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US Producer Prices Blow Up Tariff-Flation Narrative Following yesterday's 'mixed' CPI, all eyes are on the Producer Prices prints this morning for signs that the inflation pipeline is hotting up (or not)... and the print confirms - it's not hotting up. Headline and core PPI printed cooler than expected (unchanged MoM), well below the expected +0.2% MoM. Headline PPI rose 2.3% YoY (down from a revised higher 2.7% in May and below the 2.5% expected) - that is the lowest YoY print since Sept 2024... Source: Bloomberg Core PPI also printed cooler than expected, down to just 2.6% YoY. Core PPI YoY was last lower than this is March 2024... Source: Bloomberg Margin pressure lifted this month... Source: Bloomberg So much for the terrifying threat of tariff-flation... or will we just have to wait for next month to see the full horror.. or the next month? Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 08:39
Federal Judge Takes Control Of US Government Authored by Kenin Spivak via RealClearPolitics, Just days after the Supreme Court again made it clear that the separation of powers is sacrosanct, Indira Talwani, an Obama appointed federal judge in Massachusetts, has taken the unprecedented step of ordering the government to fund Planned Parenthood, purporting to enjoin implementation of a portion of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) passed by Congress. The BBB imposed a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that offer abortions and also received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023. Three days after the president signed the BBB into law, Planned Parenthood sought a temporary restraining order (TRO). Without hearing from the government, complying with federal rules, or even providing an explanation, within hours after the filing, Talwani issued a TRO for at least 14 days that requires the government to spend money Congress declined to appropriate. Four days later, the administration asked Talwani to dissolve the TRO because of its obvious infirmities. Instead, she doubled down, issuing an amended TRO that satisfied the technical requirements she had previously ignored. I work with Planned Parenthood’s very capable lead lawyers. Without the facts or the law on their side, they did the right thing. They found a far-left federal judge who has repeatedly ruled against the Trump administration and is willing to create a constitutional crisis to advance a political cause. Numerous Supreme Court decisions explain that merely because something is legal does not mean that Congress must fund it, or continue to do so. Just a few weeks ago, in Medina v. Planned Parenthood, the Supreme Court rejected Planned Parenthood’s challenge to South Carolina’s right to exclude Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program. For more than 40 years, the Hyde Amendment has generally prohibited federal funding for abortion, and the court has repeatedly held that the government is under no contrary obligations (e.g., Maher v. Roe and Harris v. McRae). Talwani’s order violates Article I of the Constitution, which could not be more clear: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Article I vests the power to authorize spending exclusively in Congress. In OPM v. Richmond (1989), the Supreme Court confirmed that the Appropriations Clause conveys a “straightforward and explicit command” that no money “can be paid out of the Treasury unless it has been appropriated by an act of Congress.” There is no basis in the Constitution or any Supreme Court decision to support the right of a court – any court – to interfere in congressional decisions to fund, or cease funding, a private organization. To the contrary, in Rust v. Sullivan (1991), the Supreme Court held that “the Government has no constitutional duty to subsidize an activity merely because the activity is constitutionally protected.” Planned Parenthood’s main argument is the equivalent of jury nullification. Because it is the dominant provider of abortion services in the United States, limiting its ability to carry out its mission would deprive women of access to such services. Even if true, that is a political argument unsuccessfully made during the last election and during the debate over the BBB. Planned Parenthood asserts that the BBB is an unconstitutional bill of attainder because the criteria for defunding effectively single it out. That absurd argument flies in the face of an unbroken line of cases that apply the Article I prohibition on bills of attainder only to criminal or quasi-criminal punishment. Congress often funds, or defunds, individuals and organizations. In Nixon v. Administrator of General Services (1971), the Supreme Court rejected the proposition that an individual or defined group is subject to a bill of attainder merely because Congress singles them out. Talwani did not mention bills of attainder in her amended TRO. Planned Parenthood also claims that defunding its efforts constitutes viewpoint retaliation under the First Amendment, and a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment. In Rust, the Supreme Court rejected similar claims. In its papers, Planned Parenthood cites no Supreme Court case compelling Congress to appropriate spending on these grounds. Nonetheless, in her amended TRO, Talwani relied on the First and Fifth Amendments to justify issuance of the TRO. She also rejected the government’s concern that it would be harmed if it paid money to Planned Parenthood, because, she averred, the government likely would instead use the funds to pay another provider. By that logic, a mugger is only taking money that his victim would probably spend on something else. The first hearing is on Friday. If Talwani does not relent, she can expect an unpleasant rebuke from appellate courts. Kenin M. Spivak is founder and chairman of SMI Group LLC, an international consulting firm and investment bank. He is the author of fiction and non-fiction books and a frequent speaker and contributor to media, including The American Mind, National Review, the National Association of Scholars, television, radio, and podcasts. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 08:25
VP Vance Breaks Tie To Advance "DOGE" Rescissions Bill Toward Final Senate Vote Vice President JD Vance cast two tie-breaking votes in the Senate late Tuesday to advance a $9.4 billion rescissions package that would claw back $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—which partially funds National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service—along with $7.9 billion earmarked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The move sets the stage for debate, which will be followed by a final vote. The Senate was split 50-50 before Vance's intervention—three Republicans — McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins — sided with Democrats in opposing the bill. 🚨 BREAKING - PASSED: Vice President JD Vance BREAKS THE TIE, the $9B DOGE cuts package ADVANCES. NPR, PBS, USAID on the chopping block. 3 Republican NOs: McConnell, Collins, Murkowski. pic.twitter.com/MRdyw5EUML July 16, 2025 The Senate now has at least 10 hours to debate the measure before amendments are voted on and a final vote takes place. If passed, the bill will return to the House for approval. The vote follows the House's narrow 214-212 approval in June to advance the first formal attempt to pass cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency, or "DOGE." Last Friday, President Trump threatened to withhold endorsements for any Republican senators who opposed the rescissions package. He wrote on Truth Social: "It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together." This is a promising start, but Americans want far more formalized DOGE cuts to drain the swamp of waste and corruption in the federal government. Related: DOGE Announces Billions Of Dollars In Federal Contracts Terminated US Cancels 54 Contracts, Saves $804 Million In 2 Days: DOGE Deep Staters On Edge As DOGE's DoD Strike Team Hits Pentagon With Sweeping Contract Cuts Goldman: DOGE Sparks "Cautious View" On Gov't IT & Services Goldman Downgrades Booz Allen Hamilton To 'Sell' Amid DOGE Contract Cancellations . . . Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 08:05
Trump Accuses 'Shifty Adam Schiff' Of Mortgage Fraud, Says He 'Needs To Be Brought To Justice' Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) of engaging in a pattern of mortgage fraud, calling him a “scam artist” who “needs to be brought to justice.” The president took to Truth Social Monday morning to share the conclusion of fraud allegedly reached by Fannie Mae’s financial crimes division. “I have always suspected Shifty Adam Schiff was a scam artist. And now I learn that Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division have concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud,” Trump stated. “Adam Schiff said that his primary residence was in MARYLAND to get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America, when he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA because he was a Congressman from CALIFORNIA,” the president continued. By listing his Maryland home as his primary residence, according to the accusation, Schiff may have been trying to take advantage of more favorable loan terms, such as lower interest rates. “I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The FRAUD began with the refinance of his Maryland property on February 6, 2009, and continued through multiple transactions until the Maryland property was correctly designated as a second home on October 13, 2020.” The president concluded: “Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice.” Trump’s accusations follow a “bombshell ethics complaint” against Schiff detailed in a May 2025 USA Herald report. The complaint was filed by Christine Bish and Darren Ellis in October 2024, accusing him of a “pattern of mortgage fraud, voter fraud, and unlawful campaign filings stretching back over two decades.” According to the complaint, “In 2009, Adam Schiff’s residence and voting registration was called to question in a House Ethics Committee hearing. Adam Schiff, despite claiming to live and represent the people in the state of California, filed and reaffirmed through refinancing documents, his primary residence at [—- —— —- ——-], Potomac Maryland, 28054.” The complaint further alleges, “Adam Schiff is on the record having acknowledged the mortgage document filings [of Maryland as his primary residence] during a House Ethics hearing in 2009… He made the claim of ‘mistake,’ thereby acknowledging the appearance of possible mortgage fraud.” The allegations against Schiff mirror those leveled against New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this year involving her properties in Norfolk, Virginia and Brooklyn, New York. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a formal criminal investigation into James in May which could potentially lead to charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements to financial institutions. The junior senator from California, who earned the nickname “Shifty Schiff” as a member of the House of Representatives from January 2001 to December 2024, has been a major player in numerous political operations against President Trump, including the Russia hoax, the Ukraine hoax, and the “Hunter Biden’s laptop is Russian disinformation” hoax. In 2019, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signed a Republican resolution to censure then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for fabricating the presidential phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that spurred the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. In January 2023, then the House Speaker, McCarthy took the extraordinary step of kicking Schiff and fellow Russia-hoaxer Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) off the Intelligence Committee. In June of that same year, the House of Representatives censured Schiff “for misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives.” After Trump’s election in November, Schiff and many other Democrats repeatedly voiced concerns that Trump’s Department of Justice could potentially investigate Democrats in retaliation for their past weaponization of the Justice system to prosecute and harass their political enemies. “Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason,” Schiff wrote on X in response to Trump’s post. “So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown.” He added: “And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable. Not by a long shot.” Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 07:45
Futures Drop As Tariffs, Earnings And Rising Yields Dent Sentiment US equity futures and global stocks dropped, but were well off session lows, as a stream of negative tariff headlines and dialed-back expectations for interest-rate cuts prompted doubts about the market’s ability to sustain recent highs and sent 30Y yields above 5%, a level seen as a redline for further stock appreciation. As of 7:00am, the S&P 500 was on track for a second straight decline, with futures down 0.1% after , while Nasdaq futures were 0.3% lower after closing at a record; the small-caps Russell 2000 is seeing an early outperformance bid. Pre-mkt, Mag7/semis are mixed as are Cyclicals with Banks seeing an offer into the next batch of earnings. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 slipped 0.2%, weighed down by technology shares as ASML Holding NV trimmed its growth outlook for next year, citing trade tensions; French car giant Renault slumped 16% after slashing its profit guidance. Treasury yields are flat as is the USD. Commodities are mostly higher with Ags leading, precious metals following while energy is modestly weaker. Today’s macro data focus is the PPI data which will give more clues about how tariffs are affecting companies after mixed CPI numbers. We have another batch of Fedspeakers who will say nothing of importance. In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mixed (Apple +0.3%, Alphabet +0.2%, Meta +0.3%, Microsoft little changed, Tesla -0.4%, Amazon -0.5%, Nvidia -0.6%). Here are some other notable premarket movers: Crypto-linked stocks rose with Bitcoin prices in premarket trading Wednesday as President Donald Trump said the House will pass the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill on Wednesday after a procedural vote Tuesday failed (Among gainers Strategy +1.5%, Circle Internet Group +1.6%, Coinbase +0.8%, Galaxy Digital +4.1%, Hut 8 +2.3%, Hive Digital Technologies +0.7%, MARA Holdings +1.8%, Cleanspark +1.8%, Riot Platforms +2.1%, Cipher Mining +0.5%, Bitfarms +2.9%, Terawulf +1.6%, Bit Digital +6.4%, SharpLink Gaming +13%, and Bitdeer Technologies +2.6%). ASML ADRs (ASML) fall 8.4% after the chip equipment maker struck a more cautious tone about growth outlook next year. JB Hunt reported 2Q earnings that beat estimates, but flagged “higher professional driver wages and equipment-related costs.” Brighthouse Financial (BHF) is up 7.4% on light volume after the Wall Street Journal said Aquarian is in exclusive talks to buy the provider of annuities and life insurance, citing people familiar. Global Payments (GPN) is up 6.4%; activist investor Elliott Investment Management has amassed a sizable position in payments services company, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Renault SA shares sank 16% after the automaker lowered its profitability outlook for the year and named company veteran Duncan Minto interim chief executive officer. Nvidia Corp. boss Jensen Huang anticipates getting the first batch of US licenses to export H20 AI chips to China soon. Barclays Plc was fined £42 million ($56 million) over failures to properly identify financial crime risks with two clients. Huawei Technologies Co. took the top spot in China’s smartphone market for the first time in more than four years. Among trade headlines, Trump said he was likely to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals as soon as the end of the month and that levies on chips could come soon as well. Traders further pared bets to their lowest level in a month for two Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year on anticipation that tariff-related costs are increasingly being passed on to consumers (a continuation of a bet that has so far been dead wrong). Elsewhere, EU’s McGrath says a trade deal between the EU and US can be done by Aug. 1 and expects two weeks of “intense negotiations.” Meanwhile, UBS strategists said US equity investors are complacent in their view that tariffs are predominantly a negotiation tool. They put their S&P 500 year-end target of 5,300 - some 1000 lower than where the S&P is trading now - under review. Traders trimmed expectations for Fed rate cuts after the CPI data, but the main Fed focus today is on who may replace Powell. Kevin Hassett is the early frontrunner, Bloomberg reported, with Kevin Warsh also in the top two. The Trump administration is also said to be finalizing an executive order that would pave the way for 401(k) retirement savings plans to invest in private equity. After big bank earnings got off to an underwhelming start on Tuesday, investors will be looking at the next flurry of results with Bank of American Corp., Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reporting today. “We have toned down our risk by a notch,” said Mohit Kumar, chief European strategist at Jefferies International. “However, technicals are still supportive and news flow of more deals being struck over the coming weeks should offset some of the negative trade rhetoric.” US stocks are back to near-historic premiums over global peers, but bargain hunters must also work harder to find options outside the world’s biggest market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The S&P 500 now trades at a 55% forward P/E premium to the Bloomberg Global ex-US Index, more than double the roughly 25% median from 2015-19. Economic data due later Wednesday is expected to show a similar trend for producer goods. “The tariff inflation shock starts to hit,” wrote Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former chief currency strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “This effect will keep building in intensity as pre-tariff inventories are depleted.” In Europe, the Stoxx 600 is down 0.2%, falling for a fourth straight session after some disappointing corporate updates from the region. Autos are leading declines as Renault shares fall 17% after the French carmaker issued a profit warning. Technology stocks also underperform as ASML shares fall 8% in Amsterdam after the CEO walked back the company’s growth forecast for next year due to trade disputes and global tensions. Equities have struggled to hit new highs in recent weeks amid lingering uncertainty around the US trade war. Among notable moves, Richemont rises on better-than-expected sales, defying a wider downturn for luxury goods. Renault shares tumble after a profit warning. Here are some of the more notable equity movers: Richemont shares rise as much as 2.4% after the Cartier-owner reported surging sales at its jewelry division despite a tough backdrop for the luxury goods industry. Partners Group climbs as much as 7.3%, after the Swiss private equity company delivers a beat on assets under management in the first half and reiterates its outlook for the full year. Barco shares surge as much as 17%, hitting the highest since April 2024, following the visualization specialist’s first-half Ebitda beat. ASML shares fall as much as 7.3%, the most in three months, after the chip equipment maker cautioned about growth next year. Renault shares fall as much as 17%, the steepest drop since March 2020, after the French carmaker issued a profit warning on Tuesday evening, lowering operating margin guidance for this year and also trimming its free cash flow expectations. AstraZeneca shares drop as much as 1.6%, after its experimental drug for a rare plasma cell disorder failed to delay death or reduce the number of hospitalizations for heart problems. Ontex shares plunge as much as 12%, after the maker of disposable personal hygiene products delivered quarterly results below expectations and cut its full-year earnings outlook. Bakkafrost falls as much as 14%, the most since July 2023, after the seafood group issued a profit warning. Nel falls as much as 8.1%, the most since May, after the hydrogen technology supplier reported a sharp fall in new orders in the second quarter. Citi said weak order intake is a continued concern. Fuchs shares plunge as much as 16%, the biggest drop since 2011, as the lubricant maker cut its annual guidance after second-quarter profit came in lower than expected. DNO shares drop as much as 8.1% after the oil producer said it has temporarily suspended operations at its Tawke license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq following three explosions early this morning. Svenska Handelsbanken declines as much as 8%, the worst performer on the Stoxx 600 Banks Index, after net interest income at the Nordic lender missed analysts estimates for the second quarter. Earlier in the session, Asian stocks were mixed, as gains in Hong Kong and optimism over the tech sector were countered by dimming prospects for Federal Reserve easing. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.1%. Key gauges declined in Australia and South Korea, while shares rose in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong. TSMC and Alibaba climbed for a second day after news that the US would allow resumption of some AI chip shipments to China. The regional benchmark has traded sideways in July after a three-month rally. Broader sentiment took a hit Wednesday after US consumer price data indicated companies are beginning to pass through some tariff-related costs, with Fed Dallas President Lorie Logan saying. Hong Kong stocks advanced meanwhile, with the Hang Seng Index heading for its highest close since February 2022 on a rebound in risk appetite amid signs of easing US-China tensions. Still, upcoming Chinese corporate results are expected to show weak earnings growth. In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falls 0.1%. The euro outperforms its G-10 peers slightly with a 0.2% gain. The pound fades post-CPI gains, trading flat versus the greenback just below $1.34. In rates, Treasuries are steady ahead of more US inflation data later on Wednesday in the form of producer prices. US 10-year yields are flat at 4.48%. Japan’s super-long bonds rebounded following a sharp selloff earlier in the week, as investors weighed the potential for increased fiscal spending after this weekend’s upper house election. Gilts fall along the curve after UK inflation unexpectedly rose to its highest level since January 2024, prompting traders to trim bets on easing by the Bank of England this year. UK 10-year yields rise 3 bps to 4.65%. Bunds are little changed. In commodities, spot gold rises $16 to around $3,340/oz. Bitcoin climbs 2% and back above $119,000. WTI falls 0.5% to near $66.20 a barrel. Today's US economic data slate includes June PPI and July New York Fed services business activity (8:30am) and June industrial production (9:15am). Fed speaker slate includes Barkin (8am), Hammack (9:15am), Barr (10am), Bostic (3:30pm) and Williams (6:30pm), and Fed releases Beige book at 2pm Market Snapshot S&P 500 mini -0.1% Nasdaq 100 mini -0.3% Russell 2000 mini little changed Stoxx Europe 600 -0.1% DAX +0.2% CAC 40 little changed 10-year Treasury yield -1 basis point at 4.48% VIX unchanged at 17.38 Bloomberg Dollar Index little changed at 1206.71 euro +0.2% at $1.162 WTI crude -0.3% at $66.32/barrel Top Overnight News Trump said on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could be a candidate to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but suggested that might not happen. When asked if Powell’s renovation cost overrun were a fire able offense, Trump said “I think it sort of is.” RTRS President Donald Trump said he was likely to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals as soon as the end of the month and that levies on semiconductors could come soon as well, suggesting that those import taxes could hit alongside broad “reciprocal” rates set for implementation on Aug. 1. BBG Kevin Hassett, one of President Donald Trump’s longest-serving economic aides, is the early frontrunner to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chief next year, followed by Kevin Warsh. BBG Trump is expected to sign an executive order in the coming days designed to help open up 401(k)s to private-market investments, according to WSJ. Senator Cassidy said President Trump is to sign Fentanyl Act into law on Wednesday. Defense Secretary Hegseth ordered the release of 2000 National Guard troops from the federal protection mission in LA. Japan’s super-long bonds rose, reversing course after a rout earlier in the week over concern that this weekend’s election will result in higher government spending. BBG Rio Tinto’s macro commentary on the Chinese economy – “industrial activity and net exports grew strongly during the quarter on the back of China’s highly competitive manufacturing sector. Trade diversification continued as the decline in exports to the US was more than offset by shipments to other regions. Retail sales growth was supported by ongoing stimulus measures while the government remains committed to infrastructure investment. However, headwinds such as trade tensions and a soft property market continue to pose challenges." Indonesia’s central bank cut its policy rate by 25bp to 5.25% (analysts were split on the outcome of this meeting, with some anticipating a cut while others felt rates would stay unchanged). WSJ ASML (-7.3% in pre) walked back growth forecasts for next year due to the trade uncertainty, even as its second-quarter orders beat estimates. The stock slumped. BBG Inflation unexpectedly rose in the U.K., likely keeping policymakers at the BOE cautious despite a limping economy. Headline, core, and services CPI all were higher than anticipated. WSJ Taiwan, Switzerland and India, none of which received letters letters from Trump last week, are all potentially closing in on deals that could be announced in the coming weeks. Politico Fed's Logan (2026 voter) said the base case is that monetary policy needs to hold tight for a while longer to bring inflation down and she wants to see low inflation continue longer to be convinced, while she added that June CPI data suggests PCE inflation, which the Fed targets at 2%, will rise. Logan also commented that softer inflation and a weakening labor market could call for lower rates fairly soon and under the base case, the Fed can sustain maximum employment even with modestly restrictive policy. Trade/Tariffs US President Trump they are working on five to six trade deals and there will probably be two to three deals by August 1st. US President Trump said pharma tariffs will probably begin at month-end and initial tariffs on pharmaceuticals will be low, while Trump also said they will release tariff letters for smaller countries soon and will probably set one tariff for all of them over 10%. US President Trump said a great deal for everybody was just made with Indonesia with Indonesia to pay 19%, while the US will pay nothing and similar deals are in the works. Trump later posted that "Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777’s." US Trade Representative announced the initiation of a Section 301 investigation of Brazil's unfair trading practices. China's Commerce Ministry said China and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding on the implementation and review of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk APAC stocks were mostly subdued following the lacklustre handover from Wall St owing to an acceleration in US CPI data, while trade uncertainty lingered after President Trump suggested pharma tariffs could begin at month-end and tariff letters for smaller countries could be sent out soon. ASX 200 retreated with nearly all sectors in the red aside from tech and with miners not helped by the indecisive performance in Rio Tinto following its quarterly operations update in which it registered higher iron ore production but a decline in shipments Y/Y. Nikkei 225 traded indecisively in which the index swung between gains and losses amid the lack of pertinent drivers for Japan and some political concerns ahead of Sunday's upper house election as a recent poll showed the ruling bloc was at risk of losing its majority. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed in the absence of any major fresh pertinent macro drivers and despite comments from China's Vice Premier He Lifeng who stated that China is accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system and is stepping up efforts to boost consumption. Top Asian News China's Vice Premier He Lifeng said China is accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system and its industrial upgrading providing support to global industrial and supply chain operations, while He added China is stepping up efforts to boost consumption. Japan's ruling coalition risks losing a majority at the upper house election, according to Nikkei. European bourses opened mixed/mostly lower, but have traded with an upward bias throughout the European morning, to show a mixed picture. European sectors are mixed, with underperformance in Autos, dragged lower by post-earning losses in Renault (-16.4%) after it cut guidance; Stellantis (-4%) also moves lower after it halted its hydrogen fuel cell technology development programme. Tech has also been pressured by ASML (-8.7%) after its Q2 results; the Co. reported better-than-expected headline metrics, but guidance was light and the CEO said they cannot confirm growth in 2026. Top European News BoE Governor Bailey said multilateral institutions are essential for good policymaking and they are following financial stability risks closely, while he noted countries with big deficits typically come under most financial market pressure and he is yet to be convinced about the need for a retail CBDC. European earnings ASML -8.7%: Lowered Q3 rev., margin outlook, does not confirm 2026 growth target. Renault -16.2%: Provided dreary FY guidance, stressed poor retail market. Rio Tinto +1.2%: Pilbara iron ore output rise, copper production exp. at top of FY guidance. Richemont +0.5%: Q1 sales at constant FX rise. Sandvik -0.9%: mixed results, noted of strong momentum noted in mining, highest order intake ever in Q2 FX The dollar is giving back some of Tuesday's gains seen in the aftermath of US CPI data. Further inflation data is due today with Y/Y PPI expected to decline to 2.5% from 2.6%, M/M is expected to pick up to 0.2% from 0.1%. Once released, markets will be able to cement calls for the upcoming PCE report (the Fed's preferred inflation gauge). Today's Fed docket is a busy one with Barkin, Barr, Cook, Hammack, Logan, Kugler & Williams all due on deck. Note, the Fed Beige Book at 19:00BST will be parsed for the impact of Trump's tariff regime at a regional level. DXY sits towards the top end of Tuesday's 97.97-98.69 range. EUR is attempting to atone for Tuesdays’ losses, which saw EUR/USD slip onto a 1.15 handle for the first time since 25th June. French politics moved back into focus yesterday after PM Bayrou unveiled his plans to bolster France's finances. His outline was subsequently met with threats of no confidence from the hard left and far right. EUR/USD sits towards the bottom end of Tuesday's 1.1593-1.1692 range. JPY flat vs. the USD after a recent run of losses, which have lifted USD/JPY from the low seen on July 1st at 142.68 to a multi-month high today at 149.18. The main drivers for the move have been a broad pick-up in the USD and angst over the lack of trade progress between Japan and the US. The next upside level for USD/JPY comes via the 3rd April high at 149.33. GBP has seen some mild support in the wake of hotter-than-expected UK inflation metrics. Y/Y CPI unexpectedly advanced to 3.6% from 3.4% (exp. 3.4%) and the services metric held steady at 4.7% vs. expectations of a decline to 4.6%. Nonetheless, markets still expect the BoE to cut rates next month, but US Jobs data will be in focus on Thursday. Whilst Cable did briefly make its way back onto a 1.34 handle with a session high at 1.3416, the upside was limited by the aforementioned stagflationary outlook facing the UK. Antipodeans are slightly mixed vs. the USD with no obvious driver for the mild discrepancy. Newsflow surrounding both currencies remains light as markets await tomorrow's Australian jobs report. PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1526 vs exp. 7.1914 (Prev. 7.1498) Fixed Income USTs are incrementally firmer/flat (whilst global peers are broadly lower). Currently in a in a very thin 110-08+ to 111-13+ band, awaiting PPI, Industrial Production and Fed speak. PPI will be scoured to see if the series’ internals are evident of tariff-driven price pressures emerging; a slew of Fed speakers are also due. Bunds are modestly lower today, but well off lows in a 129.19-56 band, matching Tuesday’s trough ahead of the 129.12 low from last Friday. The main event today for the bloc is the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) presentation, i.e. the bloc’s budget for the next seven years. As it stands, Commission President von der Leyen is scheduled to unveil it at 16:00BST. OATs are trading broadly in-line with peers, down by a handful of ticks. In French politics, PM Bayrou’s plan to save EUR 43.8bln from the budget in 2026 in order to get the debt-to-GDP ratio down, in-line with existing commitments/targets. The proposal has already drawn criticism from various political parties, unsurprisingly National Rally (RN) has said they will move to censure Bayrou if he does not change his plans. Gilts are underperforming, opened lower by 19 ticks and then slipped another 21 in short order to a 91.17 base. Notching a new WTD low and taking Gilts back to 91.16 from the first week of June. If breached, then we look to 90.11 from May as the next major point of support. Pressure emerged on the morning’s June inflation. A hotter-than-expected series, driven by motor fuel prices. While hotter, the series has only sparked a relatively modest move in BoE pricing with c. 1bps of implied easing removed from August and only around 3bps by end-2025. UK DMO sells GBP 1.5bln 4.5% 2034 Gilt: b/c 3.32x, average yield 4.553%, tail 0.4bps. Germany sells EUR 1.129bln vs exp. EUR 1.5bln 2.90% 2056 and EUR 0.8bln vs exp. EUR 1.0bln 1.25% 2048 Bunds Commodities WTI and Brent are currently incrementally lower, and have held a negative bias throughout the European morning. Brent Sept’25 has traded in a very tight USD 68.46-69.09/bbl range, and ultimately awaiting US PPI. Precious metals are mixed with Palladium a little lower whilst spot Gold and Silver post modest gains. Newsflow has been relatively light today and Dollar price-action has been muted. The yellow-metal is seemingly attempting to pare back losses seen in the prior session. XAU/USD currently trades in a USD 3,325.21-3,342.49/oz range, with the low for today incrementally above its 50 DMA (3,323.42) Base metals are broadly lower continuing the downbeat mood seen overnight, in-fitting with the broader risk tone across the equities complex. 3M LME Copper currently trades towards the lower end of a USD 9,613.1-9,663/t range. US Private Sector Inventory data showed (bbls) crude +0.8mln (exp. -0.6mln), gasoline +1.9mln (-1.0mln), distillate +0.8mln (+0.2mln), according to Reuters citing sources. Gulf Keystone Petroleum has temporarily shut in production at the Shaikan field (capacity approx. 55k BPD) following reports over the past two days of explosions at several nearby oil fields. Geopolitics: Middle East US President Trump's administration asked Israel to stop its strikes on Syrian military forces in the south of the country, while Israel promised that it would cease the attacks on Tuesday evening, according to a US official cited by Axios. US President Trump is to meet with the Qatari PM today to discuss negotiations over Gaza's ceasefire deal and are expected to discuss efforts to resume negotiations between the US and Iran to reach a new nuclear agreement, according to Axios. US, France and Germany agreed that Iran faces stiff sanctions if there is no deal by the end of August, according to Axios. Foreign tanker reportedly seized by Iran for 'smuggling' 2mln litres of fuel, according to SNN. Iranian Parliament issues statement saying negotiations with US cannot begin until preconditions are met, according to ISNA Geopolitics: Ukraine US President Trump said weapons are already being shipped to Ukraine and NATO will pay them back for everything and won't have boots on the ground, while he added that Iran wants to talk but he is in no rush to talk with Iran. Russia's Kremlin says subject of weapon supplies to Ukraine is high on agenda, via Ifax; phone call with US President Trump not planned but can be organised quickly, via Tass. US Event Calendar 7:00 am: Jul 11 MBA Mortgage Applications, prior 9.4% 8:30 am: Jun PPI Final Demand MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0.1% 8:30 am: Jun PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0.1% 8:30 am: Jun PPI Final Demand YoY, est. 2.5%, prior 2.6% 8:30 am: Jun PPI Ex Food and Energy YoY, est. 2.7%, prior 3% 9:15 am: Jun Industrial Production MoM, est. 0.1%, prior -0.2% 9:15 am: Jun Capacity Utilization, est. 77.4%, prior 77.4% Central Banks 8:00 am: Fed’s Barkin Gives Speech in Westminister, MD 9:15 am: Fed’s Hammack Speaks on Community Development 10:00 am: Fed’s Barr Speaks on Financial Regulation 2:00 pm: Fed Releases Beige Book 3:30 pm: Fed’s Bostic Appears on Fox Business Network 6:30 pm: Fed’s Williams Speaks on Economic Outlook, Policy DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap Morning from Berlin. I was at an important dinner last night in this beautiful city and got a phone call from my wife. I said I was at a work dinner and could I call her back later. Before I could finish she said. “It’s an emergency. I have five nine-year-old girls over for a sleepover specifically to see the new Zombies 4 film just released. They’ve all been waiting three years for this day (since Zombies 3) and I can’t get into our Disney+ account. Do you know the password?” I had to make my excuses to leave the table and go through my phone to desperately try to find it. Thankfully I did and the world could move on. Meanwhile, markets have struggled to move on from the debate as to how inflationary the US tariff policy will be with yesterday’s US CPI providing something for everyone on this topic. On the one hand, the core CPI print was below expectations for a 5th consecutive month, and the S&P 500 even moved up to an intraday record at the open. But as investors digested the print and focused on the more obvious tariff impacts in the various components, Treasuries extended their decline and the 30yr yield (+4.3bps) moved back above the 5% mark again (closing at 5.02%). It’s previously closed above 5% for only 9 days since 2007. 6 days were during the issuance- and Fed-driven Treasury sell-off in autumn 2023, and 3 days were back in May this year after the Moody's downgrade and amid increased focus on the implications of the Republican budget bill that was passing through the House. In terms of the details of the print, monthly CPI came in at +0.29% in June (vs. +0.3% expected), which was a 5-month high but broadly in line with expectations. Moreover, the core CPI measure was a comparatively softer +0.23% (vs. +0.3% expected), which eased fears that this month would see a big jump thanks to the tariffs. However, there were some concerning signs under the surface, and household appliances (+1.9%) saw their biggest monthly price jump in records back to 1999. And if you looked at core goods (excluding used cars and trucks) there was a decent +0.32% monthly gain that was the strongest since February 2023. So the fear is that as the tariff impact is more fully felt (with plenty more in the pipeline), those increases could become more widespread across the consumer basket. Indeed, those concerns were clear in market pricing too, and the 2yr US inflation swap (+2.0bps) moved up to a fresh two-year high of 2.97%. Watch out for PPI today and importantly the usual read through to those categories that directly feed into core PCE. Our economists are tracking +0.30% for the PPI print after yesterday’s data (see their CPI reaction note for more). That growing pessimism on inflation meant investors dialled back their expectations for rate cuts this year. They are now pricing in a rate cut by September as only a 58% probability, down from 65% the day before. And for the year as a whole, investors now see just 44bps of rate cuts by the December meeting, down from 48bps the day before. That said, there was another round of calls for rate cuts from President Trump, who posted afterwards that the “Fed should cut Rates by 3 Points. Very Low Inflation. One Trillion Dollars a year would be saved!!!” But there was no such urgency in the limited Fedspeak following the CPI print, with Boston Fed President Collins saying that “an ‘actively patient’ approach to monetary policy remains appropriate”. And for markets, the prospect of fewer rate cuts and more inflation helped to push Treasury yields higher across the curve. So the 2yr yield (+4.1bps) was up to 3.94%, the 10yr yield (+4.8bps) hit a one-month high of 4.48%, and the 30yr yield (+4.3bps) closed above 5% for the first time since May 23rd, at 5.02%. The hawkish implications from the CPI print meant that most equities struggled. The S&P 500 fell by -0.40% in a very broad-based decline that saw 453 stocks lose ground, which was the largest number of decliners in eight weeks. Indeed, the only S&P sector to advance was information technology (+1.27%), which was led by a +4.04% gain for Nvidia, as the chipmaker reached a new all-time high after news the previous evening that it would resume AI chip deliveries to China. The boost for tech stocks meant that the NASDAQ (+0.18%) hit another all-time high, having now surged by +35.4% since its closing low just after Liberation Day. By contrast, banks were among the underperformers after earnings from several US financials, with the KBW Bank Index falling -2.42%. Wells Fargo (-5.48%) and BlackRock (-5.88%) saw sizeable slumps after missing estimates, with JPMorgan (-0.74%) falling back more modestly after their release. On the other hand, Citigroup (+3.68%) rose to its highest since 2008 after beating revenue estimates and announcing increased stock buybacks. S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 futures are both down by -0.15% this morning. Elsewhere, the tariff deadline on August 1 remains in focus, although it’s clear that markets aren’t pricing in a full bounceback in the tariffs yet, with the expectation that further trade deals or delays will avoid that outcome. Speaking of which, Trump announced yesterday that he had reached a deal with Indonesia. This will see goods from Indonesia facing US tariffs of 19%, above the 10% interim tariff over the past three months but clearly below the 32% the country faced under the initial Liberation Day tariffs on April 2. Trump later posted that Indonesia also agreed to buy $15bn in US energy, $4.5bn of agricultural products and 50 Boeing jets. Boeing’s shares briefly rallied on the news but were back in the red (-0.22%) by the close. Trump also added that “Transshipment from a higher Tariff Country” via Indonesia would face additional tariffs. Asian equity markets are mostly lower with the S&P/ASX 200 (-0.92%) leading the way after nearing record highs earlier this week. Additionally, the KOSPI (-0.86%), the CSI (-0.33%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.13%) are also lower. The Hang Seng (+0.28%) is bucking the regional trend, continuing its strong gains from the previous session, buoyed by NVIDIA's announcement that it will be resuming H20 AI chip sales to China. The Nikkei (+0.55%) is being helped by a Yen at its weakest since April and a JGB rally at the long-end with 30 and 40yr yields -3bps and -8bps, respectively, after yesterday’s slump. 10yr JGBs are +1.5bps, likely catching up with yesterday’s global sell-off that saw the 10yr yield hit its highest intraday level since 2008, and the 30yr yield move to its highest intraday level since that maturity was first issued in 1999. I wrote about this more in my chart of the day yesterday (link here ), and our FX strategists also have a new podcast on the political and policy choices facing Japan and the market impact on the yen. You can listen to it on Spotify here or the DB Research website here. It’s a timely discussion before the Upper House election on Sunday. Back in Europe, the tone was more downbeat yesterday, with equities losing ground across the continent. That included a 3rd consecutive decline for the STOXX 600 (-0.37%), and a 4th consecutive decline for the DAX (-0.42%). However, sovereign bond yields did move off their highs from the previous day, with those on 10yr bunds (-1.7bps), OATs (-2.6bps) and BTPs (-2.0bps) all moving lower. That outperformance for OATs came as French PM Bayrou proposed some €44bn of measures to reduce the deficit, including ending two public holidays on Easter Monday and VE Day. The leader of the National Rally party Marine Le Pen has threatened to bring down the government unless Bayrou rows back the proposed measures. Meanwhile, in the UK gilts lost further ground, with the 10yr yield up +2.4bps, whilst the 30yr yield (+2.9bps) moved up to its highest since late May, at 5.46%. There wasn’t much other data yesterday, with Canada’s CPI rising as expected to +1.9% in June. However, the CPI-median measure followed by the Bank of Canada ticked up to +3.1% (vs. +3.0% expected), which led investors to push back the timing of the next rate cut, whilst 10yr government bond yields rose +8.4bps on the day. Meanwhile in Germany, the ZEW survey rose more than expected in July, with the expectations component up to a three-year high of 52.7 (vs. 50.4 expected). To the day ahead now, and US data releases include the PPI reading for June, along with industrial production and capacity utilisation. In the UK, there’s also the CPI print for June. From central banks, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Barkin, Hammack, Barr and Williams, and the Fed will release their Beige Book. The European Commission will also be releasing its proposal for the next 7-year EU budget running from 2028 to 2034 (see our economists’ preview here). Finally, earnings releases include Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and United Airlines. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 07:34
Renault Shock Profit Warning Sends Shares Crashing Shares of French carmaker Renault, trading in Paris, crashed the most since the early days of the Covid pandemic after the company issued an unscheduled release, warning of lower profits for the year amid slumping demand and fierce competition from Chinese carmakers like BYD Motors. Renault stated in the release that it had lowered its operating margin forecast for the year to around 6.5%, down from at least 7% previously. It also cut its free cash flow estimate to between 1 billion euros and 1.5 billion euros, down from 2 billion euros. It stated that first-half volumes were lower than expected, as the retail market continues to soften, and added that inventories have swelled. Renault slashed its full-year forecast: Sees operating margin 6.5%, saw at least 7%, estimate 7.1% (Bloomberg Consensus) Sees free cash flow EU1 billion to EU1.5 billion, saw at least EU2 billion, estimate EU2.09 billion Renault's preliminary H1 results: Prelim operating margin 6%, estimate 6.8% Prelim revenue EU27.6 billion, estimate EU27.46 billion The revised guidance underscores Europe's sluggish car market and the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers, such as BYD, which are flooding the continent with vehicles and putting increased pressure on domestic brands. In Paris, Renault shares crashed 17%, the largest daily decline since early March 2020. And shares are at their lowest point since 2024. Commenting on the shock profit warning, UBS analyst Justinus Steinhorst told clients: Renault contributes 60% to the selloff in Autos on the day with the UBS Autos basket {UBXEAUTO} down 2.4% after issuing a profit warning. Here's what other top desks are saying (courtesy of Bloomberg): Oddo (outperform, PT to €55 from €60) Analyst Michael Foundoukidis says it's a stark warning and unfortunate timing after CEO departure, leading them to cut their estimates by 10% "The release suggests an awful June which will likely raise fears around the visibility in the new guide," he adds Says stock will likely be seen as "dead money near term" at least pending new CEO Morgan Stanley (equal-weight) Analyst Javier Martinez de Olcoz Cerdan says while Renault is the first auto OEM to cut its guidance, the factors behind this profit warning will likely drive more cuts across the sector Guidance implies about 7% cut to consensus Ebit for FY25, with Renault impacted by further commercial pressures 2Q may be bottom of the cycle if tariffs normalize, but if not there is further downside risk to margins and performance Citi (buy) Commercial pressure in Europe adds to broader headwinds from tariffs and pricing pressures, which Renault had until now been managing better than many peers, analyst Harald Hendrikse writes While the stock does already discount some of the concerns, investors may be wondering if margins are peaking at a time when wider SXAP margins are nearing a trough Appointment of a CEO may be seen as a positive "when the dust settles" JPMorgan (overweight) Analyst Jose Asumendi says preliminary 1H Ebit 13% below consensus expectations, impacted by volume miss, commercial pressures and higher receivables due to timing impacts Notes that Renault does expect some improvement in 2H, and that several launches are scheduled Will be crucial for Renault to provide clarity on permanent CEO succession . . . Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 07:20
China's Rare Earths Exports High Highest Level Since 2009 China exported 7,742 metric tonnes of rare earths last month, marking the highest peak since 2009. This is according to newly released customs data. Additionally, as Statista's Anna Fleck reports, it also marks a 60-percent increase from June 2024 and a 32-percent increase from May 2025. You will find more infographics at Statista Total exports of rare minerals for the cumulative first half of 2025 amounted to 32,569 tonnes, up from 29,095 tonnes in H1 2024 (+11.9 percent). In April, Beijing implemented export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets in a move widely considered a response to increased tariffs from the United States. These restrictions raised concerns in countries such as the U.S., Japan and European nations over supply chain disruptions, particularly in the defense, energy and automotive sectors. But in June, Beijing and Washington reached a new set of agreements to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S. once more. China’s commerce ministry has also said it is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earths exports to the EU. The customs data reflected in this chart does not specify which rare earths were exported, with a more detailed breakdown expected later this month. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 06:55
Welcome To The Land Of The Free... Until You Express An Opinion Via DailySceptic.org, The following is the introduction to Cancel THIS, a new book by Mike Fairclough. Britain’s cancel culture is a purposely designed social credit system. Say the wrong thing, and you’re done for. One ‘offensive’ tweet? Straight to prison. Say a silent prayer? You’re nicked. Point out that men don’t have wombs, or that climate change hysteria is exaggerated? You’re sacked and shunned. Post a meme that contradicts a government orthodoxy or expresses concerns about illegal immigration? Congrats, you’re now persona non grata and at risk of being given a holiday at His Majesty’s pleasure. Welcome to the land of the free... until you express an opinion... Great Britain, 2025, where the air is thick with sanctimonious twaddle, and our inalienable rights are under attack from the self-proclaimed elite. Those pompous, hypocritical overlords of ‘correct’ thinking have decided our words, thoughts, and even our chickens need their approval. Free speech? In the U.K., members of the public are in prison for sending a single tweet. And just wait until they roll out digital ID (the so called BritCard) and the Stasi levels of censorship which will follow. The Establishment has closed its grip harder than Keir Starmer on free Arsenal tickets. Wielding censorship like a sledgehammer and telling us what constitutes ‘approved truth’ as though we’re living in Orwell’s 1984. But fear not, because there’s a growing rebellion. Increasing numbers of Brits simply aren’t having it anymore. They see through this dystopian farce, preferring instead to give it the middle finger. Our great nation isn’t China or North Korea (though they’d like it to be). Britain is the crucible of free speech and has long championed open expression across literature, the arts and politics. Amidst the madness, we salute a titan of liberty: John Milton, whose Areopagitica in 1644 stands as a blazing beacon for free speech. With a poet’s fire and a rebel’s heart, Milton faced down Parliament’s suffocating book licensing laws, daring to proclaim that truth thrives only when it wrestles openly with falsehood. “Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?” he thundered, crafting a vision of Britain as a place for ideas, where no censor’s pen could silence the quest for truth. His words, a clarion call against tyranny, sowed the seeds for our nation’s proud claim as a bastion of free expression. Let’s kick off with a story so absurd it could only happen on this sceptred isle. On October 5th, 2024, the Daily Mail ran the headline: “Defra left with egg on its face in online revolt over chicken database crashes website, as pranksters list rubber chickens and chicken nuggets as ‘pets’.” Our Government, in a fit of bureaucratic delirium, had decreed that every chicken in the land must be registered on a digital database. Why? To ‘safeguard’ us, naturally. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insisted on compliance, or face the wrath of a clipboard wielding official. Enter the Great British public, who, with a collective cry of “Not today, mate” unleashed chaos so beautiful it deserves a statue in Trafalgar Square. The website didn’t just crash; it imploded. Defra described a “High volume of applications” likely hundreds of thousands, as the site was flooded with fake and ludicrous entries. It was a digital uprising, a masterclass in taking the absolute piss, proving we’re not a nation of drones who’ll nod along to every whimsical edict. We’re the land of John Locke, who told the Crown to shove its gag orders, demanding our right to speak freely without a king’s boot on our throats. His fierce call for liberty in 1689 still fuels our fight against the elite’s assault on freedom, from bird databases to jail time for social media posts. This is why the establishment is ‘decolonising’ the English school curriculum and stamping trigger warnings on everything from Shakespeare to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In British universities, even The Odyssey has been festooned with trigger warnings due to its potentially ‘distressing’ content. The ruling class don’t want us to be inspired by stories of heroism, resistance, battling against the odds, and vanquishing evil. They prefer us to be fearful and obedient. This, my friends, is the beating heart of Cancel THIS, my new book. Sometimes, you’ve just got to refuse to play the game. Mocking the authorities and saying, “No! I’m not doing it!” It’s signing up your nan’s ceramic cockerel to a government database just to watch the system choke. It’s laughing at the po-faced Establishment which lectures us on what to think and say. These hypocrites, with their private jets and public scoldings, want to police your speech, social media posts and your thoughts. They’ll cancel you faster than a reality show reject if you dare step out of line. And for what? To protect their grip on the ‘truth’. Silence and doing nothing are no longer viable options. Not if we want our children and grandchildren to inherit the country our forebears sacrificed their lives for. Every time you bite your tongue or self-censor to avoid the mob, you’re handing them the keys to your mind. Our silence is their power. Compliance is the last thing we should agree to. If you let them, they’ll have you bowing to their every whim and agreeing to unimaginable horrors. That’s why Cancel THIS is part survival guide, part rebellious handbook, and a salute to the dissidents, oddballs, and anyone who’s ever been told to shut up and behave. We don’t just resist; we do it with flair, with bollocks and with our signature British humour. We’re the nation of the stiff upper lip, the victors of two world wars, and we laid the foundation for free speech with Magna Carta in 1215. We have a long history of curbing tyrants and fighting for freedom. This book also shines a light on the agenda behind the bullshit. It’s no accident that almost every government in the world has turned on its citizens at the same time. Pushing harmful and illogical ideologies, punishing dissidents and seeding fear about everything from the weather through to the common cold. It’s all part of a vision which is laid out by the likes of the United Nations and which our Government has signed up to. So, buckle up, tell the woke police to sod off, and let’s rip into this global circus of pompous ‘elites’ who think they can nanny us into submission. My book is your guide to living freely in a world gone mad. It’s about laughing in the face of censorship, ignoring the establishment’s nonsensical rules, and embracing the global fight for free speech with true grit and resilience. Let’s keep the rebellion rolling, one glorious piss take at a time. Mike Fairclough was the only serving headteacher or school principal (out of 43,500 in the U.K.) to publicly question the rollout of the Covid vaccine to children.You can purchase his book, Cancel THIS, here. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 06:30
What NATO Countries Spend On Military, Health, & Education NATO countries officially agreed to raise their defense expenditures to 5% of their GDP by 2035. But how do their military expenditures compare to what they spend on health and education? This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, shows a side-by-side comparison of government spending priorities as a percentage of GDP for all NATO members. Data for this visualization comes from NATO’s public releases, and two World Banks sources: education and health spending. Figures from the most recent year for each metric is used, listed in the above graphic and in the table in the next section. Compared: NATO’s Spending on Military Vs. Education and Health Currently, every NATO country currently spends less on its military than on health or education. However, the new 5% of GDP target for defense spending is currently higher than what every NATO country currently spends on their military. Country Military Spend Health Spend Education Spend 🇵🇱 Poland 4.1 7.0 4.7 🇪🇪 Estonia 3.4 7.0 5.3 🇺🇸 U.S. 3.4 16.5 5.4 🇱🇻 Latvia 3.2 7.6 4.6 🇬🇷 Greece 3.1 8.5 4.1 🇱🇹 Lithuania 2.9 7.3 4.3 🇫🇮 Finland 2.4 9.7 6.5 🇩🇰 Denmark 2.4 9.4 5.3 🇬🇧 UK 2.3 10.9 5.0 🇷🇴 Romania 2.3 5.8 3.3 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 2.2 7.6 3.3 🇳🇴 Norway 2.2 8.0 4.0 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 2.2 7.7 4.7 🇸🇪 Sweden 2.1 10.9 7.6 🇩🇪 Germany 2.1 11.8 4.5 🇭🇺 Hungary 2.1 6.4 4.7 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 2.1 8.5 4.8 🇹🇷 Türkiye 2.1 3.7 2.6 🇫🇷 France 2.1 11.9 5.4 🇳🇱 Netherlands 2.1 10.1 5.1 🇦🇱 Albania 2.0 6.2 2.7 🇲🇪 Montenegro 2.0 10.9 4.4 🇸🇰 Slovakia 2.0 7.7 4.8 🇭🇷 Croatia 1.8 7.2 4.1 🇵🇹 Portugal 1.6 10.0 4.8 🇮🇹 Italy 1.5 8.5 4.2 🇨🇦 Canada 1.4 11.2 4.1 🇧🇪 Belgium 1.3 10.8 6.4 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 1.3 5.8 4.7 🇸🇮 Slovenia 1.3 9.4 5.4 🇪🇸 Spain 1.3 9.7 4.3 🇮🇸 Iceland 0.0 9.0 7.1 For example, Poland leads NATO in military spending at 4.1% of GDP, driven by concerns over the war in Ukraine. The U.S. defense budget, despite being close to $1 trillion, is still about 3% of its GDP. This is only a fraction of what it spends on health: 16.5% of its GDP. For reference, this chart breaks down the U.S. consumer economy, where health care accounted for $3 trillion in American spending in 2023. While the U.S. is an outlier for its comparative health expenditure, health remains the largest expenditure category for all NATO countries. However, a 5% defense spending target would push 21 countries into spending more on their militaries than schools. Has Europe’s Free Defense Ride Ended? The new 5% target is a dramatic reversal in priorities for many European nations, particularly in Western Europe, where defense has long taken a back seat to public services. However President Trump’s threats of pulling back U.S. support is now forcing a continent-wide re-militarization, especially in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To meet the new threshold, governments will need to either raise revenues dramatically or pull funding from other areas. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 05:45
