Category: Economy

‘Irrelevant’ Whether Iran Actually Decided To Build The Bomb, Rubio Has Said Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that whether Iran has decided to build a nuclear weapon is “irrelevant,” as he was pressed on the lack of evidence that Tehran has taken steps to weaponize its nuclear…

Iran’s IRGC Quds Force Leader Shows Up In Tehran Streets After Reports Of His Death A week ago there were widespread reports and rumors that Israeli airstrikes and targeted assassinations in Iran had killed Esmail Qaani, who in 2020 had succeeded the top Iranian IRGC Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani, killed by a US strike in…

U.N. Quietly Lowers Population Forecasts Authored by Bill King via RealClearPolitics.com, For decades, we’ve been told that the world’s biggest problem is too many people. From Malthus in the 18th century to “The Population Bomb” in the 1960s, the warnings were dire: More people would mean more famine, more poverty, more environmental destruction. But something…

Israel Tried To ‘Turn’ Iranian Generals Against Ayatollah Just Before Bombs Fell Iranian state media is reporting another arrest of alleged spy who was coordinating with Israeli intelligence. Agents working on behalf of Mossad are believed to have played key roles in Israel’s military attacks which kicked off nearly two weeks ago (on Friday, June…

As Stablecoin Bill Heads To House, Senate Shifts To Crypto Market Structure Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com, Roughly a week after the US Senate voted to pass the GENIUS Act to regulate payment stablecoins, the chamber is moving to discuss a path forward for a digital asset market structure framework. On Tuesday, lawmakers in…

California NGOs Providing Supplies To Illegals So They Can Avoid ICE Raids For anyone questioning why immigration work raids are so vital in the fight to deport illegals, it’s important to remember that it’s not just about the migrants that are caught and sent back home.  It’s also about removing the incentives that keep illegals…

Russia Considers AI Data Centers As Collapsing Gas Sales Create Glut Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com, Russia could use its excess natural gas to power AI data centers or crypto mining operations, Russian officials have said, as Moscow’s pipeline gas exports to Europe have collapsed and led to an oversupply at home. Russian gas…

“Get Your F**king Members In Order”: L.A. Official Calls For Mexican Gangs To Mobilize Against ICE Agents A top far-left city official in southeast Los Angeles County is now under federal investigation after allegedly posting a video on social media calling on Mexican gangs to mobilize against ICE agents. If this isn’t textbook insurrectionist behavior,…

The Fed Is Powerful… That’s The Problem Authored by Matthew Blakely via the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Whenever the Federal Reserve releases its meeting minutes, a crowd of analysts rush to dissect every comma and qualifier. But in a country that prides itself on free markets and capitalist dynamism, why do we hang on the…

“Very Shady”: Oregon Union Tricked Lawmakers In Serious Ethical Breach According To Complaint Oregon State lawmakers lobbed a Molotov cocktail of an ethics complaint at SEIU Local 503. The target? A blatant attempt to rig the legislative game by flooding lawmakers with 1,000 pre-printed “constituent postcards” hyping House Bill 3838 – a union power grab masquerading…

Bondi Says DOJ On ‘High Alert’ Over Concerns About Iranian Sleeper Cells Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Department of Justice (DOJ) is on “high alert” following U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program over the weekend. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), during a House Appropriations Committee meeting…

Goldman Makes Flurry Of Downgrades Across Consumer Sector Goldman Sachs Managing Director Kate McShane issued a wave of notable rating changes across the consumer sector on Tuesday. The most eye-catching: Dollar General was cut from Buy to Neutral RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell Advance Auto Parts also moved from Neutral…

FTC Approves Merger Creating World’s Largest Media-Buying Ad Agency, Warns Against Censorship Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved advertising services giant Omnicom Group Inc.’s $13.5 billion acquisition of ad company The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) under the condition that Omnicom does not engage in…

NATO Chief Butters Up Trump, While Touting Ukraine’s ‘Irreversible Path’ To NATO Membership Before President Trump’s Air Force One even touched down in The Hague to attend this week’s major NATO summit, he was responding somewhat coldly when asked about his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and whether they will meet. The White House clarified…

Some ‘Predictions’ For The Latter Half Of 2025… Authored by Eric Utter via AmericanThinker.com, Back in mid-January I issued “My Predictions For The Rest Of 2025.” We are half a year in, and I thought I should issue an update. Ergo, I hereby present to you “My Updated Predictions For The Last Half Of  2025:”…

Where Is Iran’s Uranium? Top Secret Leaked US Intel Says Core Nuclear Components ‘Intact’ Update(1605ET): Where is Iran’s Uranium? Truce Highlights Mystery Over Stockpile… that’s Bloomberg’s latest headline over the ‘biggest mystery’ that remains in the war. There’s also the pressing question of whether Trump’s massive airstrikes from B-2 bombers actually truly destroyed the facilities…

Illegal Immigrant Allegedly Aided By Wisconsin Judge Agrees To Plea Deal Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, The illegal immigrant whom Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of helping evade arrest has accepted a plea deal in which he admitted to entering the United States illegally. Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz faces…

