Latest news with #JP Morgan Chase
The Sun
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Epstein file ‘full of actionable info' is locked in drawer, Dem senator says & calls for release of his bank records
A DEMOCRAT senator has claimed a "big" Epstein file "full of actionable information" is locked in a drawer in the Treasury Department. Sen. Ron Wyden called for authorities to look further into Epstein's finances and establish the details of 4,725 wire transfers totaling around an eye-watering $1.1 billion to and from an account the paedo kept. 7 7 7 Wyden, 76, affirmed on the Senate floor: "Somewhere in the Treasury Department, Mr. President, locked away in a cabinet drawer, is a big Epstein file that's full of actionable information." He urged: "Follow the money [and] details about his financing and operations that await investigation." The Dem senator even claimed the Biden administration let his aides take a look at the Treasury's file last year. Wyden said: "The file shows that Mr Epstein used multiple Russian banks, which are now under sanctions, to process payments related to sex trafficking. "A lot of the women and girls he targeted came from Russia, Belarus, Turkey and elsewhere." He added: "One shudders to think about the kinds of people who must have been involved in trafficking these women and young girls out of those countries and into the Epstein web of abuse. "These are all potential leads." Beyond the mysterious account - kept with JP Morgan Chase - Wyden said how "hundreds of millions more flowed through other accounts," meaning authorities have "even more to investigate". Wyden's office discovered four major banks flagged over $1.5 billion in transactions after Epstein was arrested in July 2019, the New York Times reports. Epstein was found hanged in his cell on the 10th, but speculation has been rife that others were involved - and the release of the footage has sparked another flareup of controversy. It was released last week after a leaked memo showed that a probe concluded Epstein's death a suicide, and the "client list" of people implicated in Epstein's crimes allegedly does not exist - contrary to popular conspiracy theories. Jeffrey Epstein's brother insists he was 'most likely murdered' amid mystery around 'missing minute' of 'suicide' video Wyden added on Thursday: "I wrote to the Attorney General, Ms. [Pam] Bondi, Treasury [Secretary Scott] Bessent, FBI Director [Kash] Patel, and I asked them all to produce the Epstein file to the Senate Finance Committee so it could be reviewed." He explained he had "made that request multiple times". The Dem Senator later said: "We are going to stay on this fight to hold the wealthy individuals accountable for the harm that they clearly were involved in, in injuring the young women and others in this sex trafficking. "[There was] real evil - real evil done to women and girls by Jeffrey Epstein. "Nobody gets to sweep that under the rug." Since his death, people have speculated that Epstein blackmailed prominent figures involved with his sick crimes. The FBI's conclusion that it does not exist directly rails against what administration officials have previously said. 7 7 In an interview on Fox News in February, Pam Bondi herself said the client list was " sitting on my desk right now to review." She addressed the comment during a cabinet meeting last Tuesday, explaining that she had meant the Epstein file in its entirety. And it was hoped that the confirmation Epstein's death was suicide would put to bed theories that he had been murdered to prevent him from divulging names. However, even the release of the CCTV footage has failed to snuff out the conspiracies - leading to some within Trump's own ranks to call for the further release of the full files. Many within his MAGA movement allege that the files about the paedophile's crimes have been withheld to protect big names. US House Speaker Mike Johnson said this week he supported the release of the files. Speaking on a podcast with Benny Johnson, the Republican said: "It's a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it. "I'm for transparency," he added. Other conservative figures have since demanded to see all the documents related to Epstein's crimes, even as Trump has tried to put the issue to bed. Lauren Boebert, another conservative Republican said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate the financier's crimes if more Epstein files were not released. And Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said the voters expect more accountability. Even Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a Fox News host, has called for "more transparency" from the administration. On Tuesday, Trump said the DoJ should release all "credible" information from its probe into the notorious sex criminal. But he repeated his claim that the so-called Epstein files were "made up" by his Democratic predecessors in the White House - despite saying multiple times during the election campaign that he would "probably" release them. He told reporters in the White House: "I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. "It's pretty boring stuff." Trump's frustration boiled over on Wednesday when he unleashed a scathing rant on Truth Social, taking aim at those he holds responsible for the ongoing attention, and those who have "fallen" for them. The President hit out at "radical left democrats", who he claims peddled the theories about Epstein's death and the so-called client list. And he fumed that his past MAGA supporters had "bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker". The MAGA camp remains left divided over a lack of clarity regarding the release of the hyped files. 7 7
