Zero Hedge

Elon Musk's PAC Bets Trans Issue Push Will Drive GOP Voters To The Polls

Elon Musk's PAC Bets Trans Issue Push Will Drive GOP Voters To The Polls

Elon Musk's America PAC has opened its 2026 midterm ad campaign with a barrage of ads centered on trans issues. Musk has reportedly authorized the PAC to spend more than $100 million this cycle and is targeting four Democratic Senate candidates in competitive races: Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Josh Turek in Iowa, James Talarico in Texas and Mary Peltola in Alaska. They are running online and across streaming platforms, marking the first coordinated trans-focused push of the cycle from a major Republican-aligned outside group.

Photograph: Michael Swensen/Getty Images

According to AdImpact, the firm that tracks political ad spending, trans issues have been a minor theme in GOP Senate advertising so far this cycle. America PAC's opening salvo changes that calculus, and it arrives as Republicans navigate a difficult midterm environment, with voters across party lines angry over the Iran war and the high gas prices that have followed it. Economic concerns dominate what voters tell pollsters they want candidates to address. Trans and LGBT issues barely register on those same surveys.

So, why try this now? The answer traces back to the final weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign, when a similar ad devastated Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. Trump's closing spots successfully cast Kamala Harris as out of touch because of her support for taxpayer-funded gender transitions for prison inmates and illegal immigrants, culminating in the line "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you."

Democrats have not disputed the ad's effectiveness, even in hindsight. Quentin Fulks, Harris's principal deputy campaign manager, said after the election that even though trans issues sat "at the bottom for voters," trailing the economy, immigration, crime and inflation in what people actually cared about, the "Kamala is for they/them" line effectively branded Harris as "out of touch."

According to a report from Semafor after the election, Democratic Party allies had expected it to "flop or backfire," but instead, "it inspired more than $215 million of follow-up ads, by multiple campaigns, dividing Democrats and fulfilling the Trump campaign's goal of branding Harris as an out-of-touch progressive."

That explains why America PAC is reaching for the same playbook now, and public opinion data suggests this still can be an effective strategy.

Gallup found in 2025 that 66 percent of Americans want a person's birth sex listed on documents such as passports and driver's licenses, versus 31 percent who favor listing current gender identity. Sixty-nine percent told Gallup they favor requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching their biological sex. Pew Research Center found nearly identical numbers on athletics, 66 percent in favor and just 15 percent opposed, with support up 8 points since 2022. A separate Pew survey published Aug. 11, 2026, found 73 percent of respondents uncomfortable, to varying degrees, with transgender athletes competing on teams that do not match their biological sex. On gender transitions for minors, Pew found 56 percent favor making it illegal for health-care professionals to provide gender-transition treatment to people under 18, up 10 points since 2022.

Whether pivoting midterm messaging to the culture war pays off depends on a variable the 2024 campaign did not have to contend with: an electorate frustrated with Republicans over the Iran war and the prices that have followed it. Trans messaging worked in 2024 as an addition to an economic argument that heavily favored Trump. America PAC is banking on it working again in this cycle as a substitute for one.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 16:40

"You Better Get Ready For... War": Socialists Call For "War In The Streets" & The End Of Capitalism

"You Better Get Ready For... War": Socialists Call For "War In The Streets" & The End Of Capitalism

Authored by Jonathan Turley via JonathanTurley.org,

"You better get ready for ... war."

Across the country, radicals are openly planning for the next stage of their movement, and notably, the Democratic establishment is not part of their plans.

Despite the talk of a "Big Tent Party," socialists are riding high on a surge of support and talking purges and revolution.

In Chicago, radicals gathered for a conference on Marxism during what many view as the heyday of socialism in the United States. The Democratic Socialists of America is now larger and more powerful than at any time in our history. Socialist candidates are winning elections across the country as Democratic establishment figures from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) to Gov. Gavin Newsom pander to the movement.

Speakers in Chicago used the conference to push supporters to the next stage in the movement, including some openly calling for violence and the end to capitalism.

University of California Santa Barbara History Professor Butch Ware said Democrats "must be destroyed" and urged attendees to be ready for "war in the streets." Notably, in postings on X, Ware has said that candidates such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed are too restrained and are being pushed by the establishment "to contain radicalism."

The professor "of Africa and Islam" whose faculty page is appropriately found under "bware" is the latest radical to dismiss the "Big Tent Party" rhetoric of establishment figures like Schumer. He declared, "The Democrats cannot be reasoned with. They must be destroyed." There is little subtlety in the message, Ware has explained: "You cannot call yourself a revolutionary and not be talking about training with weapons."

It is another example of the delusion that establishment Democrats have that they will be able to use these radicals to destroy their political enemies but not themselves.

After one election victory, socialists chanted "You're Next!" when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries's image came on big-screen televisions.

Hasan Piker has called for a purging of moderates from the Democratic Party.

Just last week, Darializa Avila Chevalier declared, "A big tent doesn't pay your rent, lower your grocery bill, or take on the corporations bleeding our country dry. Democratic socialism does."

In a video posted to X, Professor Ware called for violence, warning followers that "some of these clickety-clack revolutionaries have never been in a f*cking gunfight." He menacingly added, "Y'all ain't nowhere near ready for a war in the streets. You better get ready for both kinds of war if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready."

This is just the latest example of the type of hate-spewing radical that university departments want to teach in higher education. While purging virtually all Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians from departments, faculty candidates cannot be too radical enough to secure positions on colleges and universities. UCSB pays Professor Ware over $211k to spread this type of lunacy.

Notably, this is the same university that saw a professor lead her students in physically assaulting pro-life advocates on campus years ago. Despite pleading guilty to criminal assault, she was not fired and later honored by the University of Oregon for her inspiring leadership.

In other events around the country such as "Socialism 2026 Conference," City University of New York Professor Ruth Gilmore said in a video, "It's capitalism we're after,...There isn't a capitalism that is somehow not racial. There isn't a capitalism that does not produce and reproduce all kinds of sexual and gender boundaries."

At my alma mater, University of Chicago professor Eman Abdelhadi, the half-sister of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, has denounced the university and explained that she is only teaching there to bring down the system.

One year after the massacre, Professor Abdelhadi offered an "October 7th blessing" over an attack that murdered, raped, and tortured innocent men, women, and children. She was previously arrested for spitting on officers.

She added "I hope you know that we have a lot of work ahead of us and that we need each other to do that work. We have an imperative to not just imagine a better future, but to build one together. I'll see you on the streets."

What is so striking is that these radicals are not hiding their agenda or their hostility toward the Democratic Establishment. William Lawrence, who is running for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, previously called for the end of borders, the nation-state, capitalism, and told a leading moderate Democrat to "hurry up and die."

In the meantime, some Democrats are admitting that, after using the socialists to retake power, they will marginalize them in actual governing decisions. Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) just explained that they will have to block the "crazy" DSA stuff from actually getting to the floor for a vote.

In Rage and the Republic, I discuss how these Democratic leaders are following the same self-destructive delusions of other establishment figures in history who thought that they could use mobs against their opponents while hoping that they could survive.

Figures like Newsom have even campaigned on denouncing capitalism as "not working" as candidates like Texas Democratic Senatorial candidate James Talarico have called to "dismantle" capitalism. Figures like former Vice President Kamala Harris have dismissed loyalty to our core institutions such as the Supreme Court as mere "nostalgia."

It will not work. These figures are nothing more than "clickety-clack revolutionaries" who convince no one inside or outside the movement. By putting their elections above every other consideration, Democratic leaders are willing to endanger core institutions, values, and even capitalism itself to reacquire power. In so doing, they are embracing the very "mobocracy" that the Founders warned us against in laying the foundations of our constitutional system.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 16:20

US Students Still Behind Much Of The World In Math And Reading: Global Assessment

US Students Still Behind Much Of The World In Math And Reading: Global Assessment

Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times,

Results from a recent global assessment indicate that reading scores for American high school students have dropped over the past three years, while math and science performance still falls behind their peers in several other developed countries.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests 15-year-olds in math, science, and reading proficiency as metrics for college and career readiness, conducted its last tests in 2025.

The initial findings, released on Sept. 8, indicate that children from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom continue to outperform American public-school children in those three subjects.

PISA has not yet shared comprehensive comparative rankings of the 91 nations that participated in the latest assessments.

China did not participate as a nation; the four Chinese provinces that did also outperformed American 15-year-olds.

About 760,000 children across the world participated, according to the PISA website.

All told, U.S. students still performed above the average of all participating nations in reading and science, and slightly below average for math.

Compared to the 2022 PISA, average U.S. results in science remained the same.

For math and reading, however, the average scores remained below pre-COVID levels and "among the lowest ever observed in PISA in the United States" dating back 26 years.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the nation's outdated public education needs a major overhaul that begins with universal school choice for all American families.

"The United States of America is a nation built to lead the world, yet our one-size-fits-all federal education bureaucracy has shortchanged our children and stifled our future," she said in an email to The Epoch Times.

"Today's international education scores confirm a decade of stagnation and a devastating gap: we successfully propel our highest achievers, but the lowest-performing students are falling further behind - and have suffered a loss of learning in reading equivalent to nearly a year and a half of instruction compared to 2015.

"This moment is a stress test for our nation's future. To pass it, we must enact a hard reset that stops protecting a failed status quo and instead builds a system that empowers state leaders and embraces innovative learning options through school choice."

The PISA proficiency levels range from one to six, with level two considered minimum proficiency.

Seventy-four percent of the U.S. students were at level two or above in reading, but only 13 percent were at level five or six.

The results for science were similar.

For math, 65 percent of U.S. students were at level two or above, but only 8 percent were at levels five or six, compared to 54 percent of the four Chinese provinces and Singapore's 37 percent.

The 2025 program introduced a digital computational problem-solving assessment.

U.S. children scored above the overall average in that category, still falling behind several Asian and English-speaking nations, but outperforming Germany, France, Mexico, and Brazil, according to the PISA report.

Globally, PISA determined that one in five students is considered low-performing in science, math, and reading, up from 16 percent in 2022.

Average reading scores fell by 28 points since 2015, while math fell by 22 points, according to the report.

"PISA 2025 shows that reversing declines in student performance is urgent," said Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which oversees the PISA program.

"The most successful education systems focus on fewer areas in greater depth, invest in teachers, engage parents, and provide targeted support for the students and schools that need it the most," Cormann said in the report.

"Technology and AI can strengthen learning and help prepare young people for the future, but only when used purposefully and not as a substitute for attention, effort, and understanding."

PISA also surveyed participants about their use of artificial intelligence to draft text in writing assignments and determined that those who did not use it outperformed those who said they did.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 15:50

Comcast Plunges As CFO Warns Broadband Subscriber Bleeding Won't Stop

Comcast Plunges As CFO Warns Broadband Subscriber Bleeding Won't Stop

Comcast shares tumbled after CFO Jason Armstrong warned at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference that broadband subscriber losses would not improve this quarter from a year earlier.

Bloomberg first reported Armstrong's comments, which sent shares down as much as 8.1% around 11:16 a.m. ET, their largest decline in months.

Armstrong told the audience at the conference in San Francisco, California, today that he still expects broadband subscriber losses to improve for the full year, although quarterly results will vary. He blamed part of the pressure on what he called "irrational fiber pricing."

Analysts tracked by Bloomberg expected Comcast to lose 103,000 domestic broadband subscribers in the third quarter, slightly fewer than the 104,000 lost a year earlier.

KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel expects consensus subscriber forecasts to deteriorate following the comments. He said, "We would expect CMCSA consensus net adds to move lower, where an accelerating loss trajectory could require further ARPU pressure for Subs to stabilize, a cycle we don't see ending."

Charter Communications fell 5.7% as the warning weighed on peers.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 15:05

FCC Chairman Says Agency May Issue Guidance On 'Fake Polls' Ahead Of Midterms

FCC Chairman Says Agency May Issue Guidance On 'Fake Polls' Ahead Of Midterms

Authored by AG News Staff via American Greatness,

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency may soon issue guidance to television broadcasters over what he called "fake polls," particularly if they are intended to suppress voter participation ahead of November's midterm elections.

Carr said Sunday that broadcasters face federal public-interest obligations because local television stations use FCC-licensed public airwaves, unlike cable networks and online platforms.

"There's a lot of interest right now in fake polls that are out there," Carr said. "And so the FCC may put guidance out soon to remind broadcasters about their obligations with respect to not airing fake polls, particularly if they're done to suppress people heading into the fall."

Carr's comments follow criticism from President Donald Trump over media coverage of political polling and his endorsement record in Republican primaries.

Trump recently called for the FCC to take action against NBC News' Kristen Welker after she said on a local NBC affiliate that Trump had experienced "mixed results" with candidates he endorsed in this year's primaries.

Trump disputed that characterization and said Welker should be reported to the FCC for "rebuke or punishment."

NBC News defended Welker.

Carr did not announce a formal investigation of Welker.

Instead, he said the FCC was considering several actions involving broadcasters and emphasized their obligation to operate in the public interest.

The FCC regulates local broadcast television and radio stations, but its authority over news content is limited by federal law and the First Amendment. The commission has historically said it generally will not intervene in complaints about one-sided or inaccurate news coverage because doing so could improperly substitute the government's judgment for that of broadcasters.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission's sole Democrat, rejected the idea that the agency can punish individual journalists over their reporting.

"As I've said many times, the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn't like," Gomez said.

Carr has not specified what standards the FCC would use to determine whether a political poll is "fake" or what consequences broadcasters could face under any new guidance.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 14:50

Scarcity Warnings In Physical World Send Commodities To 14-Year High, Threatening Stock Rally

Scarcity Warnings In Physical World Send Commodities To 14-Year High, Threatening Stock Rally

Readers are familiar by now with the broad-based commodity rally, with energy, agricultural products and metals moving sharply higher as former Goldman Sachs commodities head Jeff Currie warned this summer of growing scarcity in the physical economy.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index has climbed to levels last seen in 2012...

... while the Quantix Commodity Index has hit a new record high.

Bloomberg macro strategist Simon White is out with a new note this morning warning that the commodity rally is threatening to squeeze corporate margins and household spending, raising questions about how long stocks can withstand an inflation shock spreading well beyond oil.

White wrote:

Stocks are reacting negatively to the inflation and growth risks from commodities, which have just reached levels not seen since 2012.

Commodities are rallying, but this is no longer principally an oil story. The rally is instead broadening out. Since the beginning of August, not only are energy prices rising, such as European gas (up 34%), or gasoline (+22%), metal prices are also rising (zinc, copper), as well as precious metals (silver, platinum, gold), and softs, such as sugar, cocoa and corn.

He added:

Only a handful of the main commodities traded on futures markets (eg hogs, cattle, nickel and orange juice) are down since Aug. 1.

The energy shock affects input costs for everything from manufacturing to food production. The hobbling of refinery capacity from the Iran war has led to elevated prices for products such diesel and gasoline, inflaming transport costs.

Soft commodity prices are being further pressured by the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war, especially in the Black Sea region, as well as concerns about a particularly potent El Nino this year and next.

For equity bulls, White warned that soaring commodity prices raise questions about how long stocks can withstand an inflation shock broadening across the commodity complex. 

He continued on that thought:

The recent rally in raw materials has taken the Bloomberg Commodity Index to near 15-year highs. On a 10-year annualised basis, returns recently reached a level they have only once eclipsed, in 2008, since the mega-commodity rally of the 1970s.

But as we can see from the chart above, when commodity prices are high, such as in the 1970s or early 2010s, stock prices falter. Equivalently, stocks tend to enjoy their best periods when commodities are historically on the low side.

The current environment of rising stock and commodity returns looks somewhat of an anomaly. Stocks are slipping today, but if commodity prices stay bid - and there are many reasons for them to do just that - the equity market has more downside ahead. (Tatiana's point on higher energy prices boosting earnings won't translate into higher stock prices if the rest of the economy is suffering from broad-based commodity inflation.)

The Nasdaq 100's ratio to the Quantix Commodity Total Return Index has pointed to this summer's renewed commodity outperformance as traders price in scarcity. 

As we've pointed out in the metals space, copper is at an all-time high, north of $14,700, and iron ore might have found a bottom, with prices in Singapore around $100 a ton. On the critical materials side, we've outlined the continued tightening of supplies from China to the West, as seen last week in a Reuters report. We've also identified miners that are poised to break China's "quasi-monopolistic" grip on critical materials.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 14:35

3rd Burning Man Attendee Dies En Route To Hospital

3rd Burning Man Attendee Dies En Route To Hospital

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A third person has died at this year's Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert, according to the local sheriff's office.

Details about the death, reported on Sept. 8, were not released as festival attendees faced the usual traffic jam on their way home from the annual event in Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno.

The death occurred en route to a Reno-area hospital on Sept. 4, according to the Burning Man Project.

"We are saddened to have learned that a Burning Man participant, who experienced a serious medical emergency in Black Rock City during the early hours of Friday, Sept. 4, and immediately received on-site lifesaving measures, later passed away after being transported to Reno for medical care," a festival spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The examiner overseeing the death investigation at the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office didn't return requests for more information.

Two other festival attendees died this year at the weeklong event that started on Aug. 30.

On Sept. 3, the first man, identified later by Sheriff Jerry Allen as Sampson Tshombe, was pronounced dead by a doctor on festival grounds.

"It is with heavy hearts that The Burning Man Project confirms a Black Rock City participant in his mid-50s experienced a medical emergency, immediately received lifesaving measures, and was transported to the onsite center for emergency care where he was pronounced deceased," the organization said of Tshombe in a statement.

Two days later, the festival reported Craigh Mann, 60, was found dead by his friends at his camp at about 3 p.m.

Mann was also sent to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy and toxicology screening, according to the sheriff.

Allen reported deputies had arrested 34 people for drug sales and trafficking at this year's festival as of Sept. 5.

Requests sent to the sheriff to confirm the arrest information were not returned by publication time.

An average of one death a year is reported at the annual festival that typically attracts about 70,000 people to its temporary sand metropolis.

Last year, 37-year-old Vadim Kruglov, of Russia, was found dead at the event. Sheriff's deputies, who were investigating the death as a homicide, have not yet made any arrests.

[ZH: We have one question, while we know they went out dusty, did they go out smiling?]

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 14:05

3rd Burning Man Attendee Dies En Route To Hospital

3rd Burning Man Attendee Dies En Route To Hospital

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A third person has died at this year's Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert, according to the local sheriff's office.

Details about the death, reported on Sept. 8, were not released as festival attendees faced the usual traffic jam on their way home from the annual event in Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno.

The death occurred en route to a Reno-area hospital on Sept. 4, according to the Burning Man Project.

"We are saddened to have learned that a Burning Man participant, who experienced a serious medical emergency in Black Rock City during the early hours of Friday, Sept. 4, and immediately received on-site lifesaving measures, later passed away after being transported to Reno for medical care," a festival spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The examiner overseeing the death investigation at the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office didn't return requests for more information.

Two other festival attendees died this year at the weeklong event that started on Aug. 30.

On Sept. 3, the first man, identified later by Sheriff Jerry Allen as Sampson Tshombe, was pronounced dead by a doctor on festival grounds.

"It is with heavy hearts that The Burning Man Project confirms a Black Rock City participant in his mid-50s experienced a medical emergency, immediately received lifesaving measures, and was transported to the onsite center for emergency care where he was pronounced deceased," the organization said of Tshombe in a statement.

Two days later, the festival reported Craigh Mann, 60, was found dead by his friends at his camp at about 3 p.m.

Mann was also sent to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy and toxicology screening, according to the sheriff.

Allen reported deputies had arrested 34 people for drug sales and trafficking at this year's festival as of Sept. 5.

Requests sent to the sheriff to confirm the arrest information were not returned by publication time.

An average of one death a year is reported at the annual festival that typically attracts about 70,000 people to its temporary sand metropolis.

Last year, 37-year-old Vadim Kruglov, of Russia, was found dead at the event. Sheriff's deputies, who were investigating the death as a homicide, have not yet made any arrests.

[ZH: We have one question, while we know they went out dusty, did they go out smiling?]

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 14:05

Google To Invest $15 Billion In AI Infrastructure And Nuclear Power In Finland

Google To Invest $15 Billion In AI Infrastructure And Nuclear Power In Finland

By Georgia Butler of DataCenterDynamics

Google has committed to investing €13 billion ($15.13bn) in digital infrastructure in Finland across 2027 and 2028.

This will include data centers and supporting infrastructure investments in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, in the country. According to Google, this is its largest single investment in Europe to date.

Google has had a presence in Finland since it acquired a former paper mill in Hamina in 2009 and transformed it into a data center. The data center is cooled with seawater, and has been upgraded numerous times over the last 15 years. In 2022, the company purchased 50 acres of adjacent land to accommodate further expansion.

In 2024, Google acquired 1,400 hectares of land in Kajaani and Muhos from state-run forest agency Metsähallitus, but did not detail plans for the sites at the time. In February of this year, it added to its Finland land portfolio again with the acquisition of 900 hectares in Vaala for a possible data center project.

With the new investment and plans to build out in the country, Google is estimating that it will bring around 16,000 construction jobs to Finland, out of a total of 37,000 jobs generated. Once operational, the facilities will employ some 7,000 people.

"Finland is an attractive destination for investments, and attracting further investment remains a top priority. Google’s decision is a clear testament to our strengths. The value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment into spurring innovation, research, and development. Deepening our collaboration with Google will deliver lasting benefits for both parties," said Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland.

Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, added: "Google is proud to deepen our roots in Finland with the company’s largest single investment in Europe, building on more than 15 years of sustained investment in Finland. This investment underscores Google’s commitment to grow our presence responsibly, pairing the expansion of our technical infrastructure with new energy capacity, grid enhancements, and energy affordability initiatives."

Alongside the investment in data centers, Google has invested in energy initiatives in the country, including a Power Purchase Agreement with Fortum to extend the life of the Loviisa nuclear power plant, two onshore wind projects developed by Valorem and Suomen Hyötytuuli, and a 94MW battery system that will be located near Google's site in Kajaani.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:50

Google To Invest $15 Billion In AI Infrastructure And Nuclear Power In Finland

Google To Invest $15 Billion In AI Infrastructure And Nuclear Power In Finland

By Georgia Butler of DataCenterDynamics

Google has committed to investing €13 billion ($15.13bn) in digital infrastructure in Finland across 2027 and 2028.

This will include data centers and supporting infrastructure investments in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, in the country. According to Google, this is its largest single investment in Europe to date.

Google has had a presence in Finland since it acquired a former paper mill in Hamina in 2009 and transformed it into a data center. The data center is cooled with seawater, and has been upgraded numerous times over the last 15 years. In 2022, the company purchased 50 acres of adjacent land to accommodate further expansion.

In 2024, Google acquired 1,400 hectares of land in Kajaani and Muhos from state-run forest agency Metsähallitus, but did not detail plans for the sites at the time. In February of this year, it added to its Finland land portfolio again with the acquisition of 900 hectares in Vaala for a possible data center project.

With the new investment and plans to build out in the country, Google is estimating that it will bring around 16,000 construction jobs to Finland, out of a total of 37,000 jobs generated. Once operational, the facilities will employ some 7,000 people.

"Finland is an attractive destination for investments, and attracting further investment remains a top priority. Google’s decision is a clear testament to our strengths. The value of the data economy extends far beyond direct investment into spurring innovation, research, and development. Deepening our collaboration with Google will deliver lasting benefits for both parties," said Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland.

Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, added: "Google is proud to deepen our roots in Finland with the company’s largest single investment in Europe, building on more than 15 years of sustained investment in Finland. This investment underscores Google’s commitment to grow our presence responsibly, pairing the expansion of our technical infrastructure with new energy capacity, grid enhancements, and energy affordability initiatives."

Alongside the investment in data centers, Google has invested in energy initiatives in the country, including a Power Purchase Agreement with Fortum to extend the life of the Loviisa nuclear power plant, two onshore wind projects developed by Valorem and Suomen Hyötytuuli, and a 94MW battery system that will be located near Google's site in Kajaani.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:50

Female Lindsay Clancy Jurors Have Public Meltdown Over Mistrial

Female Lindsay Clancy Jurors Have Public Meltdown Over Mistrial

It's almost shocking how prophetic the conservative online memes were when it came to the hidden deliberations inside the Lindsay Clancy jury room.  The court proceedings have sparked a political firestorm as a female led cult of supporters (mostly leftists) rallied to defend Clancy, a mother who confessed to brutally murdering her three helpless children after sending her husband out of the house on errands.   

The case has triggered a wake up call for America, with critics pointing out that the feminist movement has done far more damage to society than anyone realized.  The ideology is so malignant, it has inspired millions of women to become morally devoid monsters.  Coupled with social media addiction and false consensus bias, the Clancy trial conjured what many are calling a "mass psychosis event".   

Now that the case has ended in a mistrial (11 to 1) and the jurors (9 women and 3 men) have been sent home, the truth is starting to leak out. 

Three female jurors from the Lindsay Clancy trial - foreperson Roni Carlson, Paula Devlin, and Kellie Farina - gave an exclusive interview to NBC10 Boston this week. Much of their discussion focused on their frustration with the mistrial and the lone male holdout juror (the person defense attorney Kevin Reddington called a “rogue juror”).  The attitudes and conclusions of these jurors were exactly as most people predicted.    

“He admitted he had reasonable doubt and I started filling out the forms, I was so excited. There were three forms I had to fill out, and I started filling them out. I wrote my signature on each one. And then he said, ‘But I’m still not going to say that she’s not guilty by reason of insanity.’”

“He had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children.” 

The circumstances surrounding the murders suggest that Clancy was fully aware of what she was doing, including the fact that her supposed "psychotic episode" in which she "heard a voice" telling her to kill her children had never happened before or since.  The episode also just happened to take place right after she sent her then husband Patrick Clancy on multiple errands which kept him away from the house. 

She even took a phone call from Patrick while she was in the midst of committing the murders and acted as if everything was fine.

Clancy was in treatment only a couple weeks before the event, but checked herself out.  She was diagnosed with a depressive disorder (not a psychosis) and she denied having any homicidal or suicidal thoughts.  Some of the drugs in her system (which the defense claimed were the cause of her "episode") were taken by Clancy in an attempt to overdose after the children were dead.  All of this information and more was ignored by 11 jurors for the sake of a convenient insanity plea. 

But the realities in the deliberations room get even more disturbing.  One female juror has come forward asserting that many of the jurors had taken Clancy's side early in the case and pressure to let her off with an insanity plea was applied.  This juror denounced the conspiracy claims on social media that the husband was the "real killer" and admits that Lindsay did indeed commit the act.  However, she also hints that despite her own misgivings, she had to side with the other "big personalities in the room". 

The rest of the jurors interviewed highlight the "vibes" of the defense attorney, noting that Kevin Reddington was fun, likable and empathetic to Lindsay (facts, apparently, took a backseat).  It should be noted that the jurors were not sequestered in this case, which means they went home each night and had free and unmonitored access to the internet and all the ridiculous theories available.  

In Massachusetts, the rules surrounding an insanity plea are reversed.  Usually, it is up to the defense to prove that the suspect was suffering from a mental breakdown.  But in MA, it is up to the prosecution to prove the suspect was not insane at the time of the crime.  How does one prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone was not crazy when the crime alone requires an inherent level of insanity?  It's impossible. 

This is why around half of all women who use postpartum psychosis as a murder defense escape real punishment for their crimes.  The case centers on the criminal as if that person is a victim, too.     

In MA if Clancy is found not guilty by reason of insanity she is remanded to a mental health facility, but she has the chance to be released as early as six months into her incarceration.  Keep in mind, her defense was that her psychosis was temporary; it had never happened before or since the murders.  In other words, she would automatically be considered "cured" by the standards of the facilities in MA - How would they be able to prove otherwise?   

Thankfully, at least one juror had the courage to stop this from happening.  The case has started a national conversation about the exploitation of "women's health" issues as a shield to protect female criminals from prosecution.  The threat being that America has been conned into accepting a two tier justice system in favor of violent women willing to play crazy.  The hormone defense would never work for a man who killed his three children; why should it work for Lindsay Clancy?   

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:35

Female Lindsay Clancy Jurors Have Public Meltdown Over Mistrial

Female Lindsay Clancy Jurors Have Public Meltdown Over Mistrial

It's almost shocking how prophetic the conservative online memes were when it came to the hidden deliberations inside the Lindsay Clancy jury room.  The court proceedings have sparked a political firestorm as a female led cult of supporters (mostly leftists) rallied to defend Clancy, a mother who confessed to brutally murdering her three helpless children after sending her husband out of the house on errands.   

The case has triggered a wake up call for America, with critics pointing out that the feminist movement has done far more damage to society than anyone realized.  The ideology is so malignant, it has inspired millions of women to become morally devoid monsters.  Coupled with social media addiction and false consensus bias, the Clancy trial conjured what many are calling a "mass psychosis event".   

Now that the case has ended in a mistrial (11 to 1) and the jurors (9 women and 3 men) have been sent home, the truth is starting to leak out. 

