Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Unblock New Mail-Ballot Rules Before States Start Mailing

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 3 to allow the government to begin implementing a regulation that tightens rules around mail-in voting.

In the emergency application, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to stay U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's Aug. 27 order that blocks the United States Postal Service (USPS) from enforcing a final rule published Aug. 26.

The rule implements Section 3 of President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14399, which assigns federal agencies a larger role in who receives a mail ballot and how those ballots are processed by the USPS.

Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order that blocked the post office from implementing the parts of Section 3 that required state and local election officials to submit outbound and return mail envelopes for USPS design review, place unique tracking barcodes on those envelopes, and upload voter names, addresses, and barcode data to a new federal portal. Mailings that do not match portal data or that fall short of the envelope standards would not be accepted for delivery.

The judge said in her Aug. 27 ruling that the agency had presented no evidence of fraudulent mail-in voting that would justify the new USPS rule and that the rule itself was likely unlawful and adopted in violation of the U.S. Constitution, which gives states primary authority to administer elections.

"USPS's interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote," she said. "The balance of harms and public interest warrants a [temporary restraining order]."

New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Aug. 26 that the postal regulation issued under the executive order will "create confusion, unnecessary costs, and unacceptable risks for voters going into Election Day." She said officials would have to rush to redesign envelopes, obtain federal approval, and develop new list-transmission systems while already preparing to mail ballots.

The short-term freeze was set to expire around Sept. 10 if Talwani declined to extend it. Earlier in the day on Sept. 3, the judge held a hearing on extending the temporary restraining order. Separately, the Trump administration previously filed an appeal of the restraining order that is still pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Sauer said the nation's highest court needs to act urgently.

"Even before September 10, two States - North Carolina and Alabama - will begin sending ballots to voters, the first as soon as September 4. Once those ballot envelopes enter the mailstream, there is no retrieving them," he said.

The solicitor general also asked the Supreme Court for an immediate administrative stay so the rule can take effect while the justices review the briefs.

The application was directed to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who oversees emergency appeals from Massachusetts, where Talwani is based.

Jackson directed the respondents - including several states and advocacy groups - to file a reply to the application by 10 a.m. on Sept. 8.

On Aug. 24, the Supreme Court lifted an earlier injunction after finding a challenge was premature because the post office had not yet issued a final rule. The high court's ruling allowed Trump - for the time being - to implement his executive order ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

The justices didn't rule on the lawfulness of Trump's executive order, but said the states that sued weren't harmed and therefore shouldn't have received relief from the Massachusetts judge.

In the new application, Sauer said that days after the Supreme Court issued its ruling, the district court "issued an order partially barring implementation of that rule, without meaningfully addressing the rule's contents or providing any meaningful analysis to support its conclusion that the rule was unlawful."

The lower court's "continued prejudgment of the rule is baseless," and a stay should be issued immediately, because "the District Court's errors deal 'a serious setback' to the Executive's 'goals' while this litigation unfolds."

The states "cannot choose to use the federal mails to carry out their elections but then insist that their election-related mail is somehow exempt from the Postal Service's rulemaking authority," Sauer said.

The USPS rule "imposes only modest requirements on the use of the federal postal system - it does not regulate state administration of elections."

Sauer quoted the rule, which says the USPS "will not play any role in determining voter eligibility, maintaining voter rolls, or counting ballots."

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 14:20

Enes Kanter Freedom Files Lawsuit After Chicago Sky Ejection, Ban

Authored by Timothy Frudd via The Epoch Times,

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom filed a lawsuit on Sept. 3 after he was ejected during a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) game and banned from future games.

Kanter Freedom sued the Chicago Women's Basketball Operations, LLC, which operates the Chicago Sky. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the City of Chicago were also named in the complaint.

The lawsuit alleged that the three entities conspired and acted together to discriminate against Kanter Freedom based on his "verbal and demonstrable expression of viewpoint and gender identity" by wrongfully ejecting him from the Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game on Aug. 23 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Security escorted Kanter Freedom out of Wintrust Arena after an altercation occurred between the former NBA player and Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud.

After Cloud scored late in the third quarter, she appeared to approach Kanter Freedom, who was seated along the baseline. In Thursday's lawsuit, Kanter Freedom alleged that Cloud "without provocation, initiated a vulgar, profanity-laced verbal tirade" directed at him.

Thursday's lawsuit stated that Kanter Freedom believed Cloud was "motivated and triggered" by the message on his shirt and his "widely publicized viewpoint on protecting the integrity of women only sports."

At the time of the incident, Kanter Freedom was wearing a black shirt bearing the words, "WOMAN noun. adult human female."

During the altercation, Kanter Freedom stood up with his arms outstretched and stepped onto the basketball court before basketball officials, multiple Chicago Sky players, and security personnel moved between the two. Kanter Freedom was then escorted from the arena.

