Tue, Jan 13, 2026

On Tuesday, the market was skeptical. Investors scrutinized the earnings of American titans and found them wanting. But the most damning audit of the day was not conducted on a balance sheet, but on the federal government itself.

A confluence of events – a legal assault on the Federal Reserve and an exposé on ICE recruitment practices – painted a picture of an administration bypassing the basic safeguards of governance. In finance, bypassing due diligence is called negligence. In the context of the siege of Minneapolis, where unvetted federal agents are now policing American streets, the market is beginning to price it as a liability.

In legal news, the bond market is pricing in a new variable: the  ...