WASHINGTON—Paul Atkins spent much of his first year at the helm of the Securities and Exchange Commission trying to give Americans more opportunities to invest.
“We have half as many public companies as we did 40 years ago,” Atkins told The Daily Wire in his office this week. “The reason why we have a diminishing number of public companies is that as you have mergers and bankruptcies, you don&#8217;t have newbies coming in and your population will dwindle.” 
&#8220;We need to shake things up,&#8221; Atkins added. &#8220;So I&#8217;m pushing my team harder and we can go faster.&#8221;
Atkins, who served on the SEC for six years under President George W. Bush, says he has a mandate from President Donald Trump to “make IPOs great again.” The chairman believes the SEC can incentivize companies through a deregulatory push eliminating burdensome and outdated rules. At the direction of President Trump the agency is exploring reducing company reporting requirements from quarterly earnings reports to semi-annual filings. 
Regulatory reporting forces companies into a costly cycle of legal and compliance work — one many cite as a key reason to stay private. Warren Buffett and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned in 2018 that the system even pressures companies to manage for the quarter at the expense of long-term performance.
Atkins told The Daily Wire that regulators are preparing to seek public comment on the potential reporting requirements shift. Even if the proposal moves forward, he said, companies would not be required to change, preserving flexibility based on investor demand.
“We haven’t always had quarterly reporting,” Atkins said. “When the SEC was created in 1934, companies reported annually. In 1955, that shifted to semiannual reporting, and it wasn’t until 1970 that quarterly reporting became the standard.”
The SEC is also exploring a more tailored regulatory framework based on company size, including separate categories for small- and mid-sized firms. “There are a lot of expensive provisions that are probably not really applicable to smaller companies.” He added, “This is all part of … modernizing, clarifying our jurisdiction, and transforming to make our rulebook fit for purpose.” 
At the center of Atkins’ agenda is a return to the SEC’s core mission as defined by Congress: protecting investors, maintaining fair and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. Under Atkins, the agency withdrew its defense for costly rules that required companies to disclose climate-related risks and ended regulation by enforcement.
But in some areas, the agency is adding rules to “clarify and modernize” its expectations, effectively ending regulation by enforcement — where ambiguity was resolved in the courts rather than through clearer definitions in the SEC’s rulebook.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t just wave a wand and do it,&#8221; Atkins said. &#8220;So it sounds like we&#8217;re going back to regulation, but we&#8217;re not.&#8221;
He says the agency had drifted in recent years toward heavier enforcement and regulation, often at the expense of market access and innovation. By refocusing on capital formation, Atkins believes the SEC can strengthen markets while expanding opportunities for everyday investors.
But regulation isn&#8217;t the only place where Atkins is rethinking the SEC. He&#8217;s also working closely with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig, breaking a contentious history between the two agencies.
Atkins and Selig are working closely to more clearly define where the SEC’s authority ends and the CFTC’s begins — particularly in emerging areas like digital assets. In the past, Atkins said, the lack of clarity created confusion and pushed companies offshore to develop their financial products where investors are not as protected. He pointed to the collapse of FTX, a major crypto exchange, that lacked oversight leading to billions of dollars lost.
Atkins believes the agency can strike a balance between investor protection and fostering innovation in the markets.
&#8220;I believe that our capital markets must continue to reflect our national character,&#8221; Atkins said. &#8220;They must continue to lead the world in their depth, in their dynamism, and in their capacity to translate ingenuity into prosperity.&#8221;

Stocks Fall, Oil Jumps On Doubts Over Peace Deal

President Trump Wants The SEC To ‘Make IPOs Great Again.’ Here’s How They’re Doing It.

