My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:

• The Dow Is Close to 50,000. How the Heck Did We Get Here So Fast? The Dow Jones Industrial Average took 103 years to reach 10,000, in 1999, after starting at 40.94 in 1896. Milestones at 20,000, 30,000, and 40,000 occurred in rapid succession starting in 2017, with decreasing fanfare. The Dow is now approaching 50,000, with annualized gains of 6.4% from 10,000 in 1999. (Barron’s)

• Google is trying to take down a group sending you all those spammy texts: A new lawsuit details what allegedly happens after you click that fake USPS link. (The Verge) see also The hidden, horrifying world behind all those recruitment scam texts: The people likely to be sending them are victims, too. (Vox)

• A Winning Investment Strategy Sitting Right Under Your Nose (If You Can Hold It): It works to buy stocks after they’ve gotten wrecked. (Morningstar)

• Trump Is Falling Into the Same “Affordability” Trap That Ensnared Biden: Republicans learned nothing from how badly Dems bungled inflation. Turns out it’s easy to win while running as an outsider promising “affordability.” It’s much harder to actually do anything about it. (The Bulwark)

• Why Gen Z Hates Work: When you spend hours each day watching influencers get rich without much effort, you forget what it takes to succeed in this world. (The Free Press)

• How two tiny banks are helping Trump’s sons build a crypto empire: Dominari Holdings and Yorkville Advisors are benefiting from close connections with Eric and Donald Trump Jr. (Financial Times)

• When Will We Make God? The key driver of the AI Bubble. Hyperscalers believe they might build God within the next few years. That’s one of the main reasons they’re spending billions on AI, soon trillions. They think it will take us just a handful of years to get to AGI—Artificial General Intelligence, the moment when an AI can do nearly all virtual human tasks better than nearly any human. They think it’s a straight shot from there to superintelligence—an AI that is so much more intelligent than humans that we can’t even fathom how it thinks. A God. (Uncharted Territories)

• People don’t want to visit the U.S. Can this new ad convince them otherwise? A new ad campaign aims to sell an idealized America to increasingly skeptical travelers. (Fast Company) 

• How do you move a village? Residents of France’s last outpost in North America try to outrun the sea As rising tides eat away at the Saint-Pierre and Miquelon archipelago off Canada, plans to move the historic village to higher ground have divided residents. (The Guardian)

• Ben Stiller Was Hollywood’s Funny Guy. But He’s Always Been Serious. He’s best known as a comedy star who defined the Gen X sensibility. But what he really wants is to work behind the camera. (Wall Street Journal)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview  this weekend with Bankim “Binky” Chadha, Chief US Equity & Global Strategist and Head of Asset Allocation at Deutsche Bank Securities, a role he has held since 2004.

 

Bonds are not as positively correlated to equities as they were in 2022, they are no longer negatively correlated either.

Source: Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity Investments

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

 

The post 10 Friday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Oil Prices Soar After Ukraine Strike On Major Russian Export Hub

Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

Oil prices jumped in early Asian trade on Friday morning as markets responded to renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, one of the country’s most significant oil export hubs, triggered renewed fears of supply disruptions.

Ukraine has launched a massive attack on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Long-range missile and drones have hit targets in several locations, including the oil terminal.

Huge explosions kept residents up all night pic.twitter.com/fJssz64Ugo

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 14, 2025

At the time of writing, WTI had risen 2.71% to $60.30...

The attacks damaged a ship, nearby apartment buildings, and an oil depot, injuring three crew members aboard the vessel, Russian regional authorities confirmed.

Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted Russian oil-refining, storage, and export infrastructure using drones and missiles.

The campaign has gained intensity in recent months, with the Center for European Policy Analysis noting a shift in strategy “from smaller-scale strikes on storage tanks to targeting hard-to-replace refinery equipment, like cracking units, much of it western-made and subject to sanctions.”

"The intensity of these attacks has increased, it's much more often. Eventually they could hit something that causes lasting disruption," said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.

If Ukraine continues to press its deep-strike campaign and Russia faces rolling or compounding infrastructure losses, the supply risk to global oil markets could rise meaningfully.

Russian oil supply is being further suppressed by renewed U.S. sanctions, most notably new restrictions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil, effective Nov. 21, prohibiting transactions with the companies as Washington increases pressure on Moscow.

