Good morning and welcome again. In at the moment’s e-newsletter:
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Donald Trump hits out at Iran’s nuclear ambitions within the State of the Union speech
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Paramount sweetens bid for Warner Bros Discovery
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How Deutsche Financial institution rolled out the pink carpet for Jeffrey Epstein
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A overview of Lloyd Blankfein’s memoir Streetwise
We start with Donald Trump, who has lashed out at Iran’s “sinister” nuclear ambitions in his State of the Union tackle as he introduced Washington’s justification for attainable navy motion.
What to know: The US president accused Tehran of looking for to rebuild its nuclear weapons programme amid a large build-up of US naval and air energy within the Center East as he spoke earlier than a joint session of Congress final evening.
Trump stated the US was nonetheless negotiating with Iran however Tehran was not relinquishing its nuclear ambitions and it continued to threaten America.
“They’ve already developed missiles that may threaten Europe and our bases abroad, and so they’re working to construct missiles that can quickly attain the USA of America,” Trump stated.
Why it issues: Trump’s feedback on Iran come simply earlier than crucial talks in Geneva tomorrow between US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and senior Iranian officers, which might decide whether or not the White Home launches a brand new assault on the Islamic Republic. Read more on last night’s speech.
Right here’s what else we’re retaining tabs on at the moment:
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Outcomes: Nvidia, probably the most invaluable firm on the earth, publishes fourth-quarter earnings later at the moment. Paramount Skydance, Lowe’s, TJX, Pinnacle West Capital and APA Corp additionally report outcomes for the ultimate quarter of final yr.
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Financial information: Releases from Latin America dominate at the moment. Mexico’s fourth-quarter present account surplus is due, as is Brazil’s main price range surplus information for January. Argentina’s statistics company is about to launch retail gross sales figures for December.
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Fed audio system: Federal Reserve Financial institution of Kansas Metropolis president Jeffrey Schmid, St Louis Fed president Alberto Musalem and Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin are resulting from communicate at occasions later.
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Merz-Xi assembly: Talks between the German chancellor and Chinese language president in Beijing are expected to focus on mounting commerce tensions between the EU and the world’s second-largest financial system.
5 extra prime tales
1. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened to chop Anthropic from his division’s provide chain except it agrees to log off on its expertise being utilized in all lawful navy purposes by Friday. The risk is the most recent escalation in a feud between Anthropic and the division.
2. White Home immigration insurance policies, together with a $100,000 payment for brand new candidates to the H-1B scheme for specialised staff and enhanced social media exercise opinions, have upended multinationals’ talents to convey prime engineers, consultants and scientists from throughout the globe to the US, in response to greater than a dozen workers, executives and recruiters who spoke to the FT.
3. Utilities, vitality and supplies shares have emerged as winners from the AI anxiousness gripping Wall Avenue. The enterprise software program sector has borne the brunt of worries that new AI instruments might upend whole industries. These issues have additionally rocked wealth managers and insurers. Here’s more on the outperforming stocks.
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Extra markets information: The Australian greenback, Norwegian krone and New Zealand greenback have surged forward of different main currencies this yr as overseas trade markets level to a change within the path of world rates of interest from cuts to rises.
4. Warner Bros Discovery stated Paramount’s sweetened $31-a-share supply to purchase the studio and streaming group might “moderately be anticipated” to result in a superior deal to Netflix’s present deal. Netflix co-chief government Ted Sarandos has not ruled out raising its own offer, stated individuals acquainted with the matter.
5. HSBC has introduced it’s on observe to ship $1.5bn of value financial savings six months sooner than deliberate, as chief government Georges Elhedery presses forward with an overhaul of one of many world’s largest banks. The financial savings might be made within the first half of this yr, HSBC stated earlier at the moment. Information of the accelerated value financial savings got here as HSBC reported annual results.
At present’s Huge Learn
Tens of hundreds of inside emails and paperwork launched by the US Division of Justice paint for the primary time a vivid image of how Deutsche Financial institution rolled out the red carpet for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
We’re additionally studying . . .
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Donald Trump: An trustworthy reckoning of present geopolitical dangers would place the US president’s wayward psychology excessive up the checklist.
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Trump commerce stalls: International traders are going out of their method to avoid US markets, writes Katie Martin.
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Mexico: The dethroning of ‘El Mencho’ ought to relieve the political strain from the US but it surely has created political and security hazards at residence.
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India: Stung by Trump’s unstable overseas insurance policies, New Delhi is deepening ties with the EU and “center powers”, reminiscent of Canada.
Chart of the day
Ladies pay a disproportionate value for having kids, placing downward strain on delivery charges in wealthy international locations. What’s to be carried out? Martin Wolf opinions the analysis on insurance policies designed to extend fertility charges. Here are his conclusions.
Rising prices and financial uncertainty have intensified monetary anxiousness — significantly for girls, who make up almost two-thirds of UK debt recommendation purchasers. Be part of Claer Barrett, client editor, for a free webinar on March 5 in affiliation with the FT’s FLIC charity.
Take a break from the information . . .
Lloyd Blankfein is descended from Yiddish-speaking Jews and went to a tough college in Brooklyn, however made it to Harvard and on to guide Goldman Sachs by the monetary disaster. Streetwise, his autobiography, is an insider’s information to when the monetary business spun uncontrolled earlier than almost collapsing. Learn John Gapper’s review of Blankfein’s memoir.
