Category: News
‘Rather Brilliantly Evil’: Life In The Fast Lane With Robinhood Markets
‘Rather Brilliantly Evil’: Life In The Fast Lane With Robinhood Markets
Authored by Eric Salzman via Racket News, (emphasis ours)
By just about any metric it has been a blowout year for the retail brokerage company Robinhood Markets. The company’s stock (HOOD) price is up about 220% in 2025, revenues and account growth have shot higher, and founder Vlad Tenev has become a multi-billionaire.
Robinhood was founded in 2013 but really burst onto the scene in 2020, changing the face of the retail brokerage industry. After a near-death experience in 2021 with the infamous GameStop episode, the company has become a phoenix, rising from the ashes, turning itself into a casino that can fit in a young man’s pocket. On the Robinhood app you can buy and sell stocks, options, crypto and bet on Monday Night Football all at the same time!
Robinhood is a pusher in plain sight and dopamine is the drug it peddles. It rounds up retail, non-professional traders and matches them up with the best and fastest traders in the world and gets paid handsomely to do it. Tenev continually claims he’s democratizing investing, but his customers are, in effect, profitable lab rats. Their order flow is sold to professional trading firms and studied. They’re more like marks than investors.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported:
The chief executive of Robinhood took the stage at the online brokerage’s annual summit in Las Vegas this fall decked out in a race-car driver’s jumpsuit and customized Nikes.
Vlad Tenev told the hundreds of cheering traders in the audience that they had chosen “one of the most intense lifestyles out there.” He compared trading to driving a race car. “A finely tuned machine can make all the difference,” he said, “and that’s the role we feel Robinhood plays for our active investors.”
Vlad is right about one thing: trading for a living is definitely intense. I’ve done it professionally until I realized I really wasn’t good at it (most people aren’t) and went back to sales and strategy! A veteran trader, who was actually very good at it, said to me once, “If it were easy, Girl Scouts would be doing it.”
As far as Vlad taking the stage in race-car driver get-up and talking about a finely tuned machine making the difference, the analogy only works if the driver knows how to handle the damn car.
If you put 99.99% of us into a Formula One car, we’re going to run that thing into the first wall we see. Maybe the odds are a little better trading stocks, or options on stocks and the host of other high-octane wagers that Robinhood promotes and offers, but over the long term, not much better.
The Journal’s story includes that of a 35-year-old man who says he gets up at 6:30 a.m. every day to start trading zero-day options.
It’s a hobby he said he never would have picked up if not for how easy it is on Robinhood. “The thrill gets me going. If $500 can get me $50,000 or $60,000, let me just try.”
Good Lord.
I have to admit that I’ve looked at the meteoric growth of Robinhood with fascination and a sick sense of admiration for what Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt built.
I felt the same way when I watched “Narcos Mexico” and saw how Felix Gallardo built the first Mexican marijuana and cocaine cartel.
My admiration comes from the rather brilliantly evil way Tenev and Bhatt took their early experiences with high frequency trading (HFT), identified a new brokerage profit model that could offer a no-fee brokerage combined with a video game-like interface to serve up dopamine hits to a whole new generation of investors that the traditional brokerage houses either overlooked or didn’t know how to reach effectively.
A Ticket to Billions: Payment for Order Flow
Fee-less trading was Robinhood’s main draw when it started in 2013. You might ask yourself how Robinhood could have made money without the traditional fees a retail broker would charge per trade. To this day, most users of Robinhood don’t know the answer to this question.
From their experience with high frequency trading, the Robinhood boys learned that they didn’t have to send your order to the publicly visible New York Stock Exchange, but could sell customer orders to buy and sell stocks and options to the big and secretive HFT market makers, like Citadel, Dash, Wolverine, Susquahanna, Jane Street and Morgan Stanley, who will happily take the other side of your trade and quietly pay Robinhood for the privilege. This is called Payment for Order Flow (PFOF). You may have read or heard about this from Michael Lewis’ book, “Flashboys.” Before all the super geniuses of the planet went into Artificial Intelligence, they went to Wall Street or Chicago to build these super-fast trading algorithms that can transact in about 100 milliseconds, or faster than you can blink your eyes.
Without getting too into the weeds, when a Robinhood customer places an order to buy a stock, Robinhood can go to say, the New York Stock Exchange to fill the customer’s order or can route the order to one of the HFT market makers as long as it’s making the best effort to get the best execution (essentially, price) for the customer. The HFT market makers post where they will buy or sell a particular stock or option. The market maker profits from the difference.
Profit isn’t guaranteed but market makers typically make a penny or two per share on stock trades — and they are potentially making tens of millions of pennies per day. For options, the HFTs can make a much larger spread, anywhere from 10 cents to a few dollars. This is why HFT market makers like options! HFT market makers pay retail brokerages like Robinhood and Charles Schwab a certain amount per share of their retail orders to direct the orders to them, and as long as the retail customer is getting the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) at the moment of trade, all good, right? Maybe.
The SEC found that from 2015 to 2018, Robinhood was not disclosing to its retail clients how the company was making money off orders by selling their order flow. from the 2020 SEC press release.
“…Robinhood made misleading statements and omissions in customer communications, including in FAQ pages on its website, about its largest revenue source when describing how it made money – namely, payments from trading firms in exchange for Robinhood sending its customer orders to those firms for execution, also known as “payment for order flow.” As the SEC’s order finds, one of Robinhood’s selling points to customers was that trading was “commission free,” but due in large part to its unusually high payment for order flow rates, Robinhood customers’ orders were executed at prices that were inferior to other brokers’ prices. Despite this, according to the SEC’s order, Robinhood falsely claimed in a website FAQ between October 2018 and June 2019 that its execution quality matched or beat that of its competitors. The order finds that Robinhood provided inferior trade prices that in aggregate deprived customers of $34.1 million even after taking into account the savings from not paying a commission.
After that ethical speed bump, Robinhood really got down to business. The demographic Robinhood was going for suddenly had lots of time on its hands when Covid hit. The Robinhood app provided a fix as people went to work day-trading, especially trading options. When it comes to getting your dopamine on, trading options — especially those expiring in a week or two — can do the trick.
Leverage
Here is a simple example. Back in 2021 when stocks were on a huge bull run, especially the big technology stocks like Google, Robinhood traders used options to get leverage. Leverage means using a smaller amount of your own money to control a much larger position or exposure in the market — essentially amplifying both potential gains and losses.
In this case, one standard stock option contract gives you control over 100 shares of the underlying stock (without having to buy the shares outright). Therefore, the trader could buy 10 call option contracts for $1,200, betting that Google stock will go higher by more than about 5% in the next two weeks. That $1,200 controls exposure to 1,000 shares (10 contracts × 100 shares each), which is the leverage in action.
At the end of two weeks, if Google went up say, 7%, the options could roughly double in value (or more, depending on the details), letting the trader turn that $1,200 into a big profit. However, if Google only goes up 4% (or less than the break-even point), the options the trader paid $1,200 for expire and become worthless, and the entire $1,200 is lost.
From June 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021, (Source Bloomberg) Google went up 102% and the option bets paid off handsomely. Since this was the first time many Robinhood traders invested in options, they felt it was a license to steal! They had never really lost. However, in 2022 Google shares dropped 39% and option bets got creamed as newbie traders learned the downside of leverage. In 2021 Bloomberg News reported on Robinhood’s option activity.
New disclosures show the app’s monthly volume of options executed tripled last year, making the firm the second-most active among peers behind Charles Schwab Corp., a 50-year-old stalwart that just bought TD Ameritrade. Offering options is so lucrative that they accounted for two-thirds of Robinhood’s reported revenue from order flow, a significant source of income. A single contract can generate more money than handling 100 shares.
Using its app, clients can unlock Robinhood’s most advanced level of options strategies in minutes by tapping their details into a smartphone. They can then instantly start placing wagers on some of the most complex U.S. markets available to the investing public. Approval for similar access can take days at competitors such as Schwab and Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade.
Between 2020 and the 3rd Quarter of 2025, Robinhood has been paid billions by HFT firms for their option order flow. For example, in the 3rd quarter of 2025, HFT market makers paid Robinhood approximately $260 million.
Robinhood gets paid more than other retail brokers for its option order flow. Why?
As of September 2025 Robinhood was paid by HFT firms $0.53 per options contract. Their closest option flow competitor Schwab got $0.39 per contract. Why is Robinhood’s flow so much more valuable than Schwab’s? One theory that I subscribe to is that Robinhood’s main client base — young men — is aggressive risk takers and relatively predictable. As we learned in the “Meme Stock” craze of 2020-2021, this client base moves in herds. HFT algorithms study the trading patterns of this demographic and predict what the Robinhood customer is going to do before they do it and I would bet that Vlad and Baiju knew about this when they started the firm more than a decade ago.
The HFT firms are not guaranteed wins every time, and they are taking risk which means they are not necessarily doing anything wrong. Robinhood on the other hand, pushing option trading aggressively because they know their option order flow is the most valuable by a wide margin is, at best, sleazy.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported:
(Vlad) Tenev has come to realize that plugged-in, aggressive traders are actually key to his company’s success.
Robinhood offers a host of ordinary financial products, including retirement accounts and credit cards. It is the riskier products tailored to day traders that make the most money for the company. In the most recent quarter, customer trading generated more than half of Robinhood’s revenue, and 78% of that transaction-based revenue came from crypto and options trading.
Tenev said he directed his team to cater more to that group. “These are our most engaged customers that generate the lion’s share of our revenue,” he said in an interview. “We put our best people on active traders.”
This sort of reminds me of “The Wire” druglord Avon Barksdale
Crypto
Robinhood has continued to expand rapidly in crypto. The Block reported last week:
Robinhood wants to attract more advanced, high-volume crypto traders in both the U.S. and EU and is unveiling new features to do so, including lower fees and added leverage for altcoin futures, the company said Monday.
Hoping to woo sophisticated traders away from rival exchanges, the stock and crypto trading platform has in the U.S. expanded the number of available fee tiers from three to seven, “offering rates as low as 0.03% for high-volume traders,” Robinhood said in a statement. In the EU, users who want to trade perpetual futures will now have access to new trading pairs with eligible customers able to trade up to 7X leverage.
7x leverage on altcoins, what could possibly go wrong?
Zero Day Options
Also recently, Robinhood has piled into a fabulous product mentioned earlier, zero-day options. If there was ever a product where probably 99% of Robinhood customers should not be playing in, it is zero-day options or 0DTE (Zero Days to Expiration), especially with Michael Lewis’ “Flash Boys.”
The way the product works is, say the S&P 500 index starts the day at 6,800. The customer can buy an option that pays off if the S&P 500 goes up 1% by the end of the day or down 1% (greater than 6,868 or less than 6,732). This is called “buying volatility.” If the S&P moves more than 1% in either direction by the end of the day, the customer wins; if not customer loses. There are many iterations of this type of trade, the type of trade Flash Boys wrote the book on, and they are the ones Robinhood’s customers are trading against. Who do you think will win that one over time?
Robinhood is getting paid handsomely to serve up its customers to the sharks. I imagine there are lots of guys like the one the Wall Street Journal spoke to who put down a daily bet at the opening bell and stare at their phone or iPad until the 4 pm close instead of actually living a life.
Prediction Markets
Finally, there’s the prediction markets. Prediction markets have been around for a while. The biggest prediction exchange in the U.S. is Kalshi, which started up in 2021. Kalshi is pretty simple.
