Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A new clinical trial has found that high doses of vitamin D may significantly slow the progression of a neurological disorder known as clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). It is a condition that may look like multiple sclerosis (MS) and may precede MS.

Both MS and CIS are caused by inflammation and damage to the central nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, the protective layer that surrounds nerve fibers, leading to communication issues between the brain and the rest of the body. Currently, there is no cure for either condition.

Vitamin D’s Effect on CIS

The research, conducted across 36 MS centers in France, aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on patients experiencing early signs of the disease.

Recently published in JAMA Network, the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study enrolled 303 participants aged 18 to 55 with low vitamin D and MRI results typical of CIS, a condition that often precedes MS.

CIS is characterized by a single episode of neurological symptoms lasting at least 24 hours. These can include vision problems, numbness/tingling, weakness, coordination issues, and bladder/bowel problems.

Patients were treated with either 100,000 international units of vitamin D or a placebo every two weeks for a period of 24 months. The primary outcome measured was the occurrence of disease activity, defined as either a relapse of symptoms or new nerve damage shown on an MRI scan.

The findings revealed that only 60.3 percent of participants receiving vitamin D had symptom relapses or further nerve lesions on MRI, compared to 74.1 percent of those receiving the placebo.

Also, the average time between relapses or further lesions were detected was longer for those taking vitamin D—432 days compared to 224 days for those on placebo.

Researchers primarily observed a reduction in detected nerve lesions. There was not a significant difference in the rate of relapses between the two groups, meaning that vitamin D did not prevent the return of symptoms.

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These results make high-dose vitamin D a candidate for further studies evaluating add-on therapy in the therapeutic strategy for managing MS, noted the study authors.

Vitamin D exerts its effects primarily by calming down the immune system. It affects immune cells’ activity and reduces inflammation in the central nervous system, potentially promoting neuroprotection and regrowth of myelin, fatty tissue that gets destroyed in CIS and MS.

The researchers noted that serious adverse events were low and comparable between both groups, with no significant side effects directly related to vitamin D treatment.

Potential for New Treatments

These findings hold promise for low-risk interventions that could potentially alter the course of the disease, Dr. Patricia K. Coyle, director of the MS Comprehensive Care Center at Stony Brook Medicine, told The Epoch Times.

“This is a study that looked at high dose oral vitamin D therapy in first attack, very early relapsing MS, and it showed a decrease in damage to the central nervous system,” she said. “This would set the stage for saying that potentially this might be a treatment, a valuable treatment.”

When you take vitamin D, “you’re going to absorb more calcium.” The concern is someone potentially developing an abnormally high level of calcium in the blood and the complications linked to that—such as kidney stones, gastrointestinal upset, and cardiac issues—which are all based on having a toxic, very high level of calcium that can be measure in the blood, she added.

“They didn’t really see any direct calcium related toxicity at all in the study, suggesting that this particular cohort, on the pulse high dose oral vitamin D, were tolerating it very well,” Coyle said. “This suggests that that was pretty safe.”

She emphasized this could especially benefit people who live in regions where access to conventional MS treatment is limited. Conventional MS drugs fight the disease by blocking inflammation or certain immune cells from causing further damage.

Ongoing Research Needed

While the trial’s primary outcome was achieved, Coyle said that the absence of a documented clinical benefit, despite MRI observations, is “a little bit odd.”

She suggested this may indicate the need for further research, explaining that if patients had less nerve lesions as detected by MRI, they should also have less relapses in neurological symptoms.

“This is not the end of the story,” Coyle added, pointing out that the current findings warrant additional studies to explore the full potential of high-dose vitamin D in MS management.

“But it’s giving a rationale for saying this high dose therapy may decrease damage to the central nervous system,” she said. “Which is something we always want with MS, so it certainly justifies doing further studies to try to document this benefit.”

At a moment that Iran’s stocks of uranium are coming very close to nuclear weapons-grade, and as the Trump White House has resumed its ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran, China is set to host a meeting in Beijing with Russia and Iran.

Friday’s scheduled summit in Beijing will focus on the Iranian “nuclear issue” – according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, involving both nations’ deputy foreign ministers.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, the statement described. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei confirmed that topping the agenda will be “developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”

The UN atomic watchdog IAEA has recently warned that Tehran “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity. The Iranians are within reach of achieving weapons-grade level of roughly 90% – if they desire to pursue it.

“China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks,” Reuters has reported.

