FBI Foils Alleged Suicide Drone Plot Targeting "Capitalist Elites" At UFC White House Event

Regular readers know that the threat of suicide drones has expanded beyond the modern battlefields of Ukraine and the Middle East - with potential targets including data centers and critical infrastructure. Given this potential, it was only a matter of time before an FPV-style attack was attempted on the homeland.

Today, Fox News' reports that federal agents and law enforcement partners foiled an alleged FPV attack plot targeting this past weekend's UFC Freedom 250 event in Washington, D.C.

According to the report, five people were arrested and 23 others were identified as part of a potential network of plotters. The group allegedly planned to use explosive-laden drones to hit buildings near the event, force a mass evacuation, and steer crowds toward a pre-staged sniper team.

A "second wave" was then allegedly planned to storm the White House gate, according to officials. -Fox News

FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X:

On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region – and thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold.

On June 10, FBI and our law enforcement partners became aware of a potential threat to the UFC America 250 event in Washington, D.C. involving individuals outside of the National Capital Region – and thanks to the rapid action of this FBI, our partners, and the Department of… pic.twitter.com/PbWkIk1Lr5

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 16, 2026

Seeking comment from America's counter-drone detection industry, we reached out to DZYNE Technologies CEO Matt McCue, who told us:

"This is exactly how layered defense is supposed to work. Intelligence and interdiction upstream, counter-drone technology downstream. They are partners, not competitors. The FBI reached this one early, and that's the ideal outcome. For the threats that don't surface in advance, that's where the detection and mitigation layer has to be ready." 

McCue continued: 

"It is a relief that the FBI reached this one early, because the real problem is the back end. Once one of these is in the air over a crowd, the defender's window is measured in seconds, and every option to stop it carries its own risk to the people underneath. The advantage swings hard to the attacker the moment it launches." 

Joe Francescon, former National Security Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism Defense, told us:

"What makes this category of attacks so concerning is how little it demands of the people behind it. The technology is commercial, off-the-shelf, and everywhere. There is no meaningful legal or financial barrier to obtaining it, and no special access, insider knowledge, or training required to use it. The planning for an attack like this can happen out in the open, which is a very different threat profile from what the U.S. is used to worrying about." 

Of course, while we aren't getting names or photos for some reason, one of the suspects allegedly told investigators the aim was to target "capitalist elites," "billionaires," or politicians who received donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

BREAKING: Details via federal arrest affidavit reveal that a California man named Michael Alan Thomas was one of the alleged organizers of the alleged UFC White House terror plot. Feds say he admitted he believes the U.S. government is run by elites who sacrifice and eat… pic.twitter.com/L8i1bTR9Em

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 16, 2026

And while we don't know if this was just douchebags larping on Signal chat from mom's basement or radical militants who had secured hardware (because the FBI hasn't told us), we do know that some of the most vocal groups in America bashing "capitalist elites" and "billionaires" have been associated with the rise of socialist and communist movements. 

These groups were allowed to thrive by their 'comrades' in the Biden and Obama administrations, who instead went after parents opposing woke indoctrination, Catholics, and free speech. 

Now, we're back to combating radical left-wing terror - which even The Atlantic had to admit is 'on the rise.'

And of course, they deny they're violent - and yet;

Hasan Piker calls on his followers to kill capitalists:

“Yeah kill them! KiII those motherfuckers and murder those motherfuckers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their fucking red capitalist blood, dude.”

Democrats are campaigning with him. pic.twitter.com/YiZxGgRkgc

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 9, 2026

Left-Wing NGO Coverage:

• "No Longer Tolerate Radical Marxists": Rubio Sanctions Revolutionary Cuban Influence Network Tied To U.S. Left-Wing NGOs

• Bessent Signals Crackdown On Dark-Money Funded NGOs In "Weeks, Months Ahead"

• How Bad Is Foreign Influence In America's Nonprofit Universe?

They want you dead...

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 11:20

Bank Of Japan Raises Rates To 1% For The First Time In 31 Years, Will Stop Reducing Bond Purchases

As widely expected, the BoJ raised the policy rate by 25bp to "around 1%" (there was one dissent from newly appointed dovish board member Asada for a hold) taking the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 31 years as the country adjusts to sustained inflation. The 0.25% increase, which was widely expected, takes Japan to what analysts said was a critical milestone in the central bank’s effort of normalizing monetary policy after years of ultra-low interest rates and deflation. The BoJ’s policy rate was last at 1% in 1995, when the central bank was in the process of lowering borrowing costs in the wake of the Japanese asset bubble burst in the late 1980s. The Board also opted to make no changes for now to their planned pace of QE taper, also in line with expectations, but likely disappointing some expectations for a shift to a higher planned pace of purchases to support JGBs

In a statement accompanying the decision, the BoJ signalled that it intended to continue that normalization process, raising the policy interest rate and degree of monetary accommodation “in response to developments in economic activity and prices as well as financial conditions”.

The policy statement showed no material change other than the view that the major downside risks to the economy have “decreased compared with a while ago”. On inflation, it pointed to “a risk of underlying CPI inflation deviating upward to a level above the price stability target of 2%”, but this is not new information given that the April Outlook Report’s BoJ core inflation forecast (ex. fresh food and energy) already implies inflation above 2% throughout the projection period through FY2028. As Deputy Governor Uchida also noted at the press conference, in terms of what has changed since the April meeting, the decline in downside growth risks appears to have been the backdrop to the decision to proceed with a rate hike this time.

Offsetting the hawkish taste of the rate hike, the BoJ also said that from April 2027 it would stop reducing its monthly purchases of Japanese government bonds, leveling off at a pace of about ¥2tn ($12.5bn) per month. That move was also widely expected by the market. The Bank noted that this decision could be changed depending on circumstances; however, if this policy is maintained, the BoJ’s balance sheet will continue to shrink, though the pace of contraction will ease from 2028 onward.

The BoJ said that while higher crude oil prices were weighing on economic activity, “the risk of a significant slowdown in the economy appears to have decreased compared with a while ago”.  It also noted that the price pass-through from higher fuel prices had been progressing relatively quickly, and could spread from business-to-business transactions to push underlying consumer price inflation above its target of 2 per cent.

Since lifting Japan out of negative interest rates in 2024, the BoJ raised rates twice last year. It has been expected to settle into a pattern of gradually tightening every six months or so. Some economists believe a further 0.25% rise could come as soon as October.

The decision to raise interest rates this week was reached by a 7-1 vote of the Monetary Policy Committee, which was down to eight members after governor Kazuo Ueda was admitted to hospital last week.  The dissenting member, Toichiro Asada  – the first member appointed under the dovish Takaichi administration – argued that the situation in the Middle East presented Japan with greater downside risks to production and employment than the upside risks to prices.

“The distribution of votes is interesting and reflects that the board is a bit more balanced now when previously it skewed comfortably hawkish,” said Stefan Angrick, head of Japan at Moody’s Analytics. “The fact is also that the BoJ has no good choices,” he added. “They can hike to stem inflationary pressure by strengthening the yen, but that would hurt the economy.”

As reported previously, BOJ governor Ueda is receiving treatment for a liver condition and did not attend the meeting or cast a vote. This week’s meeting, the first held without the governor since 2010, was chaired by one of the BoJ’s deputy governors, Ryozo Himino. In Ueda’s absence, the afternoon press conference was presented by the BoJ’s other deputy governor, Shinichi Uchida. He noted that the major difference between this week’s meeting and the one in April, when the BoJ held rates, was the memorandum agreed between the US and Iran to extend their ceasefire

Deputy governor Shinichi Uchida led the Bank of Japan’s afternoon news conference in Kazuo Ueda’s absence 

“That is a welcome move,” Uchida said. “Having said that, there is uncertainty on the pace of improvement in [oil] distribution.”

Deputy Governor Uchida chose his words carefully throughout the press conference, but most questions focused on the Bank’s assessment of upside inflation risks and the implications for future rate hikes. He reiterated the policy of continuing rate hikes as underlying inflation approaches 2%, reinforcing that stance by emphasizing the perceived upside risks to inflation. He also stated that going forward, “keeping inflation stable at around 2% will be important”.

That said, differences of opinion were evident within the Board regarding the state of underlying inflation. While the statement and the press conference conveyed the view that underlying inflation is now in the process of moving toward 2%, Takada and Tamura objected, indicating that they believe it has already reached that level. In contrast, Deputy Governor Uchida said at the press conference that many of the remaining members think it will be achieved between the second half of FY2026 and the first half of FY2027.

Another notable point was Deputy Governor Uchida’s remark that “the neutral rate estimates have too wide a range to be usable for actual policy decisions”, clearly downplaying the Bank’s published estimates of the neutral rate. Governor Ueda has long pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the estimates, but Uchida made this point more explicit. He characterized the current rate hikes as “policy adjustments toward a neutral level”, while adding that “it is not clear at what point we can judge the stance to be neutral; we won’t know until we reach it”. This likely implies that, although the policy rate has now reached the lower bound of the BoJ’s published estimates of the neutral rate, that fact does not mean the Bank will become materially more cautious about further rate hikes.

Deputy Governor Uchida avoided answering a question about consistency with the fiscal policy pursued by the Takaichi administration. Still, despite his otherwise rigorous focus on logic, his explanation for JGB purchases remained somewhat coarse – namely, that “market functioning has been steadily improving, so we decided to continue with this for the time being”. Moreover, even though the decision was made after substantial prior coordination and was almost fully priced in by the market, the fact that a member appointed under the Takaichi administration cast a dissenting vote may suggest that strong resistance to the BoJ’s policy normalization may remain within the administration.

Finally, he was also asked why Governor Ueda did not have voting rights this time, even though Deputy Governor Uchida retained voting rights when he participated remotely during his hospitalization through the previous meeting. Uchida limited his response to saying it was “for reasons related to medical treatment”.

According to JPM, this rate hike will not exert significant downward pressure on the economy, and the bank continues to expect the BoJ to deliver an additional rate hike in October in response to inflationary pressures that are likely to become more apparent towards the summer.

The yen held steady at about ¥160.2 versus the dollar following the announcement, while the Nikkei 225 stock average breached 70,000 points, a record level, before falling back.

“Traders were content that there were no overtly hawkish surprises” from the BOJ, said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. “The rate hike was fully anticipated and priced in.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 10:40

"They Will Hear From Our Lawyers": Elon To Sue German Broadcaster Over Claim He Told Belfast Protesters To 'Hunt Migrants'

Via Remix News,

Tech trillionaire Elon Musk has said he will take legal action against German public broadcaster ZDF after it linked him to unrest in Belfast and accused him of helping instigate a "hunt" against migrants.

The dispute followed the attempted beheading of a man in Northern Ireland by a Sudanese migrant, which prompted British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson to call for nationwide protests. Musk shared Robinson's post on X and added, "Only through repeated and loud protests will anything change."

ZDF later used the incident in a segment on ZDFheute live, introducing it as part of a wider discussion about online agitation after violent crimes. Presenter Christina von Ungern-Sternberg said, A brutal attempted murder in broad daylight in Belfast. Someone films it. The video goes viral. A racist mob then hunts down migrants. This was called for by a British far-right extremist and tech billionaire Elon Musk."

She then asked, "What's behind it? Which actors have an interest in using a violent crime to incite civil war?"

The framing triggered criticism in Germany, including from journalists who said the broadcaster had gone beyond what Musk had actually written. Welt journalist Anna Schneider said, "ZDF is attributing a statement to Musk that he never made."

NDR editor Sebastian Eberle also criticized the segment, writing on X, "Dear colleagues in Mainz, with all due respect, this is unacceptable. We cannot and must not work like this. This is completely unacceptable."

