Archive

2025

Browsing

: President Trump will sign more than 200 executive actions on Inauguration Day—a massive, record-setting first wave of policy priorities focused on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government and more, Fox News Digital has learned. 

A senior administration official who is familiar with the executive actions and authorized to brief Fox News Digital said the president will sign multiple ‘omnibus’ executive orders that each contain dozens of major executive actions. 

‘The president is issuing a historic series of executive orders and actions that will fundamentally reform the American government, including the complete and total restoration of American sovereignty,’ the official told Fox News Digital. 

On day one, the president will declare a national border emergency; direct the U.S. military to work with the Department of Homeland Security to fully secure the southern border; and establish a national priority to eliminate all criminal cartels operating on U.S. soil. 

Trump will close the border to all illegal aliens via proclamation and declare a national emergency at the border, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Trump will also create task forces for the protection of homeland security with officers from the FBI, ICE, CEA, and more to ‘fully eradicate the presence of criminal cartels.’ 

Trump will also direct designations of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which the official said will unlock new authorities to achieve the Trump homeland security mission. 

Fox News Digital has learned that Trump will re-institute ‘Remain in Mexico,’ ‘Catch and Release,’ and direct the military to construct a new phase of the border wall, as well as grant emergency authorities to suspend the entry of illegal aliens across the southwest border, allowing for individuals apprehended to be ‘swiftly returned to their countries of origin.’ 

As for energy, Trump will ‘fully unleash’ Alaskan energy, which the official said is pivotal and essential to U.S. national security. 

The senior official told Fox News Digital that the energy executive order deals with ‘every single energy policy,’ and addresses liquid, natural gas, ports, fracking, pipelines, permitting and more, while also terminating President Biden’s policies which ‘have constrained U.S. energy supply.’ 

The official also said Trump will fully reform the federal bureaucracy by reestablishing presidential control over the career, federal workforce and make clear to federal workers that they can be removed from posts for failing to comply with executive directives. 

The official said Trump will sign an executive order to strengthen control over senior government officials and implement a new merit-based hiring review. Trump will also take action to return federal workers to in-person work. 

The official also said Trump will end the ‘weaponization of the federal government’ and restore freedom of speech and ‘end federal censorship.’ 

Trump, on his first day, will also suspend the security clearances for the 51 national security officials who ‘lied’ about Hunter BIden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump is also expected to establish biological sex definitions; rename historical places like the ‘Gulf of America,’ and more.

Trump, on day one, will also end all Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs across the federal government. 

Trump will also establish a new Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze; gain control over foreign aid and NGO funding; and more. 

‘He is reasserting muscular control of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government,’ the official told Fox News Digital. 

As for reducing the cost for American families, Trump will sign a specific presidential memorandum directing all agencies and departments to remove all federal actions that increase costs for families and consumers, which the official told Fox News Digital will be the beginning of Trump’s ‘historic de-regulatory effort’ of his second term. 

Trump, on his first day, will also declare a national energy emergency and pause all offshore wind leases. 

Meanwhile, Trump will end the electric vehicle mandate; end the Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord; and roll back more of President Biden’s actions and orders. 

‘This is a massive, record-setting, unmatched first wave,’ the official told Fox News Digital. ‘Even after this, there is a whole host in the cue to continue the restoration of America.’ 

The official added: ‘This is the most extensive list of executive actions in American history all guided by a relentless commitment to deliver on the campaign promise.’ 

The official told Fox News Digital that ‘everything’ voters voted for ‘is being translated into executive policy.’ 

‘There is a massive federal workforce that has been moving its objectives at expense of the American people–and President Trump is taking command, saying you will serve the American people and only American people,’ the official said. ‘This is about stopping corrupt, abusive behavior and re-focusing the government on its fundamental duties to the American people.’ 

Incoming Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital that the overarching theme to his day one actions is ‘promises made, promises kept.’

‘As soon as President Trump places his hand on the Bible and swears the Oath to the United States Constitution, the Golden Age of America will begin,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. ‘The American people will have a leader who will deliver on the promises he made to restore our country’s greatness.’ 

The president, on Sunday, previewed one of his day one executive orders related to the popular video-sharing app TikTok, which was forced to go dark in the United States following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Trump said he will sign an order on Monday that will ‘extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.’ Trump also said the order would confirm that there ‘will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.’ 

 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Top members of the three branches of government will come together in a rare display of national unity and tradition when the presidential and vice-presidential oaths of office are delivered at Monday’s inauguration. A swear-in rookie, and perhaps funny hats, will be indispensable parts of the ceremonies.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh will continue a nearly 240-year-old tradition of administering the oaths to President-elect Trump and his No. 2, JD Vance. The other seven members of the high court are expected to attend the event in the Capitol Rotunda, all in their judicial robes. 

Whatever political differences exist, they surely will not be on display at this most cordial and dignified of ceremonies. After all, the first person the president thanks will likely be the chief justice. But an undercurrent of tension remains.

