Category: News
¿Está la NFL ampliando demasiado sus fronteras? Australia pondría a prueba su expansión global
Por KEN MAGUIRE
LONDRES (AP) — Los Rams de Los Ángeles llegaron a Londres apenas 30 horas antes del inicio del partido contra los Jaguars de Jacksonville en octubre.
Eso no será posible cuando jueguen en Australia la próxima temporada.
El partido en Melbourne forma parte de un compromiso de varios años y representa una nueva frontera para el agresivo plan internacional de la NFL. La liga nunca ha montado un partido de temporada regular tan lejos de casa, y el comisionado Roger Goodell ya ha dicho que Asia seguirá “poco después”.
Goodell espera eventualmente organizar 16 partidos por temporada a nivel internacional, una escalada que podría facilitarse si la liga aprueba una temporada de la NFL de 18 partidos. El número máximo actual de partidos internacionales permitidos por temporada es de 10, según el acuerdo de negociación colectiva con la Asociación de Jugadores de la NFL (NFLPA).
Antes del Super Bowl, la liga anunció a París como un nuevo anfitrión, así como un regreso a Madrid y la Ciudad de México para la próxima temporada. Hay un récord de nueve partidos internacionales programados para 2026. Pero no todos están tan entusiasmados como Goodell con las ambiciones globales de la liga. Hay preguntas sobre la programación, los riesgos para los jugadores a medida que se acumulan las millas aéreas y la calidad del juego.
“La voz de los jugadores y lo que es mejor para sus intereses proviene de nuestra membresía, no de la gerencia. Por eso es imperativo que el sindicato sea un socio en la evaluación y toma de decisiones sobre todos los aspectos de la experiencia internacional de los jugadores” comentó Brandon Parker, director de relaciones con los medios de la NFLPA.
“Cualquier tipo de expansión debe equilibrarse con el impacto en los cuerpos de los jugadores junto con los datos de salud y seguridad”.
Un calendario de 18 partidos probablemente incluiría agregar una segunda semana de descanso y reducir el número de partidos de pretemporada a dos, todo lo cual necesitaría ser acordado entre la liga y la NFLPA. El acuerdo laboral actual se extiende hasta la temporada 2030.
París y Río de Janeiro también en 2026
La NFL ha agregado al menos una nueva ciudad anfitriona cada temporada desde 2022, cuando Múnich se unió a las filas. El año siguiente fue otra ciudad alemana: Fráncfort. Sao Paulo, en Brasil, se convirtió en anfitrión en 2024, y esta temporada registró los debuts de Dublín, Berlín y Madrid. La NFL organizó siete partidos de temporada regular en el extranjero, un récord que será superado la próxima temporada.
Para 2026, tres nuevos debutantes —París, Melbourne y Río de Janeiro— se unirán a Múnich, Madrid, Ciudad de México y la tradicional plaza de Londres para elevar la cuenta internacional a nueve partidos.
La liga dijo que Londres tendrá tres partidos. El Estadio Tottenham Hotspur alberga dos partidos cada año, aparte del acuerdo de los Jaguars con el Estadio de Wembley. Los Jags tienen la opción de disputar dos partidos en casa internacionalmente en 2026 debido a su proyecto de renovación del estadio. El límite de 10 partidos internacionales del acuerdo laboral incluye una excepción para la construcción y renovaciones de estadios.
El partido en París contará con los Saints de Nueva Orleans y se llevará a cabo en el Stade de France, con capacidad para 80.000 personas.
Goodell había confirmado previamente —y la liga hizo oficial el lunes— un regreso a la Ciudad de México ahora que el Estadio Azteca ha sido renovado con miras a la Copa del Mundo del fútbol. Los Cowboys de Dallas esperan jugar en el Azteca, dijo el propietario del equipo, Jerry Jones, en septiembre.
Un calendario complicado
Un vuelo típico de Los Ángeles a Melbourne dura casi 16 horas, “lo cual es tan desafiante como se puede desde una perspectiva del reloj biológico”, dijo Tom Brownlee, profesor asociado en Ciencias del Deporte Aplicadas en la Universidad de Birmingham.
