New Trump Era, Entire United States in drought, Bitcoin explodes (Recap ep297)

In today's Recap, Marcello talks about how Donald Trump has returned to the White House, ushering in a new era as Republicans secure control of both the Senate and House. His early actions include accepting a call from Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, while Qatar orders Hamas officials to leave the country. Meanwhile, the United States faces an unprecedented drought crisis, impacting nearly all states, over 150 million people, and 318 million acres of crops after a record-breaking summer heatwave. On a brighter note, Bitcoin has exploded to a historic high of $93,445, surpassing silver to become the world’s 8th largest asset.

Republicans have finally won enough seats to control the U.S. House of Representatives with 218 votes out of 435, with 9 seats still undecided, thus completing the party’s sweep into power & securing their hold on the U.S. government, alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the House the seats necessary that make up the majority. House Democrats now control 211 seats. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats with 53 seats versus 47. With control of both houses of Congress, the Trump agenda is likely to be enacted rather quickly in 2025. 
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six top counterparts including the yen, rose to 106.75, its highest level in one year, as investors expect Trump’s policies to delay the Federal Reserve’s pace of cutting rates.
It was reported on Friday, that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is raising up to $6 billion at a $50B valuation. Sources say that the funding, which should close early next week, is a combination of $5B expected from sovereign funds in the Middle East & $1B from other investors, some who may want to be re-upping their investments. The money will be used to acquire 100K Nvidia chips, per sources familiar with the situation, which will likely have a measurable impact on improvements to Tesla’s Full Self Driving.
Spain’s Deoleo, world’s largest olive oil producer, says one of the most challenging eras in the industry’s history seems to be drawing to a close, with prices expected to nearly halve from an all-time high over the coming months. A prolonged period of extreme weather & drought in southern Europe has severely impacted olive harvests in recent years, culminating in a price rally that shocked the industry & consumers. Prices have since cooled, however, as industry estimates point to significantly improved harvests in the 2024-2025 season, particularly in key producing countries such as Spain, Greece & Tunisia.
Latin American poverty levels in 2023 fell to a 33-year low, led by progress in Brazil, the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a report on Tuesday, even as severe inequality persists in the region. ECLAC said Latin America is marked by high inequality, limited social mobility & weak social cohesion, underpinned by inadequate social policies & weak protection systems. Over 170M people in the region are affected by poverty, particularly in Haiti, Nicaragua, & Honduras.