In the fourth quarter of 2024, Ford posted a net income of $1.8 billion, or 45 cents per share, a strong turnaround from last year’ s net loss of $526 million, or 13 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, adjusted earnings per share came in at 39 cents. Here’s the full Q4 results:

• Adjusted EPS: 39c vs. 29c y/y, estimate 32c
   
• Total revenue: $48.2 billion, +4.8% y/y
• Ford Blue revenue: $27.3 billion, +4.2% y/y, estimate $25.85 billion
• Ford Model e revenue: $1.4 billion, -13% y/y, estimate $1.8 billion
• Ford Pro revenue: $16.2 billion, +5.2% y/y, estimate $15.57 billion

  Adjusted EBIT: $2.1 billion, +91% y/y, estimate $1.89 billion

• Adjusted EBIT margin: 4.4% vs. 2.3% y/y, estimate 4.36%
• Ford Blue EBIT: $1.58 billion, +94% y/y, estimate $1.25 billion
• Ford Model e EBIT loss: $1.39 billion, -12% y/y, estimate loss $1.34 billion
• Ford Pro EBIT: $1.63 billion, -10% y/y

It is now clear that Farley faces mounting challenges, including overhauling the company’s EV strategy to curb losses and cutting high warranty repair expenses. The automaker lost a record $5.1 billion on EVs last year and expects that deficit to widen to as much as $5.5 billion in 2024.

While Farley is pushing for more affordable, longer-range models, those won’t hit the market until 2027. Meanwhile, the pressure on Ford shares continues, with the stock falling nearly 19% last year, in contrast to General Motors’ 48% surge.

Farley has emphasized the need to close Ford’s $7 billion to $8 billion cost disadvantage against competitors, largely driven by warranty costs. He has tied executive bonuses to improving quality and efficiency, with the company targeting $1 billion in cost cuts this year. “In 2025, we expect to make significantly more progress on our two biggest areas of opportunity – quality and cost,” Farley said. “We control those key profit drivers, and I am confident that we are on the right path.”

Ford’s 2025 guidance reflects headwinds, including a 2% decline in industry-wide pricing and slower sales, but does not factor in potential new tariffs under a Trump administration:

• Adjusted EBIT: $7 billion to $8.5 billion, estimate $8.57 billion
• Ford Pro EBIT: $7.5 billion to $8 billion
• Ford Blue EBIT: $3.5 billion to $4 billion
• Ford Model e EBIT loss: $5 billion to $5.5 billion
• Ford Credit EBT: about $2 billion
• Adjusted free cash flow: $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion
• Capital expenditure: $8 billion to $9 billion, estimate $8.66 billion

Incoming CFO Sherry House said: “There is no question that 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada would have a major impact on our industry. That said, we believe the Trump administration intends to support the American auto industry.”

Tariff concerns are also weighing on the industry. “I know tariffs are on everyone’s mind,” House added.

Trump has also pledged to eliminate federal incentives for electric vehicles, including the $7,500 tax credit that dealers consider critical for sales.

In kneejerk reaction to the disappointing guidance, Ford shares tumbled 5% after hours…

… sliding back below $10 and the lowest level in fouf years.

That’s quite a pivot…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the regulatory body overseeing banks in the United States, has released 790 pages of additional correspondence related to firms offering crypto services to clients.

According to the FDIC, the documents show requests from banks and other institutions to offer crypto services to clients were almost always met with resistance, delays, constant requests for more information and pause letters.

As CoinTelegraph’s Vince Quill reports, the newly revealed document tranche included previously released correspondence from 24 banking firms and additional correspondence from other firms that requested permission to offer crypto-related services.

“Looking forward, we are actively reevaluating our supervisory approach to crypto-related activities,” FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill wrote, marking a seismic shift in the government agency’s stance toward the crypto industry.

Additional FDIC document relating to crypto services. Source: FDIC

FDIC exposed in Freedom of Information Act request

Coinbase filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for FDIC documents related to the debanking of crypto firms under Operation Chokepoint 2.0 in October 2024.

One of the requests sought documentation relating to a 15% cap on bank deposits from crypto-related companies.

A US court released the initial tranche of FDIC documents in December 2024, which included several heavily redacted pause letters sent to banks offering crypto services or products to clients.

