Trump Tells Europe And NATO To Hand Over Greenland - Or Else

The U.S. Supreme Court is now hearing arguments in a landmark case that pits President Donald Trump against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, raising fundamental questions about the independence of the nation's central bank. The dispute, which centers on Trump's unprecedented attempt to fire Cook, represents a critical test of presidential power.

Trump's administration is asking the court, which holds a 6-3 conservative majority, to overturn a lower court's decision that has so far blocked the president from removing Cook from her post. The Supreme Court agreed in October to take up the case, allowing Cook to remain in her role while the legal challenge proceeds.

Representing the Trump administration is U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, while veteran lawyer Paul Clement, who served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush, is arguing on behalf of Cook.

A High-Stakes Battle Over Fed Independence

At the heart of the case is the Federal Reserve Act, the 1913 law that established the central bank. To insulate it from political pressure, the act stipulates that a president can only remove a Fed governor "for cause." However, the law does not define what constitutes "cause" or outline a specific removal process.

No president has ever tried to fire a Fed official before, making Trump's move against Cook the most significant challenge to the Federal Reserve's autonomy in its history.

The conflict escalated when President Trump sought to terminate Cook on August 25, citing mortgage fraud allegations brought forward by Bill Pulte, the Trump-appointed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Cook has consistently denied these allegations.

Cook argues that the accusations are merely a pretext for her removal, contending the real reason is her disagreement with the president over monetary policy. Her claim comes as Trump has repeatedly pressured the Fed to cut interest rates and criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not acting faster.

The Legal Path to the Supreme Court

The case reached the nation's highest court after lower courts sided with Cook. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled in September that Trump's effort to fire Cook without a hearing likely violated her due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.

Judge Cobb also found that the unproven mortgage fraud allegations were unlikely to be a legally sufficient reason for removal. She noted that the alleged conduct took place before Cook joined the Federal Reserve. Following that decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to suspend Cobb's order.

The case also follows a separate move by the administration, which opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over comments he made to Congress about a Fed building project. Powell has similarly called this action a pretext designed to influence monetary policy.

Broader Implications for U.S. Monetary Policy

The outcome of this case could have profound ramifications for the Federal Reserve's ability to set interest rates without political interference—a principle widely seen as essential for controlling inflation and maintaining economic stability.

Cook, appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022, is the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor. Her term is set to run until 2038. As a governor, she plays a key role in shaping U.S. monetary policy alongside the six other board members and the presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks.

While the Supreme Court has previously narrowed the independence of some federal agencies, it signaled last year it might view the Federal Reserve differently, acknowledging its unique structure and history. This came in a May ruling that allowed Trump to remove two Democratic members from federal labor boards. The court has also backed Trump in a number of emergency rulings on issues including immigration, federal layoffs, and foreign aid since he returned to the presidency.

Ahead of the arguments, Democratic Representative Maxine Waters joined a rally in support of Cook outside the Supreme Court. She argued that Trump's actions are aimed at creating a central bank that serves his political agenda.

"Make no mistake, this is about power and control," Waters said.

Source: investing

Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in December, hitting a five-month low, likely as worries over the labor market and a persistent shortage of entry-level houses offset lower mortgage rates.

The pending home sales index plunged 9.3% last month to 71.8, the lowest level since July, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts, which become sales after a month or two, advancing 0.4%. Contracts fell in all four regions.

Pending home sales dropped 3.0% from a year earlier.

"After several months of encouraging signs in pending contracts and closed sales, the December new contract figures have dampened the short-term outlook," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist.

Yun noted that inventory was low in December, with about 1.18 million previously owned homes on the market, which he said matched the "lowest inventory level of 2025."

"Consumers prefer seeing abundant inventory before making the major decision of purchasing a home," said Yun. "So, the decline in pending home sales could be a result of dampened consumer enthusiasm about buying a home when there are so few options listed for sale."

