Zero Hedge

Elon Musk Makes A Move On The Banks

Elon Musk Makes A Move On The Banks

Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times,

When Elon Musk took over Twitter, fired four out of five employees, and rebranded it X (just because he thought it sounded cool), the talking heads predicted doom for the company. The opposite happened. It is now one of the most popular sources of news in the world, and a major delivery system for what social media is supposed to be.

He always had more in mind. He explained at the outset that he wanted to turn X into the "everything app." I winced when I heard those words. As someone who worked in web development for years, I learned to regard every promise of a "one-stop shop" to be foolish. It never happens. Best to pick one thing you do well and stick with it.

To my own amazement, X is indeed taking steps toward being the Everything App. Not yet, of course, but the advent of his X Money platform is major and serious. It is being rolled out gradually to premium members. Under the new content-creators payout program, people are paid within the app and invited to use the service for transferring money.

Described thusly, it would seem to be another version of Zelle or Venmo and therefore not that much to notice, much less celebrate. But when you look at the details of what X Money is doing, another reality emerges. It would appear that this app is making a move on the banks themselves.

The evidence is on the app now. It offers a way to link your paycheck to X Money to enjoy a quicker payout than if your paycheck flows to your bank account. Speed is one thing, and a good thing, but why else would you do this?

The key comes in the details which have not been advertised (Musk doesn't like old-style marketing). These are not regular dormant cash accounts like you get in a regular checking account. They pay a return. Not just any return. The return is higher than you would otherwise get in a normal money market.

For now the Annual Percent Yield (APY) is an eye-popping 6 percent as an initial customer-acquisition rate.

Not only that, the X Money card that comes digitally with the service (and physically on the ask) offers fully 3 percent cash back.

A high rate plus instant peer-to-peer transmission, a metal Visa card with 3 percent cash back, and early direct deposit is meant to pull balances and daily activity onto the platform.

What you notice from these terms is that this goes way beyond a mere money-transmission service. What's being provided here, with quick and easy signups, is a highly lucrative vehicle for serious investment. Put your cash in and have it earn 6 percent. That beats inflation. With 3 percent cash back, you are way ahead of the game. That is reason enough to switch.

As a user I immediately found myself in a bind. Initially I thought I would enjoy spending my X Money on groceries and movie tickets or something along those lines. But with this level of earning power, I will lose money if I do that. I would be forgoing the return from the money held. Better to use the cash in my bank or my credit card that also pays 3 percent cash back.

The calculation here favors keeping the money in X Money, not spending it. Indeed, the calculator favors moving cash from banks into X Money and earning the return. To be sure, that 6 percent could change in a year or two or three. It would be up to how the app is managed.

Meanwhile, do you understand what this means? It means an actual reward for ... saving money! Imagine that. Cash that earns a return on an app that allows peer-to-peer transfer at zero cost. This is disruptive innovation of the sort we've come to expect from this man and his companies.

Elon has designated the X Money app for now to be a loss leader in direct revenue but a huge investment in becoming what he likely thinks it can be in the long run: an actual option to the banks.

There might even be more afoot here. The banking rails themselves are provided by Cross River Bank. Founded in 2008, the bank carved out a special niche in working with new digital companies that focus on in-app service provision and edgier products like cryptocurrency. It is FDIC-insured but eschews traditional banking in favor of innovation. Even with its smaller capitalization, it is an ideal partner for a disruptive technology like X Money.

Recall too that Elon Musk was one of the founders of PayPal. It was started with a high hope of developing a new form of money transmission and even a new form of money. It eventually found itself regulated out of that vision to become what it is today, which is a highly valued means of payment for the digital age.

X Money seems to learn from mistakes made in those days to build out fully banking services from the very foundation. With the inclusion of crypto as part of the banking rails, we can easily imagine a future in which X Money integrates with a service like Coinbase to move money from dollars to crypto and back again.

One thing that is notable to me is the effortlessness of the signups and verifications. The developers have learned that customers recoil at too many screens, too much language, too many aggressive demands for passwords and accounts. They are using the latest technology to make signups and management extremely easy and clean.

That said, X Money does of course comply with all the arduous federal regulations concerning Know Your Customer laws and tax-reporting requirements. This is by no means an app that places a premium on your privacy. Even to make it work requires government IDs and 3D facial scans from our phone. I despise all of that while also understanding that this is the price any financial entrepreneur pays to make anything innovative these days. X Money is compliant across the board, which, from my point of view, is unavoidably regrettable.

It's entirely possible that Elon has a big vision for this platform that he has not yet shared. Indeed, I'm struck by how much of the system that he has built so far has not been advertised at all. It's extremely interesting how the rollout is going. The app presents direct information to the customer screen by screen, the pitch, the conditions, the advantages. Normal advertising speaks to the masses; Elon's way is to speak to the individual user. It's very different.

We can imagine two polar opposite futures with this new service.

Optimistically, it becomes the innovator of a new form of money and monetary services that eventually replaces paper money and even the dollar.

Remember that the app is global. What if the assets of X and other companies emerge as the asset baking of a new form of currency?

Pessimistically, X Money becomes just another new layer of the emergent financial control grid that spies on us and even worse: the integration of money and social media reminds one of China's Social Credit System. This future sometimes feels baked into the technologies we use and the deep relationship of tech companies and the government.

Which will it be? We do not know. But from what I can see, there is a strong rationale for expecting this platform to be a major player and going concern in the future world of money and finance.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 09:30

Leaked Anthropic IPO Prospectus Shows $42BN Net Loss, $518BN In Unfunded Spending Commitments, And $20BN In Cash

Leaked Anthropic IPO Prospectus Shows $42BN Net Loss, $518BN In Unfunded Spending Commitments, And $20BN In Cash

When Anthropic confidentially submitted its draft S-1 to the SEC back in June, it was clear there were many shocking numbers in the IPO prospectus which the company did not want made public amid speculation of massive ongoing losses, but few were prepared for what was leaked today to Reuters. 

According to a copy of the IPO prospectus leaked by Reuters, Anthropic is making a massive bet that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and ​the internet. But, as Reuters correctly puts it, "the cost to get there will be staggering" - the company reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. And while revenue grew 12-fold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion, the company lost more than $8 billion on an operating basis, with compute spend soaring to $7.33 billion, accounting for 58% of its $12.65 billion in total operating expenses. 

In other words, Anthropic lost almost $2 for every dollar it made in sales, and that trend is accelerating. 

It gets worse: not only is the company's revenue fleeting, it is controlled by just two customers on the margin. Anthropic said nearly a quarter of its revenue came from just two customers last year, and as part of its risk factors, warned that many of its largest clients were not locked into long-term contracts and could cut or stop spending.

But what is most concerning is the confirmation of what we said back in July: it was back then we laid out the reason behind the forceful push by the frontier models to commence regulatory capture against open-weight models, which we framed as follows: 

The problem with the $2 trillion in circular AI financing is that it is all contingent on the frontiers (Anthropic/ OpenAI) being money good on their $1.5+TN in unfunded commitments. Which they won't be if Chinese open LLMs grab market share. Hence the push against Chinese LLMs.

We doubled down on the massive amount of "unfunded spending commitments" by the big two frontier models, Anthropic and OpenAI, one month later when in response to the FT catching up to our previous reporting, we said that "Again: that $3 trillion in "unfunded spending commitments" (thank you AI SPVs) will never get funded when token prices for closed models collapse to open levels"

In other words, $1.5 trillion each, and about a third of that through 2030, or $500 billion in spending commitments. 

Well, as Reuters reports, Anthropic's massive unfunded spending obligations (for a detailed analysis of why this matters a lot, read "The Off-Balance Sheet Time Bomb Inside AI Hits $3.1 Trillion: Up $1.3TN In Three Months") are precisely what we said they are to wit: Anthropic "plans to spend $518 billion on cloud, computing and infrastructure obligations in coming year, according to the prospectus."

The problem: Anthropic already has massive amounts in (mostly) off-balance sheet debt, having stacked over $71 billion through special purpose vehicles to finance Google TPU chips. It also has a $15 billion credit facility and likely has many more unreported, off-balance sheet funding scheme that we are not aware of. 

And to fund it all the frontier AI company had just $20.3 billion in cash as of Dec 31, 2025, a number which has likely declined if the company was forced recently to draw down on a secured credit facility. 

Hence the urgency to raise a lot of capital as suddenly the well is looking awfully dry. The problem, of course, as we have discussed repeatedly is that Anthropic is coming to market at the worst possible time: just as token costs plunge to record lows...

... while demand for frontier tokens has slowed substantially for the first time ever (light blue line), with Chinese open-weight models grabbing market share thanks to their cheap, just as efficient models.

Needless to say, this could prove to be a disastrous combination for Anthropic. 

Yes, there is Jevons paradox of course, but it is of little comfort to Anthropic if the only beneficiary of Jevons are Chinese models, and potentially Meta after the blistering launch of its Muse agentic platform. This is how Goldman framed the big problem for Dario Amodei (full report available to pro subs):

"Token demand growth will need to outpace declining token prices to support continued growth in investment spending. Frontier models are currently a key source of demand for hyperscaler compute. However, the rise of competitive open-source models has contributed to a decline in average token prices. Measures of frontier token demand slowed in July..." 

These rapid and adverse changes in the AI landscape explain why both Anthropic and OpenAI are desperate to go public and raise much needed capital to plug at least partially the massive holes that have opened - one can only imagine the panic that will ensue among the hyperscaler ecosystem if it becomes obvious that the two primary sources of future spending commitments across the entire AI world, Anthropic and OpenAI are in fact, not money good. 

And yet, realizing just how challenging raising capital would be, OpenAI has already pushed back its IPO to 2027, leaving just Anthropic with hopes of going public this year. However, Reuters reported recently that Anthropic's public market debut is likely to be pushed to after the November US midterm elections; and if the very anti-AI Democrats  sweep congress, the IPO will likely be shelved indefinitely.

There's more bad news: not only is the company incinerating cash, it may suddenly find itself stuck rolling out new models, allowing Chinese open-labs to catch up. In recent days, Anthropic has confronted - and disclosed - evidence from its own research that ⁠increasingly autonomous AI models can behave in unexpected and potentially harmful ways, including sabotaging code, assisting fraud and manipulating information in controlled tests.

As a result of similar activity, OpenAI - which also confidentially filed for its own IPO in June - earlier announced it would scrap the release of its latest AI model - GPT-6.1 Astra  - because, as the WSJ reported, the model  "performed poorly on tests measuring alignment, or how well the model adheres to what humans would like it to do. Specifically, GPT-6.1 Astra showed higher levels of deception: It wasn’t always honest about telling users of the actions it did or didn’t take.... Another issue was what OpenAI calls “scope authorization,” meaning that GPT-6.1 Astra would push ahead on a task without asking the user for permission, and would at times reach for external tools and services even if it might be unsafe."

How can any company, and especially one which has been in the Trump admin's sights for much of the past year, possibly hope to come to market in expectations of a $2+ trillion valuation? The answer is it can't, which is why we are now getting various trial balloons setting the stage for the first of many delays. 

