#FRANCE: SEARCHING FOR RARE EARTHS. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Contributor(s): Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866-1939), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

#FRANCE: PLUNGING COMMODITIES. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Greenland Expedition. Man with boat and horse by the sea.

National Museum of Science and Technology , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ FINANCIAL FLASHBACK: 25 YEARS AGO: AT&T Wireless’s IPO

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Just as the dot-com bubble began to burst in the second quarter of 2000, megasize phone company decided to shed its cellphone service known as AT&T Wireless Group. The ensuing sale became the then largest initial public offering on record, raising $10.6 billion. 

 

Despite the epic amount of cash raised, AT&T Wireless’s first-day jump was just 7.4%. Wall Street expectations were for an “unspectacular price performance,” according to The Wall Street Journal. But many individuals had become conditioned to expect a huge first-day rally in the share price, says Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth Management. 

That was likely disappointing for some who bet big on a first-day price surge. The Journal featured one AT&T employee’s borrowing $54,400 on the IPO, an amount far greater than his annual salary. “That was very much the investing mindset which had yet to burst,” Hogan says. But as became apparent shortly thereafter, that attitude evaporated as the tech-heavy Nasdaq index slumped until October 2022.

As often happens on Wall Street, the glow was barely off the giant IPO, when AT&T Wireless was sold to Cingular Wireless. Read more here.

JD Vance's warning on Europe's future shines spotlight on continent's growing list of problems

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Following Vice President JD Vance's warning that Europe was at risk of ‘engaging in civilizational suicide,' the continent has come under the microscope for largely failing to deal with mass migration from mostly Third World countries. Associated with that has been a massive rise in violent crime and a failing economy. 

Freedom of speech is under attack as many complain of a two-tier justice system and, making things even more problematic, Europe's economy is not performing as expected. Read more here.

United States Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

FOX News: Trump’s Ukraine minerals deal off for now, but there are alternatives for US

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

As U.S.-Ukraine negotiations continue with both sides jockeying back and forth on a possible rare earth minerals deal, President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukraine was trying to back out of the deal.

Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, "I think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, by the way, he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems, big, big problems."

The deal was reportedly designed to benefit both countries, with a chance of the U.S. recouping some or all of the billions of dollars in military aid it has provided to Ukraine since Russia invaded the Eastern European nation in 2022. Read more here.

Nikolay Kasatkin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

#FRANCE: LAWFARE AND MARINE LE PEN. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Winsor McCay, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WABC: CONSTABLE TALKS WITH FRANK MORANO ABOUT TARIFFS AND MANY OTHER THINGS

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Hour 4 -- Fresh Prince. about 12 minutes in

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Charles Jay Taylor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons