Good morning from the Financial Times.
Today is Wednesday, December 17th, and this is your FT&E's briefing.
Donald Trump's involvement in Venezuela has bond investors hopeful,
and JPMorgan Chase is having a field day with US Treasuries.
Plus, despite all the ups and downs, investors are remaining bullish on American AI stocks.
We'll tell you why.
I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.
Investors are snapping up Venezuela's defaulted debt.
The country's bonds have rallied recently to 33 cents on the dollar.
That's a 40% rise since the start of October.
Now,
you might have picked up on the word defaulted earlier and are wondering why investors would want to go anywhere near Venezuelan debt.
Good question.
Well, US President Donald Trump is putting military pressure on the country,
and if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gets ousted,
investors think Caracas might actually pay back its debt.
Analysts are pouring some cold water on all this, though.
A chaotic downfall of the Maduro regime could trigger a civil war instead of IMF-backed restructuring talks.
JP Morgan Chase has withdrawn almost $350 billion in cash from its account at the Federal Reserve
since 2023.