During his first run for high office in 2016, candidate Trump took the unusual step of attacking a member of the federal judiciary, labeling Roberts ‘an absolute disaster’ among other personal insults. This will be the ‘Chief’s’ fifth presidential swearing-in, his second with Trump.

The choice of Kavanaugh is no surprise: incoming second lady Usha Vance clerked for Kavanaugh when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.

She then went on to a prestigious law clerkship at the Supreme Court with Roberts. Sources say Kavanaugh gave an especially strong job recommendation for Usha Vance to his now bench colleague.

In an August interview with ‘Fox and Friends,’ Usha Vance said Kavanaugh was ‘such a good boss’ and ‘decent person’ who ‘hired people from all over the political spectrum.’

‘My experience working for him was overwhelmingly positive,’ she added.

Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas are among recent justices who have performed similar vice-presidential swear-in honors.

While chief justices have normally sworn in the president, a broader mix of officials have handled the vice-presidential duties. Then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert swore in Vice President Dick Cheney in 2005.

Thomas did the honors when Mike Pence was sworn in 2017 as vice president for Trump’s first term.

Justice served

Article VI of the Constitution requires executive officers, including the president, as well as members of Congress and federal judges, to ‘be bound by oath or affirmation,’ but nothing mandates that a Supreme Court justice administer it. When it comes to the presidential inauguration, they just have, most of the time.

There was no Supreme Court yet formed when George Washington took the first oath of office in 1789, so New York’s highest ranking judge did the honors at Federal Hall on Wall Street. Four years later, Associate Justice William Cushing swore in Washington for a second term, beginning the Supreme Court tradition.

Early swear-ins were usually conducted in the House or Senate chamber. The 1817 inaugural was held outdoors for the first time when James Monroe took the oath in front of the Old Brick Capitol, where the legislature met temporarily after the original Capitol was burned by invading British troops in the War of 1812. The Monroe swear-in site is now occupied by the Supreme Court, which opened its building in 1935.

The man who handled the duties more than 200 years ago was John Marshall, widely acknowledged as the most influential chief justice in U.S. history. He participated in a record nine swear-ins, from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson. For Roberts, this will be his fifth.

The Constitution lays out the exact language to be used in the 34-word oath of office: ‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

Many judges have tacked on four little words, ‘so help me God.’ It is not legally or constitutionally required, unlike other federal oaths that invoke the words as standard procedure. Historians have been at odds over whether President Washington established precedent by adding the phrase on his own during his first acceptance, but contemporary accounts mention no such ad-libbing.

Abraham Lincoln was reported to have said it spontaneously in 1861, and other presidents over the years have followed suit. A Bible is traditionally used, with the president placing one hand on it while raising the other during the oath of office.

The 16th president and Chief Justice Roger Taney shared a mutual animosity. When the oath was administered just days before the Civil War erupted, many attending the ceremony noticed the frosty demeanor both men showed each other, befitting the late winter chill. Several historians have said Lincoln later that year secretly issued an arrest warrant for Taney, who tried to block the president’s suspension of habeas corpus during the conflict. The warrant was never served.

President Barack Obama used Lincoln’s Bible for his two swear-ins.

Trump is expected to again use the Lincoln Bible and a family Bible.

Getting it right      

Roberts, administering his first presidential oath in 2009, strayed slightly from the text, which prompted its re-administration for protective purposes the following day, in a private White House ceremony.

Those Jan. 20 ceremonies at the Capitol also ran long, so that the presidential oath was not completed until five minutes past noon. Nonetheless, Obama under the 20th Amendment had officially assumed the presidency at noon.

At the time, a California atheist, Michael Newdow, objected and went to federal court to prevent Roberts from prompting Obama to repeat the ‘so help me God’ phrase. Newdow, along with several non-religious groups, argued the words violated the constitutional ban on government ‘endorsement’ of religion.

The high court ultimately rejected the lawsuit, and no such legal challenges are expected this time.

Four years later, Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore in Biden for a second term as vice president in 2013. She was asked by Vice President Harris to do the honors again, with the first female vice president citing the fact both women once served as government prosecutors.

Pence used the family Bible of the late President Ronald Reagan, telling Fox News at the time, ‘It’s just very humbling for me. We are approaching it with prayer, but with deep, deep gratitude to the president-elect for his confidence and deep gratitude to the American people.’ 

Trump also broke tradition by not attending the swear-in of his successor four years ago.

Lyndon Johnson’s swear-in from 1965 marked a change from tradition. His wife Claudia – known as Lady Bird – held the Bible, a job previously managed by the high court’s clerk. Spouses have since had the honor, and Melania Trump and Usha Vance are expected to continue that role.   

Hopefully, nerves won’t result in a repeat of the 1941 goof, when then-clerk Elmore Cropley dropped the Bible just after Franklin Roosevelt took the oath to begin his third presidential term.

