Podcasts about Chinese New Year

On The BIG Show today, we discuss why we love strange scents like petrol, where we had the best yusheng this Chinese New Year, and gender differences at job interviews! Connect with us on Instagram: @kiss92fm @Glennn @angeliqueteo @officialtimoh Producers: @shalinisusan97 @snailgirl2000See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Hong Kong/China Transportation & Infrastructure Analyst Qianlei Fan discusses how China's travel industry is shifting from a post-pandemic rebound to a multi-year expansion.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Qianlei Fan, Morgan Stanley's Hong Kong / China Transportation Analyst. Today, I'll share my thoughts on why travel is quickly emerging as one of [the] key drivers of China's economic rebalancing.It's Tuesday, March the 3rd, at 2pm in Hong Kong. I've just gotten back from my Lunar New Year trip to mainland China. With the longest Chinese New Year break in history, people were out roaming, exploring, laughing, and the whole country felt like it was buzzing with people on a mission to enjoy every minute. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, total domestic tourism spending recorded a robust 19 percent year-on-year growth during the holiday. In fact, China's tourism industry isn't just rebounding after the pandemic. It's entering a structurally stronger phase, supported by policy tailwinds, demographic shifts, and a clear pivot toward experience-driven consumption. By 2030, tourism revenue could reach RMB 12 trillion – equal to roughly USD $1.7 trillion – implying 11 percent annual growth from the mid-2020s. Over the next five years, cumulative domestic and inbound revenue may approach RMB 50 trillion, or USD $7.2 trillion. That scale makes travel more than a cyclical recovery – it's becoming a core pillar of China's consumption-led growth. We expect tourism's share of GDP to rise to about 6.7 percent by 2030, up from 4.8 percent in 2024.Domestic travel remains the backbone. People aren't just traveling again; they're traveling more than before. Policy is reinforcing demand. Extended public holidays, new school breaks, and event-driven tourism are boosting activity. In 2025 alone, around 3,000 large-scale performances attracted more than 43 million attendees. And spending reflects that shift. Domestic tourism spending reached RMB 6.3 trillion in 2025, about 11 percent above pre-COVID levels. Even with slightly lower spend per trip, more frequent travel is lifting overall revenue.International travel is emerging as a second growth engine. By 2030, inbound travel could represent 16 percent of total tourism revenue. In late 2025, inbound visitor growth in major cities was up about 30–50 percent year-over-year, supported by expanded visa-free access, which now accounts for the majority of foreign arrivals. These visitors often stay longer and spend more. Outbound travel is strengthening too. International air traffic grew 22 percent in 2025, far outpacing domestic growth, and now contributes a meaningful share of airline revenue. Demographics and technology are reinforcing the trend. Younger consumers prioritize travel, while older households – with substantial savings – are beginning to spend more as services improve. At the same time, smart hotels, virtual reality attractions, and data-driven operations are enhancing engagement and willingness to pay. This isn't just pent-up demand. It's policy, demographics, technology, and supply aligning at once. – with travel at the center of China's consumption story.Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

This week on Anime Pulse we got groundhog day romances, snagging hot merchandise, and anti-heroes. Up first Andrew is back from his Chinese New Year celebrating, and Joseph got some GamerSupps merch just in time to buy more. Then in the industry news a lewd artist got in hot water with the vtubing group VSPO. And finally the reviews wrap things up with Joseph living in a walled city watched over by Ramiel, and Andrew making a sci fi sandwich out of three singular episode anime.

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Although upstream crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) costs have risen in Asia, oleochemicals buyers are adopting a cautious stance, having largely stocked up prior to the Chinese New Year in mid-February, and are not under pressure to lock in near term shipments.The overlying sentiment is one where the oleochemicals prices will be under upward pressure regardless of whether demand is strong enough to support the price hikes, given the compressed margins from escalating upstream costs and spike in freight costs.In this podcast, ICIS senior editor Helen Yan breaks down the impact of the Iran war and escalating military conflict in the Middle East on the Asian oleochemicals markets. Upstream CPO, PKO prices have risen amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East Glycerine, fatty alcohols mid-cuts C12-14 spot prices revised up on higher upstream CPO, PKO costs Players are monitoring the volatile situation, with buyers largely adopting a prudent stance  