The broader oil market outlook, however, remains bearish, with U.S. crude inventories rising and multiple warnings of a severe glut in 2026.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 06:30

Key Ocean Current Faltering, Raising Risk Of "Ice Age"-Like Cooling

And just like that we're free from climate hysteria and worried about a new "ice age"...Funny how that works, isn't it? 

A new study in Communications Earth & Environment warns that a key Atlantic current could near collapse within decades, potentially triggering an “ice age” scenario and major sea-level rise, according to the NY Post.

The research, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oceanology and UC San Diego, focuses on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the “conveyor belt of the ocean” that includes the Gulf Stream and helps keep Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. East Coast relatively mild.

The Post writes that the study argues that warming temperatures are melting the Greenland ice sheet, sending freshwater into the North Atlantic and slowing the AMOC. Researchers say they’ve detected a related “distinctive temperature fingerprint” several thousand feet below the surface.

“Here we identify a distinctive temperature fingerprint in the equatorial Atlantic that signals the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation change,” they wrote, adding that its “robust physical mechanism and reliable detection make [this fingerprint] a valuable metric for AMOC monitoring in a warming climate.”

Using the MITgcm climate model and ocean data back to 1960, the team concludes the AMOC has been weakening since the late 20th century and could collapse before 2100. If that happened, Europe could face drastic cooling — possibly nearly 60 degrees — and drier conditions. As Jonathan Bamber told the Daily Mail, “Winters would be more typical of Arctic Canada and precipitation would decrease, also.”

Reuters notes the AMOC last collapsed before the Ice Age ended roughly 12,000 years ago.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 05:45

UAE-Based DP World Takes Control Of Syria's Tartus Port In $800M Deal

Via Middle East Eye

Syria has formally handed over operations of Tartus port, the second largest port in the country, to the UAE-based logistics company DP World. 

DP World officially commenced operations on Wednesday, months after signing a 30-year concession agreement worth $800m with Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports. The deal has been described as one of the largest global investments in Syria’s logistics sector in years, and aims to turn the port into an efficient trading hub. 

Tartus port, via Maxar Technologies/AFP

"We are committed to applying DP World’s global expertise to build a modern and digitally enabled port that will grow trade, create opportunities and firmly position Tartus as a key trade hub in the Eastern Mediterranean," said Fahad al-Banna, the newly appointed chief executive of DP World Tartus. 

DP World said in a statement that it would upgrade the port’s infrastructure, expand its handling and storage capacity and invest in bulk handling systems. 

In June, Syria’s government annulled a 2019 agreement between Bashar al-Assad’s administration and the Russian company Stroytransgaz to manage Tartus. 

Damascus said the deal was terminated due to the Russian company breaching its contract, including by failing to invest a promised $500m in modernizing that port’s infrastructure. 

The government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, also said in a statement at the time that the previous deal was "unfair to Syrian sovereignty", with Syria receiving 35 percent of port revenues while Stroytransgaz got 65 percent. 

Since the fall of the Assad dynasty’s decades-long rule in December, the new administration has been aiming to re-establish economic ties with western and regional powers. 

Along with Tartus, a 30-year deal was also signed with French shipping company CMA CGM to operate Latakia port, the largest port city in the country.  

In June, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting sanctions on Syria, to support the country’s reconstruction following over a decade of war. The European Union and the UK also eased sanctions. Earlier this week, Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 05:00

EU Development Bank Boosts Funding For Ukraine Gas Supply

Submitted by Michael Kern of OilPrice.com,

The European Union’s development bank has decided to provide additional funds to Ukraine’s state energy firm Naftogaz to secure natural gas supply amid continued Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. 

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, will extend a $147-million (127 million euros) grant to Naftogaz, according to an EIB statement carried by Reuters. 

Last month, the EIB extended a loan of $348 million (300 million euros) to Naftogaz in an urgent measure to strengthen energy resilience and replenish Ukraine’s long-term gas reserves ahead of winter. 

The loan “will secure energy supply for households and businesses, following damage to Ukrainian infrastructure caused by Russia’s ongoing attacks,” the EIB said in October. 

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure intensified as temperatures began to drop in the autumn. Ukraine has discussed with G7 countries additional natural gas imports as it seeks to boost imports by 30% to offset the damage from Russian strikes on its gas infrastructure. 