El partido en Australia —en el Melbourne Cricket Ground, con capacidad para 100.000 personas— se espera que sea en la Semana 1 y plantea la inusual perspectiva de que la NFL comience su temporada antes del Día del Trabajo, que cae el 7 de septiembre. Podría ser tan pronto como el miércoles o jueves antes del feriado federal.
“Los jugadores aún tienen que ajustarse varias veces. Se preparan en Estados Unidos, luego intentan funcionar normalmente en Australia, y luego tienen que reajustarse nuevamente en el camino de regreso antes de su próximo partido”, advirtió Brownlee. “Ese segundo ajuste a menudo se pasa por alto, pero puede ser igual de difícil”.
Brownlee, quien anteriormente trabajó con el Liverpool de la Liga Premier, dijo que los efectos del día del partido de los viajes de larga distancia pueden incluir “tiempos de reacción más lentos, menor agudeza o sentirse más pesado de lo normal”.
La NFLPA también ha planteado preocupaciones sobre las condiciones del campo para los partidos internacionales. Parker, el portavoz del sindicato, dijo que los jugadores “aprecian el escenario global” pero esperan que “los estándares de viaje adecuados, las condiciones de trabajo, la programación y las protecciones estén en su lugar para maximizar la recuperación y el rendimiento de los jugadores”.
En un comunicado, la NFL dijo que la salud y seguridad de los jugadores “siempre es una prioridad sin importar dónde juguemos”.
“Para los partidos internacionales, el equipo de operaciones de fútbol de la liga trabaja junto con el personal de operaciones del club y el apoyo local en los mercados para garantizar que cada detalle sea considerado y planificado para optimizar la experiencia de viaje y juego para todos los involucrados”, dijo la liga.
¿Vale la pena?
Los partidos europeos están programados para comenzar los domingos a las 9:30 de la mañana hora de la costa del Este en Estados Unidos, que son las 6:30 de la mañana en la costa del Pacífico. La liga eventualmente podría venderlo como una nueva ventana de transmisión.
Los seis partidos internacionales que estuvieron en NFL Network esta temporada promediaron 6,2 millones de espectadores (TV y digital), lo que no incluye las estaciones de transmisión en los mercados de los dos equipos que juegan. Durante la temporada regular de 2025, la NFL promedió 18,7 millones de espectadores por partido.
“No veo el sentido económico de sacrificar audiencias en Estados Unidos a esta escala”, indicó Stefan Szymanski, profesor de gestión deportiva de la Universidad de Michigan.
El deporte también puede ser difícil de entender para nuevas audiencias, agregó.
“Por el contrario, la NBA tiene una mejor oportunidad de internacionalizarse”, dijo.
Los equipos en su mayoría han aceptado los planes de la liga, aunque el copropietario de los Browns, Jimmy Haslam, dijo en octubre que si Goodell estuviera sentado frente a él “le diría que preferiría jugar en casa en Cleveland que viajar hasta Londres”.
Sin embargo, no falta interés entre los fanáticos internacionales y las ciudades anfitrionas. Los partidos internacionales generalmente se agotan rápidamente y los eventos de la semana del partido traen vibraciones de mini-Super Bowl a lugares donde el fútbol suele dominar el panorama deportivo.
Asia y Oriente Medio en la mira
Los funcionarios de la liga no han especificado qué países asiáticos están explorando como futuros anfitriones. Tokio ha organizado partidos de pretemporada. China es uno de los ocho países fuera de Estados Unidos donde la NFL tiene una oficina.
La NFL ha considerado los Emiratos Árabes Unidos. Gerrit Meier, director general y jefe de NFL internacional, dijo en el podcast “Leaders Worth Knowing” que el Oriente Medio “es muy, muy atractivo para nosotros”.
“Nuestro compromiso es que entraremos en más mercados, más países, más continentes a medida que avancemos. Nuevamente, estamos solo al comienzo de nuestra expansión global”, señaló Meier.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Libertyville’s Mary Minogue aims high. ‘There’s no limit to how great you can be.’ She seems to overcome any.