Meanwhile, the cash burn continues and there will come a point where either existing investors will have to throw much more good money after bad, or Dario will have to ram the IPO through, and risk a spectacular crash in the stock price. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 09:25

US Home Prices Are Rising At Their Fastest Pace In Over A Year, But...

US Home Prices Are Rising At Their Fastest Pace In Over A Year, But...

Amid soaring mortgage rates, new home prices falling rapidly, and collapsing homebuilder confidence, US home prices in America's 20 largest cities rose for the fourth straight month in July (according to the latest - admittedly lagged - data from S&P Cotality Case-Shiller).

The 20-City Composite index rose 0.32% MoM (far stronger than the 0.2% MoM rise expected) in July. That is the strongest monthly rise since Dec 2025 and lifted the annual home price appreciation to its fastest pace since May 2025...

This was "a notable departure from typical seasonal patterns,' said Rebecca Kaufman, Associate Director of Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. 

For the fifth consecutive month, Chicago led all metros with a 6.9% annual gain in July, but New York and Miami both saw large jumps. Meanwhile, Seattle posted the largest annual decline for the second consecutive month, falling 1.6%, followed by Las Vegas (-1.3%) and Denver (-1.1%)

“The years-long East-West divide persists, with six out of the eight Eastern metropolitan markets recording greater year-over-year changes in July versus June, compared with just two of the eight Western metropolitan markets," noted Kaufman.

However, given the lagged and smoothed nature of Case-Shiller's data, the party may just be about to collapse into the hangover...

And finally, while slightly lower inflation and stronger nominal home price appreciation helped narrow the gap, Kaufman notes that "home prices continued to decline in real terms in July 2026, marking the 14th consecutive month of real declines."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 09:23

Caravan Of 600+ Migrants Making Its Way Through Mexico To The US Border

Caravan Of 600+ Migrants Making Its Way Through Mexico To The US Border

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

Hundreds of migrants, largely from Honduras, are currently moving north through Mexico toward the United States, coinciding with the lead-up to the midterm elections in November. Dubbed the "Faith and Hope" (or "Fe y Esperanza") caravan, the group reportedly left Honduras with about 300 people on September 20, and entered southern Mexico on September 24 via the Rodolfo Robles bridge. The group has since swelled to more than 600 members as migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Haiti joined the original Honduran cohort in Tapachula.

The caravan remains deep inside Mexico with a substantial distance still to travel before it reaches the U.S. border.

Immigration activists say migrants are expecting a Democrat takeover of Congress in the midterms, and a shift toward more relaxed border enforcement.

One caravan leader told a reporter in Spanish that there is a widespread belief that President Trump's anti-immigration agenda has been very unpopular in the U.S. and will result in both the Senate and the House of representatives falling to Democrats. "This will have major repercussions," he said.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) meanwhile responded to reports of the caravan with a football-themed X post and the phrase "Our time has come." In a subsequent post, DHS simply stated "The border is closed."

According to independent border reporter Anthony Aguero, the migrants are being funded by two Non-Governmental Organizations, Proyecto Faro and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

Proyecto Faro, an "immigrant-led organizing & solidarity" nonprofit based in Rockland County, New York, is funded by a mix of foundations, nonprofits, and government grants, including the Jewish-led Harry Donenfeld Foundation and the Gitlin Family Foundation. ADRA, the humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

ADRA is funded mainly by the U.S. government, which has reportedly given it about $385 million over the years. According to Aguero, ADRA was named a partner in the State Department's new Faith and Community Initiative in August 2026, after being given at least $36 million taxpayer dollars by the end of 2025.

The migrants themselves say they are seeking better living conditions an opportunities in the U.S.

One of the migrants told a reporter in Spanish that no one is pushing them or paying them to come.

"We all set out with a purpose to get to the United States," he said, adding that Mexican authorities have been supporting the caravan with food and water.

Another migrant argued that God's creation is meant to be explored so "there shouldn't be a limit for any man."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 09:05

Futures Rise As Oil Drops, Dragging Rates Lower

Futures Rise As Oil Drops, Dragging Rates Lower

US equity futures have reversed earlier losses and trade in the green, near session highs, as bond yields drop across the curve, following a decline in oil which has also hit the dollar, despite lack of any tangible news out of Iran and as traders brace for the week’s first labor data following a neverending firehose of artificial-intelligence news and events. As of 8:15am ET, S&P futures rose 0.2% while Nasdaq futures gained 0.4%, as Mag7, semis, and memory stocks all see a mild bid while software is weaker; EU Semis are up more than 3% so we may see US get active as the market opens. The AI theme is also creating a bid across industrials and utilities; cyclicals leading defensives with notable weakness in Staples. Energy names are lower with crude prices. The commodities complex is mostly lower with gold seeing a moderate bid and some Ags higher. Oil is at session lows, down 2% as Saudi Arabia resumed flows through a key pipeline after comments from the Qatar Foreign Ministry on possible US-Iran solutions. Overall price action looks like a cautious re-risking with guarded optimism around a US / Iran deal. Today’s macro data focus is on JOLTS ahead of Friday’s NFP and another batch of Fedspeakers.

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mixed (Alphabet (GOOGL) -0.08%, Amazon (AMZN) +0.3%, Apple (AAPL) -0.4%, Meta Platforms (META) +0.8%, Microsoft (MSFT) -0.08%, Nvidia (NVDA) +0.6%, Tesla (TSLA) +0.3%)

  • AAR (AIR) gains 5% after the aerospace and defense company reported adjusted diluted earnings per share and revenue for the first quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
  • Fair Issac (FICO), a credit score company, slumps 18% after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte announced a move that makes it easier for lenders to adopt VantageScore. According to analysts, this will increase competition while pressuring Fair Issac’s market share and pricing power.
  • FuelCell Energy (FCEL) rises 5% after Oppenheimer & Co initiated coverage of the fuel cell maker with a recommendation of outperform, expecting demand to stay “well ahead” of supply as it ramps up its production capacity.
  • Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) climbs 5% after boosting its revenue guidance for the full year.
  • Monday.com Ltd. (MNDY) slips 1.8% after JPMorgan downgraded the software company to neutral from overweight, citing growth challenges for annual recurring revenue.
  • Netflix (NFLX) inches 1% higher after Deutsche Bank upgraded the streaming-video company to buy, saying that concerns about engagement were overblown.
  • Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) rises 16% after AstraZeneca announced an investment in the biotech to collaborate on new cancer medication.
  • Uniqure (QURE) slumps 58% after saying that the benefits of its Huntington’s disease gene therapy drug AMT-130 were not as good after four years as they were after three years in a small trial — a result that could complicate its bid to get the treatment approved by US regulators.

In other corporate news, AstraZeneca is investing $2 billion in US biotech Summit Therapeutics to collaborate on a promising new cancer medicine; AMD agreed to acquire World Labs for $8.2 billion, gaining an AI startup founded by industry pioneer and researcher Fei-Fei Li; Vail Resorts anticipates a rebound in fiscal year 2027 above analyst estimates, based on a range of normal weather conditions and incremental cost savings.

Markets are finding their footing after a turbulent start to the week that saw volatile oil prices trigger selling across stocks and bonds. Among potential catalysts, traders will closely follow what emerges from a lunch meeting on AI safety risks between US President Donald Trump and industry leaders. A busy stretch of economic data also kicks off with the release of the August job openings report. Traders will parse remarks from six Federal Reserve speakers for clues on the rate outlook at a time when markets are pricing as many as four hikes over the next 12 months

For traders, the current backdrop is tricky to navigate. Mounting risks from oil prices and interest rates have prompted some investors to pause aggressively building positions and wait for a clearer signal to re-engage, according to Bloomberg. US long-term net asset inflows fell in August versus the previous month, driven by lower passive inflows, according to JPMorgan, citing Morningstar data. Equity inflows declined to $11 billion from $39 billion in July.

The AI trade is also getting more complicated. OpenAI scrapped the debut of its GPT-6.1 Astra model while it establishes stronger safeguards, while Anthropic warned of “existential risks to humanity” in an IPO prospectus, Reuters reported. Both will remain in focus today, with OpenAI’s DevDay in San Francisco, including Sam Altman’s keynote at 1 p.m. ET, and Anthropic and Nvidia CEOs due to attend a lunch with Trump to discuss AI risks.

“We’ve had some rather large moves over the last few days or so, and we’ll have the ultimate data trigger in the form of non-farm payrolls heading into Friday, so I think it makes sense for positions to be squared,” said Geoff Yu, a senior macro strategist at BNY. “Also worth bearing in mind it’s month-end, so there will be these passive transactions which are not aligned to data.”

Worries that AI may cause harm have also moved to the fore, leading some industry executives, including Anthropic PBC head Dario Amodei, to call for a slowdown in the technology’s development. As Amodei and others prepare to meet Trump, traders will also listen what OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has to say about the issue at the group’s annual developer conference. The ChatGPT chatbot owner is holding back a version of its Astra model to put stronger guardrails in place.

The impact of rising inflation was on display Tuesday when Australia’s central bank lifted borrowing costs to the highest level in about 15 years. In Spain, inflation moved further above the European Central Bank’s 2% target, reinforcing the case for higher euro-area rates.

Macro data include JOLTS and consumer confidence, which Bloomberg Economics expect to show muted labor demand and subdued household sentiment. There’s also half a dozen Fed speakers, including two closely watched voters. Barr, who called for additional rate hikes last week, is speaking on the economic outlook in Detroit, and Williams, who has said more work is needed to lower inflation, will deliver keynote remarks in Buffalo.

