**__ Diplomatt’s Daily Digest – February 15, 2022__**
Good morning and happy Tuesday, everyone! U.S. stock futures jumped on Tuesday morning after Russia appeared to be backing away from an immediate invasion of Ukraine, cooling geopolitical tensions that have knocked the stock market down the last three days. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had begun returning some troops to deployment bases after training exercises near the Ukrainian border. Airline and cruise stocks led to early premarket gainers, while energy companies were the biggest losers as oil prices fell. Oil, meanwhile, popped to its highest level since September 2014 on Monday, while gold futures reached levels not seen since November 16.
Quote of the week: „We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.“ -Jimmy Carter
**General News:**
• Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops who had recently been posted to Russia’s southern and western military districts — which share a border with Ukraine — had completed their drills and „have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today.“
• Restaurant Brands International reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts‘ expectations as digital orders made up nearly a third of the company’s global sales.
• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased about $1 billion worth of shares in Activision Blizzard in the fourth quarter, according to a regulatory filing, jumping in before Microsoft agreed to buy the video-game publisher for $68.7 billion.
• Global semiconductor sales topped half a trillion dollars for the first time, as companies ramped production to meet demand amid a worldwide chip shortage, a top industry association said.
• The accounting firm Mazars has fired the Trump Organization as a client after saying that a decade’s worth of statements of ex-President Donald Trump’s financial condition „should no longer be relied upon,
• A U.S. judge on Monday found that Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, and 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate, did not present sufficient evidence to win a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times
• Six of the seven car brands that ran an ad during the Super Bowl featured electric vehicles, yet Electric Vehicles only make up 9% of passenger car sales.
**StockTwits Top 10 Trending Tickers of the Day:**
1. SPY
2. FSR
3. UVXY
4. QQQ
5. RBLX
6. DVAX
7. SOXL
8. TSEM
9. NVDA
10. VYGVF
