EU Wants Crisis Powers To Seize Control Of Chip Supplies, Seeks Restrictions On Chinese Imports

The EU - which is badly lagging the rest of the world when it comes to AI development - is preparing sweeping emergency powers to intervene in Europe’s semiconductor supply chains during shortages, including by forcing chipmakers to override existing contracts, the FT reported. So much for the sanctity of those "contract-backed" backlogs... 

The draft law also enables common purchasing to boost the bloc’s negotiating power, and would mark a clear expansion of the EU’s powers to intervene directly in industrial supply chains.

Amid tensions between Beijing and Washington, there are growing fears in Europe that semiconductors can become a tool of economic coercion, heightened by European reliance on Taiwan for high-performance chips.

The clearest example of Europe's heavy hand was laid bare last year when the Dutch government took control of chipmaker Nexperia from its Chinese owner over concerns that it was moving production and assets out of Europe. The flow of chips from Nexperia’s China arm slowed dramatically, forcing some European car companies to reduce production.

The Dutch government last year took control of chipmaker Nexperia from its Chinese owner over concerns it was moving production out of Europe

The draft law, which is still subject to change ahead of its expected publication next week, would allow the European Commission far-reaching powers in the event of semiconductor shortages that threaten supplies of weapons, medical devices, digital infrastructure and other key categories of goods. In such a crisis, the Commission could impose fines of up to €300,000 on companies that fail to provide requested information on their supply-chain capacity. It could also “force semiconductor manufacturers to prioritize orders for crisis-critical products, overriding existing contracts”, the draft reads.

Brussels could also enable common purchasing to “strengthen negotiating power and prevent competition between EU countries for limited supplies”. The Commission would then act as a central buyer for multiple EU countries, as it did to acquire vaccines during the pandemic.

According to the FT, the so-called Chips Act forms part of a wider push from the bloc to reduce its dependence on US technology by backing European alternatives in sectors from semiconductors and cloud computing to AI. In the document, Brussels acknowledges that the bloc is “almost entirely dependent on the US and Asia” for the most advanced chips.

Semiconductor supply chains are vast and complex, with a typical Nvidia system tapping thousands of suppliers in dozens of countries. And yet, the EU currently produces less than 10% of global semiconductors. Earlier plans to double the EU’s global market share in semiconductors by 2030 are far behind schedule.

The bloc, like the rest of the world, is overwhelmingly dependent on Taiwan for its supply of high-performance chips, with the home of semiconductor company TSMC accounting for more than 90 per cent of leading-edge chip manufacturing. China has made repeated threats to use force against Taiwan if Taipei continues to resist its sovereignty claims. Any conflict in the region could cause global shortages of components critical to electronics from smartphones and AI data centres to cars and medical gear. 

Separately, the Guardian reports that EU commissioners will meet on Friday for talks aimed at imposing new restrictions on imports from China amid growing concern that Beijing is fuelling conditions for US-style rust belt towns in Europe.

The surge in imports of everything from electric cars to key components in machines, medical devices and food stuffs - which many including us warned long ago would lead to collapsing European domestic production as Chinese exports are dumped in European markets and overwhelm local producers - has been dubbed China Shock 2.0, potentially mirroring the experience in the US 25 years ago when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization.

Ironically, it was the Trump administration which warned that Europe's attempts to offset US sanctions by overreliance on China, would lead to just this outcome. Well, Europe is now there. 

Commissioners representing each member state have been asked to bring examples of Chinese activities in all 27 portfolios, spanning trade to agriculture, defence, health and digital initiatives to the talks. While no decisions would be taken on Friday but the talks would help “align” the commission’s thinking and address overproduction in China, which is leading imports into the EU to be sometimes up to 40% cheaper than local products.

It will also feed into the next leaders summit on 18 June when China will be one of the handful of items on the agenda.

Ignacio García Bercero, a senior fellow at the Brussels thinktank Bruegel and a former official at the European Commission’s trade department, said the EU needed to formulate “a clearer strategy about how to deal with China”.

He said quotas and tariff rate quotas could be introduced on Chinese goods, as they were safeguards that were much faster to implement than tariffs and could focus on areas that China is targeting, such as hybrid cars and chemical components.

“I think that sometimes there’s a little bit of a tendency to sound very tough, but then not to act tough, and I don’t think that is a clever way to handle things.”

He said while showing it was prepared to act, the EU must also engage with China.

“The US has an engagement with China, Canada has an engagement with China. Everyone is having an engagement with China. I think in my view … we need to find a way to make sure that we are properly respected by China when we have that engagement.”

Earlier this month industry leaders told the Guardian of fears that EU factories would cannabilise themselves through their reliance on Chinese components, an issue which rarely makes the headlines.

Longer term, the EU could also look to a slew of laws: its never used anti-coercion instrument; legislation such as the cybersecurity act 2.0 that could stop procurement of certain Chinese products and the industrial accelerator act commonly known as the “made in EU” law.

Grzegorz Stec, the head of the Brussels office of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), said China has not set out to destroy European business but it is potentially the consequence of its steeling focus of the survival of its own industries now, and into a post-AI world future.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 13:00

DOJ Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Case That Could Lead To Pre-Election Voter Roll Cleanups

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could determine whether states are allowed to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls in the 90 days leading up to an election.

In the case, the DOJ argues that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 does not prevent states from taking noncitizens off voter rolls before elections.

The National Voter Registration Act is also known as the Motor-Voter law because it allows people to register to vote with relative ease at motor vehicle agencies and government offices. The NVRA requires states to make a reasonable effort to remove ineligible individuals’ names from voter rolls, but a federal appeals court ruled that names cannot be removed in the 90 days before an election.

The DOJ made its argument on May 26 in a brief urging the high court to grant the petition in Republican National Committee (RNC) v. Mi Familia Vota.

If the Supreme Court grants the RNC’s petition, states may be allowed to purge voter rolls close to elections.

Arizona law allows only U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections. It requires people registering to vote to produce documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers. It also allows the names of noncitizens to be removed from voter rolls.

If election officials procure “information” from periodic inspections of the state’s voter rolls that confirm a “person registered is not a United States citizen,” they “cancel the registration,” according to the brief.

A 2018 consent decree, reached as part of a court-enforced settlement from a previous lawsuit, required the state to register applicants who lack proof of citizenship as “federal-only” voters who could participate in federal elections but not state or local elections. A consent decree is a legally binding court-enforced settlement made with the consent of the litigants.

Mi Familia Vota and other groups sued, alleging that the Arizona law violates the NVRA and the consent decree.

A federal district court ruled mostly for the plaintiffs, issuing an injunction that blocked certain parts of the state law, including the proof of citizenship requirement, the brief said.

The Supreme Court in August 2024 issued a partial stay of the district court order that allowed Arizona to continue to enforce its proof of citizenship requirement when voters register using state forms.

In February 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction, finding that the consent decree blocks the proof of citizenship requirement and that the NVRA preempts, or supersedes, the requirement—among other things. The appeals court also blocked the removal of names from the voter rolls in the 90-day run-up to an election, a practice it said the NVRA already forbids, according to the brief.

The Supreme Court’s partial stay prevails over the Ninth Circuit’s block of the proof of citizenship requirement. The high court’s stay will remain in effect until the circuit court disposes of the appeal, or the Supreme Court issues a final decision or denies the RNC’s petition for review.