Globe and Mail
13-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Fireworks continue across markets post-holiday
Howdy market watchers! After a long, relaxing July 4 th weekend, the return to work was a rude awakening of headlines. July 9 th was President Trump's deadline for trade deals and concessions from friend and foe alike or risk tariffs returning to earlier threatened levels effective August 1 st. The Administration was actively promoting the dispatch of tariff letters on Monday and Tuesday leading up to that deadline before finally announcing that another extension would be granted to August 1 st. Just as the market was cautiously optimistic of another extension, Trump announced 50 percent tariffs on copper followed by 50 percent tariffs on Brazil for accusations against a former President, followed by 10 percent additional tariffs on countries aligning with BRICS, finally to be followed by late week announcements of 35 percent tariffs on Canada. And yet, the market continues to chop higher with the S&P 500 making new, record highs on Thursday. Then, on Saturday morning, Trump announced 30 percent tariffs on Europe and Mexico starting August 1st. It is difficult to even keep track of where we are with tariff levels by trade lane. I would concur with JP Morgan Chase CEO Dimon that '[markets are] a little desensitized'. The same seems to be true of the grain markets vis-à-vis the Russian war in Ukraine. However, Trump is upping the rhetoric regarding Putin's stringing along the US regarding progress towards a peaceful resolution. Crude oil rebounded Friday as Trump says a major announcement will be made Monday regarding Russia. The expectation is for a dramatic increase in sanctions on exports important to the Russian economy. Europe is also discussing a lower price cap on Russian oil. OPEC this week increased output lower than the market expected, keeping oil prices firmer. Barring these developments and the recent stepped-up Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, I believe Trump wants crude oil prices in the lower $50s to curb US inflation to the point of accelerated interest rate cuts. We are not there yet, however, with Middle East conflicts still simmering despite China growth decelerating. The US dollar has rebounded this week, which put some downward pressure on commodities, but overall, energy and metals finished the week strong, especially silver, up 5 plus percent on Friday alone. After patiently awaiting for disaster relief funds to flow, Ag. Secretary Rollins finally announced on July 9 th that the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) would be set in motion for agricultural producers who experienced losses for eligible crops in 2023 and 2024. This was in addition to Trump's large policy victory in passing the One Big Beautiful Bill through Congress before the holiday, meeting his deadline to sign into law on July 4 th. There are a lot of components to this OBBB and for insured grain producers, it raises the PLC trigger prices for corn from $3.70 to $4.10, beans from $8.40 to $10.00 and wheat from $5.50 to $6.35. I also understand that farmers will be paid the higher of ARC-CO or PLC instead of what they designated. Support for the livestock sector seems more regulatory in nature, but there are also enhanced disaster relief provisions. Mandatory Electronic IDs for Interstate Cattle Movements are also being implemented by 2026 and so watch for the rollout of these requirements. The volatile week in markets capped off with USDA's monthly WASDE and Crop Production reports on Friday. Overall, there was a bullish tilt to USDA's latest numbers despite grain markets easing post-report into the close. Old crop ending stocks for both corn and soybeans came in lower than trade expectations while the same goes for new crop ending stocks for corn and wheat, but slightly higher than trade guesses for soybeans. Updated row crop production forecasts came in lower for corn on unchanged yield of 181.0 bushels per acre (bpa) while soybean production was slightly higher than expectations, but below last month also on unchanged yields of 52.5 bpa. All wheat class production came in slightly higher than expected as well as above last month driven by the smallest categories of white, other spring and durum crops. Hard red winter wheat production that trades on the KC wheat futures, came in 16 million bushels below trade guesses and 27 million bushels below last month. Soft red winter wheat that trades off the Chicago wheat futures also came in below trade expectations as well as last month's estimates. And yet the wheat markets sank lower into Friday's close although both contracts did make new, daily highs overnight. With issues emerging for Canadian wheat and these tighter production and ending stock numbers, I believe we could see the wheat market recapture some ground next week. However, we also need help from the corn market, which needs help from the crude oil market. Brazilian corn and soybean production estimates came in lower than trade guesses, but higher than last month while soybeans were unchanged from last month, but lower than trade expectations. Argentine corn production was unchanged from last month while soybean production was increased by 0.9 million tons. Globally, new