the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members…(READ MORE)

The Freedom Convoy’s GoFundMe page was paused on Wednesday after raising over $10 million. The page, which was created on Jan. 14, had raised a total of $10,096,400 CAD prior to being frozen. 

 

“This fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations,” a notice at the top of the page reads. “Our team is working 24/7 and doing all we can to protect both organizers and donors. Thank you for your patience.”

 

All funds raised by the page are intended to support the truckers who participated in the protest by covering fuel costs and…(READ MORE)

February is Black History Month, a time when schools typically teach students about Civil Rights pioneers like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. This year, however, several schools across the U.S. will instead instruct children as young as 5 years old about transgenderism, the evils of “whiteness,” and the role the traditional family plays in perpetuating systemic racism and oppression.

 

This week schools from Washington state to Massachusetts implemented Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, which includes curricula based on the self-avowed Marxist activist group’s “Thirteen Guiding Principles.” (READ MORE)

 

Participating schools are using BLM’s 25-page starter kit, which provides educators with a week’s worth of lesson plans…(READ MORE)

The Republican National Committee released a scathing statement on Tuesday accusing President Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of “giving a pass to illegal immigrants who commit felonies.”

 

The statement was released in response to a Washington Times article published last Sunday that emphasized just how far the current administration was willing go to prioritize illegal immigrants, including those who have committed crimes in the U.S., over the health and safety of American citizens. 

 

The RNC said Mayorkas “has expressly refused to enforce immigration laws for millions of illegal immigrants.” They pointed to a…(READ MORE) 

On Wednesday, sources revealed that the United States Army in instituting an immediate discharge for military personnel who have refused the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

According to Reuters, Army executives claim that the move is meant to strengthen combat readiness.

 

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said,

 

“Army readiness depends on soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars. Unvaccinated soldiers present risk…(READ MORE)

 

SEE ALSO: Military physicians provide data that indicate service members are being injured by COVID-19 vaccines

American special forces killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in a successful counter-terrorism mission carried out in northwest Syria early Thursday, according to Pentagon officials.

 

The clandestine operation occurred shortly after midnight in Atmeh, a village in the rebel-held Idlip Province near the Turkish border. There were no American casualties, according to a brief statement issued by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby shortly after the raid.

 

President Biden confirmed the operation and its outcome in a Thursday morning briefing…(READ MORE)

In 1996, a California jury sentenced Richard Allen Davis to death row for the kidnapping and strangulation of a 12-year-old girl. His court procedure took so long that when the state stopped executions in 2006, Davis was still on death row. Now he’s an example of a convict that’s slated to be moved to a “positive, healing environment” thanks to current governor Gavin Newsom.

 

Newsom announced the plan to empty San Quentin State Prison’s death row by transferring inmates into seven other facilities on Monday. The Democratic governor told reporters, “Premeditated murder is wrong in all forms and all manifestations including government-sponsored premeditated murder. I do not support…(READ MORE)

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he believes the Chinese Communist Party represents the largest threat to the United States, with their goal being to replace the U.S. as the world’s greatest superpower. Director Wray warned of China’s threat at the Reagan Library on Monday and reiterated his concerns during an interview with NBC the following day. 

 

Speaking at the library on Monday, Wray compared the CCP to the Soviet Union – both rejecting “the fundamental freedoms, basic human rights, and democratic norms we value as Americans.” The FBI director, however, said the similarities stop there, warning that the Chinese threat to the U.S. is far greater because of the economic ties…(READ MORE)

For the first time in history, the U.S. national debt has topped $30 trillion, according to the latest data released by the Treasury Department.

 

The monetary milestone has sent the nation’s debt burden soaring past its annual economy as the government continues to spend and borrow at alarming rates. Congressional expenditures were already increasing at a steady pace prior to 2020, but the pandemic sparked a borrowing surge of $5 trillion in pandemic relief that has exacerbated the rate even more. 

 

The figure represents the government’s total debt outstanding, which includes a whopping…(READ MORE)

A move now known as The Great Resignation began around April of 2021 and has picked up steam to the tune of roughly 47 million workers who left their jobs in the year 2021, according to statistics by the Labor Department. December alone saw 4.3 million workers depart their positions in a record-breaking year. 

 

According to Outsider, the departure was particularly prevalent amongst low-wage jobs, and it appears the worker shuffle allowed many of them to get higher-paying jobs with better working conditions. 

 

The pressure put on employers by workers moving or leaving the workforce altogether has resulted in pressure…(READ MORE)

President Joe Biden has already identified the characteristics his pick for the Supreme Court must possess, and on Tuesday he will meet with a pair of high-profile members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for advice on how to see his eventual pick through to confirmation.

 

Biden, himself a former member of the Judiciary Committee, has invited Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois to the White House to hear their thoughts on replacing retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

 

“Chairman Durbin has worked on seven Supreme Court confirmation…(READ MORE)

States all over the country are seeing a decrease in Omicron cases and daily death counts, potentially signaling an end to the Omicron wave of the pandemic, and possibly pushing the U.S. into an endemic. Hospitals in the Northeast and California are reporting decreasing cases and hospitalizations, although experts say this may not be indicative of what is happening in each community. It is promising though.

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently said that it is possible that Americans could see the end of Omicron in mid-February. However, he believed that the downward curve would be due to vaccinations…(READ MORE)

 

SEE ALSO: Denmark, France, and Sweden remove COVID restrictions

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was shuttled off to an “undisclosed location” by his security detail on Saturday as a sea of protesters stood shoulder to shoulder in Ottawa.

 

Thousands of people had converged in Canada’s capital city over the weekend to protest the stringent COVID-19 mandates Trudeau had instituted saying they had a harmful effect on Canada’s working class. The “Freedom Convoy,” which prompted the protests, was organized by Canadian truck drivers fighting back against newly imposed vaccine requirements that would force some 16,000 unvaxxed cross-border truckers to take the jab in order to continue to earn…(READ MORE)

 

SEE ALSO: Trudeau denounces Freedom Convoy, praises Black Lives Matter

A regional director within the World Health Organization (WHO) is facing accusations about racist, unethical, and abusive behavior. Their concerns have been unaddressed by the organization for the past three months.

 

An Associated Press (AP) article on Thursday details how current and former WHO staff have accused Dr. Takeshi Kasai, regional director of the Western Pacific Headquarters in Manilla, of such errant behavior that has crippled COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts and resulted in the departure of up to 55 different staff members. 

 

“We request your urgent intervention to address our serious concerns,” declared the email…(READ MORE)

Tensions between Russia and the United States spilled over at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, with both nations accusing the other of being “provocative.” The U.S. warned Council members of an “urgent and dangerous situation” in regard to Moscow’s troop build-up near Ukraine, while Russia criticized Washington for “whipping up” tensions. 

 

The Biden administration requested the meeting which marked the first open Security Council session on the Ukrainian crisis. President Biden called it “a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice.”

Russia, with China’s support, attempted to block the session, but the U.S. was able to surpass the nine-vote minimum…(READ HERE)

SEE ALSO: Putin breaks his silence on Ukraine, says U.S. is ignoring Russia’s security demands

Members of Congress have called for a renewed focus on the passing of a government budget bill, as the Feb. 18 stop gap deadline approaches. If an approved budget does not pass by the deadline, President Biden risks running the government on a year-long continuing resolution (CR) even with a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate.

 

While a shutdown remains unlikely, members of both parties from the Senate Appropriations Committee warns that if Congress continues to focus on Biden’s stalled Build Back Better (BBB) plan and blows past the mid-February deadline, it will mean the continued uncertainty of running the government on stopgap funding measures...(READ MORE)

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