Late last week President Trump said he sent a formal letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader urging the restart of fresh nuclear talks, which the Iranians have scoffed at. The letter is still said to be en route via the UAE ambassador – after Iran initially said it never received such a letter.

Iranian leaders have several times since last week explained that they can’t trust any dialogue or deal with Washington after it pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018 (under the first Trump administration).

Meanwhile, China, Iran and Russia are growing more cooperative on the military front, having held the “Maritime Security Belt 2025” joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz this week.

“For two days, the crews of the warships conducted both daytime and nighttime live-fire exercises, using heavy machine guns and small arms to engage targets simulating unmanned boats and aerial drones of a mock adversary,” a Russian statement said.

BREAKING:

After flexing military muscle near Iran. China, Russia, and Iran are now taking their alliance to the next level.

The trio is set to hold high-stakes nuclear talks in Beijing this Friday, with Iran’s nuclear program at the center of global attention. pic.twitter.com/Rkq4fOi6Y3

— Current Report (@Currentreport1) March 12, 2025

But interestingly, Trump has recently floated the idea that Russia could mediate an updated Iran nuclear deal. Moscow appears to have expressed openness, but is unlikely to ever demand that Tehran give up its program.

The Iranians have long been insistent it is only for peaceful nuclear energy purposes, however. The Ayatollah chimed in again on this point Wednesday, issuing the following on X:

If we had wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US wouldn’t have been able to stop us. The fact that we neither possess nor seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves don’t want to.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 12, 2025

The Friday trilateral Beijing meeting will in a sense be a gathering of countries which are all sanctioned or are under US punitive measures in some way.

*  *  *

Stock up on gourmet freeze-dried meats for the apocalypse…

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

The United States—a country historically touted as a beacon of freedom—has been added to a watchlist of countries allegedly violating civil rights. CIVICUS, a leftist and Soros-founded organization, stands behind the list. 

“Due to the Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms and global cooperation, CIVICUS has added the United States of America (USA) to its Watchlist of countries with faltering civic freedoms,” CIVICUS claimed in a press release on Monday. 

CIVICUS is a nonprofit that received more than $3.5 million in donations from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations from 2016 to 2021, according to a Headline USA review of a grants database. 

See its Soros donations below:

Given these ties, it was unsurprising that the non-profit would cite a series of innocuous actions taken by the Trump administration to place the U.S. closer to dictatorial regimes like North Korea, China and Russia.

These actions include: 

• Issuing executive orders, as allowed by Article II of the Constitution. 

• Overhauling federal agencies within the executive branch, which Trump heads. Among these agencies is USAID, an unruly agency that attempted to defy directives from the duly elected president 

• Appointing individuals to cabinet positions in accordance with the Constitution and established practice. 

According to Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS’s interim co-secretary general, these actions are somehow reminiscent of McCarthyism. 

“This is an unparalleled attack on the rule of law in the United States, not seen since the days of McCarthyism in the twentieth century,” Tiwana claimed.  

“Restrictive executive orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks, and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal,” he added. 

CIVICUS omitted any reference to actions taken by the Biden administration that have deteriorated the republic by any conservative standards. Tiwana continued, “The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances which are the pillars of a democratic society.” 

The 2025 watchlist also targets countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia. CIVICUS, founded in 1993, claims to be a “global alliance of civil society organisations and activists working to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world.” 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is urging the Department of Justice to investigate ‘the recent wave of organized attacks targeting Elon Musk and Tesla car dealerships, charging stations, and vehicles across the country.”

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel signed by 7 other Republicans on the House Oversight committee, Greene writes that “groups like Antifa, known for their history of domestic terrorism, may be involved in the recent Tesla attacks.”

There have been several attacks of this kind in recent days, with reports, including from Elon Musk himself, linking various Democrat-affiliated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to them, specifically, Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). These groups receive a significant amount of funding from ActBlue, a Democrat superPAC.

Greene cites several recent examples, and asks the DOJ and FBI to get to the bottom of “who is organizing and carrying out these attacks?” and whether “there is a link between NGOs and the organizers of the attacks.”

As The Epoch Times‘ Katabella Roberts notes further, President Trump is considering labeling perpetrators as domestic terrorists on March 11, following multiple acts of vandalism and demonstrations at the electric vehicle company’s showrooms throughout the United States.

Trump made the comments to reporters outside the White House, where he was joined by Tesla’s owner Elon Musk after selecting a new electric vehicle for his staff to use.

“I will do that, I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them,” Trump said when asked if he would consider labeling the individuals carrying out the violence as domestic terrorists.