Does Not Apply to Noncitizens: DOJ

The DOJ argues in its brief that the NVRA’s restrictions on taking individuals’ names off the list of eligible voters in the 90 days preceding an election “do not apply to noncitizens who were never eligible to register in the first place.”

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling to the contrary is “badly mistaken,” deepens a split among federal courts of appeals, and “risks significant harm,” said Hashim Mooppan, filing as acting U.S. solicitor general for the purposes of this case. Solicitor General D. John Sauer himself is recused in the case.

Using the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit, “a State could never remove a noncitizen from its voter rolls once registered,” he said.

“That cannot be correct and cries out for reversal,” Mooppan said, urging the Supreme Court to grant the RNC’s petition.

Although the current federal voter registration form requires only that applicants attest that they are citizens, the NVRA gives states the flexibility to mandate that applicants supply documentary proof of citizenship when using state voter registration forms, he said.

Mooppan said the Supreme Court in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Inc. (2013) gave Arizona’s prior proof of citizenship requirement as an “example” of the rule that “state-developed forms may require information the Federal Form does not.”

The Ninth Circuit’s decision “cannot be reconciled” with this precedent, and the majority on the circuit panel “did not even try,” he said.

The RNC’s petition “presents both of these questions and provides a good vehicle to address them,” Mooppan said.

It is unclear when the Supreme Court will consider the petition.

The Epoch Times contacted the RNC’s attorney, Gilbert Dickey of Consovoy McCarthy in Arlington, Virginia, and Mi Familia Vota’s attorney, David Fox of Elias Law Group in Washington, for comment. No replies were received by publication time.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:45

Consumer Isn't Dead Yet: US Retail Stocks Surge As Resilient Shoppers Surprise Markets

The S&P Retail Select Industry Index rose more than 1% Thursday morning as shares of Kohl's, Best Buy, and Dollar Tree surged on better-than-expected earnings results. Results suggest the U.S. consumer was stronger than feared in the prior quarter, even as households were battered by a fuel-price shock at the pump, persistent inflation, and softening confidence, which has led to them draining what little savings they have left.

As Bloomberg notes, the three chains operate in very different parts of the retail sector, yet all surprised investors to the upside in a sign of strength by US consumers who are facing multiple hurdles. Here are the earnings highlights from this morning:

• Kohl's comparable sales declined 1.1%, beating the estimated decline of 1.71%
• Best Buy reported first-quarter sales of $8.9 billion, beating analyst estimates, with comparable sales rising 2%
• Dollar Tree boosted comparable sales 3.5% in the first quarter, topping estimates, driven by a 4.5% gain in average transaction

The result was a surge in their respective stock prices: 

With gas prices soaring since the start of the war in Iran, and workers worried about the impact of artificial intelligence amid still elevated inflation, consumer confidence has collapsed. And yet, Americans are still opening their wallets. US data released Thursday showed that consumer spending edged up in April despite accelerated price increases. In fact, spending growth is now drastically outpacing income growth, in a trend that is certainly unsustainable and the only buffer - personal savings - is rapidly being depleted.

This is unsustainable: personal spending growth is surging while income growth is collapsing, resulting in an extremely rapid drain of personal savings https://t.co/uXTN4wOKNp pic.twitter.com/d0uujZknU0

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 28, 2026

At Kohl’s, stronger-than-expected sales boosted the department-store chain’s turnaround. Electronics seller Best Buy said revenue across major categories gained and this month was off to a strong start. Dollar Tree highlighted that customers spent more per transaction.

“Across all income levels, customers are value focused and definitely prioritizing affordability,” Dollar Tree CEO Creedon said on the earnings call.

Shares of all three retailers jumped on Thursday. Kohl’s soared 25%, followed by Dollar Tree with a 16% advance and Best Buy at a roughly 8% gain.

Despite these results, retailers and consumer brands have been saying throughout this earnings season that there is plenty to worry about. S&P Retail Select Industry Index has been range bound since mid-2025. 

Last week, big-box retailers including Target and Walmart signaled that shoppers remain resilient despite years of elevated inflation. But higher prices on essentials like groceries and gas have squeezed shoppers’ discretionary budgets, pushing them to trade down to cheaper brands and cut back on less essential purchases. Earlier, new personal savings rate data showed that Americans are frantically digging into their savings to keep up with inflation.

Earlier this month, Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane said lower-income Americans were “literally running out of money at the end of the month” because of higher costs, especially gasoline. 

At Dollar Tree, its lower-income customers are visiting less because of their pressured finances, wrote Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, in a note to clients. The retailer boosted comparable-store sales last quarter 3.5%, but that growth came from a gain in shoppers spending more on each transaction as the number of purchases fell 1%. 

“The trips they’ve cut out are those of a more discretionary nature which, on some level, is pleasing because they’re still using Dollar Tree for essentials,” Saunders said. 

Meanwhile, Burlington Stores shares tumbled 14%, the most since May 2022, despite beating Bloomberg Consensus estimates.

Some chains have kept prices low amid their own rising costs to maintain market share. But it’s not clear how long they can maintaining that strategy. Walmart warned last week that if fuel prices stay at current levels, prices across the board could rise throughout the year.

While wealthier shoppers have been the driving force behind the US consumer economy for some time, even they are feeling pressure and increasingly trading down to cheaper options. Dollar Tree and other low-priced chains have been courting higher-income shoppers, often with great success. That’s a good outcome for these retailers, but raises doubts about the sustainability of these spending levels.

US consumer confidence edged down this month amid anxiety over the economy, according to the Conference Board. Two-thirds of shoppers reported cutting back on spending due rising prices, with many respondents saying they are delaying expensive purchases and buying cheaper versions of the same item.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:30

'Tank Bottoms' Loom At Cushing After Across-The-Board Inventory Draws, Another Huge SPR Drain

Oil prices bounced higher overnight after the US and Iran exchanged new strikes despite their purported ceasefire, rekindling uncertainty about an end to the Middle East war.

The latest strikes were the most serious since an April ceasefire, and came despite a series of headlines suggesting talks on a deal were progressing.

"A fresh exchange of strikes between the two countries is testing the fragile ceasefire and forcing a reassessment of the chances of a near-term agreement which can reopen the Strait of Hormuz and dial down the pressure the crisis is putting on the global economy," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

But then, around 1000ET, Axios reports that U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

That sent oil prices reeling lower...

With the geopolitical headlines so dominant, this morning's official US crude inventory and supply data is taking a back seat to Washington and Tehran again (despite some chunky draws reported by API overnight).

API

• Crude -2.8mm

• Cushing -2.9mm

• Gasoline -3.19mm

• Distillates +1.1mm

DOE

• Crude -3.33mm (-3.2mm exp)

• Cushing -2.79mm - biggest draw since Aug 2023

• Gasoline -2.57mm

• Distillates -2.11mm

Inventories saw across the board drawdowns with Cushing standing out. Distillate draws returned as gasoline stocks fell for the 15th straight week

Source: Bloomberg

'Tank Bottoms' loom as inventory at Cushing is the lowest for this time of year since 2014...

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve saw another major drawdown (over 9mm barrels)...

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production ticked higher as rig counts are rising rapidly...

Source: Bloomberg

The market has backed away from believing the Axios report (after a denial from Iranian news) and the big draw is helping WTI recover...

"The bigger picture is that crude is still on course for a second weekly decline, suggesting investors are not yet pricing in a worst-case disruption," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman said.

"For now, the market looks caught between short-term nerves over renewed hostilities and a lingering hope that both sides still have enough incentive to get energy flows moving," he added.

