Key headlines from global financial media overnight and this morning include:
1. Trump Hints His Proposed Peace Committee Could Replace the UN Former President Donald Trump suggested that his proposed peace committee might supplant the United Nations, which he labeled as inefficient, while also claiming the decades-old institution could still assist his peacekeeping efforts. "The UN hasn't accomplished much. I see great potential in the UN, but it has never lived up to its potential," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. "You have to keep the UN around because its potential is enormous." Trump made these remarks while responding to questions about his signature foreign policy initiative, adding that he hopes "we won't need a peace committee," but "I solved so many wars, and the UN never helped me in any of them." Trump's initiative is facing resistance from other G7 leaders.
2. Greenland Turmoil and Japanese Bond Sell-off Shatter Wall Street's Calm Start For the opening weeks of the year, market conditions on Wall Street were unusually subdued. That changed abruptly as former President Donald Trump's obsession with acquiring Greenland threw the US-European alliance into disarray, while fiscal concerns in Japan plunged its bond market into turmoil. The quiet spell was decisively broken on Tuesday. The "sell America" trade returned with force after the stock market opened, with US Treasuries and the dollar both falling. The S&P 500 plunged over 2%, marking its largest single-day drop since last October and wiping out all its gains for the year. The Nasdaq 100 index also tumbled 2.1%. The so-called fear gauge, the VIX index, hit its highest level since November, while the preferred safe-haven asset, gold, surged to over $4,700 per ounce, setting a new record high.
3. United Airlines Sees Strong Start to 2026, Poised for Record Annual Profit United Airlines (UAL) stated on Tuesday that it is positioned for a record annual profit this year, fueled by robust demand for both premium cabin and economy tickets in recent weeks. The airline forecasts 2026 adjusted earnings per share to be between $12 and $14, largely aligning with analyst expectations of $13.16. For the first quarter, UAL anticipates EPS of $1 to $1.50, compared to a previous analyst consensus of $1.13. United reported full-year 2025 adjusted EPS of $10.20, an 8% increase year-over-year, following a previous downward revision of its annual outlook. Simultaneously, the company's full-year adjusted net profit reached $3.5 billion, up 6% from the prior year. Both United and its competitor Delta Air Lines project the potential for record-high profits this year. In the first three quarters of 2025, these two carriers accounted for nearly all the profits in the US airline industry. Other airlines are scheduled to report their earnings later this month.
4. Netflix Switches to All-Cash Offer for Warner Bros. to Thwart Paramount Netflix (NFLX) has revised its acquisition offer for Warner Bros.' studio and streaming assets to an all-cash bid, aiming to prevent rival Paramount from seizing the Hollywood giant. According to a regulatory filing submitted on Tuesday, the new all-cash offer of $27.75 per share has received unanimous support from the Warner Bros. board of directors. Both Netflix and Paramount's Skydance are coveting Warner Bros.' leading film and television studios, extensive content library, and major franchises including "Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter," and DC Comics superheroes like Batman and Superman. Paramount has already amended its own terms and launched an aggressive media campaign to convince shareholders of the superiority of its bid, but Warner Bros. has rejected the company led by David Ellison.
5. Finding a New Fed Chair Like "Hunting a Unicorn"; Trump Frustrated with Current Candidates The search for a new Federal Reserve Chair by Donald Trump has become akin to a "unicorn hunt," complicated by the backlash from his previous critiques of the central bank. Trump desires a successor to Jerome Powell who meets multiple criteria: unwavering loyalty to the president, willingness to enact significant interest rate cuts, credibility with both Wall Street and the MAGA base, support in the Senate, and possessing the camera-ready, "leading man" image Trump consistently seeks. This already delicate balance is further challenged by a Justice Department investigation into the Fed. A senior Republican senator has already vowed to block any Fed chair nominee from Trump, and tensions could escalate further due to Trump's threats regarding Greenland. A stark reality remains: none of the leading candidates fully satisfies all these conditions.
6. UBS: Dumping US Assets is a Dangerous Gamble; Complete Divestment from US is Impossible UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti stated that investors betting against US assets and the dollar are making a "pretty dangerous bet." "A complete shift of allocations away from the US is not possible," Ermotti said in an interview during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. "The US is the most powerful economy in the world." US Treasuries faced selling pressure on Tuesday as investors digested news of the escalating standoff between former President Trump and NATO allies over his ambitions to control Greenland, with the S&P 500 index also declining. Danish pension fund AkademikerPension plans to sell its US Treasury holdings by the end of this month.