Take an event like the presidential election. The player thinks Trump will beat Harris and currently 53% of all betters think Trump will win. The player bets $0.53 on Trump, and if Trump wins the player gets $1.00 and has made $0.47. Conversely, the players that bet on Harris put up $0.47. Now you can pretty much bet on the outcome of anything with Kalshi, including most sporting events.
The genius of Kalshi is that it’s able to call its product an “event contract” regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Kalshi is now considered to be a regulated exchange. Not having its product classified as a wager, but instead a regulated financial product, means that it’s legal to sell to 18-year-olds in all 50 states. Online sports gambling sites like DraftKings at least require customers to be 21 years old.
Brilliant.
Naturally, this August, just in time for football season, Robinhood partnered with Kalshi to put prediction markets for the NFL and college football on Robinhood’s app. Then in late November, Robinhood partnered with Susquahanna (one of the HFT Flash Boys that buys Robinhood’s order flow) and bought an existing CFTC-regulated exchange, acquiring a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization (DCO), MIAXdx. Susquahanna will be the market maker. The whole shebang will be launched in 2026 and the best news is, those highly entertaining but idiotic Same Game Parlay NFL bets will be available.
Starting Tuesday, users are able to trade preset combinations of the outcome, totals and spreads of individual NFL games, and starting in early 2026, users will have the ability to create custom combos of up to 10 outcomes across NFL games. Those will have “a structural look or feel as a parlay,” JB Mackenzie, vice president and general manager of futures and international at Robinhood, told CNBC.
Even more, the company is allowing users to wager on the performances of individual NFL players in real time. For example, they can place prop bets on a certain player scoring a touchdown at any point during a game as well as the passing, receiving and rushing yards for a player.
Awesome, bro.
We have been in a bull market for stocks for three years now. At some point we are going to have a draw down, probably a big one. Unfortunately, these three years have drawn in hundreds of thousands of our kids to the Robinhood pocket-casino. I’d like to think something can be done before the bad event to at least stop Robinhood’s growth, but there’s really nothing that can or will be done. I’d like to see the prediction market on that.
You can also listen to Eric Salzman discuss Robinhood on his podcast, Monkey Business.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 08:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/rather-brilliantly-evil-life-fast-lane-robinhood-markets
Denmark Furious After Trump Names Special Envoy To Greenland
Denmark Furious After Trump Names Special Envoy To Greenland
President Donald Trump announced late Sunday on Truth Social that he is appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland. The move prompted Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, to summon the U.S. ambassador, saying the appointment suggests continued American interest in the resource-rich island.
“I am pleased to announce that I am appointing the GREAT Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the United States Special Envoy to Greenland. Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our national security and will strongly advance our country’s interests for the safety, security, and survival of our allies, and indeed, the world. Congratulations, Jeff!” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.
Following Landry’s appointment, Rasmussen told Reuters in an emailed statement, “The appointment confirms the continued American interest in Greenland. However, we insist that everyone—including the U.S.—must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
In a separate statement, Rasmussen told CBS News he was “deeply angered” by the appointment and warned Washington to respect Denmark’s sovereignty.
This prompted Denmark to summon the U.S. ambassador. Danish officials also summoned the U.S. ambassador in August after a report that at least three people with connections to Trump carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.
I am happy to see the Trump Administration isn’t giving up on acquiring Greenland. It should be one of the top goals for the Administration to require Greenland. I would tell NATO that we are done if a deal isn’t reached. There are a lot of reasons why we need to have Greenland. pic.twitter.com/se5dRz50hj
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) December 22, 2025
Trump’s proposal to buy Greenland didn’t come out of nowhere. The US has had a military presence in Greenland since World War II and became its military defender in 1951. Harry Truman offered to buy it for $100M in gold. And our bases there are still deterrents against Russia. pic.twitter.com/zLetEHvCzv
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) January 23, 2025
Trump has repeatedly stated that the U.S. should have jurisdiction over Greenland, mainly for defense and mineral-rich deposits. The strategically located Arctic island fits into the broader theme of Western Hemisphere Defense.
In March, Vice President JD Vance toured the U.S. Pituffik Space Base, met U.S. Space Force personnel on the island, and accused Denmark of underinvesting there.
According to a January opinion poll, a majority of Greenland’s 57,000 people wanted to become independent from Denmark but did not want to join the U.S.
The continued American interest in Greenland underscores the strategic importance of the resource-rich island in the Arctic for hemispheric defense purposes.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 07:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/denmark-furious-after-trump-names-special-envoy-greenland
Best Huion tablet
Which is the best Huion tablet?
In the past, an “art tablet” might have been the description for a large book of blank paper for painting or drawing. But today, art tablets are thin pieces of technology that can be used for illustration, animation or photo editing. One of the top brands for art tablets is Huion because it offers tablets at a variety of price points. If you are looking for a top-quality Huion tablet with a large drawing area, the HUION Inspiroy H610X Graphic Drawing Tablet is an excellent choice.
What to know before you buy a Huion tablet
Digital drawing and painting can be done on a graphics tablet or on a tablet computer.
Graphics tablets
Graphics tablets connect to a computer or smartphone either wirelessly or through a USB. You draw on the tablet’s pad with a special pen or stylus and view your drawing on your computer or phone. This type of tablet is less portable than tablet computers since you’ll need a separate device to view your work. That being said, graphics tablets are a wonderful option for people who are new to drawing, since there are so many affordable models.
Tablet computers
You can draw on an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy or similar tablet, but there are also tablets built with digital drawing and painting specifically in mind. With these devices, you draw directly on the screen with a special brush or pen, or even with your finger, so the experience is more like drawing on paper. You can also load apps onto these devices or send the files to your computer. These devices are typically more expensive than graphics tablets, but they are an excellent option for professional artists and designers.
