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Money Daily has been providing business and financial market news, views, and coverage on a nearly continuous basis since 2006. Complete archives are available at moneydaily.blogspot.com.
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Trump's AI Genesis Mission, Pick for Next Fed Chair Gooses Wall Street Stocks Higher Wednesday, November 26, 2025, 9:26 am ET
Ok, hardly anybody paid much attention to Monday's launch of the "Genesis Mission" via an executive order by President Trump, except, um, Wall Street, apparently already in holiday trading mode. President Trump's latest "mission" is all about the AI "race" against China, seeking to combine America's scientific knowledge into one, massive database, promoted by White House tech czar Michael Kratsios, who graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in politics and a certificate in Hellenic studies in 2008, making him uniquely unqualified in technology, but that's OK since prior to joining the Trump administration as deputy assistant to the president, Kratsios was a principal at Thiel Capital and served as chief of staff to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. OK, the Peter Thiel connection led to Kratsios recently marrying a woman who was Public Policy Manager for Google UK and is now associated with Coinbase. This new AI and Energy grift that is being managed by Trump, for those "behind the curtain" is already HUGE. Americans will pay for all of it and the tech oligarchs will get the profits along with all the infrastructure and info-tech built with American tax dollars. According to this article from Venture Beat:
What the administration has not provided is just as striking: no public cost estimate, no explicit appropriation, and no breakdown of who will pay for what. Major news outlets including Reuters, Associated Press, Politico, and others have all noted that the order “does not specify new spending or a budget request,” or that funding will depend on future appropriations and previously passed legislation. President Trump has unleashed the “Genesis Mission,” a Manhattan Project-scale AI blitz designed to cement U.S. technological dominance. Signed via an executive order Monday, the plan marshals the country’s largest federal data stores, supercomputers, and 40,000 elite scientists to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, health, and national security—while leaving global competitors in the dust. White House tech czar Michael Kratsios and Energy Secretary Chris Wright hailed it as America’s “Apollo-moment moonshot,” with Wright invoking wartime triumphs and likening the mission to the Manhattan Project that helped end WWII. The executive order frames AI as the latest frontier for scientific discovery and economic growth, demanding a historic national effort to accelerate research and innovation. The Genesis Mission will create an integrated AI platform leveraging decades of federal scientific datasets to train foundation models, build AI research agents, automate workflows, and test new hypotheses at unprecedented speed. It pulls together the full spectrum of American innovation: DOE national labs, pioneering private companies, world-renowned universities, production plants, and national security sites. The initiative promises to harness advances in high-performance computing and semiconductors, driving faster scientific discovery, enhanced productivity, energy security, and stronger national defense—all while delivering maximum taxpayer ROI. Kratsios emphasized the scale of the effort, calling it “the largest marshaling of the federal government scientific apparatus since the Apollo Project,” and framing it as a historic surge in U.S. power. Trump’s Genesis blitz, combining federal resources with private-sector know-how, seeks to eclipse China’s AI advances, weaponize federal data lakes for breakthroughs, and secure unchallenged global dominance in science and technology. For Americans watching the chaos online, the Genesis Mission is both awe-inspiring and terrifying—a full-throttle, no-holds-barred sprint into an AI-fueled future where the U.S. refuses to play catch-up, turning panic-scrolling doom into a spectator sport. Fabulous. Stocks powered ahead on Tuesday, and look to add to gains again on Wednesday, and, after the Thanksgiving break, again on the half-session Friday. Wall Street is not waiting for any results from AI or anywhere else, satisfied that more than a trillion dollars in AI investment will lead ot massive profits. At least that's the current understanding, along with the Fed making money easier by cutting the federal funds rate by another 25 basis points at the December 9-10 FOMC meeting. Traders are also jazzed about the prospects for Trump's pick to be the next Fed Chairman, ostensibly to cut interest rates even further. The leading candidate is the dovish Kevin Hassert. While monetary and fiscal policies go into inflation overdrive, stocks will benefit, but gold and silver may skyrocket. With US markets set to open within minutes, stock futures are higher across the board, along with gold and silver. Away we go!