Kanter Freedom addressed the lawsuit against the Chicago Sky in a social media post on Thursday.

Kanter Freedom said he was "peacefully exercising" his First Amendment rights at the WNBA game.

"My T-shirt did what the whole @WNBA apparently couldn't: define a woman. No threats. No violence. Just biology. And somehow, that required a security escort," he wrote.

"You don't have to agree with my speech but you don't get to silence me for it," he added. "I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will continue to stand for women and defend free speech."

Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter announced on Aug. 25 that Kanter Freedom would not be allowed in the arena for future games unless he was able to prove that he could "abide by our rules without being a potential threat."

Alter also accused Kanter Freedom of having attended the game to provoke the players and attract attention.

The lawsuit alleged that Alter mischaracterized both the altercation between Kanter Freedom and Cloud and his intention to "protect women only sports." Kanter Freedom also denied provoking Cloud prior to her approach at the game.

"The Chicago Sky; [Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority], through Wintrust Arena Security; and the City of Chicago, by its Police Department, worked together to eject Plaintiff in retaliation for protected expression, and continue to work together to enforce the ongoing, unconstitutional ban of Plaintiff from Wintrust Arena, which is public property owned by MPEA," the lawsuit stated.

"Plaintiff's damages continue as long as the unconstitutional ban of Plaintiff from Wintrust Arena remains in place."

The lawsuit asked the court to award nominal and compensatory damages, as well as attorney fees for Kanter Freedom. It also asked for a permanent injunction directing the defendants to remove the ban on his attendance at Wintrust Arena.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority told The Epoch Times on Sept. 3 that it did not have any comment on the lawsuit filed by Kanter Freedom. The corporation noted that its agreement with the Chicago Sky gave the WNBA team the ability to control whether individuals were permitted to access Wintrust Arena on game days.

"The Chicago Sky informed MPEA that Enes Freedom was removed from the arena and banned from future Chicago Sky events because he violated rules imposed by the WNBA," the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority said. "MPEA employees were not involved in those decisions."

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority added that the Chicago Sky's ban of Kanter Freedom was only applicable to WNBA games and did not apply to other events at Wintrust Arena.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Chicago Sky and the City of Chicago but did not receive a response before publication time.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 13:40

Chinese Rare-Earth Suppliers Halt US Shipments As Decoupling Fears Surge

The scenario we viewed as inevitable appears to be materializing, validating our decision to intensify coverage of the US-China decoupling theme and the Western-aligned miners positioned to supply the West if Beijing further weaponizes critical material exports, as it has throughout the Trump 2.0 era.

A Reuters report on Friday morning revealed that some Chinese rare-earth suppliers are refusing to ship material to US customers, citing fear of retaliation from Beijing.

The report continued:

A handful of Chinese suppliers have refused to ship rare earths to U.S. companies since early August when China imposed sanctions on the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), a U.S. supply chain monitor, a separate source with direct knowledge of the situation said.

With China deploying its own trade compliance weapons, the companies were wary of punishment from Beijing for complying with the due diligence framework of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), a global mineral supply chain audit programme connected with the RBA, the source said.

Other Chinese rare earths companies had already stopped shipments to the U.S. to avoid entanglement in geopolitics in recent months, two other sources familiar with the trade said.

One cited four instances where Chinese firms declined to send material for fear it could be resold to banned users.

The exact number of blocked suppliers and shipments remains unknown, and that ambiguity is itself part of Beijing's asymmetric leverage campaign against the US.

China does not need to announce a formal trade embargo to choke critical material flows. Export controls, licensing delays, and the threat of regulatory retaliation can halt shipments to US importers almost overnight.

Really, Beijing retains a kill switch inside US defense, aerospace, semiconductor, and energy supply chains, forcing companies to scramble for substitutes only after supplies have collapsed.

That's why we've sounded the alarm in recent weeks that the decoupling theme should be top of mind for Wall Street desks, with our coverage focused on tungsten and germanium, both of which have been restricted from export to the US and are colliding with a rearmament cycle in the West.

Here's what we've reported over the last few weeks leading up to the Reuters headline this morning:

1. The AI Boom Runs On Tungsten, But Global Supplies Are "Running On Empty"
2. US Tungsten Scrap Export Ban Takes Effect As Global Supply Crisis Deepens
3. What Happens When A Metal The West Can't Live Without Runs Short
4. The West's Answer To Break China's Tungsten Stranglehold Before Historic Rearmament Cycle Ramps
5. China's Tungsten Chokehold Turns Almonty Into a Critical-Metal Lifeline
6. China's Record Ship Swarm Around Taiwan Sends Decoupling Alarm To Wall Street

China's tungsten export restrictions have sent European prices soaring...

Late last month, the US Commerce Department halted exports of tungsten scrap and shredded battery material in a defensive move to retain scarce supplies inside the country. The move merely shows how rapidly Washington is shifting from the free-trade status quo toward resource security as domestic supplies dwindle and an urgent race emerges across the West to procure new ex-China supplies.