Three female jurors from the Lindsay Clancy trial - foreperson Roni Carlson, Paula Devlin, and Kellie Farina - gave an exclusive interview to NBC10 Boston this week. Much of their discussion focused on their frustration with the mistrial and the lone male holdout juror (the person defense attorney Kevin Reddington called a “rogue juror”).  The attitudes and conclusions of these jurors were exactly as most people predicted.    

“He admitted he had reasonable doubt and I started filling out the forms, I was so excited. There were three forms I had to fill out, and I started filling them out. I wrote my signature on each one. And then he said, ‘But I’m still not going to say that she’s not guilty by reason of insanity.’”

“He had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children.” 

The circumstances surrounding the murders suggest that Clancy was fully aware of what she was doing, including the fact that her supposed "psychotic episode" in which she "heard a voice" telling her to kill her children had never happened before or since.  The episode also just happened to take place right after she sent her then husband Patrick Clancy on multiple errands which kept him away from the house. 

She even took a phone call from Patrick while she was in the midst of committing the murders and acted as if everything was fine.

Clancy was in treatment only a couple weeks before the event, but checked herself out.  She was diagnosed with a depressive disorder (not a psychosis) and she denied having any homicidal or suicidal thoughts.  Some of the drugs in her system (which the defense claimed were the cause of her "episode") were taken by Clancy in an attempt to overdose after the children were dead.  All of this information and more was ignored by 11 jurors for the sake of a convenient insanity plea. 

But the realities in the deliberations room get even more disturbing.  One female juror has come forward asserting that many of the jurors had taken Clancy's side early in the case and pressure to let her off with an insanity plea was applied.  This juror denounced the conspiracy claims on social media that the husband was the "real killer" and admits that Lindsay did indeed commit the act.  However, she also hints that despite her own misgivings, she had to side with the other "big personalities in the room". 

The rest of the jurors interviewed highlight the "vibes" of the defense attorney, noting that Kevin Reddington was fun, likable and empathetic to Lindsay (facts, apparently, took a backseat).  It should be noted that the jurors were not sequestered in this case, which means they went home each night and had free and unmonitored access to the internet and all the ridiculous theories available.  

In Massachusetts, the rules surrounding an insanity plea are reversed.  Usually, it is up to the defense to prove that the suspect was suffering from a mental breakdown.  But in MA, it is up to the prosecution to prove the suspect was not insane at the time of the crime.  How does one prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone was not crazy when the crime alone requires an inherent level of insanity?  It's impossible. 

This is why around half of all women who use postpartum psychosis as a murder defense escape real punishment for their crimes.  The case centers on the criminal as if that person is a victim, too.     

In MA if Clancy is found not guilty by reason of insanity she is remanded to a mental health facility, but she has the chance to be released as early as six months into her incarceration.  Keep in mind, her defense was that her psychosis was temporary; it had never happened before or since the murders.  In other words, she would automatically be considered "cured" by the standards of the facilities in MA - How would they be able to prove otherwise?   

Thankfully, at least one juror had the courage to stop this from happening.  The case has started a national conversation about the exploitation of "women's health" issues as a shield to protect female criminals from prosecution.  The threat being that America has been conned into accepting a two tier justice system in favor of violent women willing to play crazy.  The hormone defense would never work for a man who killed his three children; why should it work for Lindsay Clancy?   

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:35

Stellar 10Y Auction Stops Through, With Highest Bid To Cover In A Decade On BIggest Yield Since 2007

Stellar 10Y Auction Stops Through, With Highest Bid To Cover In A Decade On BIggest Yield Since 2007

After today's very disappointing buyback announcement, which at $6BN came in far below whisper expectations of $10BN, and which sent yields surging to 4.85%, many were on edge ahead of today's $39 billion sale of 10Y paper. In the end, it priced far stronger than expected, with today's selloff providing a sufficient concession to stir up enough demand to avoid a fullblown bond market panic. 

The 9 Year/11 month reopening of cusip ER0 stopped at a high yield of 4.834%, up from 4.680% in August, and the highest since August 2007!

Just as importantly, the auction stopped through the When Issued 4.384% by 1.5bps, the biggest stop through since April 2025, which was some much needed good news in a day when yields soared briefly above 4.85% on their path to the inevitable date with 5.00%

The bid to cover was stellar at 2.713, it jumped from 2.532 in August and was the highest since April 2016.

The internals were even stronger, with indirect bidders taking 79.18% of the issue, one of the highest on record, while primary dealers were left with just 4.31%, the lowest participation since late Sept 2025. Direct took down 16.51%, right in line with the recent average of 16.42%.

In short, this was a stellar auction, which helped pare some of the earlier blowout in yields following today's buyback announcement, with the 10-year note last yielding 4.837%, up 3.26bp on the session but off its pre-auction highs.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:25

Stellar 10Y Auction Stops Through, With Highest Bid To Cover In A Decade On BIggest Yield Since 2007

Stellar 10Y Auction Stops Through, With Highest Bid To Cover In A Decade On BIggest Yield Since 2007

After today's very disappointing buyback announcement, which at $6BN came in far below whisper expectations of $10BN, and which sent yields surging to 4.85%, many were on edge ahead of today's $39 billion sale of 10Y paper. In the end, it priced far stronger than expected, with today's selloff providing a sufficient concession to stir up enough demand to avoid a fullblown bond market panic. 

The 9 Year/11 month reopening of cusip ER0 stopped at a high yield of 4.834%, up from 4.680% in August, and the highest since August 2007!

Just as importantly, the auction stopped through the When Issued 4.384% by 1.5bps, the biggest stop through since April 2025, which was some much needed good news in a day when yields soared briefly above 4.85% on their path to the inevitable date with 5.00%

The bid to cover was stellar at 2.713, it jumped from 2.532 in August and was the highest since April 2016.

The internals were even stronger, with indirect bidders taking 79.18% of the issue, one of the highest on record, while primary dealers were left with just 4.31%, the lowest participation since late Sept 2025. Direct took down 16.51%, right in line with the recent average of 16.42%.

In short, this was a stellar auction, which helped pare some of the earlier blowout in yields following today's buyback announcement, with the 10-year note last yielding 4.837%, up 3.26bp on the session but off its pre-auction highs.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:25

If You're Still Talking About Central Bank Independence, You Are Behind The Curve

If You're Still Talking About Central Bank Independence, You Are Behind The Curve

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The US just hit five more Iranian oil tankers, citing attempted strikes on one of its warships, and warned more will be sunk if Iran tries it again. It also imposed more economic war via aviation sanctions. The Saudis and Houthis are on the brink of new war after a series of strikes at Saudi cities, followed by Riyadh’s reprisals and the threat of “consequences [the Houthis] cannot handle.” Qatar and the UAE both said the Gulf cannot rely on US alone for the region's security: but Russia can’t extend power there now; China can’t or doesn’t want to; Europe can’t and won’t – so that leaves Turkey and Israel, both eyeing the other suspiciously; and as France and Canada joined the UK in issuing trade sanctions on Israeli settlements, the EU reportedly wants to pursue closer Israel ties on air defence and space.

Oil trades above $100, and notably Shanghai oil is now trading higher than Brent having been vastly lower in the early stages of the Iran War. Crack spreads remain worryingly high all over. Refined product stocks remain worryingly low.