Investment strategist Ed Yardeni wrote in an overnight note that "oil markets will be in dire straits" if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't open soon. He sketched out looming crisis points that have turned the U.S.-Iran negotiation into the "ultimate game of chicken."

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports means the country's oil industry is producing too much and storage capacity is quickly filling. Yardeni concludes that Iran has until mid- or late June before storage is maxed out, forcing a sharp cut in production to domestic consumption levels. "The toll on Iran's oil industry and its broader economy is certainly one of President Trump's best negotiating cards," he wrote.

Yardeni further notes that oil inventories in Asia are already approaching minimum levels, meaning the war-driven dearth of oil imports will soon lead to shortages.

Europe faces the same situation, possibly by late June.

Yardeni highlighted International Energy Agency Director Faith Birol's warning that depleted stocks and high usage during the summer travel season could push global oil markets into "the red zone in July or August."

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:09

 

Doing the tour to promote How NOT to Invest (paperback out now!) I got lots of interesting questions — about the book, my writing process, my investing philosophy, and my career.

The one (really two) questions that I was not prepared for had to do with the podcast:

“Who was your favorite guest(s) on MiB?” and/or “What was your favorite episode?”

These are actually two different questions — who I enjoyed meeting/chatting with is a different issue from which episode was the most informative and interesting conversation.

I would spout off an answer from the most fun recent episode I could recall off the top of my mind.  But I really should have a better answer than that . . .  so I sat down and thought about it, combining the two questions into one. The result was a list of 25ish shows (out of ~650) that were both memorable, informative, surprising, and fun.

All of these were fun, and have an interesting story around them — either how the guest joined me, or what else was going on that made these unique or special, presented in no particular order:

 

Bill Gross, PIMCO
Danny Kahneman, BeFi (Nobel)
Cliff Asness, AQR
Howard Marks, Oaktree
Ray Dalio, Bridewater

Jim Chanos, Kynikos (Short seller)
Michael Lewis Author
Jack Bogle, Vanguard
Bill McNabb, Vanguard
David Rubenstein, Carlyle

Marc Andreesen, A26Z
Richard Barton (Microsoft/Expedia/Zillow/Glassdoor)
Bill Gurley, Benchmark
Liz Ann Sonders, Schwab
Jenny Johnson, Franklyn Templeton
Toto Wolff, F1 Mercedes

David Einhorn, Greenlight
Brooke Lampey, Sotheby’s
Joel Tillinghast, Fidelity
Will Danoff, Fidelity
Ken Feinberg, Special Master

Scott Galloway, NYU
Richard Thaler BeFi (Nobel)
Bill Sharpe  (Nobel)
Eugene Fama  (Nobel)
David Risher (CEO Lyft)
Lawrence Juber, Guitarist
John Pizzarelli, Guitarist

 

You should definitely check out any of these you may have missed…

 

 

The post Masters in Business Top 25 appeared first on The Big Picture.

Bank Of Canada Warns Markets More Vulnerable To Sharp Correction Due To AI Concentration, Basis Trades

The Bank of Canada said the global financial system has functioned (surprisingly) well through recent global shocks, but underscored the risk of a sharp asset price correction as well as vulnerabilities related to the role hedge funds are playing in debt markets.

The central bank’s 2026 financial stability report released Thursday noted financial asset valuations have continued to rise, while the stock market is increasingly concentrated in a handful of large tech companies that are heavily invested in artificial intelligence. That makes asset managers more vulnerable to a sudden correction, and a negative shock to AI sectors would have an outsized impact on broader stock indexes.

The central bank also reminded markets that the risk of basis trades remains front and center, warning that the increased role of hedge funds in overnight funding markets poses a vulnerability to the overall financial system, Bloomberg reported.

“A sharp pullback in hedge fund activity in government debt markets, for example, could negatively affect the liquidity and functioning of these markets and other fixed income markets. This, in turn, could generate financial system stress,” the report said.

While senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said individually, these vulnerabilities look “manageable", he added that “the economic and geopolitical environment has become more volatile. And this has made it more likely that a new shock or a combination of shocks could cause several vulnerabilities to crystallize at once."

The report analyzes risks to the Canadian financial system, but doesn’t assign probability and isn’t a projection from the central bank.

Meanwhile for households and businesses, the bank said the main financial health vulnerability relates to a geopolitical or economic shock that leads to a deep recession and a spike in unemployment. While the central bank previously flagged mortgage renewals as a concern, it noted on Thursday that most borrowers have managed this risk well.

“With the final wave of these renewals set to happen over the next 12 months, we expect this risk to have fully passed by the second half of 2027,” Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said.

While the ratio of household debt to disposable income has increased slightly over the past year, the central bank noted households appear better off when wealth is taken to account.

It attributes that improvement to higher home prices over time, but noted the recent increase in net worth has been driven by gains in financial markets as the housing market softened.

As for Canada’s big banks, the report says they have become more resilient over the past year amid higher profitability and healthy capital buffers.

“They have also set aside additional funds to absorb potential loan losses. This positions them to support the economy and financial system, even in a severe downturn,” Gravelle said.

The report cautioned that in the stress‑test scenario, as unemployment rises and housing prices fall, households and businesses come under significant stress. Rates of mortgage arrears increase and reach a multi‑decade high. Businesses face increased costs and a decline in demand, which pushes corporate default rates close to levels seen during the global financial crisis.

Meanwhile, the aggressive use of repo markets has further increased their importance in Canada’s financial system. More than $130 billion in repo transactions now take place in Canada each day, about double the amount from five years ago. A wide range of market participants use repos to obtain leverage, borrow and lend securities, earn returns on extra cash and manage funding liquidity.

The report cautioned that repo activity is rising in part because more Government of Canada bonds are being issued and traded.

Repos are a flexible and cost‑effective way to finance trading in government bonds and therefore play an important role in facilitating dealers’ market‑making activities. They also allow hedge funds to finance their activities, including basis trades in government bonds and futures. These activities, in turn, support liquidity and efficiency in the markets for government securities.

Government bonds are widely used as collateral and liquid assets to manage risks. They are also used as pricing benchmarks for other securities. Because of this, a disruption in repo markets would have broad implications for the financial system. These include:

• A sudden deleveraging by asset managers. For example, if hedge funds or other asset managers cannot obtain repo funding, they may need to quickly sell government bonds, further reducing market liquidity.
• A reduction in overall market liquidity. Wider bid‑ask spreads and higher trading costs in government bond markets could spill over into other fixed‑income and derivative markets. If this led to significant margin calls, it could result in a liquidity spiral as market participants are forced to sell liquid assets to raise cash.
• Sharp movements in the Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA). This would affect the large numbers of financial instruments that use CORRA as a risk‑free rate, such as interest rate derivatives and floating rate notes.

The report concludes that if any of these situations were to occur, "borrowing costs across the economy would go up, leading to potential second‑round effects."

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:00

Bessent Warns Oman On Hormuz Toll Scheme, After Trump Threatened To 'Blow Up' US Ally

On an official level at least, Oman remains a close strategic partner and key ally of the United States in the Middle East; however, that relationship has been severely strained this month amid apparent Iranian-Omani cooperation regarding a potential toll system for the Strait of Hormuz. This of course flies in the face of the US posture in the region.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the latest top Trump admin official to chastize Oman: "The United States Government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz," he said on X Thursday.

"Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized," Bessent continued. "All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tehran’s days of terrorizing the region and the world are over."

