Christie Ou of PERE reports OTPP disbands Asia real estate team amid regional retrenchment:

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is disbanding its Asia real estate team, marking the latest step in the Canadian pension fund’s gradual pullback from the region, PERE has learned.

The investor will transition oversight of its Asia real estate investments to its headquarters in Toronto by the end of 2026, according to PERE‘s sources. This decision follows the departure of Jun Ando, OTPP’s head of real estate Asia-Pacific, in September, per a prior PERE report. The organization has yet to name a new head of real estate for the region. Additionally, Singapore-based real estate director Waqar Zahid is set to relocate back to Toronto, according to two PERE sources.

“We recently made the strategic decision to transition oversight of our real estate portfolio in APAC to our Toronto office by the end of next year. This decision impacts a small number of our colleagues who will either relocate to Toronto or leave the organization in phases,” an OTPP spokesperson told PERE.

“This change simplifies our operating structure in real estate, which continues to be a core component of our diversified portfolio at approximately 11 percent of our asset mix. The Asia-Pacific region continues to be part of our long-term strategy, and we have approximately 8 percent of our asset mix in the region.”

As of December 31, 2024, OTPP reported C$29.4 billion ($21 billion; €18.1 billion) in real estate assets under management, with 64 percent of its portfolio in Canada, 16 percent in the US, 11 percent in Europe, 5 percent in Latin America and 4 percent in Asia-Pacific, according to its annual report.

The decision to disband the Asia real estate team comes just a few years after OTPP returned to the market in 2021, when it committed $400 million to Hines Asia Property Partners, marking the investor’s first property investment in the region since the early 2000s, according to a PERE report. In 2023, OTPP also partnered with Sydney-based manager Gateway Capital to launch the Gateway Capital Urban Logistics Partnership, a vehicle targeting a A$1 billion ($655 million; €566 million) portfolio of industrial and logistics assets along Australia’s east coast.

The dismantling of its Asia real estate team is part of a broader trend of OTPP scaling back its presence in the region. The pension fund currently has C$25 billion in total AUM across Asia-Pacific. In March, OTPP announced the closure of its Hong Kong office, which had been operational since 2013. This move followed a series of reductions, including the shuttering of its China equity investment team in 2023 and layoffs within its Asia venture and growth equity team in 2024, according to a Reuters report.

OTPP’s retrenchment in Asia has also been accompanied by significant leadership changes. In 2023, Ben Chan, head of Asia-Pacific, and Raju Ruparelia, who led direct investments in the region, both departed the organization, according to a report by affiliate title Private Equity International. These exits followed the dismantling of OTPP’s Asia-Pacific equity investment team, which resulted in the loss of five roles in Hong Kong.

The retrenchment reflects broader trends among global institutional investors, many of which are re-evaluating their exposure to Asia. Fellow Canadian public pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corporation, for example, closed its Asia office in Singapore in February, shortly after its opening in 2023, amid efforts to streamline resources.

Layan Odey and Echo Wong of Bloomberg also report Ontario Teachers to make cuts to Asia real estate team:

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will disband its Singapore-based Asia real estate team by the end of next year, further paring its physical presence in the region. 

“This change simplifies our operating structure in real estate,” a spokesperson for the Canadian pension fund said about its plan to wind down the Asia division. OTPP will transition oversight of its property investments in Asia to its Toronto office, and affected staffers in Singapore will either relocate there “or leave the organization in phases,” the spokesperson said.

The Singapore-based real estate team currently has around five individuals, a person familiar with the matter said. OTPP has 30 to 40 employees in the city-state, including investment professionals who focus on private equity and infrastructure assets in Asia.

OTPP earlier this year decided to shut down its Hong Kong office and reduce its exposure to China amid rising geopolitical tensions, Bloomberg News reported in March. That wind-down process is expected to take around 18 months.

“The Asia-Pacific region continues to be part of our long- term strategy,” the fund’s spokesman said, adding that OTPP has approximately 8% of its “asset mix” in the region.

Globally, real estate makes up 11% of the pension fund’s total assets, which stood at C$269.6 billion ($192 billion) at the end of June. Private Equity Real Estate earlier reported the Singapore real estate team changes.

Another Canadian pension fund, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is cutting Asia buyout team as the pension reassesses its strategy, Bloomberg News reported last month.

You can read about OMERS dismissing its entire Asia buyout team here.

So what's this all about? Basically deal flow or lack of deal flow. 

