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President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that he isn’t interested in talking to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, adding that ‘Elon’s totally lost it.’

Trump also said to Fox News’ Bret Baier that he isn’t worried about Musk’s suggestion to form a new political party, citing favorable polls and strong support from Republicans on Capitol Hill.

The comments come as Musk and Trump have been arguing over social media in recent days. 

The feud escalated after Musk started ‘wearing thin’ on Trump for about a month, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported Friday.

A senior White House official told Fox News that Trump does not expect to speak to Musk on Friday. 

However, White House aides told Doocy that Trump administration staffers might try to talk to Musk.

Musk made allegations Thursday that Trump was in the Jeffrey Epstein file.

On Truth Social, Trump wrote Thursday that ‘Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!’

The comments between Musk and Trump ramped up this week when Musk called the Trump-endorsed ‘big, beautiful bill’ a ‘disgusting abomination.’

‘I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,’ Trump also wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. ‘This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Lucas Tomlinson, Greg Wehner and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.


This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The White House and congressional Republicans have said that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs would help pay for his mammoth tax bill, but tax experts say it depends on whether the president stays consistent.

Senate Republicans are in the midst of hashing out their plan to tweak and reshape the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which includes Trump’s desire to extend and make permanent his first-term tax policies.

However, the tax portion of the bill alone is expected to cost roughly $4 trillion. And when factoring in spending cuts and other revenue and economic drivers, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found in a report earlier this week that, in all, the colossal legislative package would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

The CBO, which has come under recent scrutiny from congressional Republicans unhappy with the scoring of the president’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ also found that Trump’s tariffs would reduce the deficit by $2.8 trillion over the same period.

Joe Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told Fox News Digital that the reconciliation package’s potential impact on the debt is more concerning now than in 2017, due to higher debt levels and rising interest rates.

When Republicans were putting together the president’s original tax package, the national debt was roughly $20 trillion. Eight years later, that number has ballooned to over $36 trillion and counting. 

Rosenberg contended that if the CBO’s report were taken as is, then Trump’s tariffs would make the bill deficit neutral and then some. But the report assumed that the eye-popping sums that Trump’s tariffs could generate were based on whether they were permanent.

‘I think what we’ve seen is that the tariff policy, again, seems to change day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute,’ he said. ‘And the administration is a little bit inconsistent about whether they view tariffs as purely a revenue source versus essentially a negotiating tool.’

The report also found that in exchange for trillions in deficit reduction, household wealth would drop, and the economy would shrink each year over the next decade.

Tad Dehaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, argued that this factor—along with Trump’s tariffs being tied up in court over constitutional challenges and their shifting application—makes any projected benefits ‘extraordinarily unlikely.’

‘Let’s pretend that these tariffs are going to remain in place for 10 years at some level delineated today. That’s a major tax increase, so whatever alleged benefit you’re receiving from the tax cut in the reconciliation package, it’s being offset by a tax increase,’ he said. ‘And a rather economically inefficient one.’

Mike Palicz, director of tax policy at the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, scoffed at the CBO’s recent scoring, and lamented the agency as ‘a bunch of bean counters’ that often miss the mark on key pieces of legislation, like the president’s original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

He argued that none of the outside noise should matter, telling Fox News Digital that ‘you cannot go out and explain to a normal person or business that their taxes aren’t increasing next year if the Trump tax cuts are allowed to expire.’

‘That’s what the whole point of this exercise is, preventing the expiration of tax cuts, preventing the largest tax increase in American history,’ he said. ‘And no conservative, no Republican, should think that you address the deficit by raising taxes.’ 


This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

The Vancouver edition of Web Summit took place last week, bringing 15,727 attendees from 117 countries together, including 159 partners, 681 investors and 50 trade delegations.

A record-breaking 1,108 startups across a range of tech-touching industries exhibited, showcasing their products, services and ideas, from groundbreaking biotech advancements to revolutionary sustainable energy solutions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was a prominent feature across all these innovations, underscoring the rapid pace of technological advancement and its pervasive influence across all aspects of modern life.

Discussions revealed diverse opinions, with many emphasizing AI’s practical usefulness, the economic viability of large language models and the importance of real-world value in AI research.

Self-described AI skeptic Gary Marcus, a scientist and author, proposed neuro-symbolic AI as a path to enhanced reliability. While pointing out the shortcomings of existing AI, such as ethical reasoning issues and hallucination tendencies, he acknowledged its worth, particularly in the field of biology.

The event provided a crucial snapshot of where the tech industry stands on AI, both in terms of technological advancements and its growing influence on investment and business strategy.