Following the public release of the documents, US Judge Ana Reyes chastised the FDIC for the heavy redactions and ordered the agency to produce more transparent documents.

The FDIC “cannot simply blanket redact everything that is not an article or preposition,” Judge Reyes wrote in a Dec. 12 order, which characterized the redactions as a “lack of good-faith effort.”

Senator Lummis’ letter to the FDIC instructing them to preserve records related to crypto enforcement. Source: Senator Cynthia Lummis

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis accused the FDIC of destroying documents related to Operation Chokepoint 2.0 in January 2025 and instructed the agency to preserve all records relating to “digital asset activities” from 2022 onward.

Senator Lummis also threatened to make criminal referrals to the US Department of Justice if the destruction of evidence by FDIC employees was discovered by the Senate Banking Committee.

At the same time, Decrypt reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is cutting back its specialized crypto enforcement unit, reassigning more than 50 lawyers and staff members focused on regulating digital assets as a changing landscape under President Donald Trump takes root.

Several members of the crypto unit have been shifted to different departments within the agency, according to a Tuesday report by The New York Times, which cited several anonymous sources.

At least one senior lawyer was removed from the enforcement division altogether – a move some insiders described as an “unfair demotion,” per the report.

The crypto unit overhaul is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail government intervention in digital assets. Trump has vowed to curb regulatory oversight in the crypto sector since his Presidential campaign and make the U.S. a global leader in digital assets.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who long ago earned the nickname “Crypto Mom,” has laid out how the watchdog will regulate the digital asset industry with its new crypto task force—and did so in a letter that blasted the previous administration’s approach. Peirce, who was announced as the new task force’s boss last month, wrote Tuesday that the SEC would take a while to get on track and regulate a fast-moving and arcane industry. “It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to…

While the SEC has not yet responded to requests for comments from Decrypt on the restructuring, Commissioner Hester Peirce, who now leads the agency’s newly formed crypto task force, has signaled a significant shift in the agency’s priorities.

Peirce, a longtime advocate for clearer crypto guidelines, blasted the SEC’s past regulatory approach in a statement Tuesday, calling it “marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality.”

Known affectionately by those within the industry as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce likened the agency’s past treatment of digital assets to “a car careening down the road” and vowed to introduce a more balanced framework.

The staff reassignment also raises questions about ongoing SEC lawsuits against major crypto firms, including crypto giant Coinbase. The SEC sued the exchange in 2023, alleging it operated as an unregistered securities platform.

That case became a litmus test for former Chair Gary Gensler’s assertion that most cryptos should be classified as securities.

During Gensler’s tenure, multiple industry leaders shot back, accusing the SEC of attempting to “unlawfully kill” the crypto industry while refusing to provide clear regulatory guidelines.

On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expedited approval for the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, allowing it to be listed and traded on NYSE Arca.  Bitwise’s hybrid ETF will offer investors direct exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in a single fund with Coinbase’s custody business to oversee the fund’s holdings. 

“I really want to interpret this as a sign the new SEC will be faster, but no way to know really,” Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X,…

The SEC’s overhaul is just one piece of the Trump administration’s broader effort to rewrite the rulebook on crypto. 

Last month, the agency scrapped Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB121), a controversial policy that forced firms to treat customer-held crypto as a liability. 

Critics, including Peirce, said the rule unfairly burdened banks and kept them from embracing digital assets.

In one of his first executive orders, the President established a presidential working group on crypto policy and outright banned the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a clear rejection of a government-issued “digital dollar.”

Brazilian planemaker Embraer has signed its largest-ever deal with Flexjet, the second-largest operator of commercial private jets, to supply 182 aircraft with an option for 30 additional units. The new fleet will include Praetor 600, Praetor 500, and Phenom 300E models.

“This is the largest order placed by Flexjet in its 30-year history and is also the largest firm order for Embraer’s executive aircraft,” Embraer wrote in a statement. Flexjet operates within the fractional jet ownership segment.

Citigroup analyst Stephen Trent commented on the order, telling clients: “Although an order of this size very likely includes discounting, the depth and breadth of this order looks robust, in terms of what it means for the company’s backlog and jet delivery stream.”

