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For years, blockchain had promise in the finance industry, but lacked the liquidity and connectivity to scale.

Yuval Rooz, CEO and co-founder of Canton Network, believes that era is now ending.

The problem: Legacy friction

Traditional banking still depends on millions of costly, slow and error-prone messages as institutions attempt to reconcile fragmented records across systems.

Repurchase agreement (repo) trades highlight the problem. Moving cash and collateral typically requires multiple intermediaries, manual checks and settlement delays that can stretch for days.

Public blockchains such as Ethereum offer speed, but their full transparency creates a different obstacle, exposing sensitive transaction data that banks cannot legally or competitively disclose.

At the heart of the issue is a structural trade off. Banks need shared networks to scale efficiency, yet legacy infrastructure and open ledgers force a choice between operating in isolation or revealing too much information. The result has been a patchwork of private systems that protect data sovereignty, but sacrifice interoperability and efficiency.

Explaining how Canton’s technology removes that trade off, Rooz said:

“Banks built walled gardens because there was no way to share infrastructure without giving up control or privacy. What we’re seeing now is a gradual shift away from isolated systems toward shared rails where institutions retain sovereignty over their data, while still achieving interoperability.

‘That doesn’t mean internal systems disappear overnight, but it does mean the center of gravity shifts toward networks where counterparties can transact in real time.”

Canton’s solution: Privacy-enabled synchronization

Canton has created a shared ledger where institutions maintain private blockchains, yet synchronize seamlessly.

“I think critics misunderstand what financial institutions actually need,” Rooz explained. “Banks don’t want a system where everything is hidden, and they don’t want one where everything is public. They need a way to work together on shared processes, while keeping sensitive details private. That’s what Canton was designed for.”

In practice, JPMorgan keeps its ledger sovereign, while plugging into LSEG for atomic delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlements, all without revealing private data. Sub-transaction privacy ensures only trade participants see details; to others, it’s invisible. This network of networks lets banks achieve interoperability without sacrificing control.

“(This) gives institutions a shared record they can trust, with configurable privacy at the protocol level to divulge transactional information only with involved parties. And because it’s built to connect different applications, firms can link markets and workflows together without sacrificing confidentiality,’ said Rooz.

“This combination is something traditional systems cannot offer and is why you’re seeing institutions move from pilots into production onchain,’ the expert added.

Live momentum: JPM Coin and tokenized repos

JPM Coin’s native integration is a strong signal that the market is maturing.

JPMorgan’s blockchain rail, with over US$1 trillion in processed volume, has fueled settlements across Canton’s ecosystem. Paired with LSEG’s tokenized deposits, which power live repo activity, there are now synchronized markets where DvP happens in seconds, not days.

Rooz highlighted the deeper impact, commenting, “Everyone notices the speed, but the collateral mobility is the substance beyond the headline. In legacy markets, collateral spends most of its life idle because moving it safely across systems requires messaging, reconciliation and time. Atomic settlement collapses those steps into a single transaction.’

He added, ‘When repos settle in seconds, collateral stops being static and becomes reusable. That improves liquidity, balance sheet efficiency and risk management.”

2026 outlook

JPM Coin and LSEG repos demonstrate Canton’s shift from pilots to production.

“We measure success by utilization,” said Rooz, adding, “Having Canton be the network where real transactions are taking place, and regulated assets are moving.’

He envisions steady expansion powering this transformation. Indeed, similar efforts are already live elsewhere, such as BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, which has tokenized US$1.7 billion in treasuries for 24/7 yields, and DRW Cumberland’s weekend repos, which use tokenized collateral with instant DvP settlements.

“I’d like to see more asset classes brought on to Canton, and the corresponding transaction volume we’re already seeing will continue to grow in the year ahead,’ said Rooz.

He sees this convergence accelerating across markets.

“Our ‘North Star’ is to drive the convergence of TradFi and DeFi onchain to create a new AllFi reality,’ he said.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Investing

Top 5 Canadian Mining Stocks This Week: Giant Mining Gains 70 Percent

Statistics Canada released January’s jobs report on Friday (February 6). The data showed that the Canadian workforce shrank by 25,000, or 0.1 percent.

Manufacturing experienced the largest decline, losing 28,000 workers, followed by education with 24,000, and the public sector, which decreased by 10,000. These declines were balanced by increases of 17,000 across information, culture, and recreation; 14,000 in business, building and support services; and 11,000 in agriculture.

Despite the declines, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 6.5 percent. While the rate was the lowest since September 2024, the agency notes that the decrease was driven by fewer people looking for work through the month, and coincided with a 0.4 percent drop in the labor force participation rate, which came in at 65 percent.