Flush season is here. Protein solids are up. Global milk production is up. So… Where's all the skim milk powder? In this episode of The Milk Check, host Ted Jacoby III and the Jacoby team sits down with Martijn Goedhart and Henk-Jan Bouwman of Cefetra Dairy for a European perspective on the volatility rippling through global dairy markets. We talk through how traders got caught short and why the spring flush might not loosen up the skim milk powder/nonfat dry milk market. Plus, are we pricing U.S. out of the export market? We'll get you up to speed on: Why skim solids are being pulled away from dryers and into protein streams How hand-to-mouth buying turned into a short squeeze What record-high butter stocks in Europe mean for upside potential Tune in to hear how Europe and the U.S. are navigating one of the most volatile stretches in recent memory. L If you're making sourcing or coverage decisions right now, don't miss The Milk Check episode 94: The Dryer's Getting Robbed. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check TMC-Intro-final Ted Jacoby III: [00:00:00] Coming up on The Milk Check. Martijn Goedhart: You have supply growing, and then you think, “Oh, we’re gonna build stocks.” But then, demand caught up. And quite viciously. Ted Jacoby III: Welcome to the Milk Check from T.C. Jacoby and Company, your complete guide to dairy markets, from the milking parlor to the supermarket shelf. I’m Ted Jacoby. Let’s dive in. This week we are excited to have two special guests, Martijnjn Goedhart and Henk-Jan Bouwman from Cefetra Dairy in the Netherlands. We’ve been working closely with these guys for some time and we thought it would be a great idea given all the craziness and dairy markets going on in the United States, to ask them to give us a little bit of perspective on what’s going on in Europe so we can get a feel for how the global markets are affecting our U.S. dairy markets. Martijn, Henk, thanks for joining us today. Martijn Goedhart: Thanks for having us, Ted. Henk-Jan Bouwman: Thank you, Ted. Ted Jacoby III: I feel like what’s going on in nonfat right now more has an origin in the U.S., but I also noticed that you guys started to feel that maybe this market was gonna be a little bit shorter than we expected over in Europe before we realized it in the U.S. [00:01:00] Tell us about the skim milk powder market in Europe and what’s been going on the last month. Martijn Goedhart: In Europe, we’ve been overwhelmed by milk production growth since the second half of 2025, due to bluetongue, late calving, second peak, as some of us call it. And that has resulted in good outputs, and that output needs to go to the commodities. So, we’ve seen butter stocks build up significantly, and everyone assumed that that would mean that the skimmed stocks were also building up because that’s basically the other product you’re gonna produce when you do butter, right? A few things we, I think, overlooked is like the general protein trend in the world and the demand for protein, both on the whey side as well as on the milk side nowadays. So a lot of protein has ended up in other products than your typical skimmed nonfat production bucket. Adding to that, Europe has been the most competitive source in the world market for a long time. Demand wasn’t great because buyers were buying hand-to-mouth because they would basically wait for that carry to come toward them and buy at the lowest price at the last moment. But [00:02:00] now we see that the exports out of Europe have been great. And that’s been keeping the market clean. I think some traders speculated on lower prices and got caught short, basically needed to cover. And that’s where we are at now. And I think more than ever, if you look at NZX (New Zealand Exchange), this all started with a firmer GDT (Global Dairy Trade), with China stocking up a bit. So, if you look at NZX, CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) and EEX (European Energy Exchange), those markets are starting to correlate better than they did before because everyone’s looking at the developments of the other exchanges and then draw their conclusions for their own home base. And yeah, that cocktail, together with some U.S. developments that we’re gonna dive into, has caused record-high volatility over the last few weeks. Ted Jacoby III: So, Martijn, you’re telling a story that sounds very familiar ‘ cause that’s exactly what we’ve seen here in the U.S. We’re not making anywhere near as much nonfat dry milk as we expected because the protein demand is forcing those skim solids into other places. What are those other places in Europe? Where is that protein being used and what is it being made into in Europe right now? Martijn Goedhart: I think there’s two main [00:03:00] streams. Bear in mind that the milk pressure in Europe was so high that you need to burn milk, and the way to do that is to produce casein. So, I think casein production has increased by like double-digit numbers, that’s not because it was such a nice valorization, you can just dry more milk per hour. And considering the liquid markets over the last few months, during our low season, liquid milk was trading way below the commodity equivalent, proving that there’s a surplus of liquid milk that can’t be processed by drying it or churning it. So, that’s one part. The other part is, it’s the same in the U.S. We’ve been around here for a few days now, but in Europe, you see the same: everything is protein fortified, extra protein, in basically everything you can buy. So, a lot of protein that is processed in line before it even reaches the other class. So, like the dryers basically. Ted Jacoby III: Martijn and Henk, do you guys think that the skim milk powder market in Europe has tightened up primarily because everybody who was living hand-to-mouth saw the market started going up, and they decided they wanted to buy more now because they wanted to get the product at a lower price before the price [00:04:00] went higher, and then they just started chasing the market? Or do you think demand has shifted and there’s a true increase in the demand for the product? Henk-Jan Bouwman: There’s two things to touch upon here, Ted. One is, you’re absolutely right: people were buying hand-to-mouth, and they were actually rewarded for doing that because everybody believed that the price of tomorrow was better than the price of today. And for a fairly long period of time, they got rewarded for that. That also led to traders being short, as Martijn touched upon. From a demand perspective, yes, there’s actually quite some demand, and people also realize that they have to turn to Europe to find their cheapest skim. That also creates a bit of a demand pull towards European skim, which makes the price go up. And we’ve seen that, in particular, in low heat in comparison to medium heat. But in general, export markets for us are pretty strong, and, I would say, pretty much all the demand ends in European skim milk powder of origins. Josh White: Is anybody extending days in inventory? Do we think that there’s a short squeeze driving international clients to buy a couple extra weeks, a month, more than that of product? The nature of your question, Ted, [00:05:00] is what’s caused us to tighten up on that product? Is it truly demand for nonfat dry milk, or is it just reduced production overall? And I think maybe it’s both in a way. On the one hand, Martijn mentioned that the catalyst of this was actually a GDT event where China stepped in and bought more. And I think that we’ve been talking about the disappearance of China as a structural buyer of milk powder for quite some time. But their stocks to use ratio has been reported to be fairly low, and maybe they felt it was time to extend some days of inventory. At the same time, you evidenced what’s happening in the U.S., And Martijn alluded to it a little bit in Europe as well, that the pull for dairy protein in general is actually vacuuming some solids away from the dryer, and particularly the SMP or the nonfat dryer. So, is it both? Are we seeing people look to build a little bit more safety stock at the same time that our production is down a bit because protein demand overall is robbing our supply. Henk-Jan Bouwman: There’s a, there’s a couple of things to touch upon, Josh. One is in this whole upward movement, there were quite some international buyers [00:06:00] who still had demand open, for instance, for Q2 and Q3, and decided to step in and said, “Hey, this is a moment to buy, to cover that demand, because I am anticipating an upward movement.” So, in that sense, I’m completely with you. Producers did the same, as well. For them it was also attractive to lock some forward sales. And that has led to lesser availability of skim in EU. And that basically also caused the rally to continue. Martijn Goedhart: I think the difference with the U.S., as I understand it, is we have never not been able to buy product during this whole volatility. So, producers were always offering, customers would like step in, step out. If they really need it, they would book. They were also cautious. And we went up, then we went down, then we went up again. But in that down movement, customers were like, “Yeah, you see, so it’ll come off again.” So, that didn’t prompt them to build any length. I think producers did fairly well in putting a fundament below their sales book for the flush that’s upcoming. Traders are holding a fair bit of cash product right now for the next three, four months. It’s not tight as [00:07:00] such, but you see that certain buyers need certain origins that are scarce. So, it’s very much about the origin, the spec, and the product that you have, whether you can monetize on those higher prices. Ted Jacoby III: It seems to me, just listening to you guys talk about Europe, that the U.S. and Europe are both experiencing a very similar phenomenon in our supply chain. Demand for protein is pulling skim solids away from the dryer, first and foremost, which means on a skim milk powder / nonfat dry milk supply-demand balance, you’re reducing the supply even though we are both experiencing pretty significant increases in milk production. The traditional math is: more milk means more skim milk powder. It didn’t happen this time around, and it caught people by surprise. The demand for protein in Europe, just like in the U.S., is exceptional right now. But then that makes me ask the question: if we have less skim solids, in the form of skim milk powder and nonfat, in the global supply chain, is this increase in price directly proportional [00:08:00] to reduced supply, so we got more people buying because they want to get in the front of it. So, you got this bubble. But you also have had this slow decrease in overall skim milk powder demand going on. Like a slow creep every year. I’m not sure if it’s about 1%, but we’ve all kind of felt it that the global demand for skim milk powder has been just slowly weakening, but this sudden supply crunch was a bigger issue than the slow decrease in demand, and it caused this price bubble that’s just gonna take some time to work itself out. And if the protein continues to take the skim solids away from the dryers, it may be a really long time before it works itself out. Martijn Goedhart: Q4 of global SMP export has been very strong, but Q3 and Q2 were relatively weak. I’d have to look at how the balance looks at the end of the year. Also, the export figures have been more volatile than Ted Jacoby III: Yeah. Martijn Goedhart: Before. So, I think everyone thought like, “Okay, demand is sluggish. We have so much milk in the U.S. We have so much milk in Europe. [00:09:00] New Zealand’s season is looking good.” So, in your mind, you extrapolate that demand. Then, you have supply growing, and then you think, “Oh, we’re gonna build stocks.” But then, demand caught up. And quite viciously. So, that’s the thing I think people underestimated. We’re in a situation where we don’t see any old stocks or inventories building up. Josh White: So I wanna throw three thoughts out. On the first hand, we know our global milk supply is year over year up significantly. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Josh White: On a solids basis, protein and fat are up significantly. We’re talking about the overflow valve, the powder stocks not being very robust, and that on the end-user level, globally, people didn’t have a lot of additional days of inventory. So, that would suggest on one hand, maybe we need all this milk. Maybe we need it. Demand for protein and other products is up enough that we need all this milk. But then on the other hand, I think there’s probably two things that we need to be careful that we don’t overreact to. There’s seasonality in our products. We know that the northern hemisphere heavy milk production season is upon us. We’ve [00:10:00] started in California. We’re gonna continue to see our daily milk volumes increase seasonally in the U.S. as we get into the second quarter. Another thing that I’m wondering being, you guys with more international trade experience coming out of Europe is: buying seasonality. So, Ramadan every year moves up a little bit; Chinese New Year, there’s usually a surge leading up to it. And it’s gotten to the point where that was almost a collision with the traditional holiday season of December. Is it possible that we just robbed demand from the first quarter, and everyone tried to get in front of some of that demand in the late third and early fourth quarter, and that we’re about to go into a unique seasonal period where customers have now gotten scared. They’ve extended a few days in inventory, the structural demand won’t be there at the same time that the northern hemisphere flush is upon us. I mean, is it possible that we were just short squeezed based on seasonal issues in the first quarter, and we’re gonna resolve that with plenty of product in the second quarter? One final note I think that we [00:11:00] shouldn’t forget is that our year over year comparables are against a disease-infested 2024. We had bird flu in the U.S.; we had bluetongue to in Europe. How much are we actually over 2023 going into 2024. Ted Jacoby III: On 2023 versus 2024, I think Europe, you guys were down like a half a percent to 1% in 24. Does that sound about right? Martijn Goedhart: 23, 24 was pretty much flat. Ted Jacoby III: Mm-hmm. Martijn Goedhart: And 24, 25 we added like a hundred thousand metric tons. So, like, 6%, 7%. 24, 25. Ted Jacoby III: So you guys had a couple of flat years, followed by a year where you added quite a bit. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Ted Jacoby III: Which actually is pretty similar to what happened in the U.S. Yes. We had some disease like avian flu , and bird flu hit California ,and we were down in some places and up in others, but overall we were flat. But the solids were up a little bit. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Yeah. Ted Jacoby III: While dairy prices were decent, I didn’t feel like we were facing a massive supply scarcity in those two flat years, which is one of the [00:12:00] things that has me very perplexed about what’s going on now. Because it’s one thing to say, Hey, there’s all this new demand for protein. All the skim solids are going to protein, and that’s why there isn’t any skim milk powder in nonfat. Okay, let me phrase this a different way. That means that we are suddenly being faced with massive increases in demand for protein. The price of protein today is a lot higher than it was a year and a half ago when we were dealing with flat supply.  So, why is protein demand so much higher now compared to a year ago? Is it completely and solely demand driven? As amateur economists , like all traders are, that math doesn’t seem right. Martijn Goedhart: Last year, we had significant competition among our export customers from Iran and Belarus, in terms of SMP. The Iran exports were surging. I think it was like 150,000 tons of skim, something like that, that suddenly shows up. Europe is doing about 700. So, that has an impact when you’re talking to [00:13:00] buyers. But that disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. Which yeah, that 150,000 tons, or whatever it was, it will turn back to the next cheapest origin, which was Europe. So, demand didn’t grow, but shifted towards another origin being EU. Henk-Jan Bouwman: Yeah, I think in general, overall competitiveness of EU skim milk powder is a lot better than last year, even in comparison to a bigger skim producing regions. As Martijnn touched upon, being based in the Middle East, I saw a lot of competition coming out of origins, which were a bit more nontraditional. Iran was one of them. What happened is their overall competitiveness finished really, really quickly due to a couple of things. One of them being disease. So, they had foot-and-mouth disease in Iran. Two, their overall ability to import a sufficient amount of feed, and three, their competitiveness due to a currency standpoint, which quickly changed. That, indeed, meant that the material that was supplied by Iran is now being supplied by Europe. Diego Carvallo: It’s a fascinating situation. Some of those [00:14:00] solids that are going into MPCs are definitely reducing the demand for skim, unless it’s coming from a different end-user application. If we’re seeing the MPCs going into sports nutrition, it’s definitely new demand that is finding a new end-user. It’s a combination of a lot of the things that we have discussed in this call: the whole market being short and getting super used to being hand-to-mouth for years, where you could buy product cheaper a month from now, so, why would you buy it? Especially if you have high interest rates, right? So, that’s part of it. The other factor is definitely the whole market was shocked by the impact of the UF pull of the additional MPC production and the amount of solids that we’re not going into a dryer that everybody expected would go right. Also a few additional manufacturing productions, a few key plants in the U.S., this is starting to look like more of a fundamental shift than a short squeeze. [00:15:00] And three weeks ago, everybody was saying, “Yeah, short squeeze, it’s an amazing short squeeze. It’s gonna come down.” Right? And now that same rhetoric has been changing to, “Actually, this is not that much of a short squeeze, but it is more of a there are not that many solids.” There’s a new big plant in Texas. There’s a new big plant in New York. There’s a lot of solids that are being pulled, and nobody was taking that into account. Everybody was expecting after the bird flu in California, we’re simply gonna go back to producing the same amount of nonfat that we were producing two years ago. And if you look at the data, it’s not correct, you know, Josh White: We also gotta give credit to substitution and other things. And what I mean by that is like calf milk replacer industry in the U.S. Historically, we’ll toggle for the cheapest protein between whey and milk powders. For sure, we’re seeing that appetite pick up for nonfat dry milk right now. Whereas two years ago there was a lot of WPC 34 on the market. All of that’s gone [00:16:00] because of the whey movement. I think the utilization is shifting quite a bit. We’ve talked about where it’s more difficult to track where milk solids are being consumed into a lot of protein enhanced beverages and things along those lines. That’s becoming more difficult. We’re saying demand’s not great globally, but if you pick up feed demand because they can’t buy the whey products they bought before, that is more demand for milk powder. And by far the cheapest dairy protein right now is nonfat dry milk. The big question I have is seasonally in the second quarter, are we going to catch up? Are we gonna be able to catch up globally or not? I think the whole market’s really struggling to try to form an opinion on that. Mostly because we can’t really measure and put a finger on just how much new protein-related demand there is in that difficult to measure space that I alluded to earlier. Diego Carvallo: Particularly in the U.S. right? In Europe doesn’t seem like that situation is as strong as it is the U.S. It seems like in the U.S., you have all of these new [00:17:00] cheese plants and UF plants, Class I plants, et cetera. It seems like, at least in the U.S. that inventory building is gonna be more difficult than in other regions. Josh White: And the European dryers are full right now, correct? Martijn Goedhart: Yes. Josh White: And the California dryers are full right now. Midwest dryers are nowhere near full. The answer to that might be a little bit easier than we’re making this discussion. We’ve added a whole lot of cheese capacity. There’s plenty of milk, but a lot of it’s being processed into cheese. Ted Jacoby III: Are there many new dairy plants of any kind in Europe right now? Martijn Goedhart: Not coming online this flush as far as I know. Not surprisingly, but most of the investment obviously is in WPC and WPI, I think Friesland has a big plant coming up, but it’s 2027, am I right, Henk-Jan? Henk-Jan Bouwman: Their latest expansion is 27. Yes. Ted Jacoby III: So we’re not really seeing any milk solids going to new places in Europe. It’s all still within the traditional milk sheds going to the usual suspects. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Yeah. Ted Jacoby III: Okay. Let’s switch topics to butter. The [00:18:00] U.S., a year ago, a year and a half ago, we were around $3 butter. It came down into the 2s, $2.50ish, and then the bottom dropped out, and it went all the way down to, I think, $1.28 at one point in the U.S. Now it’s back up in the $1.70s. But Europe dropped even more from an even higher precipice. Where have we been over the last year and where’s the butter market now in Europe, and what’s it doing? Martijn Goedhart: Yeah, well, butter was the main driver of the volatility that we see right now because €7 butter prices, the fed and the milk would already pay an above break-even price to farmers. And then your skim return is just bonus, right? Friesland just released their yearly report and they’ve been paying like, I think 56¢ on average, which is, well it’s a bit debatable, but I would say at least 16¢ above break-even. And then they get even a bit more profit share. That has like sparked that extra milk output, because every liter you produce is making you money as a farmer. You wanna get your components up, you wanna squeeze the maximum out of the milk. That’s how we ended up in this situation and the vicious correction at the other end of it that [00:19:00] we’ve seen. We’ve seen inventories build up and anecdotally we’ll also hear that all the chilled storage is full. That’s still the case. Those stocks haven’t disappeared. And also we’ve imported quite a bit when the spread with the U.S. and before New Zealand was significant enough to do so. That product is arriving now. And that adds to the supply pressure. However, that market has been stable for the last few months. I would say it’s been volatile, but we’re at the same levels than one and a half, two months ago. So that also shows that price correction ultimately also triggers extra demand. It’s an elastic product, especially on the consumer side. However, it’s also capped in terms of upside because those stocks are there. The liquid equivalent, cream, if you would buy cream today, you’d make it into butter. You’d be like at €3.30–€3. 40 cost price where the market is trading at €4.20–€4.30. So, there’s like a thousand euro. Ted Jacoby III: So the multiples in cream are low. Martijn Goedhart: It has been like this during our whole down season, which is very atypical. You could [00:20:00] argue that that multiple is only gonna weaken because milk starts flowing. Ted Jacoby III: Mm-hmm. Martijn Goedhart: The main discussion we have is like, is all that bearishness already priced in? And have we hit the bottom? Have we hit a level at which people are happy to buy? Or is there more to come? Ted Jacoby III: So you guys aren’t really seeing much upward-ness in the butter market in Europe right now? Martijn Goedhart: No. No. If you look from a, let’s say, traditional supply and demand theory, we have record-high stocks and record-high stocks, they basically kill any prolonged upside to a market, I would say, until you work through it. Ted Jacoby III: What about the cheese market in Europe? Is the cheese market high or low right now? And how’s it acting? Martijn Goedhart: It’s surprisingly tight. You would think that especially over the past few years, quite some capacity has been added to the European landscape. You would reckon that this extra milk would flow into the cheese plants, and you can’t find demand for it, so you’d have to move your cheese, and you’d see supply pressure from producers. But, the opposite is true actually. The cheese that’s supplied is very fresh. Within the range of what you can supply, it’s on the fresher side. That [00:21:00] indicates that there are no older stocks or backlog in terms of supply. I think producers have done a good job in capturing those moments when they were competitive on the world market by getting to make cheese disappear out of Europe. And then the last few weeks there were some production disruptions, some factory outages, and that even caused a bit more tightness in the cheese market. But it has stabilized ever since. It has been stable like butter. We’ve seen the bottom for now, and it went up a bit. The only thing is that in cheese there are no inventories. That makes you think that there’s more upside in cheese when milk growth starts to slow compared to butter because there’s no inventory holding it back. Ted Jacoby III: Why isn’t there any inventory? Was Europe doing some really good exporting for a while? Martijn Goedhart: Yeah, that’s the main reason. Big producers did big sales of gouda at some point or mozz when they were competitive, just to keep that supply chain clean. Butter, you can freeze, carry if the market pays for it. Ted Jacoby III: Mm-hmm. Martijn Goedhart: Cheese, you can only do it on paper, but not in reality. You need to get rid of it. Ted Jacoby III: Right. Josh White: How far out do we think the [00:22:00] international cheese buyer is covered right now? Because that was a big topic coming into the first quarter is how much of the cheese business, particularly in contestable markets, did Europe win away from the U.S. Ted correct me if I’m wrong, but our exports have been fine, haven’t they? Ted Jacoby III: Our exports have been fine. That’s actually a good way to put it. We experienced a real nice pop in exports last year. I would say this year, second half of Q4 into Q1, we’ve experienced exports that were relatively similar to last year. Maybe a hair behind. And I think we’ll start seeing those numbers soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised that when we finally see January export numbers, we’re down like 5% versus last year, when last year was a really, really, really good number. I’d almost say down 5% is unexpectedly good relative to how good it was last year. Martijn Goedhart: Josh, coming back to your coverage question, I think both our markets have seen massive carries right over the last few months. So, that’s not a very interesting structure for buyers to cover long. Our market was [00:23:00] trading like spot plus two months maximum. And producers would only make big sales if they have the product already, if they feel it already a little. So, I would suggest that cheese buyers in Europe, as well as around the world, are relatively shortly covered, just the same as with nonfat. Henk-Jan Bouwman: Yeah, I see the same in my export markets where basically all the inquiries we are getting for cheese, are relatively close to home, so maybe one maximum two months out from a shipment perspective. Ted Jacoby III: Mm-hmm. Josh White: So, Ted, are you interpreting this though, that the pressure’s gonna be on more so in the U.S. to win that business going into the second quarter? Based on what you just heard from our European friends? How are you digesting this discussion? Ted Jacoby III: That’s a great question. I would say yes, but price action makes me wonder if the U.S. is trying to price itself out of this market. Martijn Goedhart: Take cheddar for example. EU is about $300 per ton elevated over U.S. So, in certain applications, such as process cheese, I think, by default the U.S., will win that export business. Ted Jacoby III: Even [00:24:00] at current futures prices for April and May of a $1.80? Martijn Goedhart: Little bit of a different story. But that also depends on the outcome of European flush and the effect of that flush on cheddar pricing in Europe. Ted Jacoby III: I would agree with you that about three weeks ago, we were cheaper, but after this rally, I don’t know if that’s still true. Josh White: The point Ted’s driving home right now is the big carry in the Class III cheese markets in the U.S., you’re concern is pricing out the second quarter? Ted Jacoby III: That’s exactly right. I’m concerned we’re in the middle of pricing ourselves out of the market. Josh White: Are we putting ourselves in a spot where we’re the best priced cheese product. We know, out of the U.S., our daily milk volumes are gonna increase. We know that a lot of that milk’s gonna go into cheese. We know that we’re gonna have to compete for cheese business. But even despite the fact that Europe’s relatively balanced, it feels like on cheese, are we putting ourselves in the global market in a position where Europe may win? Martijn Goedhart: It’s gonna be a good fight, Josh.  None of the origins can afford to lose a lot of export business over the flush. We need to get those volumes [00:25:00] moving. So, the products where we compete, we will compete. Ted Jacoby III: Mm-hmm. And here’s what’s likely to happen. The U.S. having a little bit more mature and developed futures market means that as Europe goes out there and makes sure they get that business, the U.S. at some point will say, rather than going and exporting this cheese, I’m just gonna put it in a warehouse and hedge it out on the futures because there’s a carry in the futures market right now and I can make 10¢ just sitting on it for a month or two. If we are gonna have to go head to head with Europe, to get that export business, we might not get as much as we did last year in the second quarter, because in the second quarter we really did get a lot of that cheese export business. Martijn Goedhart: I agree. Only, to what extent can you actually carry it, physically, without refreshing, Ted? Because in Europe, that’s a bit of an issue. Ted Jacoby III: In the U.S., there’s a number of strategies, a lot of it being rolling your inventory. So, you take your working inventory and you just start rolling it because I don’t think there’s a huge difference between 30-day-old cheddar and 90-day-old cheddar to a lot of people. There are strategies to [00:26:00] manage through higher inventory levels. But at a certain point, even that working inventory carry, it starts to max out the warehouse, start to get full, and then they just gotta sell it. Martijn Goedhart: Right. Ted Jacoby III: What’s interesting is, I think that a lot of people went into 2026 thinking, “We’ve gotta make sure we’ve got a home for this cheese, because there’s a lot more cheese, and the U.S. market demand is not that great. It’s very flat. And so, if we’re gonna make 4% or 5% more cheese, we’re just gonna have to export it.” Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Ted Jacoby III: And so, they weren’t even looking at that equation. But I think what’s happened in the last month with this volatility in the market, it’s gonna have the inverse effect of getting everybody to actually sit on that cheese and keep it at home, and you’d think it would be the opposite, but no, I think we’re gonna end up bringing more cheese home and letting you win some of those battles. Josh White: Ted, can we talk a minute about the milk production outlook in both regions and how that’s shifted a bit over the past month or two? I’ll start within the U.S. We generally believe that the margins have not been squeezed to a point where we’re gonna see a massive [00:27:00] supply response, a negative supply response in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Ted Jacoby III: And the bounce off The bottom, if anything, we may be back into a place where we’re encouraging more production. Josh White: We’ve got some big comparables. There’s maybe some vulnerabilities in the market. We’ve obviously been surprised with disease and other things in the past, so it’s not imminent, of course, but the math says we should expect to continue to have a good amount of milk out of the U.S. going forward. How does that look out of Europe presently? Martijn Goedhart: I would say almost copy paste Josh. Skimmed has bounced back. Butter has stabilized. Cheese has stabilized up to a point where if I look at the valorization of gouda at €3,300/MT you’re well above the 40¢/kg mark, which is basically the pain point for European farmers. And then I’m taking into account sweet whey. Not even WPC, right? So, if you have your WPC return, that’ll add another few cents at least. So yeah, we didn’t go deep enough to encourage any decline in milk production. The big question is how that’s gonna turn out this year: if we see the same curve or more [00:28:00] corrected to normal seasonality. But from a margin perspective, I think, just like Ted said, we bounced off the bottom, and it didn’t hurt enough or long enough for anything structural to change in 2026. Josh White: Hey, Martijn, would you add a little bit of color to what you just mentioned a moment ago? The two flush situation coming from the bluetongue outbreak and issue. Martijn Goedhart: In early 2025 in Europe, there were cases of bluetongue and that spread quite quickly across Western Europe. Spring started, early temperatures went up, and mosquitoes that spread the virus sting cows and then they get infected. It has an effect on calving. A lot of calves are not born in the right way, and also the cows, the output goes down, and it’s harder to get them pregnant. So, some cows, they first have to get over the bluetongue disease before they would start to calve. Some cows would calve late and that means that the milk also starts flowing late. Where you’d typically see a peak, in March, April, and then in eastern Europe, it’s a bit later, but now you’ve seen a similar peak because margins were good, but a longer [00:29:00] plateau at that level as well. Those cows get dried off later as well. So, are they gonna calve later again or is it like maybe some like refreshing of cows in the system, and the new ones will be set up according to the normal season? It’s a big question mark. We don’t know. Even the co-ops are struggling with that. Ted Jacoby III: So, you could have a flush that does not hit the peak it usually does, but it’s just longer. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. If it’s the same as last year, that’s what’s gonna happen. If we somehow move back to a normal seasonal pattern, then you’ll see a higher peak than last year, but a bigger decline in the second half of the year. Josh White: If we’re talking about demand being okay and large amounts of milk in both Europe and the U.S. likely to continue, is there anywhere in the world that is suffering on their milk production? Do any of us have an idea of what’s going on with milk production in China? Martijn Goedhart: I think margins there are low. It’s been flat until now, the output, but it’s hard to get consistent numbers from China. But margins are still very low. So, that would not incentivize [00:30:00] growth. Ted Jacoby III: Milk production in China popped over a two year period, about five, six years ago. Then held steady for a couple of years, then it pulled back. Now, after that pullback, it’s flatlining again. Josh White: What we’re basically concluding from this is that we’re gonna have a lot of milk still, but, with the exception of some risk maybe on the cheese side and maybe in the butter situation in Europe, the rest of the products don’t seem to have concerning inventory levels as of right now. Ted Jacoby III: I would agree. I think there’s enough supply, but there seems to be surprisingly good demand, especially for protein. All right guys, we’re wrapping up here. Lightning round question. Do you think what’s happening in the nonfat market is a result of increased demand or less supply? Josh, you go first. Josh White: I wanna say both. We’re experiencing more demand across the entire curve that is both pulling more nonfat supply and is also pulling away skim solids from the dryer. Ted Jacoby III: Martijn? Martijn Goedhart: I agree with Josh. Some of it is fundamental SMD but a big part of it is demand waiting too long and needing to deliver. Ted Jacoby III: Henk? Henk-Jan Bouwman: yeah, I’m with you [00:31:00] guys. Ted Jacoby III: I do not want a chicken out like you and say both, so I’m trying to decide which one. I think it’s very subtle, but this is actually demand driven more than supply driven. Martijn Goedhart: Yeah. Ted Jacoby III: Yeah. All right guys. Thanks for joining us again. We really appreciate all the time that you guys spent tuning in and listening to us.  Keep milking those cows, and we’ll keep showing up and telling you what we’re seeing out there. Ted Jacoby III: We’ll be back in two weeks for a market update with the Jacoby team. Looking forward to seeing you then. All right guys. Hey, Martijn. Henk, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate the conversation. Martijn Goedhart: Thanks guys. Huge pleasure. Henk-Jan Bouwman: Thank you very much. Martijn Goedhart: Cheers.