AI reshaping the investment landscape

Despite challenges in public and private markets, experts across multiple panels agreed that AI is fueling the rapid development of new markets, influencing capital allocation and funding trends.

Speakers on a panel focused on the current state of venture capital (VC) highlighted AI’s potential to revolutionize the VC landscape, with Freestyle Capital general partner Maria Palma asserting that AI technology has revitalized the industry by creating new opportunities and altering market dynamics.

She argued that VCs are inherently optimistic, but must adapt to longer fund cycles and prioritize top talent migrating to startups, while also considering AI’s influence on liquidity and the speed of company building and scaling.

Palma pointed to development platform Lovable, which brought in US$50 million in revenue in five months.

“You didn’t see that 10 years ago in any company … I think that the pace of ability to build and ability to attack different markets is different than it’s ever been,” she told the Web Summit audience.

In another panel, Brett Gibson, managing partner at Initialized Capital, pointed to a broader shift toward authoring software and the potential for widespread fragmentation and consolidation in the software market. 500 Global CEO Christine Tsai discussed the volatility of emerging tech stacks, while Andy McLaughlin, managing partner at Uncork Capital, stressed the importance of spotting opportunities outside mega platforms.

The consensus was that AI is fueling new business models, pushing investors to rethink how value is defined.

AI transforming how businesses operate

During the ‘Smart Money in 2025’presentation, speakers Alfred Chuang of Race Capital and Wesley Chan of FPV Ventures emphasized that investors now see AI as the foundation of new hyper-focused platforms.

The industry-specific approach of legal tech unicorn Clio was showcased at the ‘Vertical Software is Eating the World’ discussion, andhighlighted the growing interest in AI-powered vertical SaaS business models.

“There is a huge amount of opportunity that remains, and a disruptive opportunity to unseat the incumbents in software verticals today with AI native companies, and also an opportunity for incumbents in the space to embrace AI and tap into what is an exponential opportunity for AI,” Clio CEO Jack Newton told the audience.

Chuang elaborated on the transformative role of AI in the software industry. “I think SaaS has a huge opportunity for basically a re-up for all the different applications. We’re going to see a whole new wave of apps. Now we can automate the process, and a process can write code to automate another process … these are opportunities we have never seen before. It’s a very exciting time. We’re going to be hugely more productive going forward.”

Chan stressed to the audience that AI utility matters more than AI branding, echoing Marcus’ earlier sentiment on its potential to increase productivity for life science companies. He cited recently announced results for Strand Therapeutics’ mRNA cancer drug, which was developed with the help of AI.

Uncork Capital’s McLoughlin pointed to Toronto-based software company Tailscaleas an example of a firm that is enabling core functionality for AI at scale without branding itself around AI.

“They build virtual private networks that have become fundamentally important to the AI economy. Every single (AI) hyperscaler is using Tailscale to network together this kind of global cluster of GPUs,’ he said.

‘We didn’t think about that when we first invested in 2019. We liked the idea of connected devices and people, but we never thought of a future where actually this would be a killer use case.”

Discussions also honed in on generative AI’s uses in areas like customer service co-pilots and sales automation, and how AI agents are developing into more proactive partners, freeing human teams to focus on strategy. However, as AI agents begin to reason, act and potentially make decisions that carry real-world consequences, the conversation consistently circled back to the importance of accountability, privacy protection and regulation.

While agentic AI may not yet be mainstream, it’s quickly becoming a frontier for productivity, ethics and innovation.

Trade tensions recalibrating tech alliances

Speakers on the ‘All in on AI’panelalso discussedthe potential for emerging markets to provide liquidity and foreign buyers, noting the increasing importance of non-US markets in the context of regulatory changes.

“One thing that’s really quite unprecedented about this wave versus other waves is just how much of a national agenda (AI) is for so many countries around the world,” said 500 Global’s Tsai, noting that Silicon Valley still has its place among the great global founders. Palma shared that sentiment during ‘The State of Venture Capital’ talk, adding that the bigger problem is not the listing exchange, but whether entrepreneurs still desire to go public at all.

The rise of non-US markets and a more globally dispersed talent pool are occurring against a backdrop of evolving international trade relations and policies. Several panels focused on the US-China relationship while addressing how tariffs are shaping the global tech economy, from talent acquisition to material sourcing.

Economist William Lazonick called out the inefficacy of the current tariff strategy in terms of encouraging innovation, highlighting Big Tech’s underinvestment in research and development and prioritization of share buybacks.

Separately, Bison Ventures founding partner Tom Biegala noted the shift toward onshoring and AI-enabled robotics in manufacturing to enhance productivity and reduce labor costs. He also touched on opportunities in the defense tech sector, driven by the need for critical components to be US- or western-made for national security reasons.