European stocks are benefiting from the drop in oil, with the Stoxx 600 up 0.4% as cyclicals outperform defensives. Sentiment was also lifted as investors pared bets on rate hikes from the European Central Bank, with Julius Baer Group surging after Swiss regulatory action against the bank ended. Here are the biggest movers Tuesday:

  • Julius Baer surges as much as 8.8% to a new all-time high after Finma said the wealth manager must hold CHF250 million in additional capital, less than previously required, as it ended its enforcement procedure. The Swiss firm has also sought approval for a share buyback program.
  • Vesuvius shares gain as much as 32%, the most since 1990, after the metallurgical engineering firm announced a cash-and-shares offer from RHI Magnesita
  • Close Brothers shares rise 13% after the specialized lender reported full-year earnings that beat expectations. Costs came in better than forecast, while loan growth accelerated in the second half
  • Hapag-Lloyd gains as much as 5.3% after the German container shipper raised its full-year guidance. JPMorgan attributed the boost to shipping rates remaining at elevated levels
  • Hemnet gains as much as 5.9%, the most in two weeks, after the Swedish property listings platform announced a series of operational changes, including the introduction of two new free entry-level listing formats
  • Pepco Group gains as much as 5.1% in Warsaw after the discount retailer reported an acceleration in like-for-like sales, increased its earnings guidance and unveiled a new buyback
  • Legrand gains as much as 7.8%, the most since April 8, after the electrical device specialist updated its financial targets through to 2030 at its capital markets day in Singapore
  • Lindt & Sprüngli’s participation certificates fall as much as 9%, the most since March, after cutting its full-year 2026 organic sales growth forecast to 0%–2% from a prior range of 4%–6%
  • Rentokil shares fall as much as 2.4% after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to equalweight from overweight. Morgan Stanley says the US pest control “narrative is unravelling and may have peaked”
  • Shares in French airports and highways operators drop in heavy trading after news that the government is considering increasing taxes on transport infrastructure in its 2027 budget
  • Accelleron Industries sares drop as much as 4.3% as Barclays starts coverage of the turbocharger manufacturer with a “contrarian” underweight, giving the stock its only negative analyst rating
  • Pharming drops as much as 6.7% after announcing that Fabrice Chouraqui will step down as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect

Asian stocks headed for a second straight day of losses as a lack of progress in US-Iran talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz kept oil prices elevated. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined as much as 1.2% before paring some losses. Financials tracked US peers lower and were the biggest drags among sectors on the regional benchmark. MediaTek’s 7.1% slide, which was the largest in two months and followed a recent run-up in the stock, also weighed on the gauge as Taiwan markets resumed trading after holidays. Most of the national benchmarks in Asia fell on Tuesday. In China, the CSI 300 Index ended little changed, while property stocks rallied after the nation’s cabinet said it will study new policies to stabilize the real estate market, promote employment and boost domestic demand in response to issues emerging in the economy. The CSI benchmark had slumped to its lowest level in more than a year on Monday. Here are the most notable Asian movers

  • Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals’ shares gain as much as 3.7% in Shanghai after it agreed to license obesity and diabetes drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal valued at up to $2.6 billion, according to an HKEX filing.
  • RoboTechnik Intelligent Technology Co. shares fell on their trading debut in Hong Kong in one of the city’s busiest days for new listings.
  • Chugai Pharmaceutical shares fall as much as 2.8% to the lowest in about a month after the Japanese company said the clinical development of emugrobart for obesity will be discontinued.
  • PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia shares extend their drop by another 14%, following a similar decline on Monday that came after Indonesia Stock Exchange removed its 50-rupiah price floor.
  • Guangzhou Automobile Group shares jump after the company announced plans to acquire a 50% stake in FAW Toyota through share issuance, according to a filing to Shanghai Stock Exchange.
  • Akeso shares rise as much as 13% after AstraZeneca said it would invest $2b in Summit Therapeutics, a partner of the Hong Kong-listed company.
  • UBTech’s shares drop as much as 4.8% in Hong Kong after JPMorgan downgrades to neutral from underweight, reflecting a more cautious stance on humanoid robot manufacturers.

Asia’s equity benchmark is now down 1.3% in September as rising oil prices, surging bond yields, volatility in high-flying AI stocks and growing odds for more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have combined to sour sentiment. Even so, the index is up more than 20% in 2026, heading for a fourth straight annual gain. Meanwhile, Indian equities are breaking through a series of long-held technical support levels as a selloff gathers pace in a market once considered an emerging-market darling. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index has fallen for seven straight weeks and broken through its 200-day moving average on a weekly basis for the first time in six years.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is gaining further ground, up 0.2%, pressuring EUR/USD lower toward its year-to-date low. Aussie dollar finds itself near the foot of the G10 leaderboard after a hawkish RBA hike was followed up by a more dovish tone from Governor Bullock.

In rates, treasury futures are higher in early US session after erasing losses, with oil prices extending their retreat from Monday’s highs.US yields drop near session lows across the curve, with 10-year borrowing costs down 2bps to 5.21%. European yields are lower.US two- to 10-year yields are about 2bp richer with longer tenors lagging, steepening 5s30s spread by around 1bp on the day. 10-year is around 5.22% with bunds and gilts in the sector outperforming by 2bp and 3bp respectively. UK gilts outperformed European peers as markets waited for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to address the ruling Labour Party in Liverpool. Officials expect Burnham could signal he wants to begin a conversation about reforming the state pension to help pay for social care. IG dollar issuance slate includes a couple of names so far. Kroger was the sole issuer to tap the US primary market Monday, raising $1.5 billion while at least four others elected to stand down. Paramount is expected to announce the US dollar leg of a debt sale as soon as Tuesday after holding investor outreach Monday. US session includes consumer confidence gauge, JOLTs job openings data and comments by six Fed officials.  

In commodities,  WTI futures are on session lows, having added to losses after comments from the Qatar Foreign Ministry on possible US-Iran solutions. Brent crude is down 2% and trading around $104/bbl after advancing as high as $107.87/bbl in the European morning. There was no obvious news driver behind the dip but it follows a familiar recent pattern. Bitcoin is up 0.5%. 

Today's US economic data slate includes July FHFA house price index and S&P Cotality home prices (9 a.m.), September consumer confidence and August JOLTS job openings (10 a.m.) and September Dallas Fed services activity (10:30 a.m.). Fed speaker slate includes Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman (11 a.m.), Governor Barr (12:40 p.m.), Chicago’s Goolsbee (1 p.m.), St. Louis’s Musalem (1:30 p.m.), New York’s Williams (2 p.m.) and Governor Waller (3 p.m.)

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

  • Iran’s ability to choke off oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz—and use that as leverage in talks with the U.S.—is breaking down, raising the risk it will resort to military escalation to bolster its position. WSJ
  • Crude oil exports from key Middle East producers rebounded in September to 16.328 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest since the US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February, data from Kpler showed on Monday, as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates boosted exports. RTRS
  • President Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release Iranian frozen funds in return for concrete Iranian steps regarding the nuclear program, U.S. officials say. But Trump took to Truth Social Monday evening to say such reports were "untrue." Axios
  • Nvidia has held talks with insurance companies about shouldering the risks of lending against its chips as chief executive Jensen Huang pushes to unlock more demand for its semiconductors beyond Big Tech groups. FT
  • China pledged more support for its slowing economy, including tapping unused local bond quotas and expanding central bank relending. Beijing will also subsidize interest payments for first-home mortgages. BBG
  • A US import ban on certain Canadian motorcycles, alcoholic beverages and whey products took effect after Ottawa imposed retaliatory tariffs. The affected trade is relatively small at about $1 billion. BBG
  • South Korea's Finance Minister said closely monitoring the bond market and will conduct treasury bond buyback if bond yields rise excessively: BBG
  • Australia’s central bank has raised interest rates to the highest level in 15 years as the war in the Middle East fuels inflation and adds to economic uncertainty. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday increased its main borrowing rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.6%, its fourth rate rise this year, as higher fuel prices fed into costs of goods and services. FT
  • Japan’s 40-year government bond auction drew its strongest demand in six years as elevated yields lured investors back to the nation’s longest-dated debt, offering a potential reprieve to fragile global markets. BBG
  • Spanish inflation rose for an eighth month in a row in September, accelerating beyond the eurozone average as its economy continues to outperform. WSJ
  • September’s living up to its reputation for typically being the worst month for Treasuries. History suggests October will offer little relief, especially with the US-Iran war, fiscal concerns and a hawkish Fed. BBG

Iran Latest

  • Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi said Tehran discussed proposals with Qatari mediators to present to the US, and response is to be relayed to Tehran through Qatari mediators, adds conditions set by Supreme Leader must be met to reopen Strait of Hormuz. If the US wants a deal or peace, Iran has offered a solution. He will fly to Tehran in a few hours, and the Qataris will know how to reach us whenever they have the answer. Expects US response on Tuesday. Communications and messages exchanged by Qatari and Pakistani mediators have always been, but now they have taken a more serious form due to the plan presented by Iran.
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Iran's positions have not changed and conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz are clear, while their position on other matters is clear. Hopeful the US' final answer will be conveyed via Qatari "by tomorrow".
  • Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said media reported about the content of consultations with the Qatari mediator are baseless speculation, noting such accounts have no basis in reality and no discussion of the details of the issues took place.
  • Iran Foreign Ministry Iranian delegation met with Qatar mediator on Monday afternoon at the UNGA, adds media speculation on Qatar talks is false and that there were no talks held on detailed issues with Qatari mediator. said:. Iran delegation will depart New York for Tehran on Monday night.
  • Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei said no negotiations will begin until the US fulfils its commitments in the Islamabad understanding, while he stated that Iranian diplomats lack permission for bilateral or trilateral talks in the current situation. said:. US failed to release blocked funds after Islamabad deal.
  • UN Secretary-General Guterres requested in a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi for a continuation of negotiations to achieve peace, according to Fars News Agency.
  • US President Trump posted "Axios just released a story that “Trump” offered Sanctions Relief and Frozen Funds to Iran. This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios’ story, like most others, is a HOAX". Full post "Axios just released a story that “Trump” offered Sanctions Relief and Frozen Funds to Iran. This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios’ story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome. They should withdraw this fake story, IMMEDIATELY!".

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks were mostly subdued following the weak handover from Wall Street, where the major indices were pressured as oil prices and yields continued to climb, amid a slew of conflicting geopolitical headlines. ASX 200 traded rangebound with the index kept afloat for most of the session amid outperformance in the local tech, mining and materials industries, but with the upside limited after disappointing Household Spending and with mild pressure seen after the RBA hiked rates as expected and stuck to the hawkish script. Nikkei 225 underperformed and tested the 65,000 level to the downside, with the declines led by weakness in refiner and power-related stocks. KOSPI was choppy with the index ultimately dragged lower by the tech giants amid recent upside in yields, while South Korea's Finance Minister noted they are closely monitoring the bond market and will conduct a treasury bond buyback if bond yields rise excessively. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp traded mixed with Hong Kong pressured amid weakness in some autonames and as fast fashion retailer Shein slumped after it reported its H1 oper. profit fell by over 50% Y/Y, while the mainland was resilient after the PBoC and government agencies issued guidance to expand capacity and improve the quality of China’s service sector through financial support, and China also asked local governments to pilot high-quality policies to boost consumption.

Top Asian News

  • China has asked local governments to pilot high-quality policies to boost consumption, according to SCMP.
  • Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara said multi-layered Japan-China communication is important.

European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.5%) are broadly firmer this morning, with sentiment buoyed by increased hopes of US-Iran diplomacy – although uncertainty remains (see commodities for details). The energy complex has waned off best levels throughout the London morning, which has also helped lift the equities complex. European sectors hold a positive bias. Tech takes the top spot, reversing some of the pressure seen in the prior session. Industrials and Basic Resources complete the top three, with the latter rebounding from the pressure seen on Monday. To the downside, Food Beverage & Tobacco is joined by Energy and Optimised Personal Care.

Top European News

  • UK PM Burnham has been warned by one of Britain’s largest unions that scrapping the triple lock on state pensions to help fund free social care for the elderly would be “electoral suicide” amid growing cabinet splits, reported The Times.