Is it ever okay to ask someone how much they make — or how much they paid for their home? In this episode, we unpack our weekend poll results and dive into Singapore’s complicated relationship with money talk: from Chinese New Year “auntie questions” to generational divides and global salary transparency trends. Is it rude, cultural, or just badly phrased curiosity? Presented by Audrey Siek, Ryan Huang & Emaad Akhtar Produced by Audrey Siek Edited by Trisha Yeong Music credit: Pixabay & its talented community of contributorsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

【欢迎订阅】每天早上5:30，准时更新。【阅读原文】标题：Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year? Why the Name Still Matters 正文：Every January or February, this debate shows up right on schedule. Is it Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year? It feels like a small wording choice,but in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, it always turns into something bigger. That's because this isn't really about the moon or calendars. It's about identity, diaspora, and who gets named. 知识点：debate n. / v. /dɪˈbeɪt/a discussion in which people express different opinions about a topic 辩论；争论；讨论• There is an ongoing debate about climate change.关于气候变化的争论仍在持续。• The candidates will debate each other on television tonight.候选人今晚将在电视上进行辩论。获取外刊的完整原文以及精讲笔记，请关注微信公众号「早安英文」，回复“外刊”即可。更多有意思的英语干货等着你！【节目介绍】《早安英文-每日外刊精读》，带你精读最新外刊，了解国际最热事件：分析语法结构，拆解长难句，最接地气的翻译，还有重点词汇讲解。所有选题均来自于《经济学人》《纽约时报》《华尔街日报》《华盛顿邮报》《大西洋月刊》《科学杂志》《国家地理》等国际一线外刊。【适合谁听】1、关注时事热点新闻，想要学习最新最潮流英文表达的英文学习者2、任何想通过地道英文提高听、说、读、写能力的英文学习者3、想快速掌握表达，有出国学习和旅游计划的英语爱好者4、参加各类英语考试的应试者（如大学英语四六级、托福雅思、考研等）【你将获得】1、超过1000篇外刊精读课程，拓展丰富语言表达和文化背景2、逐词、逐句精确讲解，系统掌握英语词汇、听力、阅读和语法3、每期内附学习笔记，包含全文注释、长难句解析、疑难语法点等，帮助扫除阅读障碍。