What to wear, what to say

It usually is not hard at the inauguration to spot the justices, who are normally shielded from broad public view in the camera-barred court. They are announced as a group, arrive wearing their black robes – usually covering bulky winter coats – and are given prominent seats on the specially built platform on the West Front of the Capitol.

Before Marshall took over the court in 1801, the justices wore red robes with fur trim and white wigs in all public settings. His practice of a simple black silk robe without wig remains the American judicial standard.

And if there is any doubt about their identities, look for some unusual-looking headgear several justices may be sporting. The large black ‘skullcaps’ have no brims and can be made of wool, silk or even nylon. Perhaps to keep them from looking like a Jewish yarmulke, the hats are usually pleated upward, which one federal judge privately told Fox News made him look like he was wearing a dirty napkin.

Given the inauguration ceremony is indoors this year because of expected frigid weather, the skullcaps may be an afterthought.

They have been around in British courts since the 16th century, and at least a century in the United States. Only judges wear them, and only at formal ceremonies, not in court.

Official records are hazy on the hats, but Chief Justice Edward White proudly wore one in 1913 when Woodrow Wilson became president. The ‘age of the skullcap’ peaked in 1961 when seven of the nine justices wore them at the bitterly cold inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.

The last time around, only now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer was brave enough to sport one, though Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and the late Antonin Scalia had worn them previously. None of the six current or former women justices ever used them.

Scalia told an audience a few years ago why he favored skullcaps. ‘If you’ve ever seen an inauguration, you will see me wearing the old hats judges used to wear. It’s a ridiculous-looking hat, but it’s a tradition. Yes, it’s silly looking.’

Scalia’s headgear was a replica of one worn by St. Thomas More, a gift from the St. Thomas More Society of Richmond, Virginia

The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist also sported them, not surprising, given his role as an unofficial historian of court procedure and tradition.

He made one of the most dramatic appearances in inaugural history while suffering from thyroid cancer in 2005. There was speculation he would be too ill to attend, but he assured officials he would be there, and he kept his word.

After three months away from the public eye while he received chemotherapy, the ailing 81-year-old chief was introduced to the audience just before President George W. Bush was to take the oath. Using a cane, Rehnquist walked slowly to the podium without assistance – wearing a dark baseball cap – and did the honors. His voice was clear but raspy, because of a trachea tube in his throat, which was hidden by a scarf.

Afterward, Rehnquist wished Bush good luck, then was quickly escorted out of the cold.

Rehnquist also swore in President Bill Clinton eight years earlier. Unbeknownst to Clinton or the public, the justices days earlier had taken a private vote in Clinton v. Jones. Their ruling said the president could not refuse to testify in an ongoing civil lawsuit against him by Paula Jones, who alleged sexual harassment. That triggered a series of events leading to Clinton’s 1999 impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, presided over by Rehnquist himself, without the skullcap.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

My Washington Commanders will be playing in the NFC Championship game next Sunday, one game away from the Super Bowl.

How is that sentence even possible?

I am the proverbial long-angsting NFL fan, who somehow has managed to stick with my home team through thick and thin. Over 30 years of excruciating, painful, gut-wrenching thin.

The NFL has been in my DNA, growing up in the Washington, D.C., area with two passionate Washington football loving parents. I adored the Over the Hill Gang’s grit in the 1970s, studiously read The Future Is Now, lit candles when Coach George Allen departed. I worshipped at the altar of Coach Joe Gibbs in the 1980s, lived and breathed the Hogs, the Fun Bunch, the radio narration of games by Huff and Puff.

We went to multiple playoff games, won three Super Bowls. We expected to win. I remember listening to postgame sports radio when a fan dialed 911 to report a robbery – a bad call in a game.

The waiting list for season tickets for Washington football was legendary − and decades long in the day. Years before StubHub and the NFL ticket exchange, I paid a scalper $300 for three tickets to a game at the beloved, rickety RFK Stadium in 1991 where wide receiver Art Monk set a passing record almost at our feet.

I finally put my name on the waiting list for season tickets in 2002 at the “new” stadium out in Landover, Maryland, miles from the nation’s capital and all our monuments and memorials the NFL likes to highlight on game broadcasts.

My number was 43,595: I thought I’d be well into my 80s before I ever nabbed a seat. But two years later in 2004, I got the call: I was in!

And somehow, just two months later, Gibbs was back as head coach. My nosebleed seats were so high, and I have such a fear of heights, that I would spill most of my beer trembling on the trek to the top and would rarely stand for the National Anthem. But I was there, ecstatic at the ‘In Gibbs We Trust’ signs that adorned the lower bowl.

What followed was a path so torturous I would never have imagined. Dismal seasons were hyphenated with a few highs: a couple playoff games under Gibbs 2.0; an unexpected playoff berth with the pylon-diving quarterback Taylor Heinicke; beating a Tom Brady-led team.

And of course the 2012 season that brought what I thought was our savior: the speedy, dual-threat, charismatic quarterback Robert Griffin III, the master of our spread offense. But after lighting up the league, the fans and the stadium, our hopes crumpled to the ground with RGIII’s knee injury in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

I exited the stadium in tears that day.