Senate Parliamentarian Rejects ‘Drill Baby Drill’ Provisions In GOP Megabill Update (1412ET): First it was the judges. Now Democrat Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is shredding a ton of provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill – most recently a provision that automatically certifies offshore oil and gas projects as being compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act – skipping the…

China Reportedly On Verge Of 100 DeepSeek-Like Breakthroughs Amid Aspirations For World Domination China is preparing to launch a tsunami of domestic AI innovation, with more than 100 DeepSeek-like breakthroughs (more here) expected within the next 18 months, according to former PBOC Deputy Governor Zhu Min, as reported by Bloomberg. This development signals Beijing’s intent…

DOJ Accuses Biden-Appointed Judge Of ‘Unprecedented Defiance’ After Rejecting SCOTUS Ruling Allowing Deportations Authored by Debra Heine via AmericanGreatness.com, The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday accused an activist Biden-appointed judge of engaging in a “lawless act of defiance” against a Supreme Court decision that came down on Monday. The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration…

Goldman Weighs In On Tesla Robotaxi Launch Tesla officially launched its long-anticipated self-driving Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. A select group of early-access users—many of them FSD beta testers and Tesla influencers on X—have begun sharing their experiences as the AI car company sets its sights on competing near-term with Waymo and, more broadly,…

Silver Price Shows What Government Has Done To Our Money Authored by Douglas French via The Mises Institute, You hear about gas prices everyday. The President brags that per gallon prices have dropped to $1.99 in some places. After paying over $4.00 here in Las Vegas, I wonder where he is talking about. He ran…

Harvard Wins Injunction Against Trump Admin’s Student Visa Ban Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of President Donald Trump’s proclamation that bars foreign nationals from entering the United States through Harvard’s student exchange visa program. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard’s request…

Solid 2Y Auction Stop Through Despite Weak Foreign Demand With attention firmly on the equity meltup which has sent the S&P 1% higher and the Nasdaq looks like it will close in record territory, moments ago we had the week’s first Treasury coupon auction when some $69BN in 2 Year notes were sold to what…

DoE Declares U.S. Southeast Grid Emergency To Avert “Blackouts” A massive heat dome is scorching the eastern half of the U.S., triggering widespread grid stress. The week began with emergency alerts across the Mid-Atlantic, including a multi-hour blackout in New York City’s Queens borough as power demand surged. Now, the Southeast grid is under similar…

Off Ramps, On Ramps By Benjamin Picton, Senior Market Strategist at Rabobank Markets are in a jubilant mood as Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire to begin within hours. Brent crude prices have fallen by more than 7% at time of writing to $71.48/bbl and US equity indices have…

Senate GOP’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ On The Brink As Tax Clashes, Medicaid Cuts And Parliamentarian Delays Derail Timeline Senate Republicans are in panic mode this week, frantically rewriting their so-called “big, beautiful bill” before a planned Thursday vote, but the trillion-dollar package is sagging under the weight of internal brawls, Medicaid landmines, and the looming…

“You’re Welcome”: Pennsylvania Boasts About Saving ‘Green’ Maryland From Near Power Grid Collapse Pennsylvania State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) wrote in a late Monday Facebook post that the state’s surplus electricity supplies were exported to Maryland during Monday’s peak demand surge, as temperatures in the region approached 100°F. She credited Pennsylvania’s stable power grid with preventing…

US Oil Producers Rushed To Hedge… Just In Time Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, U.S. oil producers rapidly increased hedging activities to lock in higher prices following a surge triggered by Israel’s strike on Iranian facilities. Hedge trades hit record highs on platforms like Aegis Hedging as producers anticipated short-term price spikes, aiming to…

Trump Chastises Russia’s Medvedev Over ‘Casually’ Saying The ‘N-Word’ President Trump while messaging seemingly non-stop on the Iran-Israel war found time late Monday to lash out at Russia’s deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev over his latest nuclear-related comments connected to the ongoing Iran war. Trump chastised Medvedev for “casually” talking about nuclear weapons, especially…

Peace Through Strength By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities Academy’s Geopolitical Intelligence Group (“GIG”) weighed in on the American Strike. The overall assessment was that this was a good move: Helped re-establish deterrence and sent a strong message to all adversaries. The assessment was that Iran had limited capacity/capability to strike back. Iran would be…

June Gloom Hits Consumer Confidence After Gay May; Inflation Expectations Plunge After surging by the most in 14 years in May, analysts expected this morning’s June data for The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index to continue to rebound in June. However, it did not. The headline Confidence print disappointed, dropping from an upwardly revised 98.4…

Watch Live: “Very Dumb” Fed Chair Testifies To Congress Watch Fed Chair Powell’s testimony to Congress here (due to start at 1000ET): *  *  *  In his prepared remarks ahead of this morning’s Humphrey-Hawkins testimony to Congress, Fed Chair Powell reiterated his comments from last week’s FOMC that the central bank is in no rush to lower…

Crude Slides After Trump Says China “Can Continue To Purchase Oil From Iran” Trump continued his crusade against high oil prices, and US energy producers (recall yesterday he posted “EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!”), when the President posted on Truth Social…

One of the many things that people learn after retirement is that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Whether you retire early or exactly at 67 years old, there is no guarantee that the moment you retire, all of your stresses will simply lift from your shoulders.  Key Points There is no question that this…