Sky News/Getty Images

Starting a week ago, official 'discussions' between Oman and Iran were widely reported:

Iran and Oman have discussed setting up a toll system to charge vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, despite President Trump’s condemnation of charging fees to pass through the waterway.

“Iran and Oman must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner,” Iranian Ambassador to France Mohammad Amin-Nejad on Wednesday told Bloomberg News, which first reported the talks.

Given the country's geography, in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, it is likely to play a key role in any final agreement or outcome, in terms of opening Hormuz back up to international maritime transit.

Bessent is continuing the pressure campaign soon on the heels of President Trump in somewhat shocking and surprise remarks saying that Oman could come under American military attack if it doesn't cooperate.

Trump said in the Oval and in front of cameras that the US would "blow up" Oman if it doesn’t "behave". The serious threat was issued in response to a reporter's question on whether the US would accept a short-term deal that involved Iran and Oman jointly controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

"No, the strait’s got to be opened to everybody, it’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We'll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting.

"Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that they’ll be fine," the president then emphasized.

President Trump threatens to attack Oman if they don't "behave."

"Oman will behave just like everybody else or else we'll have to blow em up." pic.twitter.com/Eae4h8BcmP

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) May 27, 2026

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei sought to explain earlier this week: "There is no toll. We need to pay attention to the words we use. We’re not after money. Iran and Oman need to create protocols for the safe passage of ships, and this will be based on international laws."

But then came the catch: "It’s only natural that the services we provide, like navigation and the preservation of the ecosystem of the Strait, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will have costs. These should not be considered tolls. Iran and Oman are being responsible in our efforts and I hope we will reach a conclusion soon," the spokesman said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 11:40

Newsom Vows 100% Tax On Trump "Anti-Weaponization Fund" Payouts

Authored by AG News Staff via American Greatness,

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that his administration will seek to impose a 100 percent tax on any California residents who receive money from President Donald Trump's newly created $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.

Speaking to reporters, Newsom denounced the fund as a "slush fund" and pledged to block Californians from financially benefiting from it.

"Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100 percent of those proceeds," Newsom said during a press conference.

"He pardoned all of those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them, providing them 1.776 billion dollars," Newsom said. "So not only do you get a pardon, you get rewarded. That's why this is needed."

The fund was established as part of Trump's settlement with the Department of Justice stemming from his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.

Trump has described the program as restitution for Americans harmed by what he called politically motivated government actions during the Biden administration.

Last week, Trump defended the fund as compensation for people "badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration."

Democrats in several blue states are now attempting to block recipients from keeping any payouts tied to the program.

In New York, Democratic Assemblyman Alex Bores introduced legislation that would similarly impose a 100 percent tax on recipients of the fund.

State Sen. Mike Gianaris said Democrats in Albany are pushing to advance the measure before the legislative session ends next week.

"There's widespread, bipartisan agreement that this is baldfaced corruption at its worst and if we have the ability in New York to combat it by ensuring that none of this money benefits anyone in our state's borders, I'd expect there'd be widespread support for that idea," Gianaris said.

Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey are also drafting similar legislation.

State Sen. Andrew Zwicker called the proposal "a brilliant counter move to Trump's corruption."

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 11:20

Oklo COO Says Nuclear Waste Could Power America For 150 Years

Earlier this week, we covered Oklo’s approval by Chris Wright’s DOE to convert plutonium previously set for disposal into new fuel. “Fuel supply constraints are a key throttle to advanced reactor development,” Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte said following the announcement. 

Jacob’s wife and Oklo’s COO Caroline DeWitte joined ZeroHedge and Radiant Energy Group’s Madison Hilly. Caroline laid out Oklo’s ambitious vision: recycle spent nuclear fuel, build fleets of reactors for AI hyperscalers like Meta, and turn what the industry currently treats as a liability (nuclear waste) into a strategic asset.

And unlike many of the “PowerPoint reactor” startups flooding the space, she says they are already building.

Nuclear Waste And A New Energy Order

One of the company’s core theses is that the U.S. is sitting on a massive untapped energy reserve in the form of spent nuclear fuel already stockpiled around the country.

“It has enough energy in it to power the entire country for 150 years. So let’s use it.”

Unlike conventional light-water reactors, Oklo’s fast reactors are designed to utilize fuel currently treated as waste, potentially bypassing future uranium bottlenecks while lowering long-term fuel costs.

The company is also pushing aggressively into isotope production, a market DeWitte suggested remains critically undersupplied after years of Western dependence on Russian supply chains.

“Some of these isotopes… if you had a kilogram, it might be a trillion dollars.”

Oklo is now racing to bring an isotope test reactor online in Texas and DeWitte says they hope to hit criticality around July 4th.

pic.twitter.com/fNjQsmgIoR

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) May 27, 2026

Silicon Valley’s AI Boom Fast-Tracking Nuclear Energy

The AI infrastructure arms race has abruptly transformed advanced nuclear energy from a niche policy idea into a strategic national priority.

DeWitte said the current policy environment, under Trump’s energy secretary Chris Wright, has dramatically accelerated Oklo’s deployment timelines.

“It’s been a world of difference since about a year ago.”

According to DeWitte, working through a Department of Energy partnership framework allowed Oklo to begin construction activities roughly two years earlier than would have been possible under the traditional Nuclear Regulatory Commission process. And Oklo currently has six DOE projects underway.

The company’s recent deal with Meta highlights where much of the demand is coming from: hyperscale AI infrastructure desperate for reliable baseload electricity.

“Everyone needs as much as they can get as soon as they can get it.”

Public sentiment around nuclear power appears to be shifting as communities increasingly resist giant AI server farms.

“Is there going to be a data center in my backyard?... Oh no, no, no, just a nuclear power plant. And they’re like, ‘Oh, good.’”

pic.twitter.com/8TH2ImTNpe

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) May 27, 2026

Check out the full interview below or listen on our Spotify.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 11:05

Remarkable Turns Of Events

By Michael Every of Rabobank

It’s remarkable screen oil prices are little changed at below $100 today after Trump said the US is “not satisfied” over talks with Iran, days after claiming a deal was imminent, and hours after saying the terms the Iranians had leaked that the US agrees to --a real TACO-- were a “complete fabrication.”

It’s more remarkable when Trump added Iran and Oman will not control the Strait of Hormuz, which they say they will; vowed to blow up Oman if it misbehaves; struck Iran again in another “defensive action”; and reiterated a deal requires the region to sign up to the Abraham Accords, underlining it has to be a turning point to a new geopolitical/economic architecture.

It’s truly remarkable given Trump added he can outwait Iran and dismissed the growing economic impact of this crisis and the looming midterm elections; and that Israel ordered the mass forced displacement for all the population of south Lebanon as the IDF-Hezbollah conflict intensifies, destroying terror infrastructure across thousands of civilian homes.

Meanwhile, another think tank report argues US munitions depleted by the Iran war will take until 2030 or 2031 to restore. That leaves a global shortfall already being felt in Europe and Asia and requiring them to develop their own systems, and supply chains, at very high cost – and it will require the kind of ‘reverse perestroika’ change to the US political-economy previously discussed for it to overcome that bottleneck more rapidly.

Relatedly, the UK claims half a million Russians are dead in the war, as a senior Ukrainian commander claims a 'turning point' in its favor, but Zelenskyy asked Trump for immediate air defence support that might not be available. On the other side, Russia is tasking bankers with shooting down Ukrainian drones. The grimness of war aside, and in the best Russian black-humour tradition, the latter brings to mind the joke about three econometricians shooting at a target, one 20 feet to the left, one 20 feet to the right, and the third crying, “I hit it!” without firing.

