US To Issue Limited Passports With Trump’s Image For America’s 250th Anniversary Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, The U.S. State Department announced on April 28 that it will release limited-edition passports featuring a picture of President Donald Trump to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary of independence. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to multiple news outlets that the […]

“6–12 Months For Construction Permits” – The Nuclear Regulation Overhaul As we have been detailing for months, the Trump administration is pushing the deployment of nuclear energy in ways never before seen in modern times. Among the dozens of major regulatory changes, award programs, and high-speed development initiatives, the administration seems to be clearing a new roadblock every week, yet in reality it is greatly lagging […]

COVID Cover-Up: Hiding Star Researcher Ralph Baric’s Ties To Global Pandemic Authored by Paul D. Thacker via RealClearInvestigations, In March 2020, a couple of months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, editors at the journal Nature Medicine appended a note to a coronavirus study it had published five years prior. “We are aware that this article […]

Trump Rejects Iran Offer, Prepares ‘Short Wave’ Strikes, As Oil Prices Soar & Congressional GOP Members ‘Restless’ Summary CENTCOM reportedly preparing for “short wave of strikes” on Iran in order to potentially break the Hormuz impasse & force Tehran back to the negotiating table. Trump rejects Iran proposal as it won’t give up nuclear program. Trump recently met this week with oil and gas executives at the White […]

Key Bridge Nightmare: Contractor Dropped After Costs Spiral Left-wing Gov. Wes Moore’s claim that the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild is the “fastest-moving large infrastructure project in the United States” just hit a major roadblock. Fox Baltimore’s Gary Collins reports that Maryland officials canceled Kiewit Infrastructure Co.’s contract for Phase 2 of the bridge rebuild, the construction phase, after the contractor’s proposal […]

AI Agent Deletes Startup’s Database In 9 Seconds, Founder Says Authored by Jason Nelson via Decrypt.co, PocketOS founder Jeremy Crane claims a Cursor agent running Anthropic’s Claude Opus deleted his company’s production database and backups in nine seconds. Crane said the AI later produced a written explanation admitting it violated multiple safety rules. The incident raises questions about AI coding tools, […]

US Oil Exports Soar To New Record High As Inventories Tumble, SPR Drained Most Since October 2022 One week ago we lamented that the record oil inventory drawdown, which has seen over 250 million barrels drained from storage since the start of the war, has not led to higher oil prices (for those who missed it, Goldman forecast that global visible oil inventories are likely to reach record-low levels even in an optimistic scenario […]

US Sanctions 35 Individuals, Entities To Dismantle Iran’s Shadow Banking Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The U.S. Treasury Department on April 28 imposed sanctions on 35 individuals and entities accused of running Iran’s secret shadow banking network. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on April 15, 2026. […]

OPEC +/- By Bas van Geffen, Senior Macro Strategist at Rabobank Brent futures topped $115/barrel, after news broke that US President Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to CNN’s sources, Iran is expected to submit a revised proposal in the next few days. However, it is unclear why Trump would accept this new version, unless Iran is suddenly willing to make concessions on its nuclear […]

Bloom Energy Erupts On Beat, Guidance Upgrade As On-Site Data Center Power Demand Soars Clean-power company Bloom Energy surged early in the U.S. cash session after reporting earnings Tuesday after the close, raising its full-year revenue and margin guidance on rising demand from data centers and other commercial customers.  The maker of solid oxide fuel cell systems, branded as Bloom Energy Servers, that generate electricity […]

In Huge Win For Republicans, Supreme Court Curbs Use Of Race In Drawing Voting Districts In a sweeping 6-3 decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional map with a second majority-Black district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais (No. 24-109) delivers a major victory for Republicans by sharply curtailing the Voting Rights Act’s ability to compel the […]

Fed Chair Pick Warsh Approved By Key Senate Committee Along Party Lines The drama over Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Trump’s pick for next Fed chair appears to be over. Moments ago, Warsh won the backing of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday in a 13-11 party-line vote, putting him on track to be confirmed by the full Senate before Jerome Powell’s term ends May 15, Bloomberg reproted.  Warsh’s nomination had been held up […]

Max Pressure: U.S. Prepares For Extended Hormuz Blockade As Treasury Warns Sanction Risks Linked To China’s “Teapot” Refineries The U.S. is intensifying pressure on Iran and China across two fronts. First, on the military side, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump told top aides to prepare for an extended U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would strangle Tehran’s oil revenue. Second, on the […]