The release came just a day after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its job opening report on Thursday (February 5) that showed that labor demand had decreased to its lowest level since September 2020, as December’s figures fell by 386,000 openings.

The report differs from the employment situation summary, which is typically released on the first Friday of each month. The report has been delayed due to the extended US government shutdown in late 2025 and will be released next Wednesday, February 11.

Employment data is an important metric for assessing the overall health of the Canadian and US economies and plays a significant role in helping central banks set interest rate policy.

For more on what’s moving markets this week, check out our top market news round-up.

Markets and commodities react

Canadian equity markets were mixed this week.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) gained 1 percent over the week to close Friday at 32,470.98, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) shed 5.38 percent to 1,015.34. The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) dropped 1.22 percent to 167.56.

The gold price gained 4.84 percent to close at US$4,951.69 per ounce on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST. The silver price didn’t fare as well, closing the week down 1.78 percent at US$77.32 on Friday.

In base metals, the Comex copper price recorded a 0.85 percent rise this week to US$5.93.

On the other hand, the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodities Index (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was down 3.7 percent to end Friday at 587.55.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EST on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Giant Mining (CSE:BFG)

Weekly gain: 69.57 percent
Market cap: C$27.51 million
Share price: C$0.39

Giant Mining is an exploration company working to advance its Majuba Hill District copper, silver and gold project north of Reno in Nevada, US.

The site consists of 403 federal lode mining claims and four private property parcels that cover an area of 3,919 hectares. Mining at the property took place between 1900 and 1950, resulting in the production of 2.8 million pounds of copper, 184,000 ounces of silver and 5,800 ounces of gold.

Extensive exploration work has been carried out at Majuba Hill, with 89,930 feet being drilled since 2007.

The most recent news from Giant came on January 30, when it reported that it planned to drill up to 10,000 feet in a multi-phase drill program at Majuba Hill, targeting three breccia zones.

Following the first phase of 5,000 feet of drilling, the program will include underground and surface sampling to support follow-up drill targeting for the remaining holes.

2. CGX Energy (TSXV:OYL)

Weekly gain: 64.71 percent
Market cap: C$66.02 million
Share price: C$0.28

CGX Energy is an oil and gas exploration company with 27.48 percent ownership of a portfolio of wells in the Corentyne block off the coast of Guyana. Frontera Energy (TSX:FEC) is the company’s joint venture partner in the Corentyne block and also holds 76.05 percent interest in CGX.

The Kawa-1 exploration well was drilled in 2021 and 2022 and encountered an active hydrocarbon system extending to a depth of 6,000 feet, mirroring trends in the Guyana-Suriname Basin. CGX’s Wei-1 well was drilled in late 2022 and is located on-trend between the Kawa-1 well and Exxon’s (NYSE:XOM) Pluma discovery.

CGX and Frontera are currently in a legal dispute with the government of Guyana, which believes the petroleum prospecting license for Corentyne expired in 2024, a stance the joint venture disagrees with. The most recent update on the matter mentioned plans to meet and discuss the situation, with potential dates in November or December of last year.

Shares in CGX posted gains this week, but the company has not released news since November 13, when it announced its third-quarter financial statements. However, Frontera announced on January 30 that it divested its producing Colombian assets while retaining its interests in Guyana, news that may signal that the Corentyne block permitting situation could still be resolved.

3. Saba Energy (TSXV:SABA)

Weekly gain: 61.11 percent
Market cap: C$12.07 million
Share price: C$0.29

Saba Energy is an oil and gas exploration company with operations in British Columbia, Canada, as well as the Philippines.

The company’s primary Canadian operations consist of the producing Boundary Lake and Laprise oil and gas fields, which have a net present value of C$43 million as of its September quarterly report.

The most recent news from Saba came on January 27, when it announced a heads-of-agreement with Nido Petroleum for a farm-in arrangement on a pair of offshore assets in the Philippines.

Saba will earn 60 percent of Service Contract 54 (SC54). SC54 covers an area of 550 square kilometers to depths of 50 to 110 meters and hosts three discovery wells and one production well, which previously produced 270,000 barrels at 19,000 barrels per day before it was closed due to water encroachment.

The company will also earn a 52.73 percent share in the DPPSC Cadlao, which covers an area of 914 square kilometers to depths of 93 meters. The site has 6.8 million barrels in reserves and produced 11.1 million barrels between 1982 and 1992.

If the transaction is completed, Saba will become the operator of both assets. The company plans to open a US$7.5 million convertible debenture private placement to achieve the requirement of raising US$7 million by mid-April.