If you're going to your board of directors to justify boots on the ground in Asia, paying them big compensation, they better deliver the goods or else shut it down the operations and invest in funds that are delivering the goods (pay more in fees but it's the price you pay to gain exposure in Asia).

Asia real estate is a tough market. OTPP isn't the only one that cut its staff there. London based ICG shut down its real estate business there after three years. 

OTPP's Head of Real Estate Pierre Cherki runs a lean team and their focus is mostly on North America and Europe.

He and Jenny Hammarlund recently discussed Ontario Teachers’ real estate reset and clearly the APAC region isn't part of their main focus now.

It's not that there aren't opportunities in Asia, there are especially in Tokyo, Singapore and Sidney, but if you don't have edge there, invest with those that do or get out of the market altogether. 

Moreover, while ULI and PwC found a mood of cautious optimism among real estate professionals in Asia, they report considerable disparities in markets and sectors across the region:

Stuart Porter, Asia Pacific real estate leader, PwC Global Real Estate leadership team, says: “Within a disparate Asia market, what you can discern is that rising rents have cushioned the prospects of rate pressures, global capital pivots further towards the robust markets of Japan and Australia, and construction costs have somewhat redirected focus from new development to disciplined asset management.

“Data centers remain the darlings of the investment world, though assumptions are subject to challenge by the bargaining power of tenants, power capacity constraints, and technological advances. AI [artificial intelligence] is in the early stages of transforming middle and back-office roles and operations while elevating the value of operational expertise. Use of AI might temper the office recovery, even as ‘work from home’ largely dissipates.”

Mark Cooper, senior director, Thought Leadership, ULI Asia Pacific, adds: “Real estate investors expect a more amenable interest rate environment in 2026, with falling rates in markets such as Australia and South Korea and only minor rises from a very low base in Japan. While Asia Pacific faces many challenges, it is still home to the bulk of the world’s growth, and this supports real estate investment in the long term.” 

You can read the full report here.

As far as OMERS, its new head of Private Equity, Alexander Fraser, is clearly outlining his strategy focusing on North America and Europe and will strategically do buyouts in Asia via funds where warranted.

There is not much else to report here, just keep in mind in order to justify employees in Asia or anywhere, they need to deliver to make up for their expenses and that's not always easy in every region.

Below, TPG's latest Investment Insights episode featuring Joel Thickins, Co-Head of TPG Asia and Head of Australia & New Zealand. He shares his perspective on Asia’s macro landscape, highlighting structural tailwinds and growth in alternatives across the region. 

He also explores investment opportunities in Australia, framed by increasing trade opportunities with the Asia-Pacific markets. With 30+ years in Asia, TPG combines sector specialization, operational value-add, and the strength of our global franchise and ecosystem to build regional market leaders and foster long-term growth.

My two cents, if you can't beat the TPGs and KKRs of this world in Asia-Pacific, you shouldn't have employees in this region trying to go it alone.

Verizon Axes 13,000 Workers Just One Week Before Thanksgiving

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman released a public letter to the company's 100,000-person workforce on Thursday morning, revealing that more than 13,000 job cuts will begin today. The timing is optically displeasing, coming just one week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Today, we will begin reducing our workforce by more than 13,000 employees across the organization, and significantly reduce our outsourced and other outside labor expenses," Schulman wrote in the letter.

Schulman said Verizon established a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund for departing workers, focused on training, digital skills, and job placement in the era of artificial intelligence.

"This fund will focus on skill development, digital training and job placement to help our people take their next steps. Verizon is the first company to set up a fund to specifically focus on the opportunities and necessary skill sets as we enter the age of AI," the CEO noted.

Schulman's letter comes one week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon was planning about 15% in job cuts, or about 15,000 workers.

Bloomberg's latest data suggests that 13,000 job cuts equal about 13% of its roughly 100,000-person workforce. WSJ notes this would be the largest workforce reduction on record for the carrier.

Also, last week, Verizon chairman Mark Bertolini told CNBC's Becky Quick on "Squawk Box" that the company needs to "do something different" as it undergoes its leadership change.

Separate but notable... 

So we guess that the "something different" is making 13,000 workers have a miserable holiday season.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 21:40

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

Friday:
• At 10:00 AM ET, University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Final for November).

New NTSB Images Show Moment UPS Air Freighter's Engine Ripped Off On Takeoff

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have released frame-by-frame images showing the left engine of the UPS McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighter separating from the aircraft during a straight-out departure earlier this month in Louisville, leading to a horrific crash.