Trump spoke to Putin as Hungary expelled 10 Russian diplomats to Moscow’s threats of a harsh response. Iceland summoned the US ambassador over Trump’s Stars and Stripes map Truth post showing the US flag covering Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and Iceland. Israel shut down the UK consulate in Jerusalem. The British Army has reportedly been ordered to save money by using reservists less, and flights were grounded across the UK due to a tech issue – showing the impact ‘grey zone’ attacks can have. The Hong Kong press notes China is boosting Pakistani drone defences ‘as India tensions simmer’, and ‘How Japan is digging in to deter –and withstand– a conflict over Taiwan.’ All the kind of things to rattle the long end of government bond yield curves.

Maritime nations are warning that global shipping rules are collapsing, which could take much global trade with it as some worry if there is enough bunker fuel for the ships to use. While the Suez Canal is seeing more passages as tankers try to avoid Hormuz, the Panama Canal is warning of deeper transit cuts as the El Nino drought threat intensifies. Further north, and next to Europe, Russia is betting on a $400bn Arctic Transport Corridor but can’t fund it without China.

Brussels warned China it ‘must buy more’ from the EU to avoid a trade war: but what exactly? The old joke vs. the US was ‘Will you sell us aircraft carriers?’ China now builds its own faster. Europe has few resources China needs or goods it doesn’t make itself. Even EU luxury brands are less popular as Beijing prioritises domestic brands. Perhaps the EU could sell China more tech from ASML, to a new trans-Atlantic storm? Meanwhile, EU industry claims it faces 300,000 job cuts as China “colonises” its supply chains, and European “wealth” is threatened by the decline of its carmakers, with a deleterious effect on the steel, aluminium, glass, and chemical sectors needed for rearmament. Again, not much fun for the long end of bond markets if they think about it.

Canadian counter tariffs on the US went into effect; the US is to ban Canadian dairy and some alcohol and motor vehicles from September 29, as well as Canadian firms from government contracts in response. The Globe and Mail opines, ‘With this trade war, Canada faces its Singapore moment’. The National Post says, ‘Canadians support hard line against US, but don't want to pay for it’, as “When asked if they would pay an extra C$500 per year to hold the line in the current trade war, 56% called this ‘unacceptable’.” Becoming Singapore implies paying vastly more than C$500 per year.

US Secretary of State Rubio is seeking more economic and security ties in Latin America, which has an FTA with the EU, which doesn’t offer the same security ties. He’s in Colombia to ‘clarify’ its China links and to sign a minerals deal, as Nicaragua hands a gold concession to a sister firm of US-sanctioned Chinese miner.

In AI, there are more reports about experts fearing the technology is out of control, as markets worry about the same issue from a different standpoint. The US also accused Chinese AI firms of “malicious” copying of AI technology – which can be resisted how if so, a digital Iron Curtain? Despite fears of US-South Korean tensions, as opposed to alignment on rapprochement with North Korea, KHNP and the US Westinghouse are to align the two nations nuclear supply chains for eight new US reactors. That is a small step in the right direction regarding AI power demands.

In politics, anti-AfD protests swept parts of Germany as the establishment fears that Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania may fall to the populists on 20 September. That’s as Politico says, ‘Merz has no good answers as the far right targets his downfall.’ Nothing for the bond market to worry about there, right?

In markets, there is some speculation the BOJ might even think about a 50bps hike. If so, it would be the first such move since 1989, when it was still in a bubble. Appropriately, given the current geopolitical backdrop, it was also before the3 first Cold War had fully ended and was a time when the US used national security arguments vs. its allies to achieve the likes of the Plaza Accord.

Indeed, US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated: “I am the house now, so when we intervene with the Japanese Yen, I have a pretty good insight into what the Japanese, what the Bank of Japan is going to do, what Japanese policy makers are going to do. And you can bet against me if you want.” I repeat, if you are still talking about the independence of central banks, you are behind the curve; the world is now about the functional independence of countries within which central banks sit. Of course, as JPY rallies and shorter-dated JGB yields rise, the issue becomes when we might see Japanese holdings abroad repatriated, pushing FX down and yields higher in other markets. That might take some more economic statecraft, not “because markets”, from Bessent to handle.

The RBA just saw Hauser give a hawkish speech, which has markets thinking of hikes this month and in November. Fortunately, that’s very much what the US Treasury would like to see – plus a lot more action on non-housing parts of the economy.

ECB President Lagarde, who’s talked independently about economic statecraft yet done nothing, is to release her memoir in January. That’s odd given she will still be in office so can’t tell us anything interesting enough to justify reading it. Unless she has moved on to pontificate at Davos, as whispered. That would allow Macron to choose the replacement ECB representative before the French presidential election where the nationalist Le Pen is seen as favourite, a clear ‘rules’-based ringfencing of a ‘rules-based’ institution against at least one populist appointment. Yet when you see where the political winds are blowing, such action may not prove quite as reassuring for markets as the ‘sensible centrist’ optimists would try to sell it.

On the other hand, China's tobacco monopoly played a key role in shoring up state-owned banks, which just raised $54bn in capital even as GDP is sluggish. Where there’s smoking, there’s fire, but is the new capital for bad loans, a bad sign for global growth, or new “not because markets” lending, a bad sign for global inflation? Today’s Chinese CPI data were in line at just 0.8% y-o-y headline, up from 0.5%, and slightly above expectations at 1.0% y-o-y core, while PPI was 3.8% y-o-y vs. 3.6% consensus and up from 3.5%. Let’s see how all of them trend with Shanghai oil over $100.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:20

If You're Still Talking About Central Bank Independence, You Are Behind The Curve

If You're Still Talking About Central Bank Independence, You Are Behind The Curve

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The US just hit five more Iranian oil tankers, citing attempted strikes on one of its warships, and warned more will be sunk if Iran tries it again. It also imposed more economic war via aviation sanctions. The Saudis and Houthis are on the brink of new war after a series of strikes at Saudi cities, followed by Riyadh’s reprisals and the threat of “consequences [the Houthis] cannot handle.” Qatar and the UAE both said the Gulf cannot rely on US alone for the region's security: but Russia can’t extend power there now; China can’t or doesn’t want to; Europe can’t and won’t – so that leaves Turkey and Israel, both eyeing the other suspiciously; and as France and Canada joined the UK in issuing trade sanctions on Israeli settlements, the EU reportedly wants to pursue closer Israel ties on air defence and space.

Oil trades above $100, and notably Shanghai oil is now trading higher than Brent having been vastly lower in the early stages of the Iran War. Crack spreads remain worryingly high all over. Refined product stocks remain worryingly low.

Trump spoke to Putin as Hungary expelled 10 Russian diplomats to Moscow’s threats of a harsh response. Iceland summoned the US ambassador over Trump’s Stars and Stripes map Truth post showing the US flag covering Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and Iceland. Israel shut down the UK consulate in Jerusalem. The British Army has reportedly been ordered to save money by using reservists less, and flights were grounded across the UK due to a tech issue – showing the impact ‘grey zone’ attacks can have. The Hong Kong press notes China is boosting Pakistani drone defences ‘as India tensions simmer’, and ‘How Japan is digging in to deter –and withstand– a conflict over Taiwan.’ All the kind of things to rattle the long end of government bond yield curves.

Maritime nations are warning that global shipping rules are collapsing, which could take much global trade with it as some worry if there is enough bunker fuel for the ships to use. While the Suez Canal is seeing more passages as tankers try to avoid Hormuz, the Panama Canal is warning of deeper transit cuts as the El Nino drought threat intensifies. Further north, and next to Europe, Russia is betting on a $400bn Arctic Transport Corridor but can’t fund it without China.