4. Copper Giant Resources (TSXV:CGNT)

Weekly gain: 60.66 percent
Market cap: C$157.77 million
Share price: C$0.98

Copper Giant Resources is an exploration company advancing its Mocoa copper-molybdenum project in Southern Colombia. It changed its name from Libero Copper and Gold last year.

The property covers 1,324 square kilometers and hosts a copper porphyry system originally discovered in 1973.

A November 2025 mineral resource estimate significantly increased its resource. Mocoa now holds an inferred resource of 7.6 billion pounds of copper and 1 billion pounds of molybdenum, at 0.31 percent copper and 0.039 percent molybdenum, from 1.12 billion metric tons of ore. The upgrade made the project South America’s largest undeveloped molybdenum deposit.

The most recent news from Copper Giant came on January 29, when it reported results from the first drill hole at the La Estrella target. While assays returned low-grade mineralization, the company noted that the significance was geological, as it confirmed continuity of the porphyry system beyond the established deposit.

The release also reported results from a second hole at the southern edge of the Mocoa footprint, which the company said were stronger than previously interpreted at the southern margin of the deposits. Grades in the hole were 0.13 percent copper and 0.01 percent molybdenum over 804 meters starting from surface, which included an intersection of 0.44 percent copper and 0.05 percent molybdenum over 33 meters.

5. Benz Mining (TSXV:BZ)

Weekly gain: 50.46 percent
Market cap: C$749.9 million
Share price: C$3.25

Benz Mining is a gold exploration company that is focused on advancing projects in Québec, Canada, as well as Western Australia.

Its Eastmain project consists of an 8,000 hectare property located in Central Québec within the Upper Eastmain Greenstone belt. The most recent resource estimate from May 2023 reported an indicated resource of 384,000 ounces of gold from 1.3 metric tons of ore grading 9 g/t gold, and an inferred resource of 621,000 ounces of gold from 3.8 metric tons grading 5.1 g/t.

In 2025, Benz acquired the Glenburgh and Mount Egerton gold projects in Western Australia from Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR). It spent much of 2025 exploring Glenburgh, which covers an area of 786 square kilometers and features 50 kilometers of strike. The site hosts six priority extension targets and 5 kilometers of exploration trend with over 100 parts per billion gold.

A November 2024 resource estimate for Glenburgh showed an indicated and inferred resource of 510,000 ounces of gold from 16.3 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 1 g/t gold.

On January 28, the company announced a shallow, high-grade discovery at the Glenburgh project’s Icon trend. Assays returned grades including 29 g/t gold over 13 meters starting at a depth of 60 meters. Additionally, results showed wide mineralization as well, including 200 meters grading 1 g/t gold starting at 76 meters.

The most recent news from Benz came the next day, when it announced it received firm commitments for a AU$75 million bought deal placement, which it said was led by strong demand from two global institutional fund. The company said the investment increases its pro forma cash position to AU$94 million, which will be allocated across its portfolio, particularly focused on the Glenburgh project.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?

The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.

How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?

As of December 2025, 898 mining companies and 71 oil and gas companies are listed on the TSXV, combining for more than 60 percent of the 1,531 total companies listed on the exchange.

As for the TSX, it is home to 175 mining companies and 51 oil and gas companies. The exchange has 2,089 companies listed on it in total.

Together, the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.

Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Investing

Editor’s Picks: Is Gold and Silver’s Price Correction Over?

It’s been a wild couple of weeks for gold and silver.

After surging to record highs at the end of January, prices for both precious metals saw significant corrections, creating turmoil for market participants.

This week brought some relief, with gold bouncing back from its low point and even trading above US$5,000 per ounce for a brief period of time.

Silver, which is known for outperforming gold on both the upside and the downside, was more volatile, but seems to have found support around the US$70 per ounce level.

Why did gold and silver drop, and more importantly, what’s next? As always, there are a variety of different factors at play, but I’ll give you a rundown of what I’ve been hearing.

Starting with the pullback, I spoke with Joe Cavatoni of the World Gold Council, who pointed to speculative players as a key reason for gold’s price decline. Here’s how he explained it:

‘At the end of this, you’re looking at a lot of people who were pushing the price higher — speculative in nature — pulling back and taking money off the table. That’s why I think we’re seeing a correction in the price. I don’t think that we have an issue with, fundamentally, what’s going on in the gold market.’

Gary Savage of the Smart Money Tracker newsletter made a similar comment, saying that there are times when sentiment gets so bullish that eventually there’s no one left to buy.