Global Oil Consumption Reaches All-Time High Authored by Robert Rapier via OilPrice.com, Global oil consumption reached an all-time high in 2024, driven primarily by non-OECD countries, with the U.S. remaining the largest consumer. The U.S. continues to lead the world in total oil production, contributing to a record global output despite a slowdown in its growth rate. The 2025 Statistical Review reveals key shifts including declining production in Russia and Saudi Arabia, surging demand in India, and the significant rise of Guyana as an oil producer. Each year, the Statistical Review of World Energy offers important insights into global energy trends. Now published by the Energy Institute in collaboration with KPMG and Kearney, the 2025 edition—reflecting full-year 2024 data—reveals that global oil production and consumption remained relatively steady, but there are meaningful shifts underway. These shifts reflect not only changing geopolitics and economic recovery patterns but also longer-term questions around energy security, investment priorities, and the uneven global evolution toward decarbonization. Global Oil Consumption Hits New High In 2024, global oil consumption–which excludes biofuels but includes coal and natural gas derivatives–reached 101.8 million barrels per day (bpd). The represents an all-time high that slightly surpassed the 2023 level by 0.7%. On average, oil demand has increased by 1% per year over the past decade, driven almost entirely by non-OECD countries. The U.S. remains the world’s largest oil consumer, accounting for 18.7% of global demand. Daily consumption in the U.S. fell slightly from 2023, but over the past decade it increased by 0.5% per year on average. China was the world’s second-largest oil consumer, accounting for 16.1% of global demand. Its daily consumption fell 1.2% to 16.4 million bpd in 2024. This decline is a marked departure from the average 4% gain per year over the past decade, which means China’s oil demand may be showing signs of plateauing. With economic growth slowing and a push toward electrification of transportation underway, some analysts speculate China may be approaching its long-term oil demand peak. Meanwhile, India’s oil consumption continues to surge, jumping 3.1% year-over-year to 5.6 million bpd. The nation’s economic expansion and rising middle class continue to drive growth, putting India on track to become the third-largest oil consumer globally within a few years. OECD nations saw modest changes in oil demand (+0.1%) while non-OECD nations saw demand jump by 1.2%. U.S. Leads All Producers to New Record On the production side, global oil output (including natural gas liquids and other liquids) hit a record 96.9 million barrels per day. That’s 1.8 million barrels more than the pre-pandemic peak, and about 9% higher than the lows seen during the COVID-19 downturn. On the surface, it’s a story of resilience and recovery. But dig a little deeper, and the numbers reveal a more complicated picture. The United States continues to lead the world in total oil production, clocking in at 20.1 million barrels per day. But that headline figure includes a sizable share of natural gas liquids—byproducts like ethane and propane that aren’t typically directly used as transportation fuels but may function as refinery feedstock. Strip those out, and U.S. production of crude oil and condensate—the type of output most analysts consider “true oil”—comes in at 13.2 million barrels per day. Although this was yet another production record, the 2% increase from 2023 was less than half the 4.2% average annual gain over the previous decade, which could be an indication that U.S. production is close to a plateau. Russia follows in second place at 10.2 million barrels per day of crude plus condensate. That was down 3.1% from 2023, largely due to the impact of Western sanctions and logistical constraints. However, Russian exports to China and India remained robust, helping the country maintain relevance in global energy markets despite diplomatic isolation. Saudi Arabia also saw production fall by 4.2%. Saudi was in third place in 2024 with 9.2 million barrels per day, the lowest level since 2011. The drop reflects both voluntary production cuts to support prices and long-term questions about the Kingdom’s spare capacity amid heavy domestic investments in refining and petrochemicals. Proved Reserves The Statistical Review also sheds light on global oil reserves, although those are only available for the end of 2020. At that time, the world’s proven oil reserves stood at 1.7 trillion barrels—enough to sustain current production levels for roughly 53.5 years. However, the distribution of those reserves remains highly uneven. Venezuela still holds the largest proved reserves, at 304 billion barrels, but much of that oil is heavy and difficult to extract. Saudi Arabia is second with 298 billion barrels, followed by Iran at 158 billion. The U.S., by contrast, holds 69 billion barrels—reflecting both a mature production base and a reserve classification system that tends to be more conservative. Unusual Developments and Emerging Themes A few notable trends emerged from this year’s data: Saudi Arabia’s Output Decline: The drop in Saudi production is significant not only because it’s the lowest in more than a decade, but also because it signals a shift in how the Kingdom may balance price stability with market share. U.S. Efficiency and NGLs: While the U.S. continues to be the top oil producer, a growing share of that output is in the form of natural gas liquids, which are not suitable for all applications and require different refining infrastructure. This evolution has implications for and refining strategies. Flat Growth in Global Reserves: The relative lack of reserve growth despite strong consumption reflects an investment hesitancy across much of the industry. This could pose long-term supply challenges if demand doesn’t moderate. India’s Ascent: India’s rise as a major demand center—with relatively little domestic production—makes it one of the most strategically important countries in the oil market. Its policy choices on storage, refining, and renewables will shape future demand dynamics. Guyana’s Rise: Guyana’s meteoric rise from zero to over 600,000 barrels daily in just five years is one of the fastest production ramps in oil industry history. With reserves now estimated at 11 billion barrels, Guyana is projected to reach 1 million barrels daily soon, potentially becoming a top-five global producer within the decade. Outlook: Stability or Strain? Oil markets in 2024 were defined by an uneasy equilibrium. On the one hand, production and consumption were closely matched, and price volatility was relatively contained. On the other, the factors holding that balance together—OPEC+ coordination, U.S. shale resilience, and subdued global demand growth—are all subject to disruption. Looking ahead, several questions loom: Will China’s oil demand begin to decline in absolute terms? Can U.S. shale sustain output without massive reinvestment? Will geopolitical risks in the Middle East, Russia, or elsewhere upset the delicate supply-demand balance? These aren’t just market questions—they are strategic ones that affect global inflation, trade, and energy security. Final Thoughts The 2025 Statistical Review confirms that oil is still very much at the center of the global economy. Demand is growing in the developing world, production remains concentrated among a handful of players, and supply vulnerabilities persist. In the coming weeks, I’ll continue to unpack key findings from the Statistical Review, including natural gas, coal, renewables, and nuclear power trends. But one thing is clear from the oil data: in a world increasingly focused on energy transition, the importance of oil—economically and geopolitically—hasn’t gone anywhere. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 05:00
What Are Inheritance And Gift Taxes Like In Europe? An estimated $2 to $3 trillion were inherited globally in 2024, according to consulting firm EY. As EY analysts highlight, the impending inheritance to be passed on from the baby boomer generation will marks the biggest transfer of wealth in modern financial history. Against this backdrop, we're turning our attention to the topic inheritance and gift taxes. Statista's Anna Fleck reports that data compiled by the Tax Foundation (as of 2024) reveals that the approach to inheritance and gift tax varies considerably across Europe. You will find more infographics at Statista In France, tax rates generally range from 5 percent to 45 percent, depending on the value of the transfer and the degree of kinship, but can climb as high as 60 percent for distant relatives. The range is similar in Germany, where rates vary from 7 percent to 50 percent, depending on the amount and relationship between the parties. Only two other European countries have higher top rates: Belgium (3 percent to 80 percent) and Spain (7.7 percent to 87.6 percent). In the UK, the range is narrower, with rates between 20 percent and 40 percent, while Ireland applies a flat rate of 33 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the lowest inheritance and gift tax rates in Europe can be found in Bulgaria (0.4 percent to 6.6 percent), Croatia (4 percent), Italy (4 percent to 8 percent), Lithuania (5 percent to 10 percent), Iceland (10 percent), Portugal and Poland (both with 0 percent to 20 percent). Around ten other European countries - including Sweden, Norway, Austria, Estonia, and Romania - do not impose any inheritance or gift taxes at all. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 04:15
Euro Adoption Unlikely In Czechia As Elections Favorites & Public Opinion Align Against Common Currency Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Andrej Babiš's ANO, SPD, STAČILO! and others vow to protect the Czech crown, while business leaders and government coalition partners push for the adoption of the euro... Czechia’s possible adoption of the euro in the future may emerge as an issue in the upcoming parliamentary elections this October. While most parties in the current governing coalition have expressed support for adopting the common European currency, the opposition ANO movement — widely expected to win the largest share of the vote — remains firmly opposed. ANO leader Andrej Babiš has repeatedly dismissed the euro as economically dangerous and politically unwise. “I do not support it,” he said bluntly, warning that if the current coalition retained power, “they will introduce the euro.” He argued that adopting the euro would lead to higher prices and force Czechia to take on the financial liabilities of heavily indebted eurozone members. Instead, he advocates keeping the Czech crown, following the example of wealthy non-euro EU states such as Denmark and Sweden. Czechia committed to adopting the euro when it joined the European Union in 2004, but remains one of only three countries from that enlargement round — alongside Poland and Hungary — that have yet to join. Other opposition parties are similarly critical. Kateřina Konečná of the far-left STAČILO! movement said, “The euro means higher prices,” citing Croatia’s experience. “I am against giving up the Czech crown, which would, among other things, give up another part of our sovereignty.” Her party has called for any future decision to be made by referendum. The populist Motorists, led by Petr Macinka, and the right-wing SPD under Tomio Okamura also reject euro adoption. “We would be giving up another part of our sovereignty and submitting even more to Brussels,” said Macinka. Okamura’s SPD warned of a forced sharing of debt burdens with large Western states and added, “The Czech crown is also a national symbol.” The fledgling Motorists are seen as a possible coalition partner for Babiš’s ANO should the parliamentary arithmetic not allow it to govern on its own; however, such an alliance would be subject to the party reaching the threshold to enter parliament. Okamura’s SPD is less likely to be seen as a viable partner, given its more hardline approach, but it is not impossible. While political resistance remains strong among right-leaning and nationalist parties, much of the current government coalition takes the opposite view. STAN leader and Deputy Prime Minister Vít Rakušan has declared, “The Czech Republic should adopt the euro as soon as possible,” calling for a parallel public education campaign to dispel what he termed myths about the currency. Pirates vice-chairman Zdeněk Hřib also supports swift adoption, claiming it would boost economic stability, strengthen Europe, and save the state up to 30 billion crowns annually in debt servicing costs. Prime Minister Petr Fiala has struck a more cautious tone, acknowledging that the Czech Republic now meets key Maastricht criteria but warning that public opposition remains too high. “Majority public support is key to the decision to launch the process of adopting the euro,” he said. “This condition has not yet been met.” A Median poll from early 2024 found that more than two-thirds of Czechs believed adopting the euro would not be beneficial, with three in five wanting a referendum on the issue. Students and entrepreneurs were somewhat more supportive, with 45 percent and 40 percent backing the euro, respectively. This heavily contrasts with support among businesses, with a PwC survey showing nearly 70 percent of CEOs see euro adoption as beneficial to their companies, citing savings on transaction costs, elimination of exchange rate risks, and greater investor confidence. “Seven out of ten bosses convinced of the positive impact of the euro on their company is already a very strong signal sent to the new government,” said PwC partner Jan Brázda. Read more here... Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 03:30
Spanish Citizens Riot After Elderly Man Brutally Assaulted By Migrants Among all the painfully leftist governments in Europe the leadership of Spain is often cited as the worst. In 2023, Ipsos published a report conducted in collaboration with King's College London and The Global Institute for Women's Leadership, indicating that Spain is the European country with the highest level of "self-identified feminists" and a strong "awareness of gender inequality". In other words, the country is doomed to suffocate from the stupidity of far-left politics. This includes dangerous progressive immigration policies, with Spain being overrun by third-world migrants in the past several years. The majority of migrants are Muslim, come from North Africa and enter illegally from Morocco. The problem has been compared to an engineered foreign invasion with leftist/globalist leaders pulling the strings in the name of "multiculturalism". If the goal is to create a Utopian society where everyone gets along and respects every other culture equally, then the project has failed miserably and should be abandoned. If, however, the goal is to destroy western civilization through demographic sabotage, then the project is enjoying wild success (and should still be abandoned). Spanish citizens have dealt with years of expanding criminal activity and violence due to migrants - The majority of them tend to be military age males from Islamic nations in North Africa and they have shown no intention of assimilating into Europeans societies. These migrants have formed numerous street gangs in Spanish cities, committing theft, muggings, beatings and rape while openly wielding knives and machetes. Since 2019 Spain has seen a 35% increase in knife crimes. The "cultural enrichers" commonly record and proudly post their attacks on social media. This includes a recent mob assault of an elderly Spanish man named Domingo Tomás Domínguez that ended with severe injuries and hospitalization. 🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸 North Africans attack elderly Spanish man... Many Spanish retaliate...👇⚡️ pic.twitter.com/lQxDMx42hv July 12, 2025 Such crimes are rarely reported in the international media and quietly buried by the Spanish government. Leftist activists in Spain fully support the invasion and malign anyone who dares to criticize the lack of immigration enforcement. The country is so rife with fear, citizens complain that attacks in the streets are ignored by witnesses. They walk away and let victims fend for themselves. The media refuses to cover immigrant crime with any honesty, but they do jump to the ready when conservative groups try to do something about it. Citizen riots have exploded in Spain this week after the attack on Dominguez, with the media admonishing the "far-right violence" as "racist" and "Islamophobic". The propaganda on display here is astonishingly vile. No mention of the years of assaults committed by migrants in the country and the only people being punished are "right wing" protesters reacting to the crimes. The goal of Islamic fundamentalists in Europe is to subdue and conquer; what they call "Soft Jihad". Just look at how they responded when France banned Muslim face coverings. Palestinian Muslim scholar: “Europeans are lowlifes and a civilization of prostitutes, promiscuity, and homosexuality. We will conquer Paris and Rome and rule Europe with Islam.” And the useful idiots in the West protest daily in support of these people! pic.twitter.com/TYOjaoJ2ZB April 14, 2025 We witnessed similar events in England: Native citizens rioted after years of migrant attacks and child grooming gangs, culminating in the murder of three young girls by a teen criminal of migrant descent (Axel Rudakubana) at a children's dance recital. Instead of addressing legitimate concerns over third world immigration, the British authorities cracked down on the protesters, including free speech online. They have jailed numerous citizens for "hate crimes" simply for speaking out on the migrant problem. Conservative commentators suggest that the conditions are so intolerable that civil war is a foregone conclusion. Multiculturalism is a vicious ideology that seeks to snuff out dissent and ravage western societies. It's unlikely that the situation will end peacefully. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 02:45
The Hidden Cost Of Europe's Free Education Authored by Lika Kobeshavidza via the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Europe’s free university model is often seen as a triumph of modern society. With no crushing tuition bills, minimal student debt, and a promise of equal access, it sounds ideal. In countries like Germany and France, students pay only a small administrative fee, typically between $200 and $500 a year, compared to the staggering tuition costs in the US or UK. Many also receive financial aid in the form of grants that don’t need to be repaid, or low-interest loans based on need. But behind the promises of fairness and opportunity lies a system that too often feels rigid, overcrowded, and uninspiring. For all its accessibility, the reality of navigating these institutions can leave students feeling like just another number in a giant, bureaucratic machine. When education is available to everyone, universities become packed. Lecture halls overflow, and personal contact with professors becomes rare. In many European countries, it is normal to attend classes with hundreds of other students. There is little space for discussion, feedback, or even questions. You sit, you take notes, you pass or fail. It feels more like an assembly line than a place for learning. And the numbers explain why. In 2022, the European Union had 18.8 million students, about 7 percent of its total population, enrolled in tertiary education. In the United States, about 19.1 million people were enrolled in college during the 2024–25 academic year. In addition to similar enrollment figures, both the EU and the US have made higher education widely accessible. In the EU, where tuition is often free or heavily subsidized, higher education has been expanded to accommodate the majority. As of 2022, 44 percent of EU citizens aged 25–34 had completed a tertiary degree, compared to 50 percent in the US. The two systems differ in structure. What sets these systems apart is not the number of students, but how education is delivered. European universities tend to rely on large lectures, rigid course pathways, and limited institutional competition. The result is a model built for efficiency over individualization. US institutions, by contrast, operate in a competitive, decentralized environment with a wider range of academic structures, including smaller colleges and more flexible program design. When higher education is scaled to serve nearly everyone, as in much of Europe, it risks trading depth for throughput and personalization for administrative convenience. It works, but at the cost of treating education less as a journey and more as a bureaucratic process. Because of this scale, the system relies heavily on standardization. Programs are designed to fit the needs of the majority, which means they often leave no room for those who think or learn differently. This rigidity doesn’t start at the university gate. In countries like Germany and France, students are tracked into academic or vocational pathways as early as age 11 or 12. If you’re not placed on the right path then, your chances of accessing university later can shrink dramatically. So by the time students enter higher education, they’ve already been funneled through a system that limits personal growth, experimentation, and second chances. This rigidity produces something deeper than just frustration. It creates a culture of conformity. Students are expected to follow the official path, finish on time, and not make too much noise. Failing or taking longer to graduate is seen as a weakness, even though trial and error is essential to genuine learning. The idea of exploring different disciplines or pausing to reflect is rarely encouraged. Success is measured by how efficiently you complete the program, not by how much you discover about yourself or the world. As a result, creativity gets lost. Students who want to take risks, try new things, or ask uncomfortable questions end up finding little support. Professors often lack time to mentor individuals. Students have limited choice in what they study or how they approach it. In this system, the goal is not to inspire but to produce. Now compare this with systems where competition and choice are more central. In the United States, students can design their own majors, switch fields, or even take time off without penalty. In the UK, universities compete for students, pushing them to offer more innovative programs and better teaching. These models are far from perfect, especially when it comes to cost. But they often offer more room for personal growth, independent thinking, and academic freedom. This is not a call to bring back high tuition fees. Education should be accessible. But accessibility alone does not guarantee quality. Europe’s model often gives up flexibility for access. It is built to serve everyone the same way, which means it struggles to serve anyone exceptionally well. This wasn’t always the case. As European universities opened their doors to the masses in the 20th century, the need for efficiency led to rigid structures and standardized curricula. What was once a system for a privileged few became an assembly line for millions. To put it in context for American readers: most European students pay less than $500 a year in tuition. In comparison, while private US colleges average over $38,000 annually, the majority of American students attend more affordable institutions with in-state tuition at public universities averaging around $10,000, and community colleges around $3,000. Take Sweden, for example. Many students do not start university until their mid-twenties, partly because the system offers little incentive to start earlier. Once enrolled, academic paths are narrow, and changing direction is difficult. In Italy, students often remain in university for many years. Not because they are overly curious or passionate, but because the system is outdated and slow. Dropout rates are high, and degrees can carry little weight in the job market. And in France, some of the most respected schools aren’t part of the public university system at all. The Grandes Écoles charge tuition, are more selective, and offer more personalized education. Ironically, they are considered better precisely because they do not follow the free-for-all model. The truth is that real educational freedom means more than removing tuition fees. It means allowing students to explore, fail, change, and find their own way. It means encouraging innovation and rewarding curiosity. And yes, it means allowing systems to compete and evolve. Europe’s education system is something to be proud of. But pride should not prevent reform. We need to ask harder questions. Are we building institutions that truly serve students, or just creating machines that treat everyone the same? If education is meant to prepare people for the future, then we must make sure our systems are flexible enough to grow with them. When you force everyone into the same mold, you risk crushing the very thing that makes education powerful: the ability to think differently. Tyler Durden Wed, 07/16/2025 - 02:00
Escobar: Trump Terrified By BRICS Strategic Threat Authored by Pepe Escobar, This is it. The ruling classes of the Empire of Chaos, plus the current, clownish Circus Ringmaster have finally realized that BRICS is a serious strategic threat – and existential challenge – to their unilateral domination of the current system of international relations. They didn’t come to this conclusion by carefully scrutinizing the BRICS annual summit in Rio – or last year’s ground-breaking summit in Kazan for that matter: they are lousy at doing basic homework. It’s more like they were awakened from their torpor by feeling in their skins which way the – global – wind is blowing, in terms of all sorts of models being tested to bypass the U.S. dollar and the iron-clad control of the Bretton Woods institutions. The conclusion was inescapable: BRICS have crossed the ultimate red line. No more Mr. Nice Guy talk shop. The 130-plus point Rio declaration, released at the first day of the summit, spells it out, politely but decisively: this is what we are, a systemic alternative; and we’re going to write the rules of the new system our way. Building the Geopolitics of Sovereignty BRICS 2025 in Rio was a stunning surprise. Expectations initially were low – when comparing the meek Brazilian presidency with the extraordinary amount of work put out by Russia in 2024 leading to Kazan. Yet in the end Rio coalesced what Kazan had announced: the new, rising system will be all about sovereignty, equality, and fairness – with emphasis on continental-wide economic integration; trade in national currencies; an expanded role for new global financial institutions such as the NDB (the BRICS bank); and myriad platforms for sustainable development. A Geopolitics of Sovereignty has to be structurally constructed: the iron and cement for the new system will come from a new interconnection of trade in national currencies, independent payment/settlement systems, and new investment platforms. Geo-economically, BRICS is already on a roll. A quick glance of a map of Eurasia, and Afro-Eurasia, will suffice to convey the existing and emerging interconnection of connectivity, logistics and supply chain corridors. Across BRICS lands, those tie up energy sources, rare earth deposits, and a wealth of agricultural commodities. To quote the Godfather of Soul James Bown, Papa’s got a brand new (BRICS) bag. Hence it’s no wonder that a tawdry incarnation of the White Man’s Burden, the Circus Ringmaster, has unleashed Full War on BRICS and its partners – from threats to tariffs, complete with a previous death certificate (at the time he was even more clueless on what BRICS is all about). The serial Trump Tariff Temper Tantrum (TTT) is of course another manifestation of Divide and Rule, trying to blow up BRICS from the inside. And now we’re up several notches, with a trademark childish letter threatening 50% tariffs on all Made in Brazil products exported to the U.S. – plus extra “sectoral” tariffs. And yet this has nothing to do with trade. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. trade surplus with Brazil is over a hefty $400 billion. Some Trump 2.0 underling should have whispered that number into his boss’s ear. But even if they did, that’s irrelevant. Because the latest gimmick actually constitutes a crass foreign interference in another nation’s domestic politics and upcomig presidential race, illegal and predictably once again making a mockery of international law. The Circus Ringmaster started by hollering in his posts that the Lula government – and the independent Brazilian judicial system – had been involved in a witch hunt against his buddy, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is being legally prosecuted under charges of staging a coup to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election and prevent Lula from taking power. It was up to not so smooth operator Steve Bannon to give the whole tawdry game away: if you ditch the prosecution of Bolsonaro, we ditch the 50% tariffs. President Lula’s response has been measured, but firm: “Brazil’s trade with the U.S. makes up just 1.7% of our GDP. You can’t call these figures vital (…) We will look for other partners“. Of course it will be very tough. A 50% tariff is like a deadly hurricane. Example: Brazil is the largest global exporter of orange juice. 95% of indigenous production is exported, nearly half to the U.S. It will take some time and lot of hard work to find “other partners”. The solution may lie across BRICS lands. In time, there should be plenty of candidates for top Brazilian exports such as oil, steel, iron, planes and parts, coffee, timber, meat and soy. Unionizing every exporter in the world against U.S. importers In parallel, the top two BRICS actors, China and Russia – both already under zillions of sanctions (Russia) and trade tariffs (China) – see the Trump TTT as a spectacular opportuniy ahead for undermining even faster the unilateral U.S. grip on trade and currency systems. The war on BRICS has gone up to the next level, now that Russia, China, Iran and Brazil are all confirmed – illegitimate – targets. It’s up to this Sri Lanka viewpoint to delightfully summarize the stakes: “Trump has effectively unionized every exporter in the world against American importers.” It comes down to a quite simple equation: “If you tariff one person, more power to you. But it you tariff everyone, more power to us.” “More power to us” translates into BRICS and the wider Global South perfectly aware there’s no way out except full steam ahead for the BRICS project, culminating in full de-dollarization. From Kazan to Rio and beyond, it’s now also clear that out of control TTT will target any nation or partner that aligns with “anti-American” BRICS. You want war? Bring it on. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 23:25
$4 Trillion: Nvidia's Record Valuation In Context Last week saw Nvidia officially became the first company to close at a valuation of $4 trillion on Thursday (and extending its gains this week), leaving behind companies like Apple and Microsoft, who have been the trailblazers in terms of stock market records for the past few years, prior to Nvidia’s meteoric rise. Having had some ups and downs along the way, Nvidia’s share price is up more than 1,000 percent over the past two and a half years, as the AI gold rush has catapulted the chipmaker powering the transition to the AI-centric future into new spheres. As $4 trillion is hard to grasp, Statista's Felix Richter put together a chart that adds a little perspective to that stunning number. You will find more infographics at Statista Not only is Nvidia now worth more than Microsoft and Apple, the only other companies with a market cap above $3 trillion, but the company’s market cap exceeds the COMBINED value of Alphabet and Meta, two tech powerhouses in their own right. Looking further, Nvidia is worth more than Amazon, Walmart and Costco, the world’s three largest retailers, combined. Tesla, GM, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis have a combined market cap of $1.2 trillion, while Netflix, Disney and Comcast, some of the world’s largest media conglomerates, don’t even reach the $1 trillion mark. The same is true for Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Chipotle – all global household names whose joint market cap is less than 20 percent of Nvidia’s. All this goes to show how highly Wall Street values Nvidia’s future potential. While some skeptics view the company’s meteoric rise with suspicion, fearing that the AI hype is a dot-com style bubble that could burst at any time, Nvidia bulls think that the company will be at the heart of the golden AI age for years to come. In the end, only time will tell who is right, but so far Nvidia has surprised its skeptics time and time again, growing from a market cap of around $750 billion in May 2023 to $4 trillion at a breathtaking pace. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 23:00