The Sino-US bilateral relationship deteriorated yet again this week after Beijing derailed the G20 joint communiqué over a single phrase, "non-market," only weeks after the Trump administration sanctioned Chinese entities linked to Iran.

All eyes now turn to the Trump-Xi meeting in Washington later this month.

The decoupling theme should be top of mind on Wall Street as China restricts critical-material flows to the West. These materials are essential building blocks not only for next year's rearmament supercycle but also for AI, reindustrialization trends, efforts to power up America, and even physical AI.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 12:35

Russia Tries To Assassinate Ukraine's SBU Chief With Unprecedented Drone Attack On Kyiv HQ

The Kremlin has long previewed that its next escalation step against Ukraine would be to start attacking 'decision-making centers', or headquarters and government buildings. That moment has clearly begun and is now in an active phase, also as strikes ramp up on the key southern port of Odesa, as well as on Ukraine-linked cargo and other shipping. On Friday a Russian drone slammed into the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv.

The SBU is the country's top domestic security and intelligence service - somewhat akin to the FBI in America. It primarily oversees counterintelligence, counterterrorism, espionage investigations, as well as engages in some law-enforcement functions, especially concerning top level crime including among government officials. It has been the mastermind behind multiple high-level deadly and destructive attacks on Russia.

Drone targeted SBU chief at around 3:30pm local, via pravda.com.ua

President Zelensky soon after the attack announced and confirmed that the SBU's central building on Volodymyrska Street, in the heart of iconic downtown near St. Sophia Cathedral, was struck. Flames and smoke have been seen billowing high over the high-secure central district.

"I spoke with the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Poklad. Unfortunately, a Russian drone struck the central building of the Security Service of Ukraine on Volodymyrska Street in Kyiv, across from St. Sophia Cathedral," Zelensky said.

"The drone was aimed directly at the office of the Head of the Security Service in that building," he added. Zelensky has ordered his military to mount a "tangible response and, where possible, one that mirrors this strike, to the Russians once everything is ready. Our military will support this response."

If accurate, this sends an alarming and resounding message - that not only is Moscow now willing to directly target top headquarters buildings, but that it's ready to assassinate intelligence directors. 

President Zelensky said the drone had precisely targeted the office of the head of the SBU service, Oleksandr Poklad, but he had survived the attack —The Times

Big smoke cloud in drone strike aftermath targeting security HQ. ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

European media reports of the immediate aftermath, "Zelenskyy said emergency services were attending the scene. There was no immediate information on casualties."

A large explosion was widely heard among bystanders during a mid-afternoon air raid siren in the capital city, after which Mayor Vitali Klitschko initially reported a fire and said emergency crews were headed to the scene. Several drones had been inbound during the attack incident.

According to some of the latest reporting via CNN:

The daytime strike - the first time the SBU building has been hit in the four-and-a-half year conflict - came after days of near continuous aerial assaults by Russia on the Ukrainian capital.

Authorities said 12 people were injured in the attack and that emergency services were at the scene.

⚡️ BREAKING: Attempted assassination of the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service

Russian Shahed drone strikes the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building in Kyiv.

President Zelenskyy said the following:

“The drone was directed straight at the office of the head of the SBU… pic.twitter.com/DRax4RI0Kb

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 4, 2026

This comes after more than a week of consecutive nightly drone and missile attacks on the capital, as Russia indicates it is 'repaying' Ukraine for its own constant long-range drone attacks which have wreaked havoc on oil refineries and industrial sites this summer.

"At least 53 people have been killed and 134 injured in Kyiv city and the wider Kyiv region since the start of these near non-stop attacks last month," CNN also notes.

Unprecedented: Downtown SBU headquarters on fire...

A Russian drone hit Ukraine's SBU headquarters in Kyiv, Zelensky says. pic.twitter.com/ZevaXpLbEV

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 4, 2026

This even could serve as the catalyst that gets Zelensky's Western backers to rush more anti-air missiles and systems - such as the Patriot - to Ukraine. "It is rare for government buildings in central Kyiv to be reached by Russian strikes, especially in broad daylight," The Guardian underscores. "The explosion from the hit on the SBU building could be heard several from several blocks away."

One thing is clear: the gloves are indeed coming off. And just as Trump may be trying to de-escalate the Iran war ahead of November midterms in the US, the Russia-Ukraine war just massively escalated past a likely point of no return.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 12:15

US Diesel Pump Prices Hit Record As Global Refined-Products Crisis Threatens Industrial Economy

Goldman explained this week that Gulf oil exports had recovered to between 15 million and 16 million barrels per day, roughly two-thirds of prewar levels, with the rise of dark tanker transits obscuring some flows from conventional tracking via the Automatic Identification System (AIS). Yet headline crude volumes don't tell the entire story. As we have repeatedly noted, crude itself does not keep the industrial economy humming. Diesel does.

