Good morning and welcome again. In as we speak’s publication:
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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 purple carpet for Jeffrey Epstein
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A assessment 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 potential army motion.
What to know: The US president accused Tehran of in search of 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 night time.
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, they usually’re working to construct missiles that may quickly attain the USA of America,” Trump stated.
Why it issues: Trump’s feedback on Iran come simply earlier than essential talks in Geneva tomorrow between US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and senior Iranian officers, which may 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 as we speak:
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Outcomes: Nvidia, essentially the most worthwhile firm on the earth, publishes fourth-quarter earnings later as we speak. Paramount Skydance, Lowe’s, TJX, Pinnacle West Capital and APA Corp additionally report outcomes for the ultimate quarter of final 12 months.
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Financial knowledge: Releases from Latin America dominate as we speak. Mexico’s fourth-quarter present account surplus is due, as is Brazil’s main finances surplus knowledge 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 attributable to 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 high tales
1. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened to chop Anthropic from his division’s provide chain except it agrees to log out on its know-how being utilized in all lawful army functions by Friday. The menace is the most recent escalation in a feud between Anthropic and the division.
2. White Home immigration insurance policies, together with a $100,000 charge for brand spanking new candidates to the H-1B scheme for specialised staff and enhanced social media exercise evaluations, have upended multinationals’ talents to carry high engineers, consultants and scientists from throughout the globe to the US, in line with 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 nervousness gripping Wall Road. The enterprise software program sector has borne the brunt of worries that new AI instruments may upend whole industries. These considerations 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 12 months as international alternate markets level to a change within the route of worldwide 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 may “moderately be anticipated” to result in a superior deal to Netflix’s present deal. Netflix co-chief govt Ted Sarandos has not ruled out raising its own offer, stated folks acquainted with the matter.
5. HSBC has introduced it’s on observe to ship $1.5bn of price financial savings six months sooner than deliberate, as chief govt 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 12 months, HSBC stated earlier as we speak. Information of the accelerated price financial savings got here as HSBC reported annual results.
Immediately’s Large Learn
Tens of 1000’s 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 sincere reckoning of present geopolitical dangers would place the US president’s wayward psychology excessive up the listing.
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Trump commerce stalls: International buyers are going out of their approach 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 international insurance policies, New Delhi is deepening ties with the EU and “center powers”, comparable to Canada.
Chart of the day
Girls pay a disproportionate worth for having kids, placing downward strain on beginning charges in wealthy nations. What’s to be accomplished? Martin Wolf evaluations the analysis on insurance policies designed to extend fertility charges. Here are his conclusions.
Rising prices and financial uncertainty have intensified monetary nervousness — significantly for ladies, who make up practically two-thirds of UK debt recommendation purchasers. Be a part of Claer Barrett, shopper 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 faculty in Brooklyn, however made it to Harvard and on to steer Goldman Sachs via the monetary disaster. Streetwise, his autobiography, is an insider’s information to when the monetary business spun uncontrolled earlier than practically collapsing. Learn John Gapper’s review of Blankfein’s memoir.