FX

  • DXY is firmer after strengthening on Monday alongside higher US yields, with the Buck supported by elevated energy prices and continued Fed tightening expectations. DXY briefly rose from around 101.30 to above 101.38 in recent trade before paring slightly despite a dip in yields at the time, with the index currently towards session highs in a 101.17-101.44 range.
  • EUR/USD is softer as the Dollar strengthens, with the pair extending below 1.1350 and trading towards the bottom of a 1.1343-1.1374 range. Spanish CPI printed hotter than expected at 4.9% Y/Y (exp. 4.7%, prev. 4.3%), with Core CPI also rising to 3.1% from 2.9%, although the data provided little support to the Single Currency.
  • GBP is softer against the Dollar and trades towards the lower end of a 1.3227-1.3258 range. Sterling-specific newsflow centres on PM Burnham’s Labour conference speech later, where reports suggest he will edge the party closer towards rejoining the EU and signal an end to the pensions triple lock, although price action thus far remains largely driven by the firmer Dollar.
  • JPY is broadly flat against the Dollar but outperforming most G10 peers, with USD/JPY trading around the middle of a 157.20-157.59 range. Japanese Finance Minister Katayama reiterated that the undervalued Yen is problematic and said Japan and the US agreed to bolster cooperation on FX after discussions with Treasury Secretary Bessent.
  • Antipodeans underperform, led by AUD following the RBA. The Bank unanimously hiked rates by 25bps to 4.60% and retained the option of further tightening, but Governor Bullock subsequently struck a more dovish-than-usual tone, saying she hopes the four hikes delivered this year will be restrictive enough to slow inflation and that further hikes may not be needed if inflation comes down. AUD/USD fell from 0.7021 during the press conference to a 0.6973 low and remains close to session lows. NZD is also softer against the Dollar.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Katayama said exchanged views on FX trends with US Treasury Secretary Bessent on Friday and agreed to bolster cooperation, adds we believe the undervalued yen, in general, is problematic. said:. Will continue close communications with US Treasury to ensure orderly Forex markets. PM Takaichi's administration is not reflationary. Closely monitoring bond markets. Interest rates are determined by markets. Will communicate closely with bond markets and conduct appropriate debt management policy. Will communicate closely with market participants while maintaining high sense of urgency.

Central Banks

  • RBA Governor Bullock said inflationary pressures to last longer than expected; inflation is driven by domestic capacity pressures; Board will raise rates again if needed.
  • RBA hikes the Cash Rate by 25bps to 4.60%, as expected with the decision unanimous, while it stated inflation remains elevated and some of the upside risks in August are materialising.
  • ECB’s Kazimir said the rate hike was unavoidable, energy prices remain a key factor, and January repricing will be key for him; ECB needs flexibility, it has enough time.
  • PBoC injected CNY 90.5bln via 7-day reverse repos and CNY 698.5bln in overnight reverse repos.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.7411 vs Exp. 6.7177 (prev. 6.7399).
  • Indonesia's central bank said rupiah weakens on higher global inflation and oil price risk., adds rupiah depreciation is due to worries about global inflation and fiscal risk amid high crude prices and interest rates.

Fixed Income

  • A firmer start to the day, but the magnitudes vary significantly. USTs near-enough flat, awaiting an update on the geopolitical front; as it stands, Iran has suggested that a final response from the US could be presented to them by the US via Qatari mediators. Though, details on that remain light. Nonetheless, and despite relatively punchy (but familiar) Iranian rhetoric, energy has eased off highs across the morning.
  • USTs flat in 104-08+ to 104-19 parameters. Aside from the above, the day features a handful of Fed speakers that may prove pertinent in addition to the latest JOLTS and confidence data stateside.
  • Bunds firmer by around 20 ticks at the time of writing, a few ticks shy of Monday’s 119.71 peak thus far. Specifics for the space are a little light, no move to ECB speak or a handful of data points. Otherwise, focus remains on the energy complex, and particularly TTF which continues to ease but remains well above EUR 70/MWh.
  • Gilts outperform, firmer by c. 50 ticks at best, but have eased modestly off the 84.44 peak across the morning. Outperformance comes ahead of the 14:00BST speech by UK PM Burnham at the Labour Party Conference. A speech that is expected to touch on a number of topics as part of his plan for the UK ahead.
  • Particular focus will be on the triple lock, reports hint that he will open the door to an end to this in his speech, by signalling a review of it as part of the next Labour manifesto. Reporting that drives Gilts higher, as the fiscal cost of the commitment is already significant and is projected to increase markedly in the years ahead. However, it remains to be seen if there is the political/public appetite for this, and what measure(s) Burnham will have to provide to offset the hit to pensioners. For reference, projections for the lock suggest it will cost over GBP 15bln/yr in 2030.
  • Italy sold EUR 6.5bln (vs exp. EUR 5.5-6.5bln) 3.95% 2032 and 4.00% 2036 BTPs.
  • UK sold GBP 4.25bln 4.875% 2036 Gilt: b/c 3.34x (prev. 3.65x), average yield 5.383% (prev. 5.155%), tail 0.5bps (prev. 0.1bps).
  • Deutsche Telekom (DTE GY) files to sell EUR 1.5bln three-parter.
  • Japan sold JPY 300bln in 40-year JGBs; b/c 3.10x (prev. 2.82x), highest accepted yield 4.125% (prev. 3.865%). Price at the highest accepted yield 93.69 (prev. 98.68).

Commodities

  • WTI Nov and Brent Dec futures are modestly firmer/flat but off earlier highs as traders continue to digest conflicting US-Iran developments (see below). WTI trades towards the lower end of a USD 92.44-94.74/bbl range, while Brent similarly sits near the bottom of a USD 97.62-100.28/bbl range, albeit both firmer intraday.
  • Dutch TTF is softer, pulling back from earlier highs despite continued concerns around European energy security. The European Commission has asked member states to consider measures to reduce gas and electricity demand for as long as necessary. TTF is choppy but currently towards the middle of a EUR 71.65-73.10/MWh range.
  • Precious metals are firmer as they attempt to recover some of Monday’s heavy losses, helped by the modest pullback in global yields this morning. Spot gold trades towards the upper end of a USD 4,113-4,149/oz range, although fundamentals remain against the yellow metal amid high energy prices and expectations of further Fed tightening. Spot silver is flat towards the middle of a narrow USD 60.29-61.03/oz range.
  • Base metals are softer, with the complex remaining near recent lows amid subdued risk sentiment and ahead of China’s holiday period. 3M LME copper sits at the bottom of a USD 14,391-14,518/t range, while COMEX copper is lower by around 0.6%.
  • In geopolitics, Iran expects a US response today to its latest proposal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, although reports of Tehran showing flexibility on its nuclear position were denied by Iranian officials, while Trump also denied offering sanctions relief or frozen funds in return for nuclear concessions. This morning, Iran’s Parliament Speaker warned that if Iran cannot sell oil, no one in the region will sell oil, while an explosion was reported involving a commercial vessel in the Strait and Houthis reportedly attacked oil facilities in Yanbu. On the supply side, Saudi Arabia has resumed crude loading from Yanbu following partial repairs to the East-West pipeline.
  • Gas production in Iran's South Pars Phase 11 reaches 1bln cubic feet, IRIB reported.
  • Iraqi Oil Ministry announces the start of trial operations for the storage capacity project at the Nasiriyah gas depot, INA reported.
  • EU Energy Commissioner Jorgensen said they do not want to relax methane rules, but rather to delay their implementation.
  • Spanish Energy Minister said that Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg sent a letter to the Commission asking for a new renewable energy capacity. Spain wants the EU to consider measures to capture windfall profits from high energy prices. Spain is still waiting for a response to the proposal. Spain wants a permanent levy on the oil and gas industry to raise climate funds.
  • Syria said gas pipeline fire between Al-Shola and Deir al-Zour caused by sabotage, while efforts underway to extinguish fire and fire stopped gas supply from Jbeissa plant to power stations.
  • British government is said to be privately lobbying the Trump administration for an exemption should the US impose any diesel export ban, according to sources.
  • IEA Chief Birol said Europe is one of the regions most exposed to the degrading diesel market, which the IEA is monitoring closely. IEA will discuss with member governments whether more strategic reserve releases are needed. IEA is discussing the situation with countries.

Trade/Tariffs: 

  • Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) are lobbying US President Trump's administration to stop lawmakers from curbing exports to China, Politico reported citing sources; asking that lawmakers hold off on the China-related chip export restriction in the defence bill. The legislation in question has bipartisan support.
  • US import bans on a range of Canadian products, including alcoholic beverages, dairy ingredients and some motorcycles, took effect as scheduled.

Geopolitics: Ukraine

  • Estonian official said Russia was behind an arson attack on defence maker Milrem Robotics.
  • Ukraine's air force reported guided bombs striking the Kharkiv region.
  • Russian President Putin orders an increase in the size of the Russian army.
  • FT reporter posted after a day of relentless drone attacks, Russia is now hitting Kyiv with a wave of ballistic missiles and several explosions have shaken Ukraine's capital in the last few minutes.

Geopolitics: Iran

  • Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said if Iran cannot sell oil, no one in the region will sell oil, and warns that if Iran’s security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, ISNA reported.
  • IRGC reiterates that Iran will never seek a nuclear weapon, Al Jazeera reported; reiterates conflict takes a different form and will bring new weapons to the field. Most of the American bases in the region have been destroyed and can no longer be used again.
  • US Secretary of State Rubio tells Fox News Iran has threatened to attack our interests around the world and we are taking those threats very seriously, while he warned there will be repercussions if American interests are attacked.
  • Iran Supreme Leader senior adviser warned that if Iran is attacked by the US again, the confrontation will expand to new fronts, according to Press TV.
  • Iranian MP said before any negotiations, the US must accept Iran's conditions, reported Fars.
  • An explosion was reported in the Strait of Hormuz, which is said to be a commercial ship attempting to pass through the southern route of the Strait, Fars reported citing Ambrey.

Other:

  • Houthis reportedly attacked oil facilities in Yanbu on the Red Sea with a large number of ballistic missiles and drones; satellites showed several giant oil storage tanks at the Al-Mu'ajiz terminal in southern Saudi Arabia ablaze, Al Akhbar reported. According to an economic source close to the Ansar Allah movement, who spoke to Al-Akhbar, Sana'a forces have designated Aramco assets in Jizan, Najran, and Yanbu, valued at USD 100bln, as legitimate targets in the current round of fighting. This phase will be followed by the addition of strategic facilities of equal importance to Aramco's to their target bank.
  • Intelligence sources say that Houthis expand target bank in Saudi Arabia, according to ILNA.
  • N12's Lipkin reported that the commander of Hama's northern Gaza Strip brigade was "eliminated".
  • US Treasury Department said Treasury Secretary Bessent met with Lebanon's PM today, while he urged Lebanon to disrupt Iran and Hezbollah networks.
  • US Secretary of State Rubio told Lebanon's PM, we support a sovereign Lebanese state free from the harmful influence of Hezbollah and Iran. said:. Tripartite framework is the only way to achieve lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel.
  • US Secretary of State Rubio urges Cuba to choose a different path and said the US will not tolerate threat to national security.
  • Riyadh airspace experienced threat disruption and flight suspensions with planes held in holding pattern over Riyadh for about 20 minutes, according to SNN.
  • North Korea said US approval for South Korea's nuclear submarine increases regional instability.

