Finance

Trump’s $1.8 Billion Insurrectionist Slush Fund ‘Dead for Now’ Amid Furious Public Backlash

Trump has been forced into a retreat after a $1.8 billion fund for insurrectionists was a grift too far.

Links 6/2/2026

Iran War: Iran Rug Pulls Trump by Suspending Talks Over Ceasefire Violations, Escalating with Demands to End Attacks in Gaza and West Bank, Threat to Close Hormuz and Choke Bab El-Mandib; More on How Hormuz Traffic Will Stay Low Even if “Deal” Agreed

Today's Iran war news: Iran demands a end to hostilities on all fronts or Bad Things happen. Trump choke chained Bibi...but will that last?

The Trump Administration’s Region-Wide Electoral Engineering in Latin America Reaches New Heights in Colombia

A prediction: in 50 years' time, the CIA will declassify documents showing how they and Mossad rigged elections throughout Latin America during the mid-2020s.

A Peptide, a Secretive Scientist, and a Debate Over Evidence

RFK, Jr. is backing a peptide out of Zagreb, BPC-157, which has lots of fans and very little evidence. What could go wrong?

As Prices Spike, Manufacturing Expands at Fastest Rate in 4 Years, Orders Surge, Supplier Deliveries Slow

Amid improved automation and efficiencies, production rises, but employment doesn’t, or only a little.

Coffee Break: Dem Centrists Pick Their Side, Stand With ICE and Israel, Not Mamdani

The dividing lines in the Democratic party came into sharp focus at New York's Israel Day Parade, an anti-ICE protest in New Jersey, and the pages of the New York Times and social media.

France’s “Forward Deterrence” Vis-à-vis Russia Raises The Risk Of Nuclear War

France plans to deploy Rafale jets armed with tactical nuclear bombs to Poland and other EU states to threaten Russia.

Links 6/1/2026

Iran War: Iran Rejects Trump Claims That Deal Is Near as US Counterproductively Toughens Terms; Hotter Tit-for-Tat Strikes Threaten Ceasefire; What if Trump Continues to Stall When Hitting Energy Cliff ?

Today's Iran war update: What if Trump fails or refuses to resolve the conflict despite the US going over the energy cliff, projected for July?

Rough Times Ahead in Caucasus Regardless of Armenia Election Outcome

Reminiscent of Ukraine, Sunday's election becomes a contest between the direction of the country: EU or Russia.

Building Fairer Cities: New Insights From Mohenjo-daro

New insight reveals that inequality was low in one of South Asia’s first cities and that it decreased as its citizens prospered.

US Government Sold $742 billion of Treasury Securities last Week. T-bill Yields now Below Surging Inflation. Bond Market Bets on Rate Hikes

The Fed is behind the curve, the bond market is saying, and it’s going to hike belatedly starting later this year, whether it wants to or not.

Links 5/31/2026

The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: Howling For God (1998) Run Time: 1H 3M and Bonus: Ya Zamene Ahu (1970) Run Time:20M

Howling for God is a movie about earthly power and spiritual power.

Shutting Down Federal Bee Labs Threatens Bees, Beekeepers and the US Food System

Is the country's food supply being destroyed intentionally?

Links 5/30/2026

The Magnitude of the Numbers Is just Mindboggling: 12 U.S. Companies, $30 Trillion

But if they pop: There are only so many trillions that can vanish from portfolios before it triggers a recession.

PCE Inflation Surges Further Away from Fed’s Target, now Nearly Double the Fed’s Target, and 5+ Years above Target

Trend reversal started a year ago. Services inflation stuck at high rate for a year. Now prices of food, energy, computers & software (inflationary AI boom), and gold jewelry (gold price spike) all surged.

Micron, the WTF AI Mania Chart of the Year

The stock has a history of collapsing by 50% to 98% after every spike, regularly falling below its Dotcom Bubble high. But this time is different?

Oh Dear, Condo Prices already Dropped by 15% to 33% in 24 Bigger Markets, Some Back to Where They’d Been 20 Years Ago

Plus, in another 44 bigger cities, condo prices dropped by 7% to 14% so far, as the mindboggling Condo Bubble comes unglued.

10-Year TIPS v. 10-Year Treasury Securities: Bond Market Has Long Been Delusional about Actual CPI Inflation

There's no indication the bond market is better now in figuring future inflation; its expectation of 2.4% annual CPI over 10 years seems woefully low.

Prices of Single-Family Homes already Down 10% to 26% in these 15 Bigger Cities: Every Market is Different

San Francisco & Portland came off the list. Fort Worth & Aurora (CO) come on the list.

Credit Card Delinquencies, Balances, Debt-to-Income, Credit Limits, and Collections in Q1 2026: Americans and their Revolving Credit

The free-money hangover is getting worked off.