ZDF later acknowledged that the wording in the segment had been flawed. Asked by Nius about the controversy, a ZDF spokesperson said, "The presenter was supposed to succinctly summarize the complex situation of the violently escalating protests and the previous calls for protests on X at the beginning of the very comprehensive and nuanced 30-minute program. However, the chosen wording was imprecise and therefore misleading."

The broadcaster said Robinson had called for protests after the Belfast knife attack and that Musk had shared the post.

Musk responded on Monday by saying he would pursue legal action against the broadcaster. "Legal action is being taken against ZDF for their outrageous lies," he wrote on X.

Legal action is being taken against ZDF for their outrageous lies

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2026

This isn't the first time this year the broadcaster has been enveloped in controversy for its reporting. Back in February, the same program was forced to issue an on-air apology after it was found to have broadcast a segment containing AI-generated footage depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arresting a migrant family.

"We invest a great deal of effort to provide you with verified information. This time, we failed to do so," it said at the time.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 10:20

China's DRAM Giant CXMT Gets Final Nod For Largest Mainland IPO Since 2022

Chengxin Memory Technology, China’s leading maker of DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) chips, has had its initial public offering approved by the country’s securities watchdog, clearing the way for the Chinese mainland’s biggest stock market listing since 2022.

CXMT’s registration to go public on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market became effective on June 12. The Hefei-based company is planning to raise CNY29.5 billion (USD4.4 billion) by issuing 10.6 billion shares, which would also make it the Star Market’s second-largest IPO.

As the only Chinese integrated devices manufacturer that has achieved large-scale DRAM production, CXMT’s IPO has attracted investment from several leading brokerages, including China Merchants Securities and Huaan Securities, as well as from insurers, through a mix of alternative investment subsidiaries, private equity funds, and industrial funds.

CXMT has three 12-inch DRAM wafer fabs in Hefei and Beijing, giving it the largest production capacity in China and the fourth-largest globally. The firm’s industrial chain includes multiple links, such as equipment, materials, packaging, and testing, and its suppliers include more than 30 mainland-listed firms with a total market value of over CNY3 trillion (USD444 billion).

Last year, CXMT bought CNY11.5 billion worth of raw materials, including CNY4.3 billion of chemicals, CNY1.4 billion of photoresists, CNY980 million (USD145 million) of silicon wafers, CNY590 million of electronic specialty gases, and CNY250 million of target materials.

The listing is expected to further strengthen China’s self-sufficiency in memory chips, while also driving coordinated growth across the full industrial chain, from upstream materials, equipment, and components to downstream applications.

While investor attention has been centered on memory makers and other key AI component suppliers in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Chinese AI infrastructure stocks have quietly underperformed. 

Commenting on the latest developments, Goldman's Peter Slater writes that last week's headline that the Chinese government plans to spend upwards of $300bn on a network of interconnected data centers may bring Chinese AI names back into focus. 

Noting that just like in the US, technology independence remains a key tenet of China’s national security policy, Slater writes that not dissimilar to what we’re seeing in U.S. capital markets, China’s fast-tracked IPO pipeline will bring several high-profile AI leaders public as soon as next month: 

• CXMT: China’s leading DRAM maker, #4 globally (received CSRC approval)
• Unitree: China’s leading humanoid robotics pioneer (received CSRC approval)
• YMTC: China’s leading NAND flash maker, #4 globally (formal application expected this month)  

The Goldman trader's conclusion is that "Investors may want to consider rotating into Chinese laggards with cleaner positioning and similar end-demand growth profiles in such areas as advanced packaging and optical networking and transceivers." Those who have access, may want to consider the following baskets: GSXACMEM (GS China Memory), GSXACSEM (GS China Semis) and GSXACHRO (GS China Humanoid Robots). The latter is especially pertinent in light of our recent analysis that "Goldman's Big Call Is That AI's Next Leg Is Shift From Chips To Humanoid Robotics; Here's How To Trade It"

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 10:05

Yum Unloads Pizza Hut Chain As Private Equity Takes On Turnaround Challenge

Yum! Brands agreed to sell its iconic Pizza Hut chain for $2.7 billion following a strategic review, separating the struggling pizza brand from its broader restaurant portfolio, which includes KFC, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill.

LongRange Capital will acquire Pizza Hut's business outside China for $1.5 billion, while Yum China will buy the China business for $1.2 billion. Both transactions are expected to close in the third quarter.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based private equity firm typically invests in middle-market businesses, usually with a longer-term, operationally focused approach.

Its current portfolio includes 24 Hour Fitness, Alpin Unlimited, Bakkavor, Batesville, and US Synthetic.

"These transactions enable Yum! to be a more focused company that continues to leverage scale, technology, and talent to accelerate our raising the B.A.R. priorities and deliver sustained value for our stakeholders," said Chris Turner, Chief Executive Officer, Yum! Brands.

Turner added, "Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well-positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry. Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum! 's history." 

Bloomberg noted, "Yum has owned Pizza Hut since the restaurant company spun off from PepsiCo Inc. in 1997. PepsiCo bought Pizza Hut in 1977 and snapped up Taco Bell the following year." 

At the end of 2025, Pizza Hut had about 6,300 U.S. locations, and Yum planned to close 250 additional underperforming U.S. stores in the first half of 2026. 

The deal follows years of weak performance across Pizza Hut stores, hurt by competition across the space, outdated branding, and delivery competition.

The question for LongRange Capital is what the turnaround strategy will look like and whether it will target value-seeking families, nostalgic millennials…

…and digital-first Gen-Z who have shifted to Domino's, local pizza, fast-casual, and delivery apps.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 09:35

Chinese Stocks, Yuan Drop After Dismal Data Dump: Worst Retail Sales Since COVID

China’s consumer spending and investment slumped in May to levels unseen since the pandemic, exposing risks for an increasingly two-speed economy, as Bloomberg's Chang Shu and Eric Zhu noted:

"The supply side remains robust, driven by faster-than-expected expansion in exports and AI tech sectors.

The demand side has faltered, with consumption and private non-tech investment plummeting."

Here's the details:

Industrial Production

Industrial production (IP) growth rose modestly to 4.5% yoy from 4.1% yoy thanks to stronger-than-expected exports, although automobile output growth remained weak and the ongoing global energy shock continued to weigh on chemical-related manufacturing output. In sequential terms, IP gained 0.2% mom non-annualized in May based on our estimates (vs. -1.1% mom non-annualized in April).

By industry, the April-to-May acceleration in year-on-year IP growth was led by faster output growth in computer & other equipment, electronic machinery, and utilities industries, more than offsetting slower output growth in chemicals and non-ferrous metal smelting industries.

Among major industrial products (different from by-industry breakdown), year-on-year growth in industrial robot output, metal cutting machine output and power generation rose to +27.9%, +10.7% and +4.2%, respectively, in May from +15.1%, +7.5% and +2.6% in April, while automobile, computer and smartphone output growth in year-on-year terms slowed to -3.2%, -19.4% and -8.8%, respectively, from -2.6%, -9.3% and +4.7%. 

Retail Sales

Nominal retail sales growth continued to slow in May, to -0.6% yoy from +0.2% yoy in April, the lowest since December 2022 (during the COVID exit wave), with year-on-year growth in goods sales and restaurant sales revenue both weakening. 

Under retail sales, big-ticket items led the decline. Car purchases, which make up about 8% of the overall figure, plunged 16% in May from a year ago. Excluding autos, retail sales grew 1.1% in May.

Sales of home appliances as well as construction and decoration materials also contracted at a double-digit pace.

Property

Property activity data remained under pressure in May despite recent green shoots in large cities.

Year-on-year growth in property sales registered -13.1% in volume (floor space) terms and -9.5% in value terms in May (vs. -9.5%/-7.7% in April). New home under construction and completions growth slowed to -12.3% yoy and -19.9% yoy, respectively in May from -12.1% yoy and -18.8% yoy in April. New home starts growth remained depressed at -24.6% yoy in May, despite a modest improvement from -26.6% yoy in April. NBS and private sector data both showed continued downward pressure on home prices in May, mainly in lower-tier cities.

FAI

Fixed asset investment (FAI) growth fell further -10.6% yoy in May from -8.2% yoy in April on a single-month basis (Exhibit 3), reflecting both adverse weather conditions (e.g., heavy rainfall in southern and central China and a heatwave in northern China) and a still-slow pace of government bond issuance. This takes year-to-date FAI growth to -4.1% yoy in May (vs. -1.6% yoy in April).

By sector, year-on-year growth in infrastructure, property and other investment (i.e., services and agriculture-related) fell to -11.2%, -24.3% and -13.2%, respectively, in May from -5.6%, -20.1% and -10.6% in April, while manufacturing investment growth improved slightly to -4.1% yoy from -4.8% yoy. That said, we caution that the occasional NBS "statistical correction" of previously over-reported data may have exaggerated the volatility of reported FAI growth in recent quarters, as the year-on-year contraction in crude steel and cement output narrowed modestly in May.

Further evidence emerged indicating a growing divergence in the economy. Investment in high-tech industries expanded 4.5%, with capital expenditure of semiconductor and lithium battery makers up 11% and 25%, respectively.

Labor Market

Regarding the labor market, both the nationwide and 31-city unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) edged down to 5.1% for May from 5.2% for April.

After seasonal adjustment, we estimate the nationwide unemployment rate inched down to 5.2% in May from 5.3% in April, and the 31-city metric remained flat at 5.2%.

*  *  *

NBS spokesman Fu Linghui attributed the slump in investment and retail sales to factors including heavy rainfall.

Fu also pointed to last year’s high level of spending driven by subsidies as well as the economy’s transition to new growth drivers.

“Since the second quarter, certain economic indicators slowed because of complex changes in the global environment as well as structural adjustment in the domestic economy,” said Fu in a briefing in Beijing.

“Some companies are facing difficulties. But looking at the overall trend, the momentum of the economy remains overall stable.”

Interestingly, Bloomberg notes that the worse-than-expected slump in retail sales and investment also reignited questions around their accuracy in gauging broader economic health.

The services production index, which inched up to 4.4% on year in May, has a stronger correlation with the pattern of growth in gross domestic product than retail sales, which comprised mostly goods, according to Yu Song, chief China economist at UBS Securities. Inconsistency in the fixed-asset investment data that became apparent last year also mean it might exaggerate the weakness, he said.

“Second-quarter GDP data looks to be weak, but not quite as weak as one would expect from April data,” Song told Bloomberg Television.

Some analysts estimated growth at near 4% in April, tracking below the government’s official full-year target of 4.5% to 5%.

The result of all this was initial yuan weakness (a day after reaching its strongest level since early 2023) and decline in Chinese stocks, but as the session wore on, those initial dips recovered (except for Hang Seng China Enterprises)...

...as the weakness reflexively raises market-watchers hopes for supportive stimulus:

“While there are pockets of strength in tech and export-related industries, the broader economy is still struggling,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank NV.

“This could eventually add pressure on policymakers to ease policy.”

But without stronger demand at home, the economy is at risk of a deeper slowdown even as the US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz holds out the promise of stabilizing global shipping and energy prices.

Finally, Goldman sees downside risk to their Q2 real GDP growth forecast (4.0% qoq sa annualized and 4.7% yoy currently).

However, the latest development in the Middle East and recent policy communications bode well for a sequential growth improvement in Q3, especially given the significant unused government bond quota left for the remainder of this year.

Goldman sees July as an important window to monitor potential policy fine-tuning: if Q2 GDP disappoints meaningfully, there is a decent chance for policymakers to step up their easing rhetoric in the July Politburo meeting and draw on remaining fiscal buffers quickly to stabilize investment and growth.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 09:24

Utterly Flocked: "We-Don't-Track-People"-Firm Deploys Nationwide Network Of Warrantless Pedestrian-Tracking Cameras

Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based private surveillance firm, insists its cameras are not tracking people. Yet its own systems, training materials, and expanding product line tell a different story -one of a rapidly growing, warrantless mass surveillance infrastructure that logs vehicle movements, follows pedestrians with AI, and feeds data-hungry police departments across the country.

A new investigative report highlights how Flock's network - now encompassing tens of thousands of cameras - enables police to reconstruct months of travel history for any vehicle with a few clicks, no warrant required. Security researchers and activists are pushing back, mapping the devices and exposing security lapses that leave feeds openly accessible online.

DeFlock and the Scale of the Panopticon

In Boulder, Colorado, activist Will Freeman operates DeFlock.org, which has mapped over 88,000 Flock cameras nationwide. The app reveals camera locations and orientations, underscoring how pervasive the network has become in public spaces. Flock's license plate readers snap time-stamped photos of every passing vehicle, allowing historical queries spanning up to 30 days.

As security researcher Benn Jordan noted, plotting that data on a map effectively places a month-long GPS tracker on your car. Jordan, who previously discovered dozens of Flock cameras streaming publicly, described AI-driven features that zoom in and follow individuals - whether persons of interest or random passersby, Atlanta News First reports.

As we've previously reported on the battle brewing between mass surveillance tech and individual liberty, tools sold for "public safety" quietly erode Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

Company Denials vs. Training Videos and Hardware Reality

Flock's Chief Communications Officer Josh Thomas claims the company aids in solving around 700,000 crimes annually. He disputes "tracking" characterizations, arguing the system captures discrete points in time rather than continuous monitoring.

However, Flock's own webinars contradict this:

"The example of tracking that vehicle from location to location to location," a Flock webinar instructor said.

"And you're able to track your suspect's movements," another webinar showed.

In one training video, a police officer described using Flock cameras to follow a suspect across state lines: "And we were able to track him all the way over to another state, in Kentucky."

Flock's Condor cameras go further: These pan-tilt-zoom units use AI to detect and automatically follow human movement. When confronted, Thomas maintained the company does not track people, attributing features like "Guardian Mode" to mere object detection rather than persistent tracking. Yet demonstrations show the cameras panning and tilting in real-time to keep subjects in frame.

Critics like Jordan suggest the pedestrian-tracking hardware emerged conveniently after earlier denials that Flock only captured license plates.

Security Nightmares and Misuse

Jordan and collaborators found over 70 Condor cameras streaming openly online without passwords. He published the video on YouTube along with 404 Media.

"I watched a man leave his house in the morning. I watched a woman jogging alone on a forest trail in Georgia," Jordan said.

Thomas said the exposure was an accident caused by Verizon sending the wrong SIM cards with public IP addresses on roughly 60-70 devices, which were fixed once discovered. Verizon did not respond to requests for comment.

Police officers nationwide have been arrested for using Flock cameras to stalk former partners and love interests. Freeman and Jordan warn that human nature makes such misuse inevitable in a system logging everyone's movements by default. Thomas pointed to audit logs and accountability measures, but activists argue the architecture itself invites overreach.

The "Safety" Trade-Off and Pushback

Flock touts its role in preventing mass violence and solving crimes, with Thomas positioning the company on the side of those "fighting to stop" such threats. Yet more than two dozen cities, including Denver, have canceled contracts amid privacy concerns and questions over data access.

Freeman, demonstrating DeFlock's route-planning feature that avoids camera-dense paths (turning a quick 1.7-mile trip into a 14-minute detour), argues the default of logging all citizens - not just suspects - is the core problem. He plans to keep "tracking the trackers" in the absence of oversight.

This saga fits a familiar pattern of privatized surveillance creep: Companies like Flock build the infrastructure, police query it with minimal friction, and civil liberties erode under the banner of security. As similar systems proliferate, the question remains whether Americans are willing to accept a perpetual digital dragnet in exchange for promised safety.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 08:45

US Housing Starts Collapsed In May To Lowest Since COVID

With housing inventories at recent highs, the US housing market just suffered another sentiment setback as Housing Starts crashed by 15.4% MoM in May (far worse than 2% drop expected and worse since March 2024)), following a revised 8.5% MoM drop in April. Building Permits slipped 0.7% MoM (in line with expectations)...

Source: Bloomberg

That pulls the Housing Starts SAAR to its lowest since COVID (after reaching the highest since 2024 in April)...

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood, it was multi-family (rental) starts that collapsed:

• Housing Starts single-family drop from 899K (revised lower from 930K) to 882K

• Housing Starts multi-family drop from 486K (revised lower from 529K) to 284K

Source: Bloomberg

Did 'renter nation' just die?

Multifamily permits also fell...

• Housing Permits single-family rise from 881K (revised higher from 872K) to 886K

• Housing Permits multi-family drop from 491K (revised lower from 514K) to 474K

Is homebuilder sentiment about to slump even further...

Source: Bloomberg

It seems recent rises in the mortgage rate (and inventories already at over-stuffed levels, given the slowness of sales) has finally dented the homebuilders' self-satisfying confidence.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 08:41

From Hormuz To Houston: The US Takeover Of Global Energy Flows Ramps Up

Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com,

• The Americas are replacing the Middle East as the key source of global oil supply, with crude exports from the Western Hemisphere hitting a record 14.5 million bpd while Strait of Hormuz traffic collapsed.

• Trump’s broader energy strategy aims to weaken OPEC’s influence and cement U.S. dominance over global energy markets.

• Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil are emerging as the biggest growth engines, with Venezuela rebuilding output, Argentina rapidly expanding Vaca Muerta shale production, and Brazil reaching record production levels.

Oil exports from the U.S. and its ‘Americas’ sphere of influence continue to be the prime beneficiary from the drop in crude output leaving the Middle East. Industry figures showed dirty tanker shipments from the Americas hit an all-time high of 14.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, up from 13.8 million bpd in April, and a 40% increase from May 2025. Meanwhile, transits through the key Strait of Hormuz global oil route dropped 89% from February to May, with total ship movements dropping from over 3,700 to around 400. “The pattern is likely to continue even when the Strait [of Hormuz] opens up again, as it’ll take months for Middle East volumes to recover to their former levels [before the U.S./Israel-Iran conflict], and some key sites will take several years to do so,” a senior source who works closely with the European Union’s (E.U.) energy security complex exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. “Meanwhile, the U.S. has ramped up its own [oil] production to record levels and is helping countries in the Americas -- Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil, mainly -- to do the same,” he added. “It marks a long-term shift in the centre of the world’s global oil and gas gravity,” he underlined.

This is precisely what U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to do from his first day in his first term as president, given his extreme dislike of OPEC’s use of its cartel powers over the years against the core interests of Washington and its allies, as analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. This was first notably seen in the 1973 Oil Crisis in which Saudi Arabia rallied fellow OPEC members into imposing an oil embargo on the U.S. and its allies following their support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen from around US$3 per barrel to nearly US$11 per barrel, which stoked the fire of a global economic slowdown, especially felt in the West. Then-Saudi Minister of Oil and Mineral Reserves, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, highlighted that this marked a fundamental shift in the world balance of power between the developing nations that produced oil and the developed industrial nations that consumed it. However, with the rise of U.S. shale oil production from around 2010, and OPEC’s attempt to destroy the nascent sector through an Oil Price War from 2014-2016 failing catastrophically, Trump has wanted to critically undermine the cartel’s ability to damage U.S. and allied interests ever since. Indeed, in the subsequent 2020 Oil Price War involving OPEC and started by Saudi Arabia for the same reason as in 2014, Trump expedited progress of the ‘No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act’ (NOPEC), which would open the way for sovereign governments to be sued for predatory pricing and failure to comply with the U.S.’s antitrust laws. It could also break up Saudi Arabian oil supergiant Aramco -- the mainstay of the Kingdom’s existing economic and political systems -- into constituent parts, effectively destroying it.

Instead, as delineated in the U.S.’s ‘2025 National Security Strategy’, Trump wants the world’s geopolitical system split into three geographical spheres, dominated by a major power in each. China would hold the primary role in Asia, while Russia would either dominate or significantly influence Europe, depending on how any future conflict between European NATO members and Moscow unfolds. But, at the top, the U.S. would maintain overall dominance and exert direct influence across the Americas (North and South America). Naturally, as energy underpins the economies -- and thus politics -- of every country in the world, shifting the centre of dominance in global energy supplies to the Americas is a core part of that aim. The U.S. is playing its part toward that, pumping oil at record highs, around a baseline of 13.6 million bpd, with plans for more down the line. Of the other major oil-producing countries in the Americas, Venezuela is top of Washington’s development agenda, followed by Argentina and then Brazil.

Following the landmark removal from power of Nicolás Maduro on 3 January by the U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined a three-phase plan for the South American oil giant that involved stabilising the country and averting economic collapse, recovering the economy and oil sector, and encouraging an eventual political transition. These efforts have already seen a positive trajectory in oil production, with Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and its foreign partners averaging 1.155 million bpd of crude production in May, compared to 1.130 million bpd in April and 940,0000 b/d in January. In April, executive vice president Jovanny Martinez, said that the country expects to produce 1.37 million bpd by the end of 2026. There is plenty of scope to do so, as Venezuela still holds the world’s largest proven crude reserves -- roughly 303 billion barrels, or about 17% of the global total -- and of its 14 supergiant oil fields, 11 retain more than half of their original reserves. Most of this is extra-heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt that requires more technical expertise to handle than lighter grades but is cheaper to lift and often more profitable to process. With those bottlenecks being addressed, it could again produce millions of barrels per day of cheap-to-lift crude, even if downstream handling remained costly. In fact, as recently as 2008, Venezuela was producing around 3 million bpd of crude oil.

One level down in Trump’s list of energy development priorities is Argentina, with Washington having provided a US$20 billion lifeline to the country in October 2025. This was explicitly intended to support President Javier Milei’s pro-market reforms and stabilise the economy for foreign investment. The ‘Reciprocal Trade and Investment Agreement’, which fast-tracks U.S. investment in strategic sectors, including energy and critical minerals, was then signed on 4 February this year. Against this backdrop, several U.S. companies are increasing their oil and gas investment there, particularly in the Vaca Muerta shale formation, which is now being referred to as another Permian Basin due to its scale. Continental Resources recently purchased non-operating interests in four blocks in the Vaca Muerta basin to accelerate expansion, while Chevron is leaning toward making Vaca Muerta a core asset in its global portfolio. Meanwhile, Baker Hughes secured a major order in early 2026 to supply gas compression units for the San Matias Pipeline, supporting gas transport from Vaca Muerta. Overall, Argentina is on track to reach 1 million bpd of oil this year, up 26% from 2025.

That said, Brazil is now producing a record-breaking 4 million bpd and over of crude oil, and including natural gas, total hydrocarbon output has hit a new record of 5.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Industry forecasts are that it may well become one of the world’s top five oil producers by 2030, supported by extensive investment plans from Petrobras and foreign oil companies. These include supermajors from the U.S., focusing now on high-impact exploration and deepwater production rather than the maturing fields. Last October, for example, ExxonMobil achieved its first-ever upstream production in Brazil at the Bacalhau field, which has a capacity of 220,000 bpd. Chevron was awarded new offshore blocks alongside Petrobras and ExxonMobil last June, and Baker Hughes and Halliburton supply equipment and engineering for Petrobras’s US$109 billion five-year investment plan. Washington is cognisant not just of Brazil’s further massive oil and gas potential but also of its geopolitical importance as one of the original ‘BRIC’ (Brazil, Russia, India, China) emerging-market powerhouses, and its geographical position in the U.S.’s ‘backyard’.

With China weakened economically from where it was before Covid, and Russia near economic and military collapse as the war in Ukraine drags into its fifth year, Washington may never have a better opportunity to put Trump’s new world order into place. The Americas hemisphere already accounts for 32% of global crude production and is growing every year, with new supply from the U.S. Permian Basin, offshore Guyana, Argentine shale, and increased flows from Brazil and Venezuela. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, Caleb Orr, highlighted recently that Ecuador and El Salvador are also among the governments Washington works with “hand in glove” on security. He added that security is the “table stakes” for any productive economic relationship and the foundation of the broad-based change in the Americas. The sentiments have been underlined by  National Energy Dominance Council executive director Jarrod Agen, who recently said: “The Western Hemisphere is now the leading driver of energy in the world; we are the centre of the energy world from Alaska down to Venezuela, and what we want is the crude product coming out of Alaska, coming out of Venezuela, coming into U.S. refineries, getting refined, and then exporting to the world.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 08:30

Stock Rally Pauses As Attention Turns To Warsh's First FOMC

US futures are flat, pausing after a three-day rally with investors shifting their focus to this week's FOMC meeting, Kevin Warsh's first, which begins today. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are up 0.1% after surging 2% on Monday; and Nasdaq futures gain 0.3%, as SpaceX continued to surge, rising 11% overnight and on track for a more than 50% jump since going public, and briefly surpassing Microsoft's market value in afterhours trading. Pre-market, most of the Mag 7 names are lower; TSLA (-1.7%) and NVDA (-0.6%) are among the laggards.The dollar slipped and Treasuries rose with bond yields 1-3bp lower and the 10Y trading 4.44%. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3% to $78 a barrel as Goldma and Morgan Stanley cut their oil price forecasts. Base metals are also lower, while gold and silver both rise 0.7% this morning. Overnight, the main macro headline was BoJ (policy rate to 1% with the tapering plan unchanged; a bit hawkish tone in the statement; 15yr JGB added 8.5bp) and China data releases (Retail Sales and FAI both missed; HSI -1.4%). US economic data calendar includes weekly ADP employment change (8:15am), May import/export price indexes, June NY Fed services business activity and May housing starts/building permits (8:30am)

In premarket trading, SpaceX rises 7.3%, putting the stock on track to extend a rally following its blockbuster debut last week. Mag 7 stocks are mixed (Amazon +0.5%, Alphabet -0.1%, Nvidia -0.1%, Apple -0.2%, Meta -0.2%, Microsoft -0.7%, Tesla -0.8%)

• Domo (DOMO) said its board’s review determined a strategic transaction is the best way to maximize shareholder value. Shares are down 13%.
• Edgewise Therapeutics (EWTX) falls 23% after the drug developer gave results from a mid-stage trial of its experimental therapy for a heart disorder.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) is up 3.1% after the US government published a coverage proposal for transcatheter aortic-valve replacement, with analysts citing updates that lean positive for the space.
• Huntsman (HUN) falls 7% after it agreed to merge with chemical peer Olin in an all-stock merger of equals. Olin shares are roughly flat in premarket.
• Robinhood Markets (HOOD) gains 2% after it said it is reducing its full-time employee workforce by 10%, and also closing a small number of open roles.

In other corporate news, SpaceX has formally agreed to take over Cursor in a deal that values the AI coding startup at $60 billion, cementing a key part of Elon Musk’s efforts to catch up with rivals on coding tools. In other AI news, chipmaking giant Nvidia sold $25 billion of high-grade bonds, joining a wave of jumbo debt offerings from tech heavyweights as investors clamor to get exposure to the AI boom. Anthropic is said to have held talks with the Trump administration in a bid to lift curbs which led to the company disabling global access to its two most advanced AI models.

With the Iran war on the backburner for now, the focus on Wall Street is now turning to the first Federal Reserve meeting under Kevin Warsh. While the central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday, the spotlight will be on how Warsh navigates the post-meeting press conference and the outlook for inflation. Oil’s drop to the lowest since early March has erased the bulk of the gains seen during the Mideast conflict, easing inflationary pressures just as policymakers assess interest rates.

“All eyes will remain on the Fed for now and how Kevin Warsh will handle the competing pressures from rising inflation and the prospect of lower energy inflation once the Strait of Hormuz reopens,” said Joachim Klement at Panmure Liberum.

The announcement by President Donald Trump of a peace deal with Iran has opened the floodgates for investors to start to deploy the roughly $8 trillion to $9 trillion sitting in money market funds, according to Rick Rieder, BlackRock Inc.’s global fixed income chief investment officer. SpaceX’s initial public offering had already forced investors to make room in portfolios, he added.

As reported earlier, SpaceX shares surged in premarket trading, putting the firm on track to overtake Amazon.com as the fifth largest publicly traded company in the world just days after its blockbuster debut. Shares jumped as much as 19% in early trading before paring those gains to about 8% as of 7:30 a.m. in New York. The premarket gain builds on a more than 40% jump across SpaceX’s first two sessions after its record initial public offering. If it holds through the trading day, the move would lift the market value of Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company to more than $2.7 trillion, above Amazon and up nearly $1 trillion from its IPO.Today SPCX options start trading which will likely add a gamma squeeze to the overall upside pressure. Separately, SpaceX formally agreed to take over Cursor in a deal that values the AI coding startup at $60 billion, cementing a key part of Elon Musk’s efforts to catch up with rivals on coding tools.

As Bloomberg notes, when it comes to SpaceX, the message is clear - buyers care very little about any fundamental or valuation argument. It was already within striking distance of Amazon’s nearly $2.7 trillion valuation at Monday’s close, and is up a further 11% in premarket trading. Options contracts on the stock begin trading Tuesday.

Investors have trimmed allocations to global equities, according to the monthly fund manager survey by BofA strategists. A net 38% of fund managers are overweight, compared to 50% in May, and participants see the biggest tail risks as second inflation wave (34%), AI bubble (28%), disorderly rise in bond yields (19%) and geopolitical conflict (12%).

Meanwhile more are starting to pay attention to the off-balance sheet and circular nature of AI fund flows, discussed extensively here. As Bloomberg notes, after SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI are viewed as the most likely contenders for the next blockbuster AI IPOs — and that brings a sharpening focus on the hyperscalers that have spent the past several years becoming both their financiers and their data-center landlords. Alphabet and Amazon have Anthropic exposure through partnerships and investments, while Microsoft has a 27% stake in OpenAI.

The Bank of Japan and Reserve Bank of Australia kicked off a slate of decisions for the week. The BOJ raised its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 1%, the highest level since 1995 and signaled that further policy normalization lies ahead. The yen pared gains against the dollar while local bonds fell. The RBA kept its key interest rate unchanged for the first time this year in response to signs that its trio of hikes are beginning to weigh on the nation’s economy. The Bank of England and Swiss National Bank are also widely anticipated to stand pat this week. Their decisions come after the European Central Bank last week raised rates for the first time in almost three years, with President Christine Lagarde warning inflation triggered by the Iran war is widening beyond just energy.

Meanwhile, with US and Iran preparing to sign an interim peace deal in Switzerland oil is headed for longest run of declines this year on expectations a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will revive supply. Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs cut price outlooks for the coming quarters, with the latter now assuming Persian Gulf exports will reach pre-war levels by the end of July, a month earlier than previously forecast. Additionally, Qatar is planning to rapidly boost liquefied natural gas production once the Strait of Hormuz reopens, aiming to restore most of its export capacity within two months.

European stocks are up and the Stoxx 50 is on track for its longest winning streak of the year. The Stoxx 600 rises 0.5%; industrial and banking stocks are outperforming while automotive and retail stocks are among the biggest laggards. Here are the biggest movers Tuesday:

• Allegro.eu gains as much as 5.3%, the most since May, after Permira ended its decade-long investment in the e-commerce company, with the buyout firm offloading around 131 million shares, with a total transaction value of around $1.2 billion
• Puma shares gain as much as 5.4%, the most since June 4, after HSBC upgraded the German sportswear maker to buy from hold, citing Anta Sports’ stake as a “catalyst for unlocking significant growth opportunities
• Kinepolis shares rise as much as 7.1%, trading at their highest level in almost 10 months, after the movie theater operator had its price target raised to a new Street-high at Berenberg
• Redcare shares gain as much as 11%, adding to Monday’s 17% advance, after the German online pharmacy upgraded its outlook for the year, saying preliminary second-quarter numbers came in stronger than expected
• GEA Group rises as much as 4.6% as Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy on what is now seen as a “more compelling mismatch between the group’s resilient fundamentals and the current valuation”
• PolyPeptide gains as much as 6.4%, the most in more than two months, after Berenberg lifted its price target on the stock, citing confidence in the Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization’s full-year guidance
• Tatton Asset Management shares rise as much as 13%, the most since November 2022, to erase this year’s losses after the firm posted full-year earnings described as “impressive” by RBC Capital Markets
• DFDS falls as much as 7.3%, paring much of a rally over the last two months, as SEB Bank analysts cut their recommendation on the stock to sell, saying the transport and logistics company face “elevated” risks in the Mediterranean
• Rathbones shares fall as much as 19%, the most ever, as the investment management group pauses bringing on new clients requiring enhanced due diligence for as much as a year following talks with the Financial Conduct Authority
• Frasers Group shares drop as much as 7%, edging further off the 2024 high reached on Friday, after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the retailer, saying there’s little upside to its price target following recent gains
• Huber+Suhner declines as much as 5.6% following a downgrade to hold at Berenberg, which says that while there remains a strong investment case for the maker of telecommunications products, upside is limited

Asian stocks advanced for a third straight session after Japan raised interest rates, with investors awaiting further details on the US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5%, lifted by chipmakers and defense contractors. South Korea’s Kospi outperformed, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at a record high after the Bank of Japan raised the benchmark interest rate. Australian stocks erased earlier losses to close little changed after the Reserve Bank kept rates unchanged. Elsewhere, stocks slumped in Hong Kong as data showed Chinese consumer spending fell for the first time since the pandemic. Indonesian markets were closed for a holiday, while stocks mostly rose in the rest of Southeast Asia.

In FX, the dollar inches lower, sending the euro back above $1.16. The yen reversed earlier gains against the dollar and traded near 160.30, with JGB yields rising across the curve after the BOJ hiked rates to 1% overnight.The Aussie weakened 0.3%, while the country’s 3-year yield erased an earlier advance.

In rates, treasuries advanced, supported by gains across European bonds during London morning as oil prices extend declines. With US and Iran preparing to sign an interim peace deal in Switzerland oil is headed for longest run of declines this year on expectations a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will revive supply. Treasury yields are 2bp-4bp richer across a flatter curve with 2s10s spread 1.2bp tighter on the day. 10-year is about 3.5bp lower near 4.44%, keeping pace with bunds and gilts in the sector. Treasury auctions resume with $13 billion 20-year bond reopening; WI 20-year yield near 4.942% is ~18bp richer than last month’s new-issue auction result. IG dollar issuance slate empty so far; Monday’s eight sales totaling nearly $36 billion, including Nvidia’s $25 billion offering, left gross new-issue supply 31% ahead of last year’s pace and roughly in line with 2020’s record tempo. Focal points of US session focus include a 20-year bond auction at 1pm New York time. The BOJ hiked rates earlier, the RBA held.

In commodities, WTI crude oil futures are down more than 3% at lowest level since early March and on the worst daily losing streak of the year on the US-Iran interim deal, despite disagreement on how long restoring activity in the Strait of Hormuz will take. Brent slides toward $81/barrel and is at the lowest level since March. Gold prices are higher and comfortably above $4,300/oz.

US economic data calendar includes weekly ADP employment change (8:15am), May import/export price indexes, June NY Fed services business activity and May housing starts/building permits (8:30am)

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

• The US and Iran are preparing to formally sign their interim peace deal in Switzerland on Friday while the text of the MOU is yet to be released. Donald Trump said the deal can survive even if Israel attacks Lebanon. Iran claimed the US has started lifting its naval blockade, semi-official ISNA reported. BBG
• Shipowners will not resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the US-Iran deal is “material”, the head of the world’s biggest tanker operator has warned. FT
• A price war is unfolding in China’s crowded artificial intelligence sector as companies cut rates or dangle promotions at a pivotal moment when falling costs and converging model capabilities are ratcheting up the competitive pressure, according to analysts. SCMP
• China's consumer spending and investment have slumped to levels unseen since the pandemic, with retail sales declining 0.6% last month from a year ago. Industrial production climbed 4.5%, driven by a boom in exports and tech-related industries, but the economy is at risk of a deeper slowdown due to weak domestic demand. RTRS
• Qatar aims to restore most of its LNG export capacity within two months of the strait’s reopening, people familiar said. BBG
• The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high on Tuesday in a landmark step in its policy normalization, signaling readiness to tighten further as it focuses ‌on taming price pressures from the Iran-war-induced energy shock. The hike was the first since December and aligns the BOJ with other central banks shifting towards tighter policy to combat inflation, including the ECB. RTRS
• Australia's central bank held its cash rate steady at 4.35% on Tuesday, saying the economy was slowing in the face of tighter financial conditions but warned it might yet hike again if needed to control inflation. RTRS
• Oil companies large and small are showing new interest in committing to drill in Venezuela, after nearly six months of reluctance following the U.S. removal of Nicolás Maduro and the Trump administration’s subsequent call for them to invest. Politico
• Talks between Anthropic and Trump administration officials continued Monday without a deal to resolve the security concerns that pushed the White House to restrict access to the artificial-intelligence company’s latest model, increasing urgency on both sides to find a resolution. WSJ

Middle East News

• US President Trump posted on Truth Social "Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million [sic] Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!"
• US President Trump's administration considers USD 300bln fund for Iran if deal is upheld, and incentives would be tied to Tehran's performance, including over opening up the Strait of Hormuz and nuclear talks, according to FT.
• US President Trump's close aide Bruesewitz clarified that the USD 300bln Iran reconstruction plan will only be established after Iran completely dismantles its nuclear program, ceases support for terrorist organisations and conducts significant internal reforms.
• US Vice President J.D. Vance said the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran is a brief, one-and-a-half-page document serving as a broad framework rather than a detailed agreement, and is a very general document that requires technical talks. Vance also stated that Trump may release the US-Iran agreement before Friday and affirmed the agreement is expected to be signed on Friday.
• CIA Director Ratcliffe told US President Trump and senior administration officials that information gathered by US intelligence agencies raises serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the concessions the US seeks in a final nuclear deal, according to Axios. Sources also stated that Trump and his team discussed intelligence gathered by US intelligence agencies, which showed the way Iranian officials were discussing the deal among themselves was inconsistent with what they were telling mediators and the US. Furthermore, Ratcliffe was not the only sceptic on Trump's senior team, as Secretary of State Rubio and Defence Secretary Hegseth expressed concerns and raised questions about the deal in internal discussions, while VP Vance and envoys Witkoff and Kushner supported it.
• Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi said the formal activation of the MOU will be on Friday. That will immediately end the war, including in Lebanon. Second phase negotiations would then commence immediately. Next round of US-Iran talks will start Friday in Switzerland.
• Israeli artillery shelling was reported in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon. It was separately reported that Hezbollah fired rockets and artillery at Israeli soldiers, while the Israeli military said it intercepted numerous rockets launched by Hezbollah towards troops in southern Lebanon.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed as the prior day's rally and US-Iran peace deal euphoria petered out amid a continued lack of concrete details regarding the interim agreement and as market participants turn their attention to this week's busy slate of central bank policy decisions. ASX 200 was led lower by weakness in tech, consumer discretionary and industrials, while participants also digested the RBA rate decision in which the central bank paused after three consecutive rate hikes, but warned of potential future hikes if necessary and remained hawkish regarding inflation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy as participants digested mixed activity data in which Industrial Production topped forecasts, but Retail Sales missed and printed in contraction territory, while the PBoC continued its increased liquidity efforts.

Top Asian News

• China's National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson said China's economic foundation needs to be strengthened, and that the external situation is complex and volatile, while China is to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments, and will stabilise employment and the market. NBS also stated that China is to expand domestic demand and that some companies face relatively big pressure. Furthermore, the stats bureau spokesperson said there is still ample space for China to expand investment and that stronger employment and income growth are needed to boost consumption, as well as stated that China has ample policy space, reserves and flexible tools available to ensure stable economic growth, but also acknowledged that China's foreign trade faces some pressure due to external uncertainties.

European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.5%) are extending on Monday's gains but yet to reach the best levels reached in the prior session. To recap the main driver, the US and Iran have agreed to a preliminary deal to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, new updates regarding the deal have been light as markets now wait for the official MoU signing on Friday. European sectors are broadly higher. Industrial Goods & Services (+1.5%) and Banks (+1.2%) are the clear outperformers, with Media (+0.8%) completing the top 3 sectors. On the downside, Autos (-0.9%) and Retail (-0.6%) are the underperformers.

Top European News

• UK Chancellor Reeves said will see a further "big" uplift in defence spending within the DIP and hopes to get to the next budget without the need to raise taxes.
• Germany's RWI expects the German economy to stagnate in Q2 2026, sees inflation at 3.1% in 2026 and 2.9% in 2027, sees growth at 0.8% in 2026 and 2027.
• EU officials are drafting a blueprint to manage banking crisis liquidity, according to POLITICO.

FX

• DXY was firmer in APAC trade, though gains have reversed since as energy benchmarks continue lower on reports that Qatar is to reach 80% output within two months of the Strait of Hormuz reopening. As oil gradually returns to around pre-war levels, focus is ever-shifting towards central bank actions rather than terms of trade. On that note, Warsh’s first FOMC meeting as Chair is due on Wednesday, widely expected as a hold. The docket today is light, with just ADP employment weekly and Import/Export prices due. DXY marked a session low just above the 99.60 mark, currently unchanged on the day.
• RBA held the cash rate steady at 4.35% as expected, striking a hawkish tone by explicitly signalling further hikes on the table. Alongside the high bar set by markets of hawkishness by the RBA, participants this morning seemingly focused on the soft Australian growth story, with the Aussie under modest pressure, albeit just reversing some of Monday’s risk-on bid. Despite the reaction post-RBA, Westpac says next hike could come in August should the quarterly June inflation figure be strong, while ING suggests it is likely to remain on hold through year-end as inflation broadly tracks the board’s baseline scenario. AUD/USD -0.1% but within Monday's range. The pair marked a session low just above 0.7040.
• BoJ hiked rates by 25bps to 1.00% in a 7-1 vote split, as expected. Asada was the dissenter, arguing that downside risks to employment and production were larger than inflation risks. JPY unreactive to the meeting/presser with Uchida not providing a clear bias, as had been expected heading into the presser given he was standing in for Governor Ueda. Not many clues as to what future policy will look like, with market pricing unchanged, with 85% probability of the BoJ’s next tightening in December. USD/JPY U/C, was supported by 160.00 throughout the meeting/presser.

Central Banks

• The BoJ hiked its short-term interest rates by 25bps to 1.00%, as expected, while it pauses tapering of bond buys in which it will keep monthly pace of JGB buying at around JPY 2tln from April 2027. Decision made by 7-1 vote, with Asada dissenting against a hike.
• In the post-policy press conference, BoJ's Uchida said financial conditions have been accommodative while stating there is a risk of underlying inflation deviating upward to a level above the price target. All-in-all, Uchida avoided any commentary pertaining to forward guidance.
• The RBA kept the Cash Rate unchanged at 4.35%, as expected, but warned of potential further hikes if necessary citing persistent inflation and oil supply disruptions.
• In the post-policy press conference, RBA Governor Bullock said inflation remains too high, with the Board still concerned about inflation. No hike was considered at the meeting but doesn't rule out that the Bank might have to do more on rates. Risks are still to the upside.

Fixed Income

• Global fixed benchmarks (ex-JGBs) started the European session trading on either side of the unchanged mark, with the complex ultimately taking a breather from the gains seen in the prior session. However, some pressure was seen in the crude complex soon after the European cash open, which helped lift fixed paper to highs. As such, yields are lower across the curve, but with underperformance now in the belly of the curve, in contrast to short-end underperformance seen on Monday; nonetheless, the bull-steepening bias remains. The slight pressure in the belly is perhaps indicative of markets beginning to price in the economic impact of the resumption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz; recent updates out of Qatar have suggested that it can restore half of its LNG output within a month, 80% within two months
• JGBs (-47 ticks) lag vs peers, given the BoJ’s decision to hike rates by 25bps (as expected) and its announcement to pause the tapering of JGB purchases from FY27. The accompanying presser provided little updates, with Deputy Governor Uchida avoiding any commentary pertaining to forward guidance. As it stands, markets assign an 85% chance of a hike by year-end, so focus remains firmly on Ueda’s comments when he returns from hospital.
• USTs (+6 ticks) trade at the upper end of a 109-19 to 109-26+ range. Overnight action saw the benchmark move sideways around the unchanged mark, before then moving higher as energy prices fell. From a yield perspective, the US 10yr remains just shy of the 4.50% mark, last at 4.44% - and well beyond pre-war levels at c. 4.00%. Economists will argue that, for now, the damage to the global economy has already filtered through; the US is dealing with elevated inflation, which may keep yields propped up in the short-term.
• Bunds (+17 ticks) and Gilts (+30 ticks) follow the bullish bias mentioned earlier, and trade towards their respective highs. The former digested a better than expected ZEW survey, as markets saw more positive developments on the US-Iran situation. Elsewhere, a 2036 Gilt auction passed with solid demand.
• Germany sells EUR 3.824bln vs exp. EUR 5bln 2.50% 2031 Bobl: b/c 1.64x (prev. 1.32x), average yield 2.64% (prev. 2.85%), retention 23.5% (prev. 23.12%).
• The UK sells GBP 4.25bln 4.875% 2036 Treasury Gilt: b/c 3.46x (prev. 3.45x), average yield 4.858% (prev. 5.026%), tail 0.1bps (prev. 0.3bps).

Commodities

• Geopolitical newsflow has calmed down as markets now await the official MoU signing on Friday. More recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said a new round of US-Iran talks will start on the day of the signing in Switzerland. Concrete MoU details remain unclear. Overnight, US President Trump said Iran has agreed never to have a nuclear weapon.
• Crude futures traded rangebound throughout the Asia-Pac session but have seen pressure in recent trade, driven by reports that Qatar is planning to rapidly boost LNG production to about 50% capacity a month after safe passage through the Strait is restored and c. 80% within two months. WTI Jul'26 slips below the USD 80/bbl mark, trading at the lower end of its USD 78.41-81.58/bbl range. Brent Aug'26 kissed the round USD 81/bbl mark (USD 81.00-83.80/bbl). Dutch TTF also lower, but remains above the EUR 42/MWh mark.
• Spot gold is on a firmer footing, after gains were pared back slightly in the latter end of Monday's session. The yellow metal remains above the key USD 4300/oz handle, currently trading at the upper end of its USD 4306-4336/oz band. According to a WGC survey of 74 central banks, 45% said they plan to buy gold in the coming year, with only 1 saying it plans to cut its holdings. “I think the fall in the price is an opportunity for some central banks to start buying in,” said Shaokai Fan, global head of central banks for the WGC.
• 3M LME Copper trades choppy, with initial weakness driven by the disappointing Chinese domestic data. Retail sales fell for the first time in over 3 years, contracting 0.6% in May and missing estimates of 0%. In contrast, industrial production rose 4.5%, beating the 4.3% consensus. The red metal trades in the bottom half of its USD 13.64k-13.77k/t range.
• Qatar to restore half of its LNG output a month after the Strait of Hormuz opens, with output to reach 80% of full output within two months, according to Bloomberg.
• Iranian Oil Minister announced plans to rapidly increase gas production in fields covered by the Central Iranian Oil Company.
• Iranian Energy Minister said Tehran will soon connect its electricity grid with Qatar.
• Mitsui OSK Lines (9104 JT) CEO said that many operators would wait at least a couple of weeks or a month before resuming normal transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Goldman Sachs lowered its Q4'26 Brent crude forecast to USD 80/bbl (prev. USD 90/bbl). Cut 2027 Brent forecast to USD 75/bbl (prev. USD 80/bbl), cut WTI forecast to USD 75/bbl in Q4'26 and USD 70 for 2027.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30 am: May Import Price Index MoM, est. 1%, prior 1.9%
• 8:30 am: May Housing Starts, est. 1430k, prior 1465k
• 8:30 am: May Building Permits, est. 1417.5k, prior 1423k

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Markets have had an eventful 24 hours, with a major rally in the US and Europe as investors reacted to the US-Iran deal announced over the weekend. So that’s driven a wave of optimism across multiple asset classes, with Brent crude (-4.76%) closing at a three-month low of $83.17/bbl, along with a further -0.23% decline this morning to $82.98/bbl. And with investors pricing out the chance of stagflation, the S&P 500 (+1.65%) closed back within 1% of its record high, whilst the STOXX 600 (+0.19%) closed at its first record since the conflict began.

Overnight, there’s been no letup in the newsflow, as the Bank of Japan delivered a 25bp rate hike as expected, taking their policy rate to its highest since 1995, at 1%. They also signalled further hikes to come, and their statement said that “given that underlying CPI inflation has been approaching 2 percent and financial conditions have been accommodative, the Bank will continue to raise the policy interest rate”. Moreover, they also announced they’d stop tapering their monthly JGB purchases in the months ahead. So at the moment, they’re still purchasing 2.7tn yen per month, and the plan is to keep reducing those monthly purchases by 200bn yen each quarter until Q1 2027. But then from April 2027, they’re going to keep that pace steady at around 2tn yen. In response, Japanese government bonds have seen a decent selloff, with the 10yr yield up +7.5bps to 2.64%, but the Nikkei (+0.42%) is still on track for another record.

Speaking of central banks, the Reserve Bank of Australia also announced they’d leave rates unchanged this morning. The move was widely expected, and keeps their cash rate at 4.35% after hiking at the last 3 meetings. However, even as they held rates for the first time this year, the statement also explicitly suggested they might hike again if needed, whilst warning that “ headline and underlying inflation are still too high.” Against that backdrop, yields on 10yr Australian government bonds are up +3.5bps this morning at 4.84%.

Elsewhere overnight, China’s activity data for May was released, which showed retail sales down by -0.6% on a year-on-year basis (vs. -0.2% expected). Meanwhile, fixed asset investment over the first five months of the year was also down -4.1% compared to the previous year (vs. -2.3% expected). That said, there were some upside surprises, with industrial production up +4.5% year-on-year in May (vs. +4.4% expected). Meanwhile, equities in mainland China have seen modest gains, with the CSI 300 (+0.13%) and the Shanghai Comp (+0.06%) both up slightly.

More broadly, markets have clearly stabilised this morning after the surge of optimism that surrounded the deal yesterday. So futures on the S&P 500 (-0.08%) are pointing slightly lower, and the 10yr Treasury yield is up +0.2bps at 4.48%. In part, that comes as there’s still a lot of question marks over how the deal will be implemented, as we don’t have the full details or a text yet. Nevertheless, we did hear from a US official yesterday, who briefed reporters on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). They said the details would be released in 24-48 hours, and it would provide for an immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz, although it would take time given the mines. Meanwhile, the US and Iran would launch technical talks later this week. Then later on CNN, Vice President JD Vance said the MoU was a “very general” document and “about a page and a half”.

As mentioned, the deal’s announcement led to a clear fall in oil prices, with Brent crude at a three-month low. But we also saw the futures curve increasingly normalise, as longer-dated futures moved more in line with the front-end price. So the 6-month future came down -3.45% to $78.87/bbl, meaning that the difference between the 6-month and the front-end future was actually the smallest since the conflict began, at just $4.30. In other words, investors are no longer pricing a sharp fall in oil prices over the next six months, as that was predicated on an agreement that’s now been announced. Moreover, the decline was clear across other energy commodities, with European natural gas futures (-9.12%) closing at a 7-week low of €42.51/MWh.

With energy prices coming down, that helped to ease fears about inflation on both sides of the Atlantic. For instance, the 1yr Euro inflation swap (-12.0bps) fell to just 2.713%, whilst the 1yr US inflation swap (-8.8bps) fell to 2.663%, which for both was the lowest in three months. In addition, investors also moved to price out the chance of aggressive rate hikes, with a more dovish profile for central banks over the months ahead. So for the Fed, investors were only pricing in a 79% chance of a rate hike by the December meeting. And over at the ECB, investors were pricing in just 31.4bps of further hikes by December, implying growing doubt about a third ECB hike this year, given they already delivered a 25bp hike last week.

With inflation fears easing and rate hikes being priced out, that led to a sovereign bond rally on both sides of the Atlantic. So in the US, the 2yr Treasury yield (-1.5bps) fell to 4.066%, whilst the 10yr Treasury yield (-0.6bps) fell to 4.47%. Meanwhile in Europe, there were even bigger declines given their relative exposure to the energy shock, with yields on 10yr bunds (-4.1bps), OATs (-4.8bps) and BTPs (-5.3bps) all falling back.

That backdrop was a very strong one for equities too, with a decent surge across the board. For instance, the S&P 500 (+1.65%) closed less than 1% beneath its record high, and there were even bigger gains for tech stocks, with the NASDAQ (+3.07%) surging. Notably, the Philly semiconductor index (+5.45%) even closed at a record high, which felt a long way from a week-and-a-half ago, back when the index slumped more than -10% on the day of the jobs report that led markets to price in a more hawkish Fed. Then in Europe, the STOXX 600 (+0.19%) finally closed at a new record for the first time since February 27, the day before the Iran conflict began.

Finally, there wasn’t much data yesterday, although a few of the US releases came in on the softer side. So industrial production was only up +0.1% in May (vs. +0.3% expected), albeit with a two-tenths positive revision to the April reading. Then the Empire State manufacturing survey fell more than expected to 5.7 (vs. 13.7 expected), whilst the NAHB’s housing market for June unexpectedly fell to 35 (vs. 37 expected).

Looking at the day ahead now, data releases include the German ZEW survey for June, and US housing starts for May. Otherwise, central bank speakers include the ECB’s Escriva, Lane and Sleijpen.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 08:19

SpaceX Acquires Cursor AI In $60 Billion Deal As Coding Agent Race Heats Up

SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion, giving Elon Musk's artificial intelligence empire a leg up in the chatbot coding race currently led by frontier AI labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

The Cursor acquisition was announced in a SpaceX 8-K filing with the SEC on Tuesday morning. Details of the deal show that Cursor shareholders will receive SpaceX Class A common stock, implying a Cursor equity value of $60 billion.

The SpaceX-Cursor deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

AI coding tools are among the fastest-growing segments in the AI chatbot race. Over the last eight months, coding technology has rapidly matured and can now build everything from large software projects to websites using plain-language prompts.

There are reasons to believe AI coding could be one of the quickest pathways to achieving artificial general intelligence, or AI systems that are generally as smart as humans.

The deal bolsters SpaceX's AI capabilities just days after the company launched an unprecedented initial public offering.

Overnight, SPCX shares nearly hit $230 per share, giving it a $3 trillion market cap and surpassing MSFT in value.

As of Tuesday morning, shares were trading around $209.

SPCX options begin trading today, which could result in a strong gamma squeeze, potentially sending the stock to $400 or even $420 in the near term (read report).

 

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 07:45

US Residential Solar Installations Set To Stall For Years As Market Hits Wall

Residential solar in the US is actively cratering after President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill resulted in the sunsetting of a key tax credit for homeowners last year - which will result in a prolonged slump in installations, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

"The market is not expected to recover to the record levels of 2023 anytime in the next decade," according to the report. 

The downturn is widespread - with installers nationwide reporting steep drops in new rooftop projects. Higher interest rates, the winding down of certain federal incentives, and shifting state policies are cited as primary drivers behind the slowdown. Many homeowners are now facing longer payback periods and higher upfront costs, making the economics less attractive than in previous years.

Two notable exceptions stand out amid the broader decline. California and Florida continue to see relatively stronger demand, supported by state-level incentives, high electricity prices, and established installer networks. Even in these states, however, growth has moderated compared with the boom years, and analysts expect the national picture to remain challenged for the foreseeable future.

Impact on Major Players and Supply Chain

Companies such as Sunrun, Enphase Energy, and SunPower have already felt the effects through softer order books and margin pressure. The residential segment, once a bright spot in the clean energy transition, is now forcing these firms to adjust forecasts and focus more on commercial and utility-scale projects where demand remains steadier.

The stall comes at a time when broader energy policy debates are intensifying. With changing federal priorities and questions around long-term subsidy structures, the residential solar sector is confronting the reality that rapid adoption was heavily dependent on favorable financing and generous tax credits that are now fading.

This development underscores the challenges of scaling residential renewables without sustained policy tailwinds. While utility-scale solar and battery storage continue to expand in many regions, the rooftop market's slowdown highlights how sensitive consumer adoption remains to interest rates, payback periods, and regulatory certainty. BloombergNEF's outlook suggests the industry may need several years to stabilize before any meaningful recovery takes hold.

That said, Californa and Florida are bucking the trend...

California, a longtime solar leader, and Florida, which passed a new pro-solar law last year. BloombergNEF projects Florida’s residential solar additions will hit 710 megawatts in 2026, a 62% increase over last year. California’s installations are also forecast to grow 17% in 2026. Both states are also leading on solar permit applications. -Bloomberg

The national crunch is also affecting the market for solar batteries - from which only about 1.4 gigawatts of home storage is expected to go online this year, down 26% from 2025. That said, some 40% of new residential solar systems in the first three months of 2026 had batteries, BloombergNEF found, up from an average 35% last year. 

"Battery storage is the future of home solar," said BloombergNEF analyst, Cosmo van Steenis. "Batteries can lay up stores of solar power in the daytime and release them at night."

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 06:55

SpaceX Erupts In After Hours Trading, Hits $3 Trillion Market Cap, Surpassing Microsoft

Update (9:00pm): just a few minutes after the initial post, the squeeze is accelerating and SPCX hit just shy of $230, or $3 trillion in market cap, surpassing MSFT in value.

And what is even crazier, tomorrow SPCX options start trading, which means one good, solid gamma squeeze could send this stock to $400, surpassing NVDA as the world's biggest company in the process.

Earlier:

After a relatively calm first day of trading, the gamma squeeze crew has finally sniffed out that SpaceX's float makes it a perfect candidate for an OTM-call option driven meltup, and the stock soared ~20% today, adding over $400 billion in market in the regular session.

Commenting on the move, Vanda Track earlier noted that SpaceX topped the leaderboard as the most bought stock by retail investors for a second consecutive session, with net buying potentially set to clear $100mn for the second day in a row.

On a net basis, retail investors have now bought almost as much SPCX over the last two sessions as they bought across the entire US stock market last week. In fact, today's $93.8mn of net buying in SpaceX accounts for roughly 73% of all retail net buying across single stocks so far today.

 
The one notable development today according to Vanda, is that we're seeing some appetite return to semiconductor stocks. Names such as MRVL, MU, SNDK and AVGO have all seen some modest buying today amid the rebound. However, retail flows remain selective rather than broad-based, with leveraged bearish ETFs such as SQQQ and SOXS also among today's most bought securities by retail investors.

Vanda's conclusion is that "the broader message remains unchanged: SpaceX has not sparked a retail buying frenzy across the market. Instead, retail investors continue to direct capital into this one name, while maintaining a relatively cautious stance elsewhere."

And since momentum elsewhere is fading, retail has decided to double down on the very illiquid SPCX after hours, where its low float has made it a great squeeze candidate by the retail crew, and the stock is now exploding higher, and at last check was trading just over $210, meaning the stock has added $250 billion in market cap after the close - or a total of $650 billion today alone...

...  which translates into a market cap of $2.75 trillion or more than Apple's $2.65 trillion, and just behind MSFT's $2.97 trillion

 

 

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 06:15

Eating Meat Is The Norm Almost Everywhere

On average, 91 percent of people surveyed for Statista's Consumer Insights in 32 countries said that their diet contained meat – highlighting that despite the trend around meat substitutes and plant-based products, eating meat remains the norm almost everywhere in the world.

To satisfy the world's hunger for meat, 373 million tons of it were produced globally in 2024.

Because meat consumption typically increases as countries grow wealthier, that number has been rising.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz shows in the chart below, in only three out of 32 countries – the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and India – fewer than 90 percent of respondents said that they ate meat.

The latter country had the lowest score at 56 percent meat eaters. The Philippines still counted 88 percent of respondents saying they ate meat, while that number was 86 percent in the United Arab Emirates, likely influenced by the large South Asian diaspora there. India’s penchant for vegetarian fare is connected to Brahmanism or Vedic religion, a belief system connected to the caste of Brahmans, which are highly regarded in the Indian caste system, making vegetarianism equally desirable.

You will find more infographics at Statista

In Western countries, vegetarianism is more often tied to concerns about environmental impact or unethical practices in meat production. Despite higher meat consumption in these countries, meat substitutes are relatively more popular there. For example, 19 percent in the Netherlands and 15 percent in Switzerland said they bought them regularly. In Vietnam, 22 percent purchase meat substitutes regularly - the highest in the survey. Asian economies produce many traditional meat substitutes like tofu and seitan, whose long-standing popularity is intertwined with the history of Buddhism in the region.

The conceptualization of foregoing meat not only as a moral but as an environmental act has led to meat-eaters also purchasing meat substitutes, as the overlapping of figures from the survey suggest. Regular purchase of meat substitutes was among the lowest in the meat-loving nation of South Korea, where only 6 percent of people said they purchased them on the regular.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 05:45

China's Return To The Oil Market Could Boost Inflation

Submitted by Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

The U.S.-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could prompt China to return to buying more crude after months of multi-year-low purchases, which could reignite inflationary pressures despite the expected ease of oil flows from the Middle East.   

Late on Sunday, the U.S. and Iran announced a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz more than 100 days after its closure. This re-opening could happen as soon as an agreement is signed on Friday. News of the deal sent oil prices tumbling early on Monday, with Brent Crude prices down to $83 per barrel, and WTI Crude at the $80 a barrel handle.

If the agreement holds and flows through the Strait of Hormuz, begin to tick up relatively quickly, China could resume buying more crude, and this additional demand, which had vanished in the past three months, could tighten the oil market and drive up inflation, analysts at Bloomberg Economics said in a note on Monday.

“Any recovery in Chinese oil demand — particularly if energy flows remain constrained — could tighten global energy markets, reignite inflation pressures and complicate the task facing central banks,” Bloomberg Economics’ analysts wrote.

Energy flows are likely to take months to recover to pre-war levels, assuming the deal holds and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sustainably increases, analysts say.

China’s severely reduced crude oil imports have been a key anchor keeping oil prices below $100 per barrel during the past few weeks, alongside record U.S. crude and fuel exports and global releases from strategic oil stockpiles coordinated by the International Energy Agency.  

Crude oil imports to China in May fell to their lowest since October 2017 due to the price spike.

The world’s top crude importer started tapping its huge oil reserves last month, in a sign that Beijing is still refraining from paying top-dollar for prompt crude deliveries.

So far into this unprecedented crisis, China has slashed refinery run rates, limited exports, and cut demand for road transportation fuels as consumers prefer driving EVs over paying high gasoline prices.

The key question for the oil market is how much demand China would generate when it returns to more active crude purchases.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 05:00

Lebanon Hosts The World's Highest Concentration Of Refugees, US Ranks 82nd

The countries carrying the world’s largest refugee burden are often not the ones most people expect.

Using data from the UNHCR via Our World in Data, this graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks countries by the number of refugees hosted per 1,000 residents in 2024.

The results reveal how proximity to conflict frequently matters more than economic size. Many of the countries at the top of the ranking border active war zones and have absorbed large refugee populations relative to their own populations.

Which Countries Carry the Largest Refugee Burden?

Roughly two-thirds of the world’s refugees remain in neighboring countries, helping explain why several relatively small nations rank ahead of much larger economies.

Rather than being distributed across the world’s wealthiest countries, refugee populations are often concentrated in states that share borders with major conflicts. The ranking below shows which countries carry the largest refugee burden relative to their population.

Why Does Lebanon Rank So High?

Lebanon tops the ranking by a wide margin, hosting 130.7 refugees per 1,000 residents. Put differently, about one out of every eight people living in the country is a refugee, the highest ratio in the world.

Its position reflects the country’s proximity to Syria, which has produced one of the world’s largest refugee crises since civil war broke out in 2011. Over the past decade, millions of Syrians have sought refuge in neighboring countries, with Lebanon absorbing one of the largest shares relative to its population.

The country has also faced mounting economic and political challenges of its own. More recently, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah displaced more than one million people within Lebanon, adding further strain to public services and infrastructure.

Taken together, these pressures help explain why Lebanon remains one of the countries most affected by displacement anywhere in the world.

Geography Matters More Than Wealth

Many of the countries hosting the largest refugee populations are located near active conflicts or regions experiencing prolonged instability.

Jordan and Lebanon border Syria. Moldova shares a border with Ukraine. Chad hosts refugees from neighboring Sudan, while Uganda has long received people fleeing violence in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The pattern helps explain why many smaller countries appear near the top of the ranking despite having far fewer economic resources than larger developed nations.

For refugees, crossing a nearby border is often the fastest and safest option. As a result, neighboring countries frequently absorb the largest influxes long before refugees are resettled elsewhere.

Why the U.S. Ranks 82nd

At first glance, America’s ranking may seem surprisingly low.

The United States hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and remains the world’s 18th-largest refugee destination in absolute terms.

However, its population of more than 340 million significantly changes the picture.

When refugee numbers are adjusted for population size, the U.S. hosts roughly 1.3 refugees per 1,000 residents, placing it 82nd globally.

The gap highlights why per-capita measures can reveal a different reality than headline totals. While large countries often host more refugees overall, smaller nations can experience a much greater impact relative to their population size.

Refugee Pressures Are Reaching Record Levels

The number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has surpassed 120 million, nearly double the level seen a decade ago. Conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, and other regions continue to drive displacement across borders.

For host countries, the impact extends beyond humanitarian assistance. Large refugee populations can increase demand for housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and public services, particularly in smaller countries with limited resources.

The ranking highlights a reality often overlooked in global migration debates: the countries carrying the largest refugee burden are frequently those located closest to conflict, not necessarily those with the largest economies.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the world’s largest migration corridors.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 04:15

Ebola Cases, Deaths Jump In Congo As Outbreak Spreads

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The number of Ebola cases and deaths has risen in Congo, the epicenter of an ongoing outbreak, officials said on June 14.

Response personnel carry the body of a person who died from Ebola in Bunia, Congo, on June 13, 2026. Jospin Mwisha/AFP via Getty Images

Thirty-two new deaths and 72 new cases have been confirmed in the central African country, Congo's Ministry of Communications said in a statement.

The cumulative number of cases is up to 782, and the cumulative number of deaths is 181.

The case fatality rate, or the percentage of sick people who have died, is 23.1 percent.

The outbreak, which was first detected in May but believed to have started earlier, has also spread to two additional health zones in Congo, officials said. One of the new zones is in Ituri province, where most of the cases are; the second is in North Kivu province.

The three provinces with reported cases are all in eastern Congo.

Health officials have been working to identify suspected cases and encourage people with symptoms to travel to health facilities.

"Vigilance remains essential. Anyone presenting with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or any other suspicious symptoms must go immediately to the nearest health facility for prompt care," the ministry stated. "Adherence to preventive measures - particularly regular handwashing, acceptance of contact tracing, and avoidance of any contact with sick or deceased individuals from suspected causes - remains crucial to curb the spread of the epidemic."

The largest Ebola outbreak in history was in West Africa and ran from 2014 through 2016. There were 28,610 reported cases, and 11,308 reported deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a June 11 paper that, if crucial public health measures are not implemented, the new outbreak could become as large as the 2014 outbreak.

"Although the worst outcomes (higher numbers of cases and associated deaths) in these projections were less likely when a larger proportion of patients were identified, isolated, and treated, this outbreak could, within 3 months and under low-isolation scenarios, become the second largest Ebola outbreak in history," the CDC said.

Ebola is a disease caused by orthoebolaviruses. The current outbreak is caused by the rarely seen Bundibugyo virus.

Transmission primarily happens through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected individuals.

While Ebola can in many cases be deadly, 56 people have recovered in the outbreak in Congo, according to the latest figures.

Another 359 patients are in isolation or being treated in a hospital.

Uganda, which shares a border with Congo, has reported 19 Ebola cases and two deaths. Ugandan officials said Monday that there have been no cases for 10 days.

"Ebola is under control in Uganda," Uganda's Ministry of Health said in a Jun 13 post on X. Ugandan officials said people should visit the country.

Sanitation workers from Bunia city government spray disinfectant in the central market area near a rubbish truck in Ituri province, as they continue efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, on May 23, 2026. Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 03:30

Norwegian Royal Family Rocked: Crown Princess's Son Convicted of Rape, Sentenced To Four Years

In a verdict that has rocked Norway's monarchy, Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison.

Marius Borg Høiby, son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, pictured in Oslo, Norway on June 16, 2022. Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB/AFP/Getty Images

The Oslo District Court convicted him on 34 of 40 charges, spanning rape, assault, abuse in close relationships, drug offenses, and restraining order violations. He was acquitted on the other two rape counts. Prosecutors had demanded over seven years; the defense sought 18 months. He must also pay victims around $61,000 in compensation.

Key Facts from the Verdict

• Guilty on two counts of rape
• Sentenced to four years in prison
• Acquitted on two other rape charges
• Convicted on 34 out of 40 total charges
• Ordered to pay approximately $61,000 to victims
• Defense plans to appeal rape and domestic violence convictions

The seven-week trial detailed Høiby's struggles with drug addiction and a lifestyle of excess. Evidence included self-made videos of sexual encounters and more than 800 electronic messages. In court, he described an "extreme need for recognition" from his unique position in the royal family.

"I’m mostly known as my mother’s son, not anything else. So I’ve had an extreme need for recognition my whole life," he told the court. "And that manifested itself in a lot of sex, a lot of drugs, and a lot of alcohol."

The incidents took place between 2018 and 2024 after nights of partying. Prosecutors argued that what began as consensual sex became non-consensual when the women were asleep or incapacitated. Høiby insisted he was "not in the habit of having sex with women who are asleep."

His lawyers have said he will appeal and have pushed for his release so he can support his ailing mother.

Princess Mette-Marit's Health and Royal Family Pressure

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, is battling pulmonary fibrosis and is on a lung-transplant waiting list. Doctors have indicated she may have only about a year left without a successful transplant.

Marius Borg Høiby with his mother Crown Princess Mette-Marit, pictured in 2022 Credit: PDKOB/The Mega Agency

The scandal comes amid other challenges for the royals, including criticism over the princess's past contact with Jeffrey Epstein after his 2008 conviction. Polls showed support for the monarchy falling to a record low of 60% during the trial, with a slight recovery later.

The Royal House has stated it has no comment on the court outcome.

This case underscores the contrast between the public image of the Norwegian royal family and the private difficulties faced by its members.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 02:45

Remigration & The Save Europe Act

Authored by 'eugyppius' via American Greatmess,

In 2024, the Austrian Identitarian activist Martin Sellner began serious efforts to push his concept of remigration into the political mainstream, and since then the German state and its civil society collaborators have extended him every assistance.

Gregory Bovino, ex-Customs and Border Patrol Chief, appears with (from left) Eva Vlaardingerbroek, Martin Sellner, and Alfonso Gonçalves at the second Remigration Summit in Portugal last week.

Domestic intelligence agents and activist journalists at Correctiv collaborated to convict Sellner and Alternative für Deutschland of planning the mass deportation of naturalized Germans in a late 2023 meeting in Potsdam. They called this small private meeting a “Secret Plan against Germany” and drew not-so-subtle comparisons to the notorious Wannsee Conference. Ensuing anti-AfD protests lasted months, even as litigation succeeded in deconstructing much of the slander Correctiv had propagated. The hysteria cost AfD some support ahead of the European elections, but it also succeeded in making “remigration” a household word throughout the Federal Republic—something that Sellner and his Identitarians could never have achieved on their own. Unbelievably, the Correctiv reporting was turned into a theater piece, and the actual Wannsee Villa where Nazi government officials and SS leaders met to plan the Final Solution in 1942 received a sign advising visitors of Sellner’s Potsdam meeting and “the . . . obvious . . . link between today’s ethno-nationalist fantasies of deportation and the historic Wannsee Conference.”

For their next act, authorities toyed with legally doubtful schemes to ban Sellner from Germany, while police devised pretenses to disrupt the speaking events Sellner had scheduled in the Federal Republic to present his book on Remigration. All this meant more press and more eyeballs for Sellner’s cause. When Sellner co-organized the inaugural “Remigration Summit” last spring in Italy, authorities tried to prevent the attendance of several German Identitarian activists by temporarily banning them from leaving the country, and they did the same again when the second “Remigration Summit” convened in Portugal last week. In each case, their restrictions ensured that small conferences held in other countries and attended by no more than a few hundred people could remain the subject of reporting and controversy here at home.

I don’t know to what degree the German approach to Sellner’s remigration program reflects a calculated strategy, and to what degree it’s just all the pinched head girls in the state bureaucratic apparatus having a collective aneurysm over the latest politically naughty thing to come across their desks. Either way, the unique German system of “defensive democracy” requires an enemy against which to array its defenses, and in the decades since the Berlin Wall fell this enemy has become “the extreme Right”—concentrated like the old Communist foe in the eastern states of the former DDR, embodied by Alternative für Deutschland rather than the SED, and constructed as an equal if not greater threat to Our Democracy. Because, unlike the Communists, this enemy does not really exist, it requires regime propagandists to engage in heavy revisionism—for example, by casting as an NSDAP successor a populist-Right party with politics broadly equivalent to the 1980s-era CDU, and by building up and deploring particular villains like Sellner.

Now, political dissidents and activists of all stripes have a curious relationship with establishment discourse. The one is like oil and the other is like water; they cannot occupy the same space. In the past years, the myth that Diversity Is Our Strength and that mass migration might fix our pension plans, alleviate our cultural ennui, and improve our culinary offerings has collapsed. Anti-migrationism has gone mainstream in many circles, driving right-populists to seize upon remigration as the new cause. I would imagine that a similar process unfolded from the establishment perspective; as major politicians and journalists decided the time had come to put the brakes on the steady stream of younger males streaming into our country from the Global South, they needed to draw a new line in the sand to differentiate themselves from the populist rabble-rousers.

Thus, with the help of literally everybody from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s benighted traffic light government to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to Alternative für Deutschland to Martin Sellner and his Identitarians, remigration became the new anti-migration. Which is fine, as far as it goes; people should support the causes they want, and nobody would dispute that, particularly in the last ten years, a great many people have forced their way into Europe, where they have proceeded to abuse our social welfare systems, violate the law at disproportionate rates, and substantially degrade the quality of life. If I could push a button and make these people leave, I would.

Unfortunately, this problem does not come packaged with any easy solutions, and I am less and less certain (1) how remigration is supposed to work and (2) whether the newly ascendant and highly dogmatic remigrationists on the Right have any path toward realizing their vision. While remigrationists preach the manifold benefits of putting migrants on airplanes back to the Global South, the migrants’ native countries in many cases refuse to accept them, mass migration continues, if at a somewhat slower pace, the AfD remains firewalled out of German politics, our elaborate NGO machinery continues to push migrationist humanitarianism, a broad elite consensus resists even efforts to deport many of those who are here illegally, and primary EU law confounds remigrationist proposals at numerous points. Remigration would prove a tall order if 85 percent of Germans reversed their stance on the idea tomorrow. Sellner’s full, heavily technocratic vision, meanwhile, would require broad institutional buy-in and support from all major parties, including large parts of the Left, over a period of decades. We are talking about a new social consensus to compel or encourage the mass resettlement of entire populations, as deep and broad as the consensus that until recently existed behind climatism. That probably can’t happen without serious generational turnover or some kind of serious political upheaval.

I do not write this as a condemnatory political ninny or an incurable contrarian. I consider Sellner a friend, and I am even his translator. Yet personal considerations like these aren’t enough to blunt my skepticism.

The most recent initiative in remigration land is something called the Save Europe Act, rolled out by Sellner and Dutch political activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek at the Remigration Summit 2026 in Portugal. Basically, there’s an EU procedural mechanism known as the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), whereby ordinary people can bring a legal proposal for consideration directly before the European Commission. To do this, they need only gather a million signatures in support and meet a few other requirements. Among other things, the Save Europe Act demands “legislative and policy measures” to impose a “moratorium” on non-European migration, to deport “illegally staying migrants, rejected asylum seekers,” and criminals, to “establish a harmonized EU-wide framework for broader remigration” and to “remove social welfare incentives and benefits that function as pull factors for migration.”

All of that sounds great, as does the fact that Sellner and Vlaardingerbroek claim to have gathered well over 200,000 “signatures” so far. Unfortunately, reality tends generally to be less great. To begin with, Sellner and Vlaardingerbroek have yet to register the Save Europe Act with the European Commission at all. The signatures they are collecting—really, just email addresses—are part of an internet publicity campaign and have no wider significance. According to me, chances that the Commission agrees to register the Save Europe Act as a formal ECI are quite low, for the Commission may reject any proposal that “is . . . manifestly contrary to the values of the Union.” If Sellner and Vlaardingerbroek do manage to squeeze their initiative through registration and the Save Europe Act becomes more than a buggy website, then they’ll still need to collect a million signatures—not from random internet people, but from verified citizens of EU member states. And if they meet that hurdle, they’ll compel a response from the Commission and a hearing in the European Parliament. Even in this best-case scenario, there is no chance that the Save Europe Act becomes law, inspires any laws, or changes anything at the EU level at all.

Defenders of the Save Europe Act who have bothered to read the fine print accept that they are not on the path to making Remigration official EU policy. They argue instead that publicity surrounding the Save Europe Act will “move the Overton Window” and normalize remigration as a concept. These arguments neglect the fact that remigration has already been normalized; as I wrote above, since 2024, it has become almost a household word in Germany, if one denoting a very bad and fascistic concept approximately on par with outright genocidal fascism. Otherwise, I have learned to be wary of intangible, immeasurable ends in the world of political activism. Western politics abounds with activists who are changing perceptions, challenging conventions, deconstructing myths, complicating assumptions, correcting prejudices, deepening understandings, and now moving Overton Windows, and the only thing these projects and their goals have in common is that nobody can work out what any of them mean in concrete terms.

Mass migration has been an absolute curse. People want the migrants to stop coming, and they want the ones who are already here to go back home. They feel impotent to change the situation, and it’s natural that they should support social media campaigns promising at the very least to give them a voice. That’s fine, and most of this is probably harmless, but the truth is that we’re not going to petition the migrants away. I’ve read so many appeals to the Overton Window at this point that the concept has become quite threadbare for me, but if anything has shifted mass media discourse these past years, it is not activist campaigns but the manifold and quite serious problems caused by mass migration itself. As in so many other areas—from COVID to climatism—retarded elite policies are failing and unwinding themselves, but we’re not yet winning.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 02:00

Who Won The Third Gulf War?

Authored by Andrew Korybko,

Iran is poised to gradually return to the US-led Western order within certain limits exactly as Iran’s moderate faction has long wanted, its hardline faction has successfully preserved the armed forces and their missile stockpile, while Israel achieved none of its goals in its most epic defeat ever.

Iran and the US plan to sign a Zarif-inspired memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the Third Gulf War this Friday in Switzerland. The exact details aren’t yet known, and Fortune reported that there were at least three competing texts, but all of them “include similar elements around reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, giving Iran sanctions relief and opening the door to longer-term negotiations around its nuclear program.” That’s already enough to arrive at several very important conclusions.

For starters, reopening the strait without Iran’s wartime petroyuan toll booth in place would represent a significant concession by the Islamic Republic, whose media surrogates celebrated this model as an historic multipolar milestone. The same goes for resuming negotiations on its politically sensitive nuclear program. The sanctions relief in exchange might arguably be worth it, however, judging by this estimate here of the profound economic-financial damage caused by the US’ (imperfect) blockade.

On that topic, it was explained here in late March that “The US will have lost the Third Gulf War if China can still rely on Iran as a reliable low-cost energy supplier while turning the yuan into a global reserve currency that challenges the petrodollar”, so preventing both is imperative from the US’ perspective.

With the petroyuan reportedly out of the picture, that leaves Iran’s oil export dependence on China, but sanctions relief could help gradually redirect its sales (such as to India) without disrupting the market.

Likewise, if reports about a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran are true (even if the final sum is much lower but still tens of billions of dollars), then US and Gulf investments in Iran’s energy industry could lead to them controlling its exports.

It was assessed in January that “The US Wants To Replicate The Venezuelan Model In Iran”, which would be on the path to implementation in that scenario.

The resultant interdependence could advance collective security and facilitate the US’ regional withdrawal.

Iran’s moderate (“reformist”) and hardline (“principalist”) factions would therefore achieve some of their goals, the first with respect to sanctions relief and the second with regards to preserving the country’s (arguably battered) armed forces as well as their missile stockpile, not to mention their political system.

Nevertheless, the factional balance would have shifted in the moderate’s favor since the US wouldn’t sign a MoU if the moderates couldn’t control “rogue” hardliners, who could potentially rekindle the war.

It can therefore be concluded that the moderates beat the hardliners in Iran’s deep state power struggle, but this was due to the US and Israel killing dozens of top hardline figures, after which their respective institutions (especially the IRGC) were weakened and ultimately tamed by the moderates.

To be sure, “rogue” hardliners – regardless of their relationship to the IRGC – could still sabotage the MoU, but Trump 2.0 feels comfortable enough that they won’t otherwise it wouldn’t go through with the signing.

A new regional era is emerging whereby the Third Gulf War might very well lead to Iran’s gradual reincorporation into the US-led Western order, albeit within limits, which lays the groundwork for better ties with its Gulf neighbors.

In that scenario, Israel would stand to lose since it could no longer divide-and-rule Iran and the Gulf, nor would the US have its back if Israel resumes hostilities with Iran due to the recent revival of the possibly irreconcilable Trump-Bibi rift. Israel is therefore the war’s biggest loser.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/15/2026 - 23:25