What to look for in a quality Huion tablet
Pressure sensitivity
Pressure sensitivity is the most important feature of a drawing tablet. Your tablet should capture both the pressure and the motion on your screen, meaning the harder you press with your stylus or drawing utensil, the thicker or more opaque the line you draw will be. You need more pressure sensitivity if you want your artwork to look more detailed and refined. Find a tablet with at least 1,024 pressure points; most modern drawing tablets have at least 2,048 pressure points.
Resolution
Tablet resolution is measured in lines per inch, or LPI. The more lines there are, the higher the tablet’s resolution. The best tablets have at least 1,000 LPI. Professionals typically want tablets with a higher resolution, but keep in mind you won’t see much of a difference on the screen beyond 2,000 LPI.
Report rate speed
The report rate speed refers to the responsiveness of the tablet, or how long it takes for your pen strokes or brushstrokes to render on screen. Drawing will feel more natural with a faster report rate speed, which is measured in reports per second, or RPS. Buy a tablet with an RPS of 200 or more, which means the tablet will register your stroke in 1/200 of a second or less.
Function keys
Most graphics tablets have a few express keys, or hotkeys, which are used for shortcut commands. Some of these tablets actually have buttons that you can customize for your specific needs.
How much you can expect to spend on a Huion tablet
Most graphics tablets range in price from about $75-$100, but you can find some basic graphics tablets for less than $50. For tablet computers, you can expect to pay about $200-$500 on average.
Huion tablet FAQ
How difficult is it to set up a graphics tablet with a computer?
A. To set up a graphics tablet with a computer, you need to install a driver, which you can download from the website of the manufacturer, before plugging in the tablet. You might need to uninstall other drivers, and for some more expensive tablets, you have to use a graphics card to get the full color range.
What software can I run with a graphics tablet?
A. Graphics tablets are compatible with nearly any drawing and graphics program, including Krita, Corel, Gimp, Zbrush, Sketchbook, Clip Studio, Painter and Photoshop. Check the manufacturer’s website to make sure the tablet you’re interested in is compatible with the program you want to use.
What’s the best Huion tablet to buy?
Top Huion tablet
HUION Inspiroy H610X Graphic Drawing Tablet
What you need to know: This Huion precision art tablet features a big drawing area.
What you’ll love: This affordable graphics tablet offers a large working area of 10 inches by 6.25 inches, as well as eight customizable shortcuts. The tablet also features amazing pen pressure sensitivity of 8,192 levels and compatibility with most art software.
What you should consider: Some users have trouble installing the drivers on their computer.
Top Huion tablet for the money
HUION Inspiroy H640P Drawing Tablet
What you need to know: This is a screenless drawing tablet that is ideal for taking on the go.
What you’ll love: It supports Windows, Mac and Android devices and works with most art software. The battery-powered stylus is precise and easy to use. It has six programmable hotkeys.
What you should consider: The screenless design might take some time to get used to.
Worth checking out
Huion KAMVAS Pro 16 Graphics Drawing Tablet
What you need to know: If you’re willing to shell out more cash, this Huion tablet is an excellent option, with a 15.6-inch pen display, an adjustable stand and brilliant visuals.
What you’ll love: The Huion KAMVAS Pro 16 offers brilliant color, advanced pen performance and an optimized workflow with six express keys and a touch bar. The tablet is also compatible with most art software, including Lightroom, SAi, Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop.
What you should consider: This tablet is more expensive than other Huion tablets.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/best-huion-tablet/
Daywatch: Before Congress, Jonathan Jackson got $750K in state funds
Good morning, Chicago.
Before Jonathan Jackson entered Congress in 2023, a construction company he owned received nearly $750,000 through Gov. JB Pritzker’s landmark Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program, even though records show the company had scant experience and initially lacked the certification it needed to acquire state funds as a minority business.
The payments to Jackson’s 3 I Roadwork Inc. began in the year after he endorsed Pritzker’s first bid for governor in 2018. That endorsement came months after Pritzker’s campaign quietly hired Jackson as a $13,000-per-month political consultant.
The revelations about the state work and the political connections illustrate closer ties between the two Democrats than previously understood and as they both seek third terms next year — and as Pritzker’s name circulates as a potential candidate for president in 2028.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including how a garden store worker became part of the “Broadview Six,” how the Bears clinched their first playoff spot since 2020 and what to know as shake-ups at a classical station continue with the exit of a longtime host.
Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
Joselyn Walsh at her apartment on Dec. 10, 2025, in Chicago. Walsh is a musician and activist who plays with a group of musicians called Songs of Liberation. Walsh is among six protesters facing federal conspiracy charges in one of the highest-profile cases to emerge from Operation Midway Blitz. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
How a garden store worker became part of the ‘Broadview Six’
Joselyn Walsh was working from her Pilsen home last month when her phone began to ring. It was a special agent from the FBI, the caller said, and they needed to speak with her. Unfamiliar with the number, the 31-year-old part-time researcher, part-time garden store worker dismissed the call as spam. But then her cell sounded again. This time, Walsh googled the 10 digits flashing up at her. Sure enough, it was the FBI headquarters in Chicago. And they had a warrant out for her arrest.
Walsh is among six protesters facing federal conspiracy charges in one of the most high-profile cases to emerge from Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s mass deportation mission in Chicago this fall.
A privately made firearm recovered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “Privately made firearms” or “ghost guns” are often made from kits bought and sold on the Internet. A serial number is not required and buyers are not subject to a background check. In 2022, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation outlawing the possession of ghost guns in Illinois, though CPD officers still recover at least 400 every year, data show. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
CPD recovering a steady number of ‘ghost guns’ despite legislation meant to curb them
“Privately made firearms” are now the sixth most common make of gun recovered by CPD, topped only by familiar brands such as Glock, Taurus, Smith & Wesson, Sturm & Ruger and Springfield. Data from CPD show the department logs, on average, one gun recovery every seven hours throughout the year.