NTSB's preliminary report showed the left engine (No. 1) and entire pylon assembly tore away from the wing immediately after rotation, igniting into a massive fireball.

With the wing on fire, the air freighter managed only about 30 feet AGL before losing lift. It cleared the blast fence on Runway 17 Right at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport but struck the roof of a UPS warehouse with its left main gear, then crashed into a nearby industrial park.

In total, three pilots died and 11 people on the ground. Twenty-three others on the ground were injured.

UPS has since grounded all MD-11 air freighters operating in its fleet. The Federal Aviation Administration issued emergency directives grounding all MD-11/MD-11F and later DC-10 series aircraft pending inspection due to a similar wing design.

The NTSB pointed back to a similar crash in 1979 when American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, experienced a catastrophic engine-pylon separation on takeoff.

*  *  * GRAB A MULTITOOL! (Christmas is right around the corner... maybe get a few for the volume discount)

Christmas is right around the corner... pic.twitter.com/TXc7STNYQW

— ZeroHedge Store (@ZeroHedgeStore) November 3, 2025

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 15:05

Tariffs have changed frequently throughout 2025. CBO has regularly updated Congress about how those changes affect projected tariff revenues. This blog post is the latest in that series.

Hotel occupancy was weak over the summer months, due to less international tourism.  The fall months are mostly domestic travel and occupancy is still under pressure! 

From STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 15 November

The U.S. hotel industry reported negative year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar’s latest data through 15 November. ...

9-15 November 2025 (percentage change from comparable week in 2024):

• Occupancy: 60.9% (-4.1%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$154.41 (-0.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$93.97 (-4.6%)

The Veteran’s Day calendar shift drove a double-digit decline in group demand, resulting in lower performance levels across the U.S.
emphasis added

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average.
Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2025, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2024.  Dashed black is for 2018, the record year for hotel occupancy. 
The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is tracking behind last year and close to the median rate for the period 2000 through 2024 (Blue).
Note: Y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the seasonal change.
The 4-week average will decrease seasonally until early next year.
On a year-to-date basis, the only worse years for occupancy over the last 25 years were pandemic or recession years.

$1.2 Billion Suspicious Epstein Transactions? Wyden Demands Investigation After JP Morgan Failed To Report For Years

Now that we're making progress on Epstein - after President Trump and Mike Johnson were forced to cave under overwhelming pressure for DOJ disclosure - a logical next step is to look into who was funding the notorious sex-trafficker. 

Jeffrey Epstein, former Barclays / JP Morgan exec Jes Staley

On Thursday morning, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) called for an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase deliberately concealed suspicious transactions by Epstein. 

You really just need to look at Exhibit A in Wyden's memo (dated Wednesday) based on unsealed court records: the number of transactions flagged as suspicious between 2002 - 2016, vs. a flurry of almost $1.3 billion in suspicious transactions that the bank scrambled to file right after Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. 

Wyden writes: 

The unsealed court records include copies of SARs that JPMC filed on Epstein’s accounts between 2002 and 2019. Between 2002 and 2016, JPMC filed 7 SARs flagging only $4.3 million in suspicious transactions from Epstein’s accounts.¹ Only after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges did JPMC report the full extent of Epstein’s suspicious financial activity. In August and September of 2019, JPMC filed two SARs flagging more than 5,000 suspicious wire transfers moving approximately $1.3 billion in and out of Epstein’s accounts.² This is the strongest evidence yet that JPMC should face an investigation for failure to appropriately monitor and report Epstein’s financial activity.

According to internal bank emails, JPMorgan may have held off on filing the SARs (suspicious activity reports) because it wanted "to continue working with Epstein," who was a great source of referrals despite firing him as a client in 2013, the report found.

The bank said in late October that "it was flagging about 4,700 transactions, totaling more than $1 billion, because they were potentially related to reports of human trafficking involving Mr. Epstein. It also mentioned Mr. Epstein’s wire transfers to Russian banks and sensitivities around “his relationships with two U.S. presidents.” Mr. Epstein at times was close with President Trump and former President Bill Clinton," according to the NYT.

Wyden said in a statement that it was "clear that JPMorgan Chase ought to face criminal investigation for the way it enabled Epstein’s horrific crimes," and that both Congress and the DOJ should investigate the bank - which has repeatedly issued statements of regret for working with Epstein, and claims it did all it could with the information it had at the time.