crop corn ending stocks for 2025/26 were below last month and well below trade guesses that were calling for an increase. Soybean ending stocks increased over last month, but fell short of the trade expectations for an increase. Wheat stocks were both lower than last month as well as trade expectations as well as last year lending further support to the wheat complex. While these numbers tell a story, there have been phenomenal wheat yields around the country as harvest progresses north. Several of my clients in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri have reported record yields on their farms. The USDA called wheat harvest 53 percent complete versus 49 percent expected, but closer to the 54 percent average than we've seen in weeks. There are still quite a few wheat fields out there to be harvested with rain and overcast conditions continuing to delay progress. Corn conditions this week came in at 74 percent Good-to-Excellent (G/E), ahead of expectations while soybeans were in line with expectations at 66 percent G/E. Spring wheat conditions, that the wheat market begins to now shift towards, were three percent below expectations at only 50 percent G/E. Cotton conditions are now 52 percent G/E, ahead of last week and last year. And then there is the ever-ferocious cattle market that just cannot be stopped. After last week's announcement that the US-Mexico border would be reopened slowly to the flow of cattle, it was yet again closed on Thursday, following another New World Screwworm detection, this time within 370 miles of the US border. This further progression north of the detection despite sterile fly releases was a fly in the ointment of progress towards sustained increases. The President of Mexico says the US is over doing the situation, but a detection or outbreak in the US is the last thing any of us, not least the Administration wants on their watch. This reclosure resulted in an explosion and gap higher of feeder and fed cattle futures that ended well off those highs. The bull channel of the feeder cattle chart was reached on Wednesday around that $320.00 mark and looked to be resistance until of course the new, news of the border closure. The market closed right at the top of that channel on Thursday after an $8.00 daily range. Interestingly, there is a chart gap on August feeders that would be filled when that contract reaches $284.250. After such action, what wasn't expected was the returning strength on Friday, which finished as an inside chart day, lower high and higher low. Feeders closed $4.00+ higher while Fed cattle closed nearly $3.00 higher. Fed cash cattle trade re-surfaced topping out the week at $230 in Texas and Kansas and $241 in Nebraska. Wow! What is going to break this market? Consumer strength, but will it ever weaken? Broader ICE raids on packing plants? The Trump Administration reminded us all this week that agricultural workers are not exempt from deportation. And yet the market continues to chop higher. We've said it before and these prices are even more phenomenal than they were last time we said it, but these are $8.00 corn prices, $20.00 soybean prices and $12.00 wheat prices only in the cattle complex. The higher value of cattle makes the cost of put options and LRP higher, but it may be well worth paying the premium and keep the upside open than keeping pace with the short-term margin squeeze of hedges. Even more important than that is to keep them alive and focus on animal health as losing one may take 5+ head to make up for. Sidwell Strategies is the one-stop shop to protect cattle with futures, puts, LRP or a combination of all, which is probably the best strategy overall. If you're ready to trade commodity markets, give me a call at (580) 232-2272 or stop by my office to get your account set up and discuss risk management and marketing solutions to pursue your objectives. Self-trading accounts are also available. It is never too late to start and there is no operation too small to get a risk management and marketing plan in place. Wishing everyone a successful trading week! Let us know if you'd like to join our daily market price and commentary text messages to stay informed! Brady Sidwell is a Series 3 Licensed Commodity Futures Broker and Principal of Sidwell Strategies. He can be reached at (580) 232-2272 or at brady@ Futures and Options trading involves the risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors. Review full disclaimer at
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
When the world's most powerful banker issues a warning about Donald Trump's tariffs, we should listen
The financial markets are too relaxed about Donald Trump's policies. So said Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan Chase , the world's biggest bank, at an event in Dublin this week. Even as the US president became 'tariff man' again this week – issuing threats right, left and centre – the stock markets rose higher, convinced that the worst on tariffs won't happen and that the US economy will find a way forward. Dimon is an ace communicator – crystal-clear and opinionated – and the word he used to sum up the current mood of the market is 'complacency'. And as investors are, in effect, betting on the economic outlook, the point is that we have all become so fed up and disorientated by Trump's constant tariff threats that they have become some kind of background noise. [ JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon says markets too complacent