US RETAIL DIESEL PRICES ADVANCE TO RECORD HIGH, AAA DATA SHOWS https://t.co/LjXZw8fxYR

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 4, 2026

Make no mistake: There is a refined-products crisis because of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and Ukrainian one-way drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. That tightening in physical markets, especially for diesel, was evident on Thursday, when US retail pump prices reached a record high.

US retail diesel prices surged to a record $5.85 per gallon on Thursday, according to new data from AAA, surpassing the previous peak reached in June 2022.

Unlike crude oil, diesel is the fuel that keeps the industrial economy moving: It powers trucks, construction equipment, tractors, generators, and home-heating systems. The spike threatens to unleash another wave of energy-driven inflation just as global supplies tighten ahead of the Northern Hemisphere's harvest and heating seasons.

Bloomberg's NYMEX one-month heating-oil/crude spread, tracked on the Bloomberg Terminal as the HOCL1 Index, breached $100 per barrel early Tuesday before surging to $108 early Wednesday. It was trading at $99 early Friday morning.

President Trump urged US refiners earlier this week to increase production and lower gasoline and diesel prices, but the industry has limited spare capacity. Many facilities are already operating near, or even above, their stated maximum processing rates following a summer production surge.

Despite the recovery in tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz, TotalEnergies SE head Patrick Pouyanne recently said there wasn't a "single tanker of products" moving out of the waterway.

Again, the energy crisis is in the refined-products complex.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 12:00

"We Have The Receipts": Bartiromo Denies Fox Firing

Update (1155ET): New details are rolling in about the Bartiromo situation - as the anchor is denying reports that she was fired from the station. According to The Hollywood Reporter: 

Bartiromo, who is now repped by Bryan Freedman, who recently repped Justin Baldoni, as well as journalists Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo after their dramatic exits from CNN as well as Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox, denies that she was fired and further claims that she is “still employed by Fox.” Freedman suggests they may pursue the matter in court. 

“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number-one-rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question,  one of the hardest-working journalists throughout her award-winning career,” Freedman said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

"The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false. Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth," he continued.

* * *

Maria Bartiromo was not fired for pushing claims about the 2020 election - she was fired for revealing that Fox had told its own staff not to talk about it. Fox News Media announced on Thursday it had parted ways with the anchor effective immediately after more than twelve years, thanking her for her work and giving no reason. 

The guidance at the center of it went out in July, after President Donald Trump used a prime-time address to tie China to the 2020 result. Fox Business management privately instructed senior staff not to lend credibility to the claims, and killed a China-and-2020 story Bartiromo wanted to pursue. The sensitivity stemmed from legal concerns - Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in 2023 over 2020 election coverage, and Smartmatic's $2.7 billion claim is still outstanding, with Bartiromo named in both.

Fox did not catch the leak itself. Puck's Dylan Byers reported that Bartiromo took a screenshot of that guidance and sent it to senior White House officials, which Fox executives learned of after receiving a call from the White House.

In a terse statement, Fox News said Bartiromo is no longer with the company, effective immediately and thanked her for her work, while wishing her well in her next chapter.

Status's Oliver Darcy, who built his brand at CNN by pushing censorship campaigns against conservative media, was first to report that Bartiromo leaked internal guidance after Fox Business management privately directed senior staff not to lend credibility to claims President Donald Trump made in a July address regarding China's interference in the 2020 election.

However, a new report alleges that Bartiromo was in FOX's crosshairs for several reasons beyond the alleged leak.

Mediaite reports:

According to a source familiar with the matter, sharing the memo about Trump's July comments was "not the only reason" that led to her abrupt defenestration.

The source confirmed that it was "a confluence of factors," including Fox's whopping $787.5 million settlement it had to pay to Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over 2020 election fraud claims Fox had aired, plus another similar lawsuit from Smartmatic "still hanging out there." Bartiromo was among the main on-air personalities cited in these lawsuits and has continued to periodically peddle in election denialism. A Fox News media spokesperson told Mediaite that the move was simply a "business decision" and declined further comment.

Comments Kevin O'Leary made on a May 11 episode of Mornings With Maria also factored in, the source said, in which the Shark Tank star accused nonprofit organizations that opposed his data center project in Utah of being secret agents of the Chinese Communist Party.

Trump blasted Fox's decision to sever ties with Bartiromo, calling the host a "true warrior."

"I can't believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business. Three different shows, always number one," the president wrote on Truth Social. "Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!"

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 11:30

Tesla's Cybercab Debut Falls Flat As NHTSA Opens Probe

Tesla’s long awaited Cybercab finally hit the streets of Austin yesterday, and the debut was something of a dud.

For a product Elon Musk has positioned as central to Tesla’s future, the rollout was remarkably subdued. There was no major public livestream with appearance by Musk or traditional press presence, relatively little new information and just 45 Cybercabs registered in Texas as of Thursday. After years of hype surrounding Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions, the event still felt more like a limited demonstration than the beginning of a transportation revolution.