“I think that has certainly been accelerated in today’s environment, and it’s bleeding over into a whole bunch of more traditional industries, from 3D printing to manufacturing of what are typically commodity components,” he said.

While much of the discussion focused on US policy, another takeaway was Canada’s potential to thrive in a changing trade landscape, with several noteworthy announcements taking place throughout the week.

One came at a Bell press conference, where the telecommunications company unveiled Bell AI Fabric, an initiative to build a network of data centers across the country, with Kamloops as its first hub. Later, Diana Gibson, BC’s minister of jobs, economic development and innovation, announced the expansion of the Integrated Marketplace Program with an additional C$30 million in funding, supporting over 30 startups across the province.

While the province supports its tech sector, challenges like high costs and regulations remain. Gibson and Rocky Tung, director and head of policy research at Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council, addressed BC’s need for stronger ties, particularly in finance, VC and web3. Even so, Canada’s stability and innovation ecosystem could be attractive to investors seeking a haven and fertile ground for growth amid international volatility.

Investor takeaway

Web Summit served as a vital forum for exploring the multifaceted impact of AI on the tech industry and beyond, highlighting its role as both a disruptive force and a catalyst for innovation.

As AI continues to reshape industries and markets, the insights shared at the Vancouver-based Web Summit provide a valuable roadmap for navigating the future of technology and investment.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

The Vancouver edition of Web Summit took place last week, bringing 15,727 attendees from 117 countries together, including 159 partners, 681 investors and 50 trade delegations.

A record-breaking 1,108 startups across a range of tech-touching industries exhibited, showcasing their products, services and ideas, from groundbreaking biotech advancements to revolutionary sustainable energy solutions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was a prominent feature across all these innovations, underscoring the rapid pace of technological advancement and its pervasive influence across all aspects of modern life.

Discussions revealed diverse opinions, with many emphasizing AI’s practical usefulness, the economic viability of large language models and the importance of real-world value in AI research.

Self-described AI skeptic Gary Marcus, a scientist and author, proposed neuro-symbolic AI as a path to enhanced reliability. While pointing out the shortcomings of existing AI, such as ethical reasoning issues and hallucination tendencies, he acknowledged its worth, particularly in the field of biology.

The event provided a crucial snapshot of where the tech industry stands on AI, both in terms of technological advancements and its growing influence on investment and business strategy.

AI reshaping the investment landscape

Despite challenges in public and private markets, experts across multiple panels agreed that AI is fueling the rapid development of new markets, influencing capital allocation and funding trends.

Speakers on a panel focused on the current state of venture capital (VC) highlighted AI’s potential to revolutionize the VC landscape, with Freestyle Capital general partner Maria Palma asserting that AI technology has revitalized the industry by creating new opportunities and altering market dynamics.

She argued that VCs are inherently optimistic, but must adapt to longer fund cycles and prioritize top talent migrating to startups, while also considering AI’s influence on liquidity and the speed of company building and scaling.

Palma pointed to development platform Lovable, which brought in US$50 million in revenue in five months.

“You didn’t see that 10 years ago in any company … I think that the pace of ability to build and ability to attack different markets is different than it’s ever been,” she told the Web Summit audience.

In another panel, Brett Gibson, managing partner at Initialized Capital, pointed to a broader shift toward authoring software and the potential for widespread fragmentation and consolidation in the software market. 500 Global CEO Christine Tsai discussed the volatility of emerging tech stacks, while Andy McLaughlin, managing partner at Uncork Capital, stressed the importance of spotting opportunities outside mega platforms.

The consensus was that AI is fueling new business models, pushing investors to rethink how value is defined.

AI transforming how businesses operate

During the ‘Smart Money in 2025’presentation, speakers Alfred Chuang of Race Capital and Wesley Chan of FPV Ventures emphasized that investors now see AI as the foundation of new hyper-focused platforms.

The industry-specific approach of legal tech unicorn Clio was showcased at the ‘Vertical Software is Eating the World’ discussion, andhighlighted the growing interest in AI-powered vertical SaaS business models.

“There is a huge amount of opportunity that remains, and a disruptive opportunity to unseat the incumbents in software verticals today with AI native companies, and also an opportunity for incumbents in the space to embrace AI and tap into what is an exponential opportunity for AI,” Clio CEO Jack Newton told the audience.

Chuang elaborated on the transformative role of AI in the software industry. “I think SaaS has a huge opportunity for basically a re-up for all the different applications. We’re going to see a whole new wave of apps. Now we can automate the process, and a process can write code to automate another process … these are opportunities we have never seen before. It’s a very exciting time. We’re going to be hugely more productive going forward.”