Brussels now has a timetable for Ukraine's and Moldova’s EU bids, which should be made public mid-June, as Albania says it will accept membership with a probation on vetoes as it is the “EU Taliban” in its fanaticism about joining. The former move will only increase EU-Russia tensions, as another ex-Soviet republic, Armenia, signs a strategic partnership deal with the US.

Elsewhere, India-Pakistan border tensions simmer; Japan welcomed the Philippines’ President Marcos as their defence ties deepen; China says it drove away a Dutch warship near the Paracel Islands; and US Secretary of War Hegseth is heading to Asia ‘with Taiwan questions swirling.’

In related geoeconomics, the ECB warned of a financial crisis triggered by the Iran war impact; a ‘plastic shock' is hitting Asia; Central Asia could turn to China over water security fears; and China and Cuba are holding agriculture talks as Beijing backs it against US pressure.

The US Trade Representative just stated, “We've just come to terms with the fact that there is not going to be some giant comprehensive reform of the way the Chinese political system works.” US policy will adapt accordingly. France said it may accept 'Made in Europe’ subsidies for UK cars; an EU wind turbine maker called non-western rivals ‘a security threat’; and it’s argued Germany can’t tariff China as its so reliant on inputs from it; as US tariffs and slumping EV sales are reportedly crippling the Canadian auto sector, with the local press asking if it will survive.

In technology, Nvidia chief Huang is to join a Tim Cook-chaired board at a prestigious Beijing university as the Chinese press share that their scientists claim AI is massively increasing China’s new weapon development speed – as it is in the US, of course, but not in those who don’t have that AI muscle.

In politics, what were once unthinkable Overton outcomes are becoming normal and so is political turmoil. New York lawmakers just passed a billionaire’s pied-a-terre tax; Australia is pressing ahead with its new property and capital gains taxes; Britain faces a ‘lost generation’ as youth worklessness heads for 1.25 million, claims one paper - as former PM Blair attacks current Labour PM Starmer and the pretender Andy Burns for a lack of vision; indeed, the Financial Times argues the UK has ironically become a European country since Brexit in that it now has high public debt and permanent political instability; and, in Europe, a police raid on the party headquarters of Spanish PM Sanchez, whose wife is already charged with corruption, has increased the pressure on him.

In markets, as oil --so everything else-- clutches at favoured straws, the FT has another op-ed which argues, ‘Want to predict central banker behaviour? Look to their birth date’, because “Formative experiences shape our views on future inflation as much as the data.” If so, what will the deeply dissatisfied youth growing up with the background described above take as normal regarding inflation and monetary policy?

Will they think in the same way those born when “I can’t get no satisfaction” was written, and look to technocratic econometrics as the answer to their multifaceted geopolitical and socio-economic problems? The election of Mamdani in New York, and of right and left populism globally, suggests not. Also note a 2025 YouGov poll showed a quarter of self-described US ‘very liberals’ say political violence is sometimes justified to achieve desired outcomes - as Luigi Mangione, on trial for murdering a US health executive, is as a social-media icon. Hikes followed by cuts can take on an entirely new meaning in that kind of socio-political context.

Of course, technocrats can clutch at straws, and at more technocracy, too. The Australian press this week saw a Rolling Stones-era author make a decent historical argument that immigration policy shouldn’t be politicized, and is complex, so “Perhaps it's time to consider relieving politicians of responsibility for it, just as they were relieved of monetary policy 30 years ago.” The Overton window looks so over!

But for now, it’s what is and isn’t over the Middle East that’s the primary focus.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 10:45

Chinese Navy Pushes Dutch Frigate From Claimed Waters Via Electronic Warfare

The Netherlands has become the latest Western nation to tangle with Beijing and exchange tense words after testing its sweeping claims to the South China Sea.

A tense military encounter unfolded involving a Dutch warship, identified as the HNLMS De Ruyter, after it had entered waters near the disputed Paracel Islands. China's military reportedly used electronic warfare measures to force it out of the China-claimed waters in the incident on Wednesday.

source: Defensie.nl

Chinese military spokesperson Zhai Shichen later charged that the Dutch ship violated "China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime and air security," while further alleging that the ship illicitly launched multiple helicopter sorties and entered Chinese airspace.

"The Dutch side’s actions…seriously undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea and could easily lead to misunderstanding and miscalculation," Zhai said.

"We firmly oppose such acts and solemnly demand that the Dutch side immediately cease its infringement and provocative actions. The Chinese military will maintain a high state of alert at all times and resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty, security and regional peace and stability," the PLA statement added.

However, the Netherlands has rejected this account, instead saying "the frigate has not been in territorial waters" and "operates in accordance with international law," according to the words Dutch navy spokesperson Marinka Hiraldo Vos-van Kooten.

USNI News details the Dutch frigate's mission as follows:

The Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate is deployed to the Indo-Pacific for Amsterdam’s five-month-long Pacific Archer mission. The mission aims to promote freedom of navigation and foster ties with allies and partners. De Ruyter is also set to attend the Rim of Pacific naval drills around Hawaii later this summer.

One week before the incident, De Ruyter moored in Manila for a port visit and activities with the Philippine Navy. The frigate’s captain told local media outlet Manila Bulletin that the ship’s previous interactions with a Chinese helicopter was “professional” and did not involve a territorial challenge.

Following a brief but intense naval clash with Vietnam in the 1970s, Beijing seized control of the Paracel Islands. There remain overlapping claims among many nations in the region.

Encylclopaedia Britannica

In the decades since, China has systematically militarized the region, constructing extensive military infrastructure across a network of sprawling artificial islands. The US, Europe, and regional allies see much of this as international territory and waters.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 10:15

US New Home Sales Tumbled In April As Prices Soared

With Case-Shiller reporting existing home price declines in half of America's largest cities, and after two straight months of rip-roaring demand, NAR reports that New Home Sales in April tumbled 6.2% MoM (almost twice as bad as the 3.2% MoM decline expected). March's 7.4% MoM spike was revised down bigly to just +3.4%, all of which left new home sales down 

Source: Bloomberg

Overall, new home sales have really gone nowhere for four years...

It seems lower mortgage rates did nothing to help new home sales...

Finally, while existing home prices are lower, median new home price rose 2.2% y/y to $422,500; average selling price at $508,800.

This was the biggest MoM jump in median new home prices since 2019...

Not great for affordability.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 10:07

US Charges Google Employee With Pocketing Millions From Insider Trading Bets On Polymarket

Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com,

US authorities have charged a Google employee with allegedly using information from the company to make bets on Polymarket and profit $1.2 million.

The Justice Department said on Wednesday that it unsealed charges against Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, accusing him of accessing unreleased internal information at Google and placing 25 bets worth $2.7 million on markets related to the most searched individuals on Google in 2025.

Prosecutors said Spagnuolo owned the Polymarket account “AlphaRaccoon”, which profited $1.2 million on “outcomes that the market treated as unlikely” when Google published information on the most searched individuals in December.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a twin complaint against Spagnuolo on Wednesday, making similar allegations of insider trading.

Prediction markets are facing growing scrutiny over insider trading, with Congress launching a probe into Polymarket and Kalshi on Friday, questioning the companies’ response to incidents of insider trading on the platform, with lawmakers concerned that government officials are using insider knowledge to make bets.

