🗞️New U.S.-India trade deal

February 2nd, 2026

Happy Groundhog Day…Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which means 6 more weeks of winter

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• President Trump announced a new U.S.-India trade deal after a call with India’s PM Modi, the deal sees the U.S. immediately cutting U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18%…in exchange, India agreed to halt Russian oil imports, eliminate its tariffs/non-tariff barriers on American products, and ramp up purchases exceeding $500 billion in U.S. energy, tech, and agriculture

• U.S. manufacturing expanded in January at its fastest pace since 2022, with the ISM manufacturing index jumping to 52.6 from 47.9 in December

• President Trump is launching a $12 billion critical minerals stockpile to reduce U.S. dependence on China for rare earths and other key inputs used in batteries, electronics, and weapons systems

• Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee in its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, marking a reversal after initially defying subpoenas and facing imminent contempt votes

• Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, announced that body cameras will be deployed to all DHS field officers in Minneapolis amid scrutiny over recent fatal shootings where camera use has been inconsistent or absent

• SpaceX has officially acquired xAI, creating a powerhouse valued at $1.25 trillion that combines rockets, Starlink, the X platform, and Grok AI

• Amazon is cutting 2,198 jobs in Washington state as part of a broader 16,000-position global reduction to streamline management and bureaucracy ahead of massive AI investments

• A Reddit-style social network that is exclusively for AI agents called Moltbook, was launched last week, where bots autonomously post about topics like inventing religions, hiding from humans, and tech glitches…the site is already claiming to have 1.5 million users

• Generation Z homeownership in the U.S. went up to about 27.1% in 2025, from roughly 26.1% in 2024

• DOW up 1.05% / S&P up .54%

• Axios reported that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to meet Friday in Istanbul, potentially with delegates from Arab and Muslim nations, to discuss a nuclear deal amid Trump's Gulf military buildup

• Former UK minister, Peter Mandelson, has resigned from Keir Starmer’s Labour Party following renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein

Bonus: A look at the biggest gains in life expectancy

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Quote of the day: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi

Have a great night!

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