The lows came fast: There was the time a local radio station gave away paper bags that read ‘Love the Team, Hate the Owner’ at a subway stop near the stadium. In a North Korea style move, team owner Daniel Snyder dispatched young staffers to confiscate the bags before anyone entered the gates.

Fans from opposing teams started packing the seats, chants of ‘defense, defense’ lacing through the air when our offense was on the field.   

I left early in the third quarter of a game a few years ago and found there was a line – to LEAVE the stadium.

During a breast cancer awareness video on the Jumbotron in 2022, the stadium erupted in boos when Snyder’s wife, Tanya, a breast cancer survivor, appeared. Could the owner be so reviled that we seem to be booing breast cancer?

It got to the point that I couldn’t find anyone – friend/boyfriend/family/total stranger – to attend the games with me. For free.

But I made a decision: Despite the depressing carousel of coaches, quarterbacks and dysfunction, I was a fan for life; I was not going to give up. I went down to one single ticket.

I soon moved down to the lower bowl and found an amazing seat 17 rows from the bottom with amazing kindred spirits in my nearby seatmates who don their burgundy and gold and are loud and proud every single game. (Here’s looking at you James, Sharonda and the rest!)

And in 2023 came a jaw-dropping announcement: Snyder finally sold our team. Before last year’s season I attended a rally in downtown D.C. where new owner Josh Harris appeared, and the crowd exploded into a roar of ‘Thank you Josh!’     

Then came the 2024-25 season: New coaches, a real GM, new players and a dazzling, poised-beyond-his-years quarterback in Jayden Daniels. The team doesn’t introduce individual players anymore; they run through the tunnel and the smoke as a unit before the game. Management pays respect to the players of our storied past, bringing back ‘legends’ to each game. Our fight song is back. We don’t just stand in the lower bowl; we dance, we prance, we hug.

OUR fans are the ones chanting ‘defense’ now. Heck, fans are even channeling the 1980s, repeatedly doing the wave. The stadium feels electric. And somehow we have now won two playoff games.

When Daniels threw a stunning Hail Mary to beat the Chicago Bears in October it crystallized in my mind when no one wanted to leave; we just wanted to soak up the moment: Yes sports can be cruel. Sometime three decades of cruel.

But when you ride out the misery, you sometimes find magic: That is what being a fan is all about.

Susan Miller is a Senior Breaking News editor for USA TODAY’s Nation team

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

ATLANTA – Will Howard was talking about this strange season, one that began long before he took his first snap as the Ohio State quarterback and long after a loss to Michigan brought the program to its collective knees.

There are the stories, he says, no one knows. Stories that make up Ohio State’s perplexing run to the College Football Playoff national championship game that can only be told if the Buckeyes win.

Or one that can be told for the first time right now.

It was November of 2023 when Howard sat down with Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, and a difficult conversation concluded with two options: head to the NFL, where he had an invite to the Senior Bowl to work out for NFL scouts, or use his final season of eligibility somewhere else.

While Kansas State wasn’t running off Howard, it most certainly was moving on. There was too much to like about rising sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson, and there was little doubt where the conversation was headed.

Howard hadn’t yet made an NFL decision, but knew if he were to return to college football, he could play at an elite level.

“We both knew it was kind of the way it was going to be,” Howard told USA TODAY Sports. “No ill intent on either side.”

But you better believe there’s motivation.

Because more than anything, this is a story about the ever-shifting state of college football. K-State moved on to Johnson because with free player movement and NIL collectives throwing around high-dollar compensation deals, it was either commit to him or lose him.

Howard had one year of eligibility; Johnson had three. These decisions are made all over college football now, including at the elite levels of the game.

There’s a reason Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, despite his NFL draft stock slipping since the beginning of the season, left early for the NFL. Uber-talented young backup Arch Manning needed to play.

And while Howard says he speaks with both Klieman and Johnson regularly and there’s “no love lost” between them, this story begins with a decision. K-State chose Johnson over Howard. 

Make no mistake, Johnson has shown flashes of remarkable talent, and could eventually develop into one of the game’s best players. But Howard had one thing to prove when he spoke with Ohio State coach Ryan Day, and no one else: he could lead a team to a national championship. 

It just so happened that Day, who had moved on from quarterback Kyle McCord, was in the process of changing his offense with his good friend and former UCLA coach Chip Kelly. An all-in moment for Day at Ohio State.

With an all-in transfer quarterback with something to prove. 

“I kind of realized when I was a sophomore in high school that this football thing might be something I could do,” Howard said. “Since then, you get people telling you that you can’t do this or be this. If you’re any kind of competitor, you want to prove them wrong.”

Then this season arrived, and it was like some cruel joke was playing out when it mattered most. There was the scramble and failure to stop the clock in a late loss at Oregon, and two key interceptions in the loss to Michigan. 