The Republican leader told reporters his administration is already aware of who some of the people are behind the attacks, adding that law enforcement will soon apprehend them.

“Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. We’ve got a lot of cameras up, we already know who some of them are. We’re going to catch them. And they’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage,” Trump added.

*  *  *

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Trump described Tesla as “a great American company” that “supplies so many people in jobs that others are unable to do.”

Trump’s comments come as police are investigating a series of attacks on Tesla showrooms and charging stations across the country amid backlash over Musk’s role in mass cuts to the federal workforce and the cancellation of contracts that fund humanitarian programs around the world.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has been tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal operations, is led, in part, by special adviser Musk.

On Feb. 28, a man who identifies as a woman was charged by prosecutors in connection with a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership, including Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” sprayed on the EV makers building.

In a separate incident on March 3, seven charging stations were set on fire at a mall outside of Boston, with the Littleton Police Department describing it as “suspicious in nature.”

Police in Oregon also said on March 6 that they are working with the FBI to investigate after a Tesla dealership was damaged by gunfire overnight, though no one was injured. In another incident on March 7, a man burned three Tesla chargers in the parking lot of a mall in South Carolina, while accidentally setting himself on fire in the process.

Musk, the world’s richest person, responded to the rising violence in a March 4 post on the social media platform X, stating, “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!”

A group claiming to be an organizer of the “Tesla Takedown” protests said in a statement on the social media platform Bluesky that it was peaceful and opposed violence.

“Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed,” the group said while calling for people to join the protests.

Reuters contributed to this report.

With the latest shutdown ‘looming’ (once again), Senate Democrats are playing chicken over a short-term funding bill which passed on Tuesday in the House – as at least 8 Democrats will need to join the Republicans in order to pass it by Friday’s deadline, while Sens. Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer digging in against it and pushing for a 30-day funding stopgap instead so they can renegotiate the larger stopgap.

According to Axios, Senate Democrats left a private meeting on Wednesday saying there aren’t enough votes to advance the bill, raising the chances of a government shutdown this weekend.

And according to Semafor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – while privately counseling his caucus for weeks that a shutdown would be bad politics for Democrats – is now telling them to push for an ‘alternate’ stopgap, Semafor reports further.

To that end, Senate Democrats are now pushing for a 30-day funding package that would give bipartisan negotiators more time to reach a deal.

“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR [continuing resolution],” said Schumer.

“Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.“

“Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. So that’s what we are insisting on to vote for cloture,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) – Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 running mate whose crazy Antifa son was placed on probation in 2017 for rioting.

As Politico notes, the situation isn’t great.

With 52 Republicans expected to back the House-passed stopgap, eight Democrats would need to help advance it to a final Senate vote. So far only one — Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — has indicated he’ll support it. Other key swing voters are on the fence.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told reporters Wednesday that he remains undecided on the seven-month funding bill, which passed the House mostly along party lines Tuesday. Asked when he would make a decision, he quipped he’d make up his mind before the end of the Senate vote on the bill, which hasn’t yet been scheduled.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is a ‘no’ on the bill.

Schiff Hits The Fan

Meanwhile, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) threw a tantrum over the bill, saying in a Wednesday statement “I will not be voting for the partisan bill coming before the Senate that will further cement the Trump Administration’s chaos and reckless actions that are hurting working families and our economy.”

Will Democrats risk taking the blame for a government shutdown? Looks like it.

“I do not want to shut down our government, I want to improve it, streamline it and ensure it delivers services our communities need,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), while Rep. Alexandrio Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been rallying Senate Democrats to unite against the bill.

“People aren’t going to be tricked with procedural games. They know exactly what is going on,” she wrote on social media.

In short:

Dems will protest Musk firing half the government by shutting down all of government https://t.co/aQ7AnVQ6ZB

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 12, 2025

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The FBI has said it is handing over subpoenaed documents to Republican House Judiciary lawmakers, responding to a letter that called for “transparency and accountability” at the bureau.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel about information and documents that he said were withheld under former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In a letter dated March 7, FBI Assistant Director Marshall Yates responded by including documents and information about alleged pipe bombs that were found near Democratic and Republican headquarters in Washington in January 2021, the FBI’s communications with social media companies, and investigations into threats against school officials.

“As a sign of good faith, we are providing this initial production more than a week ahead of the Committee’s subpoena deadline,” Yates wrote. “But this will not be the last production we will send to satisfactorily comply with the Committee’s subpoena. To that end, we are diligently working to completely comply with your subpoenas.”