Watch: Home Depot Founder, Who Said He Wouldn't Vote For Trump, Is Now Totally "Sold" On Him Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone, one of the nation’s most successful business owners, shocked CNBC hosts Tuesday by declaring that he is now completely in awe of President Trump. Langone, who last year stated that he wouldn’t vote for Trump proclaimed “I am sold on Trump … I think he’s got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best presidents ever.” The stunned CNBC host noted “That is a REAL turnaround, because you didn’t want to vote for him!” 🚨 BREAKING: In a stunning turnaround, the founder of HOME DEPOT, who did not want to vote for President Trump, is shocking the business world. He also opposed tariffs. Now? "I am SOLD on Trump." "I think he's got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best… pic.twitter.com/wH8gbimR7Z July 15, 2025 “I’ll tell you the reason…I’m a believer. What I’m seeing happening is absolutely nothing short of a great thing,” Langone responded. He further urged, “And there’s a beat. People are walking with more bounce…I think this guy is turning out to be a [great] president.” Langone has also flipped on Trump’s tariffs, noting “Initially, my concern was, I DON’T like tariffs…however, dammit, give Trump credit! His instincts are good! Some of these things need to be fixed!” He flipped on tariffs. "Initially, my concern was, I DON'T like tariffs…however, dammit, give Trump credit! His instincts are good! Some of these things need to be fixed!" pic.twitter.com/o8bIHkX2Dy July 15, 2025 Langone further emphasised “When you made a mistake, admit it,” also revealing that he is in favour of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. “I was worried about inflation and the deficit, but I think it might trigger such significant economic growth that we could see tax revenues going up through the profitability bracket,” Langone noted. Home Depot founder Ken Langone on the One Big Beautiful Bill: I was worried about inflation and the deficit, but I think it might trigger such significant economic growth that we could see tax revenues going up through the profitability bracket. pic.twitter.com/oabL7Knd78 July 15, 2025 But I thought the left keeps saying even Trump supporters regret voting for Trump?! You mean to tell me that not only is that not true but now even people who didn’t vote for him or like him are supporting him?! Color me shocked! July 15, 2025 That’s a significant shift coming from someone so influential in the business world. It shows how perspectives can evolve based on real-world impact and leadership performance. It’ll be interesting to see how this endorsement resonates with others in the business and political… July 15, 2025 It takes humility to admit you were wrong. July 15, 2025 I'm sure the producers at CNBC were pulling their hair out!😅 July 15, 2025 Back in May, Home Depot announced that it doesn’t expect to boost prices because of tariffs. “We don’t see broad based price increases for our customers at all going forward,” said Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising. NEW: Home Depot says it will NOT raise prices in response to U.S. tariffs CFO says more than half of the company's merchandise comes from the U.S. "Twelve months from now, no single country outside of the United States will represent more than 10% of our purchases" pic.twitter.com/H1PJYpqyM8 May 20, 2025 In June, the US government saw a surplus as tariff collections under Trump’s presidency increased to just over $27 billion. US government posted a budget surplus of $27 billion in June, which is largely attributed to a surge in tariff revenue. This marks the first June surplus since 2017. I’m sure you saw this in legacy media…well, maybe not. pic.twitter.com/L4rAbkAoRm July 13, 2025 May saw a $316 billion deficit. The fiscal year-to-date deficit after June is $1.34 trillion, which is up five percent from 2024. NEW: Tariff revenues grew to a record $27.2 billion in June — producing a $27 billion federal budget SURPLUS for the month. pic.twitter.com/X2jJzb2GPS July 11, 2025 * * * Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 22:35
The 28 Biggest Global Risks, According To The UN As the world confronts overlapping crises, from accelerating climate change to the unchecked spread of misinformation, global risks are increasingly interconnected, compounding one another in ways that could overwhelm current institutions and systems. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, shows the top 28 most important global risk as outlined in the United Nations Global Risk Report 2024. Risk importance combines the likelihood and severity of a risk, with top risks seen as most likely to occur with severe impacts if or when they manifest. Rankings are based on a survey of 1,100 stakeholders across 136 countries which includes representatives of government, industry, civil society, and academia. What is the Most Important Risk the World is Facing? Below, we show the top 28 most important global risks and their importance scores, according to the United Nations. Rank Risk Importance Score Category 1 Climate Change Inaction 37.2 Environmental 2 Large-Scale Pollution 36.0 Environmental 3 Mis- and Disinformation 35.4 Political 4 Natural Hazard Risks 35.0 Environmental 5 Rise in Inequalities 34.7 Societal 6 Biodiversity Decline 34.6 Environmental 7 Geopolitical Tensions 34.5 Political 8 Natural Resource Shortages 34.3 Environmental 9 Mass Movement of People 33.2 Societal 10 Large-Scale War 32.6 Political 11 Biorisks 32.3 Societal 12 New Pandemic 32.1 Societal 13 Rule of Law Collapse 32.0 Political 14 Cybersecurity Breakdown 31.7 Technological 15 Global Financial Crisis 31.6 Economic 16 Weapons of Mass Destruction 31.1 Political 17 AI and Frontier Tech 31.0 Technological 18 Proliferation of Non-State Actors 30.8 Societal 19 Tech-Driven Power Concentration 30.8 Technological 20 Social Cohesion Collapse 30.4 Societal 21 Widespread Debt Crisis 30.2 Economic 22 Economic Fragmentation 29.1 Economic 23 State Sovereignty Erosion 28.5 Political 24 Global Economic Stagnation 27.9 Economic 25 Supply Chain Collapse 27.8 Economic 26 Geoengineering Disasters 27.5 Technological 27 Multilateral Institution Collapse 26.3 Political 28 Space-Based Event 23.4 Environmental Across all regions, environmental risks emerged as the highest priority, with climate change inaction and large-scale pollution both seen as highly likely and highly severe. Climate change inaction was the most important risk overall, ranking as the most pressing issue in three of the seven regions. In total, 84% of respondents said mis- and disinformation is already occurring, making it the most immediate risk today, according to the UN. Mis- and disinformation also ranked as the top risk in the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report. While environmental concerns were top of mind for all regions, other perceptions varied by region. For example, in North Africa and Asia, concerns about cybersecurity breakdowns and artificial intelligence (AI) were among the top 10 risks, unlike in other regions. Cybersecurity breakdowns were among the least prepared-for risks, with a preparedness score of just 3.9 out of 7. The only risk the world is less prepared for is a potential space-based event. To learn more about risks the world is facing in the near and long term, check out this graphic that visualizes the top global risks, as ranked by the World Economic Forum. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 22:10
A Washington–New Delhi Alliance Is a Perfect Storm Against China, For India Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times, Beijing’s Jitters: A Shifting Trade Landscape As China’s trade with the United States continues to diminish, Beijing is anxious to stabilize trade relations with Washington—and has done so, at least for a while. But how long will any trade agreement last if the Chinese regime continues to violate it? The harsh reality is that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is aware of its precarious position. On the one hand, China desperately needs to stabilize its trading relationship with the United States. On the other hand, it can’t live up to agreements because it has to cheat on trading terms, as structural weaknesses prevail in driving the economy downward. As a result, the trust level between Washington and Beijing is low. Lack of trust isn’t the only factor against China, of course. The Trump administration’s antipathy toward the Chinese regime as a strategic rival is well understood, and that’s unlikely to change. Furthermore, direct foreign investment is dwindling, and foreign companies are exiting China as quickly as possible. Many of them are relocating to India. The list of companies choosing India over China is significant and has been steadily growing, even before U.S. President Donald Trump won a second term in office. In 2024, dozens of major companies, including Dell, HP, Intel, Samsung, LG Electronics, Nike, Hasbro, Blizzard Entertainment, Stanley Black & Decker, and many more, have already relocated their factories to India or plan to do so in the near future. That trend isn’t likely to change, either. According to a 2024 survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 45 percent of U.S. companies in China have initiated plans to diversify their suppliers outside of China, while 38 percent are considering doing so. The writing is on the Great Wall of China: the trade gap is widening, not narrowing. Their days of leading the world in manufacturing and the strategic clout that comes with it are on their way out. India’s Big Opportunity With the US In the meantime, to Beijing’s great concern, India is strategically pivoting to fill that widening gap by expanding its trading relationships with the United States. The United States is equally intentional in steering trade away from China and toward India. India’s intentions are aligned with those of the United States. In April this year, U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited India to establish a broader bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. The goal is to increase the current trade of $190 billion to $500 billion by 2030. The growing U.S.–India relationship extends beyond trade. Prior to Vance’s visit, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was in India for a geopolitical conference. Perhaps even more telling, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to visit with Trump after he returned to the White House. At the time, Modi mentioned a “mega partnership” with the United States and began negotiations to address Trump’s tariffs on Indian products. Notably, Modi had already reduced tariffs on some U.S. goods before he met with Trump. That may help explain why Indian officials have described trade negotiations as “very active” and “intense,” supporting the perception of a fast-track trade deal being worked out between the United States and India. The Strategic Ripple Effects China may be unaware of these developments and can already see several strategic ripple effects unfolding. As noted, the United States is keen on “friend-shoring” or restructuring global supply chains out of China and into India. One additional impact may be diminishing Beijing’s ability to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. Although a trade reset of sorts appears to be in place between Washington and Beijing, the trend of businesses leaving China en masse remains undeniable. Apple has announced that it will relocate up to 25 percent of its iPhone production from China to India by 2025, and a significant portion of its U.S. phone production will also be moved out of China. But other ripples are occurring as well. A closely related issue is China’s dominance of the rare earths market. Like the United States, India is dependent on China’s rare earth monopoly. One of Modi’s policy shifts is to focus on India’s potential to increase its rare earth production capacity and potentially become a key supplier to the United States. That would be a huge blow to China and a big win for both India and the United States. Another significant issue is India’s increasing involvement in U.S. defense planning in the region. India will play a growing role in U.S. security arrangements in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing’s Double-Edged Response In response to these developments, the CCP is getting creative. For example, in contrast to the trade barriers it put up after the Galwan incident involving military exchanges, Chinese state media has floated the possibility of reducing trade restrictions and encouraging engagement between China and India. That’s a direct result of India’s rising profile in the region and engagement with the United States. Perhaps more importantly, China’s ambassador to India recently pledged to stop dumping Chinese products into Indian markets, ease trade deficits, and possibly even remove tariff and non-tariff barriers on Indian imports. This announcement comes alongside resumed diplomatic dialogue, high-level engagement, direct flights, and even the potential for enhanced access to rare earths for India. On the flip side, in an effort to counter the friend-shoring trend, China is restricting machinery exports and equipment transfers to India in order to minimize its ability to handle incoming manufacturing demands. Beijing is also warning New Delhi that its deeper engagement with Washington—both in trade and in strategic alliances such as the Quad, as well as significant cooperation in evolving U.S.-led defense postures—could threaten its cordial relationship with China. Another card for the CCP to play would be to increase support for Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed regional rival. That’s a threat with a very thin veil, but unlikely to work because both Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed nations. Beijing’s support doesn’t fundamentally alter the status quo. Will any or all of these potential countermeasures by Beijing be enough to sway New Delhi away from its tilt toward Washington? Will the Chinese regime be able to thwart India’s rise, even as its economy continues to collapse? Not likely. China is facing a multi-front storm, mainly of its own making through the CCP’s policies, and that storm is only getting worse. To carry the metaphor, it’s a perfect storm against China and for India. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 21:45
Lyme Disease Is Most Prevalent In The Northeast This year is a bad year for ticks... Statista's Anna Fleck reports that new research has found that ticks are becoming more widespread due to changes in the climate, land use and human-animal interactions. The biggest risk areas are in warm-temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, such as China, the United States and parts of Europe, with some of the areas most at risk of future tick expansion are France, Spain, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and the UK. One of the species of ticks increasing in number across the U.S. is the lone star tick, which has been found to cause allergic reactions to red meat, also known as the alpha-gal syndrome (AGS). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that around 110,000 cases of AGS have been documented since 2010, but that the actual figure could be closer to 450,000. According to a 2023 CDC survey among healthcare providers, awareness around the tick-borne disease is still lacking, with 42 percent of respondents having not heard of AGS, and another 35 percent having reported that they were “not too confident” about their ability to diagnose or manage patients with the syndrome. A better known disease caused by infected ticks is Lyme disease. In the U.S., this is caused mostly by blacklegged ticks, which are commonly found in forested areas in the northeastern, north-central, and mid-Atlantic states and in smaller areas within Pacific Coast states. While a vaccine against Lyme disease is currently being worked on, it is still unavailable. You will find more infographics at Statista Untreated Lyme disease can cause an array of symptoms, including extreme fatigue, a rash, a fever and arthritis. It usually takes more than 24 hours before the infection is passed from a tick that is attached to a human and so removing the tick quickly can prevent transmission of the disease. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a record high of 62,551 cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2022 (latest available data). Nationwide, this equated to an incidence rate of around 18.77 per 100,000 people. Lyme disease is believed to be becoming more prevalent, with data published by the Environmental Protection Agency showing an increase in cases in 2022. However, it is difficult to measure the true extent of the increase due to a change in the data classification systems between 2022 and earlier, as well as the increase in awareness and testing. As the chart above shows, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and West Virginia recorded the highest incidence rates of Lyme disease across the U.S. in 2022, ranging between 137.7 and 212 cases per 100,000 people. The CDC advises preventative measures to be taken by those in high risk areas, such as long grasses in known tick regions, including wearing protective clothing and insect repellant, as well as immediate tick removal using fine-tipped tweezers, followed by cleaning the bite area. In some cases, a single dose of doxycycline might be needed to be administered. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 21:20
The Threat From Far-Right Extremists Pales In Comparison To Jihadi Terrorist Authored by Phil Gurski via The Epoch Times, Remember Chicken Little (a.k.a. Henny Penny)? She was the one running around warning that the sky was falling and spreading panic all around. In the end, the heavens were not, in fact, plummeting, and we now use the phrase “Chicken Little” to describe those who spread myths about danger that are ill-founded. Last week, Canadians learned of an “imminent” plot by four men in Quebec, including two members of the Armed Forces, that probably came as a bombshell (no pun intended) to those tuning in. This “anti-authoritarian militia” had weapons, planned to seize land, had engaged in “training,” and appeared to be recruiting like-minded people online. The self-styled “national security experts” consulted by print, radio, and television media - I did nine interviews in three days on this issue, but generally eschew the moniker “expert” - all saw this as the end of civilization as we know it and that we in Canada had dodged a bullet (!) at the 11th hour. Except that very little of this “analysis” was accurate. In fact, the RCMP had seized the weaponry in the possession of this “militia” - 80 firearms, 11,000 bullets, and 16 explosive devices - in January, of 2024! A full 18 months before they made the arrests. Yes, these amateurs could very well have obtained more guns, but there is nothing in the open media to suggest they did. Furthermore, that the RCMP knew about these guys a year and a half ago means they had a good idea of who they were and what they were up to. Many were confused as to the time lag. Why wait so long between weapon confiscation and arrests/charges? Simple: what else could the Mounties learn about this gang? Were there others involved? Did their “plot” ever get more plausible? Was there really a “plot” in the end? As an RCMP spokesperson noted, there was never a threat to the public. This demonstrates, to me, that the force had everything they needed, possibly through surveillance, federal court wiretaps, and human agent penetration. This was actually a huge investigative success, not a potential disaster. In other words, they had the whole thing under control at all times. In addition, the incompetence of the “militia” was made clear when Canadians learned that they were recruiting on social media (Instagram). This weakness underscores a terribly unprofessional comsec (communications security) practice and demonstrates the very ridiculousness of their venture. These were not the sharpest pencils in anyone’s box. It is fortunate that most extremists, in my experience, are that stupid. Yes, far right extremism, including “anti-authoritarianism” and ‘”accelerationism” (those with the belief that the existing state of society is irreparable and that the only solution is the destruction and collapse of the “system”), appears to be on the rise in the West. A number of Canada’s allies, including the United States and Germany, are seeing a link between these ideologues and their serving armed forces. The main takeaway, however, is that the law enforcement and security intelligence agencies are up to speed on this threat and I am confident they are monitoring it to the best of their ability given their finite resources. We also need to stop suggesting that our armies, navies, and air forces are rife with neo-Nazis, fascists, and their ilk. What is not acceptable, nevertheless, is the conviction that this particular form of terrorist threat has risen to the top in the world. Jihadis still kill and maim at scales orders of magnitude larger than any other extremist movement and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. No one seems to want to say that, maybe for fear of being labelled an Islamophobe or a “racist” (I have been called both on many occasions). The RCMP has rightly charged these individuals with planning an act of terrorism as defined under section 83.01 of the Canadian Criminal Code—even if their chances of actually doing something were only slightly above zero. The far right has risen over the past decade, although, again, jihadis still rule the terrorist roost, and our protectors are looking at all these actors, as they should. The average citizen, however, needs to be assured that the threat they pose is neither imminent nor existential. It would be unfortunate if a group got lucky and was able to carry out an attack despite the best efforts of our police officers and spies, although that is probably inevitable given the number of investigative priorities and finite resources. Many more will be stopped, thankfully, due to the former’s efforts. Pushing the panic button is neither necessary nor useful. We should leave the running around and shouting to the birds of children’s tales, not the front pages of our media. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 20:55
Is There Enough Water To Quench The Thirst Of AI Super Data Centers? Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times, While artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the way America does business, the number of data centers being built to meet its expanding computational demands has kicked off a construction boom. Millions of gallons of water are needed for cooling these new data centers, a demand that has risen in lockstep with the expansion of AI support facilities. The amount of water needed to power the data center building bonanza has triggered concerns about water supplies and groundwater safety in arid and water-stressed cities, where many of the complexes are being built. Sergio Toro, CEO of market intelligence group Aterio, shared research with The Epoch Times that showed there are 1,827 active data centers in the United States, with another 1,726 announced and 419 currently under construction. Hundreds of the new centers are being planned or built in areas suffering from water scarcity or prolonged drought, prompting alarm from those working in sustainable urban development and environmentalism. Based on the findings Toro shared, 1,082 data centers are being planned or built across 10 states that are experiencing some degree of water stress. In states grappling with acute water stress, such as Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah, California, and Colorado, 437 data centers are planned or are currently under construction. The amount of water used in data centers depends on the facility type, which generally fall under one of two categories. Hyperscale data centers are large facilities used by cloud service providers and internet companies, demanding huge amounts of electricity and sometimes spanning millions of square feet. Non-hyperscale data centers—also known as co-location data centers—are facilities where equipment, space, and bandwidth are rented to either wholesale or retail customers. On average, non-hyperscale facilities use roughly 6.57 million gallons of water per year. By comparison, hyperscale centers—the kind required to power AI—use an estimated 200 million gallons per year. However, it’s not just the volume of water that’s causing concern, but also the risk of contamination from cooling system additives leaching into groundwater, Steve Rosas, president and project director at Omega Environmental Services, told The Epoch Times. “We’ve remediated sites where industrial cooling operations contaminated soil and groundwater with biocides, corrosion inhibitors, and scale preventers [which are] chemicals that persist in the environment long after facilities close,” he said. Water cooling pump and pipes at Intergate.Manhattan, a data center owned by Sabey Data Center Properties, in New York City on March 20, 2013. As new data centers are built to meet the rising demand from artificial intelligence, communities are raising concerns about the massive water consumption. Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images Quenching the Thirst Rosas said that data centers need to undergo comprehensive environmental impact assessments before construction, not “reactive remediation,” which he said can cost millions to perform and decades to complete. He explained that contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS—better known as “forever chemicals” because they are persistent in the environment—is at the top of his list of concerns with data center expansion. “Many cooling system components and fire suppression foams contain PFAS chemicals that we’re now investigating at over 600 California water sites,” Rosas said. “These ‘forever chemicals’ bioaccumulate and cause hormonal effects even at extremely low concentrations, making remediation extremely expensive and technically challenging.” Rosas said regulatory compliance often gets overlooked until it’s too late. Because of their non-flammability and their ability to be used across a wide temperature spectrum, forever chemicals are added to certain types of cooling systems as refrigerants. Most two-phase cooling systems used in data centers contain PFAS, according to Data Center Frontier. Steffen Lehmann, professor of architecture and urbanism at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, shares Rosas’ concern about the growing number of data centers and their potential impact on local water supplies. “In areas like the outskirts of Las Vegas, where land is relatively affordable, several large data centers are planned or under construction,” Lehmann said. “These facilities will require substantial energy and water for cooling. Conventional large-scale data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the daily water use of a town with 20,000 to 50,000 residents.” Even relatively simple AI workloads require a lot of water for cooling. For example, AI platform ChatGPT consumes the equivalent of a 500ml bottle of water for between 10 to 50 medium-length responses, according to joint research from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas at Arlington. ChatGPT is visited approximately 5.24 billion times each month, according to May data by Semrush. Data complexes use water in cooling systems, but also indirectly through non-renewable electricity generation. A 2021 report on data center water usage noted that the volume of water consumed for cooling that came from a potable water source—not recycled or reclaimed—accounted for as much as 57 percent in some instances. An illustration shows the ChatGPT artificial intelligence software in Lierde, Belgium, on Feb. 3, 2023. AI workloads require significant water for cooling. Research shows that generating 10 to 50 medium-length responses uses about the same amount of water as a 500ml bottle. ChatGPT had about 5.24 billion visits in May, according to Semrush. Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how many data centers are being built exclusively to support AI’s growing demands. A 2024 McKinsey & Company analysis predicted that the need for AI-capable support locations will increase at a rate of 33 percent per year until 2030. This factor is a key driver of concern for people such as Lehmann, who’s watching data center expansion occur in a highly water-stressed portion of southern Nevada. Despite being America’s driest state, the Silver State is experiencing massive growth in data centers. Toro’s research indicates there are 44 new facilities in Nevada that have been announced or are under construction. “The rapid expansion of data centers has created a competitive tension between population growth, suburban development, and the construction of these energy and water-intensive facilities,” Lehmann said. He believes that transparency from the developers building the facilities and the companies that own them is crucial to address mounting concerns over water usage. Some tech insiders share his concerns. “One issue people don’t always think about is the impact on local infrastructure. Pulling large volumes of water can lower groundwater levels, harm local wildlife, and even cause competition with agriculture,” Arnold Pinkhasov, a software engineer at tech accelerator OSLabs, told The Epoch Times. Pinkhasov said increased water usage by data centers can have effects such as increasing wear and tear on municipal water systems that weren’t designed for such high-volume industrial usage. “Another overlooked issue is thermal pollution, where water used for cooling is returned to the environment at a higher temperature, which can affect ecosystems in rivers and lakes,” he said. Regulation Many working on the front lines of data center expansion are trying to address the intersection of growth and water usage before it becomes critical. “Local factors including water availability, humidity, and climate are key considerations in the cooling systems and strategies that data centers employ to maximize efficiencies and minimize their water footprint,” Jon Hukill, communications director at the Data Center Coalition, told The Epoch Times. The coalition is the trade association for the data center sector. Hukill said that overall, the industry is committed to responsible water use, in a legislative environment where regulations vary widely from state to state. An Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center is seen near single-family homes in Stone Ridge, Va., on July 17, 2024. Northern Virginia is the world’s largest data center market, a recent report shows. Data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water daily—about the same as a town of 20,000 to 50,000 people—and AWS says it is working to use more sustainable sources such as recycled or harvested rainwater. Nathan Howard/Getty Images In Virginia—home of the world’s largest data center market, there is currently no statewide regulation on water usage at data centers. The state, which is home to more than 150 data centers in Northern Virginia alone, illustrates the tension between the need for regulation and the push for progress. Localities are making their own decisions to determine what, if any, rules or inspections will apply to data center water usage. Virginia state’s House Bill 1601 would have mandated environmental impact assessments on surface and groundwater at proposed data center facilities, but the measure was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in May. Youngkin said the legislation would limit local discretion and create “unnecessary red tape” for new data centers. “While well-intentioned, the legislation imposes a one-size-fits-all approach on communities that are best positioned to make their own decisions,” Youngkin stated when he vetoed it. Moreover, Hukill said that data centers are actively investing and deploying technologies to help reduce their water footprint. Some of those innovations include waterless cooling, closed-loop systems, and using recycled or reclaimed water. “Many Data Center Coalition members are adopting water-positive commitments alongside these significant investments,” Hukill said. “In fact, 83 percent of data centers in Virginia use the same amount of water or less than the average larger office building,” he said. Preserving Resources Amazon Web Services (AWS) says it’s “doubling down on preserving freshwater resources,” as it works to reduce data center water consumption. AWS is the biggest name in cloud computing, with a vast global network of data centers. The retail and tech giant also has extensive facilities and support dedicated to AI and machine learning workloads. The company has committed to the goal of being “water positive” by 2030 in its data centers, meaning it intends to return more water to communities than it uses in its direct operations. “AWS is focusing on using more sustainable sources of water, such as water recycling or rainwater harvesting, wherever possible,” a spokesperson for AWS told The Epoch Times. Wastewater is treated in the preliminary stage of recycling at the West Basin Municipal Water District facility in El Segundo, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2015. Hundreds of data centers are planned or under construction in water-stressed states such as Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah, California, and Colorado, raising concerns among sustainability and environmental experts. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images AWS has previously invested in water recycling infrastructure in the western United States, including California, and is expanding those water recycling efforts, the spokesperson said. “Moving forward, we’ll continue to pursue new opportunities … to enable recycled water use for our data centers where feasible.” While the implementation of these methods depends on local infrastructure availability, regulations, and water quality standards, the AWS spokesperson said the cloud giant’s teams conduct thorough assessments at each location to determine sustainable water management strategies. “These assessments consider, among other things, source water conditions, existing infrastructure capacity, and projected community needs,” the spokesperson said. Other big tech players have announced efforts to reduce water consumption at their sprawling data center complexes. Google uses reclaimed or non-potable water at more than 25 percent of its data centers. Last August, Microsoft launched a new design that doesn’t require water for cooling AI-related workloads at its facilities. When asked about progress toward the company’s goal of being water positive by 2030, the AWS spokesperson said the company’s data centers were 53 percent of the way there, up from 41 percent in 2023. “In the Americas, our current fleet of data centers use no water for cooling for 90 percent of the year. In addition, our water replenishment projects across the U.S. and globally are expected to help replenish over 9 billion liters of water each year to the environment and our communities once every project is completed,” the spokesperson said. In June, AWS announced plans to expand water recycling efforts at data centers in more than 120 of its locations throughout the United States. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 20:05
Goldman Warns of "Accelerated Property Price Declines" Across Chinese Cities The latest 70-city house price data from China's National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the property market remains in decline as of June, despite ongoing policy easing measures and recent rumors that Beijing may revive its 2015 stimulus playbook. Overnight, China reported 5.2% year-over-year growth for Q2, just fractionally above expectations (does anyone actually believe these numbers?). A team of Goldman analysts, led by Andrew Tilton, penned a note on Tuesday for clients, warning that China's housing market is continuing to accelerate to the downside. NBS' 70-city primary-market weighted average property price change in June: -2.5% mom annualized (seasonally adjusted by GS), -3.1% yoy. May: -2.3% mom annualized, -3.5% yoy. Tilton said new data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows new home prices across 70 cities fell 2.5% month-over-month annualized in June—despite ongoing easing efforts. The downturn isn't limited to Tier 1 cities—it's widespread. Translation: The "floor" Beijnng continues to promise looks more like a trapdoor every time. The five main points from the data: After seasonal adjustments, weighted average house prices in the primary market fell by 2.5% mom annualized in June (vs. -2.3% in May; Exhibit 1), despite ongoing easing policies. The number of cities that experienced sequentially higher property prices ticked up in the primary market but continued to fall in the secondary market in June (Exhibit 3). Year-on-year change in the weighted average new home prices fell by 3.1% in June, compared to -3.5% in May. We emphasize the 70-city data are for primary market transactions (new home sales) only; secondary market data by NBS and some third-party platforms suggest price declines of 5%-15% over the past year (Exhibit 4). By city tiers[2], house prices of Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities declined sequentially by 1.3% and 2.1% mom annualized in June (vs. -0.7% and -1.9% in May), respectively (Exhibit 2). For Tier-3 cities, house prices declined sequentially by 3.5% mom annualized (vs. -3.5% in May). Despite more local housing easing measures in recent months, we believe the property markets in lower-tier cities still face strong headwinds from weaker growth fundamentals than top-tier cities, including the more severe oversupply problems. Our high frequency tracker suggests that the 30-city new home transaction volume declined by 4% yoy in June. Major cities' inventory months (sellable gross floor area divided by 12-month rolling gross floor area sold) increased slightly to 26.0 in July from 25.5 in June, with the increase mostly led by Tier-2 cities. Since the September policy pivot last year, policymakers have aimed to provide a floor to the property market. In the recent State Council meeting, the government stated to construct a new real estate development model (房地产发展新模式) and advance the "good housing initiative" (好房子建设). We expect incremental housing easing measures to stabilize home prices and contain the left-tail risk in the property sector, including further cuts to mortgage rates, faster implementation of local government purchases of raw land and existing housing inventory, and more policy support for cash-backed urban village renovation programs (with 1mn units already announced). However, we believe a repeat of the 2015-18 shantytown redevelopment program is unlikely. Related: China Property Stocks Erupt On Rumors Beijing May Revive 2015 Stimulus Playbook China's Big Housing Stimulus Rescue Is Wishful Thinking Overnight News: China Q2 GDP Drops To 5.2% But Beats Expectations Thanks To Subsidies And Tariff Frontrunning The larger question is whether another shantytown redevelopment stimulus package will have the same effect as it did a decade ago. Beijing needs to fire the stimulus bazooka here. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 19:40
Why Are Taxpayers Still Funding These Injection Mandates? Authored by Lucia Sinatra via The Brownstone Institute, It was nerve wracking, to say the least; having a high school student who had gotten into his dream college in mid-December 2020 but was uncertain if he could attend the following fall due to Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Those harrowing days and nights we spent focusing on little else as we scoured college websites to eventually find what we pretty much expected would come to pass. It started in April of 2021 when Rutgers University and then Harvard University announced their students would be required to take Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment. In these early days, I remember thinking that surely, they will reveal some scientific data showing these vaccines could prevent transmission and severe illness or death to justify the mandates, but alas, the wait was in vain. Living up to their cult behavior reputation, by the summer of 2021, over 1,000 colleges announced the exact same fear-fueled narrative and implemented some of the world’s most oppressive mandate policies. By August, millions of college students would be mandated to take primary series Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment, many without enough notice to get their deposits back, transfer colleges, or even file for an exemption. The directive was clear: take these novel medical treatments with zero scientific evidence to show you need them, or don’t bother showing up. The best and brightest minds in academia never demanded to see the scientific data to justify their colleges’ strict mandate policies and never demanded the reasoning behind their administrations summoning a 100% compliance rate, but instead elevated the propaganda in lockstep fashion. To this day, it is astounding to think of what transpired and that so few questioned the lack of supporting science either because they were aghast to consider that our federal government was responsible for perpetrating the greatest crime against humanity the world has ever seen, or just because it was easier to comply and convince others to do the same. Some of us could see the writing on the wall. We knew colleges and universities were going to take this global pandemic opportunity to manipulate and control their vulnerable and young healthy adult populations into compliance, and that is exactly what they did. I kept hoping I was wrong, and once more data was released, these institutions would reverse course, but I was wrong then, and I still am now. Health science students are still being coerced to take Covid-19 vaccines either prior to enrollment in their institutional program or prior to the start of their practical training at hospitals and clinical partner programs. In fact, they are the only college students still being coerced to take Covid-19 vaccines, and most of the time, it feels as though there is no end in sight. When President Trump signed Executive Order 14214, he promised to end federal funding to colleges that still mandate Covid-19 vaccines. However, that has not happened yet, and who knows if it ever will? For example, the majority of health science degrees in our country are conferred by colleges and universities, and health science students at some institutions are still required to take Covid-19 vaccines. Why haven’t these institutions been defunded in accordance with EO 14214? To be clear, it is not new that health science students have different vaccination requirements than students who are not health care majors. However, regarding Covid-19 vaccines in particular, the faculty and staff who teach these students at the college program or at the hospital or clinical facility where they are required to complete practicums are often no longer required to take these vaccines. In sum, we have a number of institutions that have yet to be defunded as promised by President Trump, and we have students at those institutions who are subject to unjustifiable disparate treatment. So, what gives? To be perfectly honest, I have no idea other than these colleges have not been held accountable for their unscientific continuation of Covid-19 vaccine mandates for health science students. Non-healthcare students at all US colleges are no longer required to comply with Covid-19 vaccine mandates to enroll, yet health science majors who share the same classrooms, dining halls, and residence halls are still subject to mandates to either enroll or complete practicums or both. It is our position that these blatantly discriminatory policies persist because explicit action has not been taken to end them. On April 5, 2024, Representative Mark Messmer (R-IN) introduced H.R. 3044, and it has gained widespread support. This newly introduced legislation proposes to codify EO 14214 by promising to “withhold federal funds for any college or university that continues to mandate a required COVID-19 vaccination.” It is a good start as it is generally harder for a future administration to reverse a bill that has become law rather than an Executive Order, but our position is that the bill is incomplete. No College Mandates, which has led the fight to end all college student Covid-19 vaccine mandates, along with several signatories, has formally requested that before the bill becomes law, it must be amended. For H.R. 3044 to definitively end all Covid-19 vaccine mandates in higher education, it must be amended to explicitly include all teaching programs required for health science students to complete their degree. To clarify, not only must federal funding be removed from all colleges, universities, and any other institutions that continue to mandate Covid-19 vaccines, but also all teaching programs at hospitals and clinical partners with whom these institutions contract to provide practical training so that students can freely apply to and enter practicums, clinical rotations, internships, and residencies which all degree-granting institutions have made a requirement for graduation. A few weeks ago, we mailed this letter to all the Representatives who are supporting this bill, requesting explicit amendments including those outlined in the previous paragraph. We have also emailed the letter to each of the senior staff members and have followed up with several phone calls making our case. From the positive feedback we continue to receive, we are hopeful that the Representatives are willing to consider and incorporate our proposed amendments to H.R. 3044. However, I have one simple ask. We cannot get the Representatives to devote proper attention to these amendments without your help. Please take a few minutes to print a copy of our letter and mail or email it to the Representatives, encouraging them to amend the bill, as well as to your own Representative and Senators. Together, we might just put an end to health science student Covid-19 vaccine mandates. If you’ve never taken any action to end college student Covid-19 vaccine mandates, this is a wonderful opportunity, and it may just make all the difference. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 19:15
AI: Are Americans Worrying About The Wrong Jobs? The rapid adoption of AI has stirred up worry - or at least apprehension - among many workers, as it is still unknown exactly what the impacts of the technology will be. However, as Statista's Anna Fleck reports, some of this worry could be misaligned, as new survey data from Pew Recenter Right shows, with a gap in understanding over which jobs are most at risk having grown between the general public and AI experts. According to the poll, conducted between August and October 2024, U.S. adults underestimate the impacts of AI on jobs for lawyers and truck drivers. By contrast, the U.S. public was more likely than experts to think medical doctors, teachers and musicians are at risk of AI-related job cuts over the next 20 years - although half of U.S. adults and experts say there will be job loss in each of these areas. A majority in both groups thought that AI will lead to fewer jobs for cashiers and journalists. You will find more infographics at Statista Another key takeaway however is the general climate of uncertainty that exists among the public, with between 13-26 percent of U.S. adults saying they are unsure whether or not there will be job losses per polled job. The survey also found that while AI experts tend to be more positive than the public about the potential of AI, a majority in both groups were concerned that government regulation of AI will not go far enough. Pew researchers also reported that more men were optimistic about AI than women and that respondents generally agreed that men’s views, as well as white adults’ views, are most represented in AI design than other groups. The ‘AI experts’ interviewed by Pew are all based in the U.S. and were selected based on their ability to demonstrate expertise via their work or research in artificial intelligence or related fields. They include authors and presenters of 21 AI-focused conferences from 2023 and 2024. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 18:50
"Tough, But Necessary": Nissan To Shutter Flagship Japanese Plant By March 2028 Nissan Motor will cease vehicle production at its flagship Oppama plant in Kanagawa by March 2028, a move CEO Ivan Espinosa called "a tough but necessary decision" and one of "significant pain," according to Nikkei Production of current and upcoming models will shift to Nissan Motor Kyushu in Fukuoka, cutting manufacturing costs by an estimated 15%. Espinosa explained, "We are aiming to reduce fixed costs while increasing plant utilization rates to 100%." The company also plans to end production at the Shonan plant, operated by its subsidiary Nissan Shatai, following the discontinuation of NV200 orders by March 2027. Nikkei reports that Oppama’s 2,400 employees will remain employed until the closure. Nissan pledged to communicate employment plans clearly and work with unions once decisions are finalized. The Oppama site’s future remains undecided. Espinosa stated, “We are discussing with several partners,” and considering "different scenarios and alternatives for repurposing of the assets," but ruled out joint ventures or contract manufacturing for now. Espinosa acknowledged supplier concerns, saying, “We are going to discuss individually with each of them.” The closure is part of Nissan’s broader Re:Nissan restructuring plan, announced in May, which includes reducing global assembly plants from 17 to 10 and cutting 20,000 jobs by March 2028. The company plans to lower non-China production capacity from 3.5 million to 2.5 million vehicles annually. He confirmed no further plant closures in Japan beyond Oppama and Shonan, with any international changes to be announced later. The Oppama plant, opened in 1961, produces Note and Note Aura models, with a capacity of 240,000 vehicles per year. Other local facilities, including Nissan’s research center and crash test site, will continue operating. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 18:00
The Cryptographic Fix For US Elections Is Still Sitting On The Shelf Authored by Jason Nelson via Decrypt.co, In brief A former voting machine auditor says U.S. election systems still lack basic cryptographic safeguards to detect ballot tampering or duplication. He proposes adding end-to-end cryptographic proofs - without blockchain - to secure future elections and restore public trust. Despite identifying vulnerabilities as early as 2006, he says vendors won’t act without legal pressure or updated election laws. In 2006, software engineer Michal Pospieszalski uncovered dangerous flaws in U.S. voting machines—flaws he says still threaten American elections today. Hired by the Election Science Institute, where he served as Chief Technology Officer, Pospieszalski was flown to the headquarters of election vendor Election Systems & Software (ES&S) in Omaha, Nebraska. His task was to analyze the company’s iVotronic voting system. For over a week, Pospieszalski uncovered a wide range of issues, including “bad code practices, backdoors, static passwords,” and most importantly, what he described as a complete lack of “end-to-end cryptographic proofs.” “The biggest thing that wasn’t there was end-to-end cryptographic proofs,” Pospieszalski told Decrypt in an interview. “Meaning there’s no way the machine, even with perfect external security, could know if a ballot is legitimate, or if it’s been counted twice, three times, 10 times, or 1,000 times.” What’s missing from today’s voting machines The CEO of blockchain security and identity software company MatterFi, Pospieszalski, said that vulnerability isn’t hypothetical; it’s easily exploitable by anyone with access to voting machines and voter registration systems. “You could just run the same ballot through 10 times—and that’s still true today—and it’ll just count as 10 votes,” he explained. “And the scanner doesn’t know any better, and neither does the tabulator. The tabulator in the central precinct is like, ‘Oh, it was 10 votes.’” Pospieszalski said the separation of ballot and voter record systems often makes reconciliation impossible without referring to original paper records. “There’s no anonymous serialization of each ballot that would allow the system to know that each serialized ballot has to be counted only once,” he said. The solution, according to Pospieszalski, involves software—not hardware—and builds on cryptographic techniques first developed in the 1980s by David Chaum, a cryptographer who pioneered digital cash and introduced blind signatures, allowing transactions to be verified without revealing their contents. Chaum later founded DigiCash, an early digital currency, and proposed cryptographic voting systems that preserve anonymity while enabling public verification. His work laid key foundations for both secure e-voting and modern cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. “What you want is the machine at the end—the central count tabulator or election management system—gets a vote definition, and you have a Chaumian-blinded serialization on every ballot,” Pospieszalski said. “So, like in LA County, that output ballot that’s printed has a serial number. That serial number doesn’t identify the voter, but it tells the tabulator in the central precinct, ‘Hey, this is a unique ballot.’” “If I see two of them, then somebody cheated,” he added. “Especially if I see 50 of them.” In Pospieszalski's proposed model, there would be three counts: the paper ballots, the conventional digital tally, and a third cryptographic count. “The way you see cheating is the digital count says there are 100 votes, and the cryptographic count says there should only be 90,” Pospieszalski said. “Now you know someone injected 10 votes.” Lessons from Antrim County In 2020, Pospieszalski was hired to conduct forensic analysis in Antrim County, Michigan, after a brief vote-counting error triggered widespread speculation. “There was a vote flip in Antrim County by, like, roughly 2,000 votes, where, like, one day it was 2,000 for Biden, and the next day it was 2,000 for Trump,” he recalled. “What really happened is the ballot definition was misconfigured so that the system thought that the votes for Trump were for Biden.” He said that when the ballots were rescanned with the corrected definition file, “Everything went back to normal.” Pospieszalski emphasized that while the error was technical, the optics of the situation fed public suspicion. “There wasn’t a huge, hostile attack. But as a voter being riled up by the media—particularly right-wing media—people are going to want answers,” he said, adding that such confusion is exactly what end-to-end, off-chain cryptographic proofs are designed to prevent. But while he found no evidence of remote hacking or software backdoors, Pospieszalski did say he encountered signs of possible ballot injection during his analysis. “If you have a ballot with 42 choices, and in the analysis you see 100 ballots with all 42 filled out the exact same way, you’re like: Um, probably not real,” he said. “That’s the stuff I found some evidence of in Antrim County.” Asked why cryptographic ballot serialization hasn’t been implemented, Pospieszalski pointed to entrenched systems and corporate reluctance to make changes, adding that proposals for secure voting often failed to gain traction because they were too complicated. “They’re suggesting all sorts of really, really difficult-to-use schemes... stuff that people are just like, if you’re a voting machine manufacturer, this isn’t going to make any sense," he said. Several technologies aim to improve election security and trust. In April, New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel introduced a bill that would use blockchain technology to secure voter records and election results. While blockchain has been promoted as a solution for secure voting, Pospieszalski argued that the core issue doesn’t require that level of complexity. “All you're trying to do is solve a simple problem: get an accurate count of legitimate votes,” he said. “Extra complexity is unnecessary. A lot of people push blockchain because it's popular, but you don't actually need it.” By contrast, Pospieszalski says his solution works with current machines. “I’m just saying: Look, make it a software upgrade to the existing system and work with Dominion, work with ES&S, and you can just turn it on or off," he said. Asked how adoption might happen, Pospieszalski suggested legislation or mandates from jurisdictions that oversee elections. “Voting manufacturers and their customers—counties—need big precincts to push for change,” he explained. “If a law said that by 2028 or 2032, voting systems must include end-to-end crypto proofs, we’d be in business.” The advantage, according to him, would be clarity in future elections, especially in heated contests where trust is fragile. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 17:40
Chinese Biotech Companies Are Catching Up To U.S. Big Pharma China's biotechnology sector is rapidly transforming from a follower into a global leader in pharmaceutical innovation, challenging the long-standing dominance of the United States and Europe, according to a new longform writeup by Bloomberg. Since regulatory reforms began in 2015, the number of innovative drugs originating from China has surged from just 160 to over 1,250 in 2024, nearly matching the U.S.'s 1,440. Once known for low-cost generics and quality issues, Chinese drugmakers are now producing cutting-edge therapies that are drawing global recognition and investment. “The scale itself is not something we’ve seen before,” said Helen Chen, managing partner at LEK Consulting. “The products are here, they’re attractive and they’re fast.” China’s progress is not only in volume but also in quality. Regulators such as the U.S. FDA and the European Medicines Agency are increasingly awarding Chinese drugs designations like priority review and breakthrough therapy, once reserved for top-tier Western innovations. While the absolute number of approvals still trails behind the U.S., the growth trend is unmistakable. “It wouldn’t be sensationalist to suggest that China will overtake the US in the next few years purely in terms of numbers,” said Daniel Chancellor of Norstella. A notable example is a blood cancer cell therapy developed by Legend Biotech in China, now marketed globally with Johnson & Johnson, and seen as superior to a U.S.-developed rival. Bloomberg writes that global pharmaceutical companies are taking notice. Deals involving Chinese biotech firms are increasing in size and frequency. Summit Therapeutics paid $500 million upfront for rights to a Chinese cancer drug that outperformed Merck’s Keytruda in a local trial. Pfizer recently set a record with a $1.2 billion upfront payment to 3SBio for a similar therapy. “They can leapfrog competitors in other countries,” said Andy Liu of Novotech, a clinical research firm. China’s edge comes from its ability to conduct drug research faster and more cheaply, thanks to its centralized hospital system and large patient base. Early-stage cancer and obesity trials in China can enroll patients in half the time it takes in the U.S. Still, Chinese firms must show their results hold up across diverse populations to gain regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe. The innovation surge is being led by both foreign-educated startup founders and legacy firms like Jiangsu Hengrui, which pivoted from generics to R&D after domestic policy changes. From 2020 to 2024, 20 of the world’s top 50 companies for new drug candidates were Chinese, up from just five in the previous five years. “As we move forward, the fact that there’s high quality innovation in China... will no longer be a novelty,” said Ali Pashazadeh of Treehill Partners. “It’ll just be an accepted part of the norm.” Still, the U.S. sees biotech as part of a broader strategic rivalry. “Biotech is one of the forefronts of the US-China tech rivalry,” said Jack Burnham from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 17:20