That loss, even though it didn’t end the season for Ohio State, may have been the best thing to happen to the most talented team in college football ― the program that spent nearly $20 million in building a championship-or-bust roster. 

“It brought us together, tighter,” said Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. “There’s just too much talent on this team to play the way we were playing.”

They’re averaging 37 points per game in three CFP games, including a 28-14 victory over Texas, which vanquished the big, bad SEC from the CFP final for the second consecutive season.

The quarterback who completed 57 percent of his passes against Michigan and averaged 5.3 yards per attempt, is completing 74 percent of his passes in three playoff games and more than doubled his averaged yards per attempt (10.8) ― against three top 15 defenses. 

The ball is going downfield, and putting defenses in constant conflict. Most have tried rolling coverages and doubling star wide Jeremiah Smith, while leaving Carnell Tate and Egbuka in single coverage.

It hasn’t worked.

Ohio State has 20 pass plays of 15-plus yards in the playoff, including a whopping seven of 30 yards or more. An offense that took three months trying to prove it was more physical than anyone it played, finally realized what made it unique under Day for the previous seven seasons. 

No one in college football understands the pass game like Day, whose concepts and play calling led to the most prolific offense in college football over the last decade — as both offensive coordinator and head coach at Ohio State.

Before last season, Day’s quarterbacks were averaging 41 touchdown passes a season. It took 12 games this season, but Day realized what made this team different from others he had at Ohio State that couldn’t win the national title, was the very thing that made it so dangerous in the first place.

Sometimes it’s the decision right in front of your face that makes the most sense. You just need to embrace it. 

“We put the ball in Will’s hands, and good things happened,” Day said.

Earlier this week, Howard and Johnson texted back and forth like the typically do. Howard’s brother, Ryan, is a freshman offensive lineman at K-State, and Will still stays deeply connected with his first college home.

How could he not? He won a Big 12 championship at K-State, and invested four years in Klieman’s buildout. He was Klieman’s first quarterback recruit from a full recruiting cycle, the player to build and grow around.

And then he wasn’t. 

It’s nobody’s fault, really, and everyone’s better for it. But you better believe there’s motivation. 

“I’m not going to lie, that was not an easy conversation (with Klieman),” Howard said. “I love Kansas State, and my boys there. Love everything about it. But it didn’t take long for me to realize how unique Ohio State is, and what we could be this season.”

They’e one game away now.

Then maybe every story can be told. 

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Our strategy at EarningsBeats.com just simply makes good common sense. If you want to find the best earnings reports BEFORE they’re reported, follow relative strength. I’ve explained this many times, but let me do it again. Wall Street firms talk to management of companies throughout the quarter until four weeks before the company’s quarter ends and the extended period leading up to when a company makes its earnings announcement to the public. This prohibits anyone from gaining insider information before it’s released to the public.

Following the price action is, in some ways, gathering information prior to quarterly reports being released. But it’s legal. It provides us a sense of what the big Wall Street firms believe about a company’s prospects and those firms communicate frequently with management teams during “non-quiet periods”.

During past quarters, I’ve done studies on how company’s report earnings given their relative strength status among peers. It’s been quite obvious to me that if you are a relative leader in price performance on your charts heading into an earnings report, then odds are much greater that the company will release strong results. It’s definitely no guarantee, but in trading, we’re looking for clues that boost our odds. After 40 years of investing/trading, I’m not aware of ANY strategy that works all the time.

Bank Earnings

JP Morgan Chase (JPM) posted great results, but it was very easy to assume great earnings were coming. Why? Well, look at the chart and check out the relative strength line, which hit a 52-week high in December, the last month of Q4:

This is the definition of a leading stock within a leading industry group. Those bottom two panels are as important a clue as anything I’ve seen in determining whether a company will beat its revenue and earnings estimates. In the case of JPM, this revenue and earnings beat led to higher price action, but that’s not always the case. Therein lies the reason why buying leading relative strength stocks will not always mean a gap higher in price. There’s this thing called, “buy on rumor, sell on news” that can result in selling after a hugely bullish revenue and earnings beat. But the beats tell me to add JPM to a watch list and pounce on the buy side when it’s appropriate (breakout, pullback to support, etc.).

Our last EB Digest newsletter article from Wednesday, January 15th featured another financial stock that looks quite similar to JPM in terms of relative strength and being a leader in a leading industry group. Check out Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR), which will report its earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell:

IBKR has been strong, gaining 114.45% over the past year, but it’s relative strength keeps pushing higher and higher. It’s also a part of a very strong investment services industry group ($DJUSSB). I see another HUGE earnings report coming on Tuesday. I’m not sure whether it gaps higher or not, but if revenues and earnings beat consensus estimates, the IBKR will be saved onto a Watch List (for us, that means our Strong Earnings ChartList, or SECL). Then we could consider buying on an after-earnings pullback sometime down the road.