Donald Trump

Securities and Exchange Commission

Stock Market

Poised to be the largest initial public offering (IPO) of all time, SpaceX’s IPO is expected to break with tradition through a reworked roadshow and an outsized allocation to retail investors. If the company does go public, it is expected to raise between $40 and $80 billion. China’s Alibaba holds the current record for the largest IPO with $22 billion raised in 2014. 
Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-02/spacex-is-said-to-target-more-than-2-trillion-valuation-in-ipo?srnd=homepage-americas">reports</a> that the company is seeking a $1.75 trillion valuation with a listing in June. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs are the banks leading the offering, which are projected to receive <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musks-go-to-banker-is-back-in-action-for-the-spacex-ipo-1dac530a">$400 million</a> from fees.
But in 2020, Elon Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1310672832783884290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1310672832783884290%7Ctwgr%5E5a935ef8b4d0a3cbb4a7e2977788ea09d4cd261a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2020%2F09%2F28%2Felon-musk-spacex-will-probably-ipo-starlink-in-several-years.html">promised</a> not to leave out the retail investor. “We will probably IPO Starlink, but only several years in the future when revenue growth is smooth &amp; predictable. Public market does *not* like erratic cash flow haha. I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it,&#8221; Musk said. Starlink is a division of SpaceX. 
Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2039046398566625501">posted</a> “stand by me” Tuesday on X, the day before reports emerged that SpaceX had filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). CNBC reports that the billionaire is considering reserving as much as 30% of SpaceX’s IPO for individual investors. Typically, retail investors are allocated about 5 to 10% of shares. Musk also appears to be breaking from the competitive IPO bank selection process by turning to trusted relationships.
Chairman of Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, Michael Grimes, is expected to lead the IPO. He’s worked with Musk before, helping him take Tesla public in 2010 and Twitter private in 2022. Reporting says that Musk submitted a confidential filing, which allows the company to submit its financials to the SEC for regulatory review before the public and prospective investors are able to view. At least fifteen days before the IPO roadshow, SpaceX will have to release a public filing, where investors will be able to review the company&#8217;s financials, business model, and key risks.
The Wall Street Journal reports Musk will do something nontraditional with the roadshow. Normally, executives hit the road to meet investors, but Musk wants investors to travel to SpaceX, where they can view its manufacturing facilities and potentially witness rocket launches.
Musk’s primary goal for SpaceX is to make human consciousness multi-planetary. He hopes to eventually establish a colony on Mars.
SpaceX owns Starlink, and as of February 2, xAI. SpaceX is planning to construct data centers in space using SpaceX rockets to build out the structure. The power generated from these orbital data centers could help satisfy the enormous energy demands of xAI, depending on whether the technology operates as Musk predicts. Musk has previously stated, &#8220;If we harness even a billionth of the Sun’s power for AI/robotics, it will be a 1000X return.”

Elon Musk

Musk Eyes Record-Breaking Listing With Retail Investors At The Center

Business

SpaceX

Starlink

U.S.

Wall Street

Oil prices surged and stocks initially fell on Thursday following President Donald Trump&#8217;s address to the nation, reflecting concerns about energy supply disruptions and a prolonged war. However, leading U.S. indexes jumped on reports from Iranian state media that said Iran and Oman were drafting a protocol to &#8220;monitor&#8221; traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Both the S&amp;P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.3%.
After the President&#8217;s address on Iran, both the Dow and the S&amp;P 500 opened down <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/01/stock-market-today-live-updates.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.2%,</a> while the Nasdaq dropped <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/01/stock-market-today-live-updates.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.6%</a> amid rising energy costs and geopolitical uncertainty. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-surges-and-us-stock-futures-fall-after-trump-offers-no-clear-timeline-to-end-war-in-iran-021340939.html">nearly 8%</a> to around $109 a barrel as investors reacted to Trump&#8217;s pledge to escalate military action. Trump said he would only consider a ceasefire once the Strait of Hormuz “is open, free, and clear,” and urged allies to take responsibility for securing the shipping route themselves. Roughly 20% of global oil supply passes through the strait, making any disruption a major driver of higher prices. 
“The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future,&#8221; Trump said during his Wednesday speech. &#8220;We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it.” Supply constraints may be difficult to offset quickly. Many refineries are designed to process heavier crude from the Middle East, limiting their ability to substitute with lighter U.S. shale oil.
The president also said the United States would hit Iran &#8220;extremely hard&#8221; in the coming weeks, adding that he expects the war to conclude in two or three weeks. “We are going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong,” Trump warned.
Thursday will be the last trading day for the week, with the markets closed for Good Friday. The S&amp;P 500 is down about 5% since the start of the year, marking its worst quarterly performance since 2022, as volatility tied to the Iran war continues to rattle investors.

President’s Trump National Address On Iran Is Watched By New Yorkers In Manhattan