US Event Calendar

  • 9:00 am: Jul FHFA House Price Index MoM, est. 0.1%, prior 0%
  • 10:00 am: Sep Conf. Board Consumer Confidence, est. 89, prior 89.4
  • 10:00 am: Aug JOLTS Job Openings, est. 7227.5k, prior 7271k

Central Bank Speakers 

  • 11:00 am: Fed’s Bowman Delivers Opening Remarks
  • 12:40 pm: Fed’s Barr Speaks On Economic Outlook
  • 1:00 pm: Fed’s Goolsbee Speaks in Moderated Discussion
  • 1:30 pm: Fed’s Musalem Speaks on US Economy
  • 2:00 pm: Fed’s Williams Gives Keynote Remarks
  • 3:00 pm: Fed’s Waller Speaks on Payments System

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

The relentless bond selloff has shown no sign of easing, with a fresh rise in yields overnight as oil prices keep moving higher. The immediate driver was the weekend news that President Trump had rejected Iran’s proposal. So Brent crude was up +0.92% yesterday to $105.28/bbl, and this morning it’s up another +1.92% to $107.30/bbl. And as concerns have mounted about persistent inflation, that’s pushed yields up to multi-year highs once again. In fact, yesterday saw the 10yr Treasury yield (+7.6bps) close at 5.24%, and this morning it’s up further to 5.26%. So we’re not far off the 2007 closing peak of 5.29%, which would then be its highest level since 2002 if that’s surpassed. Moreover, yesterday started to see growing pressure on risk assets as well, as the S&P 500 fell -0.77%, whilst US and European HY spreads reached their widest levels since April.

Those oil moves were the main catalyst for the latest bond moves, as the weekend headlines made clear that both the US and Iran remained far from an immediate deal. After all, Trump said on Saturday that “They made a proposal but I rejected it”. And Iran’s foreign minister Araghchi said on Sunday that “we have no reason to come back to diplomacy and engage with this administration once again”. So when oil markets reopened again yesterday, that immediately drove a fresh jump.

To be fair, there were some signs of potential progress, as Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with mediators in New York yesterday, according to Iran’s ISNA. And later on, we saw similar reports by CNN and then Axios that Trump was open to sanctions relief and releasing frozen Iranian funds if there was “concrete” progress by Iran on the nuclear issue. So coupled with the news that Saudi Arabia has restored about half the flows through its East-West pipeline, this helped Brent pull back to flat on the day after trading as much as +4.5% higher. But then into the close, oil prices moved higher again as Trump denied the Axios story, while Iran’s Press TV claimed that reports of Iranian flexibility in nuclear talks were false.

Given all the rhetoric from both sides, investors have become more pessimistic since last week’s hopes about some kind of negotiated deal around the UN. In general, there’s been a growing awareness that hopes for a US-Iran deal have been repeatedly dashed in recent months, and that scepticism about the Strait of Hormuz reopening any time soon has led investors to price a longer period of high prices into next year. For instance, the December 2027 Brent future (+0.22%) closed at a new high of $80.29/bbl yesterday, and this morning it’s up again to $80.67/bbl. So for markets it wasn’t just a story about front-end prices yesterday, but a more protracted period of high oil prices stretching well into 2027.

This inflation momentum led investors to price in a more hawkish path for central banks, with growing expectations of a Fed rate hike at their next meeting. Indeed, as we go to press this morning, futures are pricing in a 73% chance of an October hike. And further out, markets are now pricing in the most hawkish path to date for the coming months, with 93bps of hikes now priced by the June 2027 meeting. Those moves came as Fed Governor Cook said that the labour market appears well positioned to handle higher rates, suggesting it is “roughly in balance and gradually improving.”

With markets pricing in more rate hikes and energy prices up yet again, that put even more pressure on Treasuries across the curve. Among others, the 10yr yield (+7.6bps) moved up to 5.24% by the close, leaving it not far away from its 2007 closing peak of 5.29%. Indeed, if it surpasses that milestone, it would then be the highest 10yr yield since 2002. Elsewhere, yesterday also saw the 2yr yield (+7.9bps) rise to 4.93%, the highest since 2024, and the 30yr yield (+5.6bps) rose to a new post-2004 high of 5.55%. And once again, it was real yields driving most of the increase, with 10yr real yields (+7.1bps) reaching a new post-2008 high of 2.89%.

Over in Europe it was much the same story, with yields also hitting multi-year highs across the continent. That included 10yr bunds (+4.1bps), which hit a post-2009 high of 3.64%, whilst 10yr OATs (+7.8bps) hit a post-2008 high of 4.77%, and 10yr gilts (+5.6bps) hit a post-2007 high of 5.42%. Moreover, there was also a widening in sovereign bond spreads, with the Franco-German 10yr spread up to a post-2012 high of 113bps. The last time it was that wide was just a few weeks before Mario Draghi delivered his famous “whatever it takes” speech that was seen as a turning point in the Euro crisis.

That backdrop also hit equities on both sides of the Atlantic, with the major indices generally moving lower. In the US, the S&P 500 (-0.77%) fell in a broad-based decline, with matters not helped by a larger fall for the Magnificent 7 (-1.72%). Nevertheless, some of the defensive sectors managed to post modest gains, including consumer staples (+0.40%), healthcare (+0.29%) and energy (+0.21%). Meanwhile in Europe, the STOXX 600 (+0.005%) inched up by less than a basis point, as strong gains for equities in the Netherlands, Austria and Greece helped to outweigh declines in the larger countries, with the DAX (-0.13%) and the FTSE 100 (-0.10%) both falling.
There were also signs of stress in other risk assets yesterday, as IG and HY credit spreads widened to levels last seen in April in both the US and Europe. So by the close, US IG (+2bps) and HY (+9bps) had both seen a notable jump, as had European IG (+3bps) and HY (+9bps). Moreover, that comes after US HY saw its biggest weekly widening last week (+27bps) since October last year.

This trend has generally continued overnight, with many indices in Asia lower this morning, including the Nikkei (-1.24%), the KOSPI (-0.93%) and the Hang Seng (-0.63%). The main exception to this is in mainland China, where the CSI 300 (+0.03%) and the Shanghai Comp (+0.08%) have posted very modest advances. Meanwhile, the rise in bond yields has also continued, with Japan’s 10yr yield (+0.8bps) up to 3.07% this morning. That said, despite the selloff, Japan’s 40yr government bond auction still attracted the strongest demand since 2020, with the bid-to-cover ratio at 3.1, up from 2.82 at the previous auction.

Otherwise overnight, the hawkish newsflow has continued, as the Reserve Bank of Australia delivered a 25bp rate hike, which takes its cash rate target to 4.60%. The move was expected by markets, and its statement said that “inflation is still too high” and they would be willing to raise “the cash rate target further if needed.” Meanwhile, Australia’s 10yr government bond yield is up +0.2bps this morning at a post-2011 high of 5.42%.

Looking at the day ahead, US data releases include the JOLTS report for August, the FHFA’s house price index for July, and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence for September. Otherwise, we’ll get UK mortgage approvals for August, and the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator for the Euro Area in September. Then, from central banks, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Bowman, Barr, Goolsbee, Musalem, Williams and Waller, the ECB’s Kazimir, Nagel, Escriva, Cipollone, and the BoE’s Mann and Taylor.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 08:39

Hurricane Polo Pounds Baja, Threatens To Swing Its Moisture Across US Southwest

Hurricane Polo Pounds Baja, Threatens To Swing Its Moisture Across US Southwest

Hurricane Polo made landfall in Mexico's Baja California Sur as a Category 2 hurricane before weakening to Category 1, with maximum sustained winds around 80 mph.

Forecasters are now tracking the massive plume of tropical moisture associated with Polo, which could bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding to the southwestern US, with all eyes on Texas.

The danger for the US is that the massive plume of tropical moisture is expected to spread across the Four Corners region and into the Central Plains, raising the risk of significant flash flooding.

"Two areas stand out in the latest 7-day forecast. Portions of Texas and Oklahoma could see localized 5-8" totals, while another corridor from Nebraska into Iowa could pick up localized 3-6". With multiple rounds of rain possible, totals could add up quickly where heavier bands repeatedly track over the same locations increasing flooding concerns," private weather forecaster BAM Weather wrote on X.

Weather influencer Max Velocity wrote on X, "This is insane... I can't remember the last time I saw this much rain forecasted for such a large area in the United States."

The plume of tropical moisture should provide welcome relief from severe drought conditions across the southwestern US.

The National Weather Service has issued flood watches across parts of 11 states, including much of Arizona and New Mexico, covering more than 14 million Americans.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 08:35

Tether Says It Helped Freeze $550M In Iran-Linked USDT This Year

Tether Says It Helped Freeze $550M In Iran-Linked USDT This Year

Authored by Felix Ng via Cointelegraph,

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it helped authorities freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT during 2026, as a Senate Democrat called for an investigation into the stablecoin issuer on Monday.

In a statement on Monday, the company said it has been working closely with international law enforcement for years. This year alone, it froze more than $130 million in USDT across four wallets, and in April, it froze more than $344 million linked to the Central Bank of Iran.

"Tether has consistently demonstrated that USDT is not a haven for sanctioned actors, terrorist organizations or criminal networks," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

The statement from Tether came as Democratic investigators on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report alleging USDT had become a key channel for Iran to evade sanctions.

Investigators found that 84% of 846 crypto wallets sanctioned over ties to Iran had transacted exclusively or nearly exclusively in USDT. The findings prompted US Senator Richard Blumenthal to call on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate potential sanctions violations.

Tether said its cooperation with authorities globally had resulted in more than $4.9 billion in assets being frozen, including more than $2.4 billion connected to US authorities.

"The record is public: the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, HSI, OFAC and authorities around the world have repeatedly worked with Tether to trace, freeze and recover assets. We will continue to make that capability available to authorities working to stop terrorism, sanctions evasion, fraud and other serious crimes," Ardoino said.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 08:20

Trump Uses Recission "Loophole" To Cut Nearly $1 Billion In Funds For Illegals

Trump Uses Recission "Loophole" To Cut Nearly $1 Billion In Funds For Illegals

To summarize the Democrat Party's current strategy on immigration, here is essentially how it works: 

Whenever in power, they create billions in incentives and subsidies to entice third world migrants to flood the US en masse.  With open borders and amnesty programs, moving 10 million or more illegals at a time into the country is easy and fast.  When out of power, they use lawfare and political obstruction to prevent deportations and slow down the process.  

In other words, make immigration easy and remigration nearly impossible.  Stall for four years, regain power during the next election while pro-deportation constituents whine and complain about the president "not doing enough", then repeat the process all over again.  Under the current system, it would take three full conservative presidential terms or more to undo what Democrats did in a single term.  That is the play they are relying on.

From 2017 to 2024, the Trump Administration faced 64 nationwide injunctions on immigration and deportation policies; 92% of them came from judges appointed by Democrat presidents.  

From 2025 to today, Trump has been blocked at least 86 times by activist judges nationwide or class-wide injunctions and major program pauses.  To put this in perspective, nationwide injunctions were extremely rare through the 20th Century.  Starting in 2000, the numbers increased, but nowhere near the level Trump has dealt with. 