However, on the silver side he saw signs of market manipulation as well:

‘Some of it is just (that) we got way too bullish, ran out of buyers. We were due for some kind of correction anyway, and I think the banks took advantage of that and coordinated a huge overnight attack that dropped silver … I think it was almost 30 percent, or maybe it was 30 percent, almost overnight. That allowed them to get out of their shorts, because a lot of those contracts were going to stand for delivery, and they were going to have to buy physical silver at US$120 an ounce to to deliver.’

Adding more nuance to the silver story this week was the news that billionaire Chinese trader Bian Ximing has reportedly established the largest net short position on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, with his bet against the white metal clocking in at US$300 million.

Bloomberg analysis of exchange data shows he started ‘ramping up silver shorts’ in the last week of January, although he initially began shifting from a long silver stance this past November.

Aside from silver, Bian is known for his moves in gold and copper.

There’s also been commentary suggesting that the nomination of Kevin Warsh for the US Federal Reserve chair position has weighed on gold and silver prices.

President Donald Trump announced his choice on January 30, with market watchers quickly pointing to Warsh’s hawkish reputation and questioning whether he will fall in line with Trump’s calls for lower interest rates. Rates have been a sticking point between Trump and current Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

However, in the days since the news broke, the tone has shifted, with Trump himself saying that Warsh wouldn’t have gotten the job if he said he wanted to raise rates.

Taking a step back from what’s happening now, I want to emphasize that the majority of the experts I’ve been speaking with recently don’t believe gold and silver are topping.

In a January 25 interview, Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management said exactly that, pointing to previous bull markets where both metals moved steeply down before continuing up. This quote is from before last week’s correction, but I think you’ll see why it’s still relevant:

‘A pullback is always in the cards. And people forget, everybody talks about … 1974 to 1975, when gold dropped almost 50 percent. But people forget, the same thing happened in 2006. Halfway through the bull market, you had a 30 percent correction in gold, which of course means a much bigger correction for gold stocks.

‘So a pullback at some point is always not just a possibility, but it’s almost a certainty. But if we rephrase the question to, ‘Is this a top?’ You know, absolutely not. In my view, we are absolutely nowhere near a top.’

With that said, a point that’s come up repeatedly in my interviews lately is personalization — while it’s valuable to listen to other people’s views, what’s really important is to form your own opinions and understand why you own the assets in your portfolio. If you can do that, you’ll be better equipped to weather any storms, and to buy and sell when it’s time.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Politics

Trump overhauls US arms sales to favor key allies, protect American weapons production

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order requiring the government to assess foreign weapons sales based on their impact on U.S. production capacity for key systems and to favor allies whose defense investments and strategic importance align with U.S. national security priorities.

Under the order, obtained first by Fox News Digital, the Departments of War, State and Commerce are instructed to ensure that U.S. arms transfers support weapons systems deemed most operationally relevant to the National Security Strategy, reinforce critical supply chains, and prioritize partners that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions.

The administration argues that past arms transfer policy allowed foreign demand to shape U.S. production decisions, contributing to backlogs, cost overruns and delivery delays that left both the U.S. military and its allies waiting years for critical equipment.

‘The America First Arms Transfer Strategy will now leverage over $300 billion in annual defense sales to strategically reindustrialize the United States and rapidly deliver American-manufactured weapons to help our partners and allies establish deterrence and defend themselves,’ according to a White House fact sheet.

A central goal of the order is to speed up a foreign military sales process that defense officials and industry leaders have long criticized as slow and overly bureaucratic. The order directs federal agencies to identify ways to streamline enhanced end-use monitoring requirements, third-party transfer approvals and the congressional notification process — steps the administration says have contributed to years-long delays in delivering U.S. weapons overseas.

The order also creates a new Promoting American Military Sales Task Force charged with overseeing implementation of the strategy and tracking major defense sales across the government. In a move aimed at increasing accountability, the administration says agencies will be required to publish aggregate quarterly performance metrics showing how quickly defense sales cases are being executed.

The strategy also signals a shift in how the United States prioritizes its partners. The order directs the government to favor countries that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions, effectively tying arms sales decisions more closely to U.S. military planning and geographic priorities.

Other partners could face longer timelines or lower priority if their requests do not align with U.S. strategic or industrial objectives. While the order does not name specific countries, it reflects an effort to focus limited U.S. production capacity on allies viewed as most critical to executing the National Security Strategy.

The order also instructs the War, State and Commerce departments to ‘find efficiencies in the Enhanced End Use Monitoring criteria, the Third-Party Transfer process, and the Congressional Notification process.’

