World At War: Are There Drone Spillover Threats In Caribbean An Iranian-made Shahed drone strike on the British Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, is among the first signs that the U.S.-Iran conflict may no longer be contained to the Middle East. This development brings us to a note we published one month ago on Cuba.  On Feb. 3, we cited a report from the Russian military-focused Telegram channel Rybar that offered a very […]

Mapping China’s Influence in Latin America Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The ouster of Peru’s president began with a secret late-night dinner. A series of clandestine encounters followed—dark glasses at one meeting, a hood over his face at another. Then videos leaked. Amid a nationwide uproar, three-quarters of Peru’s lawmakers voted to censure the initially popular José Jerí, just four months […]

Airports, Data Centers, Skyscrapers, & Power Plants: Are Desalination Plants Next Targets In U.S.-Iran War “I think it’s fair to say this is a third Gulf war, isn’t it?” Economist defense editor Shashank Joshi wrote on X. I think fair to say that this is a third Gulf war, isn’t it? — Shashank Joshi (@shashj) March 2, 2026 Beyond the ongoing exchange between U.S. and Israeli forces striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps […]

Bitcoin: Worthless Speculative Asset Or A True Monetary Alternative? Authored by Daniel Lacalle, The recent correction in Bitcoin has created a familiar debate. Is it a worthless speculative asset or a true monetary alternative? At $67,000, the price may be volatile, but it is hardly worthless.  Bitcoin may be both a warning and an opportunity. It remains a strong hedge against the destruction of fiat money and financial […]

Court Rules For WaPo Reporter In Major Win For Press In National Security Case Authored by Jonathan Turley, There was an important ruling last week by Magistrate Judge William B. Porter of the Eastern District of Virginia in favor of the press regarding the handling of files and materials taken in a search of the home of a Washington Post reporter. Judge Porter ruled against the Trump Administration in what he called an […]

“Severely Curbed”: Gold Shipments Through Dubai Stalled In Wake Of Strikes On Iran Gold shipments through Dubai are set to stall for several days after airlines suspended flights amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s response, according to three industry sources and Reuters. Because gold is typically transported by air for security and insurance reasons, the cancellations are expected to sharply limit physical […]

We Want One Solution, But One Solution Can’t Solve Our Polycrisis Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via Substack, Whatever the problem, our minds seek one solution–preferably a simple one–to escape the trackless wilderness of complex, inter-connected problems. Problem-solving boils down to identifying the key problem and finding a fix that’s easy to understand and straightforward to apply. Our minds rebel when confronted with […]

IRGC Warns Ready To Torch Tankers Entering Strait Of Hormuz As Rubio Tells Iran ‘Hardest Hits Yet To Come’ Summary: President Trump opened Monday’s Medal of Honor ceremony in the White House East Wing with a carefully prepared, somewhat brief statement on Operation Epic Fury. Speaking deliberatively – but not quite with the level of his typically confident and energetic tone and demeanor – he spoke initially and broadly on the […]

Hormuz Paralyzed: Another Tanker Hit, Floating Parking Lot Of Ships Swells Update (1555ET): The latest Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data, via Bloomberg, shows that tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed, with only a few tankers still transiting the critical maritime energy chokepoint. U.S. Central Command said in a statement on X that IRGC naval power has been severely degraded after […]

US Vigilant Against Possible Domestic Attacks Amid Iran War: Hegseth Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the Trump administration is monitoring for any sleeper cell activity in the United States. Hegseth’s March 2 comments came after questions about a possible attack on the homeland in response to the strikes on Iran. “We’re ready for that,” the secretary told […]

NYC Pakistan-Owned Hotel Took $146M For Illegals But Owes $13M In Taxes Authored by Luis Cornelio via HeadlineUSA, The Pakistani government owes New York City taxpayers millions in unpaid taxes despite making nearly $150 million through the Roosevelt Hotel by housing illegal aliens.  The Roosevelt Hotel, owned by Pakistani International Airlines, a quasi-state entity, has $13.6 million in overdue property taxes and nearly […]

Satellite Images Reveal Aftermath Of Drone Attack On Saudi Arabia’s Biggest Refinery Update (1453ET): New GEOINT from spatial intelligence firm Vantor shows high-resolution satellite imagery of the aftermath of a reported Iranian drone strike early Monday on Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura complex. This attack has taken Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery offline. Vantor’s satellite imagery shows visible damage across multiple refinery […]

Potential Strikes On Iran’s Reactor and Nuclear Complexes Update: Iran Alleges Strikes on Natanz Enrichment Facility Amid ongoing military operations that have targeted Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor site, Tehran claims the United States and Israel also struck its key Natanz uranium enrichment complex on Sunday, March 1. According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Atomic Energy Organization chief Mohammad Eslami informed IAEA […]