Now federal regulators have thrown a wet blanket over even that modest celebration.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a review of the Cybercab to determine whether its unusual design complies with federal safety rules, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The two seat vehicle has no steering wheel, pedals or conventional mirrors, putting it outside many of the assumptions baked into decades old automotive regulations.

Tesla says the Cybercab meets all applicable federal standards. NHTSA now wants to inspect the technical data and certification process behind that claim, including Tesla’s determination that certain requirements may not apply to a purpose built autonomous vehicle.

The U.S. generally allows automakers to certify their own vehicles rather than obtaining federal approval before production. NHTSA can then challenge those certifications after vehicles reach public roads, which is essentially what is happening here.

There is also precedent. Regulators previously challenged Amazon owned Zoox after it certified a robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. Zoox eventually received an exemption allowing commercial operation under certain restrictions. Tesla has not applied for a similar exemption.

Tesla has installed capacity to produce more than 125,000 Cybercabs annually and eventually hopes to sell them for less than $30,000. Musk has increasingly tied Tesla’s valuation and future to autonomous transportation rather than simply selling electric cars.

NHTSA could ultimately conclude Tesla has done everything correctly. But if regulators disagree, the Cybercab could face required modifications, recalls or additional regulatory hurdles.

Either way, the probe makes an already underwhelming debut even more awkward. Tesla finally got the Cybercab onto public roads after years of promises, only for Washington to immediately start asking whether it should be there in its current form.

Tesla shares are down over 6% this morning (having rolled over at the July highs)...

Analyst Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research put out a note to clients Friday morning that said: "Morgan Stanley set the bar at 25 to 50 Cybercabs on the road, and visibility around pricing, the ability to purchase, and federal exemptions… for the Cybercab event to be a “success”."

He continued: "Tesla delivered 45 registrations, would not say how many were in service, skipped the livestream, kept Musk off the stage, and left the event with no price, no per-mile economics, no purchase button, and no federal exemption on file for a vehicle that legally needs one. When a company stages a launch and then declines to answer the only questions the bulls said mattered, the honest read is not that the story is early — it's that there wasn't one to tell."

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 11:15

World's Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Cuts Treasury Holdings... But It's Not What You Think

The headlines are running rampant this morning as the world's largest (and most transparent) sovereign wealth fund - Norway's Government Pension Fund - has proposed reducing the amount of government bonds in its $2.3 trillion portfolio to boost holdings of riskier debt, with US Treasuries the most affected.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, said in a letter sent to the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday and published on its website, that government debt should be cut to 50% of the bond holdings from 70%.

As Bloomberg reports:

With about 30% invested in bonds, the fund had more than $615 billion of fixed-income assets in its portfolio as of June 30, about 59.5% of which were invested in government bonds, according to the latest figures on its website. Adding in government-related bonds, the allocation is 69%.

The proposed reduction in government bonds’ share to 50% would imply a decrease of about $58 billion of such bonds, according to Bloomberg calculations.

While the proposed change implies holdings of US Treasuries would drop by $75 billion, those of Japanese government bonds could increase by $20 billion, Bloomberg analysis shows. Holdings of euro area government bonds are also projected to decrease.

With growing concerns about global government debt levels and rekindled inflation fears due to the Middle East conflict having fueled a recent global bond selloff (pushing yields to multiyear highs around the world), the headlines write themselves... "PANIC!!!".

But...

They are not shrinking US or dollar exposure in any meaningful way.

The same letter says US non-government fixed income (IG corporates, agency MBS, government-related debt) would rise from 16.2% to 27.6% of the bond index.

Dollar weight in the bond benchmark barely moves: 52.9% → 52.5%.

They also want to switch the remaining government bonds from GDP weights to market-value weights, which lifts JGBs (4.6% → 7.4%) and trims euro-area govvies a bit; UK gilts stay put.

Additionally, Agency MBS are explicitly part of the pitch: high liquidity, credit quality close to Treasuries because of Fannie/Freddie/Ginnie backing, plus a prepayment/credit premium the fund’s long horizon can harvest.

So the giant fund is reducing duration (while adding yield) as MBS duration is considerably lower due to prepayment risk while maintaining its USD exposure... kinda ruining the terrifying headlines.

“NBIM isn’t making a direct call on US fiscal sustainability,” said Kenneth Crompton, head of rates strategy at National Australia Bank Ltd.

“They’re arguing that they already own enough government bonds to satisfy liquidity needs, and that a long-horizon investor should harvest a broader set of fixed income risk premia.”

However, Mohamed El-Erian’s take is probably the right one: the dollars are modest; the signal that a canonical long-term official holder is structurally less hungry for duration at the sovereign level is what matters.