Ghost guns have been recovered all over Chicago, but more than 10% of them were recovered in the Englewood (7th) District on the South Side this year, the most of any patrol district.
Associate Pastor Joseph L. Morrow, at Fourth Presbyterian Church, center, prays as he stands with other Chicago-area pastors in the lobby of the County Building on Dec. 15, 2025, to demand action to reverse increases in home property taxes. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Cook County property tax troubles trigger school district losses, reform demands
The due date for property tax bills has come and gone, but Cook County officials remain under siege. On one side, a group of pastors are pressing the assessor, members of the Board of Review and the treasurer to unwind this year’s bills for South and West siders and cap future bill increases. On the other side, suburban school districts are begging to receive their share of property tax revenues to make payroll.
Caught in the middle are leaders — most of whom face reelection in less than 90 days — with only limited capacity to address their claims.
Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting about the city’s 2026 spending plan on Dec. 20, 2025, at City Hall in the Loop. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Aldermen pass 2026 budget in historic revolt against Mayor Brandon Johnson
Aldermen passed the final part of a counterproposal to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2026 budget on Saturday, in a historic meeting that redraws the political lines at City Hall and further imperils his progressive agenda.
The consequential day was punctuated by hours of floor speeches with the usual finger-pointing and grandstanding between the council’s ever-deepening factions, before a final 30-18 vote on the remainder of a $16.6 billion budget for next year that Johnson has failed to stop. The revenue package of that plan passed in a 29-19 vote a day earlier.
Even as the city plowed aside the snow on Lake Shore Drive on Jan. 12, 1979, more snow fell, making travel slow and hazardous. (Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s Fourth Annual ‘You Name a Snowplow’ contest commences
If you’ve been searching for opportunities to use your snow puns — look no further. Chicago’s Fourth Annual ‘You Name a Snowplow” contest is back.
Dionne Mhoon stands in front of the former John G. Shedd Elementary School in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood on Dec. 15, 2025. Mhoon and her nonprofit, Peace for Preston, plan to turn the shuttered CPS building into a community center in honor of her daughter, slain Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
CPS finds buyers for 3 closed schools, but repurposing remains a challenge
The low-slung building shows few signs of life: Ivy branches snake up the exterior walls, weaving through cracked brick and boarded-up windows. Its marquee sign reads like an epitaph, with faded block letters: “John G. Shedd Elementary School. A great place to learn!”
CPS shows academic gains, but more work is ahead, officials say
Chicago Bears fans Sidney Thompson, left to right, Nate Hughes and Clarence Griggs tailgate before the game against the Green Bay Packers, Dec. 20, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears fans celebrate winning season as team considers move to Indiana: ‘They need to stay in Illinois’
Crossing the line. That’s what the Bears are considering amid growing concerns that Illinois lawmakers will not approve the financial incentives needed to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights and look at northwest Indiana as a possible new home.
“They need to stay in Illinois,” said Tony Huette, of Moline, as he tailgated with Charlie McGuire in the Waldron parking lot next to Soldier Field on Saturday before the Chicago Bears’ 22-16 overtime win against the Green Bay Packers.
Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) makes the game-winning touchdown catch in overtime of a game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 20, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears clinch their 1st playoff spot since 2020
The Bears clinched a playoff spot yesterday thanks to the Detroit Lions’ 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The combination of a Bears Week 16 win — in epic fashion thanks, to DJ Moore’s overtime touchdown — against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night and a Lions loss yesterday was enough for the Bears to lock up their spot in the postseason.
Improbable win puts Bears in control of the NFC North: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 16
Undrafted Jahdae Walker grabs game-tying TD for the Bears: ‘We put that in our rookie’s hands’
WFMT radio host Bill McGlaughlin narrates an American music program with the Grant Park Orchestra at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park on July 2, 2008. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)
Shake-ups at classical station continue with exit of longtime WFMT host
On Dec. 10, classical station 98.7 WFMT announced that Peter van de Graaff would take over its long-running program “Exploring Music” from its founding host, the conductor and composer Bill McGlaughlin, next year.
McGlaughlin worked for the station on yearly contracts since he was hired to host “Exploring Music” in 2003. Both a WFMT spokesperson and McGlaughlin confirmed that his present contract expires on Dec. 31.
Chef M hugs his longtime employer Amy Le at the closed Saucy Porka restaurant on South Franklin Street in Chicago, Dec. 19, 2025. Chef M worked at the restaurant for 13 years until was stabbed in an attack near his home in October. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Amid tariffs and immigration fear, Saucy Porka’s South Loop location closes after chef was stabbed
The decision to close one of Saucy Porka’s locations was a tough one for Amy Le to make. After over a decade in the South Loop, Le, the founder and owner of the Asian and Latino cuisine restaurant, shut down that location on Dec. 15 after a difficult year.
In October, the restaurant’s beloved Chef M was beaten up by three men on his way home from a late shift. He was stabbed in his stomach five times and in his back three times, and a nerve in his right hand was sliced, leaving him unable to cook.
Best engineering toy for kids
Which engineering toy is best?
Engineering toys give kids the opportunity to learn STEM subjects through hands-on play. They’re an engaging way for kids to discover how things are built and how they work. Engineering toys give kids opportunities to build, explore and discover and get them started on technical careers in civil, mechanical, electrical and design engineering.
What to know before you buy an engineering toy
Age range
Engineering is one of the core components of STEM education. Although science, technology, engineering and math are often considered separately, they’re closely related and have a great deal of overlap. Before choosing an engineering toy for a child, first take into account the child’s age group. The scientific toy industry uses these three categories as rough indicators of developmental stages:
Ages 4-7: Preschool kids need engineering toys that are sized for their smaller hands. Pieces should be large enough to easily grasp and pick up and all pieces should be brightly colored. At this age, kids have short attention spans, so projects should be simple, straightforward and easily completed. Engineering toys for preschoolers usually involve simple components. They should include defined projects with simple instructions that are easy to follow but also allow for experimentation and self-directed play.