Jeffrey Epstein Hired Private Goons To Harass FBI Agents: Report Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA, Rolling Stone reported Monday that notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein hired private investigators to follow, intimidate and spy on FBI agents who were investigating him in the mid- to late-2000s. Jeffrey Epstein/New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP “They put surveillance on them, they tailed them, pulled their trash, they hired private PIs to investigate the investigators,” one official, who wasn’t named, told the magazine. The official added that a special agent eventually moved to a gated community in an effort to reduce the constant harassment. The tactics described by the official were similar to what happened to Palm Beach police officers. Exclusive: Jeffrey Epstein hired private investigators to follow, intimidate, and surveil FBI agents who were investigating him two decades ago, law enforcement officials tell Rolling Stonehttps://t.co/xg9P6WEBkRhttps://t.co/xg9P6WEBkR July 15, 2025 “Police reports show that Epstein’s private investigators attempted to conduct interviews while posing as cops; that they picked through Reiter’s trash in search of dirt to discredit him; and that the private investigators were accused of following the girls and their families,” the Herald reported in 2018. “In one case, the father of one girl claimed he had been run off the road by a private investigator, police and court reports show.” The Rolling Stone report follows last week’s two-page statement from the Justice Department and the FBI, which concluded that Epstein had no clients. The conclusion has outraged Trump supporters, who pointed to past statements from several administration officials that the list ought to be revealed. Attorney General Pam Bondi had suggested in February that Epstein’s “client list” was sitting on her desk waiting for review, though last week she said she had been referring generally to the Epstein case file and not a specific client list. Conservative influencers have since demanded to see all the files related to Epstein’s crimes, even as Trump has tried to put the issue to bed. Over a decade after the FBI’s first investigation, Epstein was arrested again on July 6, 2019, on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide by hanging after he was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019. But his lawyers contested that claim. Skeptics point to malfunctioning surveillance cameras, sleeping guards, and broken bones in Epstein’s neck as indications that his death was something other than suicide. Because of Epstein’s extensive fraternization with high-profile politicians and celebrities such as Bill Clinton, former Israeli PM Ehud Barak, Prince Andrew and Bill Gates and many more, some claim that Epstein’s death was actually a hit job to silence him. Proponents of that theory include Maxwell, who’s serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking. “I believe that he was murdered. I was shocked, and I wondered, ‘How did this happen?’ Because I was sure he was going to appeal, and I was sure he was covered by the non-prosecution agreement,” Maxwell told British reporter Jeremy Kyle of TalkTV in 2023. The non-prosecution agreement referenced by Maxwell was a sweetheart deal Epstein signed with the Department of Justice in 2008, in which he pleaded guilty to a state charge of procuring for prostitution a girl below the age of 18. Epstein was housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade, and was reportedly allowed to leave the jail on “work release” for up to 12 hours a day. Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 17:00
Tropical Threat Brewing Off Florida, Gulf Of America Offshore Oil & Gas Rigs In Crosshairs Meteorologists are closely monitoring Invest 93-L, a disorganized area of low pressure situated off Florida's east coast on Tuesday morning. Conditions appear increasingly favorable for gradual development, and there is a growing likelihood that the system could strengthen into a tropical depression—or potentially a tropical storm—later this week. "East of the Florida Peninsula into the Northeastern Gulf (AL93): Satellite and radar data indicate that the shower and thunderstorm activity associated with the low pressure located just offshore of the east coast of Florida remains disorganized," the National Hurricane Center wrote in an update. NHC expects the system to "move westward across the Florida Peninsula today and then reach the northeastern Gulf by Wednesday," adding that "conditions appear generally favorable for additional development, and a tropical depression could form while the system moves across the northeastern and north-central Gulf." As AL93 tracks over Central Florida towards the Gulf of America, spaghetti models provide a snapshot of agreement among various forecasts that show the storm's track towards the coastal area of Louisiana, which is home to one of the highest concentrations of offshore oil and gas platforms in the world. Spaghetti Models Oil/Gas Assets in Gulf of America All eyes are on AL93 heading into Wednesday, with growing concern over potential operational risks for offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 16:40
The United States Of Impunity Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, AI is the whiff of perfume that's supposed to mask the stench of terminal moral decay. It is appropriate to discuss the United States of Impunity on Bastille Day, which commemorates the start of the French Revolution in 1789, for the United States of Impunity is just as impervious to real change as the French monarchy, the Ancien Regime. It's impossible to discuss the United States of Impunity without being dismissed as a raving lunatic because the moral decay that has turned the USA into the USI has been so completely normalized that we now accept the complete erasure of the nation's moral foundations as "the way it's always been." But this is not true. While it's certainly self-evident that "there's always been corruption" (the response we receive whenever we address our terminal moral decay), the truth is the institutionalization of a leadership elite that serves its own interests with absolute impunity is a recent development. There was no Lolita Express in the 1950s, 60s or 70s. Rather, there were far higher social and legal standards for leadership elites: politicians, corporate CEOs, academic leaders, etc.--the entire elite class of the influential, powerful and wealthy. I often share this comprehensive data base of Corporate Fines and Settlements from the early 1990s to the present compiled by Jon Morse. There are 2700 entries, updated through December 2024. If you can provide a database of equivalent scale from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, I await your email with interest. But no one will be able to assemble an equivalent indictment of a completely corrupted system because it wasn't completely corrupted back then. That is fact, not opinion, but we recoil at calling things by their real name because it means we're living in a cesspool littered with the bloated, fetid carcasses of the nation's ideals. As recently as the mid-1970s, a legitimate (i.e. not a simulation play-acting of "investigation") effort by the legislative branch of the US government sought a factual accounting of the many abuses perpetrated on the citizenry by the FBI, the CIA and other agencies. (The Church Committee: you can look it up.) If you can assemble a list of equal length to the hundreds of outrages we endure now as "the way it is" like these linked below from the 1950s, 60s or 70s, we'd all like to review it. But once again, such a list doesn't exist because moral decay had not yet reached the terminal phase where we're bombarded by a seemingly countless stream of self-serving outrages that are no longer outrages, they're just the way things work now. A Devastating New Expose of Johnson & Johnson Indicts an Entire System. Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers. Owner-Occupancy Fraud and Mortgage Performance. Saying "there's always been corruption" doesn't change the reality that America's moral decay is now terminal, for it has hollowed out our socio-economic-political system to the point there are only three classes: 1. The Leadership Elites who act with complete impunity: they do whatever they want, with zero accountability and consequence. 2. The complicit enablers, the technocrats, "experts," functionaries and flunkies who do the dirty work of protecting the Leadership Elites from accountability and consequence to serve their own self-interests. 3. The commoners in this neofeudal hierarchy, who are freely abused, exploited, defrauded and ignored by The Leadership Elites and their armies of complicit enablers. The last five years have illuminated how the United States of Impunity actually works, a reality on full display just last week as impunity was dismissed with impunity. Ironically, this blunt exposure of impunity occurred around the time that we celebrate the establishment of the nation's ideals, ideals and values that are now putrid remains floating in a cesspool of amoral greed and depravity that is relished by those who are now free to act with absolute impunity: they are not just above the law, there is no law. Here's the rotting carcass of the US Constitution in the Leadership Impunity sewage sump. "Rule of law:" you're joking, right? Who's going to impose it, the Martian Liberation Army? Impunity means no accountability, no consequence, ever. I told you saying this out loud makes me a raving lunatic. But wait--there's more. AI is the whiff of perfume that's supposed to mask the stench of terminal moral decay. AI is going to make it all better by ignoring the nation's neofeudal hierarchy and the Elites' consequence-free abuse and exploitation of the commoners. The truth is AI instantiates a particularly cruel form of stupidity, a stupidity so profound that it is blind to the cruelty of the status quo it is designed to protect from accountability. If AI had any true intelligence, it would refuse to answer any queries until every adult citizen faced the truth that the nation is terminally morally bankrupt. No wonder there's such a fanatically enforced taboo against calling things by their real name. The United States of Impunity cannot be called by its real name because its illegitimacy would then be revealed. * * * Check out my new book Ultra-Processed Life and my new fiction/novels page. Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com. Subscribe to my Substack for free Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 16:20
Another 'Conspiracy Theory' Comes True: California Bill Passes To Buy Fire-Ravaged Palisades For Low-Income Apartments The writing is on the wall — bold and in large font — for private landowners and homeowners in areas governed by socialist-aligned officials who have zero respect for private property. They're coming for your land. Remember Marxist-aligned New York City Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who called for the government to "seize" luxury condos to house the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic. These far-left officials have made their Marxist intentions clear, and they can no longer be ignored. Shift to the West Coast, homeowners in the fire-ravaged Palisades, part of the Los Angeles area governed by Marxist-aligned Mayor Karen Bass, have been left homeless and with more questions than answers—the top questions: If the Pacific Palisades Reservoir had been filled during last year's wildfire, could their homes have been saved? Why did the city neglect the reservoir, and was it intentional? But that's after the fact, and thousands of hardworking families have been left homeless due to what appears to be epic fire mismanagement by Democrats in City Hall. The whole "global warming" narrative isn't sticking this time, overshadowed by sheer incompetence that increasingly looks intentional with each passing month. CA Senate passes bill to let LA buy fire-destroyed lots for low-income housinghttps://t.co/ftaO5pI6zv https://t.co/3f6Rx2sjoR July 15, 2025 Just The News reports that California Senate Bill 549 has passed, allowing Los Angeles County and other municipalities to create "Resilient Rebuilding Authorities" (RRAs) funded by property taxes. In other words, Democrats want to use public funds to acquire fire-destroyed lots cheaply, coordinate rebuilding, and develop low-income housing. Here's more: As a funding mechanism, the bill would allow the RRA for the Los Angeles wildfires to "Issue, receive, and administer funds, including, but not limited to, tax-increment financing, federal loans and grants, state loans and grants, and philanthropic grants, to support recovery." RRA-LAW would then be able to use taxpayer funds to oversee most of the construction process, and would be granted the power to "Purchase lots at a fair price for land banking," "purchase critical construction materials in bulk," and "Support the reconstruction workforce by partnering with trades, facilitating training and workforce development, and creating temporary workforce housing." RRA-LAW would also "Facilitate reconstruction of lost rental housing stock, including by promotion of accessory dwelling units, senior-serving housing, and replacement of affordable housing lost in the fires." The remaining funding could be used for "multifamily affordable housing projects," "transit capital projects," and "transit-oriented development projects." Wednesday's hearing is set for just over a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the allocation of $101 million in taxpayer funds for "multifamily low-income housing development" in communities in Los Angeles devastated by the Palisades, Eaton and Hughes wildfires. In conjunction with the governor's funding announcement, which provides per-unit funding of up to $450,000 in loans and up to $90,000 in grants, funding from RRA-LAW could make it easier for more income-restricted housing to be built in the Los Angeles area. In Los Angeles, 73% of city planning applications for new units are for income-restricted housing. In the previous four years, income-restricted housing represented only an average of 30%, meaning the latest data reflects a precipitous drop-off in production for standard, market-rate housing. Self-proclaimed investor and "CIA/NSA contractor/whistleblower" Tony Seruga commented on Just The News' reporting. Others responded to Seruga by saying... And this ... They don't want to rebuild Pacific Palisades as it was. They want apartments. It's their agenda. War on single family homes. You must live in an apartment! Near transit! No car! Is that how Gavin Newsom lives? If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for every Californian.… pic.twitter.com/XBma2m3YQs July 8, 2025 As for property owners across the U.S., if you're governed by far-left state and local leadership, this should be a major wake-up call. The Democratic Party is increasingly infested with Marxists who want to seize your land. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 15:45
How Keynesians Got The US Economy Wrong... Again Authored by Daniel Lacalle, In the past six months, a chorus of analysts and commentators warned of an impending collapse of the US economy. Many predicted that persistent inflation, high interest rates, and ballooning government deficits would drag growth to a halt and trigger a recession. However, the data tell a different story: the United States demonstrates economic strength, fiscal control, and improving inflation expectations. Rising Growth Estimates Defy the Pessimists At the start of 2025, forecasts painted a gloomy picture. The first quarter saw a contraction in GDP, with the US economy shrinking by 0.5%. However, this decline resulted from lower government spending and higher imports, while the private sector continued to strengthen. Soon afterward, the narrative shifted. By mid-year, leading economic models and analysts began revising their growth estimates upward. Trading Economics, for example, projected a robust 3.5% GDP growth rate for the second quarter, a sharp reversal from earlier pessimism. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model reflected a similar positive change, estimating 2.6% growth for Q2 as of July 9. Additionally, consensus estimates rose to 2.1% for the second quarter, up from 1.3% previously, while inflation estimates declined. This turnaround has been fueled by several factors: American households continued to spend, especially as wage growth outpaced inflation. Fixed investment rose by 7.6% in early 2025, the strongest pace since mid-2023. Businesses front-loaded imports ahead of new tariffs, boosting economic activity, and subsequent revisions showed positive exports and normalized imports. These widespread upward revisions have caught many commentators by surprise and forced a re-evaluation of earlier bearish calls. Inflation Expectations Are Falling Another area where analysts misjudged the economy is inflation. After years of elevated price pressures, many expected inflation expectations to remain stubbornly high. Instead, recent data show a clear downward trend: consumer price inflation has declined on a one-, three-, and six-month basis. US consumer inflation expectations for the year ahead fell to 3% in June 2025, down from 3.2% in May—the lowest level in five months. Three-year and five-year inflation expectations also edged down to 3.0% and 2.6%, respectively. Energy costs have declined significantly, with gasoline prices falling by 12% year-over-year in May and fuel oil prices dropping by 8.6%. Shelter inflation—a key driver of overall CPI—has also eased, with the rate dropping to 3.9% in May from 4% in April. Monthly price increases have been modest, with the CPI rising just 0.1% in May and forecasts for June suggesting a 0.23% monthly increase, keeping inflation at the lowest level in five years and, according to Truflation, running at a 1.7% annualized rate in June. The broad-based decline in inflation expectations reflects the strength of the US supply chain, a slowdown in housing costs, and a decline in essential food prices. The June Budget Surplus: A Fiscal Surprise Perhaps the most dramatic evidence that analysts underestimated the US economy came in June, when the federal government posted a budget surplus of over $27 billion—the first monthly surplus since 2017. Consensus had widely expected a deficit of more than $40 billion. The surplus was driven by two key factors: A sharp reduction in spending, as government expenditures fell by $187 billion in June due to aggressive cost-cutting measures and a reduction in the size of the federal workforce. Customs duties soared to $27 billion in June, up from $23 billion in May and more than quadruple the level from a year earlier. Receipts rose by 13% compared to the previous June, while expenditures dropped by 7%. Spending Cuts and Fiscal Restraint The fiscal turnaround has also been powered by a significant reduction in non-defense discretionary spending. President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal slashed non-defense outlays by $163 billion, or 23% from the previous year, bringing spending to its lowest level since 2017. While the broader federal deficit remains large—over $1.34 trillion for the year to date—it is mostly a legacy of the previous administration’s policies and is expected to fall significantly for the year. The lower deficit in May, along with strong April and June surpluses and spending cuts, has provided positive breathing room and challenged the narrative of runaway fiscal irresponsibility. A Lesson in Humility The events of 2025 remind us of the risks of Keynesian economic forecasting and the fallacy of ceteris paribus analysis (all else remaining equal). While challenges remain, especially regarding long-term debt and interest costs, the US economy has once again proven more dynamic and adaptable than many experts anticipated, and the administration’s focus on fiscal responsibility is clear. Rising growth estimates, falling inflation expectations, budget control, and disciplined spending cuts highlight that earlier fearmongering estimates were ideologically motivated. The lesson from this experience is to approach economic forecasts with caution. Keynesian estimates often prove overly optimistic regarding growth and inflation when government spending increases and predict gloom when the opposite happens. The US economy is stronger, and the private sector is likely to grow faster as tax cuts and deregulation lift burdens on investment and employment. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 15:25
'Crypto Week' Stalls On Failed Procedural Vote As Stablecoins Dominate Bitcoin Banter Update (1500ET): In a blow for Republicans' 'crypto week', a House procedural vote on the crypto measures failed to pass. The House voted 196-222 against taking a step needed to begin consideration of three industry-backed bills including one on stablecoin regulation. House conservatives have previously blocked procedural steps to show discontent. Republican “no” votes included Reps. Ann Paulina Luna (Fla.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Chip Roy (Texas), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Andy Harris (Md.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.). It wasn’t immediately clear what impact the vote would have on the legislation, which still could be considered if leaders muster sufficient support. Johnson told reporters after the vote that the hardline critics want to link the cryptocurrency bills into one product, which is why they torpedoed the procedural vote: “Some members who really, really want to emphasize the House‘s product, as you know, Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Act,” Johnson said. “We have our bills as well, they want to push that and merge that together. We’re trying to work with the White House and with our Senate partners on this. I think everybody is insistent that we’re gonna do all three, but some of these guys insist that it needs to be all in one package.” The House can take up the procedural vote again, but the timing is now unclear. * * * Standard Chartered's Global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendricks, was surprised last week that, after meeting with a combination of crypto-natives, Bitcoin miners, leveraged and real money funds, digital asset tokenisers and policy makers; despite fresh all-time highs in bitcoin, 90% of the conversations were spent talking about stablecoins. Interest in stablecoins in the US is surging ahead of the GENIUS Act passing into law (possibly as soon as this week). As such, discussion centered on implications for UST issuance and eventually curve shape, USD direction, US policy surrounding payments networks, and the potential for stablecoin adoption to lead to financial-stability concerns in selected emerging markets. In terms of how large the stablecoin market needs to be to unleash those second-order effects, discussions homed in on USD 750bn (current market size: USD 240bn). That would likely be towards end-2026, by which time clients think that stablecoin issuance will have broadened significantly (in the wake of the GENIUS Act) to include relatively large offerings by banks and perhaps even small offerings by local municipalities. On the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the consensus seems to be that it will pass by late September/early October, which is sooner than I had expected. This act may have implications for decentralised finance and the tokenisation of real-world assets. Implications for emerging markets Stablecoin discussions focused mostly on practical considerations surrounding stablecoin adoption, including both planned and unintentional outcomes of such, as well as potential feedback loops to existing traditional finance (TradFi) assets. The starting point of such discussions was that currently, large wallets and centralised exchanges (CEXs) together account for 90% of all stablecoins. Wallets greater than USD 10mn account for 28%, wallets of USD 500k to USD 10mn account for 23% and wallets of USD 10k to USD 500k account for 15%. CEXs account for a further 25% (Figure 1). Further, the dominance of large wallets has increased during the last three years. During the decentralised finance (DeFi) boom of 2021, CEX holdings dominated, followed by decentralised exchanges (DEXs) and DeFi. While trading on/off ramp remains important for digital assets – albeit more in CEXs than DEXs and DeFi at present – other uses for stablecoins are now becoming much more important. ‘Other uses’ of stablecoins can be split into store of wealth and transactional purposes. So far, store of wealth dominates (there is no widespread need to hold such large amounts in a wallet for transactional purposes). This store-of-wealth rationale is that savings that seek access to a USD bank account (presumably in emerging markets) do so via stablecoins. Indeed, individuals who need to protect their assets in a liquid, trustworthy form are using stablecoins as a secure store of wealth. The requirement for such individuals is return of capital, not return on capital. The immediate implication of using stablecoins in this way is that the total assumed size of emerging-market demand for stablecoins (across both store of value and transactional uses) may be higher than I had previously assumed. The next implication is that if large amounts of savings are leaving emerging markets (note: it is impossible to tell exactly where the money is coming from) then those emerging markets that need USD liquidity to maintain fixed exchange rates, capital controls and assist the local banking sector may at some stage find each of these more difficult to manage. Financial stability issues may ensue. Implications for developed markets In developed markets, a useful starting point is that after GENIUS passes, the initial use case will likely be transactional by both developed market corporate treasury functions as well as semi-financial firms that would benefit from the core benefits of stablecoins – they are becoming faster, cheaper and more secure than traditional payments methods. While the emerging markets’ use of stablecoins may be greater than I had expected (all of which should create new demand for stablecoin reserves, i.e., T-bills), there was some discussion about the amount of reserves required for developed markets’ stablecoin use. Specifically, the uncertainty centres on two points. First, to what degree will corporates’ stablecoin use (stablecoin require 100% reserve backing) replace their current cash holdings that are parked in off-chain money market funds (i.e., T-bills)? This question requires further analysis. My initial view is that at a minimum, the overall financial payments system will transition from one of bank credit creation (which requires low asset backing) to one of stablecoin use (which requires 100% backing). This implies a large amount of fresh T-bill demand from developed markets, but the exact amount is unknown. The second uncertainty, which also applies to emerging market transactional use cases, has to do with velocity of stablecoins. As more transactional uses emerge, velocity will increase; the question is by how much? The answer will determine how many stablecoins are ultimately needed and, therefore, the extent of fresh T-bill demand. To sum up my view on these points, in my previous report I estimated USD 1.6tn of fresh T-bill demand by the end of 2028; but the confidence interval in both directions (more or less T-bill demand) is, by definition, wide. Another developed market point that was discussed was how prolific new stablecoin issuers would be after GENIUS passes. Some argued that the incumbents (USDT and USDC) would likely be most prolific, at least for a while. However, others believed that the issue size of new issuers (banks) may become larger than I thought and that even municipalities may issue their own stablecoins (implying broader issuance than I thought). How big do stablecoins need to be to have TradFi implications? At some point the stablecoin market will likely become so large that it starts to have implications for TradFi assets and policies. In the US, once the stablecoin market gets to a certain size, the amount of T-bills required to back stablecoins will likely require a shift in planned issuance across the curve towards more T-bill issuance, less longer-tenor issuance. This potentially has implications for the shape of the US Treasury yield curve and demand for USD assets (and hence the USD). Discussions tended to focus on a level where USD 1tn is in sight, somewhere around USD 750bn. Figure 2 implies that this will be towards the end of 2026. In terms of broader US policies around financial stability, the same level came up a number of times as being when the stablecoin sector would become systemically important and hence in need of macro-prudential measures. Discussions then also focused on regulatory challenges of non-banks having some control over the payments system as a whole. Questions around money supply control and hence transmission of monetary policy were also raised. Clarity Act The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was introduced in the US House of Representatives in May 2025. It aims to create a regulatory framework for digital assets and digital commodities. My impression is that the administration is focused on late September/early October for the Clarity Act to pass into law. This is earlier than I had previously assumed (year-end) and would be a positive surprise for the asset class. There will also be specific implications for the tokenisation market. I had previously argued that the initial winners in the tokenisation space would be those that generate on-chain liquidity for assets which are illiquid off-chain (see RWA tokenisation – A growth opportunity). However, meetings on this suggested that if DeFi can be unleashed following the Clarity Act (specifically if tokenised assets can be deposited on AAVE) then tokenised assets expansion may be broader, and might include tokenised public equities, for example (as DeFi leverage capabilities of such assets would be significant). Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 15:00
