On today's podcast:
1) Kevin Hassett may not have the ability to deliver the rapid pace of interest rate cuts President Trump would like, even if he is approved as the next Federal Reserve Chair, said Gregory Peters, co-chief investment officer at PGIM Fixed Income. Peters made the remarks amid rising talk that Hassett, the White House National Economic Council Director, may ease monetary policy aggressively to please Trump if he is picked to run the Fed. But the PGIM fund manager suggested that — since Fed rate decisions are ultimately decided by committee — Hassett won’t have the power to deliver on his own. Peters’ remarks were in response to a Financial Times report that bond investors, including those on the borrowing advisory committee, have voiced concerns to the US Treasury about Hassett’s potential appointment as the Fed chief.
2) President Trump’s aides and allies are discussing the possibility of making Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the top White House economic adviser — in addition to his current job — should the president pick Kevin Hassett as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, according to people familiar with the matter. Tapping Bessent to lead the White House’s National Economic Council would allow him to consolidate oversight of Trump’s economic policies if Hassett — the current NEC director — becomes the next leader of the US central bank, an announcement Trump has hinted at in recent days. If Bessent is also named to the NEC, he would become the chief arbiter of the administration’s economic portfolio spanning the purview of both the Treasury Department and White House. It would also give Bessent a West Wing office, granting him even more physical proximity to the president.
3) The Pentagon watchdog concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked endangering American troops and the US mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen when he shared attack plans on the Signal messaging app, a person familiar with the matter said. The acting Pentagon inspector general’s classified report, delivered to a Senate committee yesterday, said Hegseth violated government policies by using his personal phone and Signal to transmit the information, which was marked “Secret.” The person describing the contents of the report asked not to be identified discussing private information.

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On today's podcast:
1) The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin held “very useful” talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner though the sides failed to reach agreement on a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The negotiations lasting almost five hours were “constructive and very informative,” though “a compromise hasn’t been reached yet” on the critical issue of territorial control, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. A possible meeting between Putin and President Trump “will depend on what progress is being made,” Ushakov added.
2) Republicans averted an upset in a Tennessee-based US House race Tuesday, a relief to President Trump and his congressional allies. Matt Van Epps, the Trump-backed Republican candidate, was projected to win by the AP, NBC News and Decision Desk HQ, an election analysis website. Trump praised the GOP victory in a social media post and Van Epps declared victory. Yet even in victory, voters in a district Trump won overwhelmingly just over a year ago swung away from Republicans, the latest data point in a trend that is raising alarm about the GOP’s prospects in next year’s midterm elections, as Van Epps’ victory came about only after Republicans surged resources and expended political capital in a strident GOP district that would typically be considered safe.
3) President Trump said he plans to announce his selection to lead the Federal Reserve in early 2026 and teased National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as his possible choice on Tuesday, fueling further speculation about the next leader of the US central bank. Hassett is seen as the likely choice to succeed Powell, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week, and Trump nodded to that position at a separate event shortly after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Trump’s comments offer a clearer timeline for the announcement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been overseeing the selection process, previously said the pick could be revealed around Christmas.

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On today's podcast:
1) US envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin, who claimed a key Ukrainian city had fallen to Russia on the eve of talks about a potential peace plan to end his war. Putin said Russian troops had taken the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in a video announcement posted late Monday by the Kremlin, an advance that would be Russia’s most significant on the battlefield in nearly two years. Ukraine’s Military Staff spokesman Bohdan Senyk denied its forces had lost the city in a message early Tuesday. Bloomberg isn’t able to independently verify the claims of either side. Witkoff is due to hold talks with Putin on Tuesday on the latest proposals for ending Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine following negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials in Florida. Amid fears in Europe that the plan risks rewarding Russian aggression by forcing Kyiv into a deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the latest version “looks better” during a visit to Paris on Monday to meet with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
2) The White House defended the Pentagon’s handling of a September attack on an alleged drug-running boat and denied that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given an order to kill everyone on the vessel, rebutting a report that had led to allegations of possible war crimes. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed there were two strikes on the vessel in the Sept. 2 attack but stressed the actions were lawful amid a deadly domestic opioid crisis in the US. The comments signaled Trump continues to support Hegseth, who came under fresh scrutiny after the Washington Post reported Friday that he ordered the attack and demanded that those strikes kill everyone on board. That report led to accusations that the US military was committing war crimes in the waters off the coast of South America.
3) Almost $1 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated during another sharp drop in prices on Monday that brought fresh momentum to a wide-ranging selloff. Bitcoin slid as much as 8% to $83,824 in New York, bringing its decline since early October to almost 30%. Ether dropped as much as 10% to as low as $2,719, and is down 36% over the past seven weeks. The market downturn has been even tougher on smaller, less liquid tokens that traders often gravitate toward because of their higher volatility and typical outperformance during rallies. A MarketVector index tracking the bottom half of the largest 100 digital assets is down almost 70% this year. The crypto market is on shaky ground after a weeks-long selloff that began when some $19 billion in levered bets were wiped out in early October as President Trump whipsawed markets with threats of higher tariffs, data compiled by tracker Coinglass show. That was just days after Bitcoin set an all-time high of $126,251.