Naftogaz said in early October that Russia launched another massive attack on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. The targets were civilian facilities that supply Ukrainians with gas during the heating season.  

“As a result of this attack, a significant portion of our facilities has been damaged. Some of the destruction is critical,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said.

In the past week, Naftogaz signed an agreement with Polish energy firm Orlen for the supply of U.S. LNG, and agreed with Greek company ATLANTIC-SEE to jointly work to ensure U.S. LNG supply to Europe and Ukraine through Greek LNG terminals and the Vertical Corridor. 

Separately, Ukraine’s imports of electricity from the European Union surged to a 2025 high in October as Russia intensified attacks on the power grid to wreak additional havoc as temperatures drop. 

The Russia-Ukraine war on strategic energy assets has escalated in recent weeks, with Russia targeting gas facilities and power infrastructure in Ukraine, and Ukraine increasing drone strikes on Russian refineries and key export hubs.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 03:30

German Chancellor Tells Zelensky Young Men Should Return & Defend Their Homeland

At a moment the Zelensky government is suffering embarrassment and under a global spotlight for a wide-ranging corruption case related to the country's struggling state energy sector, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has issued some unusually strong words directed at Ukrainian leadership.

In televised remarks Thursday he revealed that he personally urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get serious about curbing the flow of young Ukrainian men to Germany as they need to serve in the defense of their own homeland. Merz disclosed some of the contents of his latest call.

"In a lengthy telephone conversation today, I asked the Ukrainian president to ensure that young men in particular from Ukraine do not come to Germany in large numbers - in increasing numbers - but that they serve their country," Merz said "They are needed there."

German Chancellor Merz:

In a call today, I asked the Ukrainian President to ensure that young Ukrainian men do not return to Germany in growing numbers, but serve in their own country where they are needed. pic.twitter.com/4fz8bLic8J

— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 13, 2025

Within Merz's conservative ranks there's been growing alarm over the large numbers of fighting-age men fleeing Ukraine and into Western Europe.

Zelensky policies have enabled this, as his administration relaxed exit rules related to martial law, just months ago for the first time of the war letting Ukrainian men aged 18 to 22 leave the country. Ukrainian citizens can't even be drafted until they are 25, under current law.

American officials have also criticized Ukraine's policy, given in most militaries in the world, eighteen makes one eligible to be recruited.

Further, according to Politico, "Members of Merz’s ruling coalition fear that the growing presence of young Ukrainian men in Germany will be turned into a political flash point by members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, who criticize the government’s ongoing support for Kyiv."

Last month The Telegraph reported "Almost 100,000 fighting-age Ukrainian men have left the country in the past two months after Volodymyr Zelensky eased departure rules, new figures show." 

Those figures were primarily based on the Polish border guard, as the neighboring EU country shares a long border with Ukraine, and has been from the start of the war absorbing refugees and trying to maintain strict counts and records. And surely many of these young men made it to Germany and other Western European countries.

While men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the military and sent to the front lines, men 24 and under still cannot. Again, this has been hugely controversial as even US members of Congress have complained that Washington is sinking billions into the war effort against Russia, and Kiev won't even tap into its most eligible fighting-age demographic. And so the expected drain of young men from the country is happening after border restrictions were loosened by Kiev last summer.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 02:45

The Next Phase Of Germany's Nord Stream Investigation Might Further Worsen Ties With Poland

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Italy’s potential extradition of a Ukrainian suspect to Germany could lead to a highly publicized (and predictably politicized) trial that implicates Poland in this unprecedented attack on a fellow NATO ally.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a detailed piece about “The Nord Stream Investigation That’s Splintering Europe Over Ukraine”.

The gist is that Germany’s investigation into the Ukrainian trace, which is likely a preplanned red herring as argued here in early 2023, has already worsened ties with Poland after one of its judges refused to extradite a Ukrainian suspect.

It could soon worsen ties with Ukraine too if Italy soon extradites another one and a highly publicized (and predictably politicized) trial follows.

Germany’s Nord Stream investigation has placed it in a dilemma since it needs to pin the blame on someone for one of the largest sabotage/terrorist attacks in decades, yet it doesn’t dare look into the American trace that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh drew attention to in early 2023. Accusing it of orchestrating this attack would risk punitive tariffs from Trump and could convince him to authorize the gradual transfer of some EUCOM infrastructure from Germany to neighboring rival Poland.

