We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
🇺🇸📉💸 Regional banks are facing a perfect storm of credit problems, with commercial real estate loans comprising 44% of their portfolios versus just 13% for large banks. Office loan delinquencies have hit 10.4%, approaching 2008 crisis levels, while over $1 trillion in CRE loans must refinance by year-end in a higher-rate environment.
The Fraud Factor
Recent disclosures reveal deeper problems beyond market stress. Zions Bancorporation disclosed $60 million in provisions and $50 million in write-offs related to alleged loan fraud from its California division, while Western Alliance faced similar issues. These incidents echo Jamie Dimon's warning about "more cockroaches" in the credit market, suggesting systematic underwriting problems beyond economic cycles.
The Concentration Risk
Florida Atlantic University analysis found 59 of the 158 largest banks have CRE exposures exceeding 300% of total equity capital. New York Community Bancorp's Flagstar subsidiary shows a particularly dangerous 477% CRE concentration ratio. Many banks are using "extend and pretend" strategies, restructuring loans to avoid immediate write-offs while masking underlying problems.
The Systemic Implications
Studies suggest a 1% increase in non-performing loan ratios can decrease GDP growth by 0.1%, creating vicious cycles where economic weakness worsens credit quality. The concentration of regional bank problems in CRE mirrors historical patterns from the S&L crisis of the 1980s, when similar interest rate and real estate pressures caused widespread failures.
My Take
This analysis confirms that March 2023's regional banking crisis was papered over rather than resolved. The combination of CRE concentration, interest rate pressure, and emerging fraud cases suggests the underlying problems have worsened. When banks resort to extend-and-pretend strategies while facing refinancing walls on $1 trillion in loans, it creates conditions for a more severe crisis than what we saw in 2023. The moral hazard from implicit government backstops has encouraged more risk-taking rather than better management.
🔗 Hedgie
The U.S. Army 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) often nicknamed the "Ghosts in the Machine" released their newest recruitment video on November 19, 2025. hell this one slaps still no lujan no join. 😒
Somali dance at the Timberwolves vs the Celtics game yesterday in Minnesota https://x.com/westtoeastt/status/1995140208589967665/video/1
Follow Libs of TikTok Fans: t.me/libsontiktok
16,499 people died by euthanasia in Canada in 2024, accounting for 5.1% of all deaths in the country.
According to the latest report on “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) from Health Canada released at the end of last month, there was a 6.9% increase in state-assisted deaths in Canada in 2024.
In 2024, although assisted suicide is permitted, in which the person who wishes to end their own life self-administers the lethal substance, there was not a single case of assisted suicide. Instead, every single person who died under Canada’s MAiD programme died by euthanasia. In 2023, there were fewer than five instances of assisted suicide.
There have been a total of 76,475 instances of euthanasia and assisted suicide since they were made legal in Canada in 2016.
Posters have appeared on the New York subway offering would-be parents the opportunity to "genetically optimise" their future baby.
By signing up to their $8,999 service, Nucleus Genomics will profile the full DNA sequence of up to 20 embryos for couples undergoing IVF.
The New York start-up's slick app then allows would-be parents to review their brood for known disease genes, conditions like autism and ADHD, as well as traits like eye colour, height, and intelligence.
Peter Thiel, who shares similar views to Musk on the topic, supported the start-up through his Founders Fund. – Article
OpenAI's Sam Altman has also invested in gene-editing startup, Preventive, to eliminate gene-hereditary diseases from babies.
The first successful IVF (test tube baby) occurred in 1978. The place, perhaps appropriately, considering English author Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, was England.
The irreversible transformations to the human genome will make the 4IR a pandora’s box.
👀 – ...
AI influencers are now boasting personalities, backstories and even making ill-advised decisions
Aitana Lopez is an AI influencer who makes as much as $11,000 per month.
She’s part of a new breed of digitally created avatars winning the battle for the public’s attention, joined by the likes of chart topping “singers” Solomon Ray and Breaking Rust and “blonde bombshell” Mia Zelu, who stole the show at the Wimbledon tennis tournament — even though she wasn’t physically there.
Aitana has made promo videos for Amazon, while huge global brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada, Samsung and YouTube have all used AI influencers.
AI generated Christian recording artist Solomon Ray topped the Billboard gospel charts with his song “Find Your Rest.” He’s cleverly billed as a “Mississippi-made soul singer,” and has over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
One of the most followed AI influencers, Lil Miquela, caused serious backlash when she posted about being diagnosed ...