"The second the government finally made public the sex trafficking details in 2019 — information they clearly had for years — we identified for law enforcement a range of Epstein’s past transactions intended to assist with the investigation," said bank spokeswoman Patricia Wexler on Thursday. 

Will Wyden actually follow the money?

Related:

The Overlooked Shell Company Operated By Epstein's Accomplices

Epstein's Inbox Lays Out Gift Networks, PR Tactics, And Strange Habits

Revelation Of Epstein Investment Tied To Peter Thiel Adds To Growing Concerns About Palantir

Victoria's Secret Boss Wexner Swears He Didn't Know About Epstein Penchant For Pedophilia

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 14:25

In analyzing the availability and use of aircraft by the U.S. Coast Guard from 2006 to 2024, CBO found that total flying hours have decreased, especially for H-65 helicopters.

5 Plead Guilty In First Antifa Terrorism Case Relating To Texas Detention Center Attack

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

Five people pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to terrorism-related charges after facing accusations of supporting Antifa in a July shooting that wounded a police officer outside a Texas immigration detention center.

The Justice Department prosecution followed President Donald Trump’s executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is a militant group that functioned as the violent arm of the communist party in Germany, giving the modern Antifa movement its nickname and symbols that are still in use today.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the Texas charges as the first time that material support to terrorism has been applied to Antifa. The incident took place on July 4 outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. Prosecutors allege a “North Texas antifa cell” attacked the facility with gunfire and fireworks.

Nathan Baumann, 20; Joy Gibson, 30; Seth Sikes, 22; Lynette Sharp, 57; and John Thomas, 32, each entered guilty pleas to one count of providing material support to terrorists during a hearing in federal court in Fort Worth. They each face up to 15 years in prison.

Erin Kelley, an attorney for Sharp, told The Associated Press the plea was just one “step one in a long process” before the final sentence is determined.

Attorneys for the other defendants couldn’t be reached.

Proceedings against other suspects involved in the shooting remain ongoing. A federal grand jury recently indicted nine additional individuals on charges such as rioting, using explosives, obstruction, and the attempted murder of federal officers.

Those indicted are Cameron Arnold (also known as Autumn Hill), Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Bradford Morris (also known as Meagan Morris), Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada. Their arraignments are scheduled for next month.

Court documents lay out a tumultuous scene at the detention center, a facility used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold individuals awaiting deportation.

Prosecutors allege group members clad in “black bloc” attire—dark clothing and face coverings—arrived late at night. They allegedly vandalized vehicles, a guard shack, and a security camera, as well as launched fireworks at the building.

As an Alvarado Police Department officer responded to a 911 call from correctional staff, one suspect reportedly yelled “get to the rifles” ahead of opening fire, striking the officer in the neck area. The wounded officer fell but shot back. Additional rounds were then shot at the injured officer and an unarmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) correctional officer, who was seeking cover.

Gibson, Baumann, and Sikes were arrested in the near vicinity shortly after the attack. Sharp and Thomas are accused of assisting the main shooter evade capture until July 15.

The group allegedly acquired over 50 firearms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area ahead of the incident and used encrypted messaging apps with auto-delete features to coordinate the operation, including reconnaissance and discussions on supplies, such as medical kits and explosives.

The indictment alleged that Song was a group leader who distributed weapons and recruited members at gun ranges, combat training sessions, and from ideologically similar groups. Some defendants, such as the Sotos and Batten, are allegedly tied to producing “zines”—insurrectionary pamphlets promoting anti-government and anti-ICE ideas.

Defense attorney Patrick McLain, representing Evetts, stated there is “no evidence that such an organization [as a North Texas antifa cell] ever existed” and that his client is not affiliated with any such group.

Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson praised the investigation involving the FBI, ICE, ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Alvarado Police, and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is the first indictment in the country against a group of violent antifa cell members,” she said in a statement, reaffirming a commitment to safeguarding federal facilities from “organized domestic terrorist cells.”

If convicted on the more severe charges, some defendants face life imprisonment. Others could receive sentences up to 50 years.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 14:00

BitMine Sits On $3.7B Loss As DAT 'Hotel California' Meets BlackRock's Staked ETH ETF

Authored by Zoltan Vardai via CoinTelegraph.com,

Concerns are mounting over the sustainability of corporate crypto-treasury firms as BlackRock moves forward with a staked Ether fund that analysts say could compete directly with existing digital-asset treasuries.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, is currently down $1,000 per purchased ETH, implying a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings, according to a Thursday research report from crypto insights company 10x Research.

