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Here’s your must-read news this morning:
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— Josh
MARKETS
💰 Report: Trump Readies Tariff Exemptions to Lower Food Prices
(Credit: Ann1992/Pixabay)
The Scoop: The Trump administration plans to roll out tariff exemptions to slash food prices, paving the way for cheaper beef and citrus on American tables, the New York Times reports.
The Details:
Building on new trade deals with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador to exempt tariffs on coffee and bananas, these exemptions will expand far beyond September's carve-outs for non-U.S. staples like avocados and vanilla.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent teased "substantial" announcements this week on Fox News, spotlighting quick wins for fruits and imports we don't grow here, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick championing food-focused relief.
Beef and citrus are prime candidates, though final nods are pending.
What’s Next: The White House is poised to unveil specific tariff suspensions as early as next week. Importers should prepare for updated HTS schedules and monitor USTR notices for immediate duty relief on designated food categories.
Market Roundup
🏦 Economy
⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. foreclosure filings surged 19% year-over-year to 36,766 in October, the eighth consecutive annual increase. (CNBC)
Trump hosted a White House dinner with top CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink, soliciting their ideas on combating affordability challenges. (NYP)
China's October industrial output rose just 4.9% year-on-year, its weakest in over a year, while retail sales grew only 2.9%, missing forecasts. (RTS)
The UK Labour government is gearing up for its second major tax hike in two years, potentially totaling tens of billions of pounds, to close the budget deficit. (WSJ)
📈 Hot Stock Picks
⭐ Editor’s Pick: Advanced Micro Devices is poised to eclipse Palantir’s market capitalization by the end of 2025, propelled by its compelling valuation at under 12 times sales, according to Motley Fool. (MF)
AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson stand out as robust healthcare picks for dividend investors, yielding 3.3% and 2.8% respectively, according to Motley Fool. (MF)
Nebius Group merits a buy rating amid explosive Q3 2025 revenue growth of 355% to $146 million, fueled by partnerships with Microsoft and Meta, according to Seeking Alpha. (SA)
Zacks Investment Research analysts recommend scooping up shares of Constellation Energy and GE Vernova on recent pullbacks, as surging AI data-center power demands and global nuclear revival. (ZCK)
🏢 Industry
⭐ Editor’s Pick: Verizon Communications plans to eliminate at least 15,000 jobs, about 15% of its workforce. (UT)
Skims, the shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian, secured $225 million in funding at a $5 billion valuation. (CNBC)
Paramount Global, Comcast and Netflix are gearing up to submit final bids for Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio assets by an impending deadline. (WSJ)
AriZona Beverages, the billion-dollar iced tea giant, launched the "Rizzler Berry" Sparkling Juice Cocktail in a surprise collaboration with 9-year-old TikTok sensation Christian "The Rizzler" Savasta. (FBN)
🛢️ Energy & Commodities
⭐ Editor’s Pick: The Trump administration finalized the rollback of Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas leasing across more than 12 million acres in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. (RTS)
West Virginia secured $4.2 billion in energy investments to create over 4,200 jobs, led by a $3.2 billion First Energy project, while seeking federal funds to extend coal plants' lifespan. (TIN)
The UK government selected the Wylfa site in North Wales for its inaugural small modular nuclear reactor despite sharp U.S. criticism that it forgoes faster, cheaper large-scale alternatives. (TRT)
MP Materials is ramping up U.S. rare earth production with a multibillion-dollar Pentagon partnership, including $400 million in funding and long-term commitments to challenge China's dominance. (FBN)
🌕 Crypto
⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds suffered $869.9 million in net outflows, the second-largest daily exit on record, amid a plunge in Bitcoin's price to $96,956.(TB)
Block, the fintech company led by Jack Dorsey, rolled out Lightning Network integration and stablecoin payment capabilities for its Cash App. (DEC)
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TECH
💻 Blue Origin Lands New Glenn Rocket Booster for First Time
(Credit: Blue Origin)
The Scoop: Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket soared to success on its second flight, deploying NASA's twin ESCAPADE probes toward Mars while nailing a historic booster landing on the Atlantic recovery ship Jacklyn.
The Details:
Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36 marked the heavy-lift vehicle's first customer payload, after delays from weather, solar storms, and a 40-day government shutdown.
ESCAPADE—built by Rocket Lab for under $80 million total—features identical Blue and Gold orbiters from UC Berkeley, set to loiter at Earth-Sun L2 for a year before a 2026 gravity-assist slingshot to Mars arrival in September 2027.