Congress will likely be watching how the administration implements the order, especially provisions aimed at speeding both oversight of U.S. weapons once they are sold abroad and the process for notifying lawmakers about major arms deals. Lawmakers have argued those steps help prevent misuse of U.S. weapons, even as they have criticized delays that slow deliveries to allies.

The order follows a series of recent defense-related executive actions taken by Trump. In January 2026, he signed an order directing defense contractors to prioritize production capacity, innovation and on-time delivery over stock buybacks and other corporate distributions.

That built on an April 2025 order aimed at improving speed and accountability in the foreign military sales system, as well as a January 2025 order focused on modernizing defense acquisitions and reducing red tape across the defense industrial base.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Politics

Bill Clinton comes out swinging against Comer for rejecting public Epstein hearing: ‘Stop playing games’

Former president Bill Clinton said on X that he has shared what he knows about the crimes of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in a sworn statement shared with the House Oversight Committee, which both Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in front of under subpoena pressure.

‘I have called for the full release of the Epstein files. I have provided a sworn statement of what I know,’ the former president said on X, formerly Twitter, Friday afternoon. ‘And just this week, I’ve agreed to appear in person before the committee. But it’s still not enough for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.’

In the wake of news that the Clintons would comply with House Republicans’ subpoenas to testify, after concerns they would not and threats of contempt, Republicans accused the Clintons of ‘requesting special treatment.’

After the Clinton’s attorneys sent the House Oversight Committee a letter indicating they would comply and testify under certain conditions, Democrat Ranking Member of the committee, Robert Garcia, said the letter amounted to full compliance with the committee’s demands.

However, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer disputed the characterization, telling Fox News Digital the agreement lacked specificity.

‘The Clintons’ counsel has said they agree to terms, but those terms lack clarity yet again, and they have provided no dates for their depositions,’ Comer said. ‘The only reason they have said they agree to terms is because the House has moved forward with contempt. I will clarify the terms they are agreeing to and then discuss next steps with my committee members.’

The Clintons’ change of heart led the House to temporarily pause proceedings on holding them in contempt on Monday night.

Democrats on the committee have pointed out that Comer has not pushed to hold others who did not appear in contempt, nor has he made any threats against the DOJ for failing to produce all of its documents on Epstein by a deadline agreed to by Congress late last year. The department has produced a fraction of the documents expected so far.

‘Now, Chairman Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors. Who benefits from this arrangement? It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice,’ Clinton said in his X post on Friday afternoon. ‘Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics.’

‘Now, Chairman Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors,’ he continued. ‘Who benefits from this arrangement? It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice. Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics.’

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Investing

Crypto Market Update: Bitcoin Price Ends Week Higher Following Earlier Losses

Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (February 6) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.

Get the latest insights on Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins, along with a round-up of key cryptocurrency market news.

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$70,178.66, up by 11.3 percent over 24 hours.

Bitcoin price performance, February 6, 2026.

Chart via TradingView.

Bitcoin has stopped behaving as an alternative safe-haven asset and has re-aligned with the risk-asset cycle. Its high correlation with traditional financial markets, including a broad sell-off in technology stocks, precious metals, and equities, suggests a scenario of systemic stress and scarce liquidity.

Downward pressure intensified after breaking key technical levels, causing nearly US$770 million in leveraged long positions to be liquidated in 24 hours, suggesting the market’s ‘cleansing phase’ is ongoing. The decline was exacerbated by a strong dollar and rising bond yields, which reduced the appeal of non-yielding assets like cryptocurrencies, prompting a rotation into defensive assets.

In the short term, price action will be limited and vulnerable to renewed selling pressure as long as restrictive financial conditions and a defensive tone prevail in global markets. Stabilization requires an improvement in global financial conditions and Bitcoin’s ability to rebuild solid technical support.

Ether (ETH) was priced at US$2,052.03, up by 10 percent over the last 24 hours.

Altcoin price update

XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.46, up by 25.2 over 24 hours.

Solana (SOL) was trading at US$87.37, up by 10.4 percent over 24 hours.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Investing

Tech Weekly: Chip Stocks Pop to Close Volatile Trading Week

We also break down next week’s catalysts to watch to help you prepare for the week ahead.

This week’s tech sector performance

Tech stocks extended their selloff into their second week, with the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) posting its steepest two‑day decline since last April.

Monday (February 2) saw an early rotation out of tech ahead of Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) earnings report. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped on news that its proposed OpenAI‑backed investment hit a snag, dragging AI‑chip names like Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and other semiconductor leaders.