Though there is an oversupply of new homes on the market, the inventory of previously owned houses has remained low because most homeowners have mortgage rates well below 5%, reducing the incentive to list their properties. Slowing house price growth is also discouraging some potential sellers.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order restricting institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The Trump administration is also purchasing mortgage-backed securities, which have resulted in mortgage rates falling in recent weeks.

The decline could, however, be limited by renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe after Trump threatened tariffs against nations that oppose his bid to acquire Greenland. The tensions helped to raise the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which mortgage rates track.

A sharp slowdown in job growth because of economic uncertainty is also hampering home sales.

Source: TradingView

Gold has hit 11 record-highs thus far in 2026

Silver and platinum yearly performance

Source: reuters

Spikes in borrowing costs following a meltdown in Japanese bonds and a selloff in US Treasuries have prompted at least one Asian borrower to shelve plans to raise funds, underscoring how renewed volatility is rippling through credit markets.

High-yield issuer China Oil & Gas Group Ltd. had attracted more than $750 million of orders before it decided to pull a planned dollar-bond sale on Wednesday, adding to signs of broader fallout from the turbulence.

While Asia-Pacific bond issuance got off to a strong start this year, there have also been signs of concern for some companies. Non-rated Chinese issuer Sun Hung Kai & Co., for example, raised less than its targeted amount for a dollar bond offering earlier this month. The company also decided not to tighten its pricing guidance for the offering, another indication that demand may be thinning for the weaker borrowers as funding conditions tighten.

"The macro backdrop this year is full of uncertainties — from geopolitics to moves in U.S. Treasuries — all of which pose real challenges for these issuers, especially those whose secondary‑market yields have compressed the most," said Li Huan, co-founder of Forest Capital Hong Kong Ltd.

China Oil & Gas, a non-investment grade private-sector energy company, was able to tighten pricing guidance on its planned note to 7% from an initial 7.25%, according to people familiar with the transaction. The company had intended to use proceeds from the sale to buy back $361 million of notes maturing in June.

The company still must refinance the 2026 notes before the June maturity, and would likely come back to the market, said Leonard Law, a senior credit analyst at Lucror Analytics Pte. "That said, it may end up having to pay slightly more than the 7% final price guidance for this exercise, due to the higher base rates and widening credit spreads this week."

China Oil & Gas didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Along with corporate bond sales, sovereign issuance has also shown signs of strain recently. The Philippines, one of Asia's most-active sovereign bond issuers in overseas markets, sold $2.75 billion of dollar bonds Tuesday priced at spreads wider than what Nomura had indicated as fair value.

The Philippines was among four Asia Pacific borrowers in the dollar-bond market Tuesday — including South Korea's Woori Bank, which priced a $600 million two-part deal. Yield premiums on the region's investment-grade bonds have hovered near a record low this month at under 60 basis points on average, helping attract issuers.

"Investment-grade rated issuers like Philippines and Woori Bank had no issues printing bonds amid the market volatility," said Nicholas Yap, head of Asia credit desk analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc., in Singapore. The Philippines had to pay up a bit more than what they would have liked, but the bonds are doing well in secondary trading, he added.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

Reliance Industries Ltd. has placed orders for non-sanctioned Russian crude for delivery in February and March, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The barrels were attractively priced, prompting India's largest private refiner to return to the market, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is sensitive.

Russian crude deliveries to India slumped in December to about 1.2 million barrels a day from 1.78 million in November, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show, after US sanctions drove refiners — including Reliance — to scale back purchases.

Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has been the biggest Indian buyer of Russian oil, but halted purchases for its export-oriented refinery in November and last received a cargo for its domestically focused unit in the third week of December. Reliance's return could help stabilize the country's imports of Russian crude in the coming months.

The company operates two refineries at its Jamnagar complex with a combined capacity of about 1.4 million barrels a day. Last year, it imported about 1.3 million barrels a day of crude, with almost 45% sourced from Russia.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Reliance is set to receive sanctions-compliant Russian oil in February and March after a one-month pause.

Source: Bloomberg