“The size isn’t big, but the signal that traditional holders and buyers are becoming less reliable is a very important one.”

Finally, we do note that this remains a proposal. NBIM follows a benchmark index set by the Finance Ministry, with major allocation changes to its investment mandate requiring approval in parliament, so there’s no guarantee the fund will be allowed to make the change.

State Secretary Ellen Reitan said the government will “address any proposals for adjustments to the investment strategy in the white paper on the fund, which will be presented to the parliament in the spring” after the Finance Ministry “will thoroughly review the recommendations,” in an emailed comment.

So, with all that in mind - and while we are not used to being the calm kids in the theater when everyone is yelling 'fire' - Norway's fund proposal is more portfolio engineering than a geopolitical "dump America" move (for now)...

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 10:40

Labor Shock: US Adds 162K Jobs In August, 4-Sigma Beat And Above Highest Forecast

In our jobs report preview we quoted JPM's Market Intel desk which said that today's August payrolls number will be a case of "good news is bad news", and sure enough futures are sliding  and yields surging after moments ago the BLS reported that in August, the US added a whopping 162K jobs, up from an upward revised 21K (July is no longer negative -23K), and the second highest monthly increase of 2026 (only March was higher)...

... and printed not only above the median estimate of 50K but above the highest Wall Street estimate of 125K (from Pantheon). In fact, this was a a 4-sigma beat to expectations.

Understandably, today's blowout print was the biggest beat of estimates going back to March. 

For once, revisions were quite favorable, with June numbers revised up by 11,000, from +20,000 to +31,000, and July revised up by 44,000, from -23,000 to +21,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 55,000 higher than previously reported.

Remarkably, unlike previous months when jumps in payrolls were met with declines in employment, in August we saw a surge of 569K employed workers from 162.177MM to 162.746MM alongside the 162K increase in payrolls.

This meant that after steadily declining for the past year, and diverging with the number of payrolls, the number of employed Americans posted a sizable jump as shown below.

The unemployment rate remained flat at 4.1%, and in line with expectations. Among major groups, the unemployment rate for people who are Asian declined to 3.2%, The rate for teenagers edged up to 14.1% over the month, mostly  offsetting a decline in the prior month. The jobless rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.5 percent), and people who are White (3.7 percent), Black (6.0 percent), or Hispanic (4.8 percent) showed little change in August. 

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% MoM, in line with expectations, and 3.1% YoY. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 11 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $32.53. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.4 hours in August. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.1 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.8 hours.  

Some more details from the report:

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in August. The long-term unemployed accounted for 27.0 percent of all unemployed people. 

The labor force participation rate edged up to 61.6 percent in August but is down by 0.5 percentage point since January. The employment-population ratio, at 59.1 percent, changed little over the month and since January. 

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons decreased by 414,000 to 4.4 million in August. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. 

In August, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job changed little at 5.7 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. 

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.7 million in August. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little in August at 441,000. 

Taking a closer look at the composition of jobs per the Establishment survey we find the following: 

• Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 59,000 in August, well above the average monthly gain of 12,000 over the prior 12 months.
• Local government education added 42,000 jobs in August, largely offsetting a decrease in the prior month. Local government education has shown little net change since January 2025.
• In August, employment in manufacturing continued its upward trend (+16,000) and is up by 58,000 since a recent low in December 2025. Employment in machinery manufacturing (+6,000) and in fabricated metal product manufacturing (+6,000) continued trending up in August. 
• Employment in health care continued to trend up in August (+13,000) but at a slower pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+32,000). Over the month, home health care services (+11,000) and hospitals (+8,000) added jobs. 
• Information employment declined by 23,000 in August, following losses that had averaged 8,000 per month over the prior 12 months. In August, job losses occurred in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services (-8,000), in publishing industries (-7,000), and in broadcasting and content providers (-5,000). 
• Construction employment changed little in August (+22,000). Employment in nonresidential specialty trade contractors continued to trend up (+8,000), similar to the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+6,000).

Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade;  transportation and warehousing; financial activities; professional and business services; social assistance; and other services.

Remarkably, unlike previous months where the data was gamed to cover up underlying weakness, this time we saw a very powerful increase in qualitative components, as full-time jobs surged by 735K to 134.288 million, while part-time jobs dropped by 223K!

The unexpectedly strong print has understandably sent Sept rate hike odds spiking and has hammered risk assets, although the real decider whether we get a rate move this month will be next week's CPI print. As a reminder, according to JPM, a print above 95K will lead to a 0.5% to -1.25% down day for the S&P.

 

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/04/2026 - 10:30

Today July 19 2013 Here is the news conference by Governor Rick Snyder and emergency manager Kevyn Orr explaining why they claimed bankruptcy.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S310...
Rochester, N.Y. -- She says she had no warning that someone was going to search her car after she left to catch her flight. So the woman contacted News10NBC.

We found out it happened to her because she valet parked her car. Those are the only cars that get inspected.