Palantir’s earnings, which beat expectations and included an aggressive revenue growth guide, lifted shares in an early surge on Tuesday (February 3); however, Nvidia’s OpenAI‑investment‑snag news, plus general AI‑disruption worries and positioning, weighed on the broader tech stack, sparking a tech‑growth selloff that impacted NVIDIA, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and other software‑heavy names.

The Nasdaq fell deeper on Wednesday (February 4) as influential tech names such as AMD and other chip and software stocks reversed post‑earnings gains. AMD saw a sharp intraday plunge following its after‑hours earnings print on Tuesday. Its losses dragged the broader index lower.

Tech selloffs extended into Thursday (February 5), with the Nasdaq closing down 1.6 percent as major tech stocks saw profit‑taking and forward‑looking capex‑related concerns, later crystallized by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) aggressive 2026 spending plans.

The Nasdaq made an impressive recovery on Friday (February 6) as a rally in chip stocks helped pare earlier week losses, despite ongoing volatility in the mega‑caps.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1.Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)

After reporting Q4 2025 earnings results and strong AI-driven guidance on Monday, the stock rose sharply. The semiconductor‑test and robotics‑automation company makes equipment used to test chips, including AI‑related compute and memory and industrial robots.

2. Skyworks (NASDAQ:SWKS)

The analog and RF‑semiconductor company, which designs and manufactures components used in smartphones, 5G infrastructure, automotive and IoT devices, reported Q1 fiscal 2026 results on Tuesday, beating expectations and guiding up, which helped it outperform the broader tech selloff.

3. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple’s strong performance this week was driven by a wave of analyst upgrades and bullish notes that reinforced the positive narrative from last week’s record‑breaking Q1 print, especially around iPhone demand and China‑market strength.

Skyworks Solutions, Teradyne and Apple performance, February 2 to 6, 2025.

Chart via Google Finance.

Top tech news of the week

Canada led an AI delegation to the 2026 World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai this week, led by SCALE AI.

Alphabet Q4 numbers were driven by search revenue growth, which accelerated by nearly 17 percent, and Google Cloud revenue that jumped 48 percent YoY, helping ease fears that AI chatbots would eat into search. Despite the strong print, the stock dipped as the company said it plans to increase capital expenditures to between US$175 billion and US$185 billion, more than its 2025 cash generation.

Palantir’s earnings triggered a pop on Tuesday as it beat revenue expectations and laid out an aggressive 2026 growth guide. The company reported Q4 2025 revenue of US$1.41 billion, up 70 percentYoY, with US commercial revenue surging 137 percent and government revenue rising 66 percent, while guiding full‑year 2026 revenue to about US$7.2 billion

Amazon also posted a solid quarter, but said it will spend roughly US$200 billion this year on capital expenditures, a 56 percent jump from 2025, to fund AI‑related infrastructure, data centers and custom chips for AWS. Revenue rose approximately 14 percent to US$213.4 billion, driven by AWS reaccelerating to 24 percent growth and advertising increasing by 22 percent, despite free cash flow collapsing due to a capex surge.

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) advanced by 1.89 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) advanced by 1.66 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also increased by 0.75 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Next week is another earnings‑heavy, tech‑adjacent stretch, with a mix of big‑name reports and key macro data that will like keep markets sensitive to AI capex and earnings.

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) will be among the most‑watched names tied to crypto and retail trading. Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) also reports midweek.

In addition to US wholesale inventories, Employment Cost Index and CPI reports, the FOMC minutes will be released on February 11, so rate policy and inflation will stay front‑of‑mind.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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Politics

Benghazi arrest delivers long-overdue justice and reminds America who failed our fallen

After 13 years of pursuit, one of the terrorists who murdered four Americans in Benghazi has arrived on U.S. soil to face justice.

Zubayr al-Bakoush was flown to Joint Base Andrews early Friday morning following an FBI overseas operation. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that he faces eight federal counts, including murder, terrorism, and arson, for his role in the September 11, 2012, attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, State Department officer Sean Smith, and CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

‘For 13 hours, Americans waited for help that never came,’ Pirro said, as personnel defended the nearby CIA annex under sustained attack. ‘Today, American justice has arrived.’

The families of the fallen deserved this moment. But Benghazi was always about more than catching terrorists. It exposed fundamental leadership failures and an administration that prioritized narrative control over accountability.

Security Failures Nobody Owned

The State Department’s own Accountability Review Board delivered a devastating verdict in December 2012. The board found ‘systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies’ that resulted in ‘grossly inadequate’ security in Benghazi. While the board did not assign criminal liability, it made clear that leadership failures in Washington materially contributed to the tragedy.