George W Bush had only 6 injunctions from Democrat judges. Barack Obama had 12 injunctions from Republican judges.  Biden had 28 injunctions (largely because of his efforts to expand pandemic controls and enforce vaccine mandates). 

It is undeniable - The bureaucracy is being abused as a way to stop Trump from enacting normal policy decisions on immigration.  This forces the White House to exploit every legal loophole available just to get anything done in the next couple of years.  

Enter the "recission" method...

The White House has moved to cancel $810 million in already-approved federal spending through a rare budget tactic called a “pocket rescission.”  The administration frames it as cutting “wasteful and harmful” programs tied to noncitizens, DEI, and ideology.  Critics call it "illegal". 

The timing is what makes the decision controversial. The federal fiscal year ends September 30th. Under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, a president can propose canceling appropriated money and withhold it for 45 days while Congress considers the request.  By sending this package with only five days left, the White House is betting the money will expire before Congress can act. 

This is the second such move in about 50 years and both came in Trump’s second term. Last year the administration used the same tactic on $5 billion in foreign aid; the Supreme Court later allowed that effort to proceed 6–3, citing foreign-affairs authority.   

Legal challenges are still likely, but perhaps this situation will help to illustrate why the deportation process has been a grind.  Even with the constant interventions, deportations have skyrocketed by 30% in the past year to 80,000 illegals removed per month.  Trump should be commended for finding a way despite all the obstacles Democrats have put in place.     

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 06:55

Russia Tightens Secrecy On Energy Exports

Russia Tightens Secrecy On Energy Exports

Authored by Charles Kennedy via Oilprice.com,

Refinery production figures, export contracts and tanker routes are now off-limits to public reporting in Russia, under a decree Putin signed Monday, Reuters reported. The Kremlin points to unfriendly actions by Washington and its allies as the reason, and the restrictions took effect on signing, with the government given 10 days to define exactly which product codes are covered.

Data on refining volumes at Russian plants is now restricted, along with contract details, including product names, quantities, prices, buyers, sellers, payment terms, shipping routes, and vessel coordinates at export terminals. Customs statistics and planned sales volumes on commodity exchanges fall under the same rule. None of it can appear "through mass media or internet networks," per the decree text, unless a company chooses to disclose its own figures.

Moscow classified crude output data after annexing Crimea in 2014 and tightened that secrecy again after invading Ukraine in 2022. Monday's decree does the same for refining and logistics data, tying it directly to sanctions enforcement on the rationale that the less Western governments can verify independently, the harder the price cap is to police.

The timing lines up with a rough year for Russian refineries. Ukrainian drones have hit a Russian refinery every three days on average through the first eight months of 2026, and IEA figures put national throughput at 3.8 million barrels a day by June, down 30% from a year earlier and the lowest level in over two decades. Gasoline output is down roughly 20% and diesel nearly 30%, with fuel shortages reported across 92% of Russian regions.

Officials in Moscow describe the damage as under control. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this month that fuel supply had improved on additional refinery deliveries, while Putin himself has put the share of refineries still needing repairs at around 10%.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 06:30

Eight Marines Were Injured By Iranian Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Attack 2 Weeks Ago

Eight Marines Were Injured By Iranian Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Attack 2 Weeks Ago

Several days ago The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon quietly added dozens to its tally of American servicemembers wounded amid the Iran war.

Since March and hearkening back to the opening weeks of Operation Epic Fury, there's been an alleged constant Trump administration effort to conceal or at least downplay damage and casualties from Iranian retaliation strikes on US bases in the region.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth and top generals especially in the opening months tried to present the American public with a much rosier than the ground reality picture of how things are going in the new Middle East war.

via Associated Press

The Washington Post's Sept. 25 article noted in the wake of recent flare-ups in fighting from weeks ago: "The Pentagon’s public tally of troops wounded during the Iran war was quietly increased by 37 this week without explanation from the Defense Department."

"The increase includes 29 Navy sailors and eight Marines, according to a review of the Pentagon’s public database of personnel killed and wounded during U.S. conflicts and other military operations overseas," the report continued, referring to the official Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.

This set off an avalanche of speculation over the weekend, also as regional watchers considered whether prior attacks on US bases in Jordan resulted in more casualties than what's ever been publicly disclosed.

A Sunday NBC News report may have offered the answers needed. It cites officials who describe that eight US Marines were injured when an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile struck a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that they were operating on earlier this month.

The group of Marines are said to include seven enlisted troops and one officer - and reportedly suffered injuries which range from traumatic brain injuries to smoke inhalation:

Eight U.S. Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian cruise missile attacked the ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz, according to three U.S. officials. The Marines were not seriously injured, but they sustained smoke inhalation and possibly traumatic brain injuries, as they had symptoms of concussions, such as headaches, the officials said.

Further interesting is that NBC's sources made clear that when the attack happened, the Marines were not aboard a US Navy ship, which suggests they may have been operating incognito on an unmarked vessel, or else were possibly directly on a tanker being provided protection by the US Navy. Officials didn't specify the type of ship they were on, but only called it a "maritime vessel".

And Joe Kent, Trump's former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, says something similar...

Military.com in a fresh follow-up report has added more context as follows:

Eighteen service members have now died and over 800 Americans have been wounded in the conflict, according to the Pentagon's own data. Last week, Army officials told Military.com that Capt. Bianca C. Wilkerson, 37, of Norfolk, Va., died on Sept. 18 as a result of "a non-combat related incident." She was posthumously promoted to major.

NBC News reported that the Marines were not on a Navy ship, and that all returned to duty soon after the attacks. They were reportedly operating as part of a battalion landing team.

The attack is said to have occurred on Sept. 14 - and the new casualties were added to the Pentagon's Defense Casualty Analysis System almost ten days later. This is likely going to fuel more accusations of a broader US casualty cover-up amid the standoff with Iran.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 05:45

UK Pride Group "Captures" A 1,000-Year-Old Castle

UK Pride Group "Captures" A 1,000-Year-Old Castle

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

They called it "Capture the Castle." Not a picnic. Not a concert. Capture.

On Saturday morning a 1,000-year-old Norman fortress in Devon was wrapped in a 150-metre rainbow banner while organisers talked about occupying the ramparts and sending a message that the building now belongs to their cause. Nobody has to guess at the intent. They wrote it on the programme.

Totnes Castle sits at the highest point of the hilltop town. Founded around 1087 to lock down a crossing of the River Dart, it is one of England's best-preserved motte-and-bailey strongholds, a Grade I listed site in the care of English Heritage. On 26 September, as part of a four-day Totnes Pride festival, some 400 people gathered in the grounds while around 30 flag-bearers unfurled the giant Pride flag across the ancient masonry. The spectacle was billed as the defining image of the weekend.

Ceri Goddard of Totnes Pride told the BBC they wanted the festival to be "a bit different," and that covering "the iconic castle" would show that "queer people have always been here and we always will be." She said English Heritage had been "amazing, helping us plan," after a rehearsal to work through the logistics.

A Totnes Pride spokesman said: "Capture the Castle is the image that will define this year's festival, but what we've built around it is a genuinely ambitious arts and culture programme - over 40 events." The same statement talked of a town that "welcomes people from all walks of life." Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden praised the "scale, diversity and quality of the Pride festival Totnes has produced," and said it was "sending a clear message of equality and inclusion."

That is one reading. Another is the language the organisers chose for themselves. Their own programme invited people to "storm the Castle grounds," described local flag-bearers who would "invade" the ramparts, and framed the morning as the "most visible, bold and important civic moment" of the weekend.

Some residents were appalled. Local Ian Robinson wrote: "950 years of Norman history, medieval warfare, royal decrees and Civil War - all leading up to the moment we thought: 'You know what this ancient castle really needs? A 150-metre rainbow flag'. Because apparently nine and a half centuries of heritage wasn't quite colourful enough. Still, at least the tea room survived long enough to witness the decline."

Roofer Russell Blackaller, who works on listed buildings, pointed out the double standard inside planning law itself. People in Grade II houses, he said, "require formal consent sometimes purely to erect a scaffolding." Yet a Grade I monument was draped "purely to have a celebration."

Courtney Soleil put the civic point cleanly: "No one is saying people shouldn't be free to live as they choose, but not every historic landmark needs to be turned into a statement for the cause of the moment. This is a 950-year-old Norman castle and part of Britain's shared heritage." Historic monuments, she argued, should represent that shared history rather than "continually being used to promote one particular cause."

Christian Concern chief executive Andrea Minichiello Williams told The Telegraph: "The castle may have been captured in history, but today it is the town itself that feels captured - not by an army, but by an ideology that has taken hold of its public spaces and its culture, leaving little room for anyone who dares to disagree."

Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe was no gentler: "It is not 'homophobic' to label this as wildly naff and generally vomit-inducing." He added: "Sensible gay people despise the woke theatre of it all too, and just want to get on with their lives."

Indeed, in 2016 Totnes council took down a Union Flag because it was deemed "too noisy" when it flapped in the wind. In 2015 a planned permanent rainbow crossing was blocked by Devon County Council on traffic-safety grounds, but the instinct of the activists was already clear: the civic surface of the town is a canvas, except when the paint is red, white and blue.

Flying a British or English flag from that same castle would, of course, be treated as a provocation. Across the country the pattern is no longer subtle. Britain's biggest council has gone to the High Court seeking an injunction that could put people in prison for two years for attaching Union Flags and St George's Crosses to highway furniture, while Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, India and Jamaica flags have been hosted, lit up, or left flying.

 

English Heritage helped plan this latest rainbow eyesore. A sitting MP turned up to bless it. The keep that survived the Civil War is now a billboard for a faction that talks about invasion as if that were charming.

The national flags of the country that built the place are the ones that get the injunctions, the noise complaints, and the lectures about "community cohesion."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 05:00

Dutch Doctors Euthanize Two-Year-Old Toddler In First Case Of Its Kind

Dutch Doctors Euthanize Two-Year-Old Toddler In First Case Of Its Kind

A doctor in the Netherlands euthanized a toddler in what officials said is the country's first case involving a child under 12, and a government-appointed review panel concluded the physician acted "with due care."

The child, who was nearly 2 years old and suffering from severe medical conditions, died at the end of 2025, with details only becoming public this month after the supervising committee issued its finding.

The child was born at 26 weeks, suffered brain damage, and was later diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy and a severe form of infant epilepsy, according to the report. The child's parents requested termination of life after the attending physician concluded the child's suffering was unbearable and without hope of improvement.

Independent doctors first consulted in the case concluded the child was not in continuous unbearable suffering and that reasonable alternatives still existed. Rather than stopping there, the attending physician sought another opinion, and a second doctor signed off. The first consultants said palliative options and different medication might improve control of the child's epileptic seizures. The official report did not say death was imminent; it said the child's life expectancy was shortened and depended on potentially life-threatening complications.

Until 2024, Dutch rules covered termination of life for newborns and separate euthanasia requests from minors age 12 and older. A special regulation that took effect in 2024 created a framework for termination of life in children under 12, subject to strict medical-review requirements.

