🗞️American optimism drops to record low

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February 10th, 2026

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• A new Gallup poll released today showed that only 59.2% of U.S. adults in 2025 expected to have a high-quality life in five years, the lowest since tracking began nearly 20 years ago…Democrats saw the sharpest drop to 57%, while Republicans held steadier but remain below prior peaks…read more above

• Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) disclosed the names of six men identified as potential co-conspirators with Jeffrey Epstein during a speech on the House floor today, following his review of less-redacted DOJ files…the individuals named are Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, and Leslie Wexner

• Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has officially announced she will seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2026 for a sixth term

• Axios reported that President Trump is considering deploying a second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East as a show of force ahead of next week's second round of nuclear talks with Iran…Trump expressed optimism for a deal while also warning of "decisive action" like prior strikes if no agreement on nuclear/missile curbs is reached next week

• U.S. consumer debt delinquencies climbed to 4.8% of all outstanding household debt in the fourth quarter of 2025, which is the highest since 2017, affecting loans from mortgages to credit cards amid rising stress on lower-income and younger borrowers

• Paramount Skydance has enhanced its $30 per share all-cash hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery by introducing a $0.25 per share "ticking fee" payable to shareholders for each quarter the deal remains uncompleted after December 31st, 2026, which would equal about $650 million quarterly…the enhancements also include fully covering WBD's $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix and backstopping up to $1.5 billion in debt refinancing costs for bondholders

• YouTube Music has rolled out an AI-powered playlist generator exclusively for Premium subscribers on iOS and Android, allowing users to create custom playlists via simple text or voice prompts

• The founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency/blockchain company SafeMoon, Braden Karony, was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison after his May 2025 conviction on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering

• Estée Lauder has filed a lawsuit against Walmart alleging the retailer sold counterfeit versions of its beauty products

• DOW up .10% / S&P down .33%

• French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the European Union to establish itself as a true global power through enhanced economic competitiveness and military capabilities, and reduce dependency on the U.S.

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Plus: A look at China Vs. U.S. costs of everyday things

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