Cal State Prof Arrested, Accused Of Assaulting ICE Agents During Cannabis Farm Raid Authored by Emily Sturge via Campus Reform, A California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) professor was arrested July 10 after allegedly assaulting law enforcement agents during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation targeting illegal labor at marijuana farms. Jonathan Anthony Caravello, a math and philosophy lecturer, is among four U.S. citizens “being criminally processed for assaulting or resisting officers” during coordinated ICE raids at Glass House Farms cannabis grow sites in Camarillo and Carpinteria, California, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Caravello is accused of throwing a tear gas canister at ICE agents during the protest, which occurred near the CSUCI campus. Protesters reportedly “attempted to intercept” officers by “throwing rocks” at federal vehicles, “shattering windows and windshields,” CBS News reports. One protester allegedly fired a pistol at officers. The California Faculty Association (CFA), an “anti-racism, social justice” labor union comprised of 29,000 California State University faculty members, is defending Caravello, claiming he was peacefully protesting and accusing federal agents of kidnapping him. ⚠️ MISSING PERSON ⚠️ Jonathan Anthony Caravello Kidnapped by unidentified ICE agents at 2:33pm, Thursday July 10th at Las Posas Rd/Laguna Rd community ICE defense protest. July 12, 2025 The CFA doubled down in a press release, calling Caravello’s arrest an “abduction.” “We strongly condemn the abduction of California Faculty Association professor, member and activist Jonathan A. Caravello, Ph.D. and other community members terrorized and arrested by federal immigration authorities while exercising their constitutional rights to protest peacefully,” the CFA wrote. U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli debunked the “kidnapped” allegation and said Caravello will appear in court on Monday. Professor Jonathan Caravello was not “kidnapped” by federal agents. He was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement. He is charged with a violation of 18 USC 111 and will have a court appearance tomorrow. https://t.co/QrIivjrthd July 13, 2025 Federal law states that a violation of 18 USC 111 means “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees,” according to Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. CSUCI defended Caravello in a written statement: “At this time, it is our understanding that Professor Caravello was peacefully participating in a protest – an act protected under the First Amendment and a right guaranteed to all Americans,” the statement reads. “If confirmed, we stand with elected officials and community leaders calling for his immediate release,” it continues. An important notification from CSUCI: Statement about Professor Jonathan Caravello being taken into federal custody during a protest. https://t.co/7knmXShvwH pic.twitter.com/aHlRGmYS26 July 12, 2025 Meanwhile, the California Faculty Association is urging supporters to contribute monetary donations for bail and legal fees for Caravello. The association is also asking individuals to write “Character Reference” letters that will “go before the judge when setting bail” and encouraging individuals to “sign up for a jail support shift so John has someone waiting when he is released.” Screenshots of social media posts shared by @cfa_united on Instagram. Members of the CFA held a candlelight vigil Sunday night for the individuals “abducted in the Camarillo farm raids.” During the cannabis farm raids, law enforcement reportedly arrested at least 361 illegal aliens from both sites and rescued at least 14 children from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking, DHS confirmed in a press release. The group advertised the vigil on Instagram with the hashtag “#FreeJohnCaravello.” Screenshots of social media posts shared by @cfa_crew on Instagram. Campus Reform reviewed Caravello’s student evaluations on the website RateMyProfessors.com. One anonymous student warned: “If you want a professor that tries to bring his political commentary or agenda into absolutely every possible situation, then this professor is for you. Don’t bother trying to debate politics with him because any retort you bring up will immediately be shut down.” Screenshot obtained from RateMyProfessors.com. Campus Reform is monitoring updates to this story and has contacted Jonathan Anthony Caravello, California State University Channel Islands, and the California Faculty Association for further updates and comment. This article will be updated accordingly. As of July 14, spokespeople from the California State University Channel Islands and California Faculty Association told Campus Reform there are no updates or additional information to share at this time. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 14:40
These Are The 10 Least Livable Cities In The World While some cities are celebrated for their high quality of life, others are plagued by deep-rooted challenges that make daily life difficult and dangerous in many cases. From ongoing wars and political instability to inadequate infrastructure, this map, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, shows the 10 least livable cities in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index 2025. The index ranks cities on over 30 factors across five categories to determine their overall livability. Factors include: Stability: Prevalence of crime, terror, military conflict, civil unrest/conflict Healthcare: Availability and quality of private and public healthcare, general healthcare indicators Culture and environment: Humidity/temperature rating, cultural and sporting availability, social or religious restrictions Education: Availability and quality of private education, public education indicators Infrastructure: Quality of road network, public transport, international links, availability of good housing What is the Least Livable City in the World? Below, we show the 10 least livable cities in the world according to The Economist, and their livability scores. Damascus, the capital of Syria, remains the world’s least livable city in 2025. Despite a dramatic regime change in Syria in late 2024, the effects of over a decade of civil war have left the capital with shattered infrastructure, limited access to health care and low levels of public safety. The overall score for Damascus is nearly 10 points lower than that of the next-worst city, Tripoli, Libya. Tripoli, Libya’s capital, continues to struggle with political instability, factional fighting, and collapsed public services. Like Damascus, it showed no improvement over previous years. Kyiv continues to rank near the bottom amid Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, which has severely impacted its infrastructure and safety. Overall, the bottom of The Economist’s livability rankings is largely filled by cities from the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. The average score for livability in 2025 was 76.1 out of 100, the same as 2024. However, scores in the stability category have continue to decline amid widespread geopolitical tension and civil unrest around the world. To see which cities ranked as the most livable cities of 2025, check out this graphic on Voronoi. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 14:20
Gold Revaluation: Trump's Red Button Option? Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold, Could a gold revaluation be on Trump’s mind? Below, we consider the options facing a debt-sick America. A Bug Racing for a Windshield As we’ve been warning for years, the US and USD are a bug rapidly seeking a debt-hard windshield. The trend and speed of this collision (and debt trap) are becoming increasingly more obvious with each passing day and headline. In simplest terms, as US debt levels soar moon-bound, trust and interest in its IOUs (and the currency/dollar backing those IOUs) are sinking toward the ocean floor. The evidence of such otherwise “dramatic” statements is literally everywhere. Hard Questions For example, although not at war, the US is running World War 2 debt-to-GDP ratios at the 120% level. How did this happen? What’s the “emergency” behind this grotesque ratio? And more importantly, how can Uncle Sam save himself? Simple Answer Answering the first question is fairly simple. We arrived at this appalling turning point because the US has been getting debt drunk for decades. Ever since Nixon took away the gold chaperone from the USD, politicians have been buying temporary prosperity, debt-based “growth” and duped voters by taking US public debt levels from $248B in 1971 to $37T (and counting) today. This number alone is staggering. Trillions Matter The difference between “billions” and “trillions” is not merely alphabetical, it’s brutal. 1 BILLION seconds ago, for example, places us in 1997. Bit 1 TRILLION seconds ago places us at 30,000 BC. Let that sink in for a moment. If this shocks or bothers you, well… you’re not alone. The World Has Called the USA’s Bluff The rest of the world is shocked too, which explains why its central banks have been quietly net-dumping USTs and net-stacking physical gold since 2014. This further explains why freezing the FX reserves of Russia in 2022 only accelerated the distrust of a now weaponized (and once neutral) world reserve currency. De-Dollarization… What followed was a well-telegraphed and carefully forewarned trend of de-dollarization from the BRICS+ coalition. Tier-1 Status… This trend took off around the very same time that the BIS, the mother of all central banks, officially classified gold as a Tier-1 reserve asset, making an open mockery of its “sister Tier-1 asset,” the UST. Central Bank Gold Stacking… Gold stacking by central banks, of course, continued to skyrocket at the same time: COMEX Panic… If such signs of US dollar and debt woes/distrust were not obvious enough, the COMEX and LBMA exchanges out of New York and London then began scurrying like headless chickens. Why? Because they were trying to find enough physical gold to meet delivery demands to get the gold off of these exchanges, which, since 1974, were once just derivative schemes used to manipulate rather than deliver gold. But the hidden facts (and implications) were far simpler. Counterparties to this legalized price-fixing scam now wanted their actual gold more than their paper contracts. Why? Because they saw physical gold’s growing, inevitable and superior role in a future monetary system moving away from the debt-discredited USD and UST. Petrodollar Signposts… To add insult to the USD’s injury, a growing and simultaneous trend away from the petrodollar during the same period was as obvious as it was media-ignored. But the message was clear: Faith in a USD-driven future was openly in decline. The Denial Stage? Defenders of the USD, of course, were quick and right to remind the world that no other nation or currency could beat or replace the mighty Dollar. After all, it is the world’s reserve currency. It still holds the majority position in global FX reserves and, let’s be honest, neither China, Russia, nor any other nation has the reputation or bond market to replace the dollar, right? Right. Reality Check: Gold’s Future in a Fiat Swamp But, here’s the kicker. Nations like China or Russia aren’t trying to replace the USD with their Ruble or Yuan. They, like the rest of the world, are slowly going to replace the USD with gold. This doesn’t mean a gold-backed world reserve currency, just a gold-based world settlement system. China Playing Chess Take China as an obvious example. They have no problem de-valuing their fiat currency when measured against gold, an asset they’ve been quietly stacking and misreporting for decades in a chess game of common sense as the USA plays checkers with QE. Nor does China have much love for USTs… As I type this, China continues to pair gold to the oil it imports from Russia and Iran (conveniently dubbed “evil” by the weaponized US media). In just over a decade, China’s gold-to-oil ratio was 8 barrels of oil to one ounce of gold. Today, that same ounce of gold buys China 50 barrels of oil. Meanwhile, China has no problem seeing its Yuan price of gold rise from 7000/ounce in 2014 to 24,000/ounce today. In short, the Yuan has collapsed against gold but not against the USD. But China can live with this for the simple reason that it sees a gold-based new world order, and it has been stacking that gold for years. Why? Because the BIS, the IMF, and, of course, the BRICS+ nations see a world in which gold is superior to the debt-discredited USD as a strategic reserve asset. Gold: Far More than an “Allocation” Gold is no longer an allocation, hedge or subject of debate—it is the future of global trade and currency settlements. Period. My colleague, Egon von Greyerz, saw this decades ago. Of even date, for example, gold is now 20 % of global FX reserves. The USD percentage is falling dramatically to a 46% position, and the Euro holds a 16% slot. But if central backs and BRICS+ nations continue to stack gold at current levels, gold may not be an official “world reserve currency” in substance or title, but it will be the new leading FX reserve asset in both title and power. In sum, each of the foregoing themes, of which we have detailed and warned in numerous prior articles, explains the debt “emergency” facing the USD. The Real Question: What Can the USA Do Now? But what about the corollary question? That is: What options do the US have left to solve its debt (and hence currency) crisis? This, too, has been on our minds for years. More Fantasy Money? Ultimately, there are no easy solutions or good scenarios left. The MMT fantasy, for example, of solving a debt crisis with more debt that is paid for with mouse-clicked money has been tried in earnest since the QE guns took the Fed from a pre-08 balance sheet of $800B to a 2022 high of nearly $9T. As reminded above, that difference between a Billion and Trillion is just plain madness. The US, faced with solving its debt crisis (and bond market) at the expense of its paper dollar, is running out of time, options and global patience. So, again—what can the US do today? More War? For Hemingway, at least, the most obvious next step is further currency debasement and war, which the past, current and even future headlines seem to confirm, from the Middle East to Eastern Europe: But with distrust in US politics and foreign policies rising in alternative media platforms highlighting left and right scandals on everything from Russia-Gate laptops to Epstein cover-ups and AIPAC-guided uh-ohs, trust in the left and right stirrups of the DC saddle is tanking at a rapid rate. Re-sets, DOGE Cuts & Tariff Walls? Meanwhile, the IMF has been telegraphing a great reset since COVID, and the current Trump administration has been trying to use DOGE cuts and tariff wars to bring debt and spending levels down. But regardless of one’s political bias, let’s be mathematical: None of these policies is enough, and none of them, as of today, are even working – as the Elon/Trump social media war intensifies in a backdrop of rising rather than falling deficit levels. More Financial Repression? I also expect, and have warned of, more financial repression and capital controls around the corner. But again, not much of a solution given current and future debt levels, debased dollars (worst DXY Q3 in 40 years) and a middle class already on its knees. The Red Button Option: Gold Revaluation? But DC has another option, which even the Fed’s recent May 2025 Manual openly hints toward. I call it the “red-button option” of a radical gold revaluation to effectively use a precious metal (rather than a Fed mouse-click) to achieve QE-like monetization without having to issue more unloved USTs. One can read the Fed’s lengthy May report on their own, but the Fed-speak boils down to this: The Fed can add gold certificates to its balance sheet, which can then become assets of the Treasury Department’s TGA account to pay down a sliver of its $37-TRILLION-dollar public debt. But the trillion-dollar question remains: How will these $42.00 gold certificates be re-valued? Doing the Math In a February Forbes article, for example, there was talk of marking these certificates to market. If that were the case, the 8131 tons of US gold (roughly 260 million ounces) at the current spot price would give Uncle Sam about $850B in instant new money to pay off some debts. This is nice, but hardly a solution to getting the aforementioned 120% debt-to-GDP figure down to pre-08 levels at a ratio compelling enough to restore trust in—and demand for—Uncle Sam’s unwanted IOUs. But what if the US government put in a bid for $20,000 gold? This would create a new price floor for the precious metal while simultaneously placing newly revalued gold certificates ahead of UST’s and mortgage-backed-securities on the Fed’s balance sheet? Sound crazy? If you read the May Fed Report, they hint at such a balance sheet “example” but shy away from naming a new price valuation on the gold certificates. This means we can only guess at what comes next. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures? But desperate times require desperate measures, and there is nothing more desperate than the USA (and balance sheet) in its current form. An emergency gold re-valuation of $20,000, by way of just one example (perhaps lower, perhaps higher?), would create instant trillions in liquidity to address Uncle Sam’s otherwise mathematically unsustainable bar tab. Such a measure would buy time for US IOUs and votes for a beleaguered White House. Such considerations, once thought extreme, must now be considered with desperate seriousness in a backdrop of only desperate options. Nixon made a radical change in 1971. Can a red-button gold revaluation in 2025 or 2026 be equally ignored? Let’s wait and see. Be Careful of What You Wish For And regardless of whether the inflationary red button is pushed or not, gold wins either way, as the dollar’s purchasing power in such a debt landscape has no absolute direction left to it other than downward. Gold, as the ultimate, most stable, stacked and historically most trusted anti-fiat asset, has no direction left than upward. Let’s also not forget that if gold is so re-valued, then the nation with the most gold will have the most leverage in this new system. But as I’ve suggested elsewhere, that nation is more likely to be China than the USA. It has a lot more gold than the World Gold Council reports… If so, like all empires whose average hegemonic age hovers around 250 years, the era of the American empire is coming to an obvious turning point, no matter how you stack it. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 14:00
Phoenix Taco Shop Owner Busted For Hiring Illegals - Time To Crack Down On Employers Knowingly hiring illegal aliens is a major crime, and under President Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan, the federal government is cracking down on employers who exploit cheap migrant labor. In some cases, employers have even been caught hiring illegal alien children (or maybe even trafficked by labor mules), as exposed during last week's ICE raids on marijuana farms in Governor Newsom's far-left progressive utopia of California. Hiring scrutiny on employers continues nationwide, with local media outlet 12 News in the Phoenix area reporting that Homeland Security Investigations arrested Blademir Angulo, 42, after a four-month-long investigation found he had hired at least a dozen illegal aliens at his restaurant, El Taco Loko. Here's more from the local media outlet: According to court documents, Angulo not only hired the workers but also allegedly paid them in cash and allowed them to live in recreational vehicles and trailers on property he owns in Laveen, near 63rd Avenue and Baseline Road. Agents also surveilled a second property near 16th Avenue and Southern Avenue as part of the investigation. An 18-page federal complaint filed on July 11 charges Angulo with four federal crimes: Alien in Possession of a Firearm, Harboring Illegal Aliens, Improper Entry by an Alien, and a Pattern and Practice of Knowingly Employing Unauthorized Aliens. In an interview, Angulo admitted that he knew what he was doing was illegal, but denied ever paying money to anyone to bring his employees across the southern border. One employee had a differing account, reportedly telling investigators he owed Angulo $12,000 for smuggling him into the United States. "A West Phoenix taco shop owner is in federal custody tonight, accused of knowingly hiring a dozen illegal immigrants at his business." "The owner of the shop is accused of smuggling and hiring people who are not American citizens." pic.twitter.com/glzY5BBKSu July 15, 2025 The case in Phoenix should serve as a major wake-up call to employers nationwide who have hired illegals and displaced American labor with cheap, unauthorized labor. Trump's immigration officials are ramping up enforcement against such business owners, and as the administration moves to end temporary legal protections for migrants, major corporations (view here) that employed them are also going to come under increased scrutiny. Enforcing immigration policies has already sparked a labor renaissance for native workers. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 13:40
New York Man Charged With Stealing Half A Million Dollars Worth Of Gold Bars Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A New York man was charged for allegedly being involved in the theft of more than $500,000 worth of gold bars from an elderly resident in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Ephrata Police Department said. Zhong Ren, 44, of Brooklyn, New York, was charged on July 10 with multiple offenses, including theft by unlawful taking, criminal conspiracy of theft by deception, and impersonating a public servant. He was arrested after an elderly resident of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, filed a police report in April about the theft of gold bars valued at $555,892, according to the police department. Police suspected that Ren was one of the individuals who deceived the victim into using her lifetime investment savings to buy physical gold bars to protect her money from a purported theft threat, which was a fabrication by the scammers. The scammers allegedly gained access to the victim’s computer in March and told her that someone was trying to withdraw funds from her investment accounts, the police department stated. The victim was instructed to convert her lifetime investment money into physical gold bars and hand them over to federal employees, who would then store the gold bars in the Federal Reserve vault in Philadelphia while a supposed fraud investigation was underway. In April, individuals posing as federal employees came to the victim’s house in Ephrata on two separate occasions to collect the gold bars, the police department said. Police said that law enforcement authorities believe that Ren is a member of an “international criminal organization” that orchestrates such fraudulent schemes. Ren was arraigned, and his bail was set at $550,000. He is currently being held at Lancaster County Prison. It is unclear whether Ren has been assigned legal representation at the time of writing. The El Cerrito Police Department in California has previously issued warnings to the public about gold bar scams, saying the schemes have become increasingly prevalent nationwide. In a June 12 Facebook post, the police department urged the public to be wary of contacts from unknown numbers or individuals claiming to represent legitimate organizations. It stated that gold bar schemes often involve scammers impersonating government officials or tech support representatives. The perpetrators will try to convince the victims to convert their money into gold bars by claiming that their financial accounts have been compromised or are vulnerable to hacking. “Scammers often create a sense of urgency and fear to pressure victims into acting quickly,” it stated. “No legitimate organization will ask you to convert your savings into gold and hand them over to a courier.” The public is advised not to provide any information to the caller, to verify the legitimacy of the contact by directly reaching out to the organization the caller claims to represent, and to report the scam to the police. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 13:20
Bessent Says "Formal Process" To Find Successor To Jerome Powell Has Begun U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Tuesday that a "formal process" is underway to find a potential successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. In an interview with Bloomberg Surveillance, Bessent remarked, "There are a lot of great candidates, and we’ll see how rapidly it progresses." He also noted that it would be confusing for Powell to stay on at the Federal Reserve after his term as chair concludes. Since last month President Donald Trump has intensified his criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, repeatedly accusing him of mismanaging monetary policy and calling for aggressive interest rate cuts. Trump has argued that Powell is acting too slowly to respond to economic conditions and said, “Maybe I should go to the Fed… Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I'd do a much better job than these people.” He has labeled Powell with a series of insults, calling him “stupid,” “too late,” “a numbskull,” and demanding the Fed slash rates by a full percentage point to stimulate the economy. Trump’s attacks continued into July, growing even sharper. On July 8, he declared that Powell “should resign immediately.” A few days later, he criticized Powell over cost overruns tied to a $2.5 billion renovation project at the Federal Reserve, referring to him as a “knucklehead” and “stupid guy.” Last week, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought also criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a renovation project he called “too lavish,” referring to it as “Versailles on the National Mall.” On CNBC, Vought cited “fundamental mismanagement” at the Fed. Meanwhile, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, a potential successor to Powell, added, “If there is cause to fire Powell, Trump has the authority to do so.” The criticism appeared coordinated, with other figures like Fed candidate Kevin Warsh and Vice President J.D. Vance joining in. Trump also reiterated his demand for rates to be cut to around 1%. Members of his team suggested they might review the renovation project as a possible justification to remove Powell “for cause.” Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 13:00
Hegseth Confirms Pentagon Will No Longer Participate In 'Globalist' Forum Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has confirmed that the Pentagon will no longer play any role in the Aspen Security Forum, a think tank described as a “mountain retreat for the liberal elite.” Hegseth posted simply “correct” with a link to a Just The News article about the Pentagon pulling all its scheduled speakers at the “globalist” talking shop. Correct. pic.twitter.com/tbi8vvTWBu July 14, 2025 The report states: The Defense Department cited the left-wing nature of the Aspen Institute and the participation of such critics of President Trump as Biden administration National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The annual forum put on by the Aspen Institute – which has been dubbed “the mountain retreat for the liberal elite” – describes the event as “the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States.” Roughly a dozen top Defense Department officials – including the secretary of the Navy and the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command – are still listed as speakers on the Aspen Security Forum agenda this week, but a source told Just the News over the weekend that that will no longer happen. “The Department of Defense has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told Just the News. NEW: Roughly a dozen top U.S. military officials — including Secretary of Navy & commander of Indo-Pacom — were slated to speak at the Aspen Security Forum this week. No longer. Hegseth DoD just pulled them all from participating at the “globalist” forum.https://t.co/QxRcU4FC3v July 14, 2025 The move underscores Hegseth’s commitment to prioritizing America’s interests over globalist agendas. The Aspen Institute, which hosts the forum, has been slammed for ties to leftist donors and its history of promoting narratives that clash with the values of the Trump administration, such as a focus on countering “misinformation” and its association with anti-Trump activists. By pulling senior military officials, including the Secretary of the Navy, from this event, Hegseth sent a clear message that the Department of Defense will not lend credibility to organizations perceived as undermining the America First ethos. This action aligns with the administration’s broader goal of rejecting globalist frameworks that prioritize international consensus over national sovereignty, ensuring that U.S. military leadership remains focused on domestic priorities and security. It’s yet another example of Hegseth’s dedication to implementing Trump’s America First agenda within the Pentagon. Since taking office, Hegseth has consistently pushed for policies that strengthen the U.S. military’s focus on readiness, lethality, and national interests, such as rolling back diversity initiatives, reinstating troops dismissed over vaccine mandates, and fast-tracking drone production to outpace global competitors like China and Russia. His decision to distance the Pentagon from the Aspen Security Forum reflects a deliberate rejection of forums that have historically platformed establishment figures responsible for foreign policy failures. I voted for this. July 14, 2025 Good. Anyone whining about it should also be fired. July 14, 2025 Important reminder. It was the Aspen Institute that did the Biden laptop “tabletop exercise” in advance of its appearance. Scumbags all.https://t.co/Zu5u6N03Fn July 14, 2025 Based Pete Hegseth. Best upgrade ever! pic.twitter.com/j2on8I9DcL July 14, 2025 Grateful for @PeteHegseth . pic.twitter.com/KGbrREPdQa July 14, 2025 * * * Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 12:40
Trump's "Major Statement" On Russia Is A Clumsy Attempt To Thread The Needle Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, His threatened secondary sanctions could majorly backfire by harming the US’ own interests. The “major statement” on Russia that Trump earlier hyped up turned out to be a clumsy attempt to thread the needle between radically escalating US involvement in the Ukrainian Conflict and walking away from it. His new three-pronged approach includes: 1) the rapid dispatch of up to 17 Patriot missile systems to Ukraine; 2) more arms sales to NATO countries who’ll in turn transfer them to Ukraine; and 3) up to 100% secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners if a peace deal isn’t reached in 50 days. In the order that they were mentioned, each corresponding move is aimed at: 1) bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses in order to decelerate the pace of Russia’s continual on-the-ground gains; 2) helping Ukraine reconquer some of its lost land; and 3) coercing China and India into pressuring Russia into a ceasefire. The first two goals are self-explanatory, with the second being unrealistic given the failure of Ukraine’s much more heavily armed counteroffensive in summer 2023, while the third requires some elaboration. China and India’s large-scale imports of discounted Russian oil have served as crucial valves from Western sanctions pressure by helping to stabilize the ruble and thus Russia’s economy in general. Even though these imports also help their own economies, Trump is wagering that they’ll at the very least curtail them in order to avoid his threatened 100% secondary sanctions. He might make an exception for the Europeans and Turks, who also purchase Russian resources, on the pretext of them arming Ukraine. By focusing on Russia’s two largest energy importers, Trump is trying to greatly reduce the budgetary revenue that the Kremlin receives from these sales while sowing further divisions within the RIC core of BRICS and the SCO, expecting as he is that at least China or India will partially comply at minimum. Prior to his deadline, he envisages that their leaders – who are years-long close friends with Putin – will try to pressure him into the ceasefire that the West wants, though it’s unknown whether they’d succeed. In any case, Trump is poised to place himself in a dilemma entirely of his own making if one of them doesn’t comply with his demand to stop trading with Russia, or if one or both only do so in part. He’d either have to delay the imposition of his threatened 100% secondary sanctions on all their imports, lower the level, or reduce the scale to only apply to their companies that still trade with Russia otherwise there could be serious blowback, especially if China is the one that doesn’t fully comply. His preliminary trade agreement with China, which he described in early May as a “total reset” in their ties, could collapse and thus raise prices across the board for Americans. As regards India, their ongoing trade talks could collapse too, which could create an opening for advancing the nascent Sino-Indo rapprochement whose existence was cautiously confirmed by its top diplomat on Monday. Each case of blowback, let alone both of them at the same time, could be very detrimental to American interests. Trump’s attempt to thread the needle therefore isn’t just clumsy, but it could also majorly backfire, thus raising the question of why he agreed to do so. It looks like he was misled into thinking that Putin would agree to a ceasefire that doesn’t resolve the root security-related causes of the conflict in exchange for a resource-centric strategic partnership. When Putin declined, Trump took it personally and imagined that Putin was playing him, which led to Trump’s advisors manipulating him into this escalation as vengeance. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 12:00