Chan stressed to the audience that AI utility matters more than AI branding, echoing Marcus’ earlier sentiment on its potential to increase productivity for life science companies. He cited recently announced results for Strand Therapeutics’ mRNA cancer drug, which was developed with the help of AI.

Uncork Capital’s McLoughlin pointed to Toronto-based software company Tailscaleas an example of a firm that is enabling core functionality for AI at scale without branding itself around AI.

“They build virtual private networks that have become fundamentally important to the AI economy. Every single (AI) hyperscaler is using Tailscale to network together this kind of global cluster of GPUs,’ he said.

‘We didn’t think about that when we first invested in 2019. We liked the idea of connected devices and people, but we never thought of a future where actually this would be a killer use case.”

Discussions also honed in on generative AI’s uses in areas like customer service co-pilots and sales automation, and how AI agents are developing into more proactive partners, freeing human teams to focus on strategy. However, as AI agents begin to reason, act and potentially make decisions that carry real-world consequences, the conversation consistently circled back to the importance of accountability, privacy protection and regulation.

While agentic AI may not yet be mainstream, it’s quickly becoming a frontier for productivity, ethics and innovation.

Trade tensions recalibrating tech alliances

Speakers on the ‘All in on AI’panelalso discussedthe potential for emerging markets to provide liquidity and foreign buyers, noting the increasing importance of non-US markets in the context of regulatory changes.

“One thing that’s really quite unprecedented about this wave versus other waves is just how much of a national agenda (AI) is for so many countries around the world,” said 500 Global’s Tsai, noting that Silicon Valley still has its place among the great global founders. Palma shared that sentiment during ‘The State of Venture Capital’ talk, adding that the bigger problem is not the listing exchange, but whether entrepreneurs still desire to go public at all.

The rise of non-US markets and a more globally dispersed talent pool are occurring against a backdrop of evolving international trade relations and policies. Several panels focused on the US-China relationship while addressing how tariffs are shaping the global tech economy, from talent acquisition to material sourcing.

Economist William Lazonick called out the inefficacy of the current tariff strategy in terms of encouraging innovation, highlighting Big Tech’s underinvestment in research and development and prioritization of share buybacks.

Separately, Bison Ventures founding partner Tom Biegala noted the shift toward onshoring and AI-enabled robotics in manufacturing to enhance productivity and reduce labor costs. He also touched on opportunities in the defense tech sector, driven by the need for critical components to be US- or western-made for national security reasons.

“I think that has certainly been accelerated in today’s environment, and it’s bleeding over into a whole bunch of more traditional industries, from 3D printing to manufacturing of what are typically commodity components,” he said.

While much of the discussion focused on US policy, another takeaway was Canada’s potential to thrive in a changing trade landscape, with several noteworthy announcements taking place throughout the week.

One came at a Bell press conference, where the telecommunications company unveiled Bell AI Fabric, an initiative to build a network of data centers across the country, with Kamloops as its first hub. Later, Diana Gibson, BC’s minister of jobs, economic development and innovation, announced the expansion of the Integrated Marketplace Program with an additional C$30 million in funding, supporting over 30 startups across the province.

While the province supports its tech sector, challenges like high costs and regulations remain. Gibson and Rocky Tung, director and head of policy research at Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council, addressed BC’s need for stronger ties, particularly in finance, VC and web3. Even so, Canada’s stability and innovation ecosystem could be attractive to investors seeking a haven and fertile ground for growth amid international volatility.

Investor takeaway

Web Summit served as a vital forum for exploring the multifaceted impact of AI on the tech industry and beyond, highlighting its role as both a disruptive force and a catalyst for innovation.

As AI continues to reshape industries and markets, the insights shared at the Vancouver-based Web Summit provide a valuable roadmap for navigating the future of technology and investment.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (June 6) as of 9:00 a.m. UTC.

Get the latest insights on Bitcoin, Ethereum and altcoins, along with a round-up of key cryptocurrency market news.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$104,656, as markets opened, up 0.2 percent in 24 hours. The day’s range for the cryptocurrency brought a low of US$100,783 and a high of US$104,737.

Bitcoin price performance, June 6, 2025

Bitcoin price performance, June 6, 2025

Chart via TradingView

Ethereum (ETH) finished the trading day at US$2,606.52, a 2.8 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday low of US$2,408.52 and saw a daily high of US$2,596.13.

