🚀 Storm causing chaos

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Market Overview
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Year To Date Performances:

1. The United States is grappling with the catastrophic aftermath and ongoing progression of Winter Storm Fern, a massive system that has triggered a national emergency for over 230 million people. The storm has claimed at least ten lives and has effectively shut down the country's aviation network, resulting in more than 14,000 flight cancellations over the weekend—the highest daily volume since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While the heaviest precipitation is expected to clear the Northeast by the afternoon, the "ripple effect" of grounded crews and displaced aircraft means that Monday will see at least 1,870 residual cancellations, particularly affecting major hubs in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

2. Minnesota’s corporate aristocracy has finally broken its cautious silence to plead for a ceasefire in the escalating jurisdictional war between federal enforcers and local reality. Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and the second U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, a formidable coalition of sixty CEOs from powerhouses like Target, 3M, and UnitedHealth issued a rare, public demand for "immediate de-escalation." While the signatories carefully avoided naming President Trump directly, the subtext of their letter, issued through the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, makes it clear that the administration's aggressive immigration surge has transformed the Twin Cities into a volatile powder keg of "widespread disruption." As Governor Tim Walz begs for a withdrawal and federal commanders double down on their mission, the message from the boardroom is grim: even the most robust economic engines cannot thrive in a landscape defined by blood on the pavement and a total collapse of intergovernmental cooperation.

3. The American automotive industry, an engine responsible for nearly five percent of the national GDP, is currently navigating a 2026 landscape where the "new normal" looks less like a recovery and more like a high-speed game of chicken with the middle-class wallet. With the average vehicle transaction price idling at a punishing fifty thousand dollars—a thirty percent surge since the decade began—industry titans from Ford, Hyundai, and Toyota are sounding the alarm on an affordability crisis that has transformed the simple act of buying a car into a luxury few can comfortably afford. As executives pivot their strategies back toward budget-friendly trims and even the long-forsaken sedan, the sector remains braced for the "external shocks" of volatile trade renegotiations with Canada and Mexico and the persistent weight of skyrocketing insurance premiums. While General Motors maintains a bullish forecast for the fiscal year, the broader sentiment in Detroit is one of cautious survival, characterized by a desperate attempt to "plan for the worst" in a market where the average worker now needs over thirty-six weeks of wages just to pull a new set of wheels off the lot.

   Headlines

   1. The US government is taking a 10% stake in USA Rare Earth for $1.6B.

   2. Airbus' CEO is warning that the trade wars initiated by Trump are posing significant risks to the company's business.