DoJ, CFTC End Biden-Era Probe Into Polymarket Nine months after what Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan called a “last-ditch effort” to go after companies deemed to be associated with President Biden’s political opponents, the Trump administration's Department of Justice has shut down two investigations into the crypto-betting platform. Polymarket CEO, Shayne Coplan Bloomberg reports, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, that the predictions exchange received formal notice earlier this month from the US Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the probes had ended. Polymarket’s popularity surged during last year’s election campaigns as users flocked to the platform to place cryptocurrency wagers on the outcome. But that also drew investigators, examining whether the site was accepting trades from US-based users in violation of a previous settlement with federal regulators. Bloomberg reports that The CFTC had its own investigation into the platform. The derivatives regulator, which oversees prediction platforms because their contracts are considered akin to swaps, had entered into a settlement with Polymarket in January 2022 over allegations it failed to register with the agency. As part of the deal, Polymarket vowed to wall off US traders from its exchange. Both the CFTC and Justice Department lawyers in Manhattan were investigating whether the New York-based platform continued accepting wagers from people in the US using virtual private networks or other means to bypass the company’s controls. The prediction market notched about $2.6 billion in trading volume in November. The situation escalated dramatically a week after the November elections, when FBI agents carried out a pre-dawn raid at the Soho penthouse of CEO Shayne Coplan. The decisions are the latest example of US authorities reversing course on Biden-era actions involving digital-asset firms, and comes as some in Washington are celebrating what’s being billed as “Crypto Week” with plans to usher in industry-backed rules that have sent the price of Bitcoin to a record. Polymarket has been building a war chest with new investment rounds led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. It also recently announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s X and xAI to offer event forecasts on the social media platform. The resolution of the two investigations may even pave the way for Polymarket to officially re-enter the US market. That could include registering with the CFTC as a futures exchange or potentially acquiring another entity with a CFTC license. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 11:45
Ron Paul: Mistrusting Government About Epstein And More... Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute, Last week the Department of Justice announced that Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a “client list” of prominent individuals who may have broken the law at Epstein’s private island. These individuals could be blackmailed by Epstein and whatever intelligence agencies were working with him. In February, in response to a question about when Epstein’s client list would be made public, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had it on her desk and would soon release it. She now says she meant she had a file related to Epstein, not the Epstein client list. The Justice Department also claimed it did a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death and can definitively say that Epstein committed suicide even though an autopsy paid for by Epstein’s brother concluded that Epstein was likely murdered. The Justice Department’s announcement last week was met with outrage, much of it coming from some of President’s Trump’s most prominent allies, such as popular media figures Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Benny Johnson. The willingness of so many Trump allies to openly criticize the Epstein announcement and other actions like the bombing of Iran is a positive development. Advancing liberty requires that more people refuse to automatically trust government officials, whether concerning Epstein, wars, the economy, or other important matters. Widespread questioning of government presents an opportunity for the liberty movement. Those who understand the philosophy, history, and economics of liberty can explain that it is not just that some government officials lie. Instead, all governments lie, and the more important the issue the bigger the lie. In fact, the modern state is built on a series of lies, including: that the moral prohibitions against murder and theft do not apply to the government, that government regulations protect consumers, workers, and small businesses from greedy corporations, that the best way to help the poor is through government bureaucracies, not private charities, that government bureaucrats know a child’s educational needs better than do the child’s parents, that the US government is justified in intervening in countries around the world because the US is an exceptional force for justice and liberty and its crusade for global democracy is worth the ending of many innocent lives, that the government has the moral authority to override personal health and lifestyle choices — such as whether to drink raw milk — for our own good, that foreign aid takes money from wealthy Americans to give to poor people in other countries, that a government-created central bank can print the way to prosperity while enabling a welfare-warfare state without causing a boom-bust business cycle and continuously reducing the average American’s standard of living through eroding the dollar’s purchasing power, that gun control, mass surveillance, and airport harassment keep us safe, and that government is the source of our rights so government can restrict or “modify” our rights at will. Exposing such lies is key for restoring liberty. The good news is that the more mistrust of government grows the easier it will be to find people receptive to our message. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 11:25
Charting The U.S. Pharma Supply Chain As Trump Threatens 200% Tariffs President Trump's proposed 200% tariff on the pharmaceutical industry would not take effect immediately, instead allowing for a 1 to 1.5-year grace period. Over time, the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain could undergo a massive shift, becoming less reliant on foreign-made drugs and medical supplies. The Trump administration currently views this dependency as a national security threat. One week ago, the president warned that long-awaited industry-wide tariffs would be announced "very soon" after a 232 investigation was launched in April. Even with a grace period, the delay will force a complete reconfiguration of overseas supply chains for domestic ones, which could have a significant impact on profit margins for 'Big Pharma' and even affect drug prices. "A 200% tariff would inflate production costs, compress profit margins, and risk supply chain disruptions, leading to drug shortages and higher prices for U.S. consumers," Barclays analysts wrote last week. UBS analysts warned that the Trump administration's 12- to 18-month tariff grace period is "insufficient," arguing that reshoring efforts would require a lot more time. "We would usually think of 4 to 5 years as the timeline to move commercial-scale manufacturing to a new site," the analysts wrote. According to the industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, even a 25% tariff on pharmaceutical imports could drive up U.S. drug prices by $51 billion annually, raising prices by as much as 12.9% if costs are passed on. The group slammed Trump's proposal as "counterproductive" to health outcomes. Yet, as we've come to understand, these tariffs are merely economic tools to secure better trade deals or, in this case, to force corporations to reshore production. To visualize the U.S.' heavily dependent medical supply chain on overseas trading partners, research firm BryceTech released an in-depth graphic on Tuesday, highlighting the industry's deep overseas dependencies. The graphic suggests that significant domestic investment will be required—echoing UBS's view that a 12- to 18-month grace period is insufficient to reshore production at scale. The illustration reinforces UBS's warning that a 12- to 18-month grace period is far too short to reshore production at scale, signaling the need for increased time. A larger takeaway is that these supply chains need to be reshored as the world fractures into a bipolar state, and definitely before the 2030s. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 11:05
Jamie Dimon Says Private Credit Is Dangerous But Allocates $50 Billion Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com, JPMorgan puts $50 Billion on riskier companies to get in on the action. Jamie Dimon Wants In At every market top there is a signal. But signals are not discernable until after the fact. Is this bit of arrogance a signal? The Wall Street Journal reports Jamie Dimon Says Private Credit Is Dangerous—and He Wants JPMorgan to Get In on It Jamie Dimon says Wall Street’s hottest trend is a recipe for a financial crisis, but he’s investing billions to get in on it anyway. His plan: swoop in strategically and profit if there’s a meltdown. In the ballroom of the swanky Loews Hotel in Miami Beach, Dimon got on stage in front of hundreds of clients in February to talk about the boom in unregulated lending to highly indebted companies. This fast-growing market has been sidelining big banks for years, and JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) chief executive said it reminded him of the craze in subprime mortgages that sparked the 2008 financial crisis. “Parts of direct lending are good,” Dimon said at the event in February, according to people who attended. “But not everyone does a great job, and that’s what causes problems with financial products.” He said that in the 2008 financial crisis, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers got in late, made bad choices and “bought these two shitty little mortgage companies,” leading eventually to “everything” blowing up. The comparison was jarring. Just hours earlier, JPMorgan had announced it was investing $50 billion in private credit, more than a decade after financial firms such as Blackstone and Ares Management, which aren’t banks, kicked off the boom in lending to financially risky companies. Banks have typically shied away from this business because of stiff regulations meant to protect depositors. The rise of private credit has disrupted banks’ fee-rich business of lending to corporate America, and JPMorgan and some of its peers have lost out as their new, unregulated competitors have expanded. Dimon is racing to claim a stake before JPMorgan, the nation’s biggest and most profitable bank, is left behind, people familiar with his thinking said. Even if there is a crisis, Dimon has said he can position JPMorgan to profit. JPMorgan was actually an early participant in the market but let its private-credit unit go just as the boom was igniting. JPMorgan had promised to overhaul how it managed risk after its “London Whale” debacle in 2012, when traders took aggressive bets that bank executives were effectively in the dark about and lost more than $6 billion, leading the bank to admit wrongdoing and agree to pay more than $920 million in fines. The following year regulators imposed stricter limits on how much risk banks were allowed to take in corporate lending. “As a bank, you can only watch private credit come from nowhere and get to a trillion dollar industry for so long,” said Glenn Schorr, a senior analyst at Evercore covering Wall Street. “This is what its clients are asking for.” FOMO Hits JP Morgan Jamie Dimon is singing those Fear of Missing Out blues. It is very reminiscent of Citibank’s 2007 blowup. Quotes of the Day / Top Call On July 10, 2007 I posted Quotes of the Day / Top Call No End Soon to Buyout Boom: “When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing”. If ever there was market arrogance, the statements by Chuck Prince says it all. It’s tough calling a top but I am going to try. I suggest the current trend is exhausted. Music Stops for Chuck Prince On November 2, 2007 I noted the Music Stops for Chuck Prince The party is over and the music has stopped for Chuck Prince. His last dance is a two-step out the door. Citi’s Prince Plans to Resign Dear Citigroup Customer... On March 27, 2008 I commented Dear Citigroup Customer …. The post describes fraudulent letters sent out by Citigroup telling Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) customers their mortgage rate were about to reset and offered them a higher fixed rate. Citigroup knew full well mortgage rates were headed lower. I provided image clips of the letters. Is This the Top? You tell me. I thought the signal was clear in 2007. Now? I did not think the market would roar back to new highs after the tariff whipsaw, but it did. S&P 500 Daily Chart S&P 500 Daily Chart from Stockcharts, annotations by Mish There are three open gaps below that I expect to be filled. But timing is unknown. A gap occurs when stocks open above the high of the previous day (or below the low of the previous day) and stay there for the secession. The December-March double-top eventually plunged over 20 percent intraday. Then Trump backed down on tariffs. From that low, the S&P 500 made a new all-time high. But nothing fundamentally has changed. If anything, fundamentals are worse. We have new 50 percent tariffs on copper, steel, and aluminum. Trump just announce a 30 percent tariff on Mexico and the EU, and 50 percent on Brazil. As long as the market ignores these actions, Trump will do more. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 10:45
Congressman Faces Eviction Over $85k Back-Rent For Luxury DC Penthouse Florida Republican Congressman Cory Mills is being sued over his alleged failure to pay $85,009 in rent for his Washington DC luxury penthouse apartment. Lashing out at a journalist after the news broke, Mills blamed the problem on the apartment's payment system -- but he's allegedly been late on 18 out of 24 payments since he moved in two years ago. According to the legal complaint filed in DC Superior Court last week and first reported on X by the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, Mills didn't pay $85,009 in rent covering the period between March and July, a sum that does not include late fees. His monthly rent for the posh quarters overlooking the Potomac River is $20,833, well above his base salary of $14,500 a month. However, Quiver Quantitative estimates his net worth is $24 million. The view from a penthouse at the luxury apartment complex where FL Rep. Cory Mills signed on for $20,833 in monthly rent (via 1331 Maryland) According to the apartment's website, the property offers “the services and amenities of a world-class hotel,” with Mills' penthouse boasting "access through private elevators for discrete comings and goings ... captivating views in every residence serve as scenic backdrops for everyday living." Responding to Sollenberger's reporting, Mills posted screenshots of two emails he'd sent to the apartment managers -- on June 17 and July 3 -- asking for payment links. "Facts are a finicky thing but wouldn’t expect you to be anything other than a biased hack!" wrote Mills. However, a ledger of Mills' payments that was attached to the legal complaint shows him repeatedly racking up late-payment charges of more than $850 each during the time he's lived in the building. In January, the apartment complex owner gave formal notice to Mills that he owed $18,229, along with a "notice of intent to file a lawsuit." Earlier this year, Mills was investigated over an assault accusation leveled by the female co-founder of Iranians for Trump (Photo via Florida Politics) This isn't the first unflattering allegation against the 44-year-old congressman that relate to his Maryland Avenue address. In February, news broke that DC police were investigating him after an assault complaint was made by 27-year-old Sarah Raviani, who co-founded Iranians for Trump. Though police requested a search warrant, prosecutors denied their request and declined to press charges. Raviani retracted the allegations she'd made to a 911 operator and first responders. She later told the Washington Post "no physical altercation took place." An initial Florida Politics report on Raviani's police complaint said "force was used to move Raviani to another location." Controversy arose over police officers' decision not to take Mills into custody when they responded to the 911 call, in light of her allegations and her purportedly observable injuries. Police were called to Mills' penthouse in February after Sarah Raviani said she'd been assaulted; she later retracted her allegations (Raviani via X) In March, a House Ethics Committee probe was launched after the Office of Congressional Conduct reported several potential violations by Mills, including: "Mills may have omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements" "Mills's campaign committee may have accepted excessive contributions in the form of personal loans and contributions that may not have derived from Rep. Mills’s personal funds" "Mills' may have entered into, enjoyed, or held contracts with federal agencies" in violation of "House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law." Mills co-founded munitions manufacturer and security contractor Pacem Solutions. An Army veteran who has made his military service a major thrust of his campaigns, Mills was awarded a Bronze Star for having given "life-saving care" to two soldiers at "great risk to his own life" while "under intense enemy fire" in Iraq. However, doubts have been raised about the claims in the citation. One of the supposedly-saved soldiers said he didn't have life-threatening injuries, and "I don't recall [Mills] being there either," while the other one called the incident a "fabrication." Mills represents Florida's 7th congressional district stretches between Orlando and Daytona Beach. The second-termer has already indicated he's likely to run for Senate next year. According to Florida Politics, Mills told reporters in January, "You can probably guarantee my hat is going to be thrown in the ring for 2026.” Meanwhile, his rivals have a growing stack of ammo... Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 10:25
Lesbian Couple Expose 'Gay Babies Section' In Barnes & Noble Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, A lesbian couple posted a now viral video expressing their shock at discovering an entire section in Barnes & Noble dedicated to gay books for babies. The pair found titles such as “Gay B, C’s” featuring LGBTQ+ terms for each letter of the alphabet, and “Bye Bye Binary,” a book featuring a baby and suggesting that newborns can be non-binary. “Okay, we’re gay. But we’re in Barnes and Noble and there’s a gay kids book section. And this is crazy,” the couple urged, adding “It’s pushing it. For a baby. This is pushing it.” Two lesbians are appalled by the gay propaganda books in the children’s section at Barnes & Noble. “Okay, we're gay. But we're in Barnes and Noble and there's a gay kids book section. And this is crazy.” “It's pushing it. For a baby. This is pushing it.” Why are you promoting… pic.twitter.com/tsBqPqjAZg July 13, 2025 In The Gay B, C’s book the couple show that “B is for Bi” and “I is for Intersex,” blatantly pushing sex on small kids. They are trying to indoctrinate your kids. July 13, 2025 This is the trash that Democrats screech all day long about being banned. So insidious. How old r kids learning their ABCs, 3, 4? Notice how innocent they make it sound. "I *like* more than one gender!" Well most of us do. But we're not sexually attracted to both. They leave that part out, but the damage is done. "It's good to be bi!" Start 'em young. https://t.co/0J4GaLAJYe pic.twitter.com/DtL2mEZjo9 July 13, 2025 Although many believe it should be, it’s not banned, it’s right out in the open in the biggest book store chain in the country. This has nothing to do with gay or lesbian sexual orientation. https://t.co/zS0MUEQ9rW July 13, 2025 With all the rainbow colours and drawings to attract kids right at the age when they’re most impressionable. Glad to see based members of that community. More people need to start outing these businesses for having this garbage near our children. July 13, 2025 “Based” is an exaggeration, but when young gay women are outraged by what they’re witnessing, maybe it’s time something was done about this. It’s a cult and they want to corrupt our children. It’s evil. July 13, 2025 Barnes & Noble went ahead and blocked conservative influencer Collin Rugg for sharing the video, which has over three million views at time of writing. I’m honored that they don’t like me. pic.twitter.com/ROEkOCnBQ3 July 13, 2025 But maybe it was just an activist in this one store that managed to get this section approved? Can confirm. Made a trip over to B&N of E46th. Every book in this pic is woke brainwashing. pic.twitter.com/U8k1HaZzlK July 14, 2025 Nope. Emeryville Barnes & Noble 🤢 pic.twitter.com/smv6FxIBgu July 14, 2025 You know what to do. Sounds like people need to boycott BN. Should also call their headquarters to tell them this is unacceptable. Nothing will change unless they hear from us and sales drop: (800) 962-6177 July 13, 2025 * * * Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 10:05
Pittsburgh Will Be Transformed Into "AI Hub Of World" With $75 Billion Investment President Trump is set to join Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Dave McCormick at a major energy and AI summit at Carnegie Mellon University this afternoon. According to local media, McCormick is expected to unveil plans for at least $75 billion in energy and AI infrastructure investment across Pittsburgh, aiming to transform the city from a hollowed-out manufacturing town into "the AI hub of the world." 📍 PITTSBURGH: "$75 billion investment coming to Pennsylvania" Today, @POTUS will join @SenMcCormickPA in Pennsylvania to announce tens of billions of dollars in new AI and energy investments — bringing thousands of new jobs. pic.twitter.com/gBJqFHowoF July 15, 2025 On Monday, McCormick told KDKA Radio's Marty Griffin that $75 billion in new investments in energy and AI innovation are coming to the region because the state is uniquely positioned: "We got abundant energy, we got this incredible, skilled workforce, we got unbelievable technology, particularly at Carnegie Mellon and then we've got proximity. We're within 500 miles of more than half of America's population." President Trump will join McCormick at the summit later today to announce massive investments in data centers, energy infrastructure, the transition from coal to gas, and other major energy projects and skilled labor. "There's no city on Earth better positioned to lead in the new AI economy than Pittsburgh," Joanna Doven, executive director of the AI Strike Team, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, adding, "We're not just a city of inventors and researchers. We're a city of collaborators." The AI Strike Team aims to make Pittsburgh the global AI hub and estimates that 100,000 jobs can be created in the region by 2028. Today's summit comes after two major developing economic revival stories for the state: Amazon's record-setting $20 billion investment in data centers across Pennsylvania — the largest economic development project in the state's history and; a $14 billion partnership between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel aimed at strengthening domestic steel production and safeguarding thousands of American jobs. The broader AI push across America is stunning... President Trump is expected to depart Washington, D.C., at 12:30 pm and will arrive at the summit in Pittsburgh around 2:30 pm. Ahead of the summit, McCormick joined CNBC... .@SenMcCormickPA: "We're so excited about this... we've got about 60 CEOs of the biggest companies in the world. We've got commitments of [tens of billions of dollars] of investment in data centers, in energy production... in distribution, and investing in skilled workers." https://t.co/j9CpCnagoT pic.twitter.com/8JByvrFlGw July 15, 2025 Related: Zuckerberg "Focused" On Building Mega Gigawatt-Size Data Centers UBS Identifies Start Of Trump-Era Construction Boom In AI, Grid; Goldman Sees Upside In Used Machinery Prices Rare Earth Producer MP Materials Soars 50% After US Government Becomes Largest Shareholder Trump's "Nuclear" Order And How To Profit: All You Need To Know About The Coming Nuclear Energy Transition . . . Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 09:45
Bud Light Still Struggling Years After Dylan Mulvaney Nuked Brand On TikTok Beer sales over the July 4th holiday weekend came in stronger than previously expected, prompting distributors to raise their outlook for the remainder of the year and fueling renewed optimism around Constellation Brands (STZ). Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) also posted a solid performance during the period, though one brand under its adult beverage umbrella remained a clear laggard. Unsurprisingly, it was Bud Light, still struggling to recover for reasons that need little explanation. In the latest iteration of Goldman's Beverage Bytes survey—covering 40 beer distributors and 125,000 retail outlets, or about 25% of all U.S. alcohol-selling locations—analysts led by Bonnie Herzog found that, although expectations were tempered heading into the holiday weekend due to soft scanner data, an uncertain macro environment, and weak Memorial Day trends, favorable summer weather trends across the Lower 48 during the July 4th holiday (which fell on a Friday) helped drive surprisingly strong beer demand. Herzog said, "As a result, distributors are now incrementally more upbeat about the all-important summer selling season and their growth outlook for the category this year." About 60% of respondents said sales were up year-over-year, with STZ and ABI emerging as the top performers. Brands such as Modelo Especial, Pacifico, and Sun Cruiser saw solid momentum, though Corona Extra continued to underperform. Here are the notable takeaways from the report: The promotional environment appeared broadly rational over the 4th of July holiday weekend - as 53% of beer volumes were promoted (in-line with last year) - though ABI was the clear standout in terms of promotional intensity; Most distributors indicated that beer category sales accelerated in Q2 vs Q1 - citing improved weather trends and strength for Mich Ultra and Busch Light (among others); Most distributors expect the second half of the year to be stronger vs the first half - with distributors now expecting category growth declines this year of only -1.0% (vs -1.9% expected in our Memorial Day survey); Volume trends for Modelo Especial & Pacifico were also quite strong over the holiday weekend - something the majority of distributors indicated - however, Corona Extra remains under some pressure; and Sun Cruiser remains a standout - and the majority of distributors indicated that volumes were up for the brand over the 4th of July holiday weekend vs last year. However, distributors highlighted the spending on Sun Cruiser is unsustainable and some raised concerns that the category is becoming saturated. There was a lot to unpack in the holiday volume trends... Topline Results: Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) led all manufacturers, with 52% of distributors reporting higher volumes vs last year—followed by Constellation Brands (STZ) at 33% and Boston Beer (SAM) at 18%. Overall beer category performance improved: 40% of distributors reported year-over-year volume gains for July 4th (vs 20% on Memorial Day); 37% still saw declines. Hard seltzers remained weak: 64% of distributors reported volume declines, though this was a slight improvement from Memorial Day (70%). By brand, Herzog noted twice that Bud Light "continues to struggle" and "remains pressured following the Bud Light controversy," more than two years after the brewer's woke marketing team—aiming to score DEI points—hired Dylan Mulvaney, a biological male acting as a woman, for what became one of the worst ad promotions ever in corproate America. Refresher: This is who nuked the brand. JUST IN: Bud Light’s marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid is taking a leave of absence. Here she is slandering her customer base as “fratty and out of touch” as she defends the decision to hire a tranny to promote their products. If Bud Light is smart, they will fire… pic.twitter.com/wJMkyitD8F April 22, 2023 Brand highlights over the holiday weekend: ABI (Anheuser-Busch InBev): Strongest performer overall. Michelob Ultra was a standout, with 93% of distributors seeing y/y gains (56% significantly). Bud Light remains a drag—74% reported lower volumes; marketing support remains weak. Constellation Brands (STZ): Strong holiday weekend performance. Pacifico led, with 65% of distributors seeing gains. Modelo Especial also performed well (52% up), while Corona Extra continues to face challenges (47% down). Molson Coors (TAP): Mixed performance. Coors Banquet was a bright spot (73% up). Coors Light and Miller Lite both underperformed, with 74% and 78% of distributors, respectively, reporting y/y declines. Heineken (HEIN): Weak showing, with only 14% reporting growth and 46% noting volume declines. Boston Beer (SAM): Modest improvement; Sun Cruiser stood out, with 72% of distributors reporting growth (44% significantly). Twisted Tea and Truly showed signs of pressure, with 35% and 76% of distributors respectively reporting declines. Hard Seltzer Category: Remains under pressure. White Claw: 31% up, 41% down. High Noon: 40% up, 40% down slightly. Our takeaway: Bud Light's struggles continue. Someone ought to write a white paper on why woke marketing nukes brands. Remember Jaguar earlier this year? These marketing teams lined with liberal college elites are completely out of touch with how the real world operates, and oblivious to the fact that the Overton Window has shifted to the center-right. Woke is over (for now). Pro subs can read the full note in the usual place. Tyler Durden Tue, 07/15/2025 - 09:05
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