Markets Seesaw After Sharp Turn During Trump’s ‘Epic Fury’ Address

Economy

Iran

In his State of the Union address, President Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7whtgZ2MQI">highlighted</a> the need to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks. He pointed to stopping members like Nancy Pelosi, whose stock portfolio has performed extremely well — imagine that.
To the American citizen working hard, paying the bills, and trying to do the right thing, this is not only suspicious but also extremely frustrating. Trust is already at an all-time low. A recent Pew Research study found that just <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/12/04/public-trust-in-government-1958-2025/">17% of Americans</a> say they trust the government. That is partly because members of Congress, like Nancy Pelosi, are trading stocks.
To show you how big a deal this is, Nancy Pelosi earned an estimated <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-josephs-knows-pelosis-stock-trades-better-than-anyone-he-says-they-should-be-banned">$130 million</a> while in Congress, often purchasing or selling stocks just before legislative announcements affecting the industries in which she had investments. In 2024 alone, her portfolio grew by 70%. Unfortunately, this isn’t just Nancy Pelosi — it’s a problem across Congress.
What happens when Americans believe the system is rigged? They disengage. They stop believing their votes make a difference and that their government is working on their behalf. We need to restore confidence in elected leaders. That will not happen until the line is clearly drawn. Rebuilding trust requires accountability — and that starts with ending practices that put private profit ahead of the public interest. It also requires transparency and rules that apply equally, without exception or delay.
So, to join President Trump’s call to end this loophole that is eroding the trust of the American people, I introduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7008">Stop Insider Trading Act.</a> It says that if you are a member of Congress, or you’re married to one, or you’re the child of one, you cannot purchase individual, publicly traded stocks. To do so is wrong. This legislation is clear, enforceable, and leaves no room for loopholes. The bill also requires a seven-day public notice before sales of stocks that members and those closest to them already own can take place.
There have been previous attempts to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, but no final ban has passed. Every day, lawmakers are attending committee hearings and briefings, meeting with stakeholders, and writing and voting on legislation that could change the course of an industry. Clearly, there is a conflict of interest. How can the American people be sure their elected officials are making decisions for the public good, and not for private gain? The answer is, they can’t.
That is why there is such strong public support for the Stop Insider Trading Act. In fact, one <a href="https://publicconsultation.org/united-states/stock-trading-by-members-of-congress/#:~:text=A%20survey%20by%20the%20Program%20for%20Public,in%20individual%20companies%20by%20Members%20of%20Congress">poll</a> by the Program for Public Consultation shows that 86% of people support banning stock-trading in individual companies by members of Congress. That includes 87% of Republicans, 88% of Democrats, and 81% of Independents. Clearly, most Americans are on the same page when it comes to this issue. Yet, Congress has done nothing, further fueling public skepticism.
The American people deserve more out of their elected officials, and rightfully so. Considering the overwhelming support for banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, every single member of Congress should support my Stop Insider Trading Act. If they don’t, it says exactly where their priorities lie.
Elected leadership is about public office, not private profit. We don’t let referees bet on games. Congress should not be any different. My bill makes sure that public service is actually about serving the public, not getting ahead of it.
If you are a lawmaker, you should not be a day trader. That’s a good principle that most people agree on. Now, let’s make it a law.
* * *
Sen. <a href="https://thehill.com/people/bill-cassidy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill Cassidy,</a> M.D., has represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate since 2015.

White House Officials Hold All-Members Briefings On Iran Strikes For House And Senate

We Don’t Let Referees Bet On Games. So Why Does Congress Get To?

Congress

Insider Trading

Money

Nancy Pelosi

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

wealth

Brent crude, which is considered the international benchmark price point for oil, reached nearly $120 per barrel on Monday morning before plummeting to below $90 in the afternoon as President Donald Trump gave another positive update on the war in Iran.
The rapid drop in U.S. crude late in the day came as President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?contentProgram=LIVE%20UPDATES%3A%20Iran%20Threatens%20To%20Seize%20Property%20Of%20Anti-Regime%20Citizens%20Living%20Abroad&amp;contentType=Post&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel">said</a> the war, which has lasted for over one week, is &#8220;very far ahead of schedule&#8221; after initially predicting a four-to-five-week operation. Following Trump&#8217;s latest comments on the Iran conflict, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&amp;P 500 also climbed. The Dow initially <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oil-stock-markets-iran-war-458890210407eb0cba85c7e1a684c890">fell</a> around 900 points early on Monday before closing the day up 261 points, while the S&amp;P 500 turned a 1.5% fall in the morning into a gain of nearly 1% by the closing bell.
&#8220;I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS News in a phone interview. &#8220;They have no navy, no communications, they&#8217;ve got no air force,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones.&#8221;
&#8220;If you look, they have nothing left. There&#8217;s nothing left in a military sense,&#8221; he added.
Snippets of Trump&#8217;s interview were <a href="https://x.com/weijia/status/2031086856679412042">posted</a> by CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang just after 3:15 p.m. ET, which was roughly the same time that the steep drop in Brent crude and the rise in the markets began.
Trump also <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-iran-cbs-news-the-war-is-very-complete-strait-hormuz/">told</a> CBS News that he is considering taking control of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital passage between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, where around 20% of the world&#8217;s oil typically traverses each day. Since the conflict in Iran began, tankers have been mostly halted from passing through the strait and into the open ocean. Trump said on Monday afternoon, however, that ships are once again moving through the strait and added that the Iranian regime would be completely obliterated if it threatens ships.
&#8220;If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran, and you&#8217;d never hear the name again,&#8221; Trump said.
If tankers are prevented from passing through the Strait of Hormuz for more than two weeks, oil could reach $150 per barrel, some experts warned, according to the Associated Press. Gas prices in the United States have surged since Trump&#8217;s Iran operation began. The national average for gas has climbed to $3.47 per gallon since last week, according to AAA. Before the recent rise, gas prices in the United States had mostly fallen since Trump took office last year.
Trump has not said when exactly &#8220;Operation Epic Fury&#8221; would end, but during <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9bkyOTCrEg">remarks</a> to Republican lawmakers in Doral, Florida, later Monday afternoon, he said that the U.S. military &#8220;will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.&#8221; U.S. forces have decimated the Iranian navy and military capabilities, and the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran&#8217;s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Seven U.S. troops have been killed since the United States launched its major military operation on February 28.