Embraer shares on the Ibovespa stock index jumped 10%, with 7x trading volume compared with the 20-day average. Shares have hit the highest on record dating back to the mid-1990s. 

“We see the announcement as positive, not only because it reinforces its solid operational momentum in Executive Aviation, but also because it corroborates the long-term delivery outlook following Embraer’s current capacity expansion,” XP Inc. analyst Lucas Laghi told clients.

Embraer Executive Jets’ CEO Michael Amalfitano wrote: “We are very pleased with Flexjet’s renewed commitment to Embraer through this comprehensive purchase agreement, which further strengthens our more than 20-year strategic partnership.”

Embraer has outperformed Boeing and Airbus shares in the last year. 

Update: 1344ET): During Wednesday’s White House presser, spox Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Politico has been getting ‘more than $8 million taxpayer dollars,’ which has ‘gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions.’

Watch:

.@PressSec: “I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico will no longer be happening.”

“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.” pic.twitter.com/xfzyzA5Xwd

— CAPITAL (@capitalnewshq) February 5, 2025

As journalist Sean Davis of The Federalist points out,

It was Politico that maneuvered to have the Hunter laptop story banned and everyone discussing it censored.

Politico peddled the illegal Supreme Court leak that led to the near-assassination of multiple Supreme Court justices.

And now we find out the regime was funneling tens of millions of dollars of our money to Politico?

Scroll down for the backstory – but as we mentioned below, ZeroHedge – as we assume The Federalist (our bedfellows in demonitization back in 2000), hasn’t received a dime from the US government (or any government, assholes), while coming under recurring attack from the deep state and their various tentacles. We subsist on dwindling ad revenues thanks to the media censorship complex, subscriptions, and revenue from our new store. So as we noted below (and thank you to all who have flooded us with orders today):

If you want to support us, please:

Subscribe

Or

Buy something from our store

Thank you for your support.

Meanwhile, you can support The Federalist here, and give Sean Davis a follow if you haven’t already.

*  *  *

On Tuesday, staffers at Politico were notified that a ‘technical error’ had prevented paychecks from going out. Many joked that this had something to do with the Trump administration putting a freeze on USAID funding.

Staff at Politico did not get paid for the latest pay period. The company just sent several emails to employees saying it believes there was a technical error, and is looking into how to fix the issue. pic.twitter.com/PYcWYdbrEC

— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 4, 2025

And while there’s no evidence the two are linked, the suggestion prompted internet sleuths to look into Politico‘s sources of funding. What they found was absolutely shocking.

According to government spending tracker website USASPENDING.gov, Politico – which laundered the Hunter Biden ’51 intel officials’ propaganda during the 2020 election – received up to $27 million (and by some counts $32 million) from various US agencies during the Biden years.

I found $27M during the Biden years. https://t.co/14sVnvkbEH

— Pacheco the Ghost (@PMtalking) February 5, 2025

In one instance, roughly $500,000 was spent on 37 Politico ‘pro’ subscriptions.

This is odd https://t.co/iGi82JqhzG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2025

POLITICO has a subscription called PoliticoPro, which costs around $10,000 a year. @politico should be transparent about how many of these pro subscriptions are government-funded.
Given the ludicrous cost, I’m guessing its upwards of 90%.
It seems to me the entire program is a…

— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) February 5, 2025

Of note, Politico was sold to German media giant Axel Springer (which also owns Business Insider) for $1 billion in 2021, meaning US taxpayer dollars have been flowing to the German media giant to prop up their US propaganda rags.

So 90% of “subscribers” to left-wing publications like Politico are fake and “taxpayer funded”. And then using fake subs to artificially pump up revenue, Politico gets to sell itself to German propaganda giant Axel Springer for $1 billion. https://t.co/j8wEv5MybL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 5, 2025

It’s not just the subscriptions: there are huge “ad contracts”, dinner parties DC throws itself under the guise of “media conferences”, sponsorships, etc all paid for by taxpayers.

Once done with Politico look at its spawn Axios, founded by Politico veterans https://t.co/ShM4zTbnyX

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 5, 2025

And look at this, the NY Times received $3.1 million in taxpayer funds, while the UK’s BBC received $3.2 million.