AS USUAL SHOWNOTES ARE AI SLOP BY CLAUDE SONNET 4.6 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER-----------------------------------------------------------A wide‑ranging hour covering domestic politics (One Nation's surge and the Coalition's paralysis), major policy debates (NDIS reform, political donations), crime and national security items, transport projects, and international flashpoints from the US tariffs decision to Iran and Russia. Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack mix sharp political analysis with on‑the‑ground colour and sport/entertainment roundups.00:00:26 — Intro & banterQuick greeting, light chat about Chinese New Year and local life in Hong Kong. Sets tone and introduces the episode.00:01:36 — One Nation surge & polling deep-diveDiscussion of recent polls showing One Nation jumping into mid‑teens/20s in places; skepticism about methodology (Roy Morgan/telephone vs face‑to‑face) and how soft protest votes can be. Hong Kong Jack calls this a historically large minor‑party rise.00:06:49 — Why major conservatives look frozen (cost of One Nation policy)Analysis of Coalition paralysis on immigration policy; PBO estimate on net‑zero migration cost discussed; critique that Liberals/Nationals aren't confronting One Nation's policy platform.00:10:47 — Keith Wallerhan essay: who are modern decisive voters?Summary of Wallerhan's argument that the old “Phil & Jenny” voter has shifted; a new aspirational, tertiary‑educated, renting suburban voter is key and the Liberal Party hasn't adapted.00:13:29 — Nationals, nuclear sites and political messaging failuresHow rushed / poorly communicated policy (nuclear sites list) triggered NIMBY backlash; claim the Coalition isn't doing the detailed work needed to respond to voter shifts.00:18:28 — High Court challenge to Victoria's political donations regimeTwo independents argue the law entrenches major parties by cutting off new fundraising structures; discussion of the likely timing and importance for the November state election.00:20:30 — Crime: abduction/murder linked to organised crime networksAppalling case of an elderly man abducted from North Ryde, body discovered near Penrith; two men charged, defence suggests broader Sydney crime network involvement.00:24:56 — Gang violence & the Matt Utai shooting; crime networks in SydneyBrief on organised‑crime turf disputes (the “Coconut Cartel” reference) and ongoing police investigations.00:24:56 — Transport — Sydney–Newcastle high‑speed rail proposalFederal funding for planning (~AUD 660m so far) discussed; doubts raised about cost, route feasibility and whether fast rail really suits Australia's geography and travel patterns.00:31:09 — NDIS & autism diagnosis debateMike Freelander (paediatrician & MP) argues autism diagnostic threshold is too low; Grattan Institute numbers referenced; concern NDIS budget/scope is unsustainable without reform.00:36:29 — Australians in Syrian camps / “ISIS brides” debateStrong views on repatriation and national security; discussion of Australian citizenship rights for children born in Australia and the political difficulty of extracting or repatriating individuals from camps.00:42:10 — UK entry rules for dual citizens (brief)Note about changes/fees affecting dual UK citizens arriving without a UK passport; implications for Hong Kongers and others.00:44:20 — United States tariffs & Supreme Court rulingSCOTUS decision limiting presidential tariff powers discussed; Gorsuch and Kavanaugh opinions mentioned; likely litigation and refund battles to follow.00:56:16 — AI, data centres and environmental concernsColorado moratorium mention; large energy/water footprints of data centres; practical notes on lawyers/journalists misusing AI (fabricated cases) and AI as a drafting tool that must be checked.01:04:37 — Middle East: Iran tensions & regional risksDiscussion of US/Israeli options, likely limits to air/missile strikes, regional escalation risk and implications for proxy groups (Hezbollah).01:05:30 — Russia & Ukraine: economic pressure on MoscowSurvey of views that Russia's economy is under severe strain and that continued war may be economically self‑sustaining for the regime.01:06:13 — UK politics: by‑election in Gorton & Denton (context)Background on the resignation/scandal that triggered the by‑election; polling context (Reform/Greens versus Labor).01:08:15 — High‑profile UK arrests (Mandelson, Andrew) and “misconduct in public office”Overview of arrests/interviews, differences in UK arrest process vs Australia, discussion of historical use and limits of the offence and prosecution challenges.01:19:04 — Sport: AFL documentary, Toby Greene, Carlton developmentsNotes on Amazon Prime's Inside the AFL; Toby Greene anecdote; Carlton's new training facility, ESG plan and player signings (Sam Walsh, Jager Smith, Wade Dirksen story).01:27:41 — NRL in Las Vegas; T20 World Cup & Australian cricket updateNRL double‑header success in Vegas; ticket/cost notes. T20 World Cup preview—India/England/West Indies form and women's team performance spotlight.01:32:18 — Global oddities and small items (N Korea, etc.)Quick remarks on North Korea's predictable “reelection” and the historic gap since last nuclear test.01:33:36 — Outro & listener call‑outsClosing thanks, invitation for listener questions and sign‑off.

Chanting starts at 0.32 min.The sangha of Dhammagiri Buddhist Monastery recites auspicious paritta for Vietnamese/Chinese New Year of the Firehorse. Ajahn Moneyyo leads the chanting Tan Adicco recites the formal invitation to all devas & spirits Ajahn Dhammasiha joins the chanting as well. Spotify sometimes classifies our chanting podcasts as 'music' and then deletes them, as pure music tracks are not allowed on their podcast platform. To prevent that from happening, we have included a spoken intro, and some explanations about horse similes at the end, by Ajahn Dhammasiha. Being born in the year of the firehorse himself, Ajahn Dhammasiha enjoyed sharing quotes mentioning horses at the event, including his own translations. Read the horse quotes here: https://www.dhammagiri.net/post/horse-similes-in-pali-canonDhammagiri Forest Hermitage:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.dhammagiri.net/news⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our email Newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.dhammagiri.net/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Latest Photos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://latest-pics.dhammagiri.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our Youtube Channel:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724#paritta #palichanting #buddhistchanting #chinesenewyear #firehorse2026 #firehorse #lunarnewyear #buddhism #dhamma

While the A-share market performed strongly on the first trading day of the Year of the Horse, it is likely to gallop forward even further in the following months, mainly driven by a more amiable domestic macro environment and the development of emerging technologies, experts said.专家表示，虽然A股在马年首个交易日表现强劲，但在未来几个月可能会在更友好的国内宏观环境以及新兴技术发展的推动下进一步上涨。After the extended Spring Festival break, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.87 percent to close at 4117.41 points on Tuesday, while the Shenzhen Component Index jumped 1.36 percent. The tech-heavy ChiNext in Shenzhen also added 0.99 percent. Total trading value on the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing bourses amounted over 2.2 trillion yuan ($319 billion), up nearly 11 percent from the previous trading day.春节长假过后，基准上证综指周二上涨0.87%，收报4117.41点，深证成指上涨1.36%，以科技股为主的创业板指上涨0.99%。上海、深圳和北京证券交易所的总成交额超过2.2万亿元人民币（合3190亿美元），较前一交易日上涨近11%。Oil and gas extraction companies as well as precious metal enterprises contributed the most to the Tuesday rally, with the former reporting an average 7.53 percent price increase and the latter up by 7.01 percent on average.油气开采企业以及贵金属企业是当日涨幅最大的板块，前者平均上涨7.53%，后者平均上涨7.01%。Uncertainties in the external market have buoyed the performance of the above A-share sectors. The twists and turns in the US-Iran talks have pushed up oil prices, and uncertainty in Washington's tariff policies may escalate the risk-averse sentiment, resulting in higher precious metal prices, said Xia Fanjie, a strategist at China Securities.外部市场的不确定性推动了上述A股板块的表现。中信建投证券策略分析师夏凡捷表示，美伊谈判的曲折推高了油价，美国政府关税政策的不确定性可能会加剧避险情绪，导致贵金属价格上涨。The A-share market is likely to rise further after the Chinese New Year while short-term volatility may not be avoidable, said Yang Chao, chief strategist at China Galaxy Securities. Market anticipation of more supportive government policies may serve as the core driver of a bull market, which can be further sustained by ample market liquidity and development of emerging industries, Yang said.中国银河证券首席策略分析师杨超表示，春节后A股市场有望进一步上涨，但短期内波动可能无法避免。杨超表示，市场对政府出台更多支持性政策的预期可能成为牛市的核心驱动力，而充足的市场流动性和新兴产业的发展可能进一步维持牛市。As the A-share market had already seen adjustments before the holiday when overseas assets underwent rearrangements, odds are high that the Chinese stock market will see gains after the country gets fully back to work following the long break, said Zhang Qiyao, chief strategist at Industrial Securities.兴业证券首席策略分析师张启尧表示，由于节前A股市场在海外资产重新配置的同时已经进行了调整，在长假后国内全面复工复产后，中国股市上涨的可能性很大。Higher risk appetite, coupled with various supportive macroeconomic and industrial policies, will lead to higher readings of the benchmark A-share indexes. In light of tech giants' significantly rising capital expenditures and the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence models, investors are urged to focus on so-called "pan-AI assets", including companies specializing in computing infrastructures and AI commercialization, Zhang said.张启尧称，较高的风险偏好，加上各种支持性宏观经济和产业政策，将推动A股基准指数进一步上涨。鉴于科技巨头资本支出大幅增加和人工智能模型的快速发展，张启尧建议投资者关注所谓的"泛AI资产"，包括专门从事算力基础设施和人工智能商业化的公司。In particular, investment opportunities may lie in optical modules, energy storage, power grids and leading storage companies, which are integral to computing infrastructures. Humanoid robots, autopilot and consumer electronics companies may benefit from a wider AI commercialization, he added.特别是，投资机会可能存在于光模块、储能、电网和存储龙头，这些是计算基础设施的组成部分。他补充道，在更广泛的人工智能商业化中，人形机器人、智能驾驶和消费电子公司可能受益。Liu Xiaoyao, computer industry analyst at Kaiyuan Securities, also holds a positive outlook on the AI sector this year, saying that a "Deep-Seek moment" may be anticipated among multimodal companies. Game, marketing, film and TV-related firms are likely to prosper amid enhanced multimodal capabilities.开源证券计算机行业分析师刘逍遥也看好今年人工智能行业的前景，他表示，在多模态公司中可能会出现一个"DeepSeek时刻"。在多模态能力增强的情况下，游戏、广告、影视相关公司可能会繁荣。The ongoing market rebalancing across the globe is mainly determined by AI's growing influence against the backdrop of divergent monetary policies and other moves adopted by major economies, said experts at Sinolink Securities. Investment activities worldwide, which were mainly driven by AI, have now expanded to sectors more closely related to the real economy. The path of US interest rate cuts is expected to be relatively smooth. All these will provide an amiable environment for the recovery of the global manufacturing cycle.国金证券专家表示，在主要经济体采取不同的货币政策和其他举措的背景下，人工智能的影响力日益增强，这决定了当前正在进行的全球市场再平衡。全球范围内主要由人工智能驱动的投资活动现在已经扩大到与实体经济更密切相关的领域。预计美国降息路径将相对平稳。所有这些将为全球制造业周期的复苏提供有利的环境。During this process, Chinese assets are likely to be reevaluated, boosting the return of capital flow. This will in turn facilitate China's domestic consumption, they added.他们补充道，在这个过程中，中国资产可能会被重新评估，从而促进资本回流，这将反过来刺激中国国内消费。gallop forward /ˈɡæləp ˈfɔːrwərd/快速上涨；奔腾向前risk-averse sentiment /ˈrɪsk əˈvɜːrs ˈsentɪmənt/避险情绪pan-AI assets /pæn eɪ aɪ ˈæsets/泛AI资产

