Will Market Turbulence Spread Beyond Metals?

Summary of Will Market Turbulence Spread Beyond Metals?

by The Wall Street Journal

12m•February 2, 2026
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Overview of Will Market Turbulence Spread Beyond Metals?

This Wall Street Journal AM edition (hosted by Luke Vargas) covers a fast-moving market sell-off that began Friday and was still reverberating Monday, plus major Washington headlines, the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Gaza, new reporting on Trump-family–linked crypto financing, and the growing role of AI in music highlighted by the Grammys.

Market volatility: metals at the center

  • What happened
    • Global risk-off: U.S. stock futures were down, cryptocurrencies were selling off (Bitcoin reported below $77,000), and a dramatic unwind in precious metals prices drove much of the move.
    • Metals reversal: After an extraordinary rally over the past year (gold up ~60%, silver roughly doubled), Friday saw severe declines—described as gold and silver’s worst one-day falls since the 1980s—though prices showed signs of stabilizing Monday.
  • Why it mattered
    • The metals surge had been driven by fears about U.S. policy, dollar debasement, and a crowding of positions (retail flows amplified central-bank narratives).
    • The market reacted to political developments: President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh (Kevin Warsh) for Fed chair reportedly calmed some investor anxiety about Fed independence, helping partly reverse the metals rush.
  • Other asset moves
    • Treasuries moved higher (yields down), and the dollar marginally strengthened—traditional safe havens behaving as expected.
    • Chelsea Delaney’s framing: gold began to trade more like a crowded “meme-stock” bet; the sell-off may represent a positioning washout rather than a broad structural shift, but the extent is uncertain.

Washington: partial shutdown, DHS funding fight, and House math

  • Senate passed a temporary funding package that extends Department of Homeland Security funding for two weeks to allow negotiations, but the House must still approve it.
  • Democratic position: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries described the Senate deal as a step forward but said many House Democrats want stricter limits on DHS/ICE (mandatory body cameras, restrictions on masked operations, judicial-warrant requirements for certain home entries).
  • Republican response: House Majority Leader Mike Johnson called some requests reasonable but pushed back strongly on requiring warrants and banning masks for agents (citing officer safety).
  • House dynamics: Republicans’ majority narrowed after Democrat Christian Menifee won a special election in Texas, cutting the GOP margin to 218–214—complicating Johnson’s task to keep his party unified to end the shutdown.

DOJ release: Epstein files and victim privacy concerns

  • The Justice Department released documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that, according to WSJ analysis, included the full names of 43 victims (some minors at the time of abuse) where redactions were expected.
  • DOJ response: Deputy Attorney General said the department would remove victims’ names if notified, but victims described the notification and remediation process as re-traumatizing.
  • Consequences: Media and social influencers began publishing victim names after the release, and some victims reported harassment. The episode raises questions about DOJ compliance with redaction rules (Epstein Files Transparency Act) and victim-protection procedures.

Rafah crossing reopens — test of Trump peace plan

  • Rafah reopened for the first time since the October 2023 war, allowing Gazans to enter and exit under strict conditions:
    • Only residents who left after the war began may cross.
    • Security checks both entering and leaving.
    • No cargo or humanitarian aid is being moved through Rafah in this initial reopening.
  • Political significance
    • The reopening fulfills a key first-phase requirement of President Trump’s Gaza peace plan and allows a Palestinian technocratic body to enter as part of phase two.
    • It is a near-term test of how Hamas will respond to a rival governing body and to demands including disarmament and Israeli withdrawal—areas where Hamas has so far resisted.

Crypto/Trump-family business tie to UAE investor

  • Reporting details a pre-inauguration deal: Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE national security advisor) or his lieutenants invested in World Liberty Financial, taking ~49% and funnelling roughly $187 million to Trump family entities.
  • Timing and context: The investment came months before the UAE gained access to U.S. AI chips—raising scrutiny given geopolitical and commercial implications.

Music industry and AI: Grammys, rules, and industry scramble

  • Grammys highlights: Kendrick Lamar won Record of the Year; Bad Bunny won Album of the Year.
  • AI in music
    • The Recording Academy says AI use is allowed if eligible music is based on human artistry.
    • The industry faces a deluge of AI-generated content (estimated ~50,000 AI tracks daily on Spotify), lawsuits (major labels sued Suno), and new label–AI partnerships (Universal with Udio).
    • 2026 is predicted to be a pivotal year for how labels, artists, and platforms monetize and regulate AI-created music.

Notable quotes

  • “Gold … is now trading like a meme stock.” — WSJ markets reporter Chelsea Delaney, on how crowded positioning amplified the metals rally and unwind.
  • Hakeem Jeffries on DHS: “Body cameras should be mandatory… Judicial warrants should absolutely be required, consistent with the Constitution… before DHS agents or ICE agents are breaking into the homes of the American people.”
  • Mike Johnson on ICE agents masking: “The reason that ICE agents wear masks is to protect their own identities and protect their own families.”

Actionable takeaways

  • Investors: monitor metals positioning, dollar strength, and Treasury yields for clues on whether this is a transient positioning washout or a deeper shift. Watch Fed leadership developments closely—market psychology can change quickly with nominations or policy signals.
  • Policy watchers: the House vote on short-term DHS funding and internal GOP cohesion are key near-term drivers of whether the partial shutdown ends soon.
  • Legal/privacy observers: follow DOJ remediation after the Epstein-file release and any changes to transparency/redaction procedures.
  • Humanitarian/foreign-policy watchers: Rafah’s reopening is an early stress test for the Trump peace plan and for governance/aid dynamics in Gaza.
  • Music industry stakeholders: prepare for intensified legal, licensing, and monetization negotiations around AI-generated music; track label–AI partnerships and regulatory responses.

Produced and reported by The Wall Street Journal (Luke Vargas, Chelsea Delaney, Anat Pelled, et al.).