USAID funding:

New York Times $3.1M
Politico $32M
BBC $3.2M (approximate)

h/t @StormTorx pic.twitter.com/3AKQydP4Oo

— David Procino (@APBIOonly) February 5, 2025

Meanwhile…

ZeroHedge hasn’t received a dime from the US government (or any government, assholes), while coming under recurring attack from the deep state and their various tentacles. We subsist on dwindling ad revenues thanks to the media censorship complex, subscriptions, and revenue from our new store.

If you want to support us, please:

Subscribe

Or

Buy something from our store

Thank you for your support.

Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday calling for the end of men playing in women’s sports. 

The “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order is aimed at upholding federal Title IX rules—established in 1972 to set a level playing field for women’s athletics programs.

It will put a stop to “dangerous and unfair” situations where males compete against females in school and amateur athletics, according to a White House official. 

The new guidelines are intended to “preserve the rights and dignity for women, opportunities for young girls.” 

Trump is demanding that women be provided equal opportunities in terms of safety, fairness, and privacy. His order points to the benefits of athletics for young girls, including higher self-esteem and fewer instances of drug use, obesity, and teenage pregnancy.

Schools that fail to comply will face investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and could lose federal funding, according to the new order. 

Denver East High School is one such school, the White House official said. Investigators are looking into decisions it made to eliminate some women’s restrooms and turn them into coed spaces. 

Funds provided through Title IX are dependent on a school’s commitment to preventing discrimination based on sex, among other things. 

“Gender ideology insanity is over.”

White House Press Secretary @karolineleavitt responds to Trump’s executive order banning trans women from female sports, calling it “common sense” and ending the previous administration’s “betrayal of women.”https://t.co/nAdV7SWbx7 pic.twitter.com/wB869kQPn8

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 5, 2025

The Trump administration says it is working with sporting bodies, including a host of associations and organizations, to collectively identify ways to protect women. 

Officials are asking the National Collegiate Athletics Association to review its policies. More than 7,000 female collegiate athletes have come forward demanding that male athletes be removed from their competitions, the order notes.

A group of state attorneys general will convene at the White House soon to discuss how state laws on the issue can be enforced, the official said. 

Schools and universities that allow men who identify as women to compete in female athletics could face lawsuits from female students who say they have been negatively affected, the official noted.

Nearly 900 medals in women’s sports were awarded to male competitors in recent years, the White House said, noting that this has cost girls scholarship opportunities and other important mental and emotional milestones.

In some instances, sexual assault survivors have been forced to shower and share locker rooms with male athletes, officials said. 

In 2022, a male volleyball player in a high school varsity match in North Carolina spiked a ball into Payton McNabb’s head, knocking her unconscious.

McNabb said she suffered from a neck injury, concussion, lasting vision impairment, and partial paralysis in the right side of her body, as well as mental anguish.

The previous administration interpreted Title IX regulations quite differently.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office to allow men to compete in women’s programs. He equated gender identity with biological sex, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because of sexuality or gender identity.

“Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love,” Biden’s executive order reads. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

This effectively made women’s sports co-ed programs, thus “erasing women’s sports and women’s spaces,” the current White House official said, adding that it was a “slap in the face to the countless female athletes who dedicate tremendous effort to be the best in their sport, only to be forced to compete against biological men.”

In April 2024, a federal appeals court overturned West Virginia’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” a law barring males from competing in female competitions. The Biden administration had argued against the law.

Trump’s team says it will also work with the United Nations to find solutions, pointing to a U.N. report that found women need single-sex spaces.

While critics have said that the president is attempting to ban transgenders in sports, the White House says the rules have “nothing to do with that” and suggests that transgender athletes could play in a coed program or on male squads.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order addressing gender identity.

“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the order states. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality.”

The U.S. House of Representatives also recently passed a bill that would ban men from competing in women’s sports. 

Via Middle East Eye

Egypt will not be swayed to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, US officials in the region have told the White House in recent days as they brace for the Trump administration to ramp up pressure on Cairo, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Trump has also said that Jordan will take in Palestinians ahead of King Abdullah II’s visit to Washington next week. The growing divide between diplomats and the White House has heightened tensions, pitting President Donald Trump and his closest advisers against career diplomats in the region, who are ferrying messages to Arab officials.