The decline in net asset value (NAV) across these firms is making it difficult to attract new retail investors while leaving many existing shareholders effectively “trapped” unless they sell at a steep loss, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“When the premium inevitably shrinks to zero, as it is doing now, investors find themselves trapped in the structure, unable to get out without significant damage, a true Hotel California scenario,” he said.

He added that, unlike exchange-traded funds (ETFs), digital-asset treasury companies, or DATs, “layer on complex, opaque, and often hedge-fund-like fee structures that can quietly erode returns.”

BitMine, Ethereum, right-hand side (RHS) price. Source: 10X Research

The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. An mNAV above 1 allows a company to raise funds by issuing new shares to accumulate digital assets. Values below 1 make it much harder to expand capital and holdings.

BitMine’s basic mNAV stood at 0.77 while its diluted mNAV stood at 0.92, according to data from Bitminetracker.

BitMine overview, holdings, share metrics. Bitminetracker.io

BitMine holds about 3.56 million ETH valued at roughly $10.7 billion, representing 2.94% of the total Ether supply. The firm’s average cost basis is $4,051 per ETH.

Other DATs also suffered a sharp decrease in their mNAVs, including Strategy, Bitmine, Metaplanet, Sharplink Gaming, Upexi and DeFi Development Corp.

BlackRock steps in with lower-cost competition

BlackRock has registered a new staked Ether ETF offering in Delaware, marking the first step for the $13.5 trillion asset management giant’s diversification into Ethereum-based products, Cointelegraph reported earlier on Thursday.

Source: Eric Balchunas

BlackRock’s proposed Ether staking ETF could offer another low-cost, yield-generating fund, without the hidden costs associated with traditional treasury firms.

This development may threaten the economics of DATs, according to 10x Research.

“With BlackRock now seeking approval to stake ETH in its ETF, offering a low-cost source of yield, the economics of DATs are likely to face increasing scrutiny,” the research report states.

More investors may start reallocating toward a potential staked Ether fund from BlackRock when they realize that the 0.25% management fee is far smaller compared to the embedded costs of DATs, according to 10X.

Asset managers REX-Osprey and Grayscale have already launched staked ETH ETF products in September and October.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 13:20

As reported by the House Committee on Financial Services on September 8, 2025

As reported by the House Committee on Financial Services on October 3, 2025

Jasmine Crockett Shares List Of Republicans Who Took Money From Epstein - Only Problem - It Was A Different Epstein!

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) has publicly beclowned herself for the second time in a week by falsely accusing several Republican politicians of taking money from “somebody named Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly—Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, McCain-Palin,” Crocket declared on the House floor on Tuesday.

Crockett: Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly, Mitt Romney. The NRCC. Lee Zeldin. George Bush. McCain-Palin. pic.twitter.com/CdwuSacQpb

— Acyn (@Acyn) November 18, 2025

Federal campaign finance records show that Epstein donated primarily to Democrats, including two current sitting members of Congress, Delegate Stacy Plaskett (D-V.I) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), both of whom have retained the donations, despite scrutiny.

Even worse, newly released documents from Epstein’s estate include text messages between Plaskett and Epstein that show he advised her on what questions to ask President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen during a 2019 congressional hearing.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee also recently released documents revealing that a fundraising firm representing Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ( D-N.Y.) solicited donations from Epstein in 2013, shortly after Jeffries’ first election to the House and well after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

“I just want to be clear, if this is the standard that we gonna make, just know we’re gonna expose it all. And know that the FEC filings, they are available for everyone to review,” Crockett said, hoping to deflect from these Democrat embarrassments.

Public records however indicate that most of the donations highlighted by Crockett came from an entirely different person, a Republican physician named Jeffrey Epstein.

Zeldin, currently Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, blasted the congresswoman on X: “Yes Crockett, a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein (who is a totally different person than the other Jeffrey Epstein) donated to a prior campaign of mine. NO FREAKIN RELATION YOU GENIUS!!!”

Records also showed that Dr. Epstein made two $250 donations to former Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney during his presidential run in 2012,” the Daily Caller reported.

All of the donations mentioned by Crockett reportedly came from other people named Jeffrey Epstein, and came in some cases, came after the convicted sex trafficker had died.

The emails released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday show Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign soliciting money from Epstein in 2013 and inviting him to a Democrat fundraising dinner with then-President Barack Obama.

