AdvertisementThose worries sharpened after Microsoft’s results, sending traders out of pricey tech and into cheaper pockets of the market. The CBOE volatility index .VIX, Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” rose 3.8 points to 20.49, hitting an over two-month high. The S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS slid 3.2%, chalking up a seventh straight session in the red and wiping out about $830 billion in market value since January 28. AdvertisementAs traders dialed back exposure to pricey AI stocks, the market’s rotation into cheaper, overlooked corners kept gathering steam. The S&P 600 small-cap index .SPCY, the S&P 500 value index .IVX and the S&P 400 mid-cap index .SP400 were all on track for weekly gains, even as the S&P 500 was staring at a drop of more than 2%.

The internet is positively buzzing with people offering The Washington Post free advice following its massive layoffs on WednesdayI compiled a bunch of this advice from Twitter and Bluesky, and present it here in no particular order. Oh, and “The Washington Post” in the headline should probably have an asterisk by it: Much of this feedback is aimed, specifically, at Post owner Jeff Bezos. NYT hired away great Post reporters expanded offerings beyond hard news, had more successful podcasts. There’s your problem, in a nutshell.” (source)ELIZABETH SPIERS: “I don’t buy the idea that Bezos is intentionally killing the Post. We’re all building what we couldn’t at the Washington Post.” (source)JESSICA LESSIN: “I think Bloomberg is the answer.” (source)GABRIEL SNYDER: “A modest proposal for Jeff Bezos: donate the Washington Post to ProPublica to operate as a non-profit readers-revenue supported news outlet.” (source)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdown of the federal government in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. via Associated PressDonald Trump has now backed Keir Starmer’s Chagos deal once again just weeks after attacking it. AdvertisementBut, after a phone call with the prime minister on Thursday, Trump U-turned again, and now seems much more at ease with the plan. In a post on TruthSocial, he wrote: “I understand that the deal prime minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make. And, once Trump had supposedly worked up a “framework of a future deal” with Nato over Greenland, he dropped the tariff threat.

U.S. forward Laila Edwards is tripped by Czechia forward Barbora Jurickova during a 5-1 U.S. win in group play at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Thursday. Laila Edwards finally got out from under the spotlight and onto the ice for the U.S. women’s hockey team Thursday. “I couldn’t even imagine that,” forward Abbey Murphy said of Edwards, who skated a team-high 25 shifts Thursday. She’s magic on the blue line.”At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds — making her the biggest and most physical player on the U.S. team — Edwards was well-suited for the move. “And they’re really cool guys.”After her Olympic debut Thursday, there are a lot of little girls who can say the same about Edwards.

LOADING ERROR LOADINGRep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) refuted claims that she drank alcohol and used marijuana “excessively” through a series of social media posts on Tuesday, saying she can’t drink too much due to a “genetic affliction” — only to be countered by one of her former staffers. In response, the South Carolina representative wrote in an X post that she is physically incapable of drinking in excess. In a video clip posted Tuesday on X, Mace accused the “fake news” of “spreading the lies” that she abuses alcohol. She also added that she’s not “supposed” to drink alcohol but does so “socially, occasionally,” noting that it “would cause all sorts of disease on my organs, cancer, etc. The accusations come after the House Ethics Committee announced in January that it is investigating allegations against Mace, who is currently running for governor of South Carolina.

[5] The proposed FY 2027 budget includes $9.3 million to fund 404 additional Georgia Housing Vouchers slots to help meet that new provision. The Governor’s Budget Report, AFY 2026 – FY 2027. https://opb.georgia.gov/budget-information/budget-documents/governors-budget-reports[2] Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Justice Department obtains comprehensive agreement regarding the state of Georgia’s mental health and developmental disability system. https://gbpi.org/overview-2026-fiscal-year-budget-for-state-housing-programs/[5] Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities budget overview [Testimony for Joint Appropriations Committee starting at 18 minutes].

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIALBEARSSSSSSThe Bears are bringing back a familiar face as their running backs coach. Studesville also was a Bears assistant from 1997 through 2000 under Dave Wannstedt and Dick Jauron. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRONSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE PAGE2nd City Gridiron is our video home! THE RULESWindy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. No personal attacks, politics, gender-based insults of any kind, racial insults, profanity, etc.