Trump Reassurance On Iran War Lifts Mood Across Oil, Stocks

Oil Prices Plummet, Stocks Climb As Trump Says Iran War 'Very Complete'

Crude Oil

U.S. Military

Block, the parent company of Cash App and Square, announced Thursday it will be laying off more than 4,000 employees — a move that sent the company&#8217;s stock up 25% in after-hours trading.
For most companies, laying off nearly half the workforce would send stockholders into a panic, tanking the stock within minutes of the announcement. But in 2026, investors in Block appear to have the opposite perspective — viewing humans as a liability in the modern economy, thanks in large part to the AI revolution.
Block CEO Jack Dorsey <a href="https://x.com/jack/status/2027129697092731343?s=20">said</a> in a statement on X that the layoffs did not happen “because we&#8217;re in trouble,” but rather because “something has changed.”
“We&#8217;re already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company [sic]. and that&#8217;s accelerating rapidly,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey viewed job cuts resulting from AI implementation as inevitable and chose to rip off the band-aid.
“i had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now [sic]. i chose the latter,” Dorsey said. “repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale, to focus, and to the trust that customers and shareholders place in our ability to lead [sic].”
The layoffs are part of a broader shakeout in tech, where companies including Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Pinterest, and Chegg are shedding workers as AI absorbs key functions.
In a letter to shareholders, Dorsey predicted that, within the next year, “the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes.”
Block’s Q4 <a href="https://s29.q4cdn.com/628966176/files/doc_financials/2025/q4/Q4-2025-Shareholder-Letter_Block.pdf">numbers</a> were otherwise in the green, with gross profit increasing 24% year-over-year. Block CFO Amrita Ahuja told investors that the cuts are necessary “for our next phase of long-term growth.”
&#8220;We are choosing to shift how we operate at a time when our business is accelerating and we see an opportunity to move faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work,&#8221; Ahuja said.

Business investment and AI artificial intelligence data analysis technology. Businessman and robot future investor, stock market, forex, and crypto currency finance investment.

4,000 Jobs Gone — So Why Does The Market Love It?

Artificial Intelligence

Jack Dorsey

A little-known government agency could soon be at the center of the Trump administration’s efforts to work with private sector leaders to unleash innovation in American tech companies.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission on Thursday announced the creation of the Innovation Advisory Committee, The Daily Wire can first report. The committee brings together companies on the forefront of commerce, drawing leaders in cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, prediction markets, and more.
“Today marks an important and energizing moment at the CFTC as the Innovation Advisory Committee takes shape,” CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in a statement. The committee “will help ensure the CFTC’s decisions reflect market realities so the agency can future-proof its markets and develop clear rules of the road for the Golden Age of American Financial Markets.”
A companion to the better-known Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates capital markets, the CFTC handles derivatives, a broad category encompassing all manner of financial contracts. Like the CFTC itself, the Innovation Advisory Committee will cover a large swath of the financial sector.
Prominent members include Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, a leading prediction markets platform, and Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency hub Coinbase. The presidents of FanDuel and DraftKings — two of the leading online sports betting platforms — are also on the commission, as is Vlad Tenev, CEO of the stock trading app Robinhood.
But the commission also includes representatives from more traditional financial institutions, including Nasdaq chair and CEO Adena Friedman, David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher.
&#8220;There is a strong view from the chairman that this marks a new day for the CFTC and a 180 from the prior administration to put industry engagement front of mind,&#8221; a CFTC official told The Daily Wire.
The agency’s announcement comes at a crucial time for prediction markets. Late last month, the CFTC withdrew a Biden-era rule that restricted futures contracts tied to political and athletic events. That decision opened the gates for platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow users to bet on everything from who will win the Super Bowl to who will carry the White House in 2028.
Faced with the meteoric rise of these platforms, traditional betting outfits like FanDuel, as well as crypto companies like Coinbase and stock trading apps like Robinhood, have rushed to offer their own prediction markets. That the Innovation Advisory Committee includes all of these competitors signals the growing influence of the CFTC, which under Selig is charting a course for greater relevance and impact.
“For too long, the CFTC’s existing framework has proven difficult to apply and has failed our market participants,” Selig said after announcing the rule change. “The new guidance aims to provide straightforward standards so firms know exactly what is allowed and what is not.”
The chairman echoed those sentiments Thursday, saying that the Innovation Advisory Committee will help the CFTC “modernize our rules and regulations for the innovations of today and tomorrow” while ensuring that the United States remains “home to the most transparent and well-regulated financial markets in the world.”
The CFTC’s new advisory board is just the latest instance of the Trump administration partnering with financial leaders. The president tapped Wall Street veterans for top financial posts in his administration, rather than typical Beltway insiders. Trump has also made a point of working closely with American tech companies, bringing leaders in the artificial intelligence space to the White House for a high-profile September summit.

