Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Pro's number one most trusted app, based on August 2025 proprietary survey. Volatility grips global markets as jittery investors sell off everything from gold to Bitcoin. Plus the latest from Washington as Congress's bid to end a partial government shutdown gets tougher. And Israel reconnects Gaza to Egypt in a major test of President Trump's peace plan.
This is a very long-awaited moment for Gazans. So Gazans have not been able to have a crossing that allows them to leave and enter since the start of the war.
It's Monday, February 2nd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. It's Monday, February 2nd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. A market sell-off that began on Friday is continuing this morning, with U.S. stock futures tracking a drop in global stocks.
Cryptocurrencies are also selling off, with Bitcoin trading below $77,000. But in a sign of potential stabilization, gold and silver prices have halted a slide that had gained steam over the weekend. Here with more is Wall Street Journal markets reporter Chelsea Delaney. Chelsea, bring us up to speed here.
A week ago, this metals rally had seemed practically unstoppable, but we've seen a big unwinding, to put it mildly. What's going on?
Yeah, this is really all about metals. So over the past year, we've seen this incredible run up in metals prices, gold, silver, just soaring. And last week, it hit the wall. So we saw a huge drop off in silver prices. We saw gold tumbling. And it looked like it was going to continue this morning, but it does seem to be stabilizing a bit.
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Chapter 2: What market trends are causing volatility in global markets?
I think for investors, this has been a kind of mind boggling rally. And there's a lot of reasons that people give you for why gold was up over 60 percent in the past year, why silver has doubled in price. And a lot of that has to do with concerns around the U.S. So debasement, whether the unpredictability of U.S. policy was going to erode the value of the dollar.
And, you know, one of the reasons why this might be turning around now is because last week Trump nominated Kevin Warshad as chair of the Federal Reserve. He's seen by investors as kind of a safe hand. He was a Fed governor. He has helped sort of ease some of those concerns about the independence of the Fed and whether the Fed is going to pursue lower interest rates because Trump wants them to.
As you mentioned at the top, this is really about metals. Friday, truly a bloodbath for silver and gold, posting their worst one-day sell-off since the 1980s. Though this seems to be affecting a lot of assets beyond silver and gold. I mean, is there anything that's not selling off right now and why?
You have to look pretty far to find something that isn't selling off right now. It is such a widespread route across global markets. But, you know, we are seeing treasury bonds rise today. So yields are going down as well. The dollar, which had been getting hit really hard over the past year and in particular over the past couple of weeks, has sort of stabilized and risen a little bit.
So that actually should ease some concerns about the sell America trade. Treasuries are acting as they should. They're acting as a safe haven right now.
Is that kind of the reassurance probably many retail investors are looking for if they're worried, listening to all this, that a major correction is beginning to take shape?
How far this goes is up in the air. We've just seen such an incredible rush into metals over the past year. And it shifted from being something that was thought to be central bank driven. And now it's retail investors and these things. Gold, this sort of safe haven, is now trading like a meme stock. So this might just be a positioning washout. This bet got so crowded. We've had a trigger.
And so now it comes back a bit.
That was Journal Markets reporter Chelsea Delaney. Chelsea, thank you so much.
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Chapter 3: How are gold and silver prices reacting to current market conditions?
That's a restriction that Israel wanted. They're going to undergo security checks, both leaving and coming in. And it's only going to be people. So we're not going to see at this point any cargo or aid coming in through the crossing.
Rafah's reopening marks the final major requirement of the first phase of President Trump's Gaza peace plan. But Anat said that what happens next is far from certain.
The reopening of the crossing is expected to facilitate the entry of a Palestinian technocratic body that is supposed to oversee day-to-day governance of Gaza as part of the second stage of the truce. And it's going to be an early test to see how Hamas will respond to what it sees as a rival entity seeking to govern the enclave.
Thus far, Hamas has also resisted disarming, a key demand of the peace plan's second phase, alongside the withdrawal of Israeli troops from most of Gaza. Just days before President Trump's inauguration last year, we report that the crypto venture tied to the president's family accepted a half-a-billion-dollar investment backed by a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family.
Sheikh Tanoun bin Zayed Al-Nayan is the UAE's national security advisor, sometimes called the spy sheikh, and is a brother of the country's president. Prior to Trump moving back to the White House, the Shakespeare lieutenants signed a deal with the Trump family to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, which steered around $187 million to Trump family entities.
The deal came just months before the UAE won access to American AI chips, something the royal had been pushing the U.S. for. And in a contest of Super Bowl halftime stars, Kendrick Lamar took home last night's Grammy Award for Record of the Year, while this year's performer Bad Bunny won Album of the Year.
The awards come at a pivotal moment for the music industry, as a surge in AI artists sparks fierce debate among fans and creators alike, as well as a rush to clarify whether an artificial artist could one day walk away with a Grammy. The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.
said last week on the Rapid Response podcast that using AI is allowed, but that eligible music must be based on human artistry.
AI does not disqualify you from being able to submit for a Grammy. There are certain things that you have to abide by and there are certain rules that you have to follow, but it does not disqualify you from entering.
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