LA Is Finally Cleaning Up Its Infamous “Graffiti Towers” Before The Olympics Arrives For years, the unfinished Oceanwide Plaza towers have stood as one of downtown Los Angeles’ most notorious landmarks. Not because of their architecture, but because of what they became. After construction stalled, the empty high-rises were transformed into a massive canvas for graffiti artists, attracting vandals, urban explorers and thrill-seekers […]

“I’m Not Racist”: Musk Slams Snooty Leftist Interviewer, Says “I Support The Normal People” Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, During a terse exchange, Elon Musk told the virulently leftist editor-in-chief of The Economist that civil war in Britain is inevitable on current trends – driven by rapid migration of people whose beliefs clash with Western civilisation. In response, Zanny Minton Beddoes accused Musk of […]

“The Polycrisis Of 2026 Whirls Like A Demon-Infested Storm Overcoming This Human Project…” Authored by James Howard Kunstler, Struggle session “. . .there is no saving the Left. There is only saving America from them.” — Sasha Stone The polycrisis of 2026 whirls like a demon-infested storm overcoming this human project of ours like a medieval panorama of the world’s end. Everything is fraught, tilting toward hazard, […]

Financial Repression: How The US Government Will Quietly Confiscate Your Wealth Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com, When I first heard the term “financial repression,” I thought it had to be a joke. Why would governments and central banks use a term with such a negative connotation? Even people who are financially illiterate can understand that financial repression is a bad thing. Simply put, financial […]

US Bombing Campaign Effectiveness In Doubt As Iranians Rebuild At Rapid Pace Neocon war hawks thought that Iran’s defense capabilities could be obliterated through shock and awe style heavy bombing raids, such as during the opening days and weeks of Operation Epic Fury, but just like pretty much every other assumption about how things would go in the little Iran “excursion” – they are once again proven wrong. Several fresh reports […]

‘Caution Is Warranted’: Ed Dowd Warns Wall Street’s AI CapEx Party Is Ending Authored by Ed Dowd via ‘Beyond The Narrative’ substack, The signs are piling up faster than the hype can spin them. AI capex has been the rocket fuel for markets, but the second derivative is turning. Factors ending the party: Private credit stalled — flows reversing, redemptions surging, industry effectively paused. Enterprise demand cracking […]

SpaceX Reportedly Turns Away Falcon Customers As Starship Gamble Comes Into Focus Yet another corporate media report based on anonymous sources is likely to draw an immediate response from Elon Musk. He has repeatedly used X this year to challenge reporting on Tesla and SpaceX. Bloomberg reports that SpaceX has begun turning away satellite operators seeking dedicated Falcon 9 launches after 2028 and is no longer accepting future […]

A Quantum Roadmap Would Push Bitcoin Much Higher Authored by Ciaran Lyons via CoinTelegraph.com, Bitcoin developers need to swallow their pride and outline a clear plan to harden the blockchain against quantum computing attacks, according to Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards. He says the day they finally bite the bullet, the price will respond very quickly. “If the Bitcoin core team says in two or three months: […]

“USA Isn’t A PiggyBank For Europe”: Trump Launches Section 301 Probe Into EU Over Big Tech Fines Summary: Trump Opens Section 301 Investigation On Europe Over Big Tech Fines  Trump Slaps Forced-Labor Duties On 60 Countries  Trump Begins Rebuild Tariff Wall After Supreme Court Ruling Earlier This Year  Trump Says US Begins Section 301 Investigation on Europe  President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US will launch a […]

Oil Tanker Makes Red Sea U-Turn After Houthi Threats, Reroutes Around Africa In Costly Transit ING’s Singapore-based head of commodities, Warren Patterson, was asked during a recent webinar what it would take for Brent crude to exceed $120 a barrel. His answer was “not much,” warning that prices could soar well into triple-digit territory if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked through August and threats to Red Sea shipping […]

Betting On TACO? Oil Slides Despite Unraveling ‘Diplomacy’ In Iran; Trump Warns China & Russia Summary Diplomacy signals emerge: Pakistan is reportedly exploring renewed US-Iran talks, while Trump is set to meet Netanyahu next week amid the escalating conflict. War continues with 13th straight night of bombing: The US carried out a 13th straight night of strikes on Iran as Tehran launched fresh attacks […]

Nine Potential Commodity Wildcards As “Once-A-Decade” Shocks Become New Normal A growing number of institutional desks sounded alarms over physical commodity markets this week as maritime chokepoint disruptions intensified across the Gulf. Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets, JPMorgan, and others warned that a tightening physical market could keep Brent firmly in triple-digit territory and drive prices sharply higher if the […]