Mary Minogue needed a break from wrestling.
Entering her freshman year at Libertyville, Mary Minogue was an up-and-coming talent who had already qualified for state as a middle schooler competing against boys.
“I’d been doing wrestling and had been so successful at it,” she said. “But I was just tired of it all.”
So Mary Minogue decided to take a year off from the sport.
“It was a big decision at the time and a little controversial,” she said. “I knew I was good at wrestling, but I just wasn’t as mentally into it as I used to be. I was kind of sick of it. I was just like, ‘You know what? If I’m this stressed about wrestling, I’m just not going to do it.’”
Mary Minogue’s mother, Andrea, just wanted what was best for her.
“She had found great success in wrestling and struggled with the feeling of letting people down,” Andrea Minogue said. “Burnout is real, and we were incredibly proud that she identified it and was able to articulate it.”
Mary Minogue leaped into gymnastics, cross country and lacrosse instead. But she couldn’t stay away from wrestling for long.
A hypercompetitive athlete who had been involved in combat sports since she was 3 years old, Mary Minogue made her return to the mat with a renewed vigor as a sophomore last season.
“She woke up one day with the spark back,” Andrea Minogue said. “It was a much-needed break, and she came back a better athlete for it.”
Libertyville’s Mary Minogue, top, trains with a teammate during a practice on campus on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Brian O’Mahoney / News-Sun)
Refreshed, Mary Minogue thrived in her first season as a high school wrestler. She qualified for the state meet, where she placed sixth in the 120-pound weight class.
“If I didn’t take that year away from it, I wouldn’t have realized how much I actually do enjoy it,” Mary Minogue said. “I wouldn’t have refound my spark and my passion for it.”
With regionals on tap this week, Mary Minogue’s focus is on leaving sixth place in the dust.
“I’m going to try and win state,” she said. “I mean, there’s no point in going to a tournament if you’re not there to try and win it. You might as well go big or go home.”
Mary Minogue’s confidence stems from her 15 years in combat sports. She was 3 when her parents, Andrea and TJ Minogue, brought her to the Cohen Brothers Judo Club in Vernon Hills.
“We weren’t sure what a 3-year-old could learn about judo,” Andrea Minogue said. “But her dad wanted her to get the confidence of knowing self-defense at a young age.”
By her fifth birthday, Mary Minogue was racking up victories against her peers. Within a few years, she was the best of the bunch. Judo molded not just her athleticism but her mind too.
“Throughout her whole schooling, her teachers always commented on her presence and her confidence,” Andrea Minogue said. “That came from judo.”
At Highland Middle School, Mary Minogue threw herself into wrestling with her signature determination. Libertyville wrestling coach Dale Eggert, a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, said he will never forget the first time he watched her wrestle. She was in seventh grade.
“She wrestled a really good kid from Oak Grove,” Eggert said. “I was like, ‘Oh boy, good luck to her.’ She had only been wrestling for three or four weeks before, and that kid had been wrestling since he was like 5. I thought it’d be a 15-second pin.”
Mary Minogue emerged victorious against that boy — and against most of her other competition back then.
“She just kept fighting,” Eggert said. “She didn’t back down a bit.”
Libertyville’s Mary Minogue, shown during a practice on campus on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, got started in combat sports as a 3-year-old in judo. (Brian O’Mahoney / News-Sun)
Never backing down is what Mary Minogue cherishes about wrestling.
“There’s no limit to how great you can be if you’re putting in your full effort all the time,” she said. “When I’m at practice, and I’m dead tired, and I’m still just pushing and pushing, all of a sudden it goes from a physical battle to mental. It’s like, ‘How badly do I want this?’”
After missing nearly a month with a left shoulder injury, Mary Minogue is her typically assertive self.
“It’s better to be overly confident and wildly ambitious than just set little goals,” she said. “You might as well go in thinking, ‘I’m the best. I’m going to win everything.’”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/libertyville-high-school-wrestling-mary-minogue/
The Washington Post eliminará su sección de deportes y tendrá menos periodistas en el extranjero
Por DAVID BAUDER
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Post ha comenzado a implementar recortes a gran escala, incluyendo la eliminación de su departamento de deportes y la reducción del número de periodistas que tiene en el extranjero.
