Memory Stick Prices Refuse To Come Back To Earth Apple CEO Tim Cook’s warning during Thursday evening’s earnings call about the deepening global memory shortage sent us back to review memory stick prices. Let’s review what Cook said… “We believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business,” Cook told analysts, while also warning about “supply constraints.” He added, “We’ll continue to evaluate this.” It wasn’t […]

Three Fed Officials Explain Why They Dissented, Blasting Fed’s “Easing Bias” This morning, three Fed officials said they dissented over this week’s policy statement because it was no longer appropriate to signal the Fed’s next move was still likely to be an interest-rate cut. “I believe the FOMC should offer a policy outlook that signals that the next rate change could be either a cut or a hike, depending on how the economy […]

Manufacturing ISM Misses As Prices Surge Most Since April 2022, Employment Slides To Worst Print Of 2026 Amid the fog of war and fading ‘hard’ data, the final April S&P Global Manufacturing PMI printed 54.5, a small gain from the flash 54.0 print, and higher than the 52.3 February final print, although it came with a warning from Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence: “The surge in […]

Final Warnings By Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank Some headlines write themselves. Tokyo has already delivered one – and likely acted on it. Tehran may be waiting for its turn. The bond market, meanwhile, could have issued another warning to the Fed. As for the long-held consensus that 2026 would bring smooth disinflation, gentle policy easing, and AI-driven multiple expansion, that narrative has been under […]

Pentagon Finalizes Deal With Top AI Firms For National Security Work The Department of War has finalized agreements with OpenAI, Google, SpaceX/xAI, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Reflection AI to deploy AI tools in “classified settings.” This means these tools will operate within secure government networks where sensitive or secret national security information is handled, according to The Wall Street Journal. Anthropic’s Claude […]

Medicaid Withholds Additional $91 Million In Funding For Minnesota Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times, In his latest action targeting Minnesota fraud, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said his agency would delay paying $91 million in Medicaid claims to the state. “This is about protecting patients and respecting taxpayers,” Oz said in a video posted April 30 on X, […]

Roblox Shares Crash As Engagement Headwinds Blindside Wall Street Online gaming platform Roblox crashed the most in four years in premarket trading to the tune of 24%, after the company reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter user metrics and slashed its full-year bookings outlook. One of the major problems plaguing Roblox has been that new child-safety features, including age-verification requirements and limits on platform […]

Trump Argues War ‘Terminated’ Before 60-Day Congressional Approval Deadline, As Iran Submits Latest Proposal To Pakistan Mediators Summary White House officials argue the current absence of fighting between Iranian & US forces means the 60-day timeline for Congressional approval (or US forces must leave) doesn’t apply due to the ceasefire. Iran submitted its latest revised proposal to Pakistan mediators as of Thursday […]

Futures Rise, Oil Slides On Iran Ceasefire Optimism After Best Month For Stocks Since 2020 US equity futures are higher, set for a new all time high, as the rally that’s pushed Wall Street to record highs on strong megacap tech earnings continues, after the S&P posted its best monthly increase since November 2020. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are up 0.3% (spiking moments ago on a report that Iran submitted its latest […]

US Pledges $100 Million To Repair Chornobyl Nuclear Plant Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The U.S. Department of State intends to offer up to $100 million in foreign assistance toward a G7 initiative to repair the Chornobyl nuclear plant’s protective structure that was damaged in Russian strikes. A visitor touring the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant takes a photo through a window looking […]

Nearly 70% Inflation, Mass Layoffs, And A Strangled Economy: Iran’s Brutal Test Of Endurance Iran’s economy is undergoing one of the most brutal stress tests in its modern history. Official annual inflation has surged to 50% according to central bank figures released shortly after the ceasefire, while the year-on-year rate reached as high as 67% through mid-April, according to the Wall Street Journal. The rial has crashed to a […]

AfD Vows To Drain ‘NGO Swamp’ After Berlin Café That Bans White People Received Taxpayer Cash Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has vowed to cut off taxpayer money for left-wing activist groups after a Berlin organization that runs a coworking café that reportedly excludes White people received more than €662,000 in public funding. The controversy centers on BIWOC Rising, […]

Bombshell Sexual-Harassment Suit Against JPM’s Lorna Hajdini Called “Complete Fabrication” The British tabloid newspaper Daily Mail first broke the story earlier this week about a former JPMorgan staffer who claimed that an executive director on JPM’s leveraged finance team turned him into a “sex slave” by drugging him with Rohypnol and Viagra, according to a bombshell lawsuit. However, it now appears that the sexual harassment suit […]

