Trump deploys an armada to the Gulf, Oil rises 2%
Meta and Nvidia announce their mega deal partnership
Hello Capitalists,
Here is everything you should be watching today:
Oil spikes as Trump threatens Iran strikes
Trump hails massive $36 billion Japan investment surge
Saudis Drop $3 Billion on Musk’s xAI
Bitcoin invaded Wall Street only to crash hard and questions are being asked
Meta & Nvidia tout mega-deal, Millions in AI chips unleashed
Zuckerberg faces jury over social media addiction claims
Today’s markets + assets:
✅ DOW: 49770.21 (⬆️ 0.48%)
✅ S&P: 4894.21 (⬆️ 0.75%)
✅ NASDAQ: 22830.73 (⬆️ 1.12%)
⚠️✅CBOE VIX Volatility Index: 20.99 (⬆️ 0.99%)
✅ Gold: $5,009.30 (⬆️ 2.13%)
✅ Silver:$77.50 (⬆️ 5.27%)
🔴 Bitcoin: $66,848.00 (⬇️ 1.27%)
The Capitalist is a reader-supported publication Reject Corporate Left-Wing Journalism
Oil spikes as Trump threatens Iran strikes
Oil prices surged more than 2% Wednesday after Vice President JD Vance warned that Iran ignored U.S. red lines in Geneva nuclear talks, with President Trump holding military strikes on the table if negotiations collapse, heightening fears over Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
Vance details stalled talks: Vice President JD Vance told Fox News the Geneva discussions were partly productive but Iran refused to acknowledge Trump’s core demands, agreeing only to future meetings.
Iran claims constructive progress: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the U.S.-Iran talks as serious and constructive, announcing a general agreement on guiding principles per Iranian state media.
Strait of Hormuz war games: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard held exercises this week, temporarily closing sections of the vital strait where one-third of global seaborne crude passes, amplifying supply risk concerns.
U.S. military buildup escalates: Trump has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group in the Middle East with the USS Gerald Ford en route as a contingency, stating forces would be needed if no deal emerges.
Trump hails massive $36 billion Japan investment surge
President Donald Trump celebrated Japan’s pledge of nearly $36 billion in initial investments for U.S. oil, gas and critical mineral projects in Texas, Ohio and Georgia on February 18, 2026, marking the launch of a landmark 2025 trade deal that secured lower tariffs in exchange for Tokyo’s $550 billion commitment to bolster American energy and economic security.
Ohio gas mega-plant : SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, will build the world’s largest natural gas generation facility in Portsmouth at $33 billion, delivering 9.2 gigawatts of power.
Texas oil export boost : Japan finances the $2.1 billion GulfLink deepwater crude terminal, poised to enable up to $30 billion in annual U.S. crude exports at full capacity.
Georgia mineral advance : Approximately $600 million funds an Element Six synthetic diamond grit facility, enhancing U.S. industrial manufacturing and national security with critical hard materials.
Tariff triumph claimed : Trump credits his tariff strategy for enabling the deal’s massive scale, launching the first tranche of Japan’s broader $550 billion investment promise from last year’s agreement.
Sponsored by Natural Health Response
New RFK JR warning even more terrifying…
Cancer-causing TOXINS in your food? RFK Jr has warned against this for years. Liberals simply laugh and call him a conspiracy theorist. But guess what…
Florida just announced that 60% of the candy they tested had sky high levels of arsenic… A toxic poison known to cause cancer.
Just like his warnings about the covid vaccine, microplastics and FDA corruption… Once again Kennedy was RIGHT.
Now, RFK Jr has a new warning for seniors in 2026 that you NEED to hear. And if you were born before January 1, 1966, THIS affects you most of all.
P.S. Liberals will call this crazy too, until they see the data. Learn why RFK Jr is warning Americans about this emerging health crisis before it’s too late. Watch this video now.
Saudis Drop $3 Billion on Musk’s xAI
Saudi Arabia’s state-backed AI firm Humain poured $3 billion into Elon Musk’s xAI during its $20 billion Series E round, becoming a significant minority shareholder just before SpaceX acquired the startup and converted the stake into SpaceX shares.