El director editorial Matt Murray anunció los cambios en una reunión por Zoom con el personal el miércoles, de acuerdo con una persona que escuchó la llamada, pero no estaba autorizada para hablar con los medios y habló bajo condición de anonimato.
Al personal de la redacción se le informó que recibirán correos electrónicos avisando si su puesto será eliminado o no.
No se anunció un número total de despidos en la llamada. Un representante del Post no ha devuelto la llamada solicitando comentarios.
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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.
Zar fronterizo de Trump anuncia que 700 agentes de inmigración dejarán Minnesota de inmediato
Por STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — La administración Trump está reduciendo el número de policías migratorios en Minnesota después de que las autoridades estatales y locales acordaron cooperar entregando a los inmigrantes arrestados, anunció el miércoles el zar de la frontera, Tom Homan.
Aproximadamente 700 de los cerca de 3.000 agentes federales desplegados en Minnesota serán retirados, indicó Homan. Las redadas han trastornado las Ciudades Gemelas (Minneapolis y St. Paul) y han provocado fuertes protestas, especialmente desde el asesinato del manifestante Alex Pretti, el segundo tiroteo fatal por parte de agentes federales en Minneapolis.
“Dada esta colaboración sin precedentes y como resultado de la necesidad de menos elementos para realizar este trabajo y un entorno más seguro, estoy anunciando, con efecto inmediato, que retiraremos a 700 personas a partir de hoy — 700 agentes del orden público”, declaró Homan durante una conferencia de prensa.
Homan dijo la semana pasada que el gobierno estaba dispuesto a reducir el número de agentes federales en Minnesota, pero solo si las autoridades estatales y locales cooperan. Sus comentarios se produjeron después de que el presidente Donald Trump pareciera mostrar disposición a aliviar las tensiones en el área de Minneapolis y St. Paul.
Homan presionó para que las cárceles alerten al Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) sobre los reclusos que podrían ser deportados, diciendo que entregar dichos reclusos a la agencia es más seguro porque así los agentes no tienen que salir a buscar a personas que están en el país ilegalmente.
La Casa Blanca se ha quejado durante mucho tiempo de los lugares conocidos como jurisdicciones santuario, un término que generalmente se aplica a los gobiernos estatales y locales que limitan su cooperación con agencias federales en el tema migratorio.
Cuando se le preguntó, Homan dijo que cree que la operación del ICE en Minnesota ha sido un éxito.
“Sí, acabo de enumerar a un montón de personas que sacamos de las calles de las Ciudades Gemelas, así que creo que es muy efectiva en cuanto a la seguridad pública”, indicó Homan. “¿Fue una operación perfecta? No. No. Creamos una cadena de mando unificada para asegurarnos de que todos estén en la misma página, y de que todos cumplan las reglas. No creo que nadie, a propósito, dejara de hacer algo que debería haber hecho”.
___________________________________
El corresponsal Corey Williams en Detroit contribuyó con esta nota.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
New York To Deploy Legal Observers From AG James’ Office To Monitor Federal Immigration Agents
New York To Deploy Legal Observers From AG James’ Office To Monitor Federal Immigration Agents
Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
New York is launching a new initiative to monitor immigration enforcement in the state, Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday.
Her announcement comes amid heightened tensions and increasing protests, threats, and violence against federal agents carrying out arrests of illegal aliens. As part of James’s initiative, her office will deploy legal observers to document immigration enforcement in New York.
The attorney general said the Legal Observation Project’s goal is to protect her citizens’ rights.
“As Attorney General, I am proud to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional rights to speak freely, protest peacefully, and go about their lives without fear of unlawful federal action,” she said in the Tuesday news release.
Wearing purple safety vests, James’s staffers will observe enforcement operations where appropriate and document actions by federal agents.
The legal observers will participate on a voluntary basis, the news release said, serving as neutral witnesses and recording information that could be used in future legal actions.
