Welcome back to the pod—where we distill the day’s chaos into something sharp enough to cut through the noise and quick enough to fit between doomscrolls. Big themes today: terror plots foiled, institutions strained, markets wobbling, and voters getting smacked with health-care sticker shock. Let’s get into it.
Foiled Bomb Plot in California
Federal agents say they shut down a coordinated New Year’s Eve bombing plan before it ever left the desert.
Four members of the so-called Turtle Island Liberation Front were arrested after the FBI said the group tested explosives and drafted a detailed attack plan targeting multiple California sites. One suspect even joked about keeping a “terrorist diary,” which is not quite the criminal mastermind energy you want to project. Officials say everyone tied to the plot is now in custody, but the political backdrop—Trump’s heightened focus on left-wing extremism—ensures the story won’t fade quietly.
The Fed Chair Race Gets Awkward
Kevin Hassett swears he believes in Fed independence—while auditioning for a job from a president who despises independent thinking.
Hassett insists the next Fed chair must rule by consensus and data, not presidential pressure. Yet Trump’s allies worry he’s too close to the boss, and Trump himself continues pounding Powell while demanding deeper rate cuts. With Kevin Warsh rising in the shortlist and a January announcement expected, we’re watching a central bank nomination wrapped in politics pretending not to be political.
America’s Ocean War Escalates
The U.S. military keeps striking suspected drug boats, and Monday’s hits added eight more deaths to a campaign with almost no daylight.
Operation Southern Spear has now killed at least 95 people since September, under a legally murky claim that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Congress—finally jolted awake—is demanding briefings from Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth. Until the administration explains how a classified DOJ memo suddenly justifies global drone warfare on narco-traffickers, the questions will only get louder.
Jobs Report Shows the Labor Market Losing Steam
A long-delayed government report just revealed unemployment is climbing and job losses were worse than we thought.
Unemployment hit 4.6%, federal job cuts are piling up, and late data revisions show months of quieter contraction beneath the headlines. Powell has already warned that job creation may be overstated, meaning the economy’s glide path might actually be a slow drift downward. Expect the Fed to pore over every number before its January meeting—skeptically.
Jim Chanos Calls Bubble on AI Data Centers
Legendary short seller Jim Chanos says the real AI bubble isn’t in the models—it’s in the server barns trying to rent them out.
His take: GPU hosting is a capital-intensive, low-margin business built on hardware that becomes obsolete faster than you can finish a cap-raise. Hyperscalers can afford it, but everyone else—from bitcoin miners to “neocloud” startups—is rolling the dice on depreciating silicon and unprofitable clients. Chanos sees shades of 1999, and not in the fun, retro-internet way.
ACA Consumers Face Crushing Premiums as Congress Fumbles
Millions of Americans picking health plans are stuck waiting for Congress to decide whether their premiums will explode.
Enhanced ACA subsidies are set to expire, and lawmakers can’t agree on extending them. Enrollment data shows fewer new sign-ups, more people fleeing to high-deductible bronze plans, and call centers swamped with panicked consumers watching their costs triple. If voters were already angry about health care, this will not mellow the mood heading into midterms.
That’s your Morning Sixpack.
A day of plots disrupted, institutions wobbling, markets nervous, and voters very much awake. See you tomorrow—assuming Congress makes even one decision between now and then and Trump doesn’t nuke Venezuela.