Ages 7-10: At this age, kid scientists want greater challenges and are ready for problems that require more thinking and concentration. Kids at this stage also begin to show preferences for specific areas within engineering, such as structural, mechanical, electrical or hydraulic engineering. Toys for this group of kids should involve lots of trial and error as well as exploration of alternate approaches to problem-solving.
Ages 10 and up: At this age, kids split into two groups. Some go more deeply into a favorite area and need engineering toys that are more detailed, more complicated and look more like real experiments than toys. The other group steps outside a preferred area and looks around at all the other possibilities. These kids get really interested in engineering toys that make working models of things like robots.
What to look for in a quality engineering toy
Components
Quality: Choose a toy that has only high-quality components. The interest in STEM education has drawn some low-quality toys to the game that are looking to compete solely on price.
Safety: Look for components that are made of safe, nontoxic materials that are sturdy and built to last. Avoid flimsy components that look like they’re fragile or easily breakable.
Expandability: As kids grow older, they need more challenges. Look for engineering toys that are designed so modules can be added and integrated with other compatible toys that take your child’s learning farther, wider and deeper.
Instructions
Look for instructions that have clear, easy-to-understand illustrations. Also, look for well-written instructions that are easy to understand.
How much you can expect to spend on an engineering toy
Most decently made engineering toys start at around $20. Bigger kits with more components cost up to $50, and high-end sets that are used to build actual working models quickly run into the hundreds of dollars.
Engineering toy FAQ
Is it best to use engineering toys with my kids or let them go it alone?
A. Preschoolers benefit greatly from shared learning with their parents if you’re there to help them when they need it without interfering or taking over. As kids get older, they’ll naturally want to play with their engineering toys on their own.
Is it important to stay within the suggested age range of an engineering toy?
A. Age categories should always be considered as general rules of thumb. Kids develop at different speeds and in different ways. Yours may benefit from an engineering toy that’s built with older kids or younger kids in mind.
What’s the best engineering toy to buy?
Top engineering toy
LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox 17101 Fun Robot Building Set and Educational Coding Kit for Kids
What you need to know: This LEGO Creative Toolbox is great for kids to learn construction and coding.
What you’ll love: Kids can build and program five different LEGO models. The companion app helps make learning coding fun. It has comprehensive instructions and a gentle learning curve.
What you should consider: You need a tablet or phone to be able to code the robot.
Top engineering toy for the money
Elenco Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Electronics Exploration Kit
What you need to know: This STEM educational toy for kids 8 and older uses 30 electronic parts to assemble more than 100 different electronic circuit projects.
What you’ll love: Kids learn to make a photo sensor, voice-controlled lamp, flying saucer, musical doorbell and more. The projects require batteries but no soldering or any tools at all because the parts are made to click together. Kids learn the fundamentals of STEM applications. Purdue University says this kit promotes engineering thinking and design skills.
What you should consider: The instructions are not up to the quality of the toy.
Worth checking out
Elenco Teach Tech Hydrobot Arm Kit
What you need to know: This hydraulic STEM building toy with more than 200 parts is for future robotic engineers 10 and older.
What you’ll love: Use this engineering toy to build a robotic arm that needs no electricity or batteries to operate because it’s powered by water pressure. The arm rotates 270 degrees through six different axes. This toy teaches the fundamentals of robotics and coding while developing problem-solving skills.
What you should consider: This intricate engineering toy is too challenging for small kids.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/best-engineering-toy-for-kids/
Pump Baby, Pump! EIA Thinks OPEC Can Produce Far More Than Anyone Expected
Pump Baby, Pump! EIA Thinks OPEC Can Produce Far More Than Anyone Expected
Authored by Julianne Geiger via OilPrice.com,
The U.S. Energy Information Administration quietly rewrote a key assumption about the global oil market this week: OPEC can produce more oil than previously thought.
In its December Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA updated how it defines and estimates OPEC crude oil production capacity. The result was a material upward revision.
The agency now estimates OPEC’s effective production capacity was higher by about 220,000 barrels per day in 2024, 370,000 bpd in 2025, and 310,000 bpd in 2026 compared with its earlier assessments.
The change didn’t come from new drilling or surprise barrels. It came from a rethink of what “capacity” actually means.
The EIA refined two concepts it uses to assess supply risk: maximum sustainable capacity and effective production capacity. Maximum sustainable capacity is the theoretical upper limit a producer could reach within a year if everything runs smoothly. Effective capacity is more practical — the amount of oil that could realistically be brought online within 90 days and sustained without damaging fields or infrastructure. That second number is what the EIA uses to judge how much oil is actually available to respond to market shocks.
By tightening those definitions and reassessing disruptions, the agency concluded that OPEC’s buffer is larger than previously assumed. Because actual OPEC production estimates were left mostly unchanged, the revisions flowed almost directly into higher estimates of spare capacity.
This spare capacity serves as the oil market’s shock absorber.
When it’s thin (or thought to be thin), prices react violently to wars, sanctions, hurricanes, or refinery outages. When it’s fat, geopolitical risk carries less pricing power. In its latest update, the EIA is effectively telling the market that supply is less fragile than many traders believed.
This complicates OPEC+ messaging.
The group has leaned heavily on the narrative of tight capacity to justify production discipline. The EIA’s recalculation doesn’t blow that argument up, but it does weaken it.
As the EIA tells it, the market may not be as close to the supply edge as it thought. And that’s not a bullish message.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 07:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/pump-baby-pump-eia-thinks-opec-can-produce-far-more-anyone-expected
Column: Cheese grater hats and a new Japanese slugger for the White Sox? It’s a Christmas miracle
We went to bed Saturday night with visions of cheese graters dancing in our heads, and woke up Sunday morning with a surprise gift from White Sox Santa.