As enforcement against illegal immigrants continues nationwide, the attorney general said the Legal Observation Project aims to ensure operations stay within the bounds of the law.
“We have seen in Minnesota how quickly and tragically federal operations can escalate in the absence of transparency and accountability,” James said, adding her legal observers will begin monitoring in the coming weeks.
The New York Office of Attorney General staffers will not interfere with law enforcement activity, the news release read.
James’s initiative comes a day after Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said federal officers in Minneapolis, where large-scale immigration enforcement has been ongoing for weeks, will now be wearing body cameras.
In recent weeks, federal agents fatally shot two protesters in Minneapolis during altercations: A woman who appeared to ram an officer with her car and a man who was carrying a pistol and two magazines when he approached federal agents. Federal officials have maintained the shootings were tragic but justified.
As funding becomes available, body cameras for federal agents will be widely deployed.
“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem wrote in her announcement on X.
Body cameras are commonly worn among local and state law enforcement, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are not required to wear them.
Although as part of a pilot program that began in 2024, body cameras have been deployed to some ICE officers.
In addition to body cameras being deployed nationwide in the coming weeks for federal officers, James also urged New Yorkers to submit their own videos and documentation of immigration enforcement activities.
Her office said it set up an online portal to which citizens can send their reports.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/04/2026 – 09:30
El Washington Post elimina su sección de deportes y tendrá menos corresponsales extranjeros
WASHINGTON (AP) — El Washington Post elimina su sección de deportes y tendrá menos corresponsales extranjeros.
Are the Chicago Bulls finally tanking? How their deadline trades could plot a path to a lottery pick.
MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Bulls might be bracing for a nose dive.
After years of relative reticence at the NBA trade deadline, executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas came into this week swinging. The Bulls pulled the trigger on three trades between Saturday and Tuesday, picking up two second-round draft picks and three new guards while parting ways with center Nikola Vučević and Kevin Huerter.
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Ayo Dosunmu has been a stabilizing force for the Chicago Bulls. Is he also one of their best trade assets?
Bulls fans aren’t quite accustomed to this much deadline action. And looking at the current state of the roster might evoke an automatic reaction: “What the hell?” But for the Bulls front office, there’s a purpose to the strangeness.
The Bulls entered this crucial trade window with eight expiring contracts on their books. Only a few of those players — Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White — were considered serious candidates for re-signing or extension. Essentially, the Bulls carry a wealth of cap space with the ability to take on money from other teams while reaping as much value as possible from players who were already on their way out.
There are two ways to use this type of positioning at the deadline. The most straightforward approach is to ship off expiring players for second-round picks or comparable players set to become restricted free agents, such as acquiring Jalen Duren from Detroit. But the other approach is more subtle: offloading genuinely productive players to prevent the Bulls from winning just enough games to squeak into the play-in tournament
Tanking does not happen by demanding coaches or players to lose games on purpose. There may be a scant handful of examples of this strategy being applied in other markets, but in Chicago, it’s always been clear that this burden can’t be placed on the men actually playing the game. These players care. Coach Billy Donovan cares. None of them want to lose, even if it clearly — and logically — helps the team in the long term.
Executives are the ones who tank teams. They do so by trading the right players at the right time to ensure a team’s competitiveness dips low enough to guarantee losses. And Karnišovas appeared to pull that lever on Tuesday, moving two Bulls anchors to create a talent vacuum in the roster.
Heading into this week, the front office felt more willing at this deadline than in prior seasons to make the type of “losing moves” that could ultimately benefit the Bulls in the draft. This marks a significant shift away from the team’s prior strategy for midseason roster management, embracing pragmatism to take a step (however small) backward with the intention of long-term improvement.
This is not the type of thing that can be done halfway. If the Bulls don’t complete their intended moves this week — which could include offloading Dosunmu and/or White — they could end up in the unfortunate purgatory of being pretty bad. Pretty bad teams are essentially unwatchable, but still not quite abysmal enough to drop out of the play-in tournament and secure a top eight (or top four) draft pick. Pretty bad is the stuff that mires a team in mediocrity. Pretty bad is the mindkiller.
