News Items is a daily newsletter founded by longtime newsman John Ellis years ago. It is the “first read” for many because its 15-20 items cover the news waterfront and include links to the stories from dozens of news platforms as well as specialized journals. It’s a bracing bucket of cold water most mornings.

Including Tuesday’s. The first item reads:

“Gold rose to a record high — the 50th day it’s done so this year — on escalating geopolitical tensions and prospects for more US rate cuts. Silver also set an all-time peak. Spot gold climbed as much as 1.2% to just below $4,500 an ounce, extending gains after its biggest one-day jump in more than a month. Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will follow three straight interest-rate cuts by lowering the cost of borrowing again next year, which would be a tailwind for non-yielding precious metals. Gold’s haven appeal has also been amplified in the last week by rising geopolitical tensions.” The summary linked to a Bloomberg story.

Then, three paragraphs down the News Items column, came this summary of a Reuters story:

“China is likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles across its latest three silo fields and has no desire for arms control talks, according to a draft Pentagon report which highlighted........

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