At the Close, Tuesday, November 25, 2025:
Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 9:24 am ET Just guessing, but Tuesday might be ripe for some profit taking. After last week's Thursday meltdown, stocks have rallied on renewed prospects for a FOMC rate cut at the December 9-10 meeting. While that's jolly good for Wall Street, it sounds just a bit inflationary for the rest of us regular folks. Heck, even bitcoin is "off the lows", which, for CNBC enthusiasts, is cause for celebration. Nonetheless, President Trump says America is the "hottest" country on the planet, which has worried some of the leftover climate change complainers. Still, he's probably right about America being hot, because, if you touch it, you're likely to get burned. From the "can't make this stuff up" department (courtesy of trusted news source, Yahoo! Finance):
US retail sales rose less than forecast in September as key data returns after shutdown delays So, this translates thusly: Many people are broke. They were broke in September and more broke in October (if that's even possible), so we, the government, who can't accept failure, aren't going to release October data. If we eventually do, it will be 100% fake. Third quarter GDP was so bad, we shut down the government just so we wouldn't have to tell anybody. We, the government, want to keep all you peons, muppets, and cretins in the dark, while we, the enlightened class, profits. Conveniently, we will not release third quarter GDP estimate - which we have, by the way, because the third quarter ended in September - until after Christmas. So, go out and shop, spend up to your credit card limits on worthless trash to impress people you don't like. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Happy Holidays. Signs that there's a bubble and a recession will soon follow: One of your neighbors drives a more expensive car than you, even though he/she doesn't have a job. Your car is paid for; his/hers is on credit. Keep eyes peeled for repo man. You tried out AI, were not overly impressed with the results, and thought, "they're spending how many hundreds of billions on this?" One bitcoin is worth more than what you paid for your first home back in 1985. Two strip steaks at the local supermarket cost $38.50. The Starbucks near your office is empty. There's more, but we're not allowed to tell you how bad it really is, but here's a hint: 50% of retail sales is being done by the top 10% of earners. Only one more day until Thanksgiving (whew! a day off) and then the massive half-day rally for Black Friday! Spend!
At the close, Monday, November 24, 2025:
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 12:25 pm ET Look at it this way. Wall Street is a big circus, full of high-wire acts, dancing elephants, lion tamers, and trampoline gymnasts with a casino attached. Washington, D.C. is the clown show, led by the carnival barker on truth social. On Wall Street, you buy your tickets, cotton candy, popcorn, and the rest. Washington doesn't move Wall Street. It's exactly the other way around. All the best grifters in the world are located in the capital. The real money is made behind the scenes, in back offices within skyscrapers and low-rise buildings in lower Manhattan and New Jersey. In just the last two days of trading last week - Thursday and Friday - was witness to the complete fraud of AI investments (Thursday) and the comic cosmic power of the central bank (Friday), when New York Fed President John Williams, who was attending a conference sponsored by the central bank of Chile (really, Chile?) casually mentioned that interest rates could fall in the near term. This wasn't an official speech by Williams, who just so happens to be a permanent voter and Vice Chairman of the FOMC, the committee that sets interest rate policy at the Fed. His remarks carried sufficient weight to boost markets on Friday, a counterweight to Thursday's massive selloff. In Washington, Republican House member from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Trump and MAGA supporter, abruptly resigned her seat after weeks of disagreements with President Trump. In the dysfunction that is the U.S. federal government, political alliances are disregarded. Elected officials who stand up for Americans and against foreign entanglements are disposed of or "primaried." Those who support foreign governments and enthusiastically applaud leaders who commit crimes and genocide are elevated. That's just how the irrelevant clown show rolls. Here's a link to her video statement and resignation announcement. The video is posted at the conclusion of the WEEKEND WRAP. Stocks Even with Friday's Fed-induced dead cat bounce, stocks were hit hard again this week, marking the third straight weekly decline on the NASDAQ, home to most of the speculative tech names. Markets have been under siege since the government re-opened, and while that is probably merely coincidence, the effects are beginning to strike home. Just since November 12, the Dow has dropped 2,000 points, about four percent. The S&P is off nearly 300 points from its all-time high on October 29, and the NASDAQ is off by more than 1700 points since the end of October, a full seven percent decline. With the holidays approaching, there's a split of opinion on whether stocks will regain the high ground or continue to fall for the remainder of the year. Increasingly, it appears to be the latter. Liquidity and the AI circular trading scheme continue to be the main issues in the market. The AI trade may have seen