Global very large crude carrier (VLCC) rates have jumped to six-year highs due to two recent catalysts: first, a growing war-risk premium tied to the possibility of a US-Iran conflict, and second, ongoing consolidation in fleet ownership that is tightening vessel availability.

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The California Parole Board’s decision to release a serial child molester who used candy and toys to lure children as young as three years old has sparked outrage from victims, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials.

SpaceX satellite policy lead Udrivolf Pica told participants in the International Telecommunication Union Space Connect webcast about the next-generation Starlink direct-to-device cellular service for smartphones. The revelation of the new service follows SpaceX's October 2025 U.S. trademark filing for "STARLINK MOBILE" and comes as Elon Musk has recently hinted at Starlink mobile ambitions.

As the Trump White House weighs its options against Tehran, Hezbollah is signaling it may not be eager to open another front - at least not immediately, issuing a rare message which seeks to calm the mood in the region.

A senior Hezbollah official told AFP that the Iran-backed group would stay out of the fight if the United States conducts only "limited" strikes against Iran - a notable caveat, but which leaves the door open if escalation goes further.

Days after the firm announced that they were scrapping DEI requirements for new board members, and six years after the death of George Floyd that ushered in institutionalized virtue-signaling, the bank's head of DEI is leaving. 

Megan Hogan, who's been at the firm 12 years, is taking her shtick to Morgan Stanley according to Business Insider, which Hogan confirmed via email, telling the outlet that Morgan Stanley had extended "an amazing opportunity" to her in talent development. 

At around 1300ET, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) halted trading of all metals and NatGas contracts (futures and options) due to 'technical issues'.

Additionally, all day orders and GTDs with today’s date will be cancelled.

All GTCs that have been acknowledged will remain working.

A week after Bill Gates abruptly pulled out as a keynote speaker at a high-profile global AI summit in India, the left-wing billionaire finally mustered enough nerve to "take responsibility for his actions" over his ties to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a town hall meeting with Gates Foundation employees.

It's not just Trump who is stacking his central bank with uberdoves.

After plunging yesterday following a Mainichi report that Japanese Prime Minister expressed concerns at more BOJ rate hikes, the yen has tumbled more, sending the USDJPY as high as 156.80 this morning, the highest since Feb 9, after the Takaichi administration announced two nominees to succeed the outgoing BoJ Policy Board members later this year, both of whom have a history of dovish commentary.

After yesterday's 2 Year auction, moments ago the Treasury sold its second coupon for the week when it auctioned off $70BN in 5 Year paper in a rather lackluster auction. 

The auction priced at a high yield of 3.615%, down from 3.823% a month ago, and the lowest since November; it also tailed the When Issued 3.608% by 0.7bps, the biggest tail since last July.

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The tendency for the rate of things to fall

Markets are trying to get past a report on how devastating AI could be for employment. There are push-backs: it ignores resource constraints and Schumpeterian creative destruction, and echoes Marx’s Tendency for the Rate of Profits to Fall. Yet Anthropic just released desk-top plug-ins plugins aimed at HR, design, engineering, ops, financial analysis, investment banking, equity research, private equity, and wealth management, e.g., it can do all the analysis in a spreadsheet, write the report on it, and make the presentation. It seems illogical this won’t see a surge in unemployment even if AI still makes key errors that require experience to spot – the youngest cohort of workers will miss out, meaning they don’t get the experience needed to be useful later.

Who could have seen this coming?

Aug 2019: Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers Rode On Epstein's 'Lolita Express'

The former Harvard President and Clinton-era Treasury Secretary has been cited four times on the flight logs of Jeffrey Epstein's 'Lolita Express'. During his first trip, he was still working in the Clinton administration. And during his most recent - in 2005 - he and his wife accompanied Epstein to Epstein's private island just days after their wedding.

During his first trip on Sept. 19, 1998, (while he was Treasury Secretary) Summers flew from the airport in Aspen, Colo. to Dulles international.

His second trip didn't take place until April 15, 2004, when Summers flew from JFK to Bedford, Mass., an airport not far from Harvard, where he was president of the university at the time.

On his third trip, Summers flew from Bedford to White Plains for reasons that are unclear.

And during his fourth trip, Larry and Lisa Summers flew from Bedford to Epstein’s Island, and were accompanied by Epstein’s close confidant and alleged Madam Ghislaine Maxwell.