Rising Inflation Fears, Defense Stock Whiplash & Crypto Power Plays | The Integrity Ledger

Welcome to The Integrity Ledger —Inflation fears rise as job confidence sinks, defense stocks whipsaw on Trump’s budget shock, media giants clash over Warner Bros., Wall Street courts crypto, and AI security flaws expose hidden risks shaping global power and money flows.

The New York Fed's latest survey shows one-year consumer inflation expectations rising to 3.4%, up from 3.2%, while three- and five-year expectations remain steady at 3.0%. Job-finding optimism hit a record low, with the perceived probability of losing a job rising to 15.2%, above the 12-month average of 14.3%. Median one-year earnings growth expectations dipped slightly to 2.5%, indicating restrained wage demands.

Rising inflation expectations combined with increased job insecurity suggest persistent economic uncertainties weighing on consumer confidence. The moderating wage growth outlook could provide the Federal Reserve room to consider deeper interest rate cuts in the future to support economic stability.

Forex Live

Defense stocks, including RTX Corp, plunged after President Trump announced a ban on buybacks and dividends, then surged when he proposed boosting the 2027 defense budget from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion. Trump aims to fund this increase with tariffs generating around $195 billion annually, though the math struggles to balance with additional planned spending and stimulus payments. Meanwhile, Nvidia requires upfront payment for newly approved Chinese orders, and productivity data signals strength in the US economy.

Investors should weigh the volatility in defense stocks driven by policy uncertainty and tariff-related risks, especially as Supreme Court rulings on tariffs loom. Market participants may benefit from monitoring money flows in major tech stocks and adjusting portfolios with hedges amid mixed signals in job growth and production data.

Benzinga

Paramount continues to assert that its $30 per share cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery surpasses Netflix's $27.75 per share cash-and-stock deal, despite unanimous rejection from the WBD board. Paramount highlights an irrevocable personal guarantee from Larry Ellison and criticizes Netflix's declining stock price as diminishing the deal's value for shareholders.

Investors face a pivotal choice between Paramount's certain cash offer and Netflix's mixed-value stock deal amid ongoing regulatory reviews. Paramount's aggressive bid could intensify takeover negotiations and shape future media industry consolidations.

Fox Business

Morgan Stanley has filed with the SEC to launch two new crypto ETFs linked to Bitcoin and Solana, marking a strategic push into digital assets. ProCap CIO Jeff Park highlighted the move’s long-term value, emphasizing enhanced reputation, brokerage synergy via E*TRADE, and potential to attract new clients and top talent.

This ETF launch positions Morgan Stanley ahead of peers like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs in crypto ETFs, strengthening its brand as an innovator in digital finance. Investors and asset managers may view this as a signal of growing institutional legitimacy for crypto products, potentially influencing future market entrants.

Coin Central

Verifone has unveiled a significant expansion of its Victa device portfolio alongside new ecosystem partnerships at NRF 2026, marking a pivotal step in its transformation into a partner-first commerce platform. Key alliances with Shopify, Bilt, and Aevi enhance merchant capabilities by integrating reliable POS devices, loyalty programs, and global payment orchestration. The expanded Victa portfolio includes versatile devices for in-store, mobile, and unattended environments, all built on a unified platform with advanced biometric security.

These developments streamline payment integration, enabling merchants and solution providers to deliver seamless, scalable commerce experiences worldwide. By combining hardware, software, and services on a unified platform, Verifone strengthens its role as a global commerce enabler, offering partners faster deployment and improved customer engagement across diverse retail environments.

Benzinga

Arm has reorganized into three core groups, launching a new Physical AI division focused on robotics and automotive systems as enterprise AI shifts from data centers to machines in the physical world. This structural change supports real-time, edge-based AI workloads critical for autonomous systems in factories and warehouses. Experts highlight the need for hybrid architectures, low-latency networking, and infrastructure optimized for simulation-driven robot training.

CIOs must prioritize edge computing, security, and lifecycle management to support distributed Physical AI applications effectively. Arm’s unified architecture could streamline development and deployment across cloud and edge, but enterprises should plan gradual, controlled rollouts to manage dependencies and integration risks.

Computer World

Radware has identified ZombieAgent, a zero-click indirect prompt injection vulnerability affecting OpenAI's Deep Research agent, enabling silent data theft and persistent agent hijacking in the cloud. This flaw allows attackers to implant malicious commands into AI agent memory, enabling ongoing autonomous data exfiltration and propagation without user interaction or detection by traditional security tools.

ZombieAgent exposes critical security gaps in AI agent platforms, creating invisible attack vectors that bypass endpoint and network defenses. Organizations must enhance AI security protocols and monitor cloud-based agent behavior to mitigate persistent threats and prevent automated propagation across enterprise ecosystems.

Benzinga

The Indian government told Parliament that only eight out of 5,892 cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money-laundering law between January 2015 and June 2025 have resulted in convictions, translating to a conviction rate of just 0.1 percent over the decade.

The extraordinarily low conviction rate has raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions in corruption and money-laundering cases, potentially intensifying demands for reforms to strengthen enforcement and speed up judicial processes.

NDTV

Chen Zhi, head of Cambodia’s Prince Group, was extradited to China over alleged involvement in large-scale crypto “pig-butchering” scams and money laundering, with multiple countries sanctioning his network and seizing billions in suspected illicit assets.

The extradition signals a tougher international push against transnational scam syndicates, but experts warn the cyber-fraud industry remains deeply entrenched and will require sustained global cooperation to dismantle.

AP News

Chen Zhi, accused of orchestrating a multi-billion-dollar crypto scam from Cambodia, was extradited to China following a request from Beijing. Despite his influential status in Cambodia, including citizenship and advisory roles, growing pressure from China led to his arrest, marking a rare government action against the thriving cyberscam economy.

The extradition signals Cambodia’s increasing responsiveness to regional pressure, particularly from China, to address its role as a cyberscam hub. However, experts caution the scam industry remains entrenched and resilient, suggesting further crackdowns may be limited.

The New York Times

The US announced it will control Venezuelan oil sales indefinitely, marketing 30-50 million barrels and directing proceeds for US and Venezuelan benefit amid political instability. This move follows the US's abduction of President Maduro and aims to reshape Venezuela's government and oil industry. UN experts warn such control violates international law and sovereignty.

Al Jazeera

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed a bill that would have reduced Jair Bolsonaro's prison sentence from 27 years to just over two years. Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup related to the 2022 election and the 2023 Brasília riots commemorated the attack by his supporters. Lula’s veto marks a firm stance to uphold democracy amid political divisions in Brazil.

The Guardian

Protests over economic hardships in Kurdish regions of Iran continue despite authorities using teargas, pellet guns, and live bullets against demonstrators. Opposition parties called a general strike as violence escalated, with at least 36 killed and over 2,100 arrested. The government faces worsening economic conditions while cracking down on dissent amid calls for unified nationwide protests.

The Guardian

India faces potential 500% US tariffs on imports for buying Russian oil, following President Trump's approval of the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025. Senator Lindsey Graham indicated this bill pressures countries like India to reduce Russian oil imports, with India negotiating tariff relief after reducing its purchases. This could intensify US-India trade tensions amid geopolitical concerns related to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The Economic Times

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