Due to “the diverse and broad subject matters implicated in your requests, the FBI is providing” an initial response, he said, adding that more documents will be identified and submitted to the House panel.

Documents sent to Jordan’s office will also include “minimal redactions” to protect sensitive law enforcement information, the FBI said.

In a letter dated Feb. 24, days after Patel was confirmed as the FBI’s director, Jordan requested a bevy of documents and information about the FBI’s activity under Wray, who stepped down from his post as President Donald Trump took office in January.

That included Wray’s alleged “slow-walking” of an investigation into pipe bombs found near the headquarters around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach as well as the FBI’s usage of “confidential human sources” on Jan. 6.

Some Republicans have asserted that FBI informants were present on Jan. 6, details of which were later confirmed by the bureau’s inspector general office in December 2024. While there were no undercover FBI agents present, there were more than two dozen informants present on Jan. 6, the report found.

Other details sought by Republicans in their letter include the FBI sending agents to local school board meetings following a controversial memo that was issued in 2021 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland about threats against school administrators and teachers. Details about the FBI Richmond office sending a memo that labeled some Catholics as “violent extremists” were also requested in the letter.

Earlier this year, Wray told CBS News that he stepped down because he “deeply” cares about the FBI and its staff, while Trump “had made it clear that he intended to make a change.” As a result, he said that his “conclusion was that the thing that was best for the Bureau was to try to do this in an orderly way, to not thrust the FBI deeper into the fray.”

Meanwhile, Patel has said that he wants the FBI to be more transparent and to rebuild trust in the federal law enforcement agency.

The Epoch Times contacted Jordan’s office for comment on Tuesday.

Today just after midnight, US tariffs on steel and aluminum have come into force, and in response the European Commission announced its plans to retaliate to a similar degree (albeit on a different range of imports from the US).

While the impact on certain sectors and product lines could be large, the aggregate macroeconomic effect on Europe is likely to be small. Of more concern, according to Nomura’s George Buckley, is that this is only the opening gambit – Europe is now firmly in Mr Trump’s sights, particularly being responsible for more imports to the US than any other bloc, and his comments from the White House just underscored that

• *TRUMP: IM NOT HAPPY WITH THE EU
• *TRUMP ON THE EU: WE’LL WIN THAT FINANCIAL BATTLE
• *TRUMP: ABSOLUTELY WILL PUT TARIFFS ON CARS

Nomura has published a report (available to pro subs in the usual place) with European macro forecasts which are based on the US ultimately applying 10% tariffs against Europe, and the EU responding in kind. Below we excerpt the key highlights from the report:

Tariffs – the opening gambit

The EU this morning announced “proportionate” retaliatory measures and imposed tariffs on US products entering the EU in response to Trump’s imposition of 25% tariffs on global aluminium and steel imports to the US.

The US tariffs, which are now in force, build on those Trump imposed in 2018 in two ways: 

• i) 25% rather than the 10% aluminum tariffs in 2018, 
• ii) the new tariffs broaden the base by adding more final products (not just the raw metal itself). 

In total, the US tariffs will affect around €26bn of EU exports to the US (which is about 5% of total EU exports to the US).

Europe’s response

In response, the European Commission has said it will retaliate in two stages. 

First, at the start of April, it will reinstate the tariffs put in place during Trump’s first term. 

Second, from mid-April, it will apply tariffs to an additional set of US imports – for that purpose the Commission is consulting over the next two weeks on a list of products (industrial and agricultural products, not just Harleys and bourbon) on which it might add tariffs. The EU’s intention is to place retaliatory tariffs on €26bn of US imports.

• The Commission’s statement can be found here.
• A fuller memo on its countermeasures is here.
• And a list of US imports to which the EU is considering adding tariffs is here.

European macro implications

The European Commission has calculated that the additional US tariffs on EU exports into the US of aluminum and steel “will result in US importers having to pay up to €6bn in additional import tariffs”.

Should the EU intend on raising similar tariff revenue in response to this move, then that cost needs to be put into some context:

• €6bn extra costs of imports relative to total US goods imports into the EU (of $375bn in 2023) is noticeable – about 1.7%.
• €6bn relative to total extra-EU goods imports globally into the EU ($2.4tn in 2024) is small – about 0.25%.
• And €6bn relative to total EU nominal GDP (€18tn in 2024) is of course is very small indeed (about 0.03%).

