Issue 8
FLASH Fed leaves interest rates steady
1 Stocks up over 20% YTD
2 US intelligence estimates Russia has suffered 315k casualties in Ukraine
3 OPINION: Israeli is going to inherit humanitarian crisis after war
4 Global media group strikes deal to allow AI to train on its publications
5 House votes to start impeachment inquiry into Biden
1941 1st NFL division playoff
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FLASH Fed leaves interest rates steady, forecasts cuts next year, stock market rips
1 Stocks up over 20% YTD
S&P 500 gains for the year pushed past 20%. The broad market is on pace for its best performance since 2021, when it climbed almost 27%. Last year, it shed 19.4%. Stocks have been on a tear since late October, when a string of nearly pitch-perfect data releases — softer job readings, slower inflation and rising productivity — helped convince investors that the Fed has won the war on inflation. (Axios)
2 US intelligence estimates Russia has suffered 315k casualties in Ukraine
A declassified U.S. intelligence assessment says that Russia has suffered staggering losses in its invasion of Ukraine, with 315,000 Russian troops having been killed or injured since the start of the war. These losses amount to nearly 90% of the 360,000 personnel in the Russian army at the start of the war. Russia has been forced to mobilize new recruits, including convicts, to make up for the losses. The report also says that Russia’s losses in personnel and equipment have set its military’s modernization efforts back by 15 years. (WSJ, NYT)
3 OPINION: Israeli is going to inherit humanitarian crisis after war
In pursuing its aims of dismantling Hamas’s military machine and wiping out its top leaders, Israel has killed and wounded thousands of innocent Gazan civilians. Hamas knew this would happen and did not care a whit. Israel must. It will inherit responsibility for a gigantic humanitarian disaster that will require a global coalition years to fix and manage. As The Times reported on Tuesday, “Satellite imagery shows that the fighting has resulted in heavy damage to almost every corner of Gaza City” — at least 6,000 buildings hammered, with about a third of them in ruins. (Tom Friedman, NYT)
4 Global media group strikes deal to allow AI to train on its publications
Axel Springer will allow OpenAI to train artificial intelligence models using content from the German publishing giant’s outlets such as Bild, Politico and Business Insider, in a landmark deal for the global media industry. Under the agreement struck with ChatGPT-owner, the German group will earn tens of millions of euros a year to allow its news content to develop generative AI technology that can create text, images and code that are indistinguishable from human creations. (FT)
Editor’s note: this deal could foreshadow a complete reordering of media business models in the AI age
5 House votes to start impeachment inquiry into Biden
The House narrowly approved opening an impeachment probe into President Biden on Wednesday, hours after his son, Hunter Biden, defied a congressional demand to testify on Capitol Hill, marking a sharp escalation in the battle between the White House and Republicans.
This is NOT a formal impeachment. Impeachment investigations give Congress additional power by increasing the likelihood that a court would authorize access to grand-jury materials and improving the chances of overcoming assertions such as executive privilege. (WSJ)
1941 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