Weekly Market Recap

Every weekend, I recap the prior week’s action and today’s was quite interesting. After all, what do the inflation folks cling onto now? We just saw both December Core PPI and December Core CPI come in below expectations and the 10-year treasury yield ($TNX) dropped like a rock. Meanwhile, we’ve now seen the yield curve uninvert, leading to strength in banks ($DJUSBK). For a discussion about all of this, be sure to check out our YouTube video, “The Ghost of Inflation? Market SOARS on Tame Inflation Data”. While you’re there, please help us by hitting the “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons. Leave a comment and let me know if you agree or disagree with my discussion.

EB Digest – FREE Newsletter

If you’re not already an EB Digest subscriber, please register now. It’s completely FREE with no credit card required and it’s simple to sign up. REGISTER HERE to enter your name and email address and, on Tuesday, I’ll send you yet another leading stock in a leading industry group poised to deliver BLOWOUT earnings results when they report.

Happy trading!

Tom

ATLANTA — Admittedly, the question is ridiculous.

Ohio State is hours away from meeting Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff championship game, capping a season that just in the past eight weeks has seesawed between the depths of another loss to Michigan and the potential high of claiming the program first championship since the debut of the four-team format a decade ago.

The Buckeyes have steamrolled through three playoff games since the rivalry loss, escaping the shadow of that miserable moment with impressive wins against Tennessee, Oregon and Texas. So, the question: If the Michigan game was the impetus for this run to the championship game, is that an exchange the Buckeyes are willing to take?

In other words, would you trade a loss to the Wolverines for a ring?

“I don’t have an answer on that,” said senior offensive lineman Josh Fryar. “I don’t have an answer. Maybe I’ll have an answer after Monday night.”

Said wide receiver Carnell Tate, “It’s not worth losing no game, really.”

A fourth loss in a row in the rivalry will trail Ohio State all the way until next November and at least partially define this season even if the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish.

But there is a clear line between that ultimate low — probably the nadir of coach Ryan Day’s tenure given how the Wolverines had played heading into that Saturday — and where Ohio State stands heading into Monday night.

‘That’s the sobering reality of this game, that nobody cares about what you go thru and you’ve got to win that final one to finish the mission,’ Day said. ‘That’s it for our guys, and as much as some of these wins have been great wins for us, to me, it’s about winning this final game. Our guys will have learned a lot about life over the last month. It’s been a tight group. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.’

Two days after the loss, Day told the Buckeyes that the playoff was their chance for a reboot, a rare opportunity to turn the page on a devastating setback and claim the national championship.

“It helped us really change our mindset,” said senior linebacker Cody Simon. “We knew we were going to have to go on a run if we wanted to win it all. That was kind of the decision we had to make and come together. Like, we knew we were going to play a game, but how mentality into it are you going to be? So we all came together and really decided that this is going to be our year and we’re going to go and finish it. But we’ve got to go do it, though.”

The loss to Michigan hasn’t led to any major schematic, back-the-drawing-board changes for Ohio State: “It’s not something magical or mystical,” offensive assistant Justin Frye said. “There was an alignment, an assignment, a communication error. How do you correct that and clean that up so you can play more violent and physical and with more confidence?”

Instead, players pointed to something as simple as the playoff schedule as a huge factor behind the Buckeyes’ ability to turn the page instead of wallowing in another rivalry defeat.

The opening-round matchup against Tennessee was on Dec. 21, three weeks and a day after playing Michigan. That was the Buckeyes’ earliest postseason matchup since playing the 1982 Holiday Bowl against Brigham Young on Dec. 17. Since the 1994 season, the program has played just five bowl games in December, with three of those matchups occurring the playoff national semifinals.

“The sooner you can get back to playing, the sooner you can write a new script,” said defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “Feel bad for a little bit and then we’ve got to get back to work. Anytime you can get back to work, it helps you get over those things.”

After spending two days poring over tape of the Michigan game, the Buckeyes had no choice but to move forward and refocus on what came next — by the time the matchup with Tennessee was made official the following Sunday, they had less than two weeks to prepare for one of the best teams in the SEC.

“We had a few days to sit there and think about it, try to figure out when we’re going to play and who we’re going to play,” junior linebacker Sonny Styles said. “But once we found out we’re playing Tennessee, it’s on.”

This has been a different team than the one that faceplanted against the Wolverines. Ohio State engulfed Tennessee, storming out to a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter and outgaining the Volunteers by more than 200 yards on the way to a 42-17 win. Facing off against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes took a 34-0 lead late into the first half and avenged the regular-season loss to the Ducks in the 41-21 rout. Pushed by Texas in the quarterfinals in the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes responded with a key defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to win 28-14.

“The message is us responding in a low moment,” said Styles. “Sometimes in life, life brings you to your knees. You either sit down and pout or you come back swinging. We got up swinging.”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Third-seeded Coco Gauff recovered from losing her first set of the year, rallying Sunday to defeat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and advance to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

But what she did after winning may have been even more timely.

In what’s become an unofficial tradition after winning their matches, tennis players are often handed a marker to write a message on the lens of a courtside camera. Gauff paused for a moment, then took the opportunity to address the United States’ ban of social media site TikTok that went into effect at midnight back home.

