The nightly digest shows how markets and geopolitics are colliding live.
Zelenskyy’s Abu Dhabi trilateral discussions with Russia and the US are dominated by optics rather than breakthroughs as territorial redlines harden to a lasting stalemate.
Amazon’s massive job cuts in corporate America show that the efficiency push of Big Tech is structural and not cyclical.
While investors rush to safe havens and precious metals reach record levels, the $100,000 Bitcoin narrative is fading fast due to renewed macro-pressure.
Zelenskyy bets on Abu Dhabi, as the territorial impasse deepens
The first trilateral discussions in four years began Friday evening in Abu Dhabi with Ukraine, Russia and the US in the same place.
Don’t confuse the momentum with the opticals. Zelenskyy has confirmed what we already know: the territory is a deal-breaker.
Putin wants Ukraine to cede 25% of Donetsk that it still controls. Zelenskyy refuses outright, citing battlefield reality and constitutional reasons. His forces are holding land Russia could not take after years of grinding.
What are the security guarantees? Done. What is the reconstruction plan? The reconstruction plan is almost finalized. What about the land? Unsolvable.
Witkoff’s suggestion that “most issues” are resolved was just a way to hide deep divisions.
Zelenskyy responded with dark humor at Davos, “Russians too must compromise, not only Ukraine.”
Amazon accelerates its 30,000 job purge
Amazon is slashing its axe once again.
The ecommerce giant, which cut 14,000 jobs for white collar workers in October, is now set to remove another 14,000 roles in the corporate sector starting on January 27. This will bring the total number of restructuring targets to almost 30,000. It’s the biggest layoff in the company’s history.
Second wave of attacks will hit AWS, Prime Video and retail. Also, the People Experience and Technology division (HR).
Jassy shifts the blame away from AI and towards “cultural fit” as well as bureaucratic over-bloat. She claims that the pandemic has created multiple layers of middle managers who slow down decision making.
The 90-day severance package is paid to employees facing termination. Internal transfers are given priority.
Markets: Amazon is remaking their workforce, while still profitable. This shows that the tech industry’s obsession with efficiency is structural and not cyclical.
Gold and precious metals are breaking all records in geopolitical turmoil
The gold price soared to $4,967 an ounce on Friday. This is a jump of 14.2% in only 23 days.
Silver reached $99.34 and was within striking distance of that mythical threshold.
Platinum set a new record of $2,749 per ounce. Capital is fleeing US assets because of the holy trinity. Fed rate cuts expected for 2026 will erode real yields and make gold non-yielding attractive.
Here’s what’s important: India’s precious-metals market has been flooded by financial flows. Rs 15-16 billion was poured into the Indian market in just December.
Silver’s industry narrative (solar panels, electric vehicles, electronic devices) is a safe haven factor that explains its outperformance of 150% compared to gold in the past 12 months.
Bitcoin’s dream of $100K is shattered as new macro-headwinds surface
The story has been radically changed by the collapse of Bitcoin from $97,000 down to $89,000 within eight days.
The odds of a crash to $69,000 have tripled over the past 24 hours. They went from 11.6% on Thursday to 30.0% Friday. This indicates that retail traders and semi-pros are capitulating.
Trump’s threats of tariffs triggered an $865 million liquidation; BTC bounced to $90K after his pause; and then the reality hit.
The open interest in derivatives is stuck between 245,000-265,000 BTC, which means that no new money has been flowing into the market for 10 straight days.
Gold’s unprecedented rally cannibalizes risk appetite. Investors are turning to safe-havens and not digital assets. Two weeks ago, the structural case for $100 looked very strong.
The post Evening Digest: Bitcoin Slides Below $90K Amazon Layoffs Mount, Gold at Record Highs could be updated as new information becomes available.
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