As underwhelming as this season has been, the Bulls are still stuck in the pretty bad sector of the league. But with Karnišovas’s work this week, their season is beginning to trend in the right direction.
A fan cheers to get on the big screen in the third quarter during a game between the Bulls and 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
With Tuesday’s dismal loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the 24-27 Bulls fell to 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The Charlotte Hornets are only one game behind with a full head of steam to push for play-in position — a challenger the Bulls should embrace with open arms.
The Bulls have also sunk to the 13th-worst overall record in the NBA. That makes them bad, but not bad enough. In their current standings as the second-to-last team in the lottery, the Bulls hold only a 4.8% chance at landing a top-four pick in the draft (and only 1% odds of landing the No. 1). But they still stand only 3.5 games ahead of teams like Milwaukee and Memphis, who are tied for eighth-worst in the league.
Closing the gap on those teams would boost the Bulls’ odds of picking in the top four up above 20%. The Bulls might never catch up to true tankers like the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, but there’s still plenty of value in improving their odds by losing a handful more games than expected.
There’s a reason tanking isn’t popular. Losing isn’t fun. Rooting for a team to lose is even less fun. It’s painful even when it’s on purpose. And ultimately, this tactic still all comes down to luck, a fact that teams like the Utah Jazz have cursed after years of failed tank jobs.
The good news for the Bulls is that this version of losing doesn’t have to last long. That’s the whole point of using expiring contract acquisitions to force a late-season collapse. The Bulls have not hindered themselves with any bad money deals that will last after this year. In the summer, they will be open for business to embark on another round of trades and free-agent pitches to build on that younger timeline. And with a little lottery luck, this team could be on track to actually resemble a youth-focused rebuild rather than cycling through mini “re-tooling” projects ad nauseam.
Most importantly, for the first time in a long time, the Bulls finally have a burst of momentum that actually matches the stated goals of the front office.
But first, Karnišovas has to finish the job. Start counting down the seconds to 2 p.m. Thursday.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/chicago-bulls-trades-tanking-lottery-pick/
No Surprises In Treasury Refunding Statement: Bessent Sees No Auction Size Increases For “Next Several Quarters”
No Surprises In Treasury Refunding Statement: Bessent Sees No Auction Size Increases For “Next Several Quarters”
Ahead of today’s much-anticipated quarterly refunding announcement by the US Treasury, some were hopeful that Bessent could pull an anti-Yellen and forecast a gradual decline in long-term issuance in coming quarters, sending yields lower. None of the happened, however, and instead the Treasury did not surprise markets, announcing that this quarter’s refunding total would come in line with estimates, at $125BN (to refund $90.2BN in securities). And while the Treasury said that auction sizes would be unchanged for “next several quarters” as expected, the department said it would continue to rely on bills to fund the increasing amount of federal spending. That said, by late March, the Treasury anticipates incrementally reducing short-dated bill auction sizes in light of the April 15 tax date. These reductions will lead – the Treasury believes – to a cumulative $250-300 billion net decline in total bill supply by early May.
Here is a summary of what the Treasury announced:
No surprises in today’s Refunding statement
No change in net issuance: Treasury says will keep coupon, floating rate note auction sizes unchanged for “next several quarters” as expected. No ramp in issuance yet.
Refunding size: Treasury offering $125BN in quarterly refunding, as expected. Will sell $58BN in 3Y, $42BN in 10Y and $25BN in 30Y, and will keep auctions sizes unchanged through May.
Bills: Despite QE Lite, the Treasury expects to “maintain the offering sizes of benchmark bills at current levels into mid-March” By late March, Treasury anticipates incrementally reducing short-dated bill auction sizes in light of the April 15 tax date. These reductions will lead to a cumulative $250-300 billion net decline in total bill supply by early May
Cash: Treasury assumes an $850BN cash balance at the end of March. However, based on current projections for the upcoming refunding quarter, Treasury estimates that the size of the Treasury General Account (TGA) could peak around $1,025 BN by late April.