Bank of Canada Keeps Rates On Hold As It “Looks Through War’s Immediate Impact On Inflation” As expected, the Bank of Canada – which was the day’s first G5 central bank to hit the tape ahead of the Fed’s decision at 2pm ET – held interest rates unchanged at 2.25% as expected, saying adjustments to borrowing costs would likely be small if the economy and inflation evolve as expected, while stating that it is looking through the […]

JetBlue Plans 30-40% “Fuel Recapture” Fare Hikes, Capacity Cuts To Cover Rising Costs Thanks to the war in Iran, JetBlue Airlines is passing the cost along to us – announcing during Q1 earnings on Tuesday that while the airline had strong revenue performance, prices are going up due to rising fuel costs.  A JetBlue Embraer 190 taxis on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on June 29, 2021. […]

Core Durables Goods Surge For 12th Straight Month, Push Bond Yield Higher After a recent string of ‘soft’ survey data, this morning we get some ‘hard’ data and it was far stronger than expected. Preliminary headline durable goods orders for March rose 0.8% MoM (better than the 0.5% MoM exp), and the first increase after a three month decline to start the year (which was the first 3-month decline since Nov 2019). The increase […]

O-I Glass Plunges As Gulf Energy Shock Hits Earnings Outlook Glass bottle and jar company O-I Glass plunged the most in premarket trading in more than six years after it slashed its full-year adjusted EPS outlook, blaming higher energy costs tied to the Gulf-related energy shock. The major glass-container manufacturer, producing bottles and jars for the beer, wine, spirits, beverage, and food-packaging markets, now expects adjusted […]

Housing Starts Surge To Highest Since 2024 As Permits Unexpectedly Crater With mortgage rates still relatively low, despite a recent jump in interest rates, and a top-down push for affordability, Housing Starts for March soared while the more forward-looking Building Permits disappointed, unexpectedly plunged. Housing starts soared 10.8% MoM in March (far more than the -0.4% expected drop) while Permits plunged 10.8% MoM (and worse […]

Wingstop Tumbles As Chicken Demand Falters, Guidance Cut Wingstop shares fell the most in six months in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year outlook and reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter sales, citing a pullback in traffic as management pointed to “continued pressure on consumer spending.” The chicken chain, with 2,653 locations across the US, now expects 2026 domestic same-store sales to decline at a low […]

US Gas Prices Hit Highest Level In 4 Years, Analyst Says Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The average price for a gallon of gasoline hit its highest level in four years on Tuesday as the cost of a barrel of oil remains elevated amid the conflict with Iran, according to a prominent analyst. Customers pump gas at a gas station in Miami on April 13, 2026. Joe Raedle/Getty Images The national average […]

Futures Flat Ahead Of Fed, Mag 7 Earnings Avalanche S&P futures are flat with Nasdaq outperforming ahead of a huge day for tech. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, representing nearly 20% of S&P market cap, report after the close, with traders focused on capex. The group has a combined options implied move of more than $750 billion of market cap in either direction. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are unchanged; Nasdaq […]

Gabe Plotkin Plans ETF Comeback After Melvin Capital Collapse After closing his hedge fund in the aftermath of the meme-stock upheaval, Gabe Plotkin is exploring a new investment structure, according to Bloomberg. He’s looking to place a portion of his personal holdings into an exchange-traded fund, using a method that has become increasingly attractive for wealthy investors seeking to postpone capital gains taxes. As co-chair […]

$43,000 Front-Row Seats: How Soccer Fans Are Being Priced Out Of World Cup Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), First-round match ticket: $280 to $43,000. Stadium daily parking pass: $150 to $600. Public transportation to venues: $100 or more in some cities. In-person 2026 FIFA World Cup experience: Priceless, or somewhere between a mortgage payment and a year or two of college, depending on who you […]

Goldman’s State Of U.S. Consumer Outlook Gets More Grim Goldman consumer analysts Kate McShane and Bonnie Herzog cut their 2026 discretionary cash-inflow growth forecast for the second time this year, citing a worsening squeeze on U.S. households as slower disposable income growth collides with higher fuel prices at the pump. The revision points to a softening among cash-strapped consumers as the US-Iran conflict enters its third […]

Germany Scrambles For Polish Oil Route As Russia Halts Druzhba Flows Submitted by Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com Germany is hunting for solutions to reroute crude oil supplies to the PCK Schwedt refinery after Russia said it would halt Kazakh oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline starting May 1, with roughly 43,000 barrels per day (bpd) now at risk. Berlin is now in talks with Poland over moving replacement barrels […]