GuShiio.com ① Putin: Willing to meet with Trump;② The Trump administration has ordered an 8% annual cut in the defense budget for the next five years;③ Many European countries will meet again to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security issues;④ Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes: Policies can be maintained at restrictive levels if the economy is strong.
Overnight stock market
U.S. stocks closed up slightly on Wednesday (February 19), with the S & P 500 index rising 0.24% and continuing to hit a record high. The Dow rose 0.16%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.07%. Large technology stocks were mixed, with Intel falling more than 6%, and Tesla rising nearly 2%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed down 0.38%, and Wenyuan Zhixing fell nearly 16%.
Major European stock indexes closed down collectively, with the Stoxx 600 index closing down 0.9%, the largest one-day decline since December 19 last year.
commodity market
The settlement price of WTI March crude oil futures closed up 0.56% at US$72.25/barrel, while Brent April crude oil futures closed up 0.26% at US$76.04/barrel. COMEX gold futures closed flat at US$2949 per ounce;COMEX silver futures closed down 0.62% at US$33.165 per ounce.
market news
[Putin: Willing to meet with Trump]
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 19th that he was very willing to meet with US President Trump, but he must be prepared before the meeting. According to Russian media reports, Putin visited a drone manufacturing factory in St. Petersburg that day, during which he positively evaluated the Russia-US talks held in Saudi Arabia on the 18th. In response to a reporter’s question, he said that the talks aim to restore trust between Russia and the United States, and the two countries have taken the first step in resuming work in various fields of common concern. Putin said Russia is willing to sit at the negotiating table to discuss the Ukraine issue. The U.S. position that Trump had previously informed him on the phone was that negotiations would take place with the participation of both Russia and Ukraine, and “no one has excluded Ukraine from this process.” Europe also does not need to react negatively to the Russia-US talks. The Russian and U.S. delegations held talks in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on the 18th and reached consensus on restoring the normal operation of diplomatic missions of both sides and ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Trump said later that day that he “may” meet with Putin before the end of February.
[Trump says Zelensky better act as soon as possible]
U.S. President Trump posted on social media on February 19 that Ukraine President Zelensky “had better act as soon as possible, otherwise his country will no longer exist.”
[Trump intervenes in budget disputes between the two houses to support House Republicans ‘$4.5 trillion tax cuts]
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed support for the House’s plan to call for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, pouring cold water on Senate Republicans ‘eagerness to approve funding to help them crack down on immigration, indicating that they do not favor a massive bill that may take months of bargaining to reach an agreement. As a critical congressional vote approaches, Trump posted on social media on Wednesday to intervene in the ongoing budget dispute between House and Senate Republicans.
[Trump: Consider giving 20% of the funds saved by the Department of Government Efficiency to Americans]
Trump said he was working hard to balance the budget immediately. Want to achieve a balanced budget, but don’t want to make commitments now. Trump said he would consider distributing 20% of the funds saved by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to Americans, and might also use 20% of the funds saved by DOGE to repay debts.
[The Trump administration orders an 8% annual cut in the defense budget for the next five years]
Officials familiar with the matter said the Trump administration has ordered senior leaders of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. military to develop a large-scale reduction plan to cut the defense budget by 8% each year over the next five years.
[Trump administration appeals against ruling to block executive order repealing “birthright citizenship”]
The Trump administration appealed the same day against blocking Trump’s ruling to abolish “birthright citizenship” executive order. Previously, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order stating that children born in the United States of illegal immigrants or temporary visa holders will no longer automatically obtain U.S. citizenship. It is reported that four judges in the United States have blocked Trump’s executive order to abolish “birthright citizenship.”
[U.S. aviation industry calls on Congress to provide funding to support air traffic control technology and staffing]
In an open letter on February 19 local time, the U.S. aviation industry called on Congress to provide “strong emergency funding” to support air traffic control technology and staffing. In a joint letter, multiple organizations, including the American Aviation Association, the Aerospace Industries Association, the International Air Transport Association and other major aviation unions, urged Congress to take action, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration faces serious technical needs and that the number of air traffic controllers is short of about 3500, falling short of target levels.