on tariffs and interest rates Opens in new window ] While the Liberation Day announcement in early April caused shares to tumble and bond markets to shake – leading to a brief Trump retreat – stock markets have made ground strongly since and this week's flurry of threats caused barely a ripple. Everyone seems to be working on the assumption that Trump, in most cases, won't go ahead. After all, amid all the noise this week, the deadline for trade deals to be done was pushed out from this week to August 1st . Trump, on the other hand, is taking the rise in US shares to record highs as a vote of confidence in his policies. Indeed, he has become so encouraged that he has taken to issuing unilateral decisions on tariffs relating to various countries, without waiting for negotiations at all. Something, you would have to think, is going to have to give here sooner or later. Because the reality is – as has been the case all along – that Trump's policies are contradictory, illogical and hugely risky. READ MORE That doesn't meant that a recession is definitely on the way. But it does mean that Trump's tariff madness is going to cost US businesses and consumers and that his budget bill will pile on extra national debt, leaving the US more reliant on bond investors to fund the gap between spending and revenue. And we know how fickle they can be. Markets tend to move in waves, driven as much by mood as by new facts or data. What is taken as positive one day and seen as a reason to buy can turn around the next and be seen as supporting the case to sell. This is rationalised at the time by a particular piece of information – the latest US jobs report, EU inflation figures or the latest outpouring from the White House on tariffs – being better or worse than 'the market' expected at the time. This week the markets' attitude to Trump's announcements is they 'could have been worse and probably won't happen'. In a different mood, the interpretation might have been that the US president is doubling down on his dangerous trade war. Markets can remain detached from so-called fundamentals for long periods – and there is a host of academic studies on this. But the mood can turn on a sixpence, too, as facts that have been hiding in plain sight become the focus: like the risks from tariffs and the extraordinarily narrow economic path that the Trump administration is going to have to walk in the months ahead if something is not to go seriously wrong. Pressure on Federal Reserve Board chair Jay Powell to step down also has the potential to unnerve the markets. You can argue, or hope, that the worst will be avoided. That Trump can somehow navigate a way to pursue his tariff agenda while avoiding big economic damage and keeping the markets on board. But you can't say that Trump has found some kind of magic formula. Donald Trump, left, announces his 'Liberation Day' import tariffs plan at the White House in April. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Just look at the figures. The average US tariff rate – according to researchers at Yale University – is now around 17 per cent, the highest since the 1930s. They calculate that this will add 1.8 per cent to inflation, costing US households $2,400 (€2,050) this year, with particular effects in areas such as clothing and footwear. Growth is hit, unemployment will be higher. Trump needs the cash to help shore up his budget. But look at the cost. Perhaps the time lag before the economic impact is fully evident is one factor in the lack of market reaction and the general view that tariffs will go up a bit and we will all be okay. And perhaps we will all muddle through. In Ireland, for example, economic indicators for growth and consumer spending are holding up, even though sources say that more recently there is a widespread slowing in investment and signs of the same in hiring. But here, too, familiar concerns remain. Ireland has escaped the worst of the tariff hit so far – suffering an additional 10 per cent on most exports to the US, but with pharma excluded. But the dangers ahead are clear, with Trump getting more bullish on generalised tariff threats as the EU/US talks come to a head and the story in relation to pharma still to play out, as the US president signals a longer-term push to get investment back 'home.' This does not mean the sky is about to fall in on the Irish economy. But as well as short-term uncertainties and the risk of rising transatlantic tensions, the brand of economic nationalism being peddled by Trump does pose longer-term issues in terms of trade with the US and investment from American companies. Ireland will hope for some accord between Washington and Brussels and for damage-limitation on pharma, but there is a lot to play out here. And as it does, the domestic economic debate, like that in the financial markets, seems strangely divorced from the risks. Ministers have put in spending demands for the new National Development Plan – the State's investment programme – billions of euro in advance of what will be available. There is no sign of a wider Cabinet agreement on the need to slow down the growth in day-to-day spending. Budget ministers Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers make the case, but are other ministers – including the Taoiseach and Tánaiste – bought in? Trump's meanderings on Truth Social and increasingly bizarre policies are not just some kind of reality television show. Jamie Dimon has a point. We have all become a bit complacent.