Manhattan US District Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement that the charges “reinforce a decades-old message: Corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets.”

Source: US Attorney Southern District of New York 

AlphaRaccoon account allegedly changed name 

According to the court documents, communities on Discord and X started discussing the possibility that AlphaRaccoon was a Google insider in December. Soon after, the username was allegedly changed to a wallet address.

Prosecutors alleged that the funds in the AlphaRaccoon account were also sent to a decentralized crypto swapping service and to an unnamed transfer service that offers privacy protection for blockchain transactions

The Justice Department charged Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, and could face a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.

In its complaint, the CFTC seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties and trading and registration bans. 

CFTC Director of Enforcement David Miller said in a statement that “the division is a cop on the beat in policing the illegal use of inside information in the prediction markets and other markets within the CFTC’s jurisdiction.”

Source: CFTC

“We will continue to take action to protect markets from insider trading and other forms of fraud, abuse and manipulation,” Miller added.

It comes after the Justice Department charged a US soldier in April with using classified information to place bets on the US capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 09:50

The post Political Corruption Did Not Begin and Will Not End with Citizens United appeared first on CEPR.

Tony Blair Calls For UK To Get Closer To Trump And Ease Climate Change Targets

Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times,

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the Labour Party to three election victories, said the government should repair its relationship with the United States rather than look to rejoin the European Union.

Blair, who remains a deeply divisive figure within the party, published an essay on Tuesday amid a crisis engulfing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with a leadership challenge widely expected by September.

The influential former premier, who took the UK into the Iraq War in 2003 based on what an official UK inquiry later concluded was faulty intelligence, wrote that Starmer should not have prevented Washington from using British bases in the United States and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran.

“The initial request was simply for the use of our military bases for the refuelling of American planes. I understand the reasons for refusal but it’s not the best way to treat our ally,” Blair wrote, arguing this decision had made the UK’s partnership with the United States “weaker.”

America’s ‘Staunchest Supporter’

He wrote: “I know how hard it is to be an ally of the USA. We were its staunchest supporter post 9/11. We went through Afghanistan and Iraq together. But it mattered deeply to America and so it mattered to us also. America remains the indispensable core of Britain’s security alliance. But staying with it means even when it is difficult or unpopular.”

Blair argued for the government to smooth relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been critical of Starmer over immigration and free speech issues as well as his decision not to back military action in Iran.

Polling in the UK suggests that while Starmer is personally unpopular as PM, most Brits back his decision not to involve the country in the war.

Blair also criticized cuts to international aid, which he said had weakened Britain’s influence on the global stage, including for the purpose of EU negotiations.

Known for his staunchly pro-European Union views, Blair said that Labour must resist reversing or weakening Brexit to please those within the party who view it as an economic disaster.

Likely Labour leadership contender Wes Streeting has made clear his desire to see the UK back in the EU “one day,” while another possible contender, Andy Burnham, has made similar musings in the past.

Blair was ​the party’s longest-serving premier, holding office between 1997 and 2007, and transforming the party from one with a traditional working-class voter base through his centrist “New Labour” ideological vision.

Starmer is currently being circled by party rivals after Labour’s disastrous results at the recent local elections, largely at the hands of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, but also losing votes to the left-wing Green Party.

The former premier, who published the 5,600-word essay for his influential think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said the government should dial down its net zero commitment, intended to combat climate change.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to small business owners during a visit to Home Cafe and Kitchen in London, on May 18, 2026 Yui Mok/Pool Photo via AP

‘Cheap’ Over ‘Clean’ Energy

Blair backed the UK making the most of its resources to address the ongoing energy crisis, writing: “We must prioritise cheaper energy and electrification over net zero and use what is left of our North Sea oil and gas resources.

“At a minimum, the government should try to limit the effect of the changes made and, as we have argued consistently, remove those parts of the net-zero agenda which prioritise clean energy over cheaper energy; and from now on make sure the actions match the words on growth.”

Blair urged Labour, which won the last national election by a landslide in July 2024, to concentrate on policy to improve its standings in the opinion polls, as Starmer battles some of the lowest approval ratings historically of any leader.

“The government’s principal problem isn’t Keir’s personality. Or a ​failure to communicate ‘our achievements’. Or a need to assert more strongly Labour’s ’values’,” Blair wrote.

“Whether there is a ‌leadership change ⁠or not is irrelevant if it doesn’t start with a policy debate.”

Blair, who swept to power with his own landslide in 1997 following 18 years of Conservative rule, appeared to take aim at both Streeting and Burnham in his polemic.

Burnham, the current Mayor of Greater Manchester, who needs to win an upcoming by-election in order to return to national level politics before he can mount a challenge, is regarded as being on the so-called “soft left” of the party.

Streeting, who recently quit as health secretary, is considered further to the right. Streeting has been described by others as a Blairite but rejects the label.

Polling shows the party members prefer Burnham, a more experienced politician, who served as a junior minister in Blair’s government, and that he would defeat Starmer in a head-to-head leadership contest, whereas the prime minister would win in a one-on-one with Streeting.

Blair argued against both Streeting and Burnham’s mooted solutions to Britain’s various problems—either an attempt to rejoin the EU or a shift to the left.

The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, on a morning run in Manchester, England, on May 18, 2026. Jon Super/AP Photo

De-Brexit ‘Not the Answer’

“It is one thing when in opposition to indulge this perennial delusion that when we lose seats to the ​right the country is really signalling it wants Labour to move ​left; it ⁠is dangerous to do it in government,” he wrote.

“Just as Brexit was never the answer to Britain’s challenges back in 2016, reversing it isn’t the answer to the country’s far worse ⁠situation in ​2026.”

Blair wrote that the government should instead try to forge “a structured, formal relationship” with the EU—akin to Starmer’s stated ambitions for closer ties with the bloc while stopping short of an attempt to rejoin.

Blair suggested it was a mistake for Labour to remove Starmer as leader, writing: “The Labour party is playing with fire; or, more accurately with its future, and that of the country.”

“Trying to force the prime minister out, before we know what policy direction we’re bringing in, is not a serious way of conducting ourselves.”

Blair said there are two “epochal changes” happening in the world today—one geopolitical, with the rise of China and India, and the other technological, through artificial intelligence, with Britain “not prepared for either.”

‘The Radical Centre’

He said that these two shifts “require radical change in policy, system of government and politics,” and that in his view, the best political position from which this could be achieved is what he terms “the Radical Centre.”

“[Any renewal of Britain] requires a fundamental reset,” he wrote. “Labour’s only ​electorally viable strategy is to become the Radical Centre.”

Blair said there is “no point in debating“ whether the AI revolution ”is a good or bad thing.”

“Just know it is a ‘thing’. In fact, it is ‘the thing’. It will displace jobs, though creating new ones, but no one yet knows the full consequence,” he wrote.

Under a subsection entitled, “The New World Order,” Blair said he understood Europe’s anxiety over Trump’s “America First” policies, but countered that the U.S. president has identified “the principal threats—in the Arctic from Russia; longer term, globally, from China; and in the Middle East from Iran—no differently from how Europe sees the world.”

“President Trump has demanded increases in NATO spending not dissolution of the alliance,” Blair added.

He said that Starmer had been “absolutely right” to visit China in January because “we need a functioning relationship with the other superpower.”

The wide-ranging essay sparked much commentary and debate within the UK media, with criticism coming mainly from the left faction of the Labour Party. Starmer has made no public response so far.