President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that the more volatile and turbulent the international situation becomes, the greater the need for China and Germany to strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual trust and promote the continuous new development of their comprehensive strategic partnership.Xi made the remarks when receiving German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as the first foreign leader in the Year of the Horse at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Merz arrived on Wednesday morning for his inaugural visit to China since taking office in May last year."The Chinese New Year celebrations continue until the Lantern Festival. Your visit during the Chinese New Year is just like friends and relatives visiting each other," Xi told the German guest, saying that it fully reflects the closeness and high level of China-Germany relations.Xi called on the two sides to use the stability and vitality of China-Germany ties to promote cooperation in China-European Union relations and contribute to harmony and common good in a turbulent world.Speaking about the future development of China-Germany relations, Xi said the two countries should strive to be reliable partners that support each other, partners for innovation committed to openness and mutual benefit, and partners in cultural exchanges that understand and respect one another.Xi stressed that China remains committed to the path of peaceful development and has both the confidence and capability to advance Chinese modernization. China will continue to share development opportunities with countries around the world, including Germany, he said. It is hoped that Germany will view China's development in an objective and rational way, uphold a positive China policy and meet China halfway to work for sustained and steady progress in growing China-Germany relations, Xi said.The two sides should strengthen the alignment of their development strategies, promote the two-way flow of talent, knowledge and technology, and enhance dialogue and cooperation in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, he said.Xi said that China and Germany should properly handle the relationship between competition and cooperation, explore mutually beneficial and win-win pathways of cooperation, and jointly keep industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.Noting that both China and Germany are major countries with profound cultural heritage, Xi called on the two sides to deepen mutual learning between civilizations, expand people-to-people exchanges and consolidate the public foundation of friendship between the two nations.Xi also noted the importance of China and Germany upholding the central role of the United Nations and reinvigorating its leading role.Beijing and Berlin should take the lead in being upholders of multilateralism, practitioners of international rule of law, defenders of free trade and advocates of solidarity and coordination, he said.Xi said China supports Europe's efforts to strengthen its strategic autonomy and hopes the EU will work with China in the same direction, uphold the positioning of their strategic partnership, adhere to openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and promote greater development of China-EU relations in order to make a larger contribution to world peace and development.Merz said the German side attaches great importance to its relations with China and remains firmly committed to the one-China policy. Germany stands ready to work with China to carry forward the tradition of friendship, uphold mutual respect, openness and cooperation, and continuously deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, he said.Merz, who is accompanied by a high-level trade delegation with senior executives from around 30 leading German companies, said the German business community places high importance on the Chinese market and hopes to further expand cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and shared development.Xi and Merz also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis. Xi outlined China's principled position on the crisis, saying that seeking solutions through dialogue and negotiation is key to the issue.Xi noted the necessity of ensuring the equal participation of all parties to lay a solid foundation for peace, addressing the legitimate concerns of all sides to strengthen the will for peace, and achieving common security to build a lasting framework for peace.The two sides issued a joint press statement, in which they expressed their willingness to properly address each other's concerns through candid and open dialogue, so as to ensure a long-term, balanced, reliable and sustainable economic and trade relationship.As part of his two-day visit, Merz is scheduled to tour Beijing's Forbidden City and the Mercedes-Benz production facility, before traveling to Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, to visit Chinese robotics company Unitree and German turbine manufacturer Siemens Energy.Jin Ling, director of the Department for Global Governance and International Organizations at the China Institute of International Studies, said Merz's visit itself carries significance against the backdrop of debate within Europe over how to approach China.By emphasizing partnership and a cooperative tone, Merz has sent a signal aimed at filtering out "noise" and external interference, and at anchoring China-Germany and China-EU relations in pragmatic cooperation, she said.Merz is the latest in a string of Western leaders to visit Beijing in close succession within just a few weeks after French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer."These visits reflect recognition of China's global role and the opportunities presented by its market. Missing out on the Chinese market would mean missing out on opportunities, is a view that appears to be gaining wider consensus," Jin added.

Free trains and dedicated buses are helping a large number of migrant workers return to jobs after the Spring Festival holiday, especially those traveling from China's central and western regions to the eastern seaboard.春节假期过后，大批外出务工者踏上返岗之路。免费专列、包车等暖心服务正助力他们便捷返岗，尤其是那些从中国中西部地区前往东部沿海地区的务工人员。On Tuesday, a traveler surnamed Yang boarded a special train free of charge at Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Guizhou province and arrived in Foshan, Guangdong province, in South China.2月24日（正月初八），春节假期后返岗首日，来自贵州省黔东南苗族侗族自治州的杨女士免费搭乘专列抵达广东省佛山市。The prefecture's human resources department provided about 500 seats for migrant workers such as her.黔东南州人力资源和社会保障局为务工者提供了约500个座位。More free trains will depart from the prefecture through Feb 28 to destinations including cities such as Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Guangzhou in Guangdong province. Roughly 500 free seats per service are reserved exclusively for locals who work outside their hometown.到2月28日，该州还将开设更多免费专列，开往浙江杭州、广东广州等城市，每趟专列将为外出务工人员预留约500个免费座位。Each year after the Chinese New Year holiday, firms resume operations and many workers who spent the break at home must return to their posts. That produces a short surge in travel and makes securing tickets the top priority for many.每年春节假期过后，企业复工复产，回乡探亲的务工人员都得返回工作岗位，从而形成节后出行高峰，买到车票成了许多人的头等大事。Yang told China Daily that she scanned a QR code to register after her village issued the notice, and she received a confirmation message the next day. She posted about securing the free ride online and replied to fellow villagers' queries about how to apply.杨女士向《中国日报》表示，在村里下发通知后，她扫码登记，第二天就收到了确认信息。她在网上分享了乘坐免费专列的消息，并回复了同村人关于如何申请的问题。Another beneficiary, Yang Ying from Huangping county in Qiandongnan, said past returns required multiple transfers and a day or more of exhausting travel while carrying heavy luggage.另一位受益者、来自贵州省黄平县的杨英表示，过去返岗需要在多个换乘点之间奔波，耗费一天多的时间，还得拖着沉重的行李。"I have worked in Hangzhou for more than three years. Every year, the hardest task after the holiday is getting tickets. When I saw the free train notice, I scanned, applied and received confirmation within a few days. I felt relieved," she said.她说："我在杭州务工三年多了，每年春节返岗最发愁的就是抢票，看到免费专列报名公告，我第一时间就扫码报名了，没几天就收到确认短信，心里一下子就踏实了。"Wang Wanmin, director of the prefecture's human resources and social security bureau, said they will continue to operate special trains and buses to transport 20,000 fellow townspeople to jobs, further stabilizing employment and boosting incomes.黔东南州人力资源和社会保障局局长王万敏表示，当地将继续开设专列、包车，护送2万余名外出务工人员返岗，进一步稳定就业，促进增收。Railway authorities said the China Railway Chengdu Group plans to run 32 post-festival special trains for workers, which are expected to carry about 18,000 passengers through March 6.铁路部门称，中国铁路成都局集团有限公司计划在节后开行32趟务工人员专列，预计在3月6日前运送约1.8万名旅客。The group manages lines serving provinces such as Sichuan and Guizhou, regions that are major sources of migrant labor.该公司管理四川、贵州等务工人员输出大省的铁路线路。Similar targeted services operate nationwide. Also on Tuesday, a special train for workers from Xi'an in Shaanxi province departed for Suzhou, Jiangsu province, delivering employees directly to contracted employers in Suzhou and nearby Taicang city.全国其他地方也有类似的精准服务。同样在2月24日，一列满载务工人员的专列从陕西省西安市驶往江苏省苏州市，直接将员工送至苏州及太仓市的签约企业。Officials said the transported workers had been prematched with positions in high-end intelligent manufacturing, electronic information, auto parts and precision machinery industries. Roles include technical operators, quality control staff, warehousing personnel and support service staff.据官方介绍，此次输送的务工人员已提前与高端智能制造、电子信息、汽车零部件和精密机械等行业的岗位匹配，涵盖技术操作工、品质管控、仓储物流及配套服务等。After the workers arrived at Suzhou North Railway Station, local human resources departments provided dedicated shuttle vehicles to take them directly to factory dormitories.务工人员抵达苏州北站后，当地人社部门安排专用接驳车，闭环运送务工人员直达厂区宿舍。More flexible, targeted transport has also been added. Guangdong province has introduced bus routes from labor-exporting areas to provide point-to-point service.更灵活、精准的返岗运输服务也在加码。广东省已开通从劳务输出大县到务工集中地的返岗直通车。Between Feb 19 and Feb 25, passengers could scan a code to find buses from provinces including Hunan, Jiangxi and Hubei bound for Guangzhou city, and register their return-to-work transport needs online, local media reported.据当地媒体报道，2月19日至25日，旅客可扫码查询从湖南、江西、湖北等省份发往广州的专车，并在线登记返岗出行需求。Huizhou city in Guangdong province will also set up return-to-work shuttle services at major transport hubs to provide last-mile connections for arriving migrant workers. The program is expected to serve more than 3,000 returning workers.广东省惠州市也将在主要交通枢纽设置返岗接驳专线，为返岗务工人员提供"最后一公里"的便利。该项目预计将为3000多名返岗务工人员提供服务。ree of charge /friː əv tʃɑːrdʒ/免费top priority /tɒp praɪˈɒrəti/重中之重；最优先事项shuttle services /ˈʃʌtəl ˈsɜːrvɪsɪz/接驳服务；班车服务

Back from the Chinese New Year break, Fred welcomes Chief China Economist Jing Liu and Head of A-share Consumer Research Kathy Song to the podcast to talk holiday spending in Asia's top economy.Click here for appropriate Disclosures, including analyst certifications, and Disclaimers that must be viewed with this podcast:https://www.research.hsbc.com/R/20/wT2k7f6 Stay connected and access free to view reports and videos from HSBC Global Investment Research, just search for #HSBCResearch on LinkedIn or click here: https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/global-research.

Johnnie Putman and Steve King are galloping into the Year of the Fire Horse with good friends and while you won’t hear any music, you can hear some of Steve and Johnnie’s new favorite Fire Horse songs at their blog! First on the guest list is Dave Karger, Host at Turner Classic Movies for a […]

Dunkin's 48-ounce drink bucket, men being more afraid of the dentist than women, a State of the Union music montage, PB&J and Uncrustables, the United States of Awesomeville, the 10 most welcoming cities, Riley got her SAD lamp, a Chinese New Year stuffed fire horse, random facts — plus the latest news and sports. 