Kalshi Billboards Ahead Of New York Mayoral Election

Trump Admin Assembles Financial Dream Team In High-Stakes America First Move

betting

Cryptocurrency

America’s frustration with congressional stock trading exploded after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) trades were exposed by Autopilot investment app co-founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-josephs-knows-pelosis-stock-trades-better-than-anyone-he-says-they-should-be-banned">Chris Josephs</a>. Five years later, lawmakers may finally be forced to respond.
On Monday, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) <a href="https://x.com/RepBryanSteil">introduced</a> the “Stop Insider Trading Act,” delivering a sharp message to his colleagues. “If you want to trade stocks, you should go to Wall Street,” he said.
&#8220;We are very excited by this bill as we believe it is the most reasonable one proposed to date,” Josephs told The Daily Wire.
Steil’s bill would prohibit lawmakers from buying individual stocks during their tenure, though it would not force them to divest securities they owned before taking office. And while their buying power is limited to index funds, their selling power is left largely unrestricted. Lawmakers would be able to sell individual securities as long as they provided notice at least seven days before the trade.
The legislation does not put limits on other types of investments such as real estate, bonds, or commodities.
Josephs said the bill meaningfully tightens the rules. &#8220;Although it&#8217;s not perfect, it has stricter penalties and forces politicians to buy broader market index funds, which are much harder to insider trade on.”
The bill doesn’t just end with lawmakers; it puts the same restrictions on their spouses and dependent children. Previous efforts have drawn criticism for potentially limiting the careers of the children of the lawmakers. Addressing those concerns, the legislation limits coverage to minor children and adult children still claimed as dependents on a lawmaker’s tax return.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) takes credit for getting this legislation to the floor.
&#8220;After years of insider trading, the discharge petition we brought forward and the members both Democrat and Republican who chose to put their names on it to stop the individual trading of stocks has finally worked,&#8221; the lawmaker said. &#8220;A bill is expected to be passed out of committee as early as this week that will prohibit members of Congress from buying individual stocks.&#8221;
<a href="https://x.com/RepLuna/status/1996664845375078584">Previously</a>, Luna argued that half-measures are insufficient. “The only way to close the loophole is to ban congressional stock trading in its entirety.&#8221;
Along with Luna&#8217;s support, Steil says he has support from House GOP leadership, who have promised to give it a floor vote once the legislation is debated and amendments to the text are considered. Steil looks at the legislation as “an opportunity to regain America’s trust.”
However, the bill is not the only recent effort to attempt to “regain the country’s trust.” In 2020, several senators were accused of trading stocks after private COVID briefings, triggering bipartisan outrage. From 2021 to 2023, multiple bills were introduced, including mandatory blind trusts and outright trading bans, but none became law.
Any proposal would ultimately require lawmakers to vote to restrict their own trading, a hurdle Congress has repeatedly failed to clear. Josephs acknowledged the familiar pattern. 
“We&#8217;ve seen this rodeo before though, so still lots to come on if it&#8217;ll actually pass, but it definitely is a step in the right direction.&#8221;

gettyimages-1198675355-594×594

‘Opportunity To Regain America’s Trust’: New Bill Aims To Close Lucrative Congressional Loophole