In the case of Egypt, US officials warned the White House that the controversial proposal could destabilize a close ally and that Egypt would not be susceptible to financial incentives, a senior US diplomat in the region told MEE.

The notion that Palestinians can be moved to Egypt, Jordan or any third country is widely regarded as ethnic cleansing of the besieged enclave and would likely violate international law.

Another mid-level US diplomat in the region working on this issue told MEE that the White House appeared “tone deaf” to the assessments of US diplomats and remained intent on pursuing the plan to send Palestinians to Egypt.

Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the topic in a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, one of the officials told MEE. Both US officials say they expect the rift between US embassies in the region and the White House to widen following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

‘Pure demolition site’

Ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump reiterated his stance on Gaza, calling it a “demolition site” and saying that the best solution would be to “just clean out that whole thing”.

“It’s a pure demolition site. If we could find the right piece of land, or numerous pieces of land, and build them some really nice places with plenty of money in the area, that’s for sure. I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza,” he told reporters.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Tuesday that “solving where people will go” had become a “big issue”. Trump had initially said Egypt could take in refugees temporarily, but Witkoff indicated otherwise. “It is unfair to have explained to Palestinians that they might be back in five years. That’s just preposterous,” he said.

Both Trump and members of his administration said on Tuesday that it would take 10 to 15 years to rebuild Gaza, with Trump saying that it is “inhumane” to make people live in a place that’s “uninhabitable”.

Israel has made no secret of its desire for Egypt to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza following its offensive on the enclave in response to the Hamas-led 7 October attacks. Egyptian officials at the time said accepting forcibly displaced Palestinians was a “red line”, and the discussion faded.

However, the ceasefire has shifted Israel’s priorities and the Trump administration’s public backing of the idea has emboldened Israel’s leadership. Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser, Jared Kushner, first proposed the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza in March 2024.

Egyptian officials remain publicly resolute in their refusal to accept Palestinians. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said last week that it was “an injustice that we cannot take part in”.

Egypt braced for cut in military aid

An Egyptian diplomat told MEE that Cairo is taking Trump’s rhetoric seriously and is preparing for the possibility that the $1.3bn in annual US security assistance could be suspended if the Trump administration attempts to use it as leverage.

Trump has generally maintained good relations with Sisi, whom he famously referred to as his “favorite dictator” in 2019.

According to the diplomat, Sisi has actually benefited from Trump’s rhetoric, as it has allowed him to embrace the popular Palestinian cause at a time when Egypt is struggling with debilitating economic crises.

The country has been grappling with currency devaluation and inflation. Last year, it secured a $7.6bn aid package from the European Union, split between grants and favorable loans.

Egyptian security services organized rare protests at the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Friday in a show of defiance against Trump’s plea. The protests came two days after the US ambassador to Egypt, Herro Mustafa Garg, a career diplomat, visited the crossing.

Egypt has already taken in about 200,000 Palestinians from Gaza since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, the source said. A neighborhood referred to as “Little Gaza” has sprung up in Cairo.

The Palestinian ambassador in Cairo put the official number lower, saying between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinians had entered Egypt. The Egyptian diplomat also told MEE that Cairo is considering organizing protests in front of the US embassy as well.

Sisi rules Egypt with an iron fist and popular protests are not tolerated. Sisi came to power in a 2013 coup that toppled Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

“If I were to ask this of the Egyptian people, all of them would take to the streets to say ‘no’,” Sisi said last week. One Egyptian official with knowledge of the matter told MEE that while Sisi and his closest advisors have privately entertained the idea of accepting more Palestinians from Gaza, Egypt’s military establishment is adamantly opposed to any discussion. 

The ATF’s Denver division announced on X that its agents and Department of Justice partners are assisting Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement agencies in citywide “immigration enforcement efforts” today. The metro area is controlled by far-left globalist lawmakers who pushed sanctuary city policies and, in return, flooded some areas, such as Aurora, with members of the violent and heavily armed Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

ATF, along with our Department of Justice partners, is assisting Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement partners with their immigration enforcement efforts today in the Denver metro area. pic.twitter.com/ceH8upG1Xn

— ATF Denver (@ATF_Denver) February 5, 2025

The DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division posted a video on X, showing agents using flash bangs at an apartment complex where suspected migrant gang members resided. 

