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Thursday, June 26th
“Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.”
-Mao Zedong
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Markets Today
🌏 Asia-Pacific: Mixed
🇪🇺 Europe: Mixed
🇺🇸 United States: Up
🛢️ Oil: Up
⚡Crypto: Up
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Major Market Events
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US economy shrank more than previously thought in Q1. Data revisions smacking people in the face.
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Palantir short sellers bail as top S&P 500 stock keeps climbing. We’ve had this one in the long-term portfolio for awhile!
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Salesforce CEO Says 30% of Internal Work Is Being Handled by AI. A sign of things to come…
🤔 My Thoughts
Jes Staley, former Barclays CEO, was banned from senior financial roles and fined £1.8 million by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023 for misleading regulators about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. The FCA found “overwhelming” evidence of a close relationship, contradicting Staley’s claim of a purely professional connection.
Emails revealed Staley described Epstein as a “deep friend” and maintained contact, including through his daughter, until at least 2017, despite stating otherwise in a 2019 Barclays letter. Staley challenged the ban at the Upper Tribunal in 2025, arguing he was transparent, but the tribunal upheld the FCA’s decision, citing his lack of integrity and remorse.
The fine was reduced to £1.1 million due to lost Barclays shares. The ruling reinforces the FCA’s commitment to holding senior bankers accountable, damaging Staley’s reputation after a 43-year career.
Obviously no-one feels bad for a mega-bank executive tied to a notorious sex criminal… but you have to think there were many more people involved with this that we don’t know about.
We’ll actually get into this, and some more juicy content – including a red-hot trade idea this coming MONDAY, JUNE 30TH @ 11AM Eastern when we launch our new daily market stream called Profit Panel – and you can watch for free right here.
To Better Trading,
Alex Reid