Massive Funding Stake: Humain’s $3 billion investment positioned it as a key minority holder in xAI ahead of the SpaceX merger.
Strategic Partnership Deepens: The move builds on a prior November 2025 deal to co-develop over 500MW of AI data centers in Saudi Arabia.
Oil Diversification Push: This aligns with Saudi efforts to expand AI infrastructure and reduce reliance on oil revenues through frontier tech investments.
Global AI Ambitions: Humain reinforces its role as a major investor and partner in advanced AI models, cloud platforms, and transformative solutions worldwide.
Bitcoin invaded Wall Street only to crash hard and questions are being asked
Bitcoin’s long-sought Wall Street embrace via spot ETFs and futures has backfired, with billion in outflows from US-listed funds since October 10, 2025, driving a more than 40% price plunge amid retreating American institutional capital—even as stocks and gold draw buyers.
Massive ETF Outflows Surge: Since mid-October 2025, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen roughly $8.5 billion in net outflows, reflecting fading institutional demand and sustained selling pressure.
CME Futures Exposure Plummets: Institutional leverage on Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures has dropped about two-thirds from late-2024 peaks to roughly $8 billion, thinning market liquidity and muting price support.
Coinbase Discount Signals US Selling: Bitcoin trades persistently cheaper on US-favored Coinbase versus offshore Binance, highlighting ongoing American investor exits and divergent global demand.
Institutional Hedge Thesis Fails: Bitcoin has underperformed as a hedge against inflation or equity risks, falling faster than traditional assets and prompting rotations to rising gold and stocks instead.
Meta & Nvidia tout mega-deal, Millions in AI chips unleashed
Nvidia and Meta announced an expanded multiyear partnership Tuesday, with Nvidia supplying millions of Blackwell and upcoming Rubin GPUs plus CPUs as well as networking gear to power Meta’s massive AI training and inference in data centers, boosting the social giant’s push for advanced models amid soaring compute demands.
Multi-Generational Commitment: Nvidia’s deal spans current Blackwell and future Rubin generations, plus Grace and Vera CPUs for Meta’s on-premises and cloud deployments via partners like CoreWeave.
Standalone CPU Rollout: Meta launches its first large-scale Nvidia Grace CPU-only servers now, with Vera CPU-only systems planned for 2027, challenging Intel and AMD dominance in traditional server CPUs.
Security Integration Boost: Meta adopts Nvidia Confidential Computing on GPUs to enable private data processing within its WhatsApp app, enhancing user privacy for AI workloads.
Market Momentum Lift: Announcement drove Nvidia shares up nearly 2% premarket and Meta up 0.7%, despite broader 2026 AI stock cooling from spending concerns and rival custom chips.
Zuckerberg faces jury over social media addiction claims
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday in a landmark Los Angeles trial accusing social media giants of deliberately designing addictive platforms that harmed young users’ mental health, as a young woman claims Instagram fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts in a case likened to Big Tobacco’s reckoning.
Zuckerberg Testimony Awaits: Zuckerberg prepares to take the stand for the first time before a jury on February 18, 2026, defending Meta against claims that Instagram’s features exploit young users’ vulnerabilities.
Plaintiff’s Addiction Allegations: A now-20-year-old woman alleges early heavy use of Instagram and YouTube addicted her as a child, exacerbating severe mental health issues including depression and suicidal ideation.
Industry-Wide Scrutiny Builds: Snap and TikTok settled pre-trial while Meta and YouTube face ongoing proceedings, with this case seen as a pivotal “Big Tobacco” moment for alleged deception on youth safety.
Related Cases Escalate Pressure: Parallel trials in New Mexico accuse Meta of enabling child exploitation by predators, with more federal cases expected this summer challenging platform designs across Big Tech.










Iran
Is pll look suing the delay game. Time to tell them that on two weeks they got to
Come clean or the B/2 Will be warming up