💥 #DEA RMFD serving a search warrant in support of @DHSgov operations taking place throughout the metro area this morning. pic.twitter.com/vzUefuvPfd

— DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) February 5, 2025

Local media outlet 9NEWS’ Chris Vanderveen wrote on X, “Multiple federal operations taking place in Denver/Aurora this morning.”

Multiple federal operations taking place in Denver/Aurora this morning.

FBI/DEA/ICE taking part

Photo: @jennifermeckles pic.twitter.com/iS6o99N7jQ

— Chris Vanderveen (yep…me) (@chrisvanderveen) February 5, 2025

Another local area journalist reported: “A pretty big police presence in Aurora this morning.”

#Breaking: A pretty big police presence in Aurora this morning. This is at the intersection of Oneida and Leetsdale. We are definitely seeing a lot of law-enforcement, FBI and ICE. I have talked to several people and I am continuing to work to get more info. @CBSNewsColorado pic.twitter.com/yMJoc4Kfyp

— Brian Sherrod (@briansherrodtv) February 5, 2025

More color about the immigration raids via 9NEWS:

Colorado Rapid Response Network, a nonprofit that assists immigrants, said it had confirmed operations were underway at those two locations and said ICE was involved.

The operation is the third by federal agents since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. ICE has conducted operations in cities including Chicago and New York, targeting the arrests of immigrants without proper documentation.

Last week, the agency temporarily called off the Aurora operation due to media leaks, according to NBC News. A source told NBC that the leaks posed an operational security risk for officers.

The raids were expected to be carried out by ICE; U.S. Marshals; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; FBI and other federal agencies, NBC reported.

Last week, the City of Aurora released a statement saying the city and the Aurora Police Department were aware of media reports about federal immigration enforcement plans.

President Trump’s campaign pledge to arrest violent, illegal alien gang members in Aurora, following multiple incidents of apartment complex takeovers last year, is finally materializing.

The more significant threat was revealed in a leaked US Army North Division memo by investigative reporter James O’Keefe in September, stating there are thousands of heavily armed Venezuelan gang members in the US that came through the Biden-Harris regime’s open southern borders. 

At the start of the week, a US Air Force spy plane conducted a SIGINT operation over the southern half of Baja California, a region home to heavily armed Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel members. This might indicate US operations against cartels are nearing. 

Oil prices are leaking lower this morning after surging yesterday on Trump’s “maximum pressure” plan for Iran as traders weigh the effect of a US-China trade war on demand.

“Trump tariff chaos and trade war is no good for global growth and oil demand growth,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB. “But supply disruptions, as so often before, can then rapidly and suddenly turn everything around.”

API reported yuuge builds for Crude and gasoline overnight but a large draw for Distillates (cold weather?)…

API

• Crude +5.025mm

• Cushing +110k

• Gasoline +5.4mm

• Distillates -7.00mm

DOE

• Crude +8.64mm – biggest build since Feb 2024

• Cushing -34k

• Gasoline +2.23m – 12th straight weekly build

• Distillates -5.47mm – biggest draw since March 2021

Some massive swings in the inventory data last week with a huge crude build and large distillates draw…

Source: Bloomberg

Including the 250k addition the SPR, last week saw the biggest crude inventory build since Feb 2024

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production rebounded from the cold-weather impacts…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI extended its loses after the big crude draw…

Crude prices have retreated significantly from a high above $80 a barrel last month. While much of that retreat has been spurred by Trump-led market volatility, pockets of the physical market are also showing signs of softening.

Finally, Brent’s nearest timespread – a premium on immediate delivery over futures for the next month that signals market health – closed at its softest level in four weeks on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, staffers at Politico were notified that a ‘technical error’ had prevented paychecks from going out. Many joked that this had something to do with the Trump administration putting a freeze on USAID funding.

Staff at Politico did not get paid for the latest pay period. The company just sent several emails to employees saying it believes there was a technical error, and is looking into how to fix the issue. pic.twitter.com/PYcWYdbrEC

— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 4, 2025

And while there’s no evidence the two are linked, the suggestion prompted internet sleuths to look into Politico‘s sources of funding. What they found was absolutely shocking.