So, while at the industry/product level these tariffs and counter-tariffs will be noticeable (via 1. lower demand by the US for steel and aluminium products – unless of course European manufacturers respond by taking a hit to prices/profits, and 2. higher prices in Europe on certain imported products), the impact across the entire EU economy should be small.

The bigger effect should be from what is to come

As Nomura notes, there are more important and worrisome potential tariffs to consider. The tariffs Trump has announced so far are, after all, only the opening gambit. Trump is less than two months into his second presidency, and Europe is now firmly in his sights – probably more firmly following today’s European response.

Indeed, the EU exports well over €500bn of goods to the US each year (Figure 1), the largest of any individual bloc (and greater than Canada, Mexico or China), while the US trade deficit with the EU has ballooned over recent years (Figure 2).

Trump is likely to announce further tariffs on 2 April before Europe’s full retaliation to steel and aluminum can even take effect. And sizeable negative effects on global – and European – growth may also hit even before major tariffs are implemented, via the rise in trade policy and geopolitical uncertainty that Trump’s presidency is generating.

More in the full Nomura report available to pro subs.

Via SchiffGold.com,

In his recent appearance with Todd on the Sachs Realty Podcast, Peter Schiff paints a sobering picture of America’s current economic landscape, challenging mainstream narratives promoted by Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. Throughout the discussion, he covers alarming trends from unsustainable debt levels and hidden recessions to mounting inflation and misguided trade policies, warning listeners of consequences that policymakers will have to face sooner or later.

Starting with the political landscape, Peter argues that the underlying economic distress voters experience was a critical factor in Donald Trump’s political rise. While official narratives tout economic successes, Peter sees through the smoke and mirrors:

I think the economy is in a lot of trouble. I think that’s why Trump was elected. The voters are living in this economy, and despite what they’re being told by the media and Wall Street that we have a great economy, they know that’s not the case. They’re struggling to get by. Many people are working two or three jobs, whereas they used to be able to pay the bills with one. They can see prices rising rapidly for everything they need to buy as their debts are rising. People have their savings depleted. They’ve got record amounts of debt. The interest rates on that debt are much higher now than they’ve been in many, many years or decades. I think we’re a real mess. 

As for Trump’s economic policies, Peter finds some positive initiatives but strongly criticizes the administration’s expansionary fiscal policy and heavy reliance on budget deficits. He emphasizes the urgent need for fiscal responsibility—in actions, not just words:

Well, he’s done some things that I think are pretty good. But where I think he’s really failed is he has been encouraging the Republican Congress to pass this big, beautiful bill, which also includes a four trillion dollar increase in the debt ceiling and includes an increase in government spending so that the deficits that Trump inherited from Biden will be larger if the bill that he now supports is enacted. So I would much rather see the president telling Congress, ‘I don’t support that bill and if you pass it, I will veto it,’ because I don’t want to increase the debt ceiling. 

Peter also challenges Trump’s handling of trade, particularly his reliance on tariffs. Tariffs, he argues, act as hidden taxes ultimately paid by ordinary Americans, driving up prices and reducing purchasing power:

I don’t like all the tariff threats personally. I mean, tariffs are taxes. They’re taxes on the American people. The American people need to pay more taxes unless we’re going to cut spending because the government is spending a lot more than it’s collecting in taxes. So level with the public and say, ‘Look, we got to raise taxes because we’re spending too much money, and the way I’m going to raise taxes is tariffs, and it’s going to mean that everything you buy is going to be more expensive because of these tariffs.’ And that’s the reality. I don’t like trying to fool the public into believing they’re getting something for nothing. 

Moreover, Peter explains Trump’s misunderstanding of the trade deficit. Rather than foreign countries taking advantage of America, he clarifies that trade deficits can signal a domestic economy consuming beyond its means:

Trump mischaracterizes the current nature of the relationship. Trump believes that these trade deficits are the world taking advantage of America and that they’re somehow screwing us over, that they’re getting something for nothing. The opposite is true. We’re getting something for nothing because we get to consume more than we produce, we get to borrow more than we save, so our standard of living is higher today as a result of these trade deficits.

Peter asserts that America needs to confront its economic imbalances and unsustainable debt head-on rather than waiting for a crisis to force its hand. The looming threat is stagflation—rising inflation coupled with a recession—and Peter believes policymakers are vastly underprepared:

And the crisis is going to come because the numbers are exploding exponentially with our debt and our trade deficits and our budget deficits, and the interest on the debt is spiraling out of control. Inflation is already reaccelerating. It’s risen now four or five months in a row. If you annualize the last month now, CPI is up to about 6%. Consumers are catching on. Consumer expectations now of inflation are the highest they’ve been since 1982 at 6%. So the Fed is completely wrong when it says that inflation is resolved.