Some lesser-known or small Chinese towns and cities — with a strong festive ambience during Chinese New Year — alongside Neo-Chinese style destinations, have experienced "wealth beyond measure" during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday. Both domestic and international tourists have shown a tendency to linger in these areas.在为期9天的春节假期期间，一些不太出名的小城镇以及新中式风格的旅游目的地迎来了"泼天富贵"。国内游客和外国游客都喜欢在这些地方多玩几天。This year's extended Spring Festival holiday, which began on Feb 15 and concluded on Monday, inspired widespread travel.今年春节假期从2月15日开始，到2月23日结束，激发了人们的出游热情。"It's really stunning looking down at the lantern show from the ancient city walls. I felt like I was traveling back in time," said Sha Anna as she marveled at a lantern show on Feb 17 in Datong, Shanxi province. The Beijing resident visited the picturesque ancient city with family.北京居民沙安娜（音译）2月17日与家人一起游览了山西省大同市的古城。她在欣赏灯会时感叹道："从古城墙上俯瞰灯会，真的很震撼。我感觉自己穿越回了古代。"The city rose to popularity after the release of the Chinese-developed video game Black Myth: Wukong in 2024, which features several game scenes closely related to ancient Buddhist culture and Taoism.大同在2024年国产游戏《黑神话：悟空》发售后火了，这款游戏的几个场景与古老的佛教和道教文化密切相关。She said a desire to experience the lively festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year that differed from Beijing, led her to plan a trip to Datong — a city that boasts a rich cultural heritage. "The food here is also very delicious, especially the knife-cut noodles. The city left us with memories of historical legacies and human touch, and we will come back next Spring Festival."沙安娜说，她想体验与北京不同的热闹新年气氛，于是计划去大同旅游。大同市拥有丰富的文化遗产。她说："这里的食物也非常美味，尤其是刀削面。这座城市给我们留下了历史遗产和人情味的记忆，明年春节我们还会来。"Lively discussions on Datong and many other niche but attractive towns and small cities circulated online during the Spring Festival holiday. Their distinctive celebration practices, flavorful cuisine and strong cultural heritage have generated interest from tourists looking for unique experiences.春节期间，大同和许多其他小众但具有吸引力的城镇在网上引发了热议。它们独特的庆祝方式、风味美食和深厚的文化底蕴吸引了寻求独特体验的游客。Data from travel portal Tuniu shows that the number of tourists to Baoting Li and Miao autonomous county in South China's Hainan province and Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan province increased twofold compared with the previous Spring Festival period, as these places enjoy distinctive and exotic ethnic cultures. Destinations such as Chao zhou in Guangdong province, Shang rao and Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province have seen tourist numbers double year-on-year.旅游门户途牛网的数据显示，前往海南省保亭黎族苗族自治县和云南省德宏傣族景颇族自治州的游客数量比上一个春节增加了一倍，这些地方拥有独特而富有异域风情的民族文化。广东潮州、江西上饶和景德镇等目的地的游客数量同比翻了一番。Qunar, another online travel agency, noted strong enthusiasm among young people for Neo-Chinese style destinations — which blend contemporary and traditional Chinese cultures — during the holiday period. The agency reported that some history or novel-based theme parks like Millennium City Park and Wansui Mountain Wuxia City in Henan province were among the top destinations on their platform during the holiday.另一家在线旅游机构去哪儿网指出，假期期间，年轻人对新中式风格旅游目的地的热情很高。该机构报告称，河南的清明上河园和万岁山武侠城等一些历史或小说主题公园是假期期间其平台上最受欢迎的目的地之一。The extended holiday also stimulated Chinese people's desire for long-distance overseas trips. According to Qunar, between Feb 15 and Monday, its users flew to nearly 1,000 cities worldwide. The most popular overseas destinations were those with shorter flight times, friendly visa policies and milder climates, including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.这个长假也刺激了中国人出国长途旅行的欲望。根据去哪儿网的数据，2月15日至23日期间，去哪儿网的用户飞往全球近1000个城市。最受欢迎的海外目的地是飞行时间较短、签证政策友好、气候温和的地方，包括曼谷、吉隆坡和香港。Among the travelers who went overseas was Zhang Yi, who took a four-day trip to Thailand with her family and returned to Shanghai on Sunday. "It was our third time visiting the country, but the first time celebrating Chinese New Year there. Thailand is a good place to relax," she said.张怡（音译）是出境游的游客之一，她与家人去泰国玩了四天，于周日返回上海。她说："这是我们第三次去泰国，但第一次在那里庆祝中国新年。泰国是个放松身心的好地方。"Qunar also noted that many of its users spent the Spring Festival holiday in Italy, the host nation of the recently concluded Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. "Based on our figures, flight ticket bookings to Italy on Feb 14 and Feb 15 — the day before the Spring Festival holiday started and the first day of the holiday — increased by 64 percent compared with the previous two days," it said.去哪儿网还指出，许多用户选择在意大利度过春节假期。意大利是最近结束的2026年米兰-科尔蒂纳冬奥会的主办国。该机构表示："根据我们的数据，2月14日和2月15日前往意大利的机票预订量与前两天相比增长了64%。"Additionally, the social media trend "becoming Chinese" has extended to the tourism market, with an increasing number of international travelers visiting the mainland during the Spring Festival holiday to partake in festivities. In 2024, Spring Festival was officially inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, enhancing its global influence.此外，社交媒体上"成为中国人"的热潮也延伸到了旅游市场，越来越多的外国游客在春节期间来内地旅游。2024年春节被列入联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录，提升了其在全球的影响力。Data from Qunar shows that flight bookings to the mainland made by travelers holding non-Chinese passports grew by 20 percent year-on-year during the holiday.去哪儿网的数据显示，春节期间，持非中国护照的旅客赴内地机票预订量同比增长20%。Top destinations for these international travelers included not just big cities like Shanghai and Beijing but also lesser-known places like Jinggangshan in Jiangxi and Altay in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.这些国际游客的主要目的地不仅包括上海、北京这样的大城市，还包括江西井冈山、新疆维吾尔自治区阿勒泰等不太知名的地方。"Most of these travelers came from South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, and the United States. Domestic places with richer festive atmospheres and celebration events are most attractive to them," said Qunar, adding that travel trends among international travelers have transformed from quick sightseeing excursions to immersive experiences of Chinese traditions.去哪儿网表示："这些游客大多来自韩国、越南、新加坡、澳大利亚和美国。节日氛围和庆祝活动更丰富的国内地方对他们最有吸引力。"该机构指出，国际游客的旅游趋势已从快速观光游览转变为沉浸式体验中国传统。niche /niːʃ/ 小众的；定位明确的festive ambience /ˈfestɪv ˈæmbiəns/ 节日气氛linger in /ˈlɪŋɡə(r) ɪn/ 在……逗留；流连于picturesque /ˌpɪktʃəˈresk/ 风景如画的rise to popularity /raɪz tuː ˌpɒpjuˈlærəti/ 流行起来；走红human touch /ˈhjuːmən tʌtʃ/ 人情味year-on-year /ˌjɜːr ɒn ˈjɪr/ 同比Millennium City Park /mɪˈleniəm ˈsɪti pɑːk/ 清明上河园sightseeing excursions /ˈsaɪtsiːɪŋ ɪkˈskɜːʃənz/ 观光游览；短途旅游

Episode: 3266 Fireworks, Firecrackers, and Lunar New Year.  Today, we ring the new year in with a bang.

Hello, hello newsies!! Yes, we've taken quite the long Christmas, New Year, errrr, January break! Yes, work, school and life took over a bit (which happens more and more that Leela is a TEENAGER now, can you believe?!). But, we're back in time for the… new Chinese New Year, yay! Or should we say, neeeehaaaay! Because, yes, it's the Year of the Horse for 2026. We'll give you the low-down on what that represents and, as ever, what the zodiac calendar means. 

Once the fireworks fade and the tables clear, reality creeps back in. Your thoughts move at molasses speed, your energy flatlines, and that cozy holiday haze suddenly feels suspiciously like a coma. It's not just exhaustion. It's your body coming down from weeks dialed up to eleven, crash-landing straight into the office. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan

The fireworks have faded, the reunions have ended, and the last dumpling is a distant memory. Now the numbers are in. The receipts, the records, and the data that reveals what kind of holiday this year's Spring Festival really was. From tourism hauls to box office gold, we break down how China rang in its Year of the Horse. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushan

Recording date: 16th February 2026Gold mining companies are generating unprecedented levels of free cash flow, with major producers like Agnico Eagle reporting more than $11 million per day in Q4 2024 at an average realized gold price near $4,200 per ounce. With gold prices running approximately $800 per ounce higher in the current quarter, that figure is tracking toward $15 million or more per day - a level that is fundamentally reshaping how companies think about capital allocation.Speaking on the Compass podcast, Samuel Pelaez and Derek Macpherson of Olive Resource Capital argued that this cash flow environment gives producers the rare ability to pursue multiple priorities simultaneously: debt reduction, dividend increases, share buybacks, and acquisitions. That flexibility, they noted, sets the current cycle apart from previous periods in the sector.The discussion comes as the mining industry enters its most active conference season of the year. An institutional-focused gathering in Miami is followed shortly by PDAC in Toronto - the world's largest mining conference - beginning around March 1st. Both events are expected to accelerate M&A discussions, as corporate development teams from major miners hold direct meetings with junior company management. Pelaez and Macpherson suggested that transaction announcements could coincide with or immediately follow PDAC.In the near term, Chinese New Year - which began February 17th - introduces a period of thin liquidity across commodity markets as Chinese exchanges close for the week. The hosts characterized any resulting price volatility as mechanical rather than fundamental, and suggested investors treat sell-offs in stocks they already favor as potential entry points.On the macro side, four factors continue to underpin the commodity bull market: expanding US manufacturing PMIs, resilient employment data, continued global liquidity growth, and a US fiscal deficit of approximately $800 billion - the third largest on record - reinforcing the case for hard assets even as the economy grows.Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Save 10% on a Las Vegas Advisor 2026 membership and book with code MTM.  https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/shop/products/lva-membership-platinum/ Episode Description This week Wynn Las Vegas was apparently hacked with 800,000 pieces of information being leaked. While a ransom of $1.5 million has been demanded, it isn't evident what the company will do. Wynn also recently released their Q4 earnings, discussed Encore renovations and more. How bad was it? In other #news snow has arrived in Vegas with stunning snow capped peaks surrounding the valley. We also discuss: the fireworks world championship, streaming rooms in casinos, Howlin Rays, Prince St. Pizza, Chinese New Year in Vegas, too little risk on electronic games & the viral dog rescue story you don't want to miss. Episode Guide 0:00 Snow has arrived in Vegas 0:41 Fireworks World Championship visuals 2:14 Viral Vegas dog rescue story 3:24 Chinese New Year around Las Vegas 5:08 Prince St. Pizza review - Did it redeem itself? 6:38 Howlin Ray's at Venetian - Best spicy chicken on the Strip? 9:05 Influencer streaming lounge on the Strip 10:53 Too little risk on electronic roulette? 12:52 Orleans renovated rooms - Surprisingly good! 14:44 Wynn Resorts hacked 17:00 Wynn earnings takeaways - Down but is it bad? 18:35 Encore's room renovations coming in 2026 20:25 How Wynn's hotel room designs are important & different Each week tens of thousands of people tune into our MtM Vegas news shows at http://www.YouTube.com/milestomemories. We do two news shows weekly on YouTube with this being the audio version. Never miss out on the latest happenings in and around Las Vegas! Enjoying the podcast? Please consider leaving us a positive review on your favorite podcast platform! You can also connect with us anytime at podcast@milestomemories.com.  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or by searching "MtM Vegas" or "Miles to Memories" in your favorite podcast app. Don't forget to check out our travel/miles/points podcast as well!

The Chinese New Year debate blowing up on TikTok. Kat Clark’s drinks fridge divides opinions. Lucy Jackson’s petition to get Tammy Hembrow on her podcast AND Sarah’s Day’s holiday home gets the green light. Follow Outspoken on Instagram and TikTok, plus join in on the conversation in our Facebook Community. Podcast hosted by Amy Taeuber, Kate Taeuber and Sophie Taeuber. You can follow our new podcast The Mums' Group on Instagram and join in on the conversation in our Facebook Community. Subscribe to Outspoken Plus Outspoken Plus is our subscription offering that gives you an extra dose of the hottest influencer and pop-culture news. Enjoy exclusive access to a BONUS episode every week. A Outspoken Plus subscription costs $5.99 a month, or save with our annual package, for just $49.99 a year*. You can became an Outspoken Plus subscriber via Apple Podcasts: apple.co/outspoken or via Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/03t0cQyHS8OzAYigyksL9E?si=007ba128afd74369. * An annual subscription is only available on Apple Podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China's Spring Festival travel rush hit a historic high on Feb 20, with daily cross-regional passenger trips exceeding 350 million, according to data released by the Ministry of Transport on Saturday.据交通运输部周六发布的数据显示，2 月 20 日中国春运客流创下历史新高，单日跨区域旅客出行量突破 3.5 亿人次。On Feb 20, the 19th day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel season, cross-regional passenger traffic reached a remarkable 352.999 million trips.2 月 20 日是 2026 年春运第 19 天，当日跨区域旅客运输量达到 3.52999 亿人次。This figure represents a 12.3 percent increase compared to the same day in the 2025 Spring Festival travel season, setting a new record.这一数据较 2025 年春运同期增长 12.3%，创下新纪录。The Spring Festival, which is also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year, and the official holiday lasts nine days.今年春节（农历新年）为 2 月 17 日，法定假期共 9 天。The annual travel rush, "chun yun," is often described as the world's largest human migration.一年一度的春运被称为全球最大规模的人口迁徙。It is expected to see a record 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips during the 40-day rush from Feb 2 to March 13 this year.今年春运为期 40 天，时间为 2 月 2 日至 3 月 13 日，预计跨区域旅客出行量将达到创纪录的 95 亿人次。