The fundraising firm Dynamic SRG refers to Jeffries in the email as “Brooklyn’s Barack” and a “progressive voice,” and encourages him to “get involved with the dinner” or “get an opportunity to get to know Hakeem better.”

Jeffries stated he has “no recollection” of the outreach and emphasized he “certainly” never met Epstein or accepted any money from him.

Plaskett, meanwhile, has dismissed accusations that she colluded with the sex offender in an effort to get Trump.

“I believe that Jeffrey Epstein had information and I was going to get information to get at the truth,” she said during an interview on CNN, Wednesday.

“There are a lot of people who have done a lot of crimes and as a prosecutor, you get information from people where you can.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett responds to Lee Zeldin saying he never took donations from that Jeffrey Epstein — but instead a physician who is also named Jeffrey Epstein — following her comments on the floor. pic.twitter.com/ReN4IbTW6K

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 20, 2025

Republicans in the House on Tuesday attempted to censure Plaskett and remove her from the House Intelligence Committee, but failed in a 209-214 vote, with three Republicans joining Democrats in opposition, allegedly to protect Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) from being censured himself, and referred to the House Ethics Committee for investigation.

Crockett, last week, was brutally called out by CNN when she tried to claim that Republicans had redacted a name in an email released by Democrats to smear Trump.

When the CNN host pointed out that Democrats had redacted the exonerating information, Crockett immediately flipflopped, claiming that Democrats redacted the name because their “biggest concern” was to “actually make sure” they were “protecting victims.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 12:40

Zelensky 'Agrees' To Engage On US Plan To End War, Features Territorial Concessions

At this point Axios, the Financial Times, the NY Times, and Ukrainian regional media have all said that the new peace plan being 'secretly' pushed by the Trump administration contains significant territorial concessions. Additionally, there are reportedly stipulations that would see Ukraine scale back its armed forces, stop receiving some Western weapons, and stops hosting all foreign troops.

A source has also told RBC-Ukraine that a key provision is that the Ukrainian government commits to a formal refusal for future NATO membership. The same report said things are taken further, as Russian officials and troops would receive amnesty for all wartime crimes.

Via Reuters

Additionally, international and US-led sanctions would reportedly be lifted on Moscow, paving the way for Russia's return to the global economy.

The US-proposed 28-point peace plan would cede control of the eastern Donbas to Russia, but other partially controlled territories like Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions would see concessions made by Russia.

As we featured previously, Kremlin officials have finally said their position is being 'heard' - especially given this is the first time Washington appears to be getting serious about pushing territorial concessions. 

The plan appears to have been primarily drafted by President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev - but so far the Zelensky government has expressed dismay that it is being cut out of the process.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since written on X that achieving a "durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions."

He acknowledged current talks are all about consulting both sides in order to "develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war."

On Thursday US Army and top Pentagon representatives are in the Ukrainian capital in an effort to pressure the Zelensky government into engaging in talks on the US-Moscow peace plan:

Senior Pentagon officials have arrived in Ukraine to "discuss efforts to end the war" with Russia, the US military has said.

The team, led by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, held talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on Thursday morning. They are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day.

But it remains that Zelensky has throughout the war consistently rejected any proposal which features territorial concessions. He is supported especially be Ukrainian hardliners, both in the military and in parliament. 

⚡#BREAKING Bloomberg, citing a source familiar with the matter: Zelensky received signals from the United States that he must accept the agreement reached in consultation with Moscow. pic.twitter.com/Py7hzBipx0

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) November 20, 2025

However, fresh news headlines say Zelensky has expressed 'openness' to working with this framework:

• ZELENSKIY: UKRAINE IS READY TO WORK WITH US, EUROPE FOR PEACE
• ZELENSKIY SAYS HE AGREED TO WORK ON US DRAFT PLAN TO END WAR
• OIL TURNS NEGATIVE AS ZELENSKIY SIGNALS OPENNESS TO PEACE TALKS

But already (and somewhat predictably) European hawks are chiming in negatively, urging Kiev against any 'compromise' with Moscow. "EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that for any plan to work, it would need to have Ukrainians and their European allies on board," BBC writes.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has seconded this viewpoint, saying "the Ukrainians do not want any form of capitulation."

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 12:20

Watch: Sam Harris Blames Trump 'Cult' For Kirk Assassination

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Atheist philosopher Sam Harris, known for his anti-religion books like “The End of Faith” and his “Making Sense” podcast, has absurdly pinned Charlie Kirk’s assassination on President Trump and his “cult” of followers.