Altcoin price update

  • Solana (SOL) closed at US$152.16, up 1.0 percent over 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$142.38 in the final minutes of trading and reached a high of US$151.79.
  • XRP is trading at US$2.19, reflecting a 0.7 percent decrease over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached a daily low of US$2.08 and a high of US$2.20.
  • Sui (SUI) peaked at US$3.15, showing an increaseof 1.5 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Wednesday was US$2.91, and its highest was US$3.19.
  • Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.6779, down 1.3 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest price of the day was US$0.6233, and it reached a high of US$0.6762.

Today’s crypto news to know

Strategy to raise nearly US$1 billion via stock offering to buy more Bitcoin

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the company known for its aggressive bitcoin acquisition strategy, is launching a nearly US$1 billion capital raise through its new 10 percent Series A STRD preferred stock.

The offering includes over 11 million shares and promises a high fixed yield, making it attractive to yield-hungry investors in a low-rate environment.

Unlike other Strategy offerings like STRK (convertible) or STRF (senior status), STRD offers the highest payout at 10 percent but comes with more risk due to its non-cumulative dividend and junior status. Dividends are only issued when declared, and the shares cannot be called under normal market conditions.

According to Strategy, proceeds will go toward “general corporate purposes,” which notably include expanding its bitcoin holdings.

UK set to lift ban on retail access to crypto ETNs

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced plans to lift its ban on retail investors buying crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs), a major shift from its earlier risk-averse stance.

Initially barred due to concerns over volatility and investor protection, the FCA now says consumers should have the right to choose whether these high-risk assets fit their portfolios.

David Geale, the FCA’s digital assets chief, said the move is part of a broader push to ‘rebalance’ the regulator’s approach to financial risk. The proposal enters a public consultation phase and would allow ETNs to be sold on FCA-registered investment exchanges.

However, the FCA emphasized that its separate ban on crypto derivatives for retail traders will remain in place.

This regulatory pivot follows the UK’s introduction of draft laws in April aimed at integrating crypto into the formal financial system.

Metaplanet plans US$5.3 billion warrant offering to scale Bitcoin treasury

Tokyo-based Metaplanet is taking its Bitcoin commitment to the next level with a massive US$5.3 billion stock warrant issuance, the largest of its kind in Japan.

The company is offering 555 million shares through stock acquisition rights, using a novel moving-strike pricing model that adjusts with market value—a first in the Japanese market.

This “555 Million Plan” follows an earlier US$600 million raise and is part of Metaplanet’s goal to hold over 210,000 BTC by 2027, approximately 1 percent of total bitcoin supply.

The vast majority of the proceeds—around 96 percent—will go toward direct BTC purchases, while a small fraction will support debt management and derivative strategies like selling puts.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (June 6) as of 9:00 a.m. UTC.

Get the latest insights on Bitcoin, Ethereum and altcoins, along with a round-up of key cryptocurrency market news.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$104,656, as markets opened, up 0.2 percent in 24 hours. The day’s range for the cryptocurrency brought a low of US$100,783 and a high of US$104,737.

Bitcoin price performance, June 6, 2025

Bitcoin price performance, June 6, 2025

Chart via TradingView

Ethereum (ETH) finished the trading day at US$2,606.52, a 2.8 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday low of US$2,408.52 and saw a daily high of US$2,596.13.

Altcoin price update

  • Solana (SOL) closed at US$152.16, up 1.0 percent over 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$142.38 in the final minutes of trading and reached a high of US$151.79.
  • XRP is trading at US$2.19, reflecting a 0.7 percent decrease over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached a daily low of US$2.08 and a high of US$2.20.
  • Sui (SUI) peaked at US$3.15, showing an increaseof 1.5 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Wednesday was US$2.91, and its highest was US$3.19.
  • Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.6779, down 1.3 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest price of the day was US$0.6233, and it reached a high of US$0.6762.

Today’s crypto news to know

Strategy to raise nearly US$1 billion via stock offering to buy more Bitcoin

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the company known for its aggressive bitcoin acquisition strategy, is launching a nearly US$1 billion capital raise through its new 10 percent Series A STRD preferred stock.

The offering includes over 11 million shares and promises a high fixed yield, making it attractive to yield-hungry investors in a low-rate environment.

Unlike other Strategy offerings like STRK (convertible) or STRF (senior status), STRD offers the highest payout at 10 percent but comes with more risk due to its non-cumulative dividend and junior status. Dividends are only issued when declared, and the shares cannot be called under normal market conditions.

According to Strategy, proceeds will go toward “general corporate purposes,” which notably include expanding its bitcoin holdings.

UK set to lift ban on retail access to crypto ETNs

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced plans to lift its ban on retail investors buying crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs), a major shift from its earlier risk-averse stance.