For more of Peter’s analysis of President Trump’s speech last week, check out his latest X Space.

First the good news: Elon Musk’s DOGE is going through government spending with a fine-toothed comb, slashing a million here, a billion there.

The bad news: at the rate it is going, DOGE will need a few hundred years to make a tangible impact, because as the Treasury just reported, in February the US government spent a staggering $603 billion, a 6% increase from the $567 billion a year ago…

… while it collected just $296 billion in tax revenues…

… which resulted in a $307 billion budget deficit for the month, which means that all tax revenues collected by the US government in February were less than the deficit! Said otherwise, the US spent more than twice what it collected in February.

Which in turn, means this February’s deficit was just shy of the highest on record, and only the post-covid shock of 2021 was greater…

… and pushed the cumulative total for 2025 to $1.147 trillion, covering 38% of all US spending in fiscal 2025.

This is a problem because as shown in the next chart, the cumulative budget deficit for the first 5 months of fiscal 2025 is the highest on record, surpassing even the fiscal shock from the depths of the post-covid response!

And the punchline is that no matter what Musk does, the USS Titanic remain fully on autopilot because while a few billion in discretionary spending here and there can be cut, neither entitlements (Social Security, Medicare) nor interest on the debt can be – without a default (it can however be inflated away… and it will be) – and in February, gross interest on the Federal debt hit a record $1.177 trillion in the past twelve months thanks to another $86 billion in interest spending.

Another way of looking at it: in the first five months of the fiscal year, the US has spent $480 billion on interest alone, the highest 5 month total ever.

What else to say? Well, we could lie to you and tell you that there is some hope and that DOGE will be able to fix this, but as much as we’d like that to be the case, we are now well beyond the Minsky Moment and for all the kicking and screaming, there is only one way all of this ends.

iRobot’s shares crashed by as much as 40% in early cash trading in New York after the maker of robotic household vacuums issued a going concern warning for the next 12 months following a dismal fourth-quarter earnings report. 

Let’s begin with four quarter earnings.

Irobot reported wider-than-expected losses and revenue that missed the average estimates tracked by Bloomberg Consensus.

Snapshot of fourth-quarter earnings courtesy of Bloomberg: 

• Revenue $172.0 million, estimate $181 million (Bloomberg Consensus) (2 estimates)

• Adjusted loss per share $2.06, estimate loss/shr $1.73 (2 estimates)

• Loss per share $2.52 * Average gross selling price $365

• Gross margin 9.5%

• R&D expenses $16.5 million, estimate $19.5 million (2 estimates)

• Selling and marketing expenses $39.9 million, estimate $44.8 million (2 estimates)

• Adjusted gross margin 12.8%, estimate 20.7% (2 estimates)

• Adjusted operating loss $44.8 million, estimate loss $37.4 million (2 estimates)

IRobot reported a 44% revenue drop in the fourth quarter from a year earlier…

Chinese producers have flooded the US market with cheaper versions of robotic household vacuums, pressuring iRobot sales in recent years. Irobot sales peaked in 4Q20 during the early days of the pandemic.

Bloomberg noted that iRobot canceled its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results conference call and webcast earlier.

Gary Cohen, iRobot CEO, wrote in a statement:

iRobot has defined the robotic floorcare category for more than 30 years, and we remain committed to growing and evolving our business across smart home categories amidst a dynamic operating landscape. As we move ahead, we will continue to take decisive action to reclaim our position as the industry leader and build on iRobot’s strong foundation centered around our globally recognized, iconic brand, Roomba.

iRobot has been undergoing a restructuring plan since 2024, significantly reducing its headcount by more than 50%, along with supply chain and R&D changes. 

The robot company was once Amazon’s $1 billion buyout target, but that deal fell through after clashing with European Union regulators. 

What spoked the market was the company’s going concern…

As will be noted in iRobot’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2024 (10-K), there can be no assurance that the new product launches will be successful due to potential factors, including, but not limited to consumer demand, competition, macroeconomic conditions, and tariff policies. Given these uncertainties and the implication they may have on the Company’s financials, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the issuance of its consolidated 2024 financial statements. Additional information will be included in the 10-K that is filed with the SEC.

Another one bites the dust—or will Amazon make another offer at a significantly lower price?