The headlines followed by the global financial media last night and this morning are as follows:

1. Bubble expert Grantham: the historic collapse of the "super bubble" of US stocks has begun.

2. The Federal Reserve released the central bank's digital currency research report, but did not take a position on creating digital dollars.

3. Second-hand housing sales in the United States fell for the first time in four months in December due to a decline in housing supply and rising interest rates.

4. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approves the antitrust bill against technology giants

5. Russia's central bank plans to completely ban cryptocurrency mining and trading.

6. American Airlines expects to return to profitability in March to warn of rising costs

Bubble expert Grantham: the historic collapse of US stocks forming a "super bubble" has begun.

Jeremy Grantham, a prominent investor who has been predicting market bubbles for decades, said the stock market was entering the historic crash he predicted a year ago and that even Fed intervention could not stop the eventual collapse of nearly 50 per cent.

The GMO co-founder said in a report released on Thursday that the US stock market was in the fourth "super bubble" in the past 100 years. He is confident that the bubble will burst as it did during the stock market crash of 1929, the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000 and the financial crisis in 2008, bringing the market index back to statistical normality and perhaps even falling further.

That means the s & p is down about 45 per cent from Wednesday's close and 48 per cent from its high on January 4th to 2500, he said. The Nasdaq composite index has fallen 8.3% this month, or a bigger correction.

"A year ago, I was not as sure about this bubble as I was about the 2000 tech bubble, or when I was in Japan, or when I was in the 2007 housing bubble," Grantham said in an interview. "I used to think it was very likely, but I may not be quite sure. Today, I feel almost certain. "

The Federal Reserve released the central bank's digital currency research report but did not take a position on creating a digital dollar.

The Federal Reserve released its long-awaited study of the central bank's digital money (CBDC) on Thursday, exploring the pros and cons of the controversial issue and soliciting public opinion.

The 40-page report, which is described as "the first step in open discussions between the Fed and stakeholders on central bank digital money", avoids any conclusions about central bank digital money. The report was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2021.

Instead, the report details the benefits of CBDC, such as accelerating electronic payment systems at a time when financial transactions around the world have been highly digitized. Some of the adverse issues discussed in the report include financial stability risks and privacy protection, while preventing fraud and other illegal issues.

"CBDC can fundamentally change the structure of the US financial system and change the roles and responsibilities of the private sector and central banks," the report said. "

But the report also noted that it was "not intended to promote specific policy outcomes and does not take any position on the ultimate desirability of the digital dollar".

"the introduction of CBDC will represent a very important innovation for the US currency," the report said. Extensive consultations with the public and key stakeholders are therefore essential. This report is the first step in such a dialogue. "

The Fed also said it would not continue to issue CBDC without explicit authorization from Congress, ideally in the form of a "specific authorization law".

Second-hand housing sales in the United States fell for the first time in four months in December as housing supply fell and interest rates rose.

Although the full-year performance was the strongest since 2006, the decline in the number of homes for sale led to a decline in US second-hand home sales in December, and the recent surge in mortgage rates could lead to a further slowdown in home purchases.

Sales of second-hand homes fell 4.6 per cent in December from a month earlier to an annualised rate of 6.18 million, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday. However, sales climbed to 6.12 million units for the whole of last year, with house prices rising at their biggest pace since 1999.

The decline in December sales was due to a decline in the number of homes for sale and a faster rise in mortgage rates. Mortgage rates have risen to their highest level since March 2020. The number of properties for sale hit a record low last month.

"even if sales fall, high prices indicate that buyers still exist," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said on a conference call with reporters. It's just that the shortage of housing hinders some sales activities.

The median price of a second-hand home in December rose 15.8 per cent from a year earlier to $358000. It was 354400 dollars last month.

Us Senate Judiciary Committee approves antitrust bill against tech giants

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the antitrust bill against Apple Inc, Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.Com Inc and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc-CL C on Thursday, closer to being considered by the full Senate.

The bill, sponsored by senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley, would prohibit companies from giving additional advantages to their products on their own platforms. Smaller competitors say these companies play the role of goalkeepers, taking advantage of unfair business practices to maintain dominance.

The companies involved in the bill warned that the legislation would give foreign competitors an advantage, which in turn would undermine US innovation, pose risks to user privacy and security, and damage products that consumers love.

Russia's central bank plans to completely ban cryptocurrency mining and trading

The central bank of Russia, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency mining country, proposed on Thursday a total ban on mining and use of cryptocurrency at home.

Russia's central bank said in a report released on Thursday that cryptocurrency has pyramid scheme characteristics, undermines the sovereignty of monetary policy and poses a threat to Russia's financial system.

"the potential financial stability risks associated with cryptocurrencies are much higher for emerging markets, including Russia," the report said. This is due to the traditionally high propensity for foreign exchange savings and the lack of financial literacy. "

Russia's central bank believes that cryptocurrency mining undermines the country's green agenda, endangers Russia's energy supply, magnifies the negative impact of cryptocurrency proliferation and creates incentives to evade regulation.

American Airlines expects to return to profit in March to warn of rising costs

American Airlines Group Inc predicted on Thursday that it would return to profit in March after reporting a small loss in the fourth quarter of last year, but said cost pressures would remain high this year because of the turmoil caused by a variant of O'Micron.

American Airlines said ticket sales had not yet returned to pre-O'Micron levels, but were recovering "rapidly" after a "sharp" decline in early December.

Domestic leisure travel and short-haul international passenger traffic in the US are approaching 2019 levels, but demand for long-distance international is still being challenged, the company said.

Domestic business travel, which accounted for 30% of the company's passenger revenue in 2019, returned to about 70% of its pre-epidemic level in the fourth quarter. However, American Airlines said that the new novel coronavirus variant led to fluctuations in travel demand, creating "the most challenging planning environment in the history of commercial aviation".

American Airlines expects capacity to fall by about 8% to 10% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2019, and by 5% for the whole year. In addition, revenue is expected to fall 20% to 22% compared with the same period in 2019 because of the impact of the Omicron variant on demand in the first two months of the first quarter of this year.