Tomorrow’s Testimony: Kevin Warsh To Walk Tightrope On Rates, Inflation And Fed Independence President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday at 10AM ET in what is shaping up to be one of the most politically charged confirmation hearings in the central bank’s modern history. Warsh, a former Fed governor who has spent years criticizing the […]

‘Highly Unlikely’ US Will Extend Iran Ceasefire, ‘Lots Of Bombs Will Go Off’ If No Deal: Trump Summary Trump says ‘highly unlikely’ will extend ceasefire if deal not signed in Pakistan. Iran’s military after Sunday’s US seizure of Iran-flagged cargo ship: will “take the necessary action against the US military” Vance intends to depart Tuesday to Pakistan, though still unclear whether Iranians will join – Pakistanis say […]

Schrodinger’s Strait, Schrodinger’s Market By Benjamin Picton, Senior Market Strategist at Rabobank Erwin Schrodinger famously proposed a thought experiment to illustrate the apparent absurdity of quantum mechanics when applied to the macroscopic world. In the theoretical experiment, Schrodinger’s eponymous cat, contained in a box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter and a vial of poison, exists in a state of superposition […]

Pentagon Releases Video Of Marines Landing On Iranian Ship By Monday morning US Central Command had released fuller video showing the dramatic night vision footage of Sunday’s capture of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, after it refused to follow US orders to withdraw from its planned passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon soon after the interdiction and boarding released a very brief, limited clip of a US warship firing […]

Saylor’s Strategy Holdings Top 800,000 Bitcoin After 3rd Biggest Purchase In History Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, has blasted past 800,000 BTC in total holdings after announcing its latest purchases. Strategy acquired 34,164 Bitcoin for $2.54 billion between April 13 and 19, according to an 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. As Helen Partz reports […]

Key Events This Week: Warsh Nomination Hearing, Retail Sales, Fed Blackout, Earnings As the war in Iran enters its 8th week, Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid says that recent developments can be framed in two ways: either five steps forward towards peace and three back (seems more apt than three and two), or as evidence that the two sides remain far enough apart that a lasting deal will be extremely hard to achieve and markets have become […]

“Critical Inflection Point” Reached As USA Rare Earth Expands With $2.8 Billion Serra Verde Buyout USA Rare Earth Inc. is acquiring Brazil’s Serra Verde Group in a roughly $2.8 billion cash-and-stock deal, part of a broader push by the U.S. and its allies to secure independent supplies of critical minerals, according to CNBC and Bloomberg.  The agreement includes $300 million in cash and a large share issuance, with the […]

AST SpaceMobile Craters After Blue Origin Rocket Fails To Place Satellite In Correct Orbit Shares of AST SpaceMobile plunged the most since February after Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket failed to place the company’s BlueBird 7 satellite into its intended orbit during Sunday morning’s launch. Shortly after the successful launch of New Glenn from the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Sunday, Blue Origin said the rocket’s […]

3 LA County Residents Charged In Luxury Car Insurance Scam Involving Bear Suit Authored by Dylan Morgan via The Epoch Times, Three Los Angeles County residents were charged on April 16 with insurance fraud involving a bear suit and luxury vehicles. A fourth awaits trial. The California Department of Insurance said the defendants used a person in a bear suit to stage fake attacks on their luxury vehicles, then submitted […]

Futures Slide As Oil Jumps On Ceasefire Setbacks, Nasdaq In Danger Of Ending 13-Day Streak Futures are lower, but well off session lows,after a weekend of chaos in the Strait of Hormuz cast doubt over US-Iran peace talks ahead of Tuesday’s ceasefire expiration. On Saturday, Iran said the Strait will be closed until the US blockade is lifted, with ships reporting attacks. The US then fired and seized an Iranian-flagged ship on […]

UK PM Starmer Faces “Judgment Day” Over Epstein Pal Mandelson’s Appointment UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing for a showdown with the senior official he fired over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, as calls for the prime minister to resign grow. The controversy stems from Starmer’s decision to appoint veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson (Lord Mandelson) as Britain’s ambassador to the United […]

Xi Urges Immediate Opening Of Hormuz Strait For First Time, In Call With Saudi Crown Prince China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday demanded the uninterrupted passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, state news agency Xinhua reports. He urged the normalization of shipping traffic after about 50 days of disruption which obviously and significantly impacts […]

Psychedelic Stocks Soar After Trump Order; RBC Says Commercialization Path Could Accelerate Psychedelic drug stocks soared in premarket trading in New York after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at accelerating research and expanding access to therapies used for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “The executive order I’m signing, we’re actually signing the executive order today, is really a moment,” Trump said […]