On that topic, the Ukrainian trace also conveniently implicates Poland, thus inflicting damage to its reputation.

The idea that this NATO ally played even just a passive role facilitating a third country’s attack against a “fellow” member, let alone might be trying to cover the aforesaid up after declining to extradite one of the suspects, could have real-world consequences.

Germany might rally other allies against supporting Poland in a hypothetical crisis with Russia, for example, and could even blame Poland for it.

Not only that, but Poland’s proposal for Germany to subsidize its arms industry as a form of World War II reparations could be opposed on the pretext that the long-term damage that Poland helped Ukraine inflict to Germany equals whatever Germany might have subsidized, therefore negating the request. Worsened bilateral relations could then give a boost to the conservative opposition, which dislikes Germany almost as much as it dislikes Russia, ahead of fall 2027’s next parliamentary elections.

Replacing the ruling liberal-globalist coalition, which could be achieved by allying with the populist-nationalist opposition upon complying with their demand that senior party leaders resign, would strengthen the challenge that Poland poses to German influence in the region. That’s because the Right would control the presidency and parliament, thus breaking the deadlock that’s been in place since the current coalition obtained power in December 2023 and enabling more effective policy implementation.

This outcome could still occur even without a highly publicized German trial implicating Poland in the Nord Stream attack, but it’ll make it much more likely if that happens. In such a scenario, already fractious EU and NATO unity might further weaken, with this possibly hamstringing cooperation against Russia through the “military Schengen” and other emerging multilateral frameworks. A security dilemma could also develop between them amidst their mutual adversarial perceptions and arms buildups.

Observers should remember that this is possible solely due to Germany refusing to investigate the American trace in the Nord Stream attack, instead opting to look into the Ukrainian one that also involves Poland. The public demands that someone be blamed for the spike in costs brought about by Germany being cut off from cheap and reliable Russian gas. The elite therefore decided to pin the blame on them, but it’s unclear whether they thought through the consequences touched upon in this analysis.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/14/2025 - 02:00

Escobar: China's Relentless Innovation Drive Is Reaching Fever Pitch

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

China’s innovation drive is reaching fever pitch in 2025.

Let’s cut to the chase and focus on four crucial domains.

1.The Huawei Factor

Huawei is already testing its first, self-developed EUV lithography machine capable of producing 3nm chips. Trial tests are going full blast at the research center in Dongguan, and mass production should start in 2026.

It’s impossible to overstate how much of a game-changing paradigm this Chinese breatkthrough – specifically in laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) - is all about. It’s set to turn the seminconductor technology environment totally upside down.

The physics involved in Huawei’s LDP is fundamentally different from the method employed by the Dutch ASML’s de facto monopoly. This being China, it’s simpler, smaller and cheaper.

Huawei’s technology is bound to smash that monopoly while solidifying China’s chip independence. Talk about cost efficiency: Huawei aims to produce EUV machines at a fraction of the cost of ASML’s (around $350 million for each unit), and no less than flood China with homegrown 3 nm chips.

All that is happening after the proverbial Western "experts", following the 2019 sanctions imposed by Trump 1.0, dictated that China would take up to 15 years to just catch up. After all, EUV technology is too deeply embedded in the Western-controlled supply chain. It was assumed that China would never be able to smash the monopoly.

Well, of course any monopoly is smashable when public-private partnerships – in academia and tech – release untold billions of dollars into R&D, rally the best minds, and focus on building an EUV eco-system from scratch.

This is not only about tech; it’s a geoeconomic and geopolitical earthquake. There was a serious debate going on across China that it would be a matter between 2 and 3 years to cut off any dependence on US/Western tech. Well, Huawei and SMIC will be moving closer to mass production of these 3 nm chips already by next year. Not hard to do the math on where the future of global chipmaking lies.

Invest In R&D And Reach Patent Heaven

Now cut to Fan Zhiyong, Huawei’s Vice-President and Minister of Intellectual Property, talking at the company’s 6th Innovation and Intellectual Property Forum this past Tuesday.

He explained how "from the brand-new HarmonyOS 6 operating system to the powerful Atlas 950 supernode, our R&D team has achieved remarkable successes. Although many leading software and hardware products are massive systems engineering projects, we are making every effort to make them open to everyone."