The probes will map Mars' magnetosphere over 11 months using four instruments each, probing solar wind's role in stripping the planet's ancient atmosphere—complementing MAVEN, Perseverance, and other assets for breakthrough insights on planetary evolution.
What’s Next: ESCAPADE's duo will fire engines in fall 2026 for Mars transit. Watch for New Glenn's third flight in early 2026, targeting Blue Moon cargo and Kuiper prototypes as reusability drives down costs and cadence.
Tech Roundup
🧠 AI
⭐ Editor’s Pick: Google unveiled AI-powered shopping enhancements for users in the Gemini app, featuring product discovery from 50 billion listings, an "agent" that calls local stores to check stock, and automated checkout. (TC)
OpenAI launched a pilot for group chats in ChatGPT, allowing users to collaborate with the AI in conversations, now available in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. (OAI)
Baidu unveiled its proprietary ERNIE 5.0, a natively multimodal AI model that surpasses GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 Pro in benchmarks for reasoning. (VB)
Mozilla unveiled an opt-in "AI Window" for Firefox, featuring a user-controlled chatbot that allows selection of preferred AI models to enhance browsing. (VER)
🤖 Hardware & Robotics
⭐ Editor’s Pick: The U.K. launched its inaugural Wayve robotaxi trial on London streets. (TBT)
Microsoft partnered with Inbrain to embed agentic AI and cloud computing into brain-computer interfaces, targeting real-time personalized therapies for Parkinson’s and memory loss. (PCM)
ETH Zurich created tiny magnetic microrobots that swim through blood to deliver stroke drugs precisely, succeeding in animal trials. (SWI)
🚀 Defense & Space
⭐ Editor’s Pick: Congress warned that Chinese Communist Party-linked smart devices sold on U.S. military bases, could enable Beijing to spy on American service members. (NYP)
Boeing’s workers in St. Louis ratified a five-year labor contract, ending a 15-week strike and delivering a 45% average pay increase to $109,000 annually. (MI)
Palantir CEO Alex Karp lambasted critics as "parasitic" for branding the company's AI-driven software a surveillance tool, insisting that patriotism fuels its mission to empower soldiers. (FM)
💰Venture Capital
⭐ Editor’s Pick: AI coding startup Cursor raised $2.3 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital, achieving a $29.3 billion post-money valuation. (CNBC)
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is in early talks to raise a new funding round at a $50 billion valuation, more than quadrupling its July value. (BBG)
Australia-based AI data-center startup Firmus raised A$500 million ($327 million) in fresh equity, tripling its valuation to A$6 billion just two months after a A$330 million round backed by Nvidia. (AFR)
Accenture and Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo joined a $145 million funding round for AI marketing startup Alembic, valuing the data analytics firm at $645 million. (WSJ)
FREEDOM
📢 State Department Designates European Antifa Groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
(Credit: State Department/Freddie Everett)
The Scoop: The Trump administration is designating four Antifa-linked groups in Europe as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, elevating U.S. counterterrorism tools to dismantle their networks alongside threats like ISIS and al-Qaeda, Fox News reports.
The Details:
Antifa Ost (Germany): Linked to multiple assaults on perceived "fascists" from 2018-2023, including hammer attacks; seven members charged by German prosecutors.
Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front (Italy): Endorsed armed revolution since 2003, tied to dozens of incidents including letter bombs to EU leaders like Romano Prodi, explosive parcels to embassies, and the 2012 shooting of a nuclear executive.
Armed Proletarian Justice (Greece): Anarchist cell behind IED attempts, including a December 2023 bomb near Athens riot police headquarters that caused no injuries.
Revolutionary Class Self-Defense (Greece): Claimed two 2024-2025 IED strikes on the Ministry of Labor and Hellenic Train offices, dedicating one to Palestinian resistance while targeting "capitalist structures."
What’s Next: Designations, announced by Rubio, will trigger asset freezes, U.S. entry bans, and prosecutions for material support.
Freedom Roundup
🏛️ Policy & Culture
⭐ Editor’s Pick: The USDA directed staff to scrutinize and terminate over $3 billion in grants tied to diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate initiatives—flagging terms like "DEI" and "climate adaptation." (RTS)
Disney omitted references to "diversity" and "DEI" from its 2025 annual business report for the first time since 2019. (FBN)
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung vowed to impose stringent penalties on so-called "hate speech" and "misinformation." (RTN)
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DISCLAIMER: The CAPITAL newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The CAPITAL newsletter and its owner and operator, Josh Caplan, are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on this information. The CAPITAL newsletter is solely owned and independently operated by Josh Caplan, separate from any employer affiliations.