During the rant on the Trigger Nometry podcast, Harris conveniently absolved radicalized leftists brainwashed by years of Democrat and media vitriol calling conservatives “Nazis” and “threats to democracy.”

Asked about Charlie Kirk’s murder, Harris responded, “I would put most of the onus, as will not surprise you, on the president and his cult.” 

He claimed that there’s “no party left of center” supporting the assassination, instead blaming Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and Alex Jones for ‘fueling the fire.’ 

This twisted logic ignores how Dems and their mouthpieces spent years radicalizing lunatics with “Trump is Hitler” smears—directly egging on violence while now playing innocent.

NEW: Atheist Sam Harris blames President Trump and his "cult" for Charlie Kirk's assassination, claims there is "no party left of center" that supported the assassination of Kirk.

Harris also blamed Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and Alex Jones for 'fueling the fire.'

"I would put… pic.twitter.com/H2Y1okhFKF

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 19, 2025

Recall how in 2022, Harris admitted to not caring about the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, stating it “absolutely should have been covered up” to stop Trump.

“At that point, Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement—I would not have cared,” Harris sickeningly suggested.

He justified suppression, noting “Whatever the scope of Joe’s corruption is… it is infinitesimal compared to the corruption we know Trump is involved in.” 

“Hunter Biden could have the corpses of children in his basement, I wouldn’t care”

When people tell you who they are, believe them pic.twitter.com/aj6h0IgAJY

— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) January 13, 2025

This reveals Harris’ ends-justify-means mindset, excusing lies and censorship for political gain—now extending to blaming Trump for left-driven violence.

Harris’ victim-blaming seeks to exonerate the radical left he helped inflame, proving elite intellectuals like him prioritize anti-Trump narratives over truth.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 12:00

Stocks & Crypto Slammed As NVDA Erases Post-Earnings Gains

Who could have seen that coming?

Sure enough - as has been the pattern - NVDA's overnight gains have been erased...

That has dragged all the majors back to day-session lows, with Nasdaq now unchanged (from up 2.4% at the highs)...

The plunge was exacerbated by all the majors breaking below key technical support...

Bitcoin is puking...

And it appears crypto was leading the majors lower...

Bitcoin slammed, everything else follows. Daily thing now https://t.co/oz9i6dfOOm pic.twitter.com/vhOAfSdskG

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 20, 2025

As we detailed earlier with regard to whether the rally would stick, Goldman's Rich Privorotsky lays out the tactical bull and bear case:

• The dream today is NVDA up 10%…GOOG powering on…useful-life comments killing the worst fears around CoreWeave and the debt-fueled AI buildout…sentiment snapping back as crypto, retail and systematic flows all rip and we grind back to the highs. Cherry on top would be a 20k-type NFP that puts cut pricing back near 75%. 

• Worst case is NVDA pops at the open then slides as forward constraints cap the 2nd derivative of growth…crypto pukes, CTAs are still sellers, NFP is hot, and Dec drops to 25% while credit refuses to tighten to match the equity rally and remains the lead indicator. 

It appears the 'worst case' is looming as rate-cut odds are fading lower again now too...

Tomorrow brings the largest November OpEx in history - which will likely not help.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 11:44

Native-Born Workers Rise By 2 Million Under Trump To A New Record High, As Foreign-Born Plunge By 1.6 Million

One can debate how effective Trump has been in following up on his various campaign promises, but one place where he has been steadfast is reversing the Biden admin's disastrous labor policies which favored foreign-born workers (mostly illegal aliens) over native-born workers.

Today's jobs report, which had something for everyone, including forecast-busting payrolls offset by the highest unemployment rate in 4 years at 4.4% (driven by another jump in black unemployment), was indisputably strong when it comes to one thing: the rotation from foreign born workers to domestic ones. 

To wit: in September, the number of native-born workers surged by 676K (after the August drop of 561K), while foreign-born workers dropped by 70K.

Now since the month-to-month changes are largely driven by seasonal factors, they don't convey the full picture. What does, is a longer-term study such as the one below, which shows that since Trump entered the White House and his policies started impacting the economy, the number of foreign born workers has slumped from a record 33.7 million in March 2025 to 32.1 million, a drop of $1.6 million. This has been offset by a slow but consistent increase in native-born workers which had been unchanged for six years since 2019 until the start of 2025, at which point it started to rise again, and has increased from 131.2 million in March 2025 to a new record high of 133.2 million in September.

