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1. Stock Seasonality for February

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2. Volume Slowing Down in Mag 7 Stocks

Callum Thomas Blog Mag-7 Volume Warning: Starting off with an intriguing eye-catcher, this chart shows the 1-year rolling average trading volume in Mag 7 Stocks. The concern is it seems to be doing a similar thing to what it did late-2021 into the pandemic stimulus frenzy peak. Taken by itself you might dismiss it, but there are a few other points to ponder on this.

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3. Short-Interest in TLT (20-year treasury) at All-Time Highs...Contra Bet = Rates Lower

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4. Steel and Aluminum Imports

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5. Semiconductor ETF Sideways

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6. A Few International ETFs Beating U.S. 2025

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7. China is Scaling Back Wind Subsidies

China to cut renewable subsidies.

China will scale back wind and solar subsidies after meeting its renewable energy targets six years early, a decision likely to shake those industries globally. Electricity prices will now be set by market forces, rather than fixed by authorities. Clean energy has grown to account for 40% of China’s electricity capacity,

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8. Baltic States begin Historic Switch away from Russian Power Grid

Via the BBC: More than three decades after leaving the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have begun to unplug from Russia's electricity grid and join the EU's network.

The two-day process began on Saturday morning, with residents told to charge their devices, stock up on food and water, and prepare as if severe weather is forecast.

Many have been told not to use lifts - while in some areas traffic lights will be turned off.

A giant, specially-made clock, will count down the final seconds before the transition at a landmark ceremony in Lithuania's capital on Sunday, attended by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The three nations will then officially transition away from the grid that has connected them to Russia since the years after World War Two.

'On high alert'

The so-called Brell power grid - which stands for Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - is controlled almost entirely by Moscow and has long been seen as a vulnerability for the three Baltic states.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now Nato members and have not purchased electricity from Russia since 2022, but their connection to the Brell grid left them dependent on Moscow for energy flow.

After disconnecting on Saturday morning, the three countries will carry out frequency tests before integrating into the European grid via Poland on Sunday.

"We are now removing Russia's ability to use the electricity system as a tool of geopolitical blackmail," Lithuania's Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told AFP news agency.

"It's the culmination of efforts over more than 10 years or 20 years, to reduce that energy dependence," Prof David Smith of the Baltic Research Unit at the University of Glasgow told the BBC.

"When the Baltic States joined the EU and Nato, everybody talked about them being an energy island that was still dependent on that joint electricity network with Belarus and Russia," said Smith. "That's been completely broken now."

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9. American Youth Arrests Rate Trends

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10. Neuroscience Says You’re Probably Drinking Your Coffee at the Wrong Time  

Via INC: When you wake up in the morning, what’s the very first thing you do? If you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, the answer is: Grab a cup of coffee. 

Besides being delicious, a nice morning brew feels like the perfect way to perk yourself up and get your brain going for the day ahead. One recent study even suggested it might counteract some of the nasty health effects of sitting all day. 

There’s only one problem with this common morning ritual. Neuroscience suggests it can actually make you feel more stressed. Instead, the latest research suggests, you’d get all of the same benefits—without any of the downsides—if you just adjusted your coffee schedule by a few hours. 

Why first thing in the morning isn’t the best time for coffee 

You’re likely at your most bleary eyed and cloudy headed right after you wake up. So why isn’t that the ideal time to enjoy some coffee? Not because early morning caffeine dehydrates you or causes you to crash in the afternoon. Those are both myths (that afternoon energy dip is generally a product of your body’s natural circadian rhythms). 

You might want to consider delaying your first cup of coffee because the morning is also the time when your body produces the most cortisol.

Often referred to as a stress hormone, cortisol is associated with getting the body ready for action. It might not feel like it when you’re stumbling around the kitchen at 6 a.m., but your body is actually working hard as soon as you wake up to rev you up and prepare you for the day to come. Usually, the amount of cortisol in our bodies peaks between 7 and 8 in the morning. 

And coffee nudges our body to produce even more cortisol.

Which means that when you down your morning cup of coffee first thing, you’re adding another stimulant to your body’s naturally occurring get-up-and-go chemicals. People’s biology differs around caffeine (genetic variations mean some of us break it down faster than others), but the result of an early a.m. cup of caffeine for many of us is feeling wired, stressed, or rushed. 

There can be other negative impacts too. Being overly stimulated in this way can impair creativity and worsen anxiety, some studies suggest. As family physician Kristie Leong explained on Medium recently, drinking caffeine when your cortisol levels are already high, “can make you more resistant to caffeine. That means you need more and more coffee to get the same effect.”

How to time your caffeine

Leong used to be an early morning coffee drinker. But once she learned more about the neuroscience of caffeine, she moved her first coffee to between 9 and 11 a.m., when cortisol levels naturally start to dip. It took a while—she nudged the timing for her first cup up by a half-hour a day to let her body adjust—but she soon noticed benefits, including feeling calmer and more energetic, and craving less coffee. 

Which is an important point to note. This isn’t a column urging you to take radical action or drink less coffee. There is a ton of science showing that up to four or five cups a day is probably doing you no harm (unless you’re having trouble sleeping). Coffee can boost memory and focus. Plus, it is one of life’s small pleasures. 

Certain Buddhist and meditation traditions even suggest that savoring a cup of your favorite brew can act as a form of mindfulness, centering us in the present moment. Brewing up a pot for someone else can be an everyday exercise in hospitality and empathy. 

So don’t get me wrong. I’m most certainly not knocking coffee here. This is just a friendly pointer to the neuroscience that says you’re probably drinking your coffee at the wrong time to maximize its benefits.

Wait a few hours after you wake up and your morning cup of coffee will be even more effective at helping your brain work its best. 

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