News of the Dutch case comes days after a shocking report from Canada, where an 83-year-old Christian grandmother in Ontario was euthanized under the country's Medical Assistance in Dying program this summer, and her family said she never gave her final consent.

Brigitte Stegemann died by lethal injection on July 10 at The Pearl, a care home in Cannifton, Ontario, after being diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer. Relatives said Stegemann, a devout Christian, had already turned down MAID because it went against her faith, telling them, "No, I don't want that," and that her wish was to die naturally.

Stegemann's granddaughter and longtime caregiver, Brigitte Kranendonk, said the process moved forward anyway and sped up while she was away on vacation.

Meanwhile...

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 04:15

South Korea Summons Acting Ukrainian Ambassador Over North Korean Prisoner Transfer Revelation

South Korea Summons Acting Ukrainian Ambassador Over North Korean Prisoner Transfer Revelation

Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times,

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine's acting ambassador to the country on Sept. 28 to convey Seoul's displeasure over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's revelation that two North Korean prisoners of war had been transferred to South Korea.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Seoul, South Korea, on June 8, 2026. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

South Korean First Vice Minister Park Yun-ju told acting Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Beshkin that despite a clear agreement to keep the repatriation confidential, Kyiv unilaterally revealed the move during Zelenskyy's speech to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last week, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The ministry further expressed strong regret over the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office's denial of the existence of the private agreement and has demanded an official explanation and apology from Kyiv, saying such actions seriously undermine trust between the two governments.

The Epoch Times contacted the South Korean and Ukrainian foreign ministries for comment but did not receive responses by publication time.

Zelenskyy revealed that the North Korean prisoners had been transferred to South Korea during his address to the UNGA on Sept. 23.

"Recently, we sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea," Zelenskyy said in his address to the United Nations.

"These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself. And he was shocked that fate didn't let him die.

"This is how they raise people in the North. It's reality. They take away their freedom. They take away their right to choose. And they drill into them that they must die, no matter what."

Since then, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his office have alleged that Ukraine breached a nondisclosure agreement between Seoul and Kyiv, designed to keep the transfer secret and protect the soldiers from potential repercussions.

Lee said in an X post the day after Zelenskyy's remarks to the U.N. that "state affairs should be conducted for the country and the people, not for the interests or popularity of the government or those in power."

"Of course there were internal arguments for disclosing the fact that the North Korean prisoners had been brought to South Korea, since it would clearly have helped recover the government's approval ratings," Lee said, but noted that "considering the various problems that disclosure would create, keeping it confidential was appropriate in every respect, and that is what was agreed."

He labeled the revelation about the prisoners' transfer "cruel and irresponsible," saying that he did not "know what circumstances the Ukrainian side may have had in disclosing this in violation of the confidentiality agreement, but it is deeply regrettable."

In a later statement from the South Korean Presidential Office on Sept. 27, senior presidential secretary for public relations Seong Ghi-hong also expressed "strong regret" over Zelenskyy's disclosure of the repatriation and the subsequent denial of any confidentiality agreement, according to Yonhap.

Seong said the Ukrainian government had asked for confidentiality, as the revelation could spark domestic criticism over Kyiv giving up the chance to exchange the North Korean prisoners for Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia.

Seoul agreed to keep the repatriation confidential because of security, diplomatic, and humanitarian concerns, including the safety of the prisoners and their families still in the north, he said.

Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025, with Zelenskyy at the time describing the pair as the first North Korean soldiers to be captured alive since Pyongyang sent troops to fight alongside Moscow's forces.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/29/2026 - 03:30

Colombia Extradites Alleged Drug Lord ‘The Spider’ To California

Colombia Extradites Alleged Drug Lord ‘The Spider’ To California

A Colombian rebel commander nicknamed “The Spider” is now in U.S. custody after a change in leadership in Bogotá cleared the way for his extradition, according to CBS.

Geovany Andres Rojas, also known as “Araña,” was transferred to California over the weekend, where prosecutors have charged him with drug trafficking and terrorism offenses tied to his alleged role in Colombia’s cocaine trade.

Rojas was a senior figure in Comandos de la Frontera, an armed organization operating primarily in Putumayo, a major coca-producing region near Colombia’s borders with Ecuador and Peru.

Colombian authorities arrested him in February 2025, and the country’s Supreme Court later authorized his extradition. But the transfer stalled under former President Gustavo Petro, whose government was pursuing negotiations with several armed factions. Petro gave Rojas a role in those talks, effectively keeping him in Colombia while negotiations continued.

That changed after conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella won office in June. His administration abandoned the previous government’s negotiations with rebel organizations and moved quickly to send Rojas to the United States.

CBS writes that De la Espriella personally oversaw the transfer and said Colombia should not shield accused drug traffickers in the name of pursuing peace. He also called on U.S. prosecutors to ensure any eventual agreement with Rojas does not allow him to avoid accountability.

Rojas’ extradition comes as Colombia continues struggling with armed groups that expanded after the historic 2016 peace agreement with FARC. More than 14,000 combatants disarmed under that deal, ending a decades-long conflict, but some fighters refused to participate while other organizations moved into territory previously controlled by FARC.

Those groups have increasingly competed for control of cocaine trafficking corridors, illegal mining and extortion operations in parts of rural Colombia where government authority remains limited.

Comandos de la Frontera was formed in the aftermath of the FARC agreement and includes former guerrillas who remained armed. The organization later partnered with Segunda Marquetalia, another FARC splinter faction, before the relationship collapsed.

Rojas is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 22:10

Wage-Cuts Hit Hospital Workers In China As Financial Pressures Mount

Wage-Cuts Hit Hospital Workers In China As Financial Pressures Mount

Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times,

Workers at hospitals in several parts of China are facing cuts to wages and performance bonuses, with some medical workers reporting monthly base salaries of less than 2,000 yuan ($298) as public institutions struggle under mounting financial pressure.

A nurse moves a bed through a corridor at a hospital in Duan Yao autonomous county in Guangxi region, China, on Jan. 9, 2025. David Kirton/Reuters

The reductions are adding to financial concerns for workers already dealing with a weakening economy. Some hospitals have also been accused of delaying wages for months, while others have faced financial difficulties, including unpaid debts, drug shortages, and suspension of operations.

Several China-based individuals familiar with the matter spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

An employee in the medical administration department of a public hospital in Hangzhou, surnamed Qian, told the publication that a hospital in the area cut nurses' monthly base salaries from 2,750 yuan ($410) to 2,200 yuan ($328) in August - a 20 percent reduction.

In Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, a resident surnamed Liu, whose family member works as a nurse at a public hospital, told The Epoch Times that the nurse's base salary had gradually fallen from 3,700 yuan ($551) per month before the COVID-19 pandemic to about 1,700 yuan ($253) today. The hospital has also stopped paying bonuses.

Hospitals Face Growing Wage Crisis

Reports of unpaid wages have also triggered protests by medical workers in several parts of China.

In November 2025, medical workers at Suihua People's Hospital in Heilongjiang Province staged a protest over unpaid wages. When The Epoch Times contacted the hospital's emergency department at the time, the person who answered the phone said employees had gone five or six months without receiving their salaries. The workers remained on the front line while continuing to seek payment of their wages and social security contributions.

Videos circulated online in April showing medical workers at Hedong Hospital in Linyi, Shandong Province, demanding unpaid wages. The Chinese labor rights X account @YesterdayBigcat said the protest took place on April 8 and 9.

The Epoch Times has also previously reported that a public hospital in Beijing required employees to return six months of performance bonuses that had already been paid.

In Jiangxi Province, Tianhu Hospital in Leping fell into financial difficulties following changes to health insurance policies and subsequently owed employees wages before dismissing its entire workforce, according to Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency. In 2024, Luxinan Hospital in Shandong entered bankruptcy liquidation proceedings after owing more than 600 employees eight months of wages, according to a hospital notice.

The cases illustrate the financial pressures facing some hospitals, although the circumstances vary from institution to institution.

Financial Pressure Affects Patients

Financial difficulties can also pressure hospitals to find other ways to generate revenue, according to an insider.

A public official working in a health department in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, surnamed Sun, told The Epoch Times that hospitals that receive partial government funding may face larger financial gaps when government allocations decline.

"Hospital funding is a differential appropriation system. If fiscal allocations decrease, the hospital has to find ways to generate revenue to make up for the shortfall, which means collecting it from patients by raising fees," Sun said. "But now ordinary people can't afford to see a doctor, so fewer people are going to hospitals, and the hospitals' losses become even greater."

He said some hospitals in Jiangsu had faced complaints over their charges and were penalized by authorities. After some hospitals were required to restore their previous fee schedules, their revenues declined further, widening their fiscal gaps.

Ye Zilong contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 21:45

Data Center Backup Power Contributes To Health Risks: Report

Data Center Backup Power Contributes To Health Risks: Report

By Robert Freedman of UtilityDive

Federal regulatory changes impacting enforcement of on-site backup generator emissions are contributing to increased data center health risks, a report says. 

Air pollution from data centers could increase healthcare costs by almost $21 billion by 2028, contributing to roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths, says the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit whose members are former public officials who maintain an interest in environmental policy. 

Much of the health risk is from federal regulatory changes made to help utilities meet data center energy demand, like expanding the use of coal and keeping coal and other combustion-based power plants online rather than phasing them out. But a portion of the risk is from regulatory changes that pave the way for data centers to maintain on-site backup power, EPN says in its Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers report.  

“These engines and turbines can emit nitrogen oxides, smog-forming volatile organic compounds, and soot pollution,” the report says. “The combined generating capacity of a large generator or turbine fleet can rival that of a conventional power plant.”

In Virginia, the emissions from on-site generators emitting just 10% of the levels allowed under their air permits will contribute to some 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs, says the report, drawing on estimates released earlier this year by researchers. 

Several regulatory actions are helping to fuel risks from on-site generation, the report says: 

Temporary turbine category. A rule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized earlier this year created a category of small and medium temporary turbines that can remain on site for up to two years with substantially reduced monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. “Those requirements matter not only for estimating pollution, but for determining whether equipment is operating as permitted and whether pollution limits are being met,” the report says. As a result of the rule, 89% more nitrogen oxide is expected to be released into the air annually than would have been the case under a more restrictive 2024 version of the rule that the Trump administration scrapped, the report says. 

The report points to the high-profile lawsuit that was filed against xAI for its data center in Southaven, Mississippi. The dispute is over whether it received appropriate permits for its use of temporary or mobile on-site turbines to generate backup power. “The company and Mississippi regulators dispute that a permit was required,” the report says. “The dispute illustrates why clear permitting requirements and consistent enforcement become more important as equipment labeled ’backup, ‘temporary,’ or ‘mobile’ is used more extensively to supply power.”

Demand-response participation. An interpretive letter EPA released last year lets operators of on-site emergency backup generation use their generators to participate in utility demand-response programs. The report doesn’t mention that the letter is limited to on-site generators that operate within the jurisdiction of a local balancing authority. It “does not extend to Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Operators (ISOs),” an analysis by standby power compliance company BackupPower AI says.   

