The World is smoldering:

U.S. Doubles Down on Demand That Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal

https://www.wsj.com/world/trump-ukraine-mineral-deal-sign-e2ff7d3f?mod=hp_lead_pos3

The Trump administration is stepping up its push for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hand mineral rights worth hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S., after Zelensky’s initial rejection of the demand fueled President Trump’s escalating broadsides against Ukraine’s leader.
The White House called Zelensky’s refusal to sign a deal it proposed and his criticism of Trump unacceptable, a day after Zelensky said Trump is living in a “disinformation” bubble and Trump countered by calling Zelensky a dictator.
“They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz said Thursday of Ukraine’s leadership on Fox News.
Zelensky has said he is open to a deal, but that it needs more work.
The U.S. demands were first presented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv last week.
A U.S. Republican lawmaker who met with Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last week described the Ukrainian leader’s account of the interaction with Bessent.
Bessent pushed the paper across the table, demanding that Zelensky sign it, the Ukrainian president told the lawmaker. Zelensky took a quick look and said he would discuss it with his team. Bessent then pushed the paper closer to Zelensky.
“You really need to sign this,” the Treasury secretary said. Zelensky said he was told “people back in Washington” would be very upset if he didn’t. The Ukrainian leader said he took the document but didn’t commit to signing.

Why Germany’s Confidence Is Shattered and Its Economy Is Kaput
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/why-germanys-confidence-is-shattered-and-its-economy-is-kaput-d1d95890?mod=hp_lead_pos9
BERLIN—A decade ago, Germany was the model nation. 
Its economy hadn’t just withstood the ascendance of China; it was thriving in its wake. Its balanced public finances stood out in a world of huge government debt. And while British and U.S. lawmakers were caught up in the culture wars, German politicians continued to practice the art of compromise.
Today, Germany has gone from paragon to pariah. Its economic model is broken, its self-confidence shattered and its political landscape fractured. 
Europe’s former growth engine has shrunk for two years in a row, erasing any recovery made since the Covid-19 pandemic. Its manufacturing output is down about 10% over the same period and its companies, squeezed between rising costs and falling exports, are shedding thousands of jobs a month. When voters elect a new parliament on Sunday, the far right is likely to double its seats and a fragmented center could struggle to form a stable government.

Israel Warns Hamas Over Return of Body of Hostage Kidnapped With Her Sons

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-warns-hamas-over-return-of-body-of-hostage-kidnapped-with-her-sons-cba5a1c7?mod=hp_lead_pos10
Israel warned Hamas on Friday that it will pay dearly if the militant group doesn’t hand over the body of a mother who was kidnapped with her two young sons, as Arab mediators expressed concerns about talks expected to begin next week over a permanent end to the Gaza war.
The Israeli military said that the bodies of the boys, Ariel and Kfir, had been identified. But it said another body Israel received this week didn’t belong to their mother, Shiri Bibas, and didn’t match any other hostage. Hamas on Friday said it would investigate Israel’s claims.

Why Is Warren Buffett Hoarding So Much Cash?
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-cash-annual-letter-2c956952?mod=hp_lead_pos8
Warren Buffett is known for picking stocks. These days, he is increasingly picking cash.
The mountain of cash and Treasury bills at the famed investor’s company, Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B -0.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle, rose above $300 billion in the third quarter—easily a record and its highest as a percentage of company assets in data going back to 1998, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Holding lots of cash is standard practice for Berkshire, but the scale of the recent buildup has raised eyebrows among some observers of the Omaha, Neb., conglomerate. 
They are preparing to parse Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders on Saturday for clues about how the Berkshire chairman and chief executive is thinking about the stock market and any opportunities he might see for investing the cash. Berkshire’s annual report, which includes the letter, will show how much cash the company held at the end of 2024.

  . .View a PDF of the MiSsile – CLICK HERE