Brussels warned China it ‘must buy more’ from the EU to avoid a trade war: but what exactly? The old joke vs. the US was ‘Will you sell us aircraft carriers?’ China now builds its own faster. Europe has few resources China needs or goods it doesn’t make itself. Even EU luxury brands are less popular as Beijing prioritises domestic brands. Perhaps the EU could sell China more tech from ASML, to a new trans-Atlantic storm? Meanwhile, EU industry claims it faces 300,000 job cuts as China “colonises” its supply chains, and European “wealth” is threatened by the decline of its carmakers, with a deleterious effect on the steel, aluminium, glass, and chemical sectors needed for rearmament. Again, not much fun for the long end of bond markets if they think about it.

Canadian counter tariffs on the US went into effect; the US is to ban Canadian dairy and some alcohol and motor vehicles from September 29, as well as Canadian firms from government contracts in response. The Globe and Mail opines, ‘With this trade war, Canada faces its Singapore moment’. The National Post says, ‘Canadians support hard line against US, but don't want to pay for it’, as “When asked if they would pay an extra C$500 per year to hold the line in the current trade war, 56% called this ‘unacceptable’.” Becoming Singapore implies paying vastly more than C$500 per year.

US Secretary of State Rubio is seeking more economic and security ties in Latin America, which has an FTA with the EU, which doesn’t offer the same security ties. He’s in Colombia to ‘clarify’ its China links and to sign a minerals deal, as Nicaragua hands a gold concession to a sister firm of US-sanctioned Chinese miner.

In AI, there are more reports about experts fearing the technology is out of control, as markets worry about the same issue from a different standpoint. The US also accused Chinese AI firms of “malicious” copying of AI technology – which can be resisted how if so, a digital Iron Curtain? Despite fears of US-South Korean tensions, as opposed to alignment on rapprochement with North Korea, KHNP and the US Westinghouse are to align the two nations nuclear supply chains for eight new US reactors. That is a small step in the right direction regarding AI power demands.

In politics, anti-AfD protests swept parts of Germany as the establishment fears that Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania may fall to the populists on 20 September. That’s as Politico says, ‘Merz has no good answers as the far right targets his downfall.’ Nothing for the bond market to worry about there, right?

In markets, there is some speculation the BOJ might even think about a 50bps hike. If so, it would be the first such move since 1989, when it was still in a bubble. Appropriately, given the current geopolitical backdrop, it was also before the3 first Cold War had fully ended and was a time when the US used national security arguments vs. its allies to achieve the likes of the Plaza Accord.

Indeed, US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated: “I am the house now, so when we intervene with the Japanese Yen, I have a pretty good insight into what the Japanese, what the Bank of Japan is going to do, what Japanese policy makers are going to do. And you can bet against me if you want.” I repeat, if you are still talking about the independence of central banks, you are behind the curve; the world is now about the functional independence of countries within which central banks sit. Of course, as JPY rallies and shorter-dated JGB yields rise, the issue becomes when we might see Japanese holdings abroad repatriated, pushing FX down and yields higher in other markets. That might take some more economic statecraft, not “because markets”, from Bessent to handle.

The RBA just saw Hauser give a hawkish speech, which has markets thinking of hikes this month and in November. Fortunately, that’s very much what the US Treasury would like to see – plus a lot more action on non-housing parts of the economy.

ECB President Lagarde, who’s talked independently about economic statecraft yet done nothing, is to release her memoir in January. That’s odd given she will still be in office so can’t tell us anything interesting enough to justify reading it. Unless she has moved on to pontificate at Davos, as whispered. That would allow Macron to choose the replacement ECB representative before the French presidential election where the nationalist Le Pen is seen as favourite, a clear ‘rules’-based ringfencing of a ‘rules-based’ institution against at least one populist appointment. Yet when you see where the political winds are blowing, such action may not prove quite as reassuring for markets as the ‘sensible centrist’ optimists would try to sell it.

On the other hand, China's tobacco monopoly played a key role in shoring up state-owned banks, which just raised $54bn in capital even as GDP is sluggish. Where there’s smoking, there’s fire, but is the new capital for bad loans, a bad sign for global growth, or new “not because markets” lending, a bad sign for global inflation? Today’s Chinese CPI data were in line at just 0.8% y-o-y headline, up from 0.5%, and slightly above expectations at 1.0% y-o-y core, while PPI was 3.8% y-o-y vs. 3.6% consensus and up from 3.5%. Let’s see how all of them trend with Shanghai oil over $100.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 13:20

Treasury Yields Surge After Bessent Disappoints Market With Small Buyback Size

Treasury Yields Surge After Bessent Disappoints Market With Small Buyback Size

Ahead of today's highly anticipated Treasury buyback announcement - which put a number to the shocking Aug 19 news from the Treasury that the maximum size of $2 billion per longer-dated buyback operation would be "at least $4 billion" - we warned that no matter what was unveiled at 11am ET, the market would be disappointed...

... for the simple reason that when it comes to $2+ trillion in gross issuance every year and hundreds of billions in annual duration (DV01) supply, $4 billion - or even $10 billion as some expected - would be a drop in the bucket as this chart from Goldman shows (where if you use a microscope, you can even see the size of the TSY buyback in context).

So at precisely 11am, the Treasury did release the long-awaited number.... and it was a huge disappointment.

The treasury announced that going forward, the maximum par amount of 20-30 Year TSYs to be repurchased would be $6 billion... which while more than the $4 billion guaranteed minimum per the original press release, was less than the $10 billion whisper. 

Source: Treasury

Many dealers had ramped up their predictions for Thursday’s buyback operation after Bessent publicly touted the potential for purchases of over $4 billion; many expected $6 billion, a few even said that a number north of $10 billion isn't out of the question. The Treasury chief on Tuesday reiterated that while he cannot alter the “equilibrium” price of Treasuries, his objective was to slow moves down and prevent any damaging narrative taking hold in the world’s biggest bond market

BNP Paribas head of US rates strategy, Guneet Dhingra, said before the announcement it would take a maximum size of $7 billion to surprise the market, with anything less triggering selling pressure. He was right: the $6 billion number proved to be a dud as confirmed by the bond market reaction which has sent 10Y yields spiking 4 bps higher on the disappointing news, rising as high as 4.85%. 

How successful the enlarged program will prove remains to be seen. Yields dropped after the initial announcement of the plan last month, but retraced the move. Benchmark 10-year yields last week hit their highest since 2023.

Markets in August, when 30-year yields hit their highest since 2007, were driven by concerns “the US is not going to be able to pay its debt. It was absurd, but it just became kind of the dominant narrative,” Bessent claimed in a Texas event. He has separately characterized buybacks as aimed at boosting liquidity. They will enable banks and other institutions to offload harder-to-trade securities so that they can then boost their participation in auctions of new debt, he said last week.

“Scott has absolutely adopted a very activist model as Treasury secretary,” Krishna Guha, head of economics at Evercore ISI, said before Wednesday’s announcement. “He’s tactically very skilled in terms of when and how to surprise and move markets and has had some near-term success.”

Guha, who previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said “the challenge is always whether the impact of these kind of interventions can be sustained without bigger changes in fundamentals.”

Of course, since the buyback size is a "maximum", that means the Treasury will not necessarily purchase that amount of securities. However, when it comes to buybacks targeting longer-dated nominal debt, the department does tend to buy the full size, having only twice not done so in the 52 such operations since the program was reintroduced in 2024.