Huawei conducts an innovation and intellectual property forum nearly every year, discussing the importance of open/protected intellectual property as well as promoting its Top Ten Inventions: this year they featured, among others, supernodes; the Harmony OS; foldable screens; short-range optical interconnects; and next-generation solid state drives.

There’s no secret: a lot of investment in R&D is behind all these breakthroughs. Over the past five years, Huawei has invested more than 20% of its annual sales revenue in R&D. According to the EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard 2024, Huawei is Number 6 globally in R&D expenditure.

Huawei does not see these accomplishments as leading to a "closed garden". On the contrary: the strategy is to foment an "open industry", including the launch of a series of new open source software and hardware.

This opennes is reflected by the fact that Huawei is one of the world's largest patent holders. By the end of 2024, Huawei held over 150,000 valid authorized patents globally, ranging from over 50,000 Chinese patents to over 29,000 patents in the U.S. and 19,000 in Europe.

And that brings us to…

2. Total Tech Sufficiency

And of course that is centered on AI. Cut to three recent key tech moves:

A. Beijing has banned foreign AI chips in every state-funded data center across the nation. Exempted will be only a few private companies which build their own data centers.

B. Local and regional governments were encouraged and are already subsidizing the electricity bills of AI data centers. China has a key infrastructure advantage over the US: cheap and extremely abundant power – as I saw it in my recent travels in Xinjiang. That is essential to offset the cost of switching to domestic chips, a more energy-intensive operation. For example, Huawei’s AI server system – CloudMatrix 384 – consumes more energy than Nvidia’s NVL72 system.

C. Beijing is also rolling out a new, ambitious "AI Plus Manufacturing" plan, included in the broader AI Plus initiative.

Point A is ultra-pertinent because Trump 2.0 is debating whether to allow Nvidia to sell a downgraded version of its Blackwell chips to China. Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang is lobbying for it like there’s no tomorrow, desperate of losing the Chinese market to Huawei for good. He bombastically announced that China is only "nanosenconds" behind the US on semiconductors.

Point C is also ultra-pertinent because as we saw with the Hauwei factor, Beijing is going for no holds barred AI chip self-sufficiency.

Beijing is deploying a very clever strategy. No foreign chips in data centers means a de facto protected market to domestic chip innovators which match foreign chip performances. Talk about a massive incentive.

Li Lecheng, Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has announced that MIIT will soon issue an "AI Plus Manufacturing" plan, focusing on rolling out AI upgrades in key industries; expanding intelligent assisted design, virtual simulation, and early defect detection; promoting brand new AI-enabled mobile phones and computers; and accelerating R&D for next-generation intel devices such as humanoid robots and brain-computer interfaces.

In a nutshell: that is how Beijing wants to implement AI in every nook and cranny of the Chinese economy. It’s a no holds barred total innovation strategy. Sanctions? What sanctions?

3. Clean Energy

This revolution is already on – with China leaping ahead of the whole collective West, installing, for instance, nearly 900 gigawatt of solar capacity, more than the US-EU combo.

Last year, China generated 1826 terawatt/hour of electricity out of solar and wind power – five times the energy equivalent of all its nuclear warheads.

Yes: that’s a certified energy superpower.

4. An Early-Warning Detection Big Data Platform

The Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology - China’s number one defense-electronics center and a hub of key innovation even under US sanctions – is developing a ground-breaking "distributed early-warning detection big data platform" capable of tracking up to 1,000 missile launches worldwide in real time.

The platform fuses data from an enormous array of space-, air-, sea-, and ground-based sensors, using advanced algorithms to distinguish warheads from decoys and proceed to action across secure networks.

The system integrates literally anything: fragmented, heterogeneous data streams from multiple sources – radars, satellites, optical, electronic reconnaissance systems – no matter where they come from, and when.

Cue to the system’s integration with interceptor missiles. During the Victory Day military parade last September in Beijing, China presented a new generation of air defense and anti-ballistic missiles, including the HQ-29, capable of intercepting hostile missiles beyond the atmosphere. Call it the Chinese Dragon Dome.

These are only 4 vectors amid the concerted Chinese tech drive, one of the key themes of the next Five-Year Plan to be approved next March in the "Two Sessions" in Beijing.