According to government spending tracker website USASPENDING.gov, Politico – which laundered the Hunter Biden ’51 intel officials’ propaganda during the 2020 election – received up to $27 million (and by some counts $32 million) from various US agencies during the Biden years.

I found $27M during the Biden years. https://t.co/14sVnvkbEH

— Pacheco the Ghost (@PMtalking) February 5, 2025

In one instance, roughly $500,000 was spent on 37 Politico ‘pro’ subscriptions.

This is odd https://t.co/iGi82JqhzG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2025

POLITICO has a subscription called PoliticoPro, which costs around $10,000 a year. @politico should be transparent about how many of these pro subscriptions are government-funded.
Given the ludicrous cost, I’m guessing its upwards of 90%.
It seems to me the entire program is a…

— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) February 5, 2025

Of note, Politico was sold to German media giant Axel Springer (which also owns Business Insider) for $1 billion in 2021, meaning US taxpayer dollars have been flowing to the German media giant to prop up their US propaganda rags.

So 90% of “subscribers” to left-wing publications like Politico are fake and “taxpayer funded”. And then using fake subs to artificially pump up revenue, Politico gets to sell itself to German propaganda giant Axel Springer for $1 billion. https://t.co/j8wEv5MybL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 5, 2025

It’s not just the subscriptions: there are huge “ad contracts”, dinner parties DC throws itself under the guise of “media conferences”, sponsorships, etc all paid for by taxpayers.

Once done with Politico look at its spawn Axios, founded by Politico veterans https://t.co/ShM4zTbnyX

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 5, 2025

And look at this, the NY Times received $3.1 million in taxpayer funds, while the UK’s BBC received $3.2 million.

USAID funding:

New York Times $3.1M
Politico $32M
BBC $3.2M (approximate)

h/t @StormTorx pic.twitter.com/3AKQydP4Oo

— David Procino (@APBIOonly) February 5, 2025

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Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Apple’s attempt to intervene in litigation related to Google’s search engine monopoly was denied by a district court on Sunday when a judge refused to stay the remedial proceedings in the case.

Back in October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of state attorneys filed a case against Google, accusing the tech company of engaging in anti-competitive practices.

Google was accused of establishing exclusive agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless carriers which prohibited them from pre-installing rival search engines. This resulted in most U.S. devices coming preloaded with Google search, negatively affecting competitors in the market.

In August 2024, Judge Amit Mehta from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sided with the plaintiffs, ruling that Google violated antitrust laws.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” he wrote, saying that the default search engine setting “is extremely valuable real estate.”

A hearing on remedies in the case was scheduled for April 2025.

In December, Apple filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the case, aiming to take part in the remedial phase of the litigation. However, the motion was denied by Mehta, who called the request “untimely.”

Apple then filed an emergency motion seeking to stay the remedial proceedings pending its appeal of Mehta’s order denying the intervention request. On Feb. 2, Mehta denied the stay request as well.

“First, Apple has not established a likelihood of success on the merits” for the stay, Mehta wrote.

The company also failed to show it stands to suffer “irreparable harm absent a stay,” he said.

“Because Apple has not satisfied the ‘stringent requirements’ for obtaining the ‘extraordinary relief’ of a stay pending appeal, its motion is denied.”

Apple claims the December motion was filed to protect the company’s existing contract with Google and its ability to enter into future contracts with the search engine giant.

Google pays the company to keep its search engine default on Apple’s Safari mobile and desktop browsers, according to a court document from the August 2024 monopoly decision.

“In 2022, Google’s revenue share payment to Apple was an estimated $20 billion,” said the document.

“This is nearly double the payment made in 2020, which was then equivalent to 17.5 percent of Apple’s operating profit.”

Meanwhile, a potential breakup of Google’s business could be on the cards during the remedy phase of the litigation.

In November, the DOJ together with 38 states and territories outlined a proposed remedy that would force Google to divest its Chrome browser.

Regulators argued that Google uses the browser to reinforce its monopoly.

At the time, the government was reportedly looking at potential divestiture of Google’s Android operating system.

Google opposed these suggestions, saying the forced sale of Chrome and Android would “endanger the security and privacy of millions of Americans, and undermine the quality of products people love.”

The move may end up chilling the company’s investment in artificial intelligence, it said.

The Epoch Times reached out to Google and Apple for comment on the recent ruling.