THE WIRE — February 4, 2026

Government Shutdown Ends as House Passes Funding Package 217-214, DHS Gets Two-Week Leash

President Trump signed a massive funding bill Tuesday night, ending the brief government shutdown that began Saturday. The legislation ensures full-year funding through September for all agencies except the Department of Homeland Security, which receives only a two-week extension. Democrats extracted concessions requiring ICE agents to wear body cameras and prohibiting masks during enforcement operations—a response to the fatal shooting of two Americans in Minneapolis.

Nuclear

New START Treaty Expires Thursday

The landmark 2010 nuclear arms treaty limiting US and Russian deployed missiles, bombers, and warheads officially expires, with no replacement agreement in sight.

Middle East

F-35 Downs Iranian Drone Near USS Lincoln

CENTCOM confirms shoot-down as IRGC boats harass US-flagged tanker in Strait of Hormuz, threatening to board the vessel.

Olympics

Milan-Cortina 2026 Opens Friday

Over 3,500 athletes from 93 countries ready for 16 sports. Ski mountaineering makes Olympic debut.

WORLD NEWS

Ukraine

Russia Fires 450 Drones, 70 Missiles Overnight

President Zelenskyy reports the massive bombardment targeted power grid infrastructure in at least five regions. Ukraine remains on defensive as Russia grinds ahead with an edge in troop numbers and precision-guided munitions.

Diplomacy

Trump, Petro Emerge "Smiling" After 2-Hour Meeting

Colombian President tells press "a new path is being born today" after closed-door talks focused on drug trafficking and combating guerrilla groups in Venezuela. Agreement reached on joint counter-narcotics operations.

Sudan

$700M Pledged as Army Opens Siege Road

Trump administration commits $200M and UAE pledges $500M to new Sudan Humanitarian Fund as Sudanese army opens crucial road between Kadugli and Dilling after prolonged siege.

Iran

Crackdown Death Toll Exceeds 6,800

Human rights groups report Iranian security forces killed over 6,800 people in anti-government demonstrations, with the vast majority dying last month. Violence against protesters described as having "few recent parallels."

Gaza

First Patients Exit Via Reopened Rafah Crossing

WHO confirms five patients transferred through Egypt crossing that reopened Monday. Palestinians mourn latest deaths from Israeli strikes at Shifa Hospital since October ceasefire deal.

Politics

Trump Pushes Election "Nationalization" Despite Constitutional Barriers

President doubles down on calls for federal control of voting, claiming states "work for the federal government" in elections—a concept at odds with federalism principles embedded in the Constitution.

MARKETS

S&P 500

6,923

▲ +0.17%

Dow Jones

45,140

▲ +0.26%

Nasdaq

19,638

▼ -0.24%

Russell 2000

2,187

▼ -0.78%

Gold

$4,900

▼ -0.93%

Silver

$83.81

▼ -1.2%

WTI Crude

$64.11

▲ +1.4%

S&P 500 YTD Performance

Notable Stock Movers YTD

LLY

+8.2%

SMCI

+10.1%

GOOGL

+5.3%

UBER

-7.4%

AMD

-12.0%

NVO

-5.0%

Today's Earnings Movers

LLY

Eli Lilly

▲ +8.2%

Mounjaro sales +110% YoY to $7.4B; Zepbound +122%. 2026 guidance beats consensus.

SMCI

Super Micro Computer

▲ +10.1%

Q2 revenue $12.7B crushes $10.42B estimate. Full-year guidance raised to $40B from $33B.

AMD

Advanced Micro Devices

▼ -12.0%

Beat on EPS ($1.53 vs $1.32 est) but China revenue to drop 75% on export controls.

UBER

Uber Technologies

▼ -7.4%

Revenue beat but Q1 profit guidance ($0.65-0.72) below $0.75 estimate. Robotaxi fears persist.

GOOGL

Alphabet (After Bell)

● PENDING

Expected: $111.4B rev (+15%), Cloud +35% to $16.2B. Options pricing 5.3% move.

NVO

Novo Nordisk

▼ -5.0%

2026 sales and profit guidance 5-13% below expectations. GLP-1 competition intensifying.