Some things we learned from a wild weekend of watching sports in Chicago.
I’m not sure how DJ Moore got the cheese grater hat he wore during the Bears postgame celebration of their miraculous 22-16 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers, but it was a perfect trolling of Packers fans who made the cheesehead hat popular in the 1990s. Kudos to Moore, the victim of a dirty hit in the first quarter, for making the game-winning catch and telling Fox Sports’ Tom Rinaldi, “At the end of the day, it’s F the Packers always.” While it had nothing to do with the North Side baseball team, it was reminiscent of the Milwaukee Brewers players waving an “L” flag after their playoff win over the Cubs in October. Good luck finding a cheese grater hat for that last-minute Christmas gift. All the places I called Sunday had none in stock. If the Bears and Packers meet again in the playoffs, you can bet someone will find a way to sell them outside Soldier Field.
A fan dressed as the Grinch is seen behind Chicago Bears fans and a Green Bay Packers fan wearing a cheesehead hat during a game between the Bears and the Packers at Soldier Field in Chicago on Dec. 20, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren is adamant that they want to build an enclosed stadium, whether it’s in Indiana, Arlington Heights or wherever. But Saturday’s game was another example of why Chicago doesn’t need an indoor stadium. The wind was a major factor in the game, from Cairo Santos’ field goals to the onside kick that changed the momentum. And if the game was played indoors, there would not have been the need for sideline heaters, depriving fans of the juicy conspiracy theories that circulated when the Packers’ heaters went out in the first half. Whatever the Bears decide on the stadium site, they really need to ask themselves whether Chicago wants an enclosed facility. Crazy weather is part of the Bears’ legacy, and it made Saturday’s win that much fun to watch.
The White Sox signing of Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami was the kind of risk general manager Chris Getz needed to take to get fans interested in 2026. The two-year, $34 million deal is chicken feed in baseball free agency, but for the Sox it seems a major expenditure. Murakami, a left-handed power hitter, can cash in if he lives up to his billing and hits 40-plus home runs. And if that happens, the Sox probably won’t be able to afford him after 2027. Yes, he will strike out a lot and perhaps draw comparisons to Adam Dunn in his Sox days. No, he’s not a good fielder and might be better off sticking as the designated hitter. None of this will matter if he can bring attention to the Sox and give fans something to look forward to at the ballpark other than the great food or that day’s souvenir giveaway.
Japan’s Munetaka Murakami hits a home run during the gold medal baseball game against the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Aug. 7, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Resounding first-round losses by Tulane and James Madison in the College Football Playoff suggests the playoff field should be reserved for the Power 4 teams and a ranked independent, i.e. Notre Dame. Letting these two poseurs in made two of the four first-round games unwatchable, as the ratings are likely to reflect. Everyone loves a Cinderella story like Saint Peter’s or Loyola in the NCAA basketball tournament. But college football is a completely different story. Please let the Cinderellas play in their own playoffs.
Nothing makes me reach for the TV remote more than the sight of Jeff Goldblum and his kid in their car on the way to watch a movie I’ll never see.
Connor Bedard needs to rest his ailing shoulder to return to the ice, but not just for the Blackhawks’ disappearing chances of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. He deserved a shot at making Team Canada before the shoulder injury, and hopefully will still be selected and make it to the Olympics, which begin in February in Italy.
I’m embarrassed to admit I watched the Jake Paul fight on Netflix, though only because I didn’t have to pay extra for it. After getting his face beat in and his jaw broken in two places by Anthony Joshua, hopefully Paul will go back to doing whatever it was he did that made him famous in the first place. His boxing “career” is a tired act.
If the Bears do move to Hammond, will they have to get a new fight song, or change the lyrics to “pride and joy of Indiana”?
After his much-maligned rookie season in the Fox Sports booth, Tom Brady is hands down the winner of the Comeback Announcer of the Year award. His analysis of the Bears-Packers game was astute, even down to the Packers’ heater malfunction. Who knew he had it in him?
No one gets more credit for the Bears’ success than Pope Leo XIV, whose ascension coincided with the miracle finishes in 2025. If they do get to the Super Bowl, the Bears have to find a way to get him to the game, or at least have him photographed wearing a cheese grater hat.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/22/column-christmas-miracle-chicago-bears-white-sox/
U.S. Department of Energy to give Fermilab $8 million for job program for veterans
The Batavia-based Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will again be getting funds from the United States Department of Energy for its job retention program for U.S. military veterans, the lab announced recently.
Fermilab will be receiving $8 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of High Energy Physics for 2026 to 2030, according to a news release from Fermilab on Dec. 17, a considerable increase from the $2.35 million it was awarded for fiscal years 2022 to 2025.
The funds will go toward Fermilab’s Veteran Applied Laboratory Occupational Retraining, or VALOR, program, which provides training and career opportunities to veterans at the start of their civilian careers, according to the news release. The program includes both hands-on training and full-time technical career placement and security at the lab.
“The cutting-edge training and education veterans receive during their service along with their commitment to teamwork is a great transition to technical positions at the national labs,” Gina Rameika, the Department of Energy’s Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics, said in the news release.
The VALOR program, launched in 2022, expanded the lab’s VetTech internship program, which was initiated in 2016, per the news release. The lab says that the program aims to “(leverage) veterans’ advanced technical skills and leadership” and address “critical workforce challenges.”
It’s comprised of four different programs, according to Fermilab’s website. There’s an internship for Illinois high school students and recent graduates in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or JROTC, program; an apprenticeship program for ROTC physics undergraduate students; a 10-week training and career program for military veterans looking to build their technical and computing career options; and a six-month apprenticeship program for veterans at the beginning of their civilian careers.