As a reminder, right before the covid crash the number of foreign-born workers was about 28.7 million, and increased by a whopping 4.5 million under Biden, while the number of native-born workers was actually down, a decline which serious "economists" blamed on demographics, a lack of willingness to work, and anything else.

It turns out, the number of native-borns could have very easily gone up if only someone remove the massive overhang of millions of illegals flooding through the border and taking away jobs (at a massive paycut) which perfectly capable native-born Americans would have taken. 

 

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 11:25

Qatar Warns Gaza Ceasefire On Brink Of Collapse After 24 Hours Of Israeli Strikes

Qatar and others are warning that the status of the over month-long Gaza ceasefire is precarious, and faces imminent collapse, after Israel mounted large-scale airstrikes on some areas of the Gaza Strip starting Wednesday. There have been several episodes of brief assaults over the past month, but the situation is escalating fast once again.

Some attacks have continued into Thursday, killing at least 32 Palestinians since the renewed assaults began. It all started after the Israeli army (IDF) said its troops in Khan Younis were fired upon, allegedly by Hamas or other Palestinian militants. But the IDF confirmed there were no troop casualties as a result.

This new flare-up marks by far the deadliest since the Trump-backed ceasefire went into effect. Hamas in response rejected the allegations of attacking IDF troops and condemned the new Israeli strikes as a "shocking massacre."

Via Reuters

Hamas in its statement called the IDF assertions "a flimsy and transparent attempt to justify ongoing crimes and violations." Israel had very soon on the heels of the alleged shooting incident launched airstrikes on Gaza City.

The Wednesday Palestinian death toll from the widespread airstrikes came to at least 28 killed, with a reported 17 of them women and children, according to Palestinian sources. At least three more have been killed in ongoing strikes Thursday in Gaza's south, with at least 88 wounded over the last 24 hours.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry in a statement on its official website said it "strongly condemns the brutal attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip." Doha was a key player in helping mediate the Trump 20-point peace plan.

US officials have also frequently visited southern Israel since the truce went into effect, with the White House having since revealed that Trump 'pressured' Prime Minister Netanyahu to finally accept the plan.

There are some hardliners within Netanyahu's government who want to see the deal collapse, in order to pursue the final complete eradication of Hamas, and to ultimately open up Gaza to Jewish settlement.

Just as things are escalating again in Gaza, despite the fragile truce, IDF attacks are being renewed in southern Lebanon as well:

The Gaza strikes coincided with a barrage of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday on what the Israeli military said said were Hezbollah sites, including weapons storage facilities. A day earlier, an Israeli airstrike killed 13 people in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, the deadliest of Israeli attacks on Lebanon since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago.

This week kicked off with the UN Security Council having formally backed the Trump Gaza plan. A resolution was backed by thirteen countries, with no country voting against and Russia and China abstaining.

Gaza authorities said Israel has launched more strikes on the enclave, killing at least three. Meanwhile, Israel's military says its forces have been fired upon again, this time in the West Bank. https://t.co/LCoR1QgZIv

— DW News (@dwnews) November 20, 2025

The UNSC signed off on the establishment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is included in the 20-point plan, and several countries have sent military representatives to assist.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/20/2025 - 11:10

Today, in the CalculatedRisk Real Estate Newsletter: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased to 4.10 million SAAR in October

Excerpt:

The fourth graph shows existing home sales by month for 2024 and 2025.

Sales were up 1.7% year-over-year compared to October 2024. The last 2 months of 2025 will have more difficult year-over-year comparisons.
...
Year-to-date, sales are essentially unchanged compared to last year - and 2024 was the lowest level of sales since 1995! Sales this year will be close to last year.

Will this be the lowest level of sales in 30 years?

There is much more in the article.

 

 

On a special bonus edition of Masters in Business LIVE, I speaks with Nobel Prize winning economist Richard Thaler, along with Alex Imas, Professor of Behavioral Science, Economics, and Applied AI at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business about their book, “The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now“. Recorded live on stage at the Economic Club of New York.

Look for a follow up discussion in studio next year.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Morgan Housel, whose new book, “The Art of Spending Money, Simple Choices for a Richer Life” was just published. His first book, “The Psychology of Money” sold over 10 million copies.

 

 

 

The post Richard Thaler + Alex Imas Live at Economic Club of New York appeared first on The Big Picture.