CRYPTO MARKETS

BTC

Bitcoin

$76,350

▼ -14% YTD • -3.4% 24h

ETH

Ethereum

$2,253

▼ -26% YTD • -3.0% 24h

SOL

Solana

$102.74

▼ -0.14%

XRP

$1.60

▼ -15% weekly

DOGE

Dogecoin

$0.108

▼ -2.3%

ADA

Cardano

$0.39

▼ -80% from ATH

MSTR

MicroStrategy

$133.26

▼ -4.58%

COIN

Coinbase

$198.40

▼ -3.2%

Fear & Greed Index

Extreme Fear

Market Narrative

Crypto markets remain in crisis mode as $410 billion has been wiped from total market cap since January 1. The weekend bloodbath triggered billions in derivatives liquidations, pushing Bitcoin to a 15-month low. While a modest relief rally emerged Monday, the macro environment remains hostile: hawkish Fed expectations and renewed regulatory uncertainty under the second Trump administration continue to pressure risk assets. Historically, extreme fear readings below 15 have marked major bottoms—but catching a falling knife requires steel nerves.

TECH

25,000 Tech Jobs Cut in January Alone as "AI-Washing" Debate Intensifies

Global tech companies slashed 25,000 jobs in January as firms redirect spending toward AI infrastructure and data centers. Amazon announced 16,000 cuts, adding to 14,000 reductions late last year. But a Forrester report argues many layoffs are "AI-washing"—attributing financially motivated cuts to future AI implementation that doesn't yet exist. Oracle reportedly planning 30,000 more layoffs to fund expanded data center investments.

Hardware

NVIDIA Unveils "Vera Rubin" Platform with H300 GPUs

At CES 2026, NVIDIA announced its latest flagship AI platform featuring radical improvements in processing power and memory bandwidth specifically engineered for trillion-parameter models. The H300 represents NVIDIA's answer to growing competition in the AI chip space.

Enterprise

IBM Launches "Sovereign Core" for AI Data Sovereignty

IBM announced the industry's first AI-ready sovereign-enabled software, with tech preview starting this month and full GA planned mid-year. The platform addresses growing enterprise concerns about data localization and regulatory compliance.

IPO Watch

OpenAI Eyes Q4 2026 IPO at $500B Valuation

Sam Altman's AI juggernaut is preparing for a fourth-quarter public offering that would value the company at half a trillion dollars—making it one of the largest tech IPOs in history. Regulatory and governance questions remain.

Consumer

Apple's AI-Powered Siri Overhaul Confirmed for 2026

Apple confirmed a completely reimagined version of Siri is set to debut this year, incorporating advanced AI capabilities to compete with ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The update represents the biggest Siri overhaul since launch.

China

Moonshot AI and Alibaba Release Frontier Models

Chinese AI labs continue their rapid advance: Moonshot AI's Kimi K2.5 demonstrates advanced video-generation and autonomous functionality, while Alibaba's Qwen3-Max-Thinking dominates global benchmarks. The US-China AI race intensifies.

Autonomous

NVIDIA Partners with Alpamayo on AV Digital Twins

Strategic partnership will leverage NVIDIA DRIVE platforms and Alpamayo's digital twin technology to create hyper-realistic testing environments for autonomous vehicles, potentially accelerating the path to deployment.

VIRAL & SOCIAL

Grammy Awards

Bad Bunny Makes History with First Spanish-Language Album of the Year

"Debí Tirar Más Fotos" became the first Spanish-language album to win the top Grammy prize, while Kendrick Lamar took home five awards including Record of the Year for "Luther" with SZA. Lamar surpassed Jay-Z as the most decorated rapper in Grammy history.

TikTok

"Group Consensus" Format Explodes with Joan Jett Soundtrack

TikTok's latest viral format has friend groups filming chaotic debates set to "I Love Rock N Roll," with three people entering frame in slow motion delivering completely different takes. The format has spawned millions of iterations.

TikTok

"Thermostat Game" and "Undesirable Child" Confessions Trend

Two confession-style formats are dominating: the "Thermostat Game" pits couples against each other over temperature preferences, while "Undesirable Child" has creators sharing stories of feeling like the family outcast. Both formats require vulnerability.

Awards

Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Olivia Dean Take Home Trophies

Billie Eilish won Song of the Year for "Wildflower," Lady Gaga continued her Grammys streak, and Olivia Dean took Best New Artist. The ceremony featured multiple politically-charged speeches addressing immigration policy.

Beauty

"Euphoria Glam" Transitions Dominate Reels

Inspired by the Grammys red carpet, creators are filming dramatic before-and-after makeup transitions featuring bold, editorial looks with rhinestones, graphic liner, and maximum color. The trend works across platforms without original audio.

X / Twitter

Platform Tests Video-First Redesign with Bottom Nav Tab

X is reportedly moving toward a video-first approach, testing a dedicated video tab in bottom navigation. The platform also introduced a "Priority" notifications tab to surface interactions from mutuals and larger accounts.