Now cut to Ronnie Chan, the Chair Emeritus of the Asia Society and the chairman of its Hong Kong Centre. He’s one of those affable old-school Hong Kong elite members who’s seen it all – and capable of synthesizing what’s ahead in a sharp and sweet manner. What he said recently at a seminar organized by the Shanghai Development Research Foundation could not be more relevant.

Let’s take just three key takeaways:

1. "The Chinese people are resilient and patient. As long as domestic stability is maintained, external pressure only strengthens their endurance (…) in this China–U.S. rivalry, there will be no true winner, but the side that stands longer in the end will be China."

2. "China’s economy has not been over-financialised, and it continues to be grounded in the real economy. Only when manufacturing is strong can a nation remain stable and resilient."

3. "China must stay calm — neither blindly optimistic nor blindly pessimistic. China possess a vast market, a complete industrial chain, and a diligent population. As long as internal stability holds, external pressures cannot defeat it. The real opportunities ahead do not lie in real estate or finance, but in the service sector and innovation-driven real economies."

There is no Chinese "miracle": it’s all about planning and hard work. And now to the next stage: no holds barred innovation.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/13/2025 - 23:25

These Are The Car Brands And US Cities With The Most Drunk Drivers, New Study Shows

Drunk driving remains one of the leading causes of traffic deaths in the United States, claiming an average of 34 lives every day — a total of 13,429 in 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nearly one-third of all road fatalities are alcohol-related. But as new data from The Suzuki Law Firm shows, the problem is far from evenly distributed. Certain states, cities, and even car brands are far more likely to be associated with drunk driving incidents than others, revealing stark regional and behavioral trends.

Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, Omaha, Nebraska, has the highest rate of drunk driving citations, with 4.48 per 1,000 drivers — more than double the 50-city average of 1.9. San Jose and Sacramento, California, follow closely at 3.68 and 3.55 per 1,000 drivers, respectively, according to Suzuki Law Offices.

Several other California cities, including Fresno, Long Beach, Bakersfield, and Oakland, also rank near the top, reflecting the state’s combination of car dependence, warm weather, and limited public transit options. Meanwhile, Chicago, Tulsa, and Philadelphia have among the lowest DUI citation rates, each with fewer than one per 1,000 drivers.

When fatal crashes are considered, Texas emerges as the country’s deadliest drunk driving hotspot. El Paso leads the nation, with 60.8 percent of fatal accidents involving an impaired driver, followed by Fort Worth, Houston, Dallas, and Arlington — giving Texas five of the top ten cities for drunk-driving-related deaths. The study attributes this to the state’s extensive road networks, strong drinking culture, and comparatively uneven enforcement of alcohol-related laws. Conversely, cities like Milwaukee, Miami, and Tampa report the lowest percentages of fatal crashes involving drunk drivers.

The Suzuki Law Office article notes that car brand data paints an equally striking picture. Luxury automakers dominate the list of vehicles most frequently cited for DUIs, with BMW drivers leading at 3.09 drunk driving citations per 1,000 drivers, followed by RAM (3.00), Acura (2.69), Audi (2.42), and Volvo (2.42).

At the opposite end, Mercury (0.86), Land Rover (1.16), and Lincoln (1.16) drivers have the lowest DUI rates. The Suzuki Law Firm’s analysis references a University of California, Berkeley study that supports this trend, noting that “fancy cars were less likely to stop, and BMW drivers were the worst,” linking luxury ownership to more aggressive or careless driving behaviors.

Tesla drivers stand out in another way — not for DUIs specifically, but for the highest overall number of driving incidents nationwide. In 2024, Teslas were involved in 36.9 incidents per 1,000 drivers, up from 31.1 in 2023. RAM and Subaru followed closely behind. When examined state by state, RAM drivers were the worst in 16 states, especially New Jersey, where they recorded 74.2 incidents per 1,000 drivers.

Regionally, Nebraska, California, and Texas remain the most prominent DUI hotspots, each for different reasons. Nebraska’s high rate likely reflects both heavy drinking and stricter enforcement. California’s mix of sociable, outdoor culture and limited transit access contributes to its problem, while Texas’s vast highways, strong car culture, and lenient policies exacerbate risk.

The full study is here.

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/13/2025 - 23:00