Burnham, who will contest the Makerfield by-election in the northwest of England on June 18, told the Observer that Blair had misunderstood why voters had abandoned the political center in the first place.

Burnham said Blair’s essay “doesn’t mention inequality once” and argued that 40 years of widening inequality and declining living standards for many people were the driving reasons for voters turning away from the two main parties.

“If you don’t get how that’s driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what’s going on,” Burnham said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 09:15

'He's Having A Stroke': Jill Biden Admits Joe's Debate Disaster Scared Her 'To Death'

Opportunistically timed to boost sales of her soon-to-be released memoir, Jill Biden has come clean on her reaction to Joe Biden's catastrophic performance in his June 2024 debate with Donald Trump. Though she publicly lauded his performance at the time, now she admits she thought her husband was having a stroke. 

Immediately after the debate, Jill took a stage with Joe to tell him how well he had performed, in a manner that some at the time compared to a teacher praising a kindergartner:  "Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question, you knew all the facts."  

Former First Lady Jill Biden previously said she thought then-President Biden did a “great job” after his 2024 debate. She now tells CBS News that she thought he was “having a stroke.” https://t.co/JVINZzMu0h pic.twitter.com/O2e7mgsSIo

— Akayla Gardner (@gardnerakayla) May 27, 2026

Now, however, Jill Biden says he did so terribly that she thought he was having a major medical episode that was affecting his brain. “I don’t know what happened,” Jill Biden told CBS News Sunday Morning. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

Timing is everything: Next week, the former first lady will release her memoir, "View From The East Wing." Publisher Simon & Shuster's promotional copy for the $32 book quotes an unnamed novelist "who once wrote, 'There are stories one must tell, and years when one must tell them.' Jill Biden’s time to discuss her four years in the White House is now." 

Trump just released a brutal 95 second ad of Joe Biden's debate lowlights: pic.twitter.com/enusIKHhwN

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 28, 2024

Though Jill Biden may be offering some overdue candor about the debate that led to a tumultuous summer for the Democratic Party -- culminating in Biden withdrawing from the race after the Democratic primaries had already run their course -- she's not done putting Americans' credulity to the test. In particular, anyone who observed any number of painfully awkward Joe Biden press conferences and interviews in 2024 is going to have a hard time buying Jill Biden's ending of this sentence in her CBS interview:  "I wasn't horrified, I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that, before or since."  

Jill Biden said she feared Joe Biden was “having a stroke” during his widely criticised 2024 debate against Trump.

In an interview with CBS News, she said she had “never seen Joe like that before or since” and was “frightened” by his performance.pic.twitter.com/e2jgY0nRST

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 27, 2026

Even some Biden-administration insiders are scoffing at Jill Biden's new-found honesty. “Unfortunately, when you wait this long to tell your own story in your own words, it’s extremely hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube," Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden's communication director in 2021, told the New York Post. "She owed it to herself to be candid and transparent in the moment or the days after.” Another said her memoir should be called, "View From the East Wing, Blindfold On," adding, "Find it in the fiction aisle of your local bookstore."

As Americans staggered away from their televisions, the Biden White House tried to attribute the fiasco to jet lag and a common cold. “Why did we push out he had a cold if she thought he had a stroke?” an anonymous former Biden administration team member rhetorically asked the Post. 

Though the debate sealed Biden's political doom, it risked being a strategic disaster for then-incumbent Trump. Recall that, even as he led the polls, Trump aggressively pushed for an extraordinarily-timed debate to take place even before the Democratic convention officially made Biden the nominee. By prematurely thrusting Biden's crumbling mental capacity into the spotlight, Trump opened the door for the Democrats to substitute a more formidable foe. Fortunately for Trump, the leftists completely squandered the opportunity, railroading profoundly uncharismatic Kamala Harris into the presidential-nominee slot, and the rest is history. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 08:50

Americans' Savings-Rate Slumps In April As Fed's Favorite Inflation Signal Soars

After accelerating significantly in March, The Fed's favorite inflation indicator - Core PCE (a measure of price changes in consumer goods and services that excludes volatile food and energy costs) - rose 0.2% MoM in April (less than expected +0.3% MoM), but pulled up the YoY measure to +3.3% (as expected) - its highest since Nov 2023.

The rise in Services costs (headlined by Housing & Utilities, Financial Services, and Healthcare) dominated the increase in Core PCE YoY...

The headline PCE jumped 0.4% MoM (+0.5% MoM exp) dragging the YoY up to +3.8% - the hottest read since May 2023

The impact of the war is evident in crude prices and the PCE's energy index, but arguably, this is as bad as it gets in terms of inflation...

Higher prices were met with higher spending (+0.5% MoM notional) but flat income growth (0.0% MoM)...

With the growth in spending versus de-growth in incomes more evident below...

Sending the savings rate plunging to its lowest since June 2022...

With the savings rate barely above record lows, it seems that Americans are digging into their savings to keep up with inflation. No wonder sentiment is so low...

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 08:41

"It Wasn't Copied": Ferrari CEO Defends First EV After Design Backlash

Ferrari shares trading in Milan have not recovered since plunging the most in nearly eight months after the company unveiled its first EV sports car earlier this week, breaking with eight decades of petrol-powered tradition. The debut drew immense criticism, with one Wall Street analyst calling the new EV a "mix between a Honda Accord EV and Tesla."

By Thursday, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was on damage-control duty at an event in Modena, where he defended the design of the battery-powered, four-door, five-seat Luce, which costs a staggering €550,000 ($638,660), according to Bloomberg.

"The Ferrari Luce has nothing to do with electric cars you have seen from other players," Vigna said earlier today. "You have to see it and drive it to understand that it wasn't copied — not the interiors, not the exterior, not the performance."

Pope Leo was shown Ferrari’s first fully $640,000 electric car in Rome on Tuesday. The pope sat inside the Ferrari Luce and was presented with the vehicle’s steering wheel by Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna. pic.twitter.com/mIxAniwULm

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 27, 2026

Vigna said, "Look at the people writing to us, the people placing orders. Some are existing clients and others are new."

"Maybe some people understood that Ferrari was going only electric. We will continue to make all types of powertrains," he added.

Vigna noted, "The final answer comes from clients."

Customers have already shunned Ferrari hybrid models, as a recent report by Goldman analyst Christian Frenes noted that these hybrid sports cars are depreciating far faster than their petrol-powered counterparts, suggesting buyers still prefer V-8 and V-12 combustion engines.

Earlier this week, AIR Capital analyst Pierre-Olivier Essig said the Luce looks like a "mix between a Honda Accord EV and a Tesla."

Frenes noted today that Luce's negative reaction was "overblown" ...  

He explained:

We view the strong market reaction to the Luce reveal as overblown and of less investment significance than media commentary suggest. While the Luce is Ferrari's most controversial product launch of late, we see limited near-term risk to estimates given that both investor and management expectations were already conservative ahead of the event. On long-term product strategy concerns, we equally view recent public commentary as an overreaction: management has explicitly reaffirmed its commitment to powertrain flexibility and made clear that the Luce's design language does not define future models.

Ferrari Luce vs. EU Peers: Specification and Pricing Benchmarking

For a fraction of the cost and with better all-around performance, the Tesla Model S Plaid outperforms the Luce.

Ferrari has been benchmarking the Model S Plaid.

Still valid imo, since Ferrari has been benchmarking this car for a couple of years: https://t.co/Td5h6F1Xez

You’d think they would surpass it. pic.twitter.com/trLuWBWX3C

— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) May 27, 2026

If car enthusiasts don't care about performance but want a similar design to the Luce, there is the Nissan Leaf.