Only The 38th Largest Oil Spike Since 1990 Today’s CoTD from DB’s Jim Reid shows the daily price of oil back to 1990. When he published the report, oil (+8.4%) was tracking to be the 38th biggest daily gain over this 36-year period. The graph annotates the clusters where we have seen larger moves. So even though it’s a big move, to get into the top 20, 10 and 5 it would need to be up +9.6%, +13.6% and +13.9% respectively. […]

AI ‘Vibe Coding’ Could Put Ethereum Roadmap Ahead Of Schedule: Vitalik Buterin Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says an experiment that used artificial intelligence to prototype the blockchain’s roadmap out to 2030 in just a few weeks could have lessons for developers.  “This is quite an impressive experiment. Vibe-coding the entire 2030 roadmap within weeks,” […]

Construction Spending On Data Centers, Factories, Powerplants, And Office Buildings: Boom, Bust, And In Between Authored by Wolf Richter via Wolf Street, Construction spending on data centers in 2025 exploded by 32% from the prior year, by over 100% in two years, and by 344% from 2020, to $41 billion, according to the Census Bureau on Friday. Spending on construction costs of data centers used to be buried in office construction […]

SaaS: Is There Opportunity In The Destruction? Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, A specter is haunting Wall Street – the specter of the “SaaSpocalypse.” Since the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) peaked on September 19, 2025, it has fallen roughly 30%. For context, the broad technology indexes like XLK and QQQ are essentially flat over the same period, and the semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up […]

What’s Igniting Today’s U.S. Antimony Spike? Potential Catalysts United States Antimony Corp. shares are surging in the early U.S. cash session as geopolitical risk around U.S.-China relations is set to deteriorate, with Beijing’s condemnation of the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran raising the likelihood that President Trump’s upcoming trip to Beijing could be a bust. The deterioration in Sino-U.S. relations was evident overnight, […]

US Government Seizes Over $580 Million In Crypto Linked To Southeast Asian Scams Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said federal authorities have frozen and seized more than $580 million in cryptocurrency tied to Southeast Asian scam networks, marking a major escalation in the government’s campaign against cross-border crypto fraud. The funds were restrained through the Justice […]

Rep. Ted Lieu Spreads Bizarre Conspiracy In Congressional Hearing Authored by Jonathan Turley, Years ago, Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Cal.) demanded that “Facebook should do more internally to regulate fake news and point out fake news.” This week, he finally made his case for such private censorship. Lieu went full conspiracy theorist during a congressional hearing this week, leaving many gobsmacked. Lieu’s rave about the alleged […]

European Gas Prices Soar 50% After Qatar Shuts World’s Largest LNG Export Plant In its scenario analysis of how the Iran war could impact energy markets, Goldman laid out a section dedicated to nat gas, and specifically LNG, which like oil, is one of the commodities that is especially reliant on prompt passage through he Straits of Hormuz to reach its destination.  Specifically, unlike oil which Goldman calculated had already […]

Trump’s Strategy Is A High Risk-High Reward Gamble By Rabobank The New Age Of Empires The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday morning, and not a ‘one-and-done’ strike aimed at more negotiations. Rather, it’s an operation to destroy Iran’s nuclear program remnants, its ballistic missile production and stockpiles, its navy, and to back *regime change*. Both the U.S. and Israel are calling on the Iranian people to rise […]

Target Cuts Synthetic Colors From Beloved Breakfast Food Authored by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell via The Daily Signal, The Make America Healthy Again movement has made its mark on one of America’s largest retailers. Dr. Marty Makary, FDA commissioner. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Target announced Friday that every cereal it sells, including national brands, must exclude synthetic colors by the end of May. Health and Human […]

Russia’s Key Novorossiysk Export Hub Again Pounded In Large Ukrainian Drone Wave Iran is understandably dominating global headlines, but major events are still happening in oh yeah that other war which has been raging for four plus years in eastern Europe. Like with the Iran conflict theatre, major geopolitical repercussions impacting energy oil prices are coming out of the Ukraine war. An overnight Monday large-scale drone wave […]

10Y Yield Extends Rise After Surge In ISM Manufacturing Prices After ISM’s almost unprecedented bounce higher in January, US Manufacturing dipped in February: S&P Global Manufacturing PMI fell from 52.4 to 51.6 – weakest in seven months ISM Manufacturing PMI fell from 52.6 to 52.4 (better than expected) And this is occurring as ‘hard’ data ebbs lower… “February saw US manufacturers report the weakest expansion […]