Politics

Jan 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Wall Street climbed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting an all-time high thanks to surging financial shares, while energy firms jumped after a U.S. military strike that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Investors bet Washington&#8217;s move against Venezuela&#8217;s leadership would allow U.S. firms access to the world&#8217;s largest oil reserves. A U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil remained in full effect, U.S. President Donald Trump said.
The S&amp;P 500 energy index rose to its highest since March 2025 and was last up 2.5%, with heavyweights Exxon Mobil rising 2.4% and Chevron jumping 5.8%.
Weapon manufacturers also advanced after Washington&#8217;s military action. Lockheed Martin rose 2.8% and General Dynamics climbed 3.2%, while the S&amp;P 500 aerospace and defense index rose 1.8% to a record high.
&#8220;Energy stocks are really benefiting from the expectation that President Trump is intending to send them in to do more investment in Venezuela and ultimately make more money for themselves,&#8221; said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Seattle.
&#8220;The lack of permanent boots on the ground, the fact that we&#8217;re not permanently engaged, means the broader equity markets are able to set aside what might have been fears of a prolonged engagement,&#8221; Haworth said.
Tesla climbed 4.2% after seven straight sessions of losses. Nvidia dipped 0.6%.
The S&amp;P 500 was up 0.76% at 6,910.73 points.
The Nasdaq gained 0.76% to 23,411.49 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.64% at 49,174.91 points.
The S&amp;P 500 financials index rose 2.7% as investors looked to upcoming quarterly reports. Analysts on average see S&amp;P 500 financial companies growing their earnings 6.7% year-over-year in the December quarter.
Goldman Sachs rose 4.8% and JPMorgan Chase added 3.4%, with both banks hitting record highs.
&#8220;The mood has been favoring financial stocks in recent days and as people look beyond tech, this is a sector many are choosing to look toward,&#8221; said Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers.
Wall Street&#8217;s main indexes posted double-digit gains in 2025 for the third consecutive year, a run last seen in 2021.
Data showed U.S. manufacturing contracted more than expected in December, extending a 10-month slump.
The spotlight will now be on the monthly nonfarm payrolls on Friday, which could influence the Federal Reserve&#8217;s monetary policy in 2026.
Markets are pricing in about 60 basis points of interest rate easing this year, according to LSEG.
Cryptocurrency-linked shares advanced as bitcoin hit a more than three-week high.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, climbed 4.6%, while Coinbase gained 8.6%. Goldman Sachs upgraded Coinbase to &#8220;buy&#8221; from &#8220;neutral.&#8221;
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&amp;P 500 by a 2.4-to-one ratio.
The S&amp;P 500 posted 58 new highs and 10 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 103 new highs and 45 new lows.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru, and by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and David Gregorio)

Dow Hits Record, Energy Stocks Surge After U.S. Strikes Venezuela

Nicolas Maduro

Trump Administration

Venezuela

President Donald Trump celebrated the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting an all-time high on Thursday morning, arguing that polls showing a poor approval rating on his handling of the economy are &#8220;fake.&#8221;
The Dow <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/stock-market-today-dow-hits-record-high-while-nasdaq-sp-500-slide-as-oracle-earnings-revive-ai-spending-fears-233526385.html">reached</a> 48,661.94 shortly after the opening bell on Thursday, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&amp;P 500 dropped slightly. The Dow has climbed steadily since late April after a dramatic plunge following the rollout of Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs. Trump argued the new record high for the Dow is proof that his economic policies are working.
&#8220;STOCK MARKET JUST HIT AN ALL-TIME HIGH!!! When will the Fake Polls show that I am doing a great job on the Economy, and much more??? Thank you!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115701697468059580">said</a>.
According to recent polls, Trump is losing the approval of many Americans on his handling of the economy. The president&#8217;s approval rating on the economy has fallen to 31%, according to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-poll-approval-economy-immigration-inflation-crime-9e5bd096964990e040bc4bacd9fcac21">survey</a> the Associated Press released on Thursday. That was down from 40% who approved of his handling of the economy in March. Another <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/699221/trump-approval-rating-drops-new-second-term-low.aspx">poll</a> released by Gallup in November showed Trump&#8217;s approval rating on the economy sitting at just 36%.
Trump has focused much of his attention on boosting the American economy during his second term, including imposing massive tariffs on countries throughout the world and cutting taxes for many Americans through the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; Trump has also pressured the Federal Reserve to drastically lower interest rates and give Americans more financial room to buy a house.
Inflation has remained relatively low during Trump&#8217;s second term, hovering around 3%, and the stock market has made strong gains in 2025. Still, many Americans continue to worry about the costs of housing and groceries. Democrats have latched onto &#8220;affordability&#8221; messaging in recent months as leftist candidates in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia saw success running on economic issues in their elections last month.
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As the economy and cost of living jump to the top of the list of issues for voters, Trump is focusing on his economic agenda while arguing that the Democrats&#8217; claims of an &#8220;affordability crisis&#8221; are a &#8220;hoax.&#8221;
&#8220;They use the word &#8216;affordability,&#8217; and that&#8217;s their only word,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/hoax-affordability-president-trump-addresses-inflation-pa-rally/69684055">said</a> while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
&#8220;They say, &#8216;Affordability,&#8217; and everyone says, &#8216;Oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.&#8217; No, our prices are coming down tremendously,&#8221; he added. &#8220;They have a new word. They always have a hoax. The new word is &#8216;affordability,&#8217; so they look at the camera and they say this election is all about affordability.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s stop in Pennsylvania was the first on a planned tour across the United States for the president to deliver his economic messaging directly to his supporters. The White House has pointed to gas prices and rent dropping across the United States, while Trump has also moved to roll back some of his tariffs in an effort to bring down the cost of certain grocery items, such as beef and coffee.
The economy will likely remain a top issue heading into the 2026 midterm elections, and whether Trump&#8217;s controversial tariffs survive a looming Supreme Court decision will have a major impact on how the economy will look heading into the important election season.

Trump Celebrates New All-Time High For Stock Market, Calls Polling On Economy ‘Fake’

2026 Midterms

The fate of the Trump administration — and perhaps Republicans in Congress as well — is tied to American sentiment about the economy.
And right now, nobody knows what the hell is going on or which way is up.
According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/jobs-report-bls-september-stock-market-today-11-20-2025?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqcjgM64-wIPKktYARvEIXFsJzimXcvAC3fpAwUc7i4Gm1zHe0UCBW67Kh-iYj8%3D&amp;gaa_ts=6920c3b1&amp;gaa_sig=UP5t4kf3TCVh2knpn1gTpG9YTqEgZWWHF-Xp5Wk_rcJLrVoWejOhEl7QdCMjnOa0Gcq4dx_e4ZeKV-trUecuzw%3D%3D">The Wall Street Journal</a> on Thursday night:
<blockquote>Stocks surrendered gains and closed sharply lower after a whirlwind day of trading that began after Nvidia <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/nvidia-earnings-q3-2025-nvda-stock-9c6a40fe">posted strong results</a>. The Nasdaq composite led indexes lower after being up on the day more than 2%. It closed 2.2% lower. Nvidia gave up an even bigger gain and finished the day down 3.2%.</blockquote>
Why did they end up down?
Because investors suspect there is, in fact, an AI bubble.
That suspicion is not unrealistic. Whenever there&#8217;s a transformative technology, people seem to think that just because there is a bubble, that means that the underlying technology is not transformative. If you look back at the history of investment, however, there is always a speculative bubble around brand-new technologies, and it tends to clean out failing companies.
You remember the successful companies. So you remember Henry Ford because Ford ended up being a wildly successful company. But there were dozens of other automobile companies that were startups at the time that ended up crapping out. In fact, Ford had several of them before he actually started the Ford Motor Company.
The same thing was true of the internet.
Everyone remembers that when the Internet bubble burst in 2000, Pets.com was seen as emblematic of the era. 
But what we should remember is that the internet has completely transformed everybody&#8217;s life. We all work on the internet. We all do commerce on the internet; we all interact on the internet.
The stock market bubble of 2000 did not mean the internet wasn&#8217;t important. There are idiots like Paul Krugman who tried to suggest that it wasn&#8217;t important. It was very important.
That&#8217;s also true with regard to AI. People are looking at the current AI boom, and they&#8217;re thinking that at some point here it has to crap out, that some of these companies are not going to be able to develop the kind of margins or gross income that justifies the investment they are currently making. OpenAI is the most obvious example of a company that is not publicly traded, but has so many contracts with publicly traded companies ranging from Oracle to Nvidia that if it craps out, it could take down a bunch of companies with it, or at least severely damage their market capitalization.
According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/technology/ai-stock-boom-nvidia.html#:~:text=Cade%20Metz%20has%20covered%20the,for%20more%20than%2015%20years.&amp;text=It%20would%20not%20be%20a,industry%20as%20a%20historic%20moment.">The New York Times</a>:
<blockquote>It would not be a stretch to describe this period of hyperactive growth in the tech industry as a historic moment. Nvidia, which makes computer chips that are essential to building artificial intelligence, said on Wednesday that its quarterly profit had jumped <a href="https://archive.is/o/5DcUP/https:/www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/technology/nvidia-earnings.html">to nearly $32 billion</a>, up 65 percent from a year earlier and 245 percent from the year before that. Just three weeks ago, Nvidia became the <a href="https://archive.is/o/5DcUP/https:/www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/technology/nvidia-value-market-ai.html">first publicly traded company to be worth $5 trillion</a>. </blockquote>
That means Nvidia is now worth more, according to the stock market, than the entire economy of Germany. 
But some industry insiders say there is something ominous lurking behind all this bubble news. They look at the same eye-popping growth and the same stunning wealth creation from Mr. Huang and see a house of cards. And they say it is hard to know what the damage will be if it collapses.
Even Nvidia&#8217;s growth can be explained away because demand for the company&#8217;s chips doesn&#8217;t mean that people want to use AI; it means that companies are building giant AI systems in the hope that somebody will pay to use them eventually.
This is going to be the question: At some point, the productivity generation from AI is going to have to start matching up to the investments that are being made. People are betting on whether there&#8217;s going to be an AI boom that justifies all this or an AI bust. 
We don&#8217;t know which way it&#8217;s going, which is why people are freaking out.
They&#8217;re also freaking out because if it does succeed, there will be some temporary jobs dislocation. There are a lot of jobs that will become obsolete.
The history of job creation is that the economy becomes more productive. You get nicer things for cheaper prices. You work fewer hours; your grandparents worked many more hours than you do, for example.
But it also means that there is — with technological change —  significant job dislocation, people losing the kind of jobs they&#8217;ve historically held, and then having to find new jobs.
We&#8217;ve generated millions and millions of jobs in areas that we didn&#8217;t even know existed. This is just the way the economy tends to work.
That doesn&#8217;t mean that the angst and heartburn about job dislocation are false.
Thus, two things can be true at once: We can be in a transformative, amazing time for the economy, and the uncertainty and the concern can be real.
And it can&#8217;t all be alleviated by the government.