So if security feels it is necessary to search some cars in the name of safety, why not search all of them?

Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she found it -- a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, “I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.”

Henry Kissinger actually publicly stated that those who oppose the New World Order are "terrorists".

Henry Kissinger in a speech given in Istanbul, Turkey on May 31, 2007, while the Bilderberg conference was simultaneously underway, just a few miles down the road.

"In the Middle East, we live in a different world. The nations do not represent historic entities in the same sense that European nations did. Turkey of course does, and Iran in a considerable extent does. But in the region in between, the borders were drawn by the victors of World War I on the basis largely of what would facilitate their influence. So therefore, the identities of these countries, and of their borders, can be challenged more easily."

"What we in America call terrorists are really groups of people that reject the international system, and they're trying to regroup it to a radical Islamic fundamentalists kind."

Detroit has become the largest city in Unites States history to file for bankruptcy after decades of decline and mismanagement rendered the city insolvent. Michigan's governor, Rick Snyder, said on Thursday that there was no other option to tackle the city's $18.5bn of debts. Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports.

Detroit has become the largest city in Unites States history to file for bankruptcy after decades of decline and mismanagement rendered the city insolvent.William Black, a professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, talks to Al Jazeera about Detroit filing bankruptcy.

7/18/13 - Anti-government activist Adam Kokesh, who is currently jailed on drug charges and is facing a firearms charge in D.C., says he will someday run for President on a platform of abolishing the federal government. Since July 9th, 31-year old Adam Kokesh has been incarcerated in a cell in the Fairfax County jail which measures seven by seven-and-a-half feet.

On Independence Day, Kokesh had a colleague record a video of the pro-gun activist loading a shotgun on D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. The District has strict gun control laws that generally forbid the carrying of firearms. U.S. Park Police and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department opened an investigation.

Several days later, U.S. Park Police used a flash grenade when their SWAT team served a search warrant at Kokesh's home in Herndon, Va. Kokesh was arrested when officers said they found hallucinogenic mushrooms at the house.

In an exclusive jailhouse interview, Adam Kokesh denies any connection to the drugs. Here is part of the transcript of that interview with Kokesh: "If they found a stash of magic mushrooms in my house, they were not mine. ANY IDEA WHOSE THEY WERE, OR WHY THEY WERE IN YOUR HOUSE? I'm pretty confident that, whether or not they found anything, the full paper bags that [U.S. Park Police] brought into my house would insure that they had charges to bring against me. ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT THOSE DRUGS WERE PLANTED? Yes."

Kokesh, who has been arrested several times before by U.S. Park Police, says that agency has a "vendetta" against him, but he believes the evidence in the drug case is weak.

Federal officers have now filed a weapons charge against Kokesh for wielding the shotgun in D.C. on the Fourth of July. Here's more of the interview: "WAS IT A REAL SHOTGUN AND WERE THEY REAL SHELLS GOING INTO IT? Yes. ON THE VIDEO YOU POSTED? Yes. YOU DID KNOW THAT WAS ILLEGAL IN D.C.? It's called civil disobedience."

Adam Kokesh believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution will provide him a successful defense against the D.C. gun charge.

The former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq plans to someday bring his anti-government views before voters. "ARE YOU RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT? Yes sir, in 2020 on the platform of: orderly dissolution of the United States government. WHY IS THAT A GOOD IDEA? Why is having a federal government a good idea at this point?"

Adam Kokesh believes the U.S. military is more harmful than helpful to American security, and the government -- as a whole -- has burdened its citizenry with debt.

Adam Kokesh is 70% disabled from his term of military service. He says he lives only on that money.

His supporters, through their website, adamvstheman.com, are asking supporters to send money for bail and send money so a private attorney can be hired. Kokesh is currently being represented by a public defender.

Kokesh remains in custody in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, and, if he is freed on bond, he faces extradition to D.C. to face the gun charge.

July 18, 2013 - Bill O'Reilly Interviews Donald Trump on Economy, China, and Obamacare



Trump would be a hell of a lot better president then Obama, at least he is willing to do what needs to be done instead of creating some BS healthcare system .He's a businessman, he knows how to make deals, he will get tough on China (even if he has ties made in China in which I don't think he knew or maybe he thought we're a screwed country so why not just sell them to stupid people who will only buy them anyway), I don't believe what they say about his net worth (in which they say isn't worth much). Trump has a big fat heart inside I believe it.

Here it comes Detroit about to be largest Bankrupt City .The city of Detroit files for Chapter 9 federal bankruptcy protection, making the automobile capital and onetime music powerhouse the country's largest-ever municipal bankruptcy case. WSJ Global Autos Editor Joe White reports.


This news really ruined Obama's golf game today ... ya America is crumbling apart , but we have 15,000 Russian soldiers to help fix it I hear!!

Steve Keen Exposes Financial Fallacies and Debates the Mortgage Debt Jubilee!