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On today's podcast:
1) US and Ukrainian negotiators said they had productive discussions about a framework for a peace deal, but there was no final breakthrough as President Trump continues to push for a truce with Russia. “There’s more work to be done,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Florida after meeting for at least four hours with Ukrainian officials led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov. “This is delicate. It’s complicated.” The meeting, which took place in Hallandale Beach, Florida, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also in attendance, was likely the last chance for Ukraine’s negotiators to sway Witkoff before he leads a US delegation for talks in Russia this week. The two sides discussed potential parameters for a ceasefire as they pored over a 19-point proposal that emerged in Geneva last week — as well as the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, according to people familiar with the discussions. 
2) US authorities believe the man suspected of fatally shooting a National Guard member and seriously wounding another in Washington, DC, was radicalized while in the US, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press about the suspect’s motive, Noem said investigators are still collecting information and talking to his contacts. Federal authorities have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before arriving in the US in 2021. He was subdued and taken into custody shortly after the shooting on a street a few blocks from the White House on Wednesday.
3) President Trump said Sunday he has decided on his pick for the next Federal Reserve chair after making clear he expects his nominee to deliver interest-rate cuts. Trump has frequently excoriated current Fed chief Jerome Powell for failing to lower rates swiftly and signaled he wants a chair who will more forcefully pursue cuts. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Trump’s chief economic adviser, is seen as the likely choice to succeed Powell.

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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.

• In the US – a look ahead to earnings from Crowdstrike, Snowflake, and Salesforce.
• In the UK – a look ahead to the seventh Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit.
• In Asia – a look ahead to whether Asia's Labubu toy has hit its peak.

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On today's podcast:
1) One member of the West Virginia National Guard who was shot in the attack near the White House in Washington, DC, died after being in critical condition, President Trump said Thursday. US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, originally from Webster Springs, West Virginia, died after being shot Wednesday. US Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. Federal authorities have identified the suspected shooter as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who previously worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before arriving in the US in 2021. He was subdued shortly after the shooting and taken into custody. Trump said he is in serious condition.
2) President Trump called for “reverse migration” in the US as he outlined a series of potential measures to crack down on immigration, including halting admissions from unspecified developing nations and revoking citizenship from some naturalized migrants. In a pair of Truth Social posts late Thursday that disparaged many US immigrants, Trump said he would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” and “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility.” Trump offered no details on how he would implement these policies or what he considers a “third world” country, an ill-defined and often offensive term for developing nations. Congress for years has failed to pass major immigration reforms, and courts have blocked some of his previous executive orders limiting immigration.
3) Washington's proposals for ending the war in Ukraine could be the basis for future agreements, but no final version exists yet, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, while signaling an openness to talks. The Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to visit Moscow next week and meet with Putin, as President Trump continues his push for a resolution to Moscow’s nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. Trump on Tuesday said there was “tremendous progress” made over the past week on his peace proposal, the original draft of which drew the ire of Ukrainians and Europeans.

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On this special Thanksgiving edition of Bloomberg Daybreak, host Nathan Hager speaks with:

• Poonam Goyal and Lindsay Dutch of Bloomberg Intelligence look ahead to Black Friday and what we can expect in the retail space.
• Scott Martin, Chief Investment Officer of Kingsview Wealth Management, looks ahead to what 2026 will bring for market volatility
• Mike McGlone, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Commodity Strategist, discusses the recent bitcoin crash and looks ahead to crypto in the new year. 
• Jen Rie, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Litigation Analyst, updates on the latest antirust battles facing high tech

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On today's podcast:
1) US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine —  and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
2) White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen by advisers and allies of President Donald Trump as the frontrunner to be the next Federal Reserve chair, according to people familiar with the matter, as the search for a new central bank leader enters its final weeks.
3) Stocks climbed as elevated expectations for US interest-rate cuts helped sustain traders’ newfound optimism into the Thanksgiving holiday. The S&P 500 was set to extend a three-day, 3.5% rally marked by broad gains across sectors. Alphabet Inc. rose 1.5% in premarket trading after three straight closes at all-time highs. The US benchmark also drew technical support as it moved back above its 50-day moving average. The dollar headed for back-to-back losses, while Treasuries eased.

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On today's podcast:
1) US President Donald Trump held back-to-back calls with the leaders of China and Japan, as escalating tensions over Taiwan threaten to derail his weeks-old trade truce with Beijing. Trump’s hour-long conversation with President Xi Jinping on Monday marked their first contact since Japan’s new prime minister enraged Beijing by suggesting her nation’s troops could be drawn into a Taiwan crisis. Xi told his US counterpart Taiwan’s return to China was an “integral part of the postwar international order,” in a call the Chinese Foreign Ministry later said was “initiated by the US.”
2) A US official is in Abu Dhabi for meetings with a Russian delegation as President Donald Trump cited progress on his peace proposal and Moscow and Ukraine carried out airstrikes overnight.
3) Nvidia shares fell on a report that Meta is in talks to spend billions on Google’s AI chips, suggesting the internet search leader is making headway in efforts to rival the industry’s bestselling AI accelerator. Meta is in discussions to use the Google chips — known as tensor processing units, or TPUs — in data centers in 2027, The Information reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the talks. Meta also may rent chips from Google’s cloud division next year, the news outlet said.

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On today's podcast:
1) Ukrainian and US negotiators prepared an “updated and refined framework document on peace,” according to a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as Kyiv sought more favorable terms from a proposal backed by Donald Trump.
2) Global stocks advanced after a late Wall Street comeback on Friday as investors prepare for a week of key economic data amid rising expectations for a December US interest-rate cut.
3) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is working on bringing down US health-care costs and an announcement to address the issue is planned for this week.

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