Exxon & Chevron Shares Jump After Big Q1 Earnings Beat The impact of the war in Iran is on full display this morning in the earnings of two oil giants – Chevron and Exxon Mobil – as both smashed earnings expectations (despite production pressures). Ahead of the results, Exxon and Chevron had both flagged major reductions in 1Q earnings due to “timing effects,” or paper losses on derivatives tied to cargoes that had not yet […]

Trump Says Gas Prices Will Drop “Like a Rock” Once Conflict Ends, As Senator Breaks With GOP Leadership On War Powers Summary Trump: “The [price of] gasoline and the oil will go down rapidly once the war’s over.” GOP Sen. Collins switches vote on war powers. Bessent on X: “Amid the impact of Economic Fury, Iran’s currency has hit an all-time low. The Iranian people deserve a new era, which the corrupt and shambolic […]

EU Parliament Pushes Funding Cuts To Orbán-Founded Patriots Group As Witch-Hunt Continues Via Remix News, The European Parliament will vote today on suspending EU funding for the right-wing Patriots for Europe faction, founded by outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. At stake is the alleged mismanagement of €4.3 million of EU funds by Philip Claeys, the former secretary general of the far-right Identity and […]

British Police Raid Islamic Group Accused Of Sex Trafficking And Slavery At least nine members of a Cheshire Islamic group have been arrested in a raid of 500 British police officers as part of an investigation into sexual offenses, slavery and forced marriage.  Officers received reports of human trafficking, rape, and other crimes involving members of a group known as the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, based in Crewe.  […]

Canada’s Culture Minister: Regulating Online Content A Duty Of Federal Government Authored by Olivia Gomm via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Culture Minister Marc Miller says the federal government has the role of regulating content on the internet and that Canada is years behind other countries when it comes to regulating “online harms.” Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller rises during Question Period in […]

“We Shouldn’t Have To Live Like This”: UK Terror Level Raised To ‘Severe’ After Stabbing Attacks Britain’s terrorism threat level was raised from “substantial” to “severe” on Thursday afternoon after a 45-year-old British national, reportedly born in Somalia, stabbed two Jewish men in North London. The elevation in the terrorism threat level suggests another terror attack is highly likely within the next six months, as […]

China Reopens Fuel Export Spigot, Offering Relief To Asian Buyers Beijing is reversing its curbs on refined fuel exports after halting shipments in the opening days of the U.S.-Iran conflict. This move suggests that Chinese domestic inventories are now at comfortable levels, allowing state refiners to reopen the export spigot, even as much of Asia remains gripped by a fuel shock caused by disrupted Gulf energy flows through the […]

Trump Threatens To Pull Some US Troops Out Of Germany While Lambasting ‘Ineffective’ Merz German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been a bit on the defensive since his earlier in the week swipe at President Trump over launching the war against Iran. The German leader had told students in a talk that the US is being “humiliated” by Iranian leaders. He had also asserted, “If I had known that it would continue like this for five or six […]

Top Russian & Indian Think Tanks Devised A Plan For Rebalancing Economic Relations Authored by Andrew Korbybko via Substack, Sanctions, bureaucracy, and logistics are the primary obstacles to “diversifying economic ties and correcting the existing imbalance”, but these can be surmounted through SMEs playing a greater role, more localization and procedure simplifications, and optimizing their trade corridors. The Russian […]

Congress Passes 45-Day Extension Of FISA Section 702, Sending It To Trump’s Desk Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a bill to extend a spying authority of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days as congressional debate on the controversial measure continues. The U.S. Capitol building on April 29, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch […]

Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund To Stop Funding LIV Golf After 2026 Season LIV Golf is preparing to inform players and staff that its main financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will stop funding the league after the 2026 season, according to Golfweek. The announcement—expected midweek—would open the door for CEO Scott O’Neil to pursue new investment to keep the tour running. Since launching in 2022 as a […]

1 In 5 Americans Are Still Working From Home The COVID-19 pandemic marked a dramatic shift in workplace dynamics, as working from home suddenly became the norm for millions of workers in the United States and across the globe. As Statista’s Felix Richter notes, this transformation offered employees newfound flexibility, enabling them to manage their time more effectively, eliminate commutes, facilitate childcare and often […]