Initially barred due to concerns over volatility and investor protection, the FCA now says consumers should have the right to choose whether these high-risk assets fit their portfolios.

David Geale, the FCA’s digital assets chief, said the move is part of a broader push to ‘rebalance’ the regulator’s approach to financial risk. The proposal enters a public consultation phase and would allow ETNs to be sold on FCA-registered investment exchanges.

However, the FCA emphasized that its separate ban on crypto derivatives for retail traders will remain in place.

This regulatory pivot follows the UK’s introduction of draft laws in April aimed at integrating crypto into the formal financial system.

Metaplanet plans US$5.3 billion warrant offering to scale Bitcoin treasury

Tokyo-based Metaplanet is taking its Bitcoin commitment to the next level with a massive US$5.3 billion stock warrant issuance, the largest of its kind in Japan.

The company is offering 555 million shares through stock acquisition rights, using a novel moving-strike pricing model that adjusts with market value—a first in the Japanese market.

This “555 Million Plan” follows an earlier US$600 million raise and is part of Metaplanet’s goal to hold over 210,000 BTC by 2027, approximately 1 percent of total bitcoin supply.

The vast majority of the proceeds—around 96 percent—will go toward direct BTC purchases, while a small fraction will support debt management and derivative strategies like selling puts.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

All of our major indices continue to rally off the April 7th, cyclical bear market low. A couple, however, have broken out of key bullish continuation patterns that measure to all-time highs. I’ll focus on one in today’s article.

Russell 2000

The IWM is an ETF that tracks the small-cap Russell 2000 and it’s chart couldn’t be much more bullish right now. After setting an all-time high on November 25, 2024 at 243.71, the IWM fell into its own cyclical bear market, dropping to a low of 171.73 on April 7th. That represented a drop of 71.98 points, or 29.54%, well beyond the 20% cyclical bear market threshold. A bottoming reverse head & shoulders pattern formed and I’ve been awaiting for a breakout above neckline resistance at 211. We saw that on today’s open after nonfarm payrolls highlighted our somewhat resilient economy as jobs came in ahead of expectations and the unemployment rate held steady. Check out this chart on the IWM:

I’m not saying that we’ll see a straight up move to 249, and short-term direction could be impacted by how we finish today. A weak afternoon could lead to further short-term selling, possibly back to the rising 20-day EMA. But, ultimately, and during 2025, I’m looking for that all-time high. A strong finish this afternoon and close on or near the daily high would add more bullishness to this chart.

Leading Stocks in Leading Industry Groups

The small cap IWM is no different than any of our other major indices, like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100. When you see an index breakout, you need to look to the leading stocks in that area in order to outperform the benchmark index. We started our Leading Stocks ChartList (LSCL) two weeks ago and the results have been absolutely phenomenal so far, which I would expect them to be. After last week, we produced our 2nd weekly LSCL and the results have been awesome once again. There were 43 stocks included and 32 of the 43 have outperformed the S&P 500 this week. That’s similar results to our first weekly LSCL.

Individual stock leaders from our LSCL included the following big winners as of 1pm ET today:

  • PRCH: +16.89%
  • DOMO: +15.75%
  • LASR: +15.40%
  • HOOD: +15.10%
  • QBTS: +13.17%
  • TTMI: +11.62%
  • ZS: +10.76%

These are exceptional returns when you consider the benchmark S&P 500 gained just 1.38% this week.

I want to provide all of our followers a SPECIAL OFFER to join our FREE EB Digest newsletter. Subscribe HERE with only your name and email address (no credit card required), and we’ll provide you a link and password to download this unique Leading Stocks ChartList (LSCL) and check it out for yourself. You need to be an Extra or Pro member at StockCharts in order to download the ChartList into your account. Basic members and non-members can view the ChartList and check out the stocks we include for next week.

Happy trading!

Tom

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The chairman of the House Budget Committee is pushing back on Elon Musk’s claim that President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is full of ‘pork.’

Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital it was not possible for ‘pork barrel spending’ to be included in the legislation, called a budget reconciliation bill, because the reconciliation process was simply not the mechanism for such federal funds.

‘Reconciliation does not have anything to do with discretionary spending – earmarks, and all of that,’ Arrington said. ‘And quite frankly, the [Department of Government Efficiency] findings were, I think, almost entirely an issue for . . . annual appropriations.’

‘Discretionary spending’ refers to the annual dollars allocated by Congress each year through the appropriations process – also known as ‘spending bills.’ 

It’s a process that’s historically known to be rife with ‘pork barrel spending’ from both Republicans and Democrats – funding for pet projects or other specific initiatives benefiting a certain member of Congress’ district.