Buybacks: Treasury expects to purchase up to $38BN in off-the-run securities across buckets for “liquidity support” and up to $75 billion in the 1-month to 2-year bucket for cash management purposes in the coming quarter.
Taking a closer look at the Treasury’s quarterly refunding statement published at 8:30am Wednesday, the department said it anticipated keeping auction sizes unchanged for nominal notes, bonds and floating-rate notes, “for at least the next several quarters”, a paraphrase of the same forward guidance that debt managers have used for two years now.
As for next week’s refunding auctions, they will total $125 billion, as expected, and will be made up of:
$58 billion of 3-year notes on Feb. 10
$42 billion of 10-year notes on Feb. 11
$25 billion of 30-year bonds on Feb. 12
The refunding will raise new cash of approximately $34.8BN, net of the $90.2BN in maturing securities.
The Treasury also said it’s “monitoring” the Federal Reserve’s expanded purchases of bills, which mature in a year or less. The central bank in December stunned markets (if not ZH readers, who knew about the move well ahead of time), when it said it would buy $40 billion a month of Bills until April, in an effort to ensure ample reserves in the banking system. And the department is keeping an eye on “growing demand for Treasury bills from the private sector.”
As a result, based on current fiscal forecasts, Treasury expects to maintain the offering sizes of benchmark bills at or near current levels into mid-March. By late March, Treasury anticipates incrementally reducing short-dated bill auction sizes in light of the April 15 tax date. These reductions will likely lead to a cumulative $250-300 billion net decline in total bill supply by early May. The Treasury “will continue to evaluate near-term borrowing needs and assess additional adjustments to bill auction sizes as appropriate.”
The department has for several quarter relied on T-Bills to fund the steadily increasing amount of federal spending. Amid that focus, some market participants ahead of Wednesday’s release reported speculation of aggressive moves to outright reduce bond issuance to help pull down yields that serve as a benchmark for mortgages and other loans. That did not happen.
Separately, the Treasury also “continues to evaluate potential future increases to nominal coupon and FRN auction sizes, with a focus on trends in structural demand and potential costs and risks of various issuance profiles,” the department said. FRNs refer to floating rate notes.
“While the administration’s focus on affordability measures has brought back questions about potential efforts to lower borrowing costs via more active adjustments to the issuance mix, we do not expect Treasury to do so at this point,” Goldman Sachs strategists William Marshall and Bill Zu wrote ahead of Wednesday’s release. Goldman’s take reflected the views of many dealers. Any move to cut sales of bonds, or 10-year notes, would have run against the department’s long-standing pledge to be “regular and predictable” in its debt management. Bessent himself invoked that language in a speech in November.
“The statement itself was very much steady-as-she-goes, with the Treasury reiterating the view that nominal coupon and FRN auction sizes will hold ‘for at least the next several quarters,’” said John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics.
Meantime, the Fed’s purchases reduce “the risk of Treasury oversupplying” the market with more bills than investors are prepared to handle, Morgan Stanley strategists led by Martin Tobias wrote in their refunding preview. Beyond April, the Fed’s plans are unclear, however — all the more so given Kevin Warsh’s nomination to become the next chair in May. Warsh has in the past advocated shrinking the Fed’s securities portfolio.
Two more things to note:
While the Treasury assumes an $850 billion cash balance at the end of March, based on current projections for the upcoming refunding quarter, the Treasury now estimates that the size of the Treasury General Account (TGA) could peak around $1,025 billion (plus or minus $50 billion) by late April, before declining rapidly in May after tax day (this estimate reflects significant uncertainty regarding the size of April tax receipts, as well as macroeconomic factors and the path of fiscal and monetary policy).
Additionally, as part of its quarterly Treasury buyback schedule release, the Treasury said it anticipates that, over the course of the upcoming quarter, it will purchase up to $38 billion in off-the-run securities across buckets for liquidity support and up to $75 billion in the 1-month to 2-year bucket for cash management purposes.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/04/2026 – 09:20
Talks between Iran and the United States will be held on Friday in Oman, Iranian media say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between Iran and the United States will be held Friday in Oman, Iranian media reported Wednesday as tensions remain high with Washington after Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.