Military veterans can specialize in a variety of areas, the news release noted, like fabricating, assembling, testing and repairing electronic or mechanical equipment, systems, devices and databases. They can also work in information technology, procurement or in environmental, safety and health, the release said.
In 2022, Fermilab began reaching out to local high school ROTC cadets to promote and amplify its learning and career opportunities at the lab, the release noted.
Anthony Ramirez, who currently works as a mechanical technician in the Accelerator Target Systems Division at Fermilab, said the VALOR program “helped (him) grow both professionally and personally.”
“Coming from an NJROTC background at East Aurora High School, I value structure, discipline and teamwork,” Ramirez said in the news release. “These qualities aligned well with Fermilab’s collaborative environment. I gained hands-on technical experience, mentorship and a clear direction for my future in STEM.”
Ramirez is currently attending Waubonsee Community College with the goal of becoming a mechanical engineer, the release said.
Fermilab Director of Workforce Pathways and Partnerships Sandra Charles also pointed to the lab’s history of retaining individuals from the program as full-time employees.
“From 2022 to 2025, we hired 22 participants of the VALOR program,” Charles said in the release. “We are grateful to DOE for their continued support of this important program and look forward to expanding the success of VALOR in the coming years.”
Individuals looking for more information on the program can go to https://internships.fnal.gov/valor/ or apply at https://fermilab.jobs/.
El papa hace una suave crítica a la cultura del Vaticano en su mensaje navideño a la Curia
Por NICOLE WINFIELD
ROMA (AP) — El papa León XIV instó el lunes a los cardenales del Vaticano a dejar de lado sus ambiciones de poder e intereses personales, siguiendo los pasos del papa Francisco y aprovechando un saludo navideño para criticar suavemente a sus colaboradores más cercanos.
“¿Es posible ser amigos en la Curia Romana?” preguntó León a los cardenales y obispos que componen la Curia, como se conoce a la burocracia de la Santa Sede. “¿Tener relaciones de auténtica amistad fraterna?”.
El hecho de que León planteara la pregunta sugiere que el papa estadounidense sabe bien que la Curia sigue siendo un lugar de trabajo difícil y a veces tóxico, uno que Francisco solía criticar duramente en sus discursos navideños anuales.
León no repitió la crítica más mordaz de Francisco —que dijo que el clero del Vaticano a veces sufre de “Alzheimer espiritual”, el “cáncer” de las camarillas, la “corrupción” de la ambición y el chisme “egocéntrico”— y su tono fue mucho más suave y constructivo.
Pero el mensaje subyacente permaneció. León, quien fue muy cercano a Francisco y trabajó en el Vaticano durante dos años antes de su elección, no evitó la costumbre de Francisco de aprovechar la ocasión navideña para instar a los burócratas del Vaticano a examinar sus conciencias y cambiar sus formas por el bien de la Iglesia.
“A veces esta amargura también se encuentra entre nosotros, cuando, después de muchos años de servicio en la Curia, observamos con decepción que ciertas dinámicas —vinculadas al ejercicio del poder, el deseo de prevalecer o la búsqueda de intereses personales— son lentas en cambiar”, dijo León.
“En medio del trabajo diario, es una gracia encontrar amigos de confianza, donde las máscaras caen, nadie es utilizado o marginado, se ofrece un apoyo genuino, y se respeta el valor y la competencia de cada persona, evitando el resentimiento y la insatisfacción.”
Después del a veces tumultuoso pontificado de 12 años de Francisco, en el que el jesuita argentino en ocasiones enojó a los conservadores y a algunos en la burocracia del Vaticano, León generalmente ha buscado ser más un pacificador que valora la unidad.
El lunes, hizo un llamado a los burócratas del Vaticano para que trabajen en forjar la comunión dentro de la Iglesia y más allá.
“En un mundo herido por la discordia, la violencia y el conflicto, donde también somos testigos de un aumento en la agresión y la ira, a menudo explotadas tanto por la esfera digital como por la política, la Navidad invita a todos a trabajar por la paz y la fraternidad universal”, dijo.
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La cobertura de religión de Associated Press recibe apoyo a través de la colaboración de AP con The Conversation US, con financiación de Lilly Endowment Inc. AP es el único responsable de este contenido.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Beijing Condemns Trump’s Gunboat Diplomacy After China-Bound Tanker Seizure
Beijing Condemns Trump’s Gunboat Diplomacy After China-Bound Tanker Seizure
Beijing has condemned the U.S. interception of sanctioned crude tankers off the Venezuelan coast after a China-bound oil tanker was seized on Saturday. Beijing said Venezuela has the right to conduct trade with other countries.
Reuters cited China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian at a regular press briefing, who said the US seizure of another country’s tanker was a serious violation of international law. Jian added that China opposes all “unilateral and illegal” sanctions.
On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the Centuries, which was loaded with 1.8 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude and was flying under the false name “Crag.” The tanker was bound for China.
China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude, but Venezuelan oil accounts for only about 4% of China’s total crude imports.
Reuters reports that data this year show Venezuelan crude exports to China range from 400,000 to 580,000 barrels per day, depending on the period and shipping patterns.
A White House spokesperson told Reuters that the Centuries was a “falsely flagged vessel” and carried sanctioned oil that was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet.
So far, the US has seized two sanctioned tankers. The first, VLCC Skipper, earlier this month. Skipper is set to be unloaded in the coming days at the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area (GOLA). After Saturday’s seizure, news hit late afternoon Sunday of US forces in pursuit of yet another tanker.
All of this fits within the Trump administration’s gunboat diplomacy foreign policy strategy, which is designed to accelerate regime instability in Caracas while materially weakening Cuba; the core objective is to disrupt financial flows, sever funding channels, and allow second- and third-order effects to follow.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/22/2025 – 06:55