But reconciliation deals with the government’s ‘mandatory spending’ – largely government welfare programs that can only be amended by changing the law.

‘We’re dealing with mandatory spending programs – entitlements, health care, welfare and the tax code,’ Arrington said. 

‘We did a responsible bill. There’s no pork in it. The question, I think, for some folks and the objective of mine and my budget committee members was, whatever we’re doing on tax or security to unleash growth and to buy greater security for the American people, we wanted it to be done in a fiscally responsible way.’

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller echoed that sentiment on X: ‘The reconciliation bill cuts taxes, seals the border and reforms welfare. It is not a spending bill. There is no ‘pork.’ It is the campaign agenda codified.’

The vast majority of the trillions of dollars in the bill are aimed at Trump’s tax policies – extending his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) while implementing new priorities like eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages.

There’s also $4 trillion in House Republicans’ versions of the bill aimed at raising the debt limit.

The legislation is also aimed at amending current laws to enable new funding for border security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – projected to boost those priorities by billions of dollars.

To offset those costs, House GOP leaders are seeking stricter work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps, while shifting more of the cost burden for both programs to the states.

Republicans are also looking to roll back green energy tax subsidies in former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

But Musk and other fiscal hawks’ main concern has been that the legislation does not go far enough with those spending cuts.

They’ve also raised concerns about the overall bill adding to the national debt – which is currently nearing $37 trillion.

As part of his social media campaign against the bill, Musk called for both eliminating the tax cuts and removing the debt limit increase from the final legislation.

Musk reposted another X user who wrote, ‘Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, get the bill through.’

He’s also shown support on X for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and his call to strip the debt limit provision out of the bill.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the bill would cut taxes by $3.7 trillion while raising deficits by $2.4 trillion over a decade.


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Claims that President Donald Trump dropped his well-regarded NASA nominee over Democratic donations don’t hold up, given his track record of appointing officials from across the political spectrum.

‘Trump Is Said to Have Known About NASA Nominee’s Donations Before Picking Him,’ read the latest headline from the New York Times about the president’s decision to pull Jared Isaacman’s nomination – as the firestorm continues over the spacewalking billionaire’s close ally Elon Musk’s coinciding break with the president.

Trump had known about many of his circle’s Democratic ties before Isaacson came on the scene, including his own history.

Until the Obama administration, Trump reliably donated to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton – all of New York – Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and then-Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Since then, however, Trump has taken an adversarial tack toward Obama and Democrats associated with him, including Hillary Clinton – though he still reserves kind words for former President Bill Clinton.

While many of Trump’s cabinet picks are former congressional Republicans, like Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins of Georgia and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Florida, many also hail from the left or are known to donate to leftist causes.

Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the most notable example, given his surname and namesake.

Kennedy, whose father was a New York senator, attorney general and a 1968 presidential candidate until his assassination, was a noted Democrat invested in environmentalism and other liberal causes.

His sister, Kerry, was first lady of New York during her marriage to Andrew Cuomo, while another sister, Kathleen, was lieutenant governor of Maryland under Gov. Parris Glendening – and his uncles, John and Edward, were two of the most famous Democrats in U.S. history.

But Kennedy and his supporters forged a political bond with Trump and propelled him into the presidency, finding common ground on vaccine risk awareness, dangerous aspects of America’s food processing and transparency of government officials, particularly in the health care sector.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who later left her party after repeated barbs from its thought-leaders like Clinton – who accused her of being a Kremlin asset.

And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remains in office and has been widely praised by fiscal conservatives for his decisions so far, while also having a history of Democratic donations.

Bessent donated to Obama, Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, and was also head of Soros Fund Management’s United Kingdom office in the early 1990s. The company, led by George Soros and his son Alex, is often considered the most powerful financial force on the far left.

Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick – one of the lead negotiators of Trump’s tariff and trade agenda – was also a Democratic donor while head of the financial firm Cantor-Fitzgerald.

Howard Lutnick knocks

Lutnick’s donations have trended toward the GOP in recent years, and he has maintained a longtime friendship with Trump. On the Democratic side of the ledger, Lutnick historically supported the late Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, as well as Schumer and Clinton.

Lutnick has preferred pro-business and anti-regulation candidates and issues moreso than coming from a purely political point of view.

Isaacman, a New Jersey billionaire credited as the first private citizen to spacewalk, saw his May 31 nomination pulled this week after what Trump called ‘a thorough review of his prior associations,’ which many, including in the media, believed referenced his history of Democratic donations.

