Peter Thiel's Plan B, central banks buy gold, SpaceX IPO, tech stocks sell-off, flesh eating fly in Texas, Alphabet to raise $80B, DeepSeek raises $7.4 billion, Amazon's Ring faces privacy lawsuit

While tech giants like Alphabet and SpaceX pursue record-breaking capital raises and IPOs to fund infrastructure, the market faces significant pressure from chipmaker sell-offs and warnings of a speculative bubble. Beyond technology, the narratives cover regulatory crackdowns on Iranian crypto assets and prediction markets, alongside antitrust challenges in the entertainment industry. International updates detail Argentina’s appeal to libertarian investors, Japan’s aggressive shift toward higher interest rates, and Russia’s assessment of global energy disruptions. Finally, there are localized crises, such as a parasitic outbreak threatening the American cattle industry and ongoing product liability litigation for major corporations.