The Luce risks joining the Mondial in Ferrari's hall of shame.

Professional subscribers can read the full Ferrari note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 08:20

My morning train WFH reads:

• Land Appreciates. Homes Depreciate. The structure (house) is a depreciating asset: without continuous investment and updates, its value declines over time, even after renovations. The land is the appreciating component: long-term price gains in real estate are primarily driven by rising land values, not by the building itself. Jonathan Miller’s clean reminder of the real-estate math nobody likes: the dirt accrues, the structure depreciates. Useful framing for anyone confused about why the renovation pencils. (Housing Notes)

• There’s Never Been a Better Time to Study Computer Science: The Atlantic pushing back on the “CS is dead” panic — the freshman entering today is graduating into a labor market that still pays for the rare combination of fluency and judgment. Less doom than your timeline thinks. (The Atlantic) see also Tech CEOs are apparently suffering from AI psychosis: TechCrunch on the tech CEO class working themselves into an AI-induced lather — Altman, Musk, Zuck, et al, sounding less like operators and more like a Hieronymus Bosch panel. Funny until you remember whose capital they’re burning. (TechCrunch)

• SpaceX-stasy: This IPO is a trainwreck: Once you arrive at the financials you start to realize what the language is overcompensating for: awful numbers. The company generated $4.7 billion in Q1 2026, up only 15% from the year before (very low for an “AI company”). It also lost $4.3 billion, up 700% from the year before. That means the company is spending roughly twice as much as it makes (and on pace to explode those losses even more), while growing its topline six times slower than Nvidia. The manic SpaceX listing — investor euphoria, narrative compression, and the precise moment “optionality” became the only thing being underwritten. (Prof G Media)

• How Barnes & Noble Became Private Equity’s Most Radical Retail Experiment: A Bloomberg feature on the surprise comeback of Barnes & Noble under Elliott — local manager autonomy, smaller stores, books actually displayed face-out. The rare PE story with a happy ending. (Bloomberg)

• A Century of Stock Market Winners—and Why Most Stocks Failed to Deliver: The compound buy-and-hold return to the entire U.S. stock market over more than 100 years was 1,504,057%. Yet the median individual stock lost money. (Wealth Management)

• ICE Raids Did Lasting Damage to American Businesses: In one corner of Charlotte, foot traffic and sales remain depressed six months after deportation raids. Bloomberg on the Charlotte data — what enforcement actions actually did to local payrolls, vacancies, and small-business closures. The macro story behind the cable news clips. (Businessweek)

• The One Big Reason YouTube Will Never Replace Stephen Colbert: On YouTube, a new generation of hosts is updating the talk show genre for the way we watch now: on our schedule, on our phones and in short clips. It starts with podcasting, which is now being increasingly consumed as a video product. It extends to, say, “The Adam Friedland Show,” whose host’s charm and neurosis would feel familiar to fans of Dick Cavett or a young Woody Allen. It also includes more experimental formats, such as “Subway Takes,” on which the host, Kareem Rahma, engages his guest in a series of quick-witted, subterranean agree/disagree, point/counterpoints, all shot on an active New York City subway train. (New York Times)

• 6 things a neurologist does to keep his brain healthy: Brain atrophy tends to begin in your 30s and 40s, but certain lifestyle changes can slow or even reverse shrinkage. WaPo service journalism — a neurologist’s six habits for keeping his own brain working. The list isn’t novel but the bylined credibility makes it stick. (Washington Post)

• As Trump Politicizes Justice Dept., Prosecutors Struggle With Grand Juries: The NYT on grand juries quietly refusing to return indictments in politically charged DOJ cases. The most important slow-motion check happening right now. (New York Times)

• The universe may be lopsided — new research: The Conversation walks through fresh data suggesting cosmic isotropy may not hold. If it survives replication, every cosmology textbook from the last fifty years needs a chapter rewrite. (The Conversation)

Video of the day: The Real Reason We Left the Gold Standard

Be sure to check out our special Masters in Business this week, Remembering Jonathan Clements with Bill Bernstein and Jason Zweig. The two recall Clements’ impact on the investor community; they discuss his posthumous book, “Money and Me.”

Global sales of combustion engine cars peaked in 2017

Source: Our World In Data

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Spare Me Another Pride Month!

Authored by Dave Summers via DailySceptic.org,

Are you aware? Really aware? Or are you like me, struggling to keep up with the blizzard of social and political awareness events that bring a rich texture to our lives?

Do you worry that you can’t recall if Black History Month – that time when I approach my BAME colleagues with even more reverence than usual – is in June or July? Are you confused as to whether Pride Month and LGBT History Month are the same or distinct entities? Have you kept pace with the latest incarnation of their life-affirming, multicoloured flag? Does your wife frown at you because Menstrual Hygiene Day has passed you by? Have you forgotten World Alzheimer’s Day again?

Then worry no more – help is finally at hand, in the shape of the Awareness Calendar, your one-stop source of those important dates that can be handily pinned to your fridge door.

The calendar, stuffed tighter than a drag queen’s corset, is a golden treasury of opportunities to remind yourself of those burning issues that might otherwise have easily slipped away in the busy working week.

Are you that loser who still carries your butty box around in a holed plaggy Co-op bag rather than one of the several ‘Bags For Life’ you have crammed into a kitchen cupboard? Plastic Bag Free Day on July 3rd has got you covered. Still hyperventilating about CFCs’ part in the destruction of the planet? Then the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16th is your thing. Or perhaps you are racked with guilt by your mindless mowing down of a squirrel on your journey into work? If so, Animal Road Accident Awareness Day on 10th October ought to assuage (or heighten) your remorse. Perhaps you’re tormented by the knowledge that you once slurped through a single-use straw in 2015? World Refill Day on 16th June has you in its sights. Or maybe you’ve let yourself down again with incorrect pronoun etiquette? International Pronouns Day on 21st October is waiting to correct you.

Schools, colleges and, I suspect, many large institutions love this endless parade of themed months, days and observances, each demanding veneration and performative allyship. Black History Month is huge in my school, with each department being tasked to create displays that look to “celebrate the achievements, history and contributions of Black people”. In my leafy shire, largely untouched by the ‘diversity’ of urban centres (unless you include the burgeoning numbers of Hong Kong Chinese), this is a task that feels entirely performative and strange. Consequently, English display boards are adorned with the stately Maya Angelou who gazes down imperiously on the bemused in every classroom. The occasional working-class writer might have more resonance to some of our kids, but good luck finding an image of a D.H. Lawrence or Shelagh Delaney.

The English department can, however, ace Pride Month – there’s never been a shortage of gay wordsmiths throughout history. But pity the poor maths students who will discover that a single omnipresent image of Alan Turing does an awful lot of heavy lifting in their discipline.

I console myself with the thought that all this virtuous bluster is altruistic in origin, shining a light on overlooked issues.

But in reality, it’s catnip for middle managers desperate for something – anything – to put on their annual appraisal under ‘Diversity and Inclusion’.

Consequently, in its smothering ubiquity, it ends up diluting anything good into mere background noise.

When every day is somebody’s awareness day, none stand out.

A quiz to finish: how many of the following awareness days are real and how many the product of my fevered imagination?

• Winnie the Pooh Day

• World Hand Hygiene Day

• Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month

• International Kissing Day

• World Town Planning Day

• International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Answer: They’re all real. Haharrrr, me hearties!

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 02:00