The semiofficial ISNA and Tasnim news agencies, as well as the Student News Network, all reported the talks would take place in Oman, though the sultanate did not immediately acknowledge it would host them. Oman has hosted multiple rounds of earlier nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. in the past.
The U.S. has not acknowledge the talks would take place in Oman, though the White House said it anticipated the negotiations would take place even after the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone Tuesday and Iran attempted to stop a U.S.-flagged ship.
Also on Wednesday, activists said the number of arrests topped 50,000 in the government crackdown, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in other rounds of unrest in Iran.
At least 50,834 people have been arrested in connection with the Iranian government’s crackdown on protests, the activists said. The crackdown on the demonstrations has also killed at least 6,876 people, though there are fears many more may be dead.
The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll due to the sweeping internet shutdown in Iran.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/iran-united-states-talks/
Waukegan D60 superintendent striving to improve communication
Effective communication is baked into one of Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Superintendent Theresa Plascencia’s four goals for the current school year, and she said its proper implementation is a major challenge.
Policies and directives go through a lot of layers from the time Plascencia initially articulates an idea or policy. She said she does everything she can to see that their meaning remains unchanged. Consistency and support are essential, and she strives to make sure that her charge is properly understood.
Among other elements, one of the four goals requires Plascencia to engage students, staff, families and community members, “in a coordinated effort to strengthen perceptions of safety, climate and belonging,” according to the published goal. Effective communication is essential.
“Sometimes the message can start off very strong, but by the time it gets into the classroom, it morphs into something different or not as strong a message as previously thought,” Plascencia said. “It keeps me up at night.”
Plascencia gave the District 60 Board of Education an update on the progress of her efforts to engage the school community on Jan. 27 at the Education Service Center in Waukegan, letting board members know her progress.
Nick Alatzakis, the district’s communications director who assisted Plascencia with the presentation, said there were recurring themes in some of the surveys of a lack of consistent communication. Plascencia said improvement is needed.
“There’s got to be different methods in communicating with (everyone) to ensure they are getting the message in a timely manner, but that message is staying consistent throughout the process, if that makes sense,” Plascencia said.
Communication is an important part of the goal — Goal 4 — of engaging the school community to learn more about what students, staff and families understand, both through surveys and listening tours at all schools and other buildings.
While there is a general feeling among teachers and students that the school buildings are safe, students have some concerns about some parts of the schools, and proved Plascencia’s feelings about communication reaching all levels have merit.
“Students said when safety concerns are reported, they believe adults listen and respond, but they sometimes feel the response is inconsistent or delayed,” Plascencia said. “They don’t know what the follow-up looks like because no one communicates back to the students.”
Though students generally feel safe in some parts of the building, Plascencia said they have concerns about common areas like hallways and bathrooms. Administrators are working with the safety department to improve the situation.
Looking at the surveys, Plascencia said teachers are worried about inconsistency in discipline meted out. Two teachers may use a milder form of discipline for the same infraction than another instructor. Communication can help make things more uniform.
With the listening tour getting started, Alatzakis said approximately 100 stops are planned over the next few months. There will be discussions about themes raised in the surveys, as well as open-ended talks, so that different groups involved can talk freely.
Plascencia said the recent listening stop with students at Jack Benny Middle School went well. She said small groups will enable the youngsters to be more open. There will be multiple stops at the schools as well as places for parents to talk to administrators.
“It was phenomenal how they expressed themselves,” Plascencia said of the Jack Benny stop. “They were just so spot-on in how they articulated what they need, how they want to be seen, and actually, their expectations.”
All four goals set March as a target date for achievement. Goal 1 requires 31% of students to be actively engaged in tutoring, extracurricular activities such as athletics or clubs, and/or receiving services through social-emotional learning partners.
Goal 2 mandates that all schools will use the district’s new literacy plan and core curriculum for daily classroom learning. Goal 3 requires a financial plan that takes into account all “ongoing federal executive orders impacting public education,” as well as a budget reflecting the strategic plan.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/waukegan-superintendent-theresa-plascencia/