Isaacman has donated to fellow Garden State-born astronaut Mark Kelly – now the senior Democratic senator in Arizona – as well as former Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and a SuperPAC aligned with Schumer.

He also supported Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., a former NASA chief of staff and congressional freshman who upset a GOP-held swing district north of Los Angeles in 2024. 


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Silver just hit a 13-year high, breaking above a key resistance level that could ignite a major bull run. Some metals analysts now say a rally to $40 isn’t a long shot, but a matter of time. So, are the odds finally shifting in favor of the bulls?

And, more importantly, is now the time to capitalize on silver’s breakout?

To answer, let’s break down the key technical levels and explore the fundamental factors that may (or may not) fuel silver’s next major move.

Gold vs. Silver: A Look at Intermarket Momentum

In the StockCharts Market Summary, the Intermarket Analysis panel highlights various commodities and indexes. You’ll notice that SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is leading the group with the largest positive three-month price change and StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) score.

FIGURE 1. MARKET SUMMARY INTERMARKET ANALYSIS PANEL. Gold is significantly outperforming other commodities.

While silver is missing from this panel, the intermarket analysis chart to the right of the panel, which plots a one-year chart of intermarket performance, allows you to add silver to the group.

FIGURE 2. ONE-YEAR CHART LAYING OUT THE INTERMARKET ANALYSIS COMPONENTS. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) (color-coded gray) and its latest intermarket performance reading is highlighted by the magenta box.

Is Silver Undervalued? Understanding the Gold-to-Silver Ratio

Note the wide performance gap between GLD and SLV. Let’s look at a chart illustrating the gold-silver ratio ($GOLD:$SILVER).

FIGURE 3. 15-YEAR CHART OF GOLD-TO-SILVER RATIO. The ratio is above both averages, suggesting that silver is undervalued.

Take a look at the blue and green bands. Both represent the common gold-to-silver ratio levels that many, if not most, analysts use.

  • The blue band (60:1 to 65:1) reflects the long-term post-1971 average.
  • The green band (70:1 to 75:1) reflects the 10-year modern average.

When the ratio is above these bands, silver is typically undervalued relative to gold. This can signal three possible outcomes:

  • Silver rises while gold declines.
  • Both rise, but silver outpaces gold.
  • Both fall, but silver falls less.

The key question now: If silver is undervalued, does the technical setup support an actionable bullish resolution?

SLV Breaks Out: Key Support and Resistance Levels to Watch

In the daily chart below, SLV recently broke above key resistance at $31.75, exiting a wide trading range that stretched down to $26.25. The Quadrant Lines symmetrically divide the entire zone, providing more clarity to the trading volume and price behavior.

FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF SLV. Support levels are highlighted within the four quadrants dividing SLV’s 8-month trading range.

Here are a few key insights to consider:

  • The Stochastic Oscillator is reading “overbought,” suggesting that a pullback is likely in the coming sessions.
  • Buying pressure is stronger than at any point over the past year, according to the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), suggesting that SLV, even in the case of a pullback, may have enough volume-driven momentum to drive prices higher.
  • The first quadrant, shaded green, marks the breakout level and top of the eight-month trading range.
  • The second quadrant, shaded yellow, marks the highest concentration of trading activity and various levels of support and resistance.
  • The third quadrant, shaded red, marks another level of support before the bottom of the range, which also marks the lowest support level over the last eight months.

If SLV pulls back but investor conviction remains strong, a bounce is likely within the first two quadrants, particularly the second (yellow) quadrant. However, if SLV drops below the second quadrant and enters the third (shaded red), it signals weakening sentiment and suggests the breakout has failed, pulling SLV back into the trading range that has dominated over the past eight months.

Will Silver Hit $40? Forecasts and Fundamental Tailwinds

Some analysts are expecting $SILVER to rise to around $40 an ounce. SLV’s price equivalence is around $37–$38 per share.

From a technical perspective, historical resistance levels are often target zones for those looking to take profit or unload positions. Here are the historical resistance levels to watch in SLV (pull up a 20-year chart of SLV to see these levels):

  • $36.44 – the February 2012 high
  • $42.78 – the August 2011 high
  • $48.35 – the April 2011 high

These are the levels reached since the last major silver boom in 2011. SLV may (or may not) reach these levels, but it’s important to see the proverbial “roof” before you hit it.

What This Means for SLV Traders Going Forward

With silver breaking out and momentum accelerating, SLV could be setting up for a sustained move. So watch the depth of the pullback, if it happens. You will want to see a bounce above $29 (the lower part of the second quadrant); movement below that is not favorable to the bulls. And, last but not least, remember things can change quickly as geopolitical developments and economic news unfold.


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.