"I don't understand gold." Yes, that's what our beloved Fed Chairman actually told Congress today. Maybe that's why Germany wants 300 tonnes of it back. That would be gold the Fed is holding on its behalf. We have just one word for you Finance Minister Schaeuble: tungsten. But don't worry, Chairman Bernanke assured the S&P 500 -- now at all time highs -- that the monetary QE stimulus will continue until the economy can stand on its own feet. Such anthropomorphization is quite quaint for an econometrician, isn't it? We debunk the likes of Bernanke and talk about the mortgage jubilee with economist Steve Keen.

And, Jamie Dimon can't seem to find a chair that isn't the hot seat. JP Morgan is about to shell out a few hundred million in a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That would be for allegedly manipulating energy markets in California, Enron style. Barclays already settled for $435 million. And a similar settlement for JP Morgan would amount to -- well just one sixtieth -- of its $26 billion in revenues reported last Friday. No word yet on how much it actually profited from allegedly bilking Americans.

Finally, subprime is back. The Consumer Financial Protection Board just strengthened mortgage underwriting standards. But if you don't fall under the new rules, don't worry. Because the guy who helped write the rules at the CFPB just went private -- and started a company that will service the very market his old regulatory body now excludes. And, yes, they're even providing interest-only financing -- because that worked so well in 2008. You can't make this stuff up! Perianne breaks down the boom-bust cycle.

Unorthodox ufologist Norio Hayakawa presented his views and research on UFOs, clandestine government activities, and the mysterious Dulce, New Mexico area, rumored to house an underground base. The state of New Mexico itself has been a hotbed of paranormal and UFO activity going back to 1947, he reported. Starting with the Roswell Incident, "the year 1947 was the beginning of a conditioning of belief systems...carefully orchestrated for future events," he commented.

He believes the Roswell crash was staged "by an unknown intelligence" in collusion with an elite part of the US government. UFOs are neither flying nor objects, but rather part of an intelligence that co-exists with us and has the ability to materialize, he explained.

Hayakawa was one of the first to bring Project Bluebeam to public attention in his 1995 documentary video Secrets of Dreamland, which suggested that a covert government would have sufficient technology to artificially simulate a UFO threat in order to bring about a forced global unity.

Regarding Dulce, he has not found direct physical evidence for an underground base there, yet, there have been many strange reports and sightings in the area which encompasses the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. "I think there's a reality on another level that we may not be able to see with our physical eyes" and a base could exist at Dulce in a non-physical realm, he shared.

Biography:

Norio Hayakawa calls himself an unorthodox ufologist and activist. He has spent almost 10 years specifically investigating Area 51 in Nevada. He says that there is much more to Area 51 than just superficial facts made public about this well-known base. In 1990 he also began to investigate the strange goings-on at Dulce, New Mexico. After more than 45 years of researching the UFO phenomenon, he says that a conditioning of belief systems have been orchestrated since 1947 by a manipulative force that is preparing mankind for a near future mysterious scenario. The ingrained and "altered" realities behind both Area 51 and Dulce will play a role in that scenario. In March of 2009 he organized the first-ever Underground Base conference in Dulce, New Mexico.

Wikipedia
The term shadow government (also cryptocracy) besides its party political meaning can also refer to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government," an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives (for example the United States Congress (or the Cabinet of the United Kingdom) but with private individuals who are exercising power behind the scenes beyond the scrutiny of democratic institutions. According to this belief the official elected government is in reality subservient to the shadow government who are the true executive power.

Conspiracy-oriented literature postulates the existence of a secret government who are the true power behind the apparent government. Examples of such literature include works by Dan Smoot, William Guy Carr, Jim Marrs, Carroll Quigley, Gary Allen, Des Griffin, David Icke, Michael A. Hoffman II and John Coleman. Some of these authors believe members of the secret government may represent or be agents for groups such as the Council on Foreign Relations, The Royal Institute for International Affairs, The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, CIA and MI6 in co-operation with international banks and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements. Also popularizing the idea was the hit US television show, The X-Files.

In his novel Coningsby, Benjamin Disraeli stated that "The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes". One definition of a shadow government is a "secret government within the government". This secret government is the "real" government that controls the legitimate and visible government's agenda. The network of people constituting this secret government are bound by some common agenda known only to each other and/or the people they represent. The agenda may be that of a secret society who have infiltrated the government (examples include Freemasons, Skull and Bones men or Illuminatists). In this case the agenda of the network is known only to those members who are bound by an oath of secrecy.

The shadow government is also considered by popular authors[who?] to be behind black budget projects and covert operations.

One of the most popular conspiracy theories about a shadow government is the notion of a "Zionist Occupation Government

Travelers on their way to Britain might want to leave their phones at home after it was revealed they could be seized and browsed through by police. And amazingly it's totally legal, as Tesa Arcilla reports.


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