‘RIP TikTok USA,’ she wrote, adding a picture of a broken heart.

Gauff, who has more than 750,000 followers on TikTok, was asked about her reaction to the ban in her postmatch press conference.

‘I could not access it after my match. I honestly thought I would be able to get away with it because I was in Australia,’ she said. ‘Hopefully it comes back. … I love TikTok. It’s like an escape. I honestly do that before matches. I guess it will force me to read books more – be more of a productive human, probably. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.’

Gauff will next face 11th seed Paula Badosa of Spain, with the winner potentially taking on two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka – a 6-1 6-2 victor over teenager Mirra Andreeva.

Classic quarterfinal: Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic charged into the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday, setting up a showdown with a familiar foe in the quarterfinals.

But before looking ahead to his upcoming match against Carlos Alcaraz, the seventh-seeded Serb took aim at the tournament’s official broadcaster.

Djokovic declined an on-court interview and curtly thanked the crowd after his 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) thumping of Jiri Lehecka. He was miffed at Channel Nine reporter Tony Jones, who had mocked him and his fans two days earlier.

‘Novak he’s over-rated, Novak’s a has-been. Novak kick him out. Oh, I’m glad they (his supporters) can’t hear me,’ Jones had said.

Djokovic said he would continue his media boycott until he receives an apology from Jones.

‘Since they’re official broadcasters, I chose not to give interviews for Channel Nine,’ Djokovic told reporters. ‘If you guys want to fine me for not giving an on-court interview, that’s okay. I’ll accept that, because this is something that needs to be done. That’s all there is to it.’

Australian Open Day 8 results

Men’s singles

7-Novak Djokovic (SRB) beat 24-Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 6-3 6-4 7-6(4)
3-Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) beat 15-Jack Draper (GBR) 7-5 6-1 (Retired)
12-Tommy Paul (USA) beat Alejandro Davidovich 6-1 6-1 6-1 Fokina (ESP)
2-Alexander Zverev (DEU) beat 14-Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-1 2-6 6-3 6-2

Women’s singles

1-Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) beat 14-Mirra Andreeva (RUS) 6-1 6-2
27-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) beat 18-Donna Vekic (HRV) 7-6(0) 6-0
3-Coco Gauff (USA) beat Belinda Bencic (CHE) 5-7 6-2 6-1
11-Paula Badosa (ESP) beat Olga Danilovic (SRB) 6-1 7-6(2)

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The Detroit Lions lost many notable players to injury throughout the season, including yet another during their divisional round NFL playoff game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Cornerback Amik Robertson – who played very well against Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson last time Detroit was in action – left the game after taking a hit to his arm from teammate Jack Campbell.

According to NFL Media, Robertson suffered a broken humerus and underwent surgery Saturday night.

Robertson was corraling Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin on second-and-4 from the Washington 26-yard line. Campbell came in to finish the play and caught Robertson’s arm with his shoulder, forcing them to the ground and injuring Robertson’s arm in the process.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Amik Robertson injury update

NFL.com originally reported Robertson was taken to a Detroit-area hospital for further evaluation following his injury. He is expected to be ready for offseason workouts.

Robertson was down on the field before Detroit’s medical staff tended to him. He ultimately walked off the field under his own power but with help keeping his arm in place.

The Lions confirmed Robertson was questionable to return with an elbow injury. He was later downgraded to out.

Who is Amik Robertson?

Robertson was drafted in the fourth round, No. 139 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2020 NFL draft. He spent four seasons with Raiders, starting 21 games and tallying four interceptions, two sacks, two forced fumbles and 15 passes defensed for the team.

Robertson signed with Detroit during the offseason. He played in all 17 games for the Lions during the regular season, including four starts, and had eight passes defensed and a career-high three forced fumbles.

Lions CB depth chart

With Robertson out of the lineup, the team is getting thin at the cornerback position. Here’s who is on the active roster at the position for Detroit:

Terrion Arnold
Brian Branch
Kindle Vildor
Stantley Thomas-Oliver
Morice Norris

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

To be or not to be, that is the question for social media giant TikTok’s future in the United States.

The fate of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled app is one of very few issues that seem to divide Americans on both sides of our most fundamental ideological divides, which is roughly to say, pro-Donald Trump and anti-Donald Trump.

This is a pretty good sign that there are legitimate competing interests for axing the app and letting it flourish in the U.S. Those in favor of the short-video platform see themselves as champions of free speech; those opposed as guardians of national security. Both may have a point.

For the decision on TikTok to be thoughtfully and honestly reached, it must be fully understood and acknowledged just how much damage this Chinese spying and propaganda operation has already wrought.

The fact that Chinese owner ByteDance is refusing to sell TikTok is kind of confirmation that it was a CCP operation all along. It wasn’t launched by a Chinese entrepreneur looking to make money, or he would jump at a $50 billion dollar offer – especially when it is either that or go dark in the United States.