AI Capex Depreciation Risk Is The Catch To Record Earnings Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The second-quarter earnings season is in full swing. So far, the results are landing in line or better than the upwardly revised Wall Street estimates. That’s the opposite of how this usually works. Analysts normally trim their forecasts as a year wears on. In 2026, they’ve done the opposite. The S&P 500 is on […]

Russian Attack On Arms Expo Near Kiev Kills 10, Just After Zelensky Hosts Raytheon Execs Russia just escalated against Western backers of Ukraine in a big way. On Friday a major Russian missile strike was carried out in Kyiv Oblast where representatives of Ukraine’s defense industry had gathered for a demonstration event. These types of defense tech gatherings occur semi-frequently, are somewhat secretive, and typically involve […]

Gas Prices Nearing Levels That Could Push Trump Towards Iran Talks, Says JPM Commodities Expert One of the main macro drivers this week remains the Gulf energy shock, as chokepoints from the Strait of Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb are disrupted. Turmoil in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine is also sending chills through commodities desks. Related energy coverage: RBC Commodities Chief Warns “War Entering Dangerous Phase” As […]

Trump Must Hand Over Finance Records Sought By BBC In Defamation Lawsuit, Judge Rules Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times, A judge in Florida has ruled President Donald Trump must hand over financial records sought by the BBC for its defense against his $10 billion defamation lawsuit. The U.S. president is suing the corporation over an episode of “Panorama” that edited together different sections of his speech on […]

Historic Buffalo Church Torches Twice In Four Days Following Sale To Islamic Group Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, A 140-year-old Catholic church in Buffalo has been deliberately set on fire for the second time in four days, the third blaze to hit the site this year. Investigators confirmed arson. The property was sold years earlier by the Diocese of Buffalo to a company affiliated with the Downtown Islamic Center, […]

US New Home Sales Rise For First Time In 3 Months As Prices Near 5-Year Lows With Case-Shiller reporting existing home price declines in half of America’s largest cities, and despite a weaker homebuilder confidence print, New Home Sales were expected to rebound from April and May’s ugly declines… and they did, but only very modestly. New home sales rose 1.6% MoM (+4.8% MoM exp) marking the first rise in three months, but May’s […]

US PMIs Mixed But Still Signal Accelerating Economic Growth In Q3 With ‘hard data’ trending weaker, today’s preliminary July PMIs offer the first glimpse at whether the reignition of the Iran War is weighing on ‘soft’ survey sentiment in the US economy. The data was mixed (as always) with Manufacturing disappointing while Services accelerated more than expected: Flash US Manufacturing PMI: 53.8 (June: 53.9). 4-month low. […]

Yet Another Wildberries Facility – Russia’s Amazon – Goes Up In Flames After Ukraine Drone Strike Another large warehouse and logistics hub for major online Russian retailer Wildberries has been targeted and struck by Ukrainian drones. This is the third time in a week the company widely considered to be the ‘Russian Amazon’ has seen its warehouses go up in flames. At least eight of its shipping facilities have been attacked overall […]

“It’s Getting Worse”: HSBC Warns Commodities Face Squeeze As Chokepoint Chaos Spreads The key takeaway heading into the weekend is that maritime chokepoint chaos has spread from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while fighting across the Black Sea has intensified between Russia and Ukraine. The widening disruptions have prompted several institutional desks this week to warn that a potential squeeze on physical […]

Braggawatts, Cheap Chinese Compute, & Simple ROI Authored by Peter Tchir via Academy Securities, With weakness in chips and AI the prior week, that was a major topic of conversation, as was the escalation in Iran (please see Academy’s Geopolitical Analysis for the latest on Iran and geopolitics more broadly). Two key themes from last weekend’s From Trinkets to Compute seem to be playing out: Cheap Chinese Compute […]

NANO Nuclear And Fortil Advance Critical KRONOS Fuel System NANO Nuclear Energy has pushed another critical piece of its KRONOS MMR program toward preliminary design, this time with French engineering group Fortil. If there’s a corner of the French industrial sector that America should be comfortable leaning into, their nuclear segment is arguably the safest bet. Their 57-reactor fleet, accounting for 70% of the country’s […]

Futures Rebound As Brent Dips Below $100 US equity futures are seeing a modest rebound after posting their biggest drop this month, as Brent crude dropped back under $100 a barrel, and bond yields and rate hike odds – which track the price of oil one to one – halted their ascent. As of 6:00am ET,  S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, with the index still on track for its first back-to-back weekly loss since the early stages of the Iran […]

Inside Global Aerospace & Defense Boom: 12 Takeaways From World’s Most Important Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is coming to a close in the UK, marking the end of one of the aerospace and defense industry’s top gatherings. Institutional research desks have had boots on the ground, tracking commercial-aircraft orders, defense procurement and other industry trends. A team of Citi analysts led by John Godyn […]