Despite extensive intelligence warnings about deteriorating security and al-Qaeda’s expanding operations, State Department officials in Washington repeatedly denied requests for additional security from personnel on the ground. The CIA, by contrast, increased security at its Benghazi facilities.

This is what American resolve looks like when clarity replaces spin and persistence replaces defensiveness.

Four State Department officials were cited for their failures by the Accountability Review Board. They were placed on administrative leave with pay, then returned to government service in other roles rather than being dismissed. Two eventually retired voluntarily. More than a year after the attack, no official had been fired, demoted, or otherwise held personally accountable for decisions that left Americans vulnerable.

The YouTube Video That Wasn’t

In the days following the assault, senior Obama administration officials blamed a spontaneous protest sparked by an anti-Islam video. That explanation collapsed under scrutiny. Intelligence agencies understood almost immediately that this was a coordinated terrorist attack by extremist militias, including the designated terror group Ansar al-Sharia.

When Hillary Clinton appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2013, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., pressed her on why evacuees who could confirm there was no protest were not immediately contacted. Clinton’s response became infamous: ‘What difference, at this point, does it make?’ To critics, her remark symbolized an administration more focused on managing political fallout than confronting hard truths about security and responsibility.

Exclusive video shows Benghazi terror suspect arrested and in FBI custody in DC

Those five words crystallized critics’ view that the administration prioritized public messaging in the weeks preceding a national election over candor. Clinton later said, ‘I take responsibility,’ yet she simultaneously distanced herself from operational security decisions, and no disciplinary action followed. President Obama took no steps to remove her from office.

Congress launched multiple investigations. The House Select Committee on Benghazi, after two years and $7 million, found bureaucratic failures and ignored security warnings—but no definitive evidence of personal wrongdoing by Clinton.

That contrast between evasion then and resolve now explains why this arrest matters.

Why This Arrest Matters

The capture of al-Bakoush sends an unmistakable message: America does not forget its fallen, and justice will be pursued regardless of time or politics. As Pirro emphasized, ‘There are more of them out there. Time will not stop us from going after these predators, no matter how long it takes.’

This is what American resolve looks like when clarity replaces spin and persistence replaces defensiveness. The terrorists who attacked Americans that September night made a calculation that they could kill with impunity. Friday’s arrest proves that calculation wrong.

Benghazi remains a painful chapter marked by loss and leadership failures. But this arrest demonstrates something essential: when America commits to justice, we finish what we start. The families who waited more than a decade understand the difference that makes. It also sends a message to adversaries worldwide that America’s commitment to justice—and to its people—does not expire.

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Politics

Trump deletes ‘racist’ post after wave of Republican backlash, White House says he didn’t know

President Donald Trump took down an inflammatory post from Truth Social that depicted the Obamas as monkeys after a wave of backlash from some of the president’s top allies on Capitol Hill.

The post first appeared on Thursday night and went under the radar until Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the lone Black member of the Senate GOP, demanded Trump take it down.

The post in question depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys or apes.

‘Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,’ Scott said. ‘The President should remove it.’

His reaction opened a floodgate of responses from other congressional Republicans, who didn’t buy the White House’s initial explanation for the video.

‘This is totally unacceptable,’ Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said on X. ‘The president should take it down and apologize.’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote the post off as a ‘meme’ that was part of a video depicting Trump as the king of the jungle from ‘The Lion King.’

‘Even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this,’ Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said in a post on X. ‘The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake: remove this and apologize.’

Still, it took several hours for the post to be removed.

A Trump advisor told Fox News Digital that ‘the president did not see the video before it was posted.’

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said on X, ‘This content was rightfully removed, should have never been posted to begin with, and is not who we are as a nation.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., similarly called on Trump to take the post down.

‘Racist. Vile. Abhorrent. This is dangerous and degrades our country — where are Senate Republicans? The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man,’ Schumer said on X.

The post has since been removed, and a Trump advisor told Fox News Digital that ‘the president did not see the video before it was posted.’

Scott and Trump have shared a warm relationship since he ran and ultimately dropped out of the Republican presidential race last year.

He now chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm tasked with keeping Republicans’ thin majority in the upper chamber and expanding it during the 2026 midterm cycle.