No, the real value of TikTok for the CCP was always as an informational attack on the U.S. intended to steal our private data, including that of millions of our children, and to promote anti-American ideology. Remember the ‘Osama Bin Laden wasn’t so bad’ TikTok craze?

Information is serious national security business. According to the Defense Department, America’s levers of international power are described by the DIME paradigm as Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic.

In three of these, the U.S. is dominant. But, owing to our First Amendment and the free nature of our society, we are always at a disadvantage against our authoritarian foreign foes when it comes to the use of information as a weapon.

This is not a two-way social media street with China. As Elon Musk, owner of the competitor platform X noted this week, ‘The current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.’

Nobody should hold their breath waiting for China to liberalize its internal social media censorship, but Musk’s point is well taken. This is asymmetrical informational warfare. 

All of this is why the ban on TikTok, should Bytedance continue its refusal to divest, was passed by a big bipartisan majority and why Trump was on board at that time. Now, with TikTok choosing to go dark on Sunday in the U.S., the rubber has met the road.

Sure, there are plenty of Americans who use TikTok in completely non-nefarious ways to run their business, keep up on hobbies, or just to be mindlessly entertained, and they understandably don’t want it to disappear.

For his part, Trump has come to believe that TikTok played a significant role in securing his election win. There isn’t a whole lot of hard evidence to back this up, but there are those in Trump’s inner circle, such as Kellyanne Conway, who have lobbied for TikTok in Congress.

If Trump can strike a deal that saves TikTok in America by eliminating the national security threat it poses, then great. That would be a double win. But while these competing interests are both legitimate, they are not equal, and our country’s defense must clearly come first.

For his part, Trump seems to understand this, posting on Truth Social on Sunday that he wants the ‘United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok.’

Deal or no deal, whether TikTok survives or not, you have to tip your cap to Communist China for one of the most effective information operations ever executed against the United States. Endless bytes of data stolen, millions of hours of propaganda poured into the eyes and ears of our kids.

It took our government years to understand what TikTok was really doing, longer to act, and now, even after it has decisively acted, we just can’t seem to pull the plug on the listening device. And one potential solution is to give China upwards of $50 billion for its trouble.

Trump wants 90 days to make a deal, and nobody does it better. But after that, either the CCP is out of the TikTok business or TikTok must be out of the U.S. There really is no third option.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Friday recounted a meeting with President Biden from early last year when the president appeared to forget he signed an executive order pausing the export of liquified natural gas (LNG).

Johnson publicly recalled the story for the first time to Bari Weiss during an episode of her podcast ‘Honestly’ for The Free Press after saying that through his ‘personal observation’ in dealing with Biden, the president ‘has not been in charge for some time.’ Johnson’s story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in June, though the newspaper’s reporting relied on anonymous sources at the time.

When Weiss asked Johnson to elaborate on his observations, the speaker began his tale of how Biden’s staff kept brushing off his attempts to schedule a meeting with the president in January 2024 amid ‘big national concerns’ that Johnson said he ‘was losing sleep over.’

Johnson said that Biden’s staff finally relented after some pressure from the media and invited him to the Oval Office to meet with the president. Johnson, however, said the meeting did not start as expected.

‘I show up and I realize it’s actually an ambush ’cause it’s not just me and the president,’ Johnson said. ‘It’s also Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem, you know, The CIA Director.’

Johnson said the group began to ‘hot box’ him on Ukraine funding when Biden asked if he could have the room with him, a request that Johnson said left the president’s staff visibly concerned.

Once Biden and Johnson were alone in the Oval Office, the speaker asked the president about his pause on LNG exports. 

‘I cannot answer this from my constituents in Louisiana,’ Johnson recalled telling Biden. ‘Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine, because they gotta get their gas from him.’

Johnson recounted how a stunned Biden replied: ‘I didn’t do that.’

Biden initiated a pause on new LNG export permits in January 2024, a move which has been widely criticized by the oil community and bipartisan lawmakers in the House.

Johnson said that when he reminded the president of the executive order he had signed just weeks ago, Biden denied that what he had signed was a pause on LNG.

Johnson said he argued that the pause would do ‘massive damage to our economy, national security,’ and he even suggested that the president’s secretary print out a copy of the order so that the two of them could read it together.

‘He genuinely did not know what he had signed,’ Johnson said. ‘And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, ‘We are in serious trouble—who is running the country?’ Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.’

Biden’s LNG pause threatens nearly 1 million jobs over the next two decades if the restriction remains in place, according to a study by the National Association of Manufacturers, which Fox News Digital previously reported on.

The export ban would stifle the U.S. GDP by between $122.5 billion and $215.7 billion in 2044, while between $26.9 billion and $47.7 billion in tax and royalty revenues to federal, state and local governments would be at risk in 2044 if the permit pause persists, the study found.

President-elect Trump, however, reportedly ‘plans to go strong on the issue’ of LNG exports when he assumes office, sources told Reuters in November.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS