The Data-Center Revolt Goes National: Tea Party Veteran Leads 142 Rallies Across 42 States

The backlash against the AI data-center build-out - which we've been tracking since it was a smattering of county fights across 28 states - staged its first coordinated day of action on Saturday: 142 protests across 42 states, from Wasilla, Alaska to Naples, Florida, organized by Humans First, the nonprofit that Tea Party veteran Amy Kremer co-founded and chairs. The crowds spanned both sides of the aisle...uniting a MAGA stalwart in a 'faith, family, freedom' T-shirt in New Jersey, a first-time activist in Texas, and a left-leaning organizer in California's Imperial Valley.

The fight looked like Kenilworth, New Jersey. Residents of the 8,500-person borough gathered outside the municipal court at mid-morning with drums, plastic horns, and sidewalk chalk to protest the $1.8 billion CoreWeave AI data center their planning board approved in May 2025 on the former Merck campus - a project that has since drawn more than 12,000 petition signatures against it, several thousand more names than the town has people. The woman in the "faith, family, freedom" T-shirt marched beside neighbors holding "Build community, not data centers" signs. When heavy rain arrived later in the day, they pulled on ponchos, shared umbrellas, and kept marching. One sign, caught by Business Insider's photographer on the scene: "You think this is pressure? Wait 'til there's no water pressure."

Texas, the country's hottest data-center market, hosted the most rallies - 18 - with Georgia at 11, California at eight, and Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana at seven apiece. In Imperial Valley, where a proposed facility could pull 260 million gallons a year from the Colorado River, Ivan DelSol, 54, told Reuters that around 50 people turned out in 100-degree heat. "It's dystopian that you would use this much fresh water for AI," he said. Organizers released no headcounts; turnout ran below expectations in some rural areas and in Atlanta, where about a dozen showed - most of them, a volunteer there said, driving in from the smaller Georgia towns where the biggest data centers are going up.

Kremer is a founding figure of the Tea Party movement who went on to found Women for Trump, and an organizer of the January 6, 2021 rally that preceded the Capitol riot (she neither planned nor took part in the riot itself). She has spent months calling data centers the defining fight of her lifetime, warning the technology could threaten humanity itself, and she is open about running the old playbook: grassroots pressure, town by town, aimed at both parties.

Today was incredible!

142 protests. 42 states. One message: ONE NATION UNITED AGAINST DATA CENTERS!

Communities across America showed up today for a National Day of Protest Against AI Data Centers to say that We The People deserve a voice before massive data centers are… pic.twitter.com/TwE7oRjR6V

— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) July 18, 2026

Her crowds bear that out. One of Saturday's Texas rallies, in Tyler, was organized by Eva Cardona, a 31-year-old self-described political nomad and first-time activist who told Reuters she wanted something more hands-on than posting on Facebook; about a dozen people came. And in Imperial Valley, the man who helped lead the rally leans left. The polling explains why a coalition that broad holds. A June Reuters/Ipsos survey found only 14 percent of Americans would support a data center in their own community. Gallup polling fielded in March found 71 percent oppose building an AI data center in their area - 48 percent strongly - a worse number than a local nuclear plant gets. And Morgan Stanley told clients in a July 14 note that support for local data-center bans runs strongest among Republican, higher-income, and urban voters, while Morning Consult's national tracker crossed a line of its own in May: "stop building" (about 45 percent) overtook "keep building while expanding energy supply" (about 38 percent) for the first time since last October.

Several democratic candidates, including candidate for Texas Governor Gina Hinajosa, stopped in Lubbock to discuss campaign topics including data centers. A data center protest was also held to collect signatures to pause building hyperscale data centers in the Lubbock area. pic.twitter.com/wh3mdGNcu4

— KAMC News (@KAMCNews) July 19, 2026

For all the movement's reputation, Kremer's demands stop well short of a shutdown. She opposes a national moratorium and statewide moratoriums alike, telling Business Insider that each community should choose what gets built inside it, and that too many of those choices are made behind closed doors. Humans First's platform runs to transparent approval processes, environmental review before permits are granted, union construction jobs, and binding developer commitments of the kind lawyers call community benefits agreements. She has aimed as much fire at her own side, accusing Republicans of giving Big Tech a free pass and predicting the industry will cozy up to Democrats the moment the majority flips. The fix, she argues, belongs to Congress.

Amy Kremer is the cofounder of Women for Trump and Women for America First. Now she's taking on AI data centers. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The organization is a narrower thing than the crowds it convened. Humans First announced in April that its non-conservative team members would spin off into a separate group, with Kremer promising "a topflight team of conservatives" to fight Big AI and its lobbyists. The banner over Saturday's rallies, in other words, was a conservative one - which makes the mix of people who marched beneath it all the more striking.

Official Backlash

The rallies capped a fast-moving week. On Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers - an immediate pause of up to a year on state environmental permits for projects of 50 megawatts or more while regulators draft standards covering energy demand, water use, and air quality. Her office promised localities community-benefit guidance within 60 days, and Hochul will pursue repeal of the state's sales-tax exemptions for massive data centers. A tougher bill passed by the legislature, with a 20-megawatt threshold, remains unsigned on her desk; her office has called it complicated, and Hochul said the state wants to be "the first to get it right."

New York was not alone. Virginia's new tax on data-center electricity - 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour - took effect July 1. Pennsylvania's House passed a ban on non-disclosure agreements in data-center deals by a 171-31 vote, and separately voted 197-5 to repeal the industry's sales-tax exemption, a break worth roughly $517 million a year by 2030. Arizona's governor signed a three-year moratorium on new data-center tax breaks in June. Legislators have filed more than 300 data-center bills this year; local pauses have passed at the county, city, and tribal level in at least 15 states.

Meanwhile In China

Nothing comparable is happening on the other side of the Pacific. Two days before the marches, Beijing-based Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter system billed as the largest open-weight model ever built and claimed to perform level with America's best frontier models. Bloomberg has reported that Beijing plans to spend roughly $295 billion over five years on a nationwide network of AI computing hubs - and none of it will face a zoning board. Under the state's "Eastern Data, Western Computing" program, the buildout is steered into the arid, sparsely populated west; provincial governments compete to attract data centers with tax holidays, cheap land, and compute vouchers, and the state absorbs up to half of operators' energy costs, so the strain never shows up on a household bill. No Chinese county has passed a moratorium, because no Chinese county gets a vote.

The financial toll is no longer hypothetical. Third-party trackers cited by Morgan Stanley in its July 14 note put the value of cancelled or delayed projects at roughly $156 billion in 2025 and another $130 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone - about $286 billion in all - set against the bank's own estimate of $877 billion in AI capital spending this year. The underlying quarterly count comes from Data Center Watch, a tracker run by 10a Labs, an intelligence firm whose client list includes AI companies, which logged at least 75 projects blocked or delayed from January through March - matching in one quarter the number of projects derailed in all of 2025 - as active opposition groups more than doubled from 396 to 833 and spread to 49 states.

Saturday itself stayed peaceful - chalk, chants, drums, umbrellas - though the wider fight has had harder edges: developers of the Piedmont transmission line into Northern Virginia's data-center corridor asked a federal court last summer for U.S. Marshals to escort survey crews after landowners threatened workers, an episode we covered at the time.

The industry answered forcefully. The Data Center Coalition warned that New York's moratorium tells investors the state is "closed for business" and will push jobs and tax revenue to neighboring states. Seven major AI and cloud companies - Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI - point to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge they signed at the White House in March, a voluntary commitment to cover the grid costs their facilities create. And White House AI czar David Sacks went after Hochul's case point by point on the All-In podcast, calling data centers "the scapegoat for all of the angst that people have about AI." His answer to the utility-bill complaint: let developers build their own generation behind the meter instead of competing with households for grid power.

David Sacks: Everything Kathy Hochul Said About Datacenters Was a False Accusation@DavidSacks: “These data centers become the scapegoat for all of the angst that people have about AI.

Everything she's saying there is a false accusation on datacenters. So let's just go one by… pic.twitter.com/gAxesw3fRD

— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) July 18, 2026

Some industry allies go further, pointing to OpenAI's June disclosure that it banned a China-linked network using ChatGPT to mass-produce comics and comments blaming data centers for rising power bills. OpenAI itself found the operation gained almost no authentic traction - and the crowds in Kenilworth and Imperial County were unambiguously homegrown.

Kremer spent Saturday evening thanking volunteers and looking past the weekend. "America is not for sale, and our communities are not collateral," she wrote on X. She expects data centers on the ballot in November, and again in 2028. The midterms are less than four months away.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 21:00

China's Moonshot Eyes IPO After Sparking Another "DeepSeek Moment" For US AI Stocks

Chinese startup Moonshot AI sparked another DeepSeek-like moment for US AI stocks and hyperscalers last week. David Sacks, the former White House AI and cryptocurrency czar, warned that this is "very concerning."

Moonshot AI debuted Kimi K3, which ranks number three on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, trailing only OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and Anthropic's Fable 5. This only shows the continued trend of open-weight models toward the AI frontier.

Kimi K3 has emerged as a top challenger across reasoning and coding workloads, highlighting the rapid pace of innovation and the increasing competitive pressure on models in terms of capabilities and downward trend in pricing. This only sparked weakness in sentiment toward AI US stocks and hyperscalers last week due to their massive capex binges to build out data centers.

Related:

• Goldman Warns Massive Hyperscaler Bond Issuance Means "Risk Skewed To Downside"

It serves as a reminder for companies amid the 'tokenmaxxing' woes that there are lower-cost alternatives for end users besides expensive frontier Anthropic and OpenAI.

Now, Moonshot AI is leveraging last week's momentum and preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong within six months. Kimi K3 has strengthened investor confidence, positioning the startup to enter public markets.

Bloomberg reports that Moonshot is in the process of concluding a funding round that values the three-year-old startup at $30 billion.

Annual revenues topped $300 million in June, up from $200 million in April, supported by chatbot subscriptions and enterprise services.

The startup has held talks with CICC and Goldman Sachs about the offering and is dismantling its red-chip structure to facilitate an overseas listing.

Meanwhile... 

We’ve identified industrial-scale distillation attacks on our models by DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax.

These labs created over 24,000 fraudulent accounts and generated over 16 million exchanges with Claude, extracting its capabilities to train and improve their own models.

— Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) February 23, 2026

Here is the latest institutional commentary on Moonshot AI:

Jefferies analyst Roger Song

Moonnshot AI triggered another Deepseek-like moment + semi/ memory lost momentum, both potentially benefiting biopharma rotation. While still waiting for FDA leadership renewal, we started to see more potential policy reversals (while maintaining good ones, nice to see CRL release back for now) along with swift industry reactions. Open clinical trial prediction betting - will that be a distraction/ noise or another actionable datapoint for real investment? We shall all see.

Wolfe Research analyst Alex Zukin

China's Moonshot Unveils Kimi K3, Autonomously Designed Functional Chip in 48 Hours - Moonshot released Kimi K3, a 2.8 trillion parameter Mixture-of-Experts model with a 1-million-token context window and native text, image, and video support, positioned as the first open 3T-class frontier model with full weights releasing July 27, 2026 and API pricing at $3/$15 per million input/output tokens. The model autonomously designed a functional 4mm² chip in a single 48-hour run with zero human intervention, handling design, optimization, verification, and simulation, achieving over 8,700 tokens/second decoding throughput, while also building a custom GPU compiler called MiniTriton from scratch that reportedly matches parts of Nvidia's official Triton compiler. Kimi K3 scored 88.3 on Terminal-Bench 2.1, trailing but competitive with OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol, while lagging flagship closed models like Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 in broader evaluations, with the model available today via the Kimi app, Kimi Code, and OpenRouter

Canaccord Genuity analyst Martin Roberge

Meanwhile, sentiment toward AI stocks and hyperscalers' capex binge keeps weakening and today's release of a new AI model by Chinese company Moonshot, capable of competing with AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic, serves as a reminder that there are lower-cost alternatives for end users.

The race among AI startups to go public has China-based DeepSeek targeting a 2027 IPO, while US rival Anthropic could list as early as late 2026 and OpenAI increasingly appears headed for a 2027 debut. Both US firms have confidentially submitted IPO paperwork.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 20:25

Taiwan's President Ratchets Anti-China Rhetoric In Party Speech: Must Resist 'Red Terror' Of Beijing

President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday that Taiwan must renew efforts to protect its democracy and never become part of China. He urged members of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to oppose the "red terror" coming ‌from Beijing.

The ruling DPP champions Taiwan's separate ​identity from China, and is working to combat what Lai called China's "legal warfare".

via Bloomberg

"I also expect comrades within ‌the party to stand on the front lines, unite as one, and jointly oppose the ​threat posed by China's 'red terror' ‌to Taiwanese society," Lai added, speaking in Taiwanese, rather than the main language of government, Mandarin.

"We must work together ‌to protect our democratic and free way of life, and absolutely never allow 'democratic Taiwan' to turn back and become 'China's Taiwan'," he said.

"Regardless of ethnic group, regardless of who came earlier or later, anyone who identifies with Taiwan is a master of ‌the country. Taiwan's future must be decided jointly by the 23 million people of Taiwan," he said.

One establishment US publication has held up a prime example of Beijing's "legal warfare" against an autonomous Taiwan in the following:

On March 12, China’s legislature adopted the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress (Chinese; English translation), a sweeping new statute that codifies Beijing’s approach toward China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups. Substantively, the law enshrines a decades-long shift towards aggressive assimilationist policies. Structurally, it reflects a deepening merger of Party ideology and state law that is becoming increasingly prevalent under Xi Jinping.

This new law is the culmination of a policy trajectory that has been building for over a decade, dating back to the 2014 Central Ethnic Work Conference. Under Xi, Beijing is steering away from the post-1949 legal framework of nominal ethnic autonomy (albeit under tight Party control) imported from the Soviet Union. In its place, officials have steadily been pivoting towards what scholars have termed “second-generation ethnic policies”—an aggressive assimilationist approach that emphasizes a common Chinese national identity over accommodation of ethnic differences. Provincial and municipal authorities across China have enacted a wave of local “ethnic unity and progress” regulations in recent years, such as those in Xinjiang (2015) or Inner Mongolia (2021). The new national legislation elevates this approach to the level of a national statute governing all of China.

The new law’s core concept is captured in the term zhulao – to “forge” or “cast” metal – and its instruction that “forging the communal consciousness of the Chinese nation” is core to the Party’s ethnic policies.  As James Leibold has pointed out, this phrasing reflects a hardening of Beijing’s political line under Xi Jinping – explicitly written into the Party’s Charter at the 19th Party Congress in 2017 – aimed at “melting” subnational and ethnic identities into a shared collective one.

Meanwhile, on a global stage Beijing has continued to present itself as the only peace guarantor and as a force for stability and is seeking 'Taiwan's willing participation' - at a moment the Middle East is on fire largely as a result of American policy and quickness to result to force and surprise attacks.

President Donald Trump suggests the United States might not come to Taiwan’s aid if China attacks, arguing that Taiwan “took” America’s advanced semiconductor business and should therefore pay more for its own protection. — @atrupar (July 2023)pic.twitter.com/WNMUZe6IUf

— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) July 19, 2026

And yet, President Trump has of late publicly touted his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as "amazing". Planned weapons deal with Taiwan have been indefinitely put on hold as Washington tries to repair relations with Beijing.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 19:50

Trump Endorses Graham's Sister For Full Term, Shattering Expectations Of Short Stay

Following the sudden July 11 death of Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster triggered eye-rolling across America when he appointed Graham's sister Darline Nordone to take over the seat. At the time, the appointment of the unqualified sibling was widely understood as a mere interim honor, with Nordone serving as a placeholder pending the outcome of a special primary election to choose a Republican candidate for November's previously-scheduled election for the seat. Now, President Trump has asked Nordone to run in that primary race and pursue the full 6-year term that will start in January. 

"During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline...comes from an absolutely incredible family [and] has been a WINNER all of her life...RUN, DARLINE, RUN!" 

While Nordone herself hasn't announced that intention, there are reports that she's "considering" it, and it's highly unlikely Trump would have bothered with a lengthy public endorsement unless Nordone was on the verge of jumping in the abbreviated primary race that already has less than a month left in it.  

At the press conference announcing her interim appointment, Nordone's language reinforced universal expectations of a short stay in the Senate:

“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of [my brother's] important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States.”

Nordone has never held an elected office. She's a commissioner on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and previously held a communications role in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department. Trump said he personally pitched Nordone on going after the seat on a permanent basis when she visited him in the Oval Office on Thursday. 

So far, three people have officially announced they're running for the seat: businessman Mark Lynch, who was trounced by Graham in the June GOP primary; Ralph Norman, a 73-year-old US House member; and Duke Buckner, a lawyer who has previously run for the state's heavily-Democratic 6th Congressional District seat. Shortly after Graham died, Norman asked Trump for an endorsement. The president was said to have replied, "Give me a week." In the meantime, Norman has been endorsed by Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Utah Sen. Mike Lee. 

Following Lord Lindsey’s passing, Darline, Duchess of Charleston, ascended the High Chamber: crowned Baroness of the Palmetto Seat. Her brother's fiefdom and noble lineage are preserved. Long live the House of Graham and DEI! Aristocrats celebrate in Alexandria and Tel-Aviv. https://t.co/y5JGzSwz5v

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 14, 2026

The candidate list had been expected to grow, but Trump's preemptive endorsement of Nordone could have a chilling effect. Rep. Nancy Mace, who's poised to hand over her House seat in January -- having foregone reelection for a failed bid for governor -- teased at a run on social media within hours of Graham's death. On Friday, Axios reported she's still actively considering it. Rep. Russell Fry and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette are among others whose names have circulated. An Emerson College poll found that a Trump endorsement would likely sway 41% of South Carolina GOP voters, but an equal percent claimed it wouldn't have an effect. If no candidate scores not just a plurality but a majority of the votes on Aug. 11, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff election on Aug. 25. 

Graham was a chief champion of the West's proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and a zealous collaborator with Israel in promoting American warfare against Iran. To the extent that Nordone would attempt to pick up those torches and run with them, she's sure to garner the backing of the military-industrial complex and the pro-Israel lobby. That said, it's far from clear how effective she would be, given her utter lack of experience in Washington politics.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 16:55

Judge Dismisses DOJ's New Mexico Voter Data Request

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on July 14 rejected the Justice Department's attempt to obtain the private personal data of every registered voter in New Mexico, adding to the overall number of cases the DOJ has lost in which it has sought similar information.

The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on Aug. 7, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera dismissed the latest voter roll lawsuit, ruling that the department's demand letter lacked facts, proof of a pattern of violations, and explanations of necessity.

The court found that "the DOJ's Demand Letter fails because it altogether lacks an identifiable 'basis.' Nowhere does the DOJ articulate any factual suggestion that New Mexico has violated the NVRA [National Voter Registration Act] or HAVA [Help America Vote Act], indicate the State has a pattern or practice of noncompliance with the same, nor does it explain how the unredacted PII is necessary to evaluate compliance with the NVRA and HAVA."

The DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver approved of the court's decision.

"I am pleased with the court's decision to dismiss this case. Federal and state legal guardrails on social security numbers and dates of birth exist for the identity protection of every voter in our state," she said.

She doubled down on the security practices deployed under her leadership.

"I absolutely will not risk any disclosure of voters' private data, as it could carry very real and severe consequences for the personal lives of New Mexicans participating in our democratic process," she said.

The Justice Department has now been barred in 14 similar cases nationwide, failing to obtain unredacted voter files via these lawsuits from states that declined its requests, according to Oliver.

A federal judge on June 29 threw out the Justice Department's lawsuit against New Hampshire. The state refused to disclose its unredacted statewide voter registration lists.

In a 26-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante stated that those state-generated voter records fall outside those documents the federal government can demand under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

In April, judges dismissed similar cases in Arizona and Massachusetts. In February, a judge rejected a DOJ request for similar information in Michigan.

In January, a federal judge in Oregon ruled along similar lines. U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai dismissed the Justice Department's suit requesting Oregon's list of registered voters. During a videoconference hearing, he granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the case.

The department alleged that Oregon's refusal violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

The Justice Department filed lawsuits against six states in December 2025.

Aldgra Fredley contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 15:10

Mamdani's New York: West Side Homeless Camp Stretching 12 Blocks Now Allegedly Stealing City Power

You've likely seen it if you've the nearby Hell's Kitchen entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel...

What began as a growing homeless encampment on Manhattan's West Side has now escalated to alleged utility theft, according to the NY Post.

According to reports, one resident of the sprawling encampment was seen Tuesday tapping into city electrical lines to power a makeshift shelter near West 34th Street between 11th and 12th Avenue. The camp now stretches roughly a dozen blocks, from 34th Street to 46th Street near the Intrepid Museum, and has become an increasingly visible flashpoint for residents, commuters, and tourists.

The NY Post writes that bus drivers and local workers say the encampment has continued to expand over the past several weeks, with tents multiplying and sidewalks becoming increasingly obstructed.

Photo: NY Post

"It's been almost a month now and it gets a little bigger every time I come back," one FlixBus driver told the New York Post. He said garbage piled along the sidewalk forces passengers waiting for buses into the street, while some people living in the encampment have reportedly approached travelers asking for money. He added that complaints to city officials have produced little visible response.

Police officers were seen Tuesday ordering the individual accused of siphoning electricity to disconnect from the utility line. Elsewhere along the encampment, officers reportedly seized extension cords and power strips from another makeshift shelter. Despite those actions, there appears to be little expectation that the enforcement will significantly reduce the camp's size.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has defended the city's broader approach, saying the priority is moving homeless individuals into shelters and ultimately permanent housing rather than simply dispersing encampments from one neighborhood to another. Asked specifically about the West Side encampment, he said the city would review the situation.

Despite growing attention, reports indicate that no sanitation crews or homeless outreach teams had been seen at the site in the days following news coverage of the encampment.

The camp itself has reportedly continued to grow, with additional tents appearing over the weekend. Reports also claim that the area has attracted people struggling with addiction, along with sex workers, adding to concerns from nearby businesses and residents who say conditions continue to deteriorate.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 14:35

Overloaded: From Trinkets To Compute And Market Structure

By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

Last weekend we published that the market was sitting on Multiple Inflection Points. We were concerned that many of the inflection points would resolve themselves negatively for the market:

• Iran, which we didn’t even give the full “inflection” point treatment to, has deteriorated. While Brent finished the week at almost $90, up from just above $70, it seemed to be a “side story” at this stage. However, with the news of the U.S. service members killed on Friday in Jordan, the question becomes how this alters the U.S. strategy to pressure Iran to stop its attacks on shipping in the Strait and return to the table to continue negotiations.

• AI Spend was the most important inflection point and that seems to be resolving itself rather negatively with the Philly Semi Index down 10% on the week! More on this later.

• Russia/Ukraine. General (ret.) Spider Marks, Rachel Washburn, and I spent a lot of time talking about this conflict. I continue to be optimistic, maybe even a bit more optimistic than the consensus Geopolitical Intelligence Group view, but that’s my take.

• Japanese Yen. The infamous carry trade did little last week, but strength in the Yen remains a risk for the broader market.

• Crypto and DATCos. With the volatility in other markets last week, the stability in this space was noticeable. The jury is still out on which way this inflection point will resolve itself, but the case that it is forming a solid base is growing.

• Inflation. As one of the last people looking for not just cuts before hikes, but also cuts as early as September, Tuesday’s CPI numbers helped a lot! Some would argue that “Core” remains high, but it is artificially inflated by the “mysterious” way we choose to represent shelter inflation. (Yes, I’m hoping to get some call, out of the blue, to help re-evaluate what data decisions should be based on). Unfortunately, the resumption of increased hostilities in the Middle East and the limited amount of oil left in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve don’t help my take on inflation continuing to decline. Though any material slowing in the AI Spend would push the Fed (on both inflation and jobs) to consider cutting. Last weekend (according to WIRP) the market was pricing in 1.5 hikes by the end of the December meeting. It is now at 1.26 hikes. I think that expectation will continue to come down. Will consider this week a “decent” win as expectations for hikes declined even as oil prices ripped higher.

The risk that these “inflection points” are at risk of overloading markets remains high!

SPCH SPCF LOFF SPCU SPAL SPCL SPCM

This may set a “new low” in terms of gobbledygook for a heading in the T-Report. I’m hoping you are wondering what the heck triggered such an insane looking heading!

Those are the ticker symbols for 7 ETFs that provide 2X the daily return of SPCX! I’ve listed them in order from largest to smallest. In total they have “only” about $420 million in AUM (it was probably higher before most of these ETFs saw a decline of over 50% since their highs). SPCL tracked a larger “index” pre-IPO but converted to SPCX only with the IPO, presumably to be “first to market” on the SPCX-leveraged IPO. In all fairness, there are at least 4 ETFs allowing investors to short (on a leveraged basis) SPCX.

I’m kind of reminded of some vague saying about rabbits. You start with 2 (presumably male and female) and wind up with a LOT of rabbits very quickly!

Does one IPO really need to inspire at least 10 single stock ETFs?

Apparently (I was too lazy to pull up the tickers) there are already a half dozen or so single stock ETFs that track the newly launched SKHY ADR.

It is already a complex process to price an IPO. That process can be made more difficult when only a portion of the float is sold initially. I have zero clue how any of these single stock ETFs help in terms of allocation of capital, or price discovery! If anything, they tend to amplify moves, as the leverage creates forced end of day buying or selling! That is the opposite of helping price discovery or establishing orderly markets.

I’m assuming any 4 letter combination of CHAT, OPEN, LLM, etc. has been purchased/registered in the “ticker” world. CHTU (Chat Up) or CHTD (Chat Down) seem obvious ones to own, to sell to an ETF manager (though, again, it is likely that they are already taken). Kind of reminiscent of when people were buying up domain names hoping to sell them.

I probably ranted too long to make the point that leveraged ETFs (single stock and index) tend to amplify moves in both directions!

SOXL

We might as well transition from market structure to the AI spend, with SOXL.

3X leverage on the NYSE Semi Index, with $19 billion of AUM, tends to amplify moves.

One “characteristic” of these market-structure impacting ETFs (in my opinion, and one I’m certainly guilty of) is that:

• When a stock or sector that XYZ recommends goes higher, all the credit is attributed to the idea. It is all ixnay on the market structure when the market structure is helping support a move.
• When a stock or sector that XYZ recommends goes lower, XYZ (whoever that may be) is quick to pull out the “technicals” or “market structure” card, as the culprit.

Leveraged ETFs (single stock and index) and Zero-Day to Expiration Options (0DTE and other short-term options) all tend to amplify moves. It is the nature of the beast. If there is potential for stop losses to be triggered, the amplification effect is even more powerful.

Is it time to buy the dip? If the parabolic move higher in the various semi-conductor indices owes some thanks to market structure (and I think it does), that market structure may have shifted from a tailwind to a headwind (or worse, a tailwind in the other direction).

From Cheap Trinkets to Cheap Compute?

I find myself admonishing myself and cautioning clients to put China circa 2005 out of their mind. The argument is basically that yes, China used to make “cheap” trinkets. That much of what they made was of lower quality and fell apart. No one really picked up an item that had a “Made in China” label and thought it was fine engineering!

In general, that just isn’t true in 2026. China makes high-quality components. China makes high-quality products. Intellectual Property ownership has shifted. Through a variety of methods (ranging from companies willingly exposing themselves to Chinese companies to access via less savory means), China has closed the gap on IP. In some areas, China is ahead on IP.

I admit, I checked out a BYD showroom when I was in Munich last week (please try not to judge how I occupy my free time ). The vehicles looked kind of cool and I already had decent expectations, unlike I would have had a few years ago.

Is Cheap Compute the “New” China 2005 Story?

I’m not sure why I say “2005,” but I do (I hope it gets the point across that we are talking about what China was like a couple of decades ago, when they really started to dominate global trade).

My take is:

• China wedged their foot in the door by making some things at cheaper prices than anyone else could.
• China was willing to accept things, like pollution and horrible labor conditions, to do that.

We ceded more and more manufacturing to China, and they got better and better at it.

• China Inc. ensured that the Chinese government and Chinese corporations were in “sync,” making it easier to coordinate their push into global markets.
  • Unfair advantages at home, flooding markets to lower prices abroad, etc., were tools in their arsenal to dominate global manufacturing.

Over time, they made the shift from Made in China to Made by China:

• Selling your brands makes more money for your country and companies than just making someone else’s brands.

Globally, companies now compete with China on a much more equal footing, in terms of product quality, while China has the ability to work as China Inc. (typically an advantage).

That has played a role in our construction of the ProSec theme, which we provided a mid-year update on.

Increasingly, I’m concerned that we may be at a “2005” moment in compute?

General (ret.) Groen discussed this and much more with me on a call this week. I will paraphrase much of what was discussed:

• Are Chinese LLMs (and AI in general) as good as U.S. versions?
  • In general, no. Yes, it made big news on Friday, when a Chinese model did very well on some specific benchmark tests. For all we know, it was created/trained specifically for some benchmarks, which means it will do very well on those tests, but not necessarily perform well in the “wild.”
    • There are allegations and questions about how Chinese models attempt to train themselves on U.S. models, greatly reducing the cost and timing of training. Bad if true, but can it be stopped?
    • I’m told the politically correct term for this sort of “training” is to “distill” their models.
• Is China selling compute cheaper than U.S. compute is being sold for?
  • Yes, potentially 5 to 10 times cheaper. This is where I keep circling back to my “2005” date. Were dinky cars made in China as good as elsewhere? Ummm, I guess if you take out lead paint concerns and other things, sure, but the reality was we all kind of “knew” that there were issues with them. But you could buy a pack of 5 for the price of 1 made elsewhere, and the decision got more complex (apologies to Spider, who wanted me to use snow globes, but I decided to stick with dinky cars).
  • I do NOT have TikTok installed. I’ve only been on TEMU twice in my life. I haven’t even been tempted to try one of the Chinese models (and those of you who know me know I’m easily tempted). Yet, kind of like the dinky cars, you can see the appeal.
• The Half-Life of AI model domination seems to be shrinking. Probably an overly complicated (on my part) way of saying that AI is advancing rapidly. Every time you look at the benchmarks, there are models that have risen to the top of the charts that I barely knew existed (and I’m paying some attention).
  • Is AI able to generate new iterations of AI even faster? If you were, say, 3 generations behind, can you get to 1 generation behind extremely quickly? Seems plausible, especially if you are willing (or able) to “cut corners” on training?
• Electricity. Does the U.S. have the electricity generation capacity to feed the demand for AI (and the general public)? Do we have the ability to get that power from where it is generated to where it needs to be (the grid)? How do we compare to China on that front?
  • While I don’t have the details, it seems on the surface that China has more capability for “plug and play” on the AI front than the U.S. does. Electricity, energy production, and transfer are near the TOP OF THE ProSec list for a reason.
• NIMBY. We have discussed the AI Revolution as much as anyone (I think). We have been arguing that Data Center and AI construction (and electricity and to a lesser extent water) would be a major political issue in 2028 or sooner! No idea that it would be an issue that is defining some primaries already! New York State seems to be imposing a 1-year moratorium. I haven’t checked how that will work, but the fact that it is a talking point tells us something.
  • The AI industry needs to do better on community outreach. On top of everything else, there are National Security concerns at play. I’m not sure how the industry, or the national security apparatus, changes the direction in the U.S., but they need to increase their efforts.
    • There are plenty of areas building and pitching for more data centers and AI, so we are a long way from being out of the game, but we need to do a lot to not only protect the lead but also add to the lead (maybe the English coach could have applied that logic to the last 30 minutes as well).
  • I’m pretty sure that there is no equivalent of NIMBY in China. There are some things that one culture has that another culture doesn’t have, but at least there is some understanding of why you have that thing, or think that way. I’d be willing to bet the vast majority of people in China would just stare at you blankly, bemused by the concept of NIMBY getting in the way.

Bottom Line

Many of the “inflection” points have demonstrated a clear direction to which way they are headed, but with everything going on, expect more downside for the markets. DeepSeek was a moment. Treating cheap compute like manufacturing was treated circa 2005 is NOT a “moment.” I’m trying to avoid getting “sucked into the hype of the moment,” and wish I’d written the section on cheap compute Wednesday morning, before the recent news hit (we’d look a bit more proactive, rather than reactive), but I didn’t. The AI spend is at risk on multiple fronts, and while I expect earnings to be important, it now seems clear that even strong earnings, with very visible, very strong guidance for years to come, might not be enough! Last weekend, my perception was that earnings could propel sectors, especially the “compute” sector, higher, but I’m less convinced of that now. The story on “compute credit” seems to have deteriorated, even though we think it is overdone. It does seem like we might need a “debt diet” moment, where some company takes steps to make creditors happy, and finds that their stock responds positively to that action. While the Middle East is not helpful for lower inflation, any slowdown in the AI spend would be (though it would be awful for the economy). While I’m loath to end with a chart, today we are going to end with a chart.

While the Nasdaq 100 has been in a range for the past few weeks and has started moving lower, the S&P 500 equal weight index has been grinding higher and is extremely close to its all-time highs. In some ways it seems “crazy” to think that the S&P 500 equal weight and the Nasdaq 100 should have similar returns (we saw the post-Liberation Day rally in the Nasdaq 100), but finally the two indices closed the gap (noticeably the separation closed when both indices were moving lower).

Who knows, by Monday, the President may have sent something on Truth Social to change all of this (he controls the Iran narrative, and he did push back on the New York data center moratorium). If he does, we should find out at the same time as everyone else, because I don’t think “fast access” on Truth Social has been implemented yet (Trump Media Subscription Plan).

This should be an interesting week. Buy the dip, or get bearish? Of all the things listed, the concept of “cheap” compute from China concerns me the most!

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 14:00

Tropical Threat Emerges In Gulf Of America With US Refineries In Potential Crosshairs

The National Hurricane Center has raised the probability of tropical development for Invest 91L to 80% over the next two to seven days.

The broad area of low pressure off Florida's west coast in the Gulf of America should be tracked into the new week, as early Sunday model guidance suggests it could eventually threaten offshore oil and gas rigs and coastal refineries.

NHC's latest Invest 91L update:  

A area of low pressure located over the northeastern Gulf of America continues to become better defined and the associated shower and thunderstorm activity is gradually increasing.

Continued gradual development is expected, and a tropical depression is likely to form later today or on Monday as the system moves slowly northward or northwestward.

Interests along the northern Gulf coast from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana should monitor the progress of this system, as tropical storm watches or warnings could be required for portions of the area later today.

In addition, this system is expected to bring heavy rains to portions of the northern Gulf coast during the next several days. An Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to investigate the low pressure area later today.

Formation odds:

• Formation chance through 48 hours...high...80 percent.
• Formation chance through 7 days...high...80 percent.

Model Track:

Refinery Map:

Regardless of Invest 91L's development, the broad area of low pressure will traverse northwest, away from Southwest Florida and towards the New Orleans area.

The Atlantic Hurricane season is beginning to move into an active phase.

Notably, El Niño generally suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity by increasing upper-level westerly winds and vertical wind shear across the Caribbean and tropics, which disrupt tropical systems before they organize or intensify.

More on developing El Niño here.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 13:25

Taylor Farms Announces Recall Of Lettuce Shipped To 27 States Over Cyclospora Risk

Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,

U.S. lettuce supplier Taylor Farms expanded on July 17 its voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico due to concerns over its link to a cyclospora outbreak affecting Americans across the country.

Lettuce products that were possibly contaminated with the diarrhea-causing parasite were sent to 27 states, according to the company. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said July 18 the outbreak was linked to iceberg lettuce across five states and more than 1,000 people in the United States have been sickened by it.

“Consumers who have purchased the recalled iceberg lettuce should discard it immediately and not consume it,” California-based Taylor Farms said in a statement.

“Full refunds are also available at the location of purchase.”

States that were sent potentially contaminated lettuce products include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The company added that it is actively removing affected products and ceased sourcing lettuce from the implicated lot in central Mexico. Taylor Farms reiterated that it is continuing to cooperate with the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC, and other authorities.

Taylor Farms released a full list of its potentially affected products, including various shredded lettuce and salad mixes, accompanied with their lot codes and use-by dates.

According to an earlier statement July 17, the company said it was voluntarily removing from U.S. markets all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. That decision was based on information the FDA provided to Taylor Farms regarding its products, the statement said.

“As a family owned and operated company, we are deeply concerned for those who became ill, their families, and the many Americans whose trust in the safety of their fresh produce has been shaken,” Taylor Farms said.

“That trust is something we’ve worked for decades to earn, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to restore that confidence.”

U.S. health officials earlier this week announced it had traced “a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill.”

The popular fast-food chain addressed the issue in a statement on X, writing that it had removed all Taylor Farm products from its locations.

“We want you to hear it from us,” the company said. “So go ahead and enjoy your Taco Bell today.”

U.S. food distributor Sysco had also pulled all its Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico.

Cyclosporiasis is caused by the microscopic parasite cyclospora that stems from produce and water contaminated with human feces.

As of the latest update available from the CDC, the outbreak has resulted in 1,644 cases and 94 hospitalizations.

The agency noted that the true number of cases could be much higher, as many people are able to recover without medical care and are not tested for cyclospora.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 12:50

French Gambling Regulator Orders ISPs To Block Polymarket

Authored by Zoltan Vardai via CoinTelegraph.com,

France’s Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), or the National Gambling Authority, has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket.

Prediction websites are considered illegal gambling, the ANJ said in a Friday press release.

The regulator said that Polymarket’s operations are not authorized in France and that advertising unauthorized gambling sites constitutes a criminal offense with fines of up to 100,000 euros ($114,000).

Prediction markets allow users to buy and sell contracts tied to the outcomes of future events, from elections and sporting events to economic data and geopolitical developments. Polymarket has surged in popularity over the past two years, with billions of dollars in trading volume, while drawing scrutiny from regulators over whether its event contracts constitute illegal gambling or unlicensed financial products.

Countries that blocked access to Polymarket include Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, Brazil and Indonesia. At press time, Polymarket said it was geoblocked in 36 regions.

France’s gambling regulator first shared plans to block the platform in November 2024 for failing to comply with national gambling laws.

French gambling authority cites outcome manipulation concerns

France’s gambling authority said Polymarket boasts “addictive features” that are similar to regulated gambling offerings, but “amplified by the absence of the protective mechanisms found in the legal gambling market.”

It also cited potential outcome manipulation tied to some event contracts on Polymarket, adding:

“Some of the bets offered on this platform appeared to be rigged: for example, bets on the weather revealed that weather sensors may have been hacked.”

The cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into this matter in May 2026 and found a lack of identity verification, such as Know Your Customer checks.

Prediction markets have also drawn scrutiny from US regulators. On June 17, Kentucky sued five prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of operating unlicensed sports betting platforms. At least 17 other states have followed suit.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued eight states, arguing they had interfered with the federal regulator’s exclusive authority over federally regulated event contracts. 

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 08:10

Germany To Join French Nuclear Exercise, Deepening 'Counter-Russia' Deterrence

In the latest development related to what some analysts have called the 'new Cold War' and nuclear saber-rattling between Russia and the West, Germany and France are planning a major nuclear exercise later this year.

The atomic drills were announced Friday, after a joint top-level meeting of the French and German governments near Cologne. "Alongside this work on a shared doctrine, German conventional forces will this year take part in a nuclear exercise of the French military," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz unveiled. 

picture alliance/dpa

He detailed while at a press event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron that a "strategic steering group" established by the leading European allies would continue looking at deterrence in the future, with an eye on Russia.

"This is complementary to our nuclear participation and deterrence within NATO, which we still hold to," he added. He also previewed "a maneuver in the autumn held on the initiative of France" - while speaking of the Ukraine war.

"We will clarify together what form exactly this participation will take," he said.

France is newly positioning itself at the forefront of nuclear deterrence for Europe, a role that the United States has long assumed, and currently still does.

According to some of Macron's statements at the same event: "Patriotism, yes; nationalism, never. At a time when Europe is rearming, to think that each of us separately accumulating capabilities is the way history is going is absurd." More details have been offered in the following:

Mr Macron and Mr Merz began the defence council at Nörvenich air base beside a French Rafale and a German Eurofighter – a symbolic backdrop after the aircraft designed to replace them was scrapped.

Nuclear deterrence offers one field where the strained partnership can still move forward.

German troops would play a conventional supporting role and would not control French weapons. Berlin will also help develop radar and space-based systems for detecting ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Currently the United States and the UK, which both maintain nuclear arsenals, form the core of NATO's nuclear deterrence strategy. While France also possesses nuclear weapons, it does not yet participate on a leadership level in NATO's nuclear planning group. The US military also contributes F-35, refueling aircraft, and other support planes. 

Germany's Chancellor Merz:

For the first time, I have accepted the offer made by the French President to jointly think about nuclear deterrence.

Historically speaking, General Charles de Gaulle had already offered the Federal Republic of Germany a French nuclear umbrella many… pic.twitter.com/lIug2JjqVB

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 17, 2026

Russia has not infrequently held its own strategic drills over the course of the last several years of war in Ukraine. It has also become the 'new normal' for Russia and Europe to hold rival conventional war games, amid threats, warnings and ongoing miliary flexing.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 07:35

Nearly Half Of Poles Now Want To Stop Arming Ukraine

Authored by Andrew Korybko,

The reason is Poles’ radically shifting views towards Ukraine since the start of their spiraling dispute sparked by Zelensky’s state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits.

Leading Polish conservative newspaper Rzeczpospolita published the results of a survey that it commissioned showing that 45.2% of Poles now want to stop arming Ukraine. The majority are from the opposition, which includes conservative and libertarian-nationalist (populist in American political parlance) groups who a separate survey recently showed could form a coalition government after fall 2027’s next Sejm elections, and is almost three times larger than the 18.3% from December 2022.

Krzysztof Bosak, one of the populist Confederation’s co-leaders, is quoted as reaffirming his party’s consistent policy of supporting conditional aid to Ukraine that tangibly advances Polish interests. Its rapid growth in popularity per the second-mentioned survey above is likely due to the public realizing that Confederation was right all along about Ukraine amidst their country’s spiraling dispute with it that was sparked by Zelensky’s state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits.

This palpable sentiment is arguably responsible for why the conservative “Law & Justice” (PiS) opposition’s prime ministerial candidate boldly broke with this party’s leadership earlier in the week by calling on the EU to stop funding Ukrainian arms till it “enters the path of pro-human values.” PiS is also separately embroiled in a power struggle between co-founder Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki over the latter’s refusal to shutter his sub-group within the party.

The combination of these factors could lead to more disgruntled PiS supporters flocking towards Confederation, thus potentially turning the party in the senior partner in any coalition that could be formed after fall 2027’s next Sejm elections, which could lead to serious changes in Polish foreign policy. The second survey that was hyperlinked to in the introduction shows that Confederation and the Confederation of the Polish Crown that earlier split from it have more support combined than PiS.

It’s therefore within the realm of political reality that the populists maintain their role as the country’s most powerful opposition force, especially if support for PiS continues declining while support for Confederation continues growing, with Poles’ radically shifting views towards Ukraine being the reason. Rzeczpospolita’s report cites the Defense Ministry’s recently declassified statistics showing that the former PiS government gave Ukraine around €3.4 billion worth of military equipment from 2022-2023.

The National Security Bureau disclosed in early 2025 that Poland’s aid to Ukraine totaled 4.91% of its GDP by then (most going to refugees and the above statistics showing that the liberal coalition only sent around €350 million by mid-2026) and constituted hundreds of pieces of equipment. Although PiS has since hardened its approach towards Ukraine, just like its opponents did under public pressure, it could have preemptively averted Ukraine’s descent into an anti-Polish state had it attached strings to its aid.

For example, aid could have been sent only if Ukraine first allowed the full exhumation and proper reburial of the Volhynia Genocide’s victims, officially recognized and apologized for this war crime, and banned Banderism. That didn’t happen and now “Poland Finally Realizes The Geostrategic Challenge Posed By Ukraine”, thus further contextualizing why nearly half of Poles no longer want to arm what’s at this point their top regional rival, which also poses a latent security threat if it’s not soon denazified.

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 07:00

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:

• Inside Nokia’s Race to Catch the iPhone and Android Wave: IEEE Spectrum’s oral history of Nokia’s doomed attempt to compete with the smartphone revolution — a masterclass in how incumbents fail even when they see the future coming.  (IEEE Spectrum)

• The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year: Former CDC staffers on the cuts now haunting the outbreak response: “Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED. (Wired) see also Why Do We Need Explosive Diarrhea to Remind Us Public Health Matters?  Lisa Jarvis on the Michigan cyclosporiasis outbreak and hollowed-out public health. Headline of the day! (Bloomberg free)

• An SEC email address mix-up is causing confusion and threatening to disrupt its proposal to scrap quarterly reporting requirements: The comment (or…comments) period on the semiannual reporting rule closed on July 6, but the email address confusion cropped up on Monday in a letter to the commission from nonprofit investor advocate Better Markets. The letter, addressed to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, said the posted email address was “incorrect,” and said the error “undoubtedly deprived some members of the public of the opportunity to express their views on an extensive, far-reaching and dramatic change to corporate reporting that upends half a century of practice.”
So on brand…  (Fortune)

• Its the golden age of insider trading:
–Truth Social to sell trading firms ‘fastest’ access to Trump’s posts. Trump Media & Technology Group has unveiled a paid-for, licensed data feed that will give banks and trading firms “the fastest” access ‌to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, such as President Donald Trump’s, whose posts often move global markets. The product, called “Truth API,” will deliver posts from the 10 most influential accounts to customers at a significantly faster pace than a regular push notification on the Truth Social platform, a spokesperson said. (Reuters)
-White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump’s speeches: Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant who has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations he used his inside knowledge of the president’s speeches to win more than $100,000. (ABC News)

• Counterfeit Air-Bag Parts Are Killing U.S. Drivers—and the Government Can’t Stop It: Counterfeit airbag parts are killing American drivers, and regulators can’t stem the flow. The Journal investigates the replacement part that might be a grenade. After 10 deaths, regulators are warning the public about airbags in used cars with components marked as made by a Chinese company, but tracing them is difficult (Wall Street Journal)

• For Software Engineers, the AI Reckoning Is Already Here: Artificial intelligence has changed computer programming more than it has any other profession, and coders are transforming right along with it. (Businessweek)

• The Mystery Money Powering Trump’s Second Term: The president and his allies have built a network of groups financed by wealthy donors and businesses that is advancing his priorities with little public disclosure. (Wall Street Journal)

• The Big Read. After the strongman The Magyar revolution: Hungary’s new era What will the dismantling of the Orbán machine lead to? (Financial Times free)

• A Free-Speech Meltdown: PEN America’s president resigned over an article detailing the isolation and exclusion that many Israeli and Jewish writers feel after October 7. (The Atlantic) see also FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals: ProPublica documents the gifts — Kennedy Center galas, fancy dinners — that Paramount lavished on FCC officials while seeking regulatory approval. The appearance of corruption is indistinguishable from the thing itself. (ProPublica)

• Vinyl in the Veins: Behind the nostalgia lies an uncomfortable truth: every record is made of oil. (Longreads)

Video of the day: We Need to Talk About Louis – Part 1 of 5

People in Many Countries Now View China More Positively Than the U.S.

Source: Pew Research Center

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Jason Wenk, founder and CEO of Altruist, a modern custodian built as a clean sheet from the ground up, fully integrated with artificial intelligence. He began his career at Morgan Stanley before launching Retirement Wealth Advisors, and then FormulaFolios. The through-line of his career has been creating lower-cost, tech-enabled, financial advice.

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

The post 10 Sunday Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Iran's Reliance On China's Beidou Satellite System Is A Game-Changer In War With US

Authored by former CIA officer Larry Johnson

During the 12-day war in June 2025, Iranian missiles and drones struggled against sophisticated Israeli and American electronic warfare. GPS jamming and spoofing repeatedly disrupted their guidance systems, limiting their effectiveness during the intense 12-day conflict. Fast-forward to early 2026, and the battlefield dynamics had shifted dramatically. Iran’s precision strikes began threading through advanced air defenses, hitting high-value targets across the Gulf with surprising accuracy.

Intelligence analysts pointed to one key factor: Iran had ditched GPS for China’s Beidou satellite navigation system.

The US unwittingly provided the spark that ignited China’s quest for the Beidou. The story begins in 1993 when a single Chinese container ship, the Yinhe, sailing to Iran, the vessel was accused by the CIA of carrying chemicals for weapons production.

Middle Eastern ports, under pressure from the US, refused entry and the ship was stranded in the Indian Ocean. The US not only pressured allies but reportedly disabled the ship's GPS access, forcing it to drop anchor for weeks. Inspections in Saudi Arabia eventually cleared the vessel, but China received no apology or compensation.

This humiliation—losing navigation mid-ocean due to reliance on a foreign-controlled system—became a pivotal lesson for Beijing. It accelerated development of an independent satellite navigation network: Beidou (BDS).

• BDS-1 (2000s) provided initial regional coverage.
• BDS-2 expanded capabilities.
• BDS-3 (completed around 2020) transformed it into a global powerhouse with dozens of satellites, far more ground stations (especially in the Global South), and superior accuracy in many regions compared to GPS.

Today, Beidou outperforms GPS in coverage and precision across roughly 165 countries, offering a resilient alternative that cannot be unilaterally jammed or spoofed by Western powers.

After the 2025 conflict exposed vulnerabilities in GPS-dependent systems, Iran moved decisively. By late 2025 or early 2026, it integrated Beidou into its missile and drone arsenals. Reports from March 2026 already highlighted dramatic improvements: Iranian munitions evaded electronic countermeasures that had worked months earlier.

Key advantages of Beidou for Iran include:

• Resistance to jamming/spoofing — Advanced frequency-hopping and anti-interference tech.
• Higher accuracy — Circular error probable under 5 meters in key regions, enabling precise strikes with fewer munitions.
• Real-time command — Secure messaging allows mid-flight adjustments over long distances.

This upgrade has contributed significantly to Iran’s ability to penetrate US defenses in the Gulf countries and dramatically improved Iran’s ability to strike critical targets, which has undermined confidence in US security guarantees in the Gulf.

The US decision to use GPS as a weapon in 1993 has backfired spectacularly—proof that humiliating China inspired a technological leap that now gives China and its allies a strategic advantage over the US.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 23:20

Academia Embarrasses Itself... Again

Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker,

Over at Twitchy, a publication that curates the news in funny yet insightful ways, a headline reads, “Head of Medical School Tells Congresswoman the Vast Majority of Pregnancies Occur in Women.”  Sure enough, Twitchy is telling the truth.

During witness testimony before a congressional committee examining the impact of forced “diversity,” preferential (non-merit-based) admissions, and “woke” ideology upon the quality of medical schools, the chancellor of UC San Francisco testified under oath that not all pregnancies come from women.  That chancellor, Samuel Hawgood, is not some administrative bureaucrat with a made-up bachelor’s degree in the discriminatory effects of man-made “climate change” upon “transgender” Pakistanis (and an obligatory master’s in why American taxpayers must foot the bill for all “sex change” surgeries around the world).  No, Hawgood is an actual pediatrician who previously served as UCSF’s dean of the School of Medicine.  A man who did his residency at the Royal Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Brisbane cannot tell us how babies are made.

It is astounding to watch just how far down the propaganda rabbit hole so-called “institutions of higher learning” have dragged society.  Until very recently, this kind of public display of sophistry would have embarrassed an intellectual of the lowest order.  For a medical doctor and university chancellor to pretend that men can get pregnant is a flashing neon sign warning just how corrupt and dishonest all of academia has become.  These days, university leaders sound indistinguishable from North Korean spokespeople assuring starving citizens that they are better off than anyone else in the world.

How did we get to this point in time when professors tell rank lies to the American people, while hiding behind their titles as false evidence that those lies are somehow “truths”?  Well, social media favorite “Oilfield Rando” points to part of the problem.  In an X post responding to the doctor’s pseudoscientific testimony, Rando includes an itemization of Chancellor Hawgood’s university pay and accompanying benefits.  The man in charge of one of the country’s top educational institutions takes home well over a million dollars each year.  Unless Chancellor Hawgood is a moron who genuinely believes men can get pregnant, it is likely that he is willing to sell his intellectual reputation and personal honor for a seven-figure salary.

What does that say about the current state of our society?  The modern university arose from Christian monasteries dedicated to God’s truth.  This is why divinity degrees are generally accorded highest honor during processions accompanying graduation ceremonies.  As monasteries developed into secular institutions of higher learning, they remained places dedicated to the pursuit of truth.  Harvard’s motto, veritas, simply means “truth.”

For hundreds of years, faculty members did not take positions on college campuses because they sought fame or fortune.  They became scholars and professors because they were dedicated to the rigors of their calling.  Just as a Christian monk lived in poverty because the pursuit of truth provided spiritual nourishment and personal fulfillment, a scholar embraced a penurious life within academia in exchange for the privilege of seeking authentic truth.  The reward — unvarnished enlightenment — was understood to be more valuable than money.

I have spent enough time on university campuses to understand that they are no longer sanctuaries for truth.  There was a time not so many decades ago when campuses were “safe spaces” for all ideas.  Unlike the real world, where an employee might be fired for taking unorthodox positions in the workplace, colleges once encouraged professors and students to advance eccentric, heretical, and dissenting points of view on any subject.  Intellectual debate was more important than “hurt feelings” or “political correctness.”

Now, the opposite is true.  Universities are so concerned about “hurt feelings” and “political correctness” that they proudly designate most of their campus a “safe space” free from the “dangers” of debate, disagreement, or dissent.  Of course, the kicker is that in the process of creating “safe spaces,” colleges must first decide what points of view to defend as part of their unquestionable curricula.  They stake out positions just as a cleric might do with tenets of a religious faith.  In this way, the university has come full circle.  It has once again become a medieval monastery filled with members of a religious order.  It’s just that these twenty-first-century “monks” despise God, truth, and Christianity.

In 2026, a pediatrician and chancellor of a major university is incapable of stating the truths that biological sex is real and that only women can become pregnant.  As much as we might be inclined to laugh, this should make us feel sad.  There has never been a time in human history when people struggled with the distinctions between men and women.

We are presently in an era when the people with the most prestigious titles and credentials are either dumber or more dishonest than the least educated members of any human society that ever existed.  In exchange for their dumbness and dishonesty, they are paid extremely high salaries.  The corporate news media command us to treat these people with respect because they have been recognized as official “experts.”  And these highly paid, credentialed, respected experts from prestigious institutions of higher learning are too cowardly to tell the truth.  The noble pursuit and defense of veritas have been replaced with ignominy and indoctrination.

University cowardice, of course, does not stop with the idiotic fad of “transgenderism.”  There are all kinds of bizarre, fanciful, and unscientific commandments within the “woke” faith.  Believing in hard work, skill, intellect, and merit is now cast as unacceptable “white supremacy.”  Instead, we are told, people should be admitted to universities and receive degrees based on the color of their skin, their recognized victimhood, and/or their sexual proclivities.  Entire generations of intellectual lightweights are now certified “experts” because they claimed to have Native American blood or wrote college admissions essays about having sexual relations with broccoli.  They can’t do math.  They can’t write without the help of AI.  But since they call themselves “doctors” or were handed Ivy League degrees, they expect the rest of society to respect them and believe what they say.

It is such an odd time to be alive.  In the halls of government and academia, nonsensical beliefs masquerading as “truth” run rampant.  Within these wonderlands of delirium, two ideas are so sacrosanct that they cannot be questioned:

(1) using any kind of energy other than those available during the Middle Ages causes catastrophic “climate change”; and

(2) mass immigration and “multiculturalism” strengthen a society. 

Consequently, university professors and government ministers expect us to believe two preposterous things. 

 First, unless we pay carbon taxes and allow bureaucrats to centrally manage the economy, we will all die.  

Second, unless we replace Western civilization with other civilizations, we are all bigots.

In other words, our “educated elites” treat as indisputable “truths” the canards that bad weather and insufficient “diversity” are the two biggest problems of our time.  Their solutions?  Central bankers, multinational corporations, and government bureaucrats should strictly regulate how productive people build things and prosper.  Ideally, incompetent people rewarded for their perceived “victimhood” and “diversity” should be put in charge of future production.  This is not a plan for success.  This is an idiotic operation that guarantees civilizational self-destruction.

Should we survive this age of stupidity, our descendants will look back and wonder why clear-thinking scholars from our august institutions of higher learning didn’t do more to halt the suicidal impulses now gripping Western civilization.  

How could the very universities that trace their lineages back to Western monasteries’ pursuit of God’s truth become cesspools of falsehood, paganism, and superstition?

Western civilization’s survivors will not have to look hard for their answer: University chancellors were given millions of dollars to “educate” the public about men having babies. 

College campuses are catnip for crazies.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 18:40

"Start Spreadin' The News": New York Losing Billions As Millionaires Flee Big Apple

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Below is my column in the New York Post on the sharp decline in millionaires in New York, costing the state billions as many flee. The exodus has been building for years but may now be accelerating. As Mayor Mamdani holds another press conference promising to end the “violence of evictions,” businesses are reading the writing on the wall. Rather than work to make the state more attractive to wealthy residents and businesses, Democrats are seeking to diminish the appeal of two-tax states. They want to tap into a long-barred area of taxation: the wealth rather than just the income of citizens. By passing a national wealth tax, Democrats will reduce the benefit of fleeing high-tax states like California and New York.

“Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leavin’ today” — that’s how the famous song “New York, New York”  captures the Big Apple’s draw.

Today, the line is becoming more ironic than iconic: Many people are indeed leaving … from New York, New York.

Worse yet, those “vagabond shoes” that “are longing to stray” are on the feet of the wealthiest New Yorkers.

And as they flee, according to a new study, they’re taking away billions in badly needed tax revenue.

As Mayor Zohran Mamdani and others pledge massive social programs and free services by taxing the wealthy, the wealthy are just melting away.

The reason is simple: if “you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”

In today’s economy, it’s no longer necessary or even particularly beneficial to be in New York to make money in financial and other areas.

When any business meeting is a screen and a click away, you can go to a low-tax state like Florida or Texas and do as well as you can in the Big Apple.

Not surprisingly, many are choosing the money over the mystique and the madness.

This week the Citizens Budget Commission reported that New York’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to 8.7% in 2022 — the largest drop of any state.

The exodus of wealthy citizens left New York short $10.7 billion in tax revenue.

By denouncing the remaining wealthy as effectively freeloaders who are “not paying their fair share,” Mamdani is only spurring them on.

It’s a demonstrably false claim that I discuss in my book Rage and the Republic — and part of a growing class-warfare theme the left is deliberately using to fuel political rage.

Yet it’s easy to form a mob —  and far more difficult to control it.

That is particularly the case when your economic policies destroy your economy, and your ability to pay for all the free services that you’ve promised.

There’s a good-faith debate to be had over optimal tax levels, but the fact is that the top 10% of Americans pay more in taxes than the other 90% of the country. The top 1% pays roughly 40% of federal taxes.

As rational actors flee the state, Mamdani and New York Democrats are forced to cull the shrinking herd of high-end taxpayers who remain, layering on special fees like a pied-à-terre tax to be imposed on NYC’s luxury property owners.

And rather than change course to make New York a more attractive place to do business and live, national Democrats are moving to make other states no better — by nationalizing wealth taxes and by taxing fleeing citizens as if they still lived in the state.

Many are following Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Rep. Ro Khanna’s call to impose a federal wealth tax they’ve dubbed the Billionaire Tax.

The idea is to stem the exodus from California and New York by giving the highest earners no place to go . . . except out of the country.

That’s the option many took when similar wealth taxes were attempted in countries like France, only to be rescinded after doing massive economic damage.

Fleecing the wealthy is a revenue loser.

New York is losing billions, and California has reportedly lost trillions due to top taxpayers’ departure.

Unwilling to adopt greater fiscal restraints and truly compete for businesses and residents, Democrats are looking for pockets of new areas to tax.

The wealth tax is a virtual bonanza of untapped revenue — if it can make it through the courts.

Our Constitution was amended in 1913 to allow for an income tax, not a wealth tax.

Once you pay taxes on what you earn, you’re supposed to be able to use your hard-earned money to buy whatever you wish, from bikes to boats.

Democrats now want to tax those possessions: “your Rembrandts, your stock portfolio, your diamonds and your yachts,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren once dramatically warned.

And Khanna recently confirmed what some of us have been saying for years: The Billionaire Tax isn’t only for billionaires.

“The tax should not stop at billionaires,” he said in a pitch to his party’s rising socialist movement; “it must reach centimillionaires. The tax has to reach all fortunes $50 million and up.”

Khanna and others hope that, once taken nationally, a wealth tax would destroy the benefit of moving to low-tax states — and open up literally trillions in new potential revenue.

In the meantime, New York will continue to burn billions as it taps its dwindling number of millionaires.

As their wealthy neighbors depart, those remaining will have to make up for their loss.

Being among the last to leave New York will be a costly distinction.

They will indeed “wake up” — and find that they’re “king of the hill, top of the list” for wealth redistribution.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times bestselling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 17:30