Scott has rarely bucked Trump, positioning himself as a top ally to the president — he was on the short list of possible vice presidential picks before Trump ultimately tapped then Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

However, he has recently broken with the president on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Scott, who also chairs the Senate Banking Committee, said during an interview with Fox Business earlier this week that he didn’t believe Powell had committed a crime during his testimony to the committee last year.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Politics

No limits, no inspections: US and Russia face post–New START era as Trump pushes new nuclear deal

The United States and Russia are entering a new phase of nuclear relations with no treaty limiting their arsenals, as President Donald Trump calls for a sweeping new arms control agreement and Russian officials warn that Washington’s approach would make any deal impossible.

The last agreement that capped U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons, known as New START, expired Thursday, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without legally binding limits on their arsenals or an inspection regime.

Trump called New START a ‘bad deal’ that was being ‘grossly violated,’ and said the United States should instead pursue a ‘new, improved and modernized treaty.’

Russian officials quickly pushed back. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s security council, said U.S. criticism of New START ‘means one thing: there’ll never be a treaty under these terms,’ arguing Washington is demanding limits that ignore other nuclear-armed states and new weapons systems.

The United States and Russia have entered a new phase of nuclear relations with no treaty now limiting their arsenals, after the last remaining arms control agreement between the two powers expired this week. As the two powers seek to negotiate a new framework, each is seeking to expand restrictions on each other’s allies, with the U.S. aiming to include China, and Russia countering by saying Britain and France should also be covered.

Speaking Wednesday at the Conference on Disarmament, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno said New START’s limits no longer reflect today’s nuclear landscape.

‘As of yesterday, New START and its central limits have expired,’ DiNanno said. ‘Even if we could have legally extended the treaty, it would not have been beneficial for the United States — or the world — to do so.’

‘A bilateral treaty with only one nuclear power is simply inappropriate in 2026 and going forward,’ DiNanno said, pointing to Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons and China’s unconstrained buildup.

In practice, New START’s verification regime had already been largely dormant since 2023, when Russia stopped allowing on-site inspections of its nuclear facilities and halted required data exchanges under the treaty, even as both sides said they continued to observe its numerical limits.

But China remains far behind the United States and Russia in overall nuclear warheads and is unlikely to accept binding limits while it is still expanding its arsenal, arms control experts say.

The United States and Russia each maintain roughly 4,000 total nuclear warheads, with about 1,700 deployed on strategic delivery systems, according to expert estimates. China, by contrast, is projected to reach about 1,000 warheads by 2030.

Arms control experts caution that while New START had clear shortcomings, its expiration still removes an important stabilizing mechanism. Lynn Rusten, a former senior U.S. arms control official now at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said the treaty provided a foundation that is now gone.

‘We did lose something,’ Rusten told Fox News Digital. ‘It would have been good to continue that as a foundation and a stabilizing platform on which to negotiate a better deal.’

The growing uncertainty comes as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists last month moved its symbolic Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight — the closest it has ever been to global catastrophe — citing rising nuclear risks, the collapse of arms control frameworks, and intensifying great-power competition.

Rusten said the immediate concern is not a rapid buildup of new missiles or bombers, but how many warheads each side could deploy on systems they already have.

‘Both countries have the capacity to increase deployed warheads on their existing strategic delivery vehicles,’ she said. ‘It would take time, but they could add several hundred if they chose to.’

Russia has also developed a number of nontraditional delivery systems that were not limited by New START.

Those systems include a nuclear-powered cruise missile known as Burevestnik, sometimes referred to as Skyfall, and a nuclear-powered underwater torpedo called Poseidon — weapons Moscow has touted as capable of evading existing missile defenses and striking targets at intercontinental range.

‘Those are systems that really should be included in any future treaty,’ Rusten said. ‘They’re troubling because they’re just adding to the number and type of strategic-range nuclear systems that can kill huge numbers of people.’

Separate from those novel strategic systems, experts say one of the biggest unresolved issues in nuclear arms control involves so-called tactical, or non-strategic, nuclear weapons — shorter-range nuclear arms designed for battlefield use rather than long-range strikes against cities.

Russia is believed to possess far more of these weapons than the United States, and they have never been subject to legally binding arms control limits. While Washington drastically reduced its tactical nuclear stockpile after the Cold War, Moscow retained and later modernized many of its own, viewing them as a key tool to offset NATO’s conventional military strength.

‘Russia has thousands of tactical nuclear weapons, and they’ve never been covered by a treaty,’ Rusten said. ‘That’s been a long-standing concern for the United States and our NATO allies, and it’s one of the hardest issues to negotiate.’

Because they are smaller, more flexible, and potentially usable earlier in a conflict, experts say tactical nuclear weapons pose a unique escalation risk — lowering the threshold for nuclear use and complicating efforts to prevent a crisis from spiraling into a broader nuclear exchange.

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