George Pearkes
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peark.es
George Pearkes
@peark.es
66K followers 920 following 81K posts
No longer Bluesky’s only resident finance bro | Macro Strategist | Even the blind squirrel get a nut sometime. | QCR: Non Culto, For The Crown. | 🇺🇸 via 🇨🇦. Not 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. | Normal man, one of the Normal Men

*ALL CAPS HEADLINES LIKE THIS ARE FROM BLOOMBERG

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peark.es
George Pearkes @peark.es · Dec 23
New policy: "oh you believe this data?" just gets you blocked.
peark.es
Ah much better. I was just staring at the graph for a solid three minutes trying to figure out why it was implying a 65% national GOP vote share!
February 10, 2026 at 7:50 PM
peark.es
Maybe we will maybe we won't.

IMO it's just a question of level vs rate of change. The level of American soft power is still extremely high by any measure. Its first derivative is clearly negative. Its second derivative, maybe positive maybe negative, but higher than it was three or six months ago.
February 10, 2026 at 7:49 PM
peark.es
Sure, but the power to command attention and discussion doesn't go away just because part of the cultural apparatus generating it is opposed to the current state of affairs.
February 10, 2026 at 7:48 PM
peark.es
Presuming soft power can only be exercised by one person (a given country's executive) is an absolutely laughable and deranged mental model lmfao
February 10, 2026 at 7:46 PM
peark.es
Congrats on being the one person I'm aware of to hate on Puerto Rico in the last 48 hours, impressive stuff.
February 10, 2026 at 7:45 PM
peark.es
Shouldn't this be scaled by county population?
February 10, 2026 at 7:45 PM
peark.es
You're aware of where the World Cup and next summer Olympics are being played, yes?
February 10, 2026 at 7:42 PM
peark.es
a man with curly hair is drinking from a coconut with a pink umbrella in his mouth
Alt: bad bunny is drinking from a coconut with a pink umbrella in his mouth
media.tenor.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:41 PM
peark.es
I mean, yes, but let's also just remember what this entire website (Americans in the hemispheric sense and non-Americans alike) was posting about furiously less than two days ago. American soft power may be in decline but pretending it's dead is wishful thinking.
seva.bsky.social Seva @seva.bsky.social · 4h
people born in america probably don’t realize how cool america used to be. the death of US soft power is going to have long term consequences we are only beginning to see
February 10, 2026 at 7:39 PM
peark.es
IG Metall vs a guy named Andre? I'm taking IG Metall.
February 10, 2026 at 7:36 PM
peark.es
like this piece is fundamentally opposed to doing material analysis and that doesn't make it wrong but it's very funny.
February 10, 2026 at 7:35 PM
peark.es
I don't disagree with his points really but "knowing that the FLPMA is a really important institution for managing climate because it has so much impact on land use is NERD stuff and ALIENATES people" is a really funny jumping off point!?
February 10, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by George Pearkes
rodger.bsky.social
new most bizarre moment of the Olympics just dropped

Norwegian biathlete wins bronze medal, then, totally unprompted, reveal he cheated on his GF, she left him, and he wants to apologize publicly hoping she takes him back

www.vg.no/sport/i/vr5g...
a Norwegian man crying on air while being interviewed, with his biathlon stats besides him In the interview with NRK, he first started by thanking everyone who has helped him on the path to his first individual Olympic medal. And then – unprompted – he made an admission: – And then there's someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching today. Six months ago I met the love of my life. The most beautiful and kindest person in the world. Three months ago I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her, and I told her about it a week ago. It's been the worst week of my life, he says tearfully in the interview.
February 10, 2026 at 5:05 PM
peark.es
that's right,,,
February 10, 2026 at 6:44 PM
peark.es
I’ll get another 100k miles out of my Lightning minimum so not in the market anytime soon.
February 10, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by George Pearkes
brokentoys.social
Anthropic's head of safety just resigned.