Powerful 7.5-Magnitude Quake Hits Northern Japan, Triggers Tsunami Warnings A powerful and shallow 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s northeast coast, triggering a tsunami at Kuji Port in Iwate Prefecture. Public broadcaster NHK initially warned that a tsunami up to 10 feet high was expected to hit the Iwate area on Honshu’s main island. However, so far, it has been reported to be about 31 inches high. The quake was […]

From Leverage To Liability: The Hormuz Strait Is Now Iran’s Biggest Weakness Authored by Daniel Lacalle, For half a century, the Strait of Hormuz was Iran’s weapon. Today, it is its noose. The mathematics of energy have flipped, and with them the balance of coercive power in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s implicit deterrent was geographic, spanning from the tanker wars of the 1980s to the sanctions standoffs of the 2010s. Almost […]

“No More Mr. Nice Guy”: US Strikes, Seizes Iranian Cargo Ship Trying To Break Blockade Summary Trump renews threats if no deal is reached: “No More Mr. Nice Guy” Trump says U.S. struck and seized Iranian-flagged cargo ship in Gulf of Oman Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt after multiple incidents (Iran renewed threats to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait) Vance to lead negotiations with […]

These Are The Countries Building The Most Nuclear Power China is set to become the world’s dominant nuclear power producer. Based on existing and planned projects, its total capacity could reach nearly 186 gigawatts, far surpassing the U.S., which currently leads globally. This shift reflects a broader push to secure reliable, low-carbon energy as electricity demand rises. This chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Tasmin Lockwood, […]

Europe Faces Summer Jet Fuel Crisis As Iran War Slashes Supply Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, Europe faces an imminent jet fuel crisis as the Iran war and Hormuz disruption cut off key Middle Eastern supplies. Long-term refinery closures and rising import dependence have left Europe highly exposed, with limited alternatives and growing competition from Asia. Airlines are already cutting capacity and […]

Europeans Pay The Most For Public Transport Creating and maintaining reliable, efficient and affordable public transportation networks is crucial for developing a more sustainable mobility sector worldwide, though challenges vary by region. In Europe, gaps are most evident in rural areas, where low population density limits service frequency. In North America, many cities also suffer from fragmented public transport systems, […]

Cracks Appear In Climate Consensus As Germany’s Energy Minister Admits Renewables Are Ruining The Country Authored by Tilak Doshi, When Simon Wakter, Political Adviser to Sweden’s Minister for Energy, posted on X last Wednesday with a simple “Wow, incredible article” and a clapping emoji, he captured the shock rippling through Europe’s energy commentariat. The target of his applause was not some fringe sceptic but […]

These Are The Top Trade Partners Of Every European Country Germany sits at the center of Europe’s trade network, but it is not the only global force shaping the continent’s economy. This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, highlights the top trading partner of each European country based on International Monetary Fund data for Q1-Q3 2025. Europe’s nearly $30 trillion economy is diverse and spans sectors such as […]

Will Ukraine End Up Forcibly Conscripting Women To Fight On The Frontline? Via Remix News, Since Ukraine’s population has shrunk dramatically, the army’s number one problem is no longer the lack of weapons, such as ballistic missiles and air defense systems, but the lack of soldiers to operate them, writes Világgazdaság. The authorities in Kyiv, however, must bring the army size required by Commander-in-Chief Zelensky […]

Assisted Suicide Is The Logical Outcome Of Government-Controlled Medical Care Authored by William Andersen via The Mises Institute, Christianity Today recently published an article by Kristy Etheridge that was very critical of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, something that would not be surprising, given the magazine’s evangelical Christian outlook on issues. The article—again, not […]

Bulgaria’s Former Pro-Russian President Set For Landsllde Election Win Just as Europe’s neoliberal establishment was celebrating the downfall of Hungary’s Orban and his replacement with… another hard-line ant- immigrationist, it got some bad news on Sunday, as Bulgaria’s pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev was set for a runaway victory in the election and may even secure a parliamentary majority in the poorest EU state, […]

Washington’s Renewed Russian Oil Sanctions Waiver Will Help Their Shared Indian Partner Authored by Andrew Korybko, Both benefit from this since the US wants to avoid India sliding into turmoil amidst the global energy crisis and possibly offsetting its envisaged role as a counterweight of sorts to China while more energy revenue from India preemptively averts Russia’s potentially disproportionate dependence on China. The […]