Bessent’s expansion of the long-dated buybacks program last month took investors by surprise because it was announced outside the Treasury’s quarterly announcement schedule. That’s fanned talk of a new, more activist style of US debt management, in contrast to the department’s long-held mantra of being “regular and predictable.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 12:55

Treasury Yields Surge After Bessent Disappoints Market With Small Buyback Size

Treasury Yields Surge After Bessent Disappoints Market With Small Buyback Size

Ahead of today's highly anticipated Treasury buyback announcement - which put a number to the shocking Aug 19 news from the Treasury that the maximum size of $2 billion per longer-dated buyback operation would be "at least $4 billion" - we warned that no matter what was unveiled at 11am ET, the market would be disappointed...

... for the simple reason that when it comes to $2+ trillion in gross issuance every year and hundreds of billions in annual duration (DV01) supply, $4 billion - or even $10 billion as some expected - would be a drop in the bucket as this chart from Goldman shows (where if you use a microscope, you can even see the size of the TSY buyback in context).

So at precisely 11am, the Treasury did release the long-awaited number.... and it was a huge disappointment.

The treasury announced that going forward, the maximum par amount of 20-30 Year TSYs to be repurchased would be $6 billion... which while more than the $4 billion guaranteed minimum per the original press release, was less than the $10 billion whisper. 

Source: Treasury

Many dealers had ramped up their predictions for Thursday’s buyback operation after Bessent publicly touted the potential for purchases of over $4 billion; many expected $6 billion, a few even said that a number north of $10 billion isn't out of the question. The Treasury chief on Tuesday reiterated that while he cannot alter the “equilibrium” price of Treasuries, his objective was to slow moves down and prevent any damaging narrative taking hold in the world’s biggest bond market

BNP Paribas head of US rates strategy, Guneet Dhingra, said before the announcement it would take a maximum size of $7 billion to surprise the market, with anything less triggering selling pressure. He was right: the $6 billion number proved to be a dud as confirmed by the bond market reaction which has sent 10Y yields spiking 4 bps higher on the disappointing news, rising as high as 4.85%. 

How successful the enlarged program will prove remains to be seen. Yields dropped after the initial announcement of the plan last month, but retraced the move. Benchmark 10-year yields last week hit their highest since 2023.

Markets in August, when 30-year yields hit their highest since 2007, were driven by concerns “the US is not going to be able to pay its debt. It was absurd, but it just became kind of the dominant narrative,” Bessent claimed in a Texas event. He has separately characterized buybacks as aimed at boosting liquidity. They will enable banks and other institutions to offload harder-to-trade securities so that they can then boost their participation in auctions of new debt, he said last week.

“Scott has absolutely adopted a very activist model as Treasury secretary,” Krishna Guha, head of economics at Evercore ISI, said before Wednesday’s announcement. “He’s tactically very skilled in terms of when and how to surprise and move markets and has had some near-term success.”

Guha, who previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said “the challenge is always whether the impact of these kind of interventions can be sustained without bigger changes in fundamentals.”

Of course, since the buyback size is a "maximum", that means the Treasury will not necessarily purchase that amount of securities. However, when it comes to buybacks targeting longer-dated nominal debt, the department does tend to buy the full size, having only twice not done so in the 52 such operations since the program was reintroduced in 2024.

Bessent’s expansion of the long-dated buybacks program last month took investors by surprise because it was announced outside the Treasury’s quarterly announcement schedule. That’s fanned talk of a new, more activist style of US debt management, in contrast to the department’s long-held mantra of being “regular and predictable.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 12:55

Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Voter Citizenship Verification

Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Voter Citizenship Verification

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The Justice Department on Sept. 8 requested that the Supreme Court let the government verify the citizenship of voters using a federal immigration database.

A federal judge earlier in the year ruled that the Trump administration was violating privacy laws by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the citizenship of people on state voter rolls.

An appeals court upheld the ruling on Sept. 4 in a split decision, with the majority concluding that using the database would illegally disclose personal data such as Social Security numbers.

"The district court has issued an indefensible order that threatens the integrity of upcoming elections by vacating the federal government's authority to internally use Social Security data when fulfilling its duty to respond to requests by states to verify the citizenship of individuals for voting and other purposes," Department of Justice lawyers wrote in the new filing to the nation's top court.

They said the order exceeds the jurisdiction of the court, because the organizations that brought the lawsuit do not have standing, or are not affected by the order in a way that allows them to legally challenge it.

"The court's order also fails on the merits, as the policy is consistent with all applicable federal statutes," the filing states.

"The order will irreparably harm the federal government, the States, and the public by depriving the government of an effective tool to verify the eligibility of registered voters and benefits applicants under various state and federal programs."

The groups that brought the litigation, including the League of Women Voters, have not yet responded to the filing.

The litigation was brought after the government enabled bulk queries to SAVE, complying with an order from a different judge that came in a case brought by states that struggled to verify the citizenship of registered voters.

Although a majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel on Sept. 4 ruled in favor of the groups, Judge Gregory Katsas dissented. He said that he would have stayed the order blocking the government from using SAVE, pending the outcome of the appeal.

The government's modified system does not appear to violate the federal law that prohibits disclosure of Social Security numbers and "related records," according to the judge. He said that the disclosures would only be made to the Department of Homeland Security, which would then convey information about a person's immigration status or citizenship to state agencies.

"In sum, SAVE responses are not 'related records' because they simply repeat identifying information provided by the SAVE user, in the course of conveying any additional, unprotected information about the identified individual's citizenship status," Katsas wrote.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 12:40

Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Voter Citizenship Verification

Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Voter Citizenship Verification

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The Justice Department on Sept. 8 requested that the Supreme Court let the government verify the citizenship of voters using a federal immigration database.

A federal judge earlier in the year ruled that the Trump administration was violating privacy laws by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the citizenship of people on state voter rolls.

An appeals court upheld the ruling on Sept. 4 in a split decision, with the majority concluding that using the database would illegally disclose personal data such as Social Security numbers.

"The district court has issued an indefensible order that threatens the integrity of upcoming elections by vacating the federal government's authority to internally use Social Security data when fulfilling its duty to respond to requests by states to verify the citizenship of individuals for voting and other purposes," Department of Justice lawyers wrote in the new filing to the nation's top court.

They said the order exceeds the jurisdiction of the court, because the organizations that brought the lawsuit do not have standing, or are not affected by the order in a way that allows them to legally challenge it.

"The court's order also fails on the merits, as the policy is consistent with all applicable federal statutes," the filing states.

"The order will irreparably harm the federal government, the States, and the public by depriving the government of an effective tool to verify the eligibility of registered voters and benefits applicants under various state and federal programs."

The groups that brought the litigation, including the League of Women Voters, have not yet responded to the filing.

The litigation was brought after the government enabled bulk queries to SAVE, complying with an order from a different judge that came in a case brought by states that struggled to verify the citizenship of registered voters.

Although a majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel on Sept. 4 ruled in favor of the groups, Judge Gregory Katsas dissented. He said that he would have stayed the order blocking the government from using SAVE, pending the outcome of the appeal.

The government's modified system does not appear to violate the federal law that prohibits disclosure of Social Security numbers and "related records," according to the judge. He said that the disclosures would only be made to the Department of Homeland Security, which would then convey information about a person's immigration status or citizenship to state agencies.

"In sum, SAVE responses are not 'related records' because they simply repeat identifying information provided by the SAVE user, in the course of conveying any additional, unprotected information about the identified individual's citizenship status," Katsas wrote.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 12:40

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