its top after Nvidia's results, under scrutiny, caused Thursday's massive decline. While there was some dip-buying on Friday, it was largely without conviction, and also came on the third Friday of the month, usually the largest options expiration date. Thus, whatever gains were made in the big tech names were probably the results of various options trades being closed out. There doesn't seem to be a catalyst going forward, though the general mood of the markets during the holidays is upbeat, although that certainly wasn't the case in 2018, and similar issues could cause another waterfall event, as opposed to a Santa laus rally. Of course, there is the FOMC meeting on December 9-10 to consider. After Williams' suggestion the odds of another 25 basis point cut in December rose from around 33% to over 60%. If the Fed does not cut, markets will likely tank. There's always a way out for Wall Street, however. In this instance, howls of "oversold conditions" will be loud. Prior to that, on Wednesday of next week, the PCE, the Fed's favored inflation gauge will be announced, which will have influence regarding inflation in the context of rate cuts. Treasury Yield Curve Rates
Spreads remain wide. Fed speakers are about to go into "quiet mode" prior to the next FOMC meeting, so there will be slight chance that they'll be leaking anything important. Otherwise, the treasury market is functioning, though there is crowding due to excessive issuance by the U.S. Treasury, with more than $1 trillion in refunding ongoing. Spreads:
2s-10s
Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years) Oil/Gas WTI crude closed out the week at $57.98, down sharply from last week's close of $59.81. The price of oil should continue to fall. There's slack demand and a huge glut, despite the "sanctions" on Russia, which do next-to-nothing. The U.S. national average for gas at the pump remained the same for now three straight weeks, $3.07, according to Gasbuddy.com. Gas prices should continue to decline over the near term and through winter. California remains the priciest, at $4.60 per gallon, down six cents, followed by Washington ($4.17), up a penny on the week. Oregon ($3.77), was up four cents. The lowest prices remain in the Southeast, with Oklahoma checking in near the lowest price in about a year, $2.46. Mississippi is next at $2.53. Louisiana ($2.55), Tennessee ($2.60) and Texas ($2.63) follow. The remaining Southeast states are all below $2.80 with the exception of Florida ($3.11) up 20 cents from last week. In the Northeast, prices were higher. Only New Hampshire ($2.94) was under $3.00, with Pennsylvania ($3.28) easily the highest. Vermont ($3.15) and New York ($3.14) were the next. In the midwest region, Illinois ($3.24) and Michigan ($3.12) were the only states above $3.00. At the low end were Colorado ($2.61) and Kansas ($2.67). Sub-$3.00 gas was reported in 28 states, a gain of two from last week. Bitcoin
This week: $87,373.34 Bitcoin fell to a low below $81,000 this week. The gains through Sunday morning is nothing but froth, occurring in thinly-traded hours, similar to how the gold and silver suppressors operate in the GLOBEX between midnight and early morning hours. There's really nothing there at all. Most people who bought bitcoin in the past year are losing money. Nakamoto in Japanese means "Central" or middle. Satoshi in Japanese means "Intelligence" or wise. Draw your own conclusions. Bitcoin and crypto is dead money at this point. Thank Wall Street for that. Precious Metals Gold:Silver Ratio: 81.33; last week: 80.79 Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:
Gold price 10/24: $4,126.90
Silver price 10/24: $48.41
SPOT:
Silver 10/24: $48.59 Gold and silver were generally rangebound throughout the week. The ongoing struggle for price discovery continues between the futures and fix pricing mechanism of the Western COMEX and LBMA and the BRICS-focused Shanghai Gold Exchange in China and Russia's plans to begin trading in precious metals by the end of the year on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX), which will be open to traders from around the world. Cracks in the Western-dominated markets have begun to show signs of cracking, with the recent shortfall of silver in London vaults and the impressive gains in both gold and silver over the past two years. Additionally, dealers continue to add high premia to precious metals. A recent offering by one prominent online dealer promoted one ounce silver at $7.95 over spot, pretty much aligning with Money Daily's SOSMBP. There may be some impetus for gold and silver to rise this coming week, as nearby futures contracts expire. Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):
The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) made a modest gain for the week, to $58.05, up 51 cents from the November 16 price of $57.54 per troy ounce. The small-denomination, physical market continues to add premia to, and depart from, spot and derivative markets. WEEKEND WRAP Next week is Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a half-day session which almost always is positive. This year should be no different. If you're looking for holiday cash, buy on Wednesday, sell on Friday, as that shortened session will be the last of November, so, in keeping with the holiday spirit, there is likely to be plenty of window dressing. The stock markets close at 1:00 pm ET, so don't sleep too late.
At the CLose, Friday, November 21, 2025:
For the Week:
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