This week I discuss Chinese New Year in Singapore, my last designer year purchase, latest on the Epstein files and much more. #LOUDITPodcast is hosted by Nnedinso. Tune in every Monday for some funny stories and girl talk to cheer up your Monday blues. From life experiences to wild stories and current media, no topic is off limits. Let's LOUD IT and talk some rubbish! Twitter: @Nneddy121 and YouTube: ItsNnedinso

Daisy and Isaac look back on a big week, with Essendon's Nic Martin and Archie Roberts in studio, stuff you got confiscated by airport security, Chinese New Year, Australian Survivor: Redemption host David Genat, a shambolic Hump Day Quiz, Jack Heverin, an Idiot FIle, and Billy's best joke of the week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cheesy and Fondue celebrate the Year of the Horse. We talk Chinese New Year. We find out if you can milk a horse, make cheese from said milk and if horses can eat cheese. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!Find us at www.justcheesy.com and everywhere you enjoy social media! https://linktr.ee/JustCheesy ***Newsly is the sponsor of this episode! Go to https://newsly.me to download the free app and listen to articles, podcasts and digital radio! Get a FREE 1-Month Premium Subscription by using promo code CHEESY. Start listening today! *** Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp! Show Notes https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caciocavallohttps://www.cheese.com/caciocavallo/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_milkhttps://charlottecooktravel.substack.com/p/drinking-fermented-horse-milk-inhttps://culturecheesemag.com/blog/a-cheesemakers-horseback-journey-through-mongolia/https://www.thesleepycheese.com/home/2018/9/21/kzhttps://www.cheese.com/blog/can-horses-eat-cheese/

-Dougb the Neighbor- & -TK/Irish- chat about -Habitat for Humanity/Dallas...Chinese New Years ...Winter Olympics.

https://www.patreon.com/windahTranskrip: https://www.patreon.com/posts/204-valentine-151367430?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkTerjemahan: https://www.patreon.com/posts/eng-204-imlek-151367425?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkDi episode ini, kita membahas perayaan Valentine, Imlek, dan Ramadan yang berdekatan di Indonesia, serta bagaimana cara orang Indonesia merayakannya. Selamat mendengarkan!Imlek: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tpqit1DlIZuslCO5h6fVR?si=j1G0BfeYSoSfahSFsoCKCgRamadan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3uxTYgLSv5Un18OWI9uAPN?si=GfgW-76ASrSnRDgsgNX80AVideo viral: ⁠https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSm9NPk6Y/⁠Sumber gambar: Ridwan (@rfpramsw) di X (Twitter)Terima kasih banyak atas dukungannya untuk:SAHABAT WINDAHAkiramJayNyong Jago Bob GenericJohn nyMartin JankovskýWilliam ChenDawid GerstelDnsSebastianAlexander ScholtesJrobabuja11 RoboNicholai LidowAliteJack William HusbandsAndre ChampouxDemiKatherine WalkerLino ArboledaLeon KwekCameron Edinger-ReeveLivvieIsmail OtchiChrisRussell BarlowMary Pope帥志 Shuai Chih LinBjornrappangeHossein KhoshtaghazaParis LuckowskiMatthew O'ConnorRussell OgdenYaszalixBart van de KampWC KonArthur NazaryanDaniel KaposiEmily HuangBenjamin SayHa Nguyen Jena StringerFrédéric UhrweillerQuran and sunnahEdward HearnJennifer Foley태용 심Cameron ClarkOxana SaimoAudrey DeliviaJoeJohn RichardsonFredoMarkRickLucaRuby den BoerTata HelenkiRowenaEmma MonteathK TaguchiRolandJoey ProwCarmen ChuiLynden AinslieAngelia OngCatherine Collier Antje蕾 戴Ping PribadiAntjeChanatip TatiyakaroonwongHariyanto H.kaydee donkersJonathan DevineTEMAN WINDAHJohn McBrideP. Clayton D. Causey, CT  Vanessa HackJohn ShumLuis PaezCraig RedriffMariusCharlotteJonny 5Jose LorenzoJeremyLulunMadeleine MillerAngelo CaonRossi von der BorchSicily FiennesMeredith R NormanTom Simamora ThatcherTim DoolingDevin NailAlissa Sjuryadi-TrowbridgeBillEric EmerTarquam James McKennaAmanda BlossStephen MBen HarrisonNaota YanagiharaHans WagnerJustin WilsonZane RubaiiBenjaminDerynAlexH HMatt WintersAlec MitchellVinceBertiAtsuko MaenoMosaStephen GrahamColleen Thornton-WardAilise Sweeney-LoweJimmyYng KenjicnxuFlorian HopfKurt VerschuerenJoakimRyosuke SudaBerberJeroen VellekoopJan NedermeijerMatthewTakeshi YamafujiNatePatrickMiquelFeeJingle YanMathias朗 桑田Ben PlayfordLauraKenji YanaguRicky ZhangVacanza Tropicale惠羽 蔡Sophie Hoestereyこ ぱるDouglas HerrickTim SomervilleMaxence AKFSF BEddoMarc EberJin Kimivy babyDevlin KuyekDawn TanNeoKimchiSpiritPaulie MoraPaula BradleyJordan O.Roman PicardJarryd RMartin AwalYohiJosh LovellEnrico WelderYoichiroKatoRoanna MTacoButter한윤희동원 이Gabriel AdlerMojaNabi KunisadaTDaniel Tanlego meister창호 이昭儒 吳Thanh-Nhi VoJ YonkmanMarjaAndrea Deckeroc RMatteo FarciJohan MiFrankMichael SpagonDaniel GrahamEstellePENDENGAR SETIAColumba TierneyHH JorgensenAmina AljehaniJannedCamillelishan fengluanAninda P.A.F拓也 高山匠海 杉本 Nathalie GoudIga KomarJonathan BaileyJaime NoriegaEdmund Tannina mengАндрей Тутаев

Is the 2026 "Year of the Fire Horse" manifesting as a global "Warhammer Horse"? In this episode, we decode the transition from the Nian to the Longma—Eastern dragon-horse entities of fire—and their startling parallels in modern current events. We analyze the esoteric symbolism of NASA's Artemis moon mission and its connection to a goddess related to horses and fire. Furthermore, we examine the escalating conflict with Iran through the lens of ancient archetypes, from the burning of Baal/Moloch effigies to the mythic battles of Thor and Apollo against the Great Serpent. From Ragnarök to Armageddon, learn why the horse remains the ultimate symbol of the final battle. Also learn the history of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse and origins of Chinese New Year symbolism.*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.

THERE IS A FEEDBACK FROM HKJ'S HEADPHONES TO HIS MIC - THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE FIXED - I HAVE BEEN TOLD HKJ HAS BEEN YELLED AT APPROPRIATELY. AI slop from our mate Claude Sonnet 4.6 - who is a good slopmaker and a blessed robot.Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack are back for Episode 145, kicking off with Chinese New Year greetings before diving headlong into the Liberal Party's new leadership under Angus Taylor, Victoria's CFMEU corruption saga, and the ever-deepening Epstein files rabbit hole. They roam through the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky's sharp Putin put-down, Cuba's unravelling regime, and the Iran situation — then lighten the mood with one-hit wonders in literature, the T20 World Cup disaster, AFL State of Origin, Winter Olympics, and the Premier League title race. Buckle up.SHOW NOTES WITH TIMESTAMPS

It's been 12 years since this initially was 'casted out - which means that the Year of the Horse is back, baby! Now it's the Fire Horse, but Happy Happy to Everyone! 马年快乐!

This week, we examine coming US inflation and labour market data, and the Fed outlook following a hawkish set of minutes this week. In Europe, we discuss reports that President Lagarde could be leaving the ECB early and consider the growth and inflation outlook for the region. Across Asia, we preview the Bank of Korea and Bank of Thailand policy meetings, and examine key coming data in India, Japan and Australia. Chapters: US: 2:00; Europe: 8:15;  Asia: 14:00

The guys talk about the Olympics, Chinese New Year, and spring training baseball. They also learn about bees and power rank sandwiches. You can follow the show on X/Twitter: @passthegravypod, @AlexJMiddleton, @NotPatDionne, and @RobertBarbosa03

The guys talk about the Olympics, Chinese New Year, and spring training baseball. They also learn about bees and power rank sandwiches. You can follow the show on X/Twitter: @passthegravypod, @AlexJMiddleton, @NotPatDionne, and @RobertBarbosa03

On this episode, Heather is fresh off her sleep apnea test and ready for Chinese New Year. While she is awaiting results, she is fully immersed in the nail-biting world of the Winter Olympics. She takes voicemails from listeners who want to know more about going on WWHl and how Andy Cohen feels about her, as well as a reluctant cat daddy and a MIL who is just trying to help!Episode Sponsors:Head to https://www.squarespace.com/absolutely to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code ABSOLUTELY.Find poppi at your nearest retailer or get it delivered straight to your door on Amazon. poppi — soda's back, but so much better!Ready to make some healthy swaps and become a member? Join Thrive Market with my link ThriveMarket.com/ABSOLUTELY for 30% off your first order plus a FREE $60 gift!Redefine your standard of health. Secure 20% off your order and begin your intentional wellness journey today at piquelife.com/absolutely.It's time you get the support that actually reflects your needs. Start your free intake at ForHers.com.Get 15% off Branch Basics with the code ABSOLUTELY at https://branchbasics.com/ABSOLUTELY #branchbasicspodSign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Join the over 14 million all-time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion dollars with Acorns. Head to acorns.com/ABSOLUTELY or download the Acorns app to get started.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Chinese New Year is founded on the myth of Nian, a monster who shares its name with the Chinese word for year (nián). Each season, just before spring, the creature would attack villages, killing and consuming both villagers and their livestock. But the people always fought back. They employed loud noises, bright lights and an abundance of items colored red, since these three things frightened the beast most of all. Since the festival is founded on the lunar calendar, based on cycles of the Moon, its celebration date varies by year. It typically occurs between January 20 and February 20, the former of which is called daikan in Japan, a word describing the dead of winter just before the arrival of spring. This provides us with a clear pathway to understanding what Nian really represents, and that is a monstrous personification of the cold darkness of winter. The monster attacks just before spring, giving another meaning to the old adage it's always darkest before the dawn. Nian is terrified of loud noises because it represents the stillness and silence of winter, especially after fresh snowfall; it is freighted by bright illumination because warmth and light are enemies of the cold and dark winter; it is scared of red because this color is emblematic of the sun, warmth, light and, most directly, fire. The monster consumes people and animals because it is an expression of the cyclical death of the earth where plants, animals and humans slow down and enter into a state of dormancy. Its teeth rip apart the flesh just as freezing air drys, cracks, and numbs the skin. The Chinese New Year festival spans more than two weeks, beginning on the new moon of the lunar calendar and ending on the first full moon. The final day is called Lantern Festival, a celebration promoting peace and welcoming the new cycle with fiery lanterns, lion and dragon dances, and an assortment of fireworks and parades. It is traditionally customary to avoid showering, cleaning the home, breaking glass or other items, using most cutting tools, or even using negative words, at least on the first day of a new cycle. Showering could wash away potential luck; breaking something could likewise sever a connection to wealth and success, as could using cutting tools; negative words like “poor” or “pain” could bring a loss of wealth and a health. Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday marking the final day before Lent season begins. It is observed on the eve of Ash Wednesday in most places. Its origins are traced back to older festivals and celebrations recognizing the winter transitioning to spring. Lent is the 40-day period of fasting and penitence observed between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable PAYPAL: rdgable1991@gmail.comRyan's Books: https://thesecretteachings.info EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / rdgable1991@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

What is the Year of the Horse going to bring to your life? Our absolute favorite guest, Natalie Vail, reverend doctor, double-board certified licensed acupuncturist, ordained spiritualist minister, herbalist, psychic-medium, Reiki Master, Feng Shui consultant, and Shamanic Priestess with more than 30 years of experience as a healer, gives us the low-down. She is engaging, funny, spot-on, and the most trusted source on this topic. You'll love her vibe, and we think you're going to be happy with what she has to say about the Chinese New Year, which began on Tuesday, Feb 17th. Get ready for loads of captivating info, laughter, and tears as one of Laura's ancestors comes through during the show! It was amazing. If you want to book a session with Natalie, she's back to work in March as she just had a baby boy! When you book starting Feb 28th, enter the code LCAD or mention Laura Cain After Dark, and you'll get 15 percent off your service. natalievail.com. She is one of a kind, and we love her to the ends of the earth. You'll really enjoy this one. Love your podcast.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/laura-cain-after-dark--4162487/support.SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel, FOLLOW us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, SHARE, LIKE, and by all means COMMENT.  We love your feedback.  Thanks for being part of the Laura Cain After Dark family.  Love your podcast!

TECHNOCRACY WOW - 02.16.2026 - #916 BestPodcastintheMetaverse.com Canary Cry News Talk #916 - 02.16.2026 - Recorded Live to 1s and 0s Deconstructing World Events from a Biblical Worldview Declaring Jesus as Lord amidst the Fifth Generation War! CageRattlerCoffee.com SD/TC email Ike for discount https://CanaryCry.Support   Send address and shirt size updates to canarycrysupplydrop@gmail.com Join the Canary Cry Roundtable This Episode was Produced By:   Executive Producers Sir LX Protocol Baron of the Berrean Protocol*** Sir Jamey Not the Lanister***   Producers of TREASURE (CanaryCry.Support) Sir Marty B Knight of the Bass, Sir Marty K, Cage Rattler Coffee, Jennifer B, Josh B,    Producers of TIME Timestampers: Jade Bouncerson, Morgan E Clankoniphius Links: JAM   SUPPLY DROP LAST WEEK FOR SIGN UPS Q1: https://canarycrysupplydrop.com    SHOW NOTES OBAMA/ALIENS  Barack Obama says aliens are 'real, but I haven't seen them' in out-there new interview (NY Post)  → Obama walks it back, clarifies comment (X)   5GW/PALANTIR who is kimdotcom (Wiki) Kim Dot Com Palantir Hack, post (X)   Pentagon reviewing Anthropic partnership over terms of use dispute (The Hill) → Hegseth ready to split with Anthropic (X)    Oh, good: Discord's age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel (PC Gamer)    Ray Dalio Article on New World Order has 70 million views (X)    CIRCLE BACK PSAKI Clip: Jen Psaki talking about global elite (X)   NOM NOM NOM Clip: Interview with "ex-CIA" and DOE religious mystic claims time travel and more (X)  Note: Rolf Mowatt Larson's book "A State of Mind, Faith and the CIA"   SPACE/CHINA Annular Solar Eclipse from Antarctica on Chinese New Years, year of the Fire Horse (NASA/X)    EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS TALENT/TIME END

happy Chinese New Year! Cam shares with taryn what it means for them both and Taryn teaches Cam what she learned about how to be better loved.send us your gossip stories or ask for advice!call the PP hotline 323-577-8857 or email us at stayinguppod@gmail.comJoin our Patreon: http://patreon.com/StayingUpJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/am5t7kZTdRCam's shopmy https://shopmy.us/cammiescottTar's shopmy https://shopmy.us/tarynarnoldscottListen: https://stayingup.lnk.to/listenFollow: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stayinguppodFollow Cam: https://www.instagram.com/cammiescott/Follow Tar: https://www.instagram.com/thetarynarnold/Contact for business inquires only:stayinguppod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics discussed on today's show: Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras, Who's Panty Drawer?, Nasty Town, Deaths, AI Hollywood, Olympics Update, Hardest and Easiest Sports, History Quiz, Chinese New Year, Meth Raccoon, Fake ID's, Checking Bags at the Airport, Delivery Driver Confessions, Year of the..., Facebook Marketplace, and Apologies.

There's a moment, in the slack tide between one flow and another, when a potent stillness arises, and the possibility of a new direction arrives with a feeling of invitation. It's like standing on the threshold of a dream.We share this conversation with Gregory Done as we metamorphize from the Wood Snake to the Fire Horse. What's in store as we enter a year of unmitigated Fire? Where is caution advised and where do you double down with the creative energy of the Horse?Listen into this conversation as we explore time-as-qi, what a dramatic handoff between years can do to the psyche; cautions around giving free rein to the unbridled “sovereign fire” of the Heart, and how discipline shapes intensity into something useful.If you've felt the past year pulling you inward, you're not alone. In this conversation we discuss the natural inclination to come back out—into action, into contact, into the bright problem of more momentum than you're accustomed to. Saddle up!

Welcome back! Today, we're talking about the Year of the Fire Horse in 2026 -the energy, the invitation, and what this year is actually asking of you as a soul on a human journey. This year is about acceleration. It's about momentum. It's about destiny meeting courage. You are not meant to tiptoe through 2026. You are meant to walk, run, and sometimes gallop toward what you know is calling you. In this episode, I'm going to break down what the Fire Horse represents in Chinese astrology, the deeper spiritual energetics of this year, and how you can consciously work with this acceleration instead of feeling overwhelmed by it. I hope you enjoy!  Namaste friend. MENTIONED  

*6:00am: Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day Ruined *7:00am: Accepting Something Complimentary *8:00am: Seen Something You Can't Explain, Fast Food First Date

Brian did the one thing that you absolutely should not do today. Chicago’s best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page. Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101. Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DINK lifestyles, Klash With Kenzie, Chinese New Year, pouring one out for Robert Duvall, and more! Chicago’s best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page. Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101. Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you have the patience to wait for clarity, or are you always chasing what's next? In this episode of Learn From People Who Lived It, Mathew Blades and Cortney McDermott explore the art of patience, presence, and non-doing in the context of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse. Drawing inspiration from the Tao Te Ching, they break down the wisdom of waiting for the “mud to settle,” trusting that the right action will arise on its own. You'll hear honest reflections on life after high-achieving careers, the struggle to slow down, and how rest can spark creativity and clarity. The episode wraps with a calming guided meditation to help you connect with your breath and inner wisdom.    To get in touch with our podcast, email INFO@Learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com Visit our Guests: Mathew Blades - MathewBlades.com Dr. Anna Marie Frank - https://drannamarie.com Cortney McDermott - https://www.cortneymcdermott.com Dr. Dave - https://www.drdaveaz.com/ Jill McMahon - Jillmcmahoncounseling.com To grab a copy of our 6-Week Wellness course, which is video-led, visit https://a.co/d/0ihE1vaw If you want to use Streamyard to create a podcast like this, use this link: https://streamyard.com/pal/c/4656111098003456

Stay informed on current events, visit www.NaturalNews.com - Bright Videos News Introduction and AI Inflection Point (0:10) - BrightVideos.com Platform Overview (1:39) - AI Video Technology and Future Developments (5:23) - Chinese New Year and Gold and Silver Markets (13:02) - Political News and Palantir Hacking Allegations (18:08) - AI Infrastructure and Market Demand (24:46) - Health Ranger Store and Food Testing (31:02) - Dunning Kruger Effect and AI Job Replacement (35:13) - AI's Exponential Growth and Human Replacement (55:06) - AI's Connection to Morphic Fields (1:07:37) - Morphic Fields and AI Intelligence (1:22:07) - Human Cognition and Power Consumption (1:26:36) - AI Efficiency and Future Projections (1:34:01) - Advancements in AI Technology (1:34:21) - Philosophical Implications and AI Capabilities (1:36:59) - Decentralization of Creativity (1:43:49) - Challenges and Opportunities for AI in Media (1:52:37) - Ethical Considerations and Intellectual Property (1:55:34) - The Future of AI in Entertainment (2:11:08) - Impact on Hollywood and the Media Industry (2:23:10) - Hollywood's Fake News and AI's Real Potential (2:23:49) - The Decline of Hollywood and the Rise of AI (2:48:47) - Conservative AI Illiteracy and Job Replacement (2:52:05) - The Role of Religion and Demographics in AI Skepticism (3:07:14) - The Cultural and Educational Barriers to AI Adoption (3:20:39) - The Future of AI and Its Impact on Society (3:36:27) Watch more independent videos at http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport  ▶️ Support our mission by shopping at the Health Ranger Store - https://www.healthrangerstore.com ▶️ Check out exclusive deals and special offers at https://rangerdeals.com ▶️ Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html Watch more exclusive videos here:

This week: Mercury trines Jupiter, and it's a good time to open up your mind and let everything spill out. An Aquarius New Moon Solar Eclipse is the first eclipse in that sign since 2018, and it is time for a change. Venus and Jupiter bring a peaceful moment in a busy week. And the Sun enters peaceful Pisces just a couple of days before the transit that astrologers have been talking about for ages, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at zero degrees Aries. It's another busy week in the Big Sky, so we will have to wait and answer a listener question next week! Plus: Building a dream, an inverted funnel, and shifting borders! Read a full transcript of this episode. Have a question you'd like answered on the show? Email April or leave it here! Subscribe to April's mailing list and get a free lunar workbook at each New Moon! Love the show? Make a donation! Timestamps [1:37] Mercury trine Jupiter (Feb. 16, 1:31 pm PST) at 15°53' Pisces and Cancer. The Sabian symbol for Mercury is 16 Pisces, The flow of inspiration. Jupiter's Sabian symbol is 16 Cancer, A man before a square with a manuscript roll before him. Make a conscious effort to stay curious, open, and inspired. [4:04] Moon Report! Aquarius New Moon Solar Eclipse (Feb. 17, 4:01 am PST) at 28°49' Aquarius, at 29 Aquarius, A butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. Today also marks Chinese New Year and the year of the Fire Horse! Courage, clarity, and willingness to move forward will be our guides in the year ahead. [9:07] This is the New Moon in a Lunar Phase Family Cycle (LPFC) that unfolds over the coming three years. The First Quarter Moon (first action point) of this LPFC is on Nov 17, 2026 (25°8' Aquarius). The Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (awareness point) is on Aug 17, 2027 (24°11') Aquarius. The Last Quarter Moon (last action phase) is on May 16, 2028, at 26°5' Aquarius. [11:06] Void-of-Course (VOC) Moon periods. The Moon in Aquarius makes its New Moon conjunction with the Sun (Feb. 17, 4:01 am PST). It's VOC for 2 hours 8 minutes, then enters Pisces (6:09 am PST). Meditate on how you can contribute to the betterment of all. [11:57] The Moon in Pisces sextiles Uranus in Taurus (Feb. 19, 7:23 am PST). It's VOC for 4 hours 16 minutes, then enters Aries (11:39 am PST). Gather the courage to speak your mind. [12:51] The Moon in Aries sextiles Mars in Aquarius (Feb. 21, 3:11 am PST). It's VOC for 12 hours and 20 minutes, then enters Taurus (3:31 pm PST). Sweat out your frustrations. [14:15] Sun enters Pisces (Feb. 18, 7:52 am PST). The Sabian symbol for the Sun's ingress into Pisces is 1 Pisces, A public market. The Sun will stay in Pisces until March 20, 2026. The invitation is to participate in the world with sensitivity and intention. [17:50] Saturn conjoins Neptune (Feb. 20, 8:54 am PST) at 0°45' Aries. The Sabian symbol for this degree, 1 Aries, is A woman rises out of the water, a seal rises and embraces her. This conjunction takes place on a world point, so its effects tend to show up not just personally, but collectively. Saturn and Neptune come together about every 36 years, and when they do, we see the dissolution of borders and structures, leaks and scandals, major spiritual or creative shifts. What we commit to now will shape an entirely new reality. [21:12] Venus trine Jupiter (Feb. 22, 12:02 pm PST) at 15°31' Pisces and Cancer. Venus' Sabian symbol is 16 Pisces, The flow of inspiration. Jupiter's Sabian symbol is 16 Cancer, A man before a square with a manuscript roll before him. The real gift of this transit is contentment, the kind that comes from really knowing yourself and choosing pleasure with intention. [24:06] Unfortunately, there was too much to cover in this week's sky for a Listener Question. Keep those questions coming in, though! Leave a message of one minute or less at speakpipe.com/bigskyastrologypodcast or email april (at) bigskyastrology (dot) com; put “Podcast Question” in the subject line. Free ways to support the podcast: subscribe, like, review and share with a friend! [24:48] A tribute to this week's donors! If you would like to support the show and receive access to April's special donors-only videos, go to BigSkyAstropod.com and contribute $10 or more. You can make a one-time donation in any amount or become an ongoing monthly contributor.