Most likely a protest against the company's pivot to working with Palantir and Gulf Arab states. The "don't be evil" stage gets shorter.

(I still think Anthropic is the most morally run of the AI corps but it's like cherrypicking rooms on fire.)
February 10, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by George Pearkes
clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social
Outstanding work by all parties
reginageorgebush.bsky.social Kevin @reginageorgebush.bsky.social · 4h
BIG NEWS FROM NJ-11: former Rep. Tom Malinowski concedes, congratulates Analilia Mejia on a positive and well-run campaign, blames AIPAC for his loss, and promises to vigorously oppose anyone AIPAC backs against Mejia in June
Congressman Tom Malinowski Congratulates Analilia Mejia, Warns of Dark Money's Impact on NJ-11 Race I congratulate Analilia Mejia on her hard won victory in the NJ-11 special primary. I look forward to supporting her in the April general election. It is essential that we send a Democrat to Washington to fill this seat, not a rubber stamp for Trump. Analilia deserves unequivocal praise and credit for running a positive campaign and for inspiring so many voters on Election Day. But the outcome of this race cannot be understood without also taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads during the last three weeks. I wish I could say today that this effort, which was meant to intimidate Democrats across the country, failed in NJ-11. But it did not. I met several voters in the final days of the campaign who had seen the ads and asked me, sincerely: "Are you MAGA? Are you for ICE?" My convictions - including my support for Israel as a democratic and Jewish state - don't change because of who supports or opposes me. But our Democratic Party should have nothing to do with a pro-Trump-billionaire-funded organization that demands absolute fealty to positions that are outside the mainstream of the American pro-Israel community, and then smears those who don't fall into line. If AIPAC backs a candidate - openly or surreptitiously - in the June NJ-11 Congressional primary, I will oppose that candidate and urge my supporters to do so as well. The threat unlimited dark money poses to our democracy is far more significant than the views of a single member of Congress on Middle East policy. I am proud of the joyful and substantive campaign my team and I ran, and am immensely grateful to the volunteers and staff who made it possible. Their mission, and mine, will continue. -Tom Malinowski
February 10, 2026 at 3:31 PM
peark.es
So all three legs of this hit some sort of record. Talk on the CHF tranche isn't as strong vs IPT as the GBP and USD batches but robust demand regardless.

*ALPHABET RAISES OVER CHF3 BLN IN RECORD SWISS FRANC BOND SALE
February 10, 2026 at 2:40 PM
peark.es
No I'm talking about cash comp volatility. Not sure if it's been an issue recently but I always focus on non-incentive industries because you never know when it's going to rear its head, been doing this for years.
February 10, 2026 at 2:28 PM
peark.es
correct!
February 10, 2026 at 2:26 PM
peark.es
If we're measuring total consumer spending power, fair enough. If we're measuring labor market tightness, I maintain private ECI w/o distortive effects of bonus-driven ideosyncracies is the best way to look at it.
February 10, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by George Pearkes
tobyn.bsky.social
🚨 BDCs manage around $500bn of private credit. How exposed are they to AI-disruption?

Lots and lots of cool charts.
www.ft.com/content/3f88...
February 10, 2026 at 2:18 PM
peark.es
Okay Jim Farley codes as VERY McDonalds, I approve of this one. Get big Jim his Quarter Pounder.

*MCDONALD'S NAMES JAMES D. FARLEY TO BOARD
A picture of Jim Farley, CEO of Ford and new MCD board member
February 10, 2026 at 2:18 PM
peark.es
#$DUK: 4.5GW of signed data center contracts including w/ #$MSFT and Compass. 5GW of new generation construction started to meet that demand. Notably, mgmt thinks that new load will actually lower other customer costs (lower average fixed costs). We'll see.
February 10, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by George Pearkes
professorbutts.com
“oh no i have to get better at driving” cmon son
February 10, 2026 at 2:10 PM