Some Democrats think AIPAC's unexpected attacks on former Rep. Tom Malinowski could accidentally provide a boost to progressive Analilia Mejia. And many Democrats in New Jersey — including some otherwise sympathetic to AIPAC’s cause — think targeting Malinowski is only increasing the chances Mejia can come out of a crowded primary and become the newest member of the progressive “Squad,” a group AIPAC has previously sought to extinguish. “They’re taking a big risk here,” said one Democratic operative in the state who works for an elected official friendly with AIPAC and requested anonymity to preserve relationships. “It feels like a case of mistaken identity,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the moderate pro-Israel group J Street. “The DLGA has not coordinated with AIPAC or any other outside organization in NJ-11,” a spokeswoman for the group said.

We also could be dealing with other very common issues that are secretly contributing to our memory lapses. “Many of us are sleep deprived,” Suzuki, the author of “Happy Brain, Happy Life,” said. Advertisement“I’ve also learned that too much [sleep] is almost as bad as not enough [for optimal brain function],” Suzuki said. “[They’ll] really do a number on your ability to remember things,” Suzuki said. Advertisement“Exercise builds up that growth factor that goes directly to the hippocampus and grows new brain cells,” Suzuki told us.

The Disneyland Resort, currently in the midst of its 70th celebration, has increased prices on most single day, single park tickets. Hall-Smith said California residents get admission to Disneyland or neighboring California Adventure for as little as $50 a day, though those discounted passes are limited. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)“Last year we took our grandsons. It cost well over a thousand dollars for one day,” one California woman said in a New York Times comment section. The Feb. 6 1887 front page of the Los Angeles Daily Times references an unprecedented snow that hit the San Francisco Bay Area.

— Plan was expected to be put to the Cabinet today before it was withdrawn from the meeting of Government Ministers. A reported plan by Ireland’s Government to make the wearing of helmets and high-vis mandatory for e-scooter and “e-bike” users includes all bicycles, even those without a motor, the Department of Transport has confirmed this afternoon. The move would make Ireland the only EU country to mandate bicycle helmets, and possibly the only member State to force people to wear high-vis generally. Australia mandates helmets, but this is linked to years of decline in cycling, and mandatory helmets are also linked to low use of bicycle share schemes in Melbourne and Brisbane. In Ireland, it is expected that primary legislation will be required to legally require people to wear high-vis and helmets.

His announcement came in the wake of a bombshell story published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times saying Bass directed the watering-down of an after-action report critical of the L.A. fire department’s handling of the deadly Palisades Fire. “I have made the difficult decision not to run for Mayor of Los Angeles,” Beutner said in a statement Thursday morning. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third-hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false,” the statement continued. Bass later spoke on KNX to again vehemently deny she directed edits to the after-action report. I’m the one who ordered the after-action report when the fire chief would not do it.

Dear Eric: I’m a 73-year-old female who happily maintained a friendship I made my freshman year in college. She proudly reported that she was especially healthy, took no medications and came from a family who lived long lives. Dear Eric: This is in response to “You Gonna Finish That?”, who was concerned about restaurant food waste and wanted to ask strangers for their leftovers at restaurants. This cuts down on food waste and allows restaurants to recover some of their food costs. I’ve checked out the app in the past, and it does a great job helping restaurants to reduce food waste.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin walks into the Senate Chamber on December 11, in Washington, DC. Slotkin said in a video posted to X that she has informed Attorney General Pam Bondi and DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro she won’t sit for an interview. “Earlier today, I sent a letter to Attorney General Bondi and to the lead Department of Justice lawyer in DC, Jeanine Pirro, telling them 1. “I’m not going to legitimize their actions,” Slotkin said after saying she won’t be sitting for an interview at this time. CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

A sign reading “I like my coffee without ICE” is posted in the window of Cafe de Leche in Highland Park. “It’s 18, 20 bucks for, like, a hundred whistles,” Clem said, displaying a sandwich-size baggie of 100 multicolored whistles in the shape of small pencils. “We’re blowing $20 on coffee, right?” Clem said. AdvertisementWhen I asked Schodorf about joining ranks with the whistle brigade, he mentioned his wife, Cafe de Leche co-owner Anya Schodorf. “My dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge, right?” Clem said.