Good morning. US stock futures dipped in Tuesday morning trading as investors continued to monitor developments in the banking sector

"To lose money is the conventional penalty for bad judgement in speculation"

Phillip Carret

Top News

US, Japan strike electrifying deal

WHAT: The US and Japan will soon be trading more than sushi and baseball players! The two countries announced a new deal on electric vehicle battery minerals that's sure to give their battery supply chain a jolt.

WHY: Mineral-focused trade deals are one way that the Biden Administration hopes to open up access for trusted allies to the $7500 per vehicle EV tax credits in last year's climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act.

Asian growth to accelerate in 2023

WHAT: Asia will likely be busting out the confetti this year as it's expected to have a growth spurt! According to the Boao Forum for Asia, the region is on track to achieve a weighted real GDP growth of 4.5% this year, up from 4.2% last year.

WHY: Growth is expected to rebound as supply chains normalize post-Covid and China and other Asian territories loosen restrictions on travel and movement.

Crypto exchange, CEO sued

WHAT: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission walked into a Federal court in Chicago and accused Binance and its CEO, who goes by the name CZ, of being rule-breaking rebels of the American derivates business.

WHY: The agency said CZ and other senior executives, failed to properly supervises Binance's activities and took steps to violate US laws, including instructing American customers to use virtual private networks (VPN) to obscure their location.

In Other News

Google fights DOJ

 WHAT: Google's parent Alphabet went to court to request that a judge toss out a lawsuit accusing the online search giant of abusing its dominance of online advertising.

WHY: The Justice Department's ad tech lawsuit follows a separate lawsuit filed in 2020 that accused Google of violating anti-trust laws to maintain its dominance in search.

TikTok is a "strategic issue"...

WHAT: The head honcho at the US National Security Agency's cybersecurity directorate just gave his two cents on TikTok — according to Rob Joyce, TikTok is not an immediate threat to the US but more of a "strategic issue".

WHY: Joyce said the Chinese-owned app could be used by the Chinese government to suppress information that could make the nation look bad to Americans.

How sustainable is sustainability?

WHAT: Companies are shelling out up to half a million bucks a year for a sustainability rating in order to please their investors' eco-cravings. But get this, they're not even satisfied with the results according to a report from consulting firm ERM.

WHY: Growing demand for environmental, social and governance data and a reliance by many smaller investors on external providers to assess companies has driven rapid growth of a largely unregulated industry.

Key Economic Events

• Tuesday - Fed Governor Barr Testifies To Senate On Banks

• Wednesday - No Major Economic News

• Thursday - Fed President Collins Speaks

• Friday - Consumer Sentiment

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