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Hello Capitalists,
Here is everything you should be watching today:
Gold surges with projections now expecting up to $6,000 an oz
Burry warns of Bitcoin “Death Spiral” as price continues to tumble
Washington Post takes an ax to its newsroom in bloodbath cuts
AMD takes a beating after earnings reports
Claude AI just drew a line in the sand with OpenAI
Today’s markets + assets:
🔴 DOW: 49133.79 (⬇️ 0.22%)
🔴 S&P: 6846.98 (⬇️ 1.02%)
🔴 NASDAQ: 22746.15 (⬇️ 2.20%)
⚠️✅CBOE VIX Volatility Index: 21.17 (⬆️ 17.72%)
🔴 Gold: $4930.80 (⬇️ 0.07%)
✅ Silver:$84.80 (⬆️ 1.81%)
🔴 Bitcoin: $72,775 (⬇️ 4.27%)
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Gold rebounds above $5000 after historic plunge
Gold prices rebounded above $5,000 an ounce Wednesday, [ [link removed] ] clawing back sharp losses after a dramatic sell-off from January’s record highs triggered by forced liquidations and record outflows from Chinese gold ETFs. Dip buyers emerged as the precious metal stabilized following its steepest declines in over a decade.
Dip Buyers Strike: Investors snapped up gold after its plunge of more than $500 from the Jan. 29 all-time high, fueling a 2.9% intraday gain Wednesday following a 6%+ surge the prior session.
Volatility Persists: Intense price swings, including silver’s record daily drop and gold’s worst fall since 2013, may sideline retail buyers amid ongoing uncertainty.
China ETF Outflows: Mainland China’s top four gold-backed ETFs recorded nearly $1 billion in combined outflows Tuesday, marking the largest single-day decline ever.
Bullish Forecasts Remain: Major banks like Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank maintain high targets, seeing upside to $5,400-$6,000 as core rally drivers stay intact.
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Big Short Burry warns of “sickening scenarios” if Bitcoin plunge sparks death spiral
Investor Michael Burry, famed for predicting the 2008 housing crash, issued a stark warning Monday [ [link removed] ] that Bitcoin’s 40% plunge since October could cascade into a self-reinforcing “death spiral,” hammering corporate treasuries, forcing mass sales, and risking bankruptcies among miners as the token sheds its debasement-hedge myth.
Bitcoin exposed as speculative: Bitcoin has failed to function as a reliable hedge like precious metals, revealing itself as purely speculative with no organic use case to halt its ongoing descent.
Reflexive death spiral : At $60,000, falling prices could weaken balance sheets further, tighten capital access, spark more selling, and accelerate declines in a vicious cycle for treasury-heavy companies. [ [link removed] ]
Miners face bankruptcy : A drop to $50,000 risks pushing weaker Bitcoin miners into insolvency, prompting liquidations that add intense downward pressure on the market.
Corporate holders face peril: Nearly 200 public companies holding Bitcoin must mark assets to market, potentially triggering risk managers to force sales if prices keep dropping and straining balance sheets.
Strategy Inc. on the brink: A further 10% Bitcoin decline would leave Strategy Inc., the largest corporate holder, billions in the red with capital markets likely closed to it.
Miners bankruptcy threat looms: Deeper falls could push Bitcoin miners toward bankruptcy while cascading effects already spilled into tokenized precious metals, causing up to $1 billion in liquidations.
Washington Post slashes staff guts newsroom
The Washington Post on Wednesday announced widespread layoffs and major restructuring, [ [link removed] ] telling employees to stay home for a Zoom meeting where leadership detailed cuts gutting sports, books, the daily podcast, and parts of metro and international coverage amid efforts to refocus on politics and achieve profitability.
Massive restructuring unveiled: Publisher Will Lewis pushes for profitability by concentrating resources on politics while eliminating or shrinking non-core sections like sports and books. (18 words)
Key sections devastated: Almost the entire Sports desk shuttered, Books section closed, Post Reports podcast canceled, and Metro desk restructured with reduced local coverage in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. (24 words)
International coverage trimmed: Significant reductions in foreign reporting planned, though some overseas bureaus will remain operational despite staff pleas highlighting collaboration needs. (18 words)
Staff pleads with Bezos: Journalists sent impassioned letters urging owner Jeff Bezos to reconsider, warning that diminished sections harm overall journalism, especially amid subscriber losses from prior decisions. (26 words)
AMD stock plunges 12% on soft forecast
Advanced Micro Devices shares sank 12% Wednesday [ [link removed] ] after its first-quarter revenue guidance of about $9.8 billion disappointed some analysts expecting stronger AI-driven growth, despite topping fourth-quarter expectations with $10.27 billion in sales amid booming demand for its data center chips.
Stock plunges sharply: AMD shares dropped as high expectations for AI boom guidance went unmet, overshadowing a solid quarterly beat.
Guidance includes adjustments: First-quarter forecast of $9.8 billion factored in unexpected China revenue shipments not in consensus estimates, reducing perceived strength.
Major AI deals advance: OpenAI plans multi-year deployment of 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs starting with 1 gigawatt in late 2026, plus Oracle’s rollout of 50,000 AI chips.
Data center demand stays robust: Executives highlight accelerating AI chip orders and potential multi-gigawatt contracts ahead, despite short-term forecast concerns.
Anthropic vows Claude will stay ad-free forever
Anthropic declared Wednesday that its Claude AI chatbot will remain permanently ad-free, [ [link removed] ] rejecting advertisements in conversations weeks after rival OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT to boost revenue, as the startup prioritizes uncompromised user trust over ad dollars in the intensifying AI competition.
Ad-free commitment reaffirmed : Anthropic pledged no ads, sponsored links, or advertiser-influenced responses in Claude, calling such intrusions incongruous and often inappropriate in personal AI conversations.
Business model tradeoffs acknowledged : The company relies solely on enterprise contracts and paid subscriptions for revenue, reinvesting it into Claude improvements despite forgoing potential ad income.
Contrast with OpenAI highlighted : The decision follows OpenAI’s recent U.S. testing of clearly labeled ads at the bottom of ChatGPT answers for free and certain paid users, without altering core responses.
Super Bowl campaign launched : Anthropic debuted its first Big Game ads with the tagline “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude,” emphasizing trust and focus on helpful, unbiased assistance.
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