[Many European countries hold another meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security issues]
French President Macron organized the second emergency meeting at 16:00 local time on February 19 to discuss Ukraine and European security issues. The meeting was held via video. Heads of government of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and other countries attended the meeting. It is reported that this meeting came after the talks between the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia. France once again convened European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security issues.
[German Defense Minister: Discussion of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine is “premature and inappropriate”]
Regarding whether to send peacekeeping troops to provide security to Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached, German Defense Minister Pistorius said on the 19th local time that it is too early and extremely inappropriate to publicly discuss this issue. He emphasized that Germany will discuss specific action plans only if it clearly participates in the peace process.
[Federal Reserve Minutes: If the economy is strong, policies can be maintained at restrictive levels]
The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January monetary policy meeting showed that all participants believed it was appropriate to keep the target interest rate unchanged. If the economy is strong, policies can be kept at restrictive levels. Some participants mentioned that potential changes in trade and immigration policies could hinder the process of falling inflation; several participants said that it seemed that the risk of achieving the inflation target was greater than the risk of achieving the employment target; and the overall inflation risk was tilted upward. The vast majority of participants judged that the risks faced by the dual mission goals were basically balanced.
[Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Jefferson: Monetary policy remains restrictive]
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Jefferson said monetary policy remains restrictive. The U.S. economy is performing quite strongly; the U.S. labor market is solid, inflation has slowed down but is still at a high level, and the road back to the 2% inflation target may be bumpy; the Fed can wait when considering the next step of monetary policy; the Fed’s interest rate cut is reducing actual borrowing costs.
[Federal Reserve Bostick: Confidence in the 2025 economic outlook has declined]
Federal Reserve Bostick said confidence in the economic outlook in 2025 has diminished. It is difficult to take into account all potential policy changes in the economic outlook; inflation progress is not expected to follow a straight line. The Federal Reserve did not cut interest rates significantly last year, and its policy is still binding; it is satisfied with suspending interest rate cuts to observe economic development. The Fed is approaching a threshold level on its balance sheet, and the debt ceiling is a factor in determining this; it wants to focus on the balance sheet on a daily basis to ensure asset shrinkage is not excessive.
[German Chancellor and CDU Chairman participate in the last televised debate before the election]
On the evening of the 19th local time, Scholz, the current German Chancellor and the Social Democratic Party candidate, held the last televised debate before the German Bundestag election with Merz, chairman of the largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the coalition party’s chancellor candidate. The two sides faced each other head-on on issues that voters are most concerned about, such as immigration policy and economic development.
[Apple releases iPhone 16E starting at $599]
Apple released the iPhone 16E, which is equipped with the A18 chip, Apple Intelligence and the Apple C1, the company’s first cellular modem. The iPhone 16E starts at $599, pre-orders will begin on February 21, and the product will be available on February 28.
[Microsoft launches quantum computing chip Majorana 1 and generative artificial intelligence tool Muse]
Microsoft launched its first quantum computing chip called Majorana 1. The company said its Majorana 1 chip integrates eight qubits on a piece of scratch-paper-sized hardware and expects to eventually hold 1 million qubits. The first generative artificial intelligence tool Muse is used to create video game scenes. This modeling tool draws data from Xbox players and gamepads.
[Fragment of the US Falcon 9 rocket fell to the ground through the atmosphere above Poland]
The Polish Space Agency said on February 19 local time that debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fell uncontrollably through the Earth’s atmosphere above Poland that day. Police said fragments of an unknown object about 1.5 meters long and 1 meter wide were found near the western Polish city of Poznan, but no casualties or property damage were reported. It is reported that the rocket that produced this fragment was launched by SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 1.