Dow Jumps Over 600 Points As Nvidia Reports Strong Earnings

What The Hell Is Going On With The Economy?

Ben Shapiro

Dow Jones

Nvidia

Opinion

Oracle

Silicon Valley

On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled about 800 points. As of Friday morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were also tumbling.
What the hell is going on?
It may be that many people are beginning to realize that a lot of these big tech companies, which are investing in each other, are betting on a payoff from AI that may not actually accrue to those companies.
For example, Oracle has become a heavy investor in OpenAI, which is the parent company of ChatGPT. OpenAI is not publicly traded, but you have a bunch of publicly traded companies that are basically doing circular cash deals with OpenAI. Thus, if you&#8217;re investing in Oracle, you&#8217;re partially investing in OpenAI. Or if you are investing in Nvidia, you are partially investing in OpenAI. A lot of money is being passed between all of these companies at the top end of the market, because some provide services to other members of that particular crew.
The question is: Are the gains from AI going to accrue to OpenAI? To Meta? Who will actually benefit from the productivity increases we&#8217;re going to see from AI?
AI is going to be transformative for the economy. You will be using AI in your job if you&#8217;re not already. AI is going to increase productivity.
Does that mean those companies are then reaping the benefits in terms of profits for them? What keeps the wheels spinning for those companies? That&#8217;s the question a lot of investors are beginning to ask.
I&#8217;m highly skeptical that the Fed will cut rates, given the current state of the economy. Inflation has not been put to bed, and liquidity actually is not all that hard to get for businesses right now. Inflating the economy by lowering those interest rates again and pumping more money into the economy could be a mistake.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2318-is-there-an-economic-bubble-and-will-it-burst?elementPosition=5&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
The S&amp;P 500 fell 1.7% on Thursday. The Dow dropped 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite sank 2.3%. Those are the biggest declines for all three major indices since October 10.
What does it show? If the economy is this responsive to the possibility of a Fed rate cut or a Fed rate increase, that is not a strong economy.
If what you&#8217;re worried about is whether there&#8217;s going to be incrementally lower interest rates for businesses to artificially spice things up in terms of liquidity, to inject more money into the economy, and that&#8217;s what you&#8217;re waiting on, that does not bode well. It does not mean that the fundamentals seem particularly strong.
Why? Because so much of what is happening at the top end of the market and the vast majority of the gains in the stock market are located in the Magnificent Seven. The rest of the stock market over the past couple of years has been essentially flat, with perhaps a slight increase, while the top end of the market has exploded. That&#8217;s what&#8217;s driven the Dow Jones Industrial Average up to 48,000.
It&#8217;s everybody betting on the same horses over and over and over and over again. And if you keep betting on the same horses over and over and over and those horses don&#8217;t come in, things get ugly. What happens if OpenAI does not deliver the gains it may have promised?
People are starting to divest a little bit from the top of the market. That&#8217;s why you&#8217;re seeing the market start to drop a little bit right now. You could see that turned into a wave if, for example, Open AI ever reports any bad news or if one of these other major AI companies starts to report decreased profit share or people start to think, generally speaking, that it&#8217;ll take longer than they thought it would for AI to filter into every aspect of the market and then down to the original companies.
I&#8217;m not saying that a stock market crash is imminent. I am saying that there is a bubble. In real estate, there&#8217;s a bubble; in tech, there’s a bubble.
And so the market is reflecting that.

US-ECONOMY-MARKETS

Is There An Economic Bubble?

OpenAI

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