Emergency generation. In another action that lets operators use their on-site generation at certain times, the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year issued an emergency order authorizing the PJM Interconnection to use backup generation at data centers and other major facilities to help it manage demand. The order was issued in May, when parts of the Northeast and Midwest were going through a hot spell at the same time that many utilities within PJM’s jurisdiction were preparing planned outages for annual maintenance. “Their use during heat waves and other periods of grid stress adds smog-forming nitrogen oxides and fine-particle soot pollution at times when extreme heat and existing air pollution already place people at greater risk,” the report says. 

The report lists 30 federal regulatory actions in all that it says risk increasing pollution from data centers, many of them easing rules on utilities and some easing rules on non-utility power plants — such as a rule exempting private power facilities from acid rain program permits, emissions requirements and standardized reporting requirements.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 19:15

Data Center Backup Power Contributes To Health Risks: Report

Data Center Backup Power Contributes To Health Risks: Report

By Robert Freedman of UtilityDive

Federal regulatory changes impacting enforcement of on-site backup generator emissions are contributing to increased data center health risks, a report says. 

Air pollution from data centers could increase healthcare costs by almost $21 billion by 2028, contributing to roughly 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 premature deaths, says the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit whose members are former public officials who maintain an interest in environmental policy. 

Much of the health risk is from federal regulatory changes made to help utilities meet data center energy demand, like expanding the use of coal and keeping coal and other combustion-based power plants online rather than phasing them out. But a portion of the risk is from regulatory changes that pave the way for data centers to maintain on-site backup power, EPN says in its Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers report.  

“These engines and turbines can emit nitrogen oxides, smog-forming volatile organic compounds, and soot pollution,” the report says. “The combined generating capacity of a large generator or turbine fleet can rival that of a conventional power plant.”

In Virginia, the emissions from on-site generators emitting just 10% of the levels allowed under their air permits will contribute to some 14,000 asthma symptom cases, 13 to 19 premature deaths and $220 million to $300 million in annual public-health costs, says the report, drawing on estimates released earlier this year by researchers. 

Several regulatory actions are helping to fuel risks from on-site generation, the report says: 

Temporary turbine category. A rule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized earlier this year created a category of small and medium temporary turbines that can remain on site for up to two years with substantially reduced monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. “Those requirements matter not only for estimating pollution, but for determining whether equipment is operating as permitted and whether pollution limits are being met,” the report says. As a result of the rule, 89% more nitrogen oxide is expected to be released into the air annually than would have been the case under a more restrictive 2024 version of the rule that the Trump administration scrapped, the report says. 

The report points to the high-profile lawsuit that was filed against xAI for its data center in Southaven, Mississippi. The dispute is over whether it received appropriate permits for its use of temporary or mobile on-site turbines to generate backup power. “The company and Mississippi regulators dispute that a permit was required,” the report says. “The dispute illustrates why clear permitting requirements and consistent enforcement become more important as equipment labeled ’backup, ‘temporary,’ or ‘mobile’ is used more extensively to supply power.”

Demand-response participation. An interpretive letter EPA released last year lets operators of on-site emergency backup generation use their generators to participate in utility demand-response programs. The report doesn’t mention that the letter is limited to on-site generators that operate within the jurisdiction of a local balancing authority. It “does not extend to Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Operators (ISOs),” an analysis by standby power compliance company BackupPower AI says.   

Emergency generation. In another action that lets operators use their on-site generation at certain times, the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year issued an emergency order authorizing the PJM Interconnection to use backup generation at data centers and other major facilities to help it manage demand. The order was issued in May, when parts of the Northeast and Midwest were going through a hot spell at the same time that many utilities within PJM’s jurisdiction were preparing planned outages for annual maintenance. “Their use during heat waves and other periods of grid stress adds smog-forming nitrogen oxides and fine-particle soot pollution at times when extreme heat and existing air pollution already place people at greater risk,” the report says. 

The report lists 30 federal regulatory actions in all that it says risk increasing pollution from data centers, many of them easing rules on utilities and some easing rules on non-utility power plants — such as a rule exempting private power facilities from acid rain program permits, emissions requirements and standardized reporting requirements.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 19:15

US Cattle Slaughter Plunges 16% In One Week As Immigration Crackdown Guts Kansas "Golden Triangle" Workforce

US Cattle Slaughter Plunges 16% In One Week As Immigration Crackdown Guts Kansas "Golden Triangle" Workforce

A heightened wave of federal immigration enforcement in southwest Kansas has sent a shockwave through the U.S. beef supply chain, causing severe processing plant slowdowns, stranding thousands of cattle at feedlots, and threatening to drive up consumer meat prices.

U.S. cattle slaughter plummeted 16% in one week to an estimated 90,000 head on Thursday, September 24, as fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity led to widespread workforce absenteeism. By Friday, slaughter numbers remained 14% below the previous week's levels, translating into millions of dollars in lost revenue for producers whose animals are suddenly backed up.

The disruptions are centered in the Kansas "Golden Triangle" of commercial beef packing, which encompasses Dodge City, Liberal, and Garden City. This rural region is home to massive facilities operated by Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef. Collectively, these plants process roughly 24,000 head of cattle per day, representing more than 20% of daily U.S. fed-cattle slaughter capacity.

Agricultural groups, including the Kansas Livestock Association, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, warned that the unannounced enforcement actions are creating supply-chain chokepoints from feedyards to processors. In a joint statement, the organizations said the ICE presence has created a "massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the cattle supply chain moving."

The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back against characterizations of the sweeps as worksite raids. "ICE is not conducting worksite operations in Kansas," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, adding that agents are targeting "heinous criminals including murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers and illegal aliens with final orders of removal." However, the heavy presence of federal agents near packing plants and in local communities has kept many of the region's agricultural workers at home.

Local officials from Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal reported receiving no advance notice of the federal operation. "When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement," said Sen. Roger Marshall, who along with fellow Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has pressed DHS on the operation. "Our community is a ghost town," Liberal's vice mayor told Reuters. "Businesses are not open because people are scared to leave their homes."

The labor shock arrives at a particularly sensitive time for the cattle market. Driven by prolonged drought, the U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in roughly 75 years. This historically tight physical market caused cattle futures to gyrate wildly this week as traders weighed the sudden loss of processing capacity against limited animal supplies. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said ranchers are receiving $300 to $500 less per head for their cattle.

The situation presents a unique policy collision in Washington. The Trump administration has actively sought to lower historically high consumer beef prices by expanding access to imported meat and enacting other supply-side measures. However, the abrupt reduction in domestic processing capacity - triggered by the administration's own immigration enforcement push - directly undercuts those efforts.

As the backlog grows, market-ready animals are getting heavier at feedlots, piling up feed costs and creating animal welfare concerns. Industry groups warn that if the Kansas bottleneck persists, fewer cattle moving through packing plants will mean less beef on supermarket shelves - and higher prices at the meat counter.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 18:50

US Cattle Slaughter Plunges 16% In One Week As Immigration Crackdown Guts Kansas "Golden Triangle" Workforce

US Cattle Slaughter Plunges 16% In One Week As Immigration Crackdown Guts Kansas "Golden Triangle" Workforce

A heightened wave of federal immigration enforcement in southwest Kansas has sent a shockwave through the U.S. beef supply chain, causing severe processing plant slowdowns, stranding thousands of cattle at feedlots, and threatening to drive up consumer meat prices.

U.S. cattle slaughter plummeted 16% in one week to an estimated 90,000 head on Thursday, September 24, as fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity led to widespread workforce absenteeism. By Friday, slaughter numbers remained 14% below the previous week's levels, translating into millions of dollars in lost revenue for producers whose animals are suddenly backed up.

The disruptions are centered in the Kansas "Golden Triangle" of commercial beef packing, which encompasses Dodge City, Liberal, and Garden City. This rural region is home to massive facilities operated by Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef. Collectively, these plants process roughly 24,000 head of cattle per day, representing more than 20% of daily U.S. fed-cattle slaughter capacity.

Agricultural groups, including the Kansas Livestock Association, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, warned that the unannounced enforcement actions are creating supply-chain chokepoints from feedyards to processors. In a joint statement, the organizations said the ICE presence has created a "massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the cattle supply chain moving."

The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back against characterizations of the sweeps as worksite raids. "ICE is not conducting worksite operations in Kansas," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, adding that agents are targeting "heinous criminals including murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers and illegal aliens with final orders of removal." However, the heavy presence of federal agents near packing plants and in local communities has kept many of the region's agricultural workers at home.

Local officials from Dodge City, Garden City, and Liberal reported receiving no advance notice of the federal operation. "When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement," said Sen. Roger Marshall, who along with fellow Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has pressed DHS on the operation. "Our community is a ghost town," Liberal's vice mayor told Reuters. "Businesses are not open because people are scared to leave their homes."

The labor shock arrives at a particularly sensitive time for the cattle market. Driven by prolonged drought, the U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in roughly 75 years. This historically tight physical market caused cattle futures to gyrate wildly this week as traders weighed the sudden loss of processing capacity against limited animal supplies. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said ranchers are receiving $300 to $500 less per head for their cattle.

The situation presents a unique policy collision in Washington. The Trump administration has actively sought to lower historically high consumer beef prices by expanding access to imported meat and enacting other supply-side measures. However, the abrupt reduction in domestic processing capacity - triggered by the administration's own immigration enforcement push - directly undercuts those efforts.

As the backlog grows, market-ready animals are getting heavier at feedlots, piling up feed costs and creating animal welfare concerns. Industry groups warn that if the Kansas bottleneck persists, fewer cattle moving through packing plants will mean less beef on supermarket shelves - and higher prices at the meat counter.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 18:50

Saylor Outlines 'Bill Of Digital Rights' To Help Build Prosperity In Future Economy

Saylor Outlines 'Bill Of Digital Rights' To Help Build Prosperity In Future Economy

Authored by Michael Millard via Cointelegraph,

Michael Saylor, co-founder of Strategy, said that an age of digital assets and intelligence needs a "bill of digital rights," rather than restrictions.

An age of AI can increase production, but it needs better money and capital markets to realize its potential, according to an essay that Saylor, executive chairman of world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, posted on X Saturday.

A useful framework for digital assets should establish five fundamental rights, or freedoms, Saylor wrote.

These rights include (1) the freedom to create new digital assets and (2) to issue them to the market to finance business and productivity. They also include (3) the right to hold them or choose a custodian, as well as (4) to transfer them, to move the assets among people, companies, wallets and service providers. Finally, (5) to use them, to spend, invest, earn income and borrow against digital assets.

These rights should apply to both people and companies, Saylor wrote. "An asset's value depends on what its owner can do with it. Restrict its usefulness, and you restrict its economic potential," he said.

As digital intelligence will automate jobs and make many products obsolete, future prosperity will depend on our ability to create new businesses and opportunities at a faster pace, Saylor wrote, adding that "our ambition should be to enable 10 million new companies to raise capital."

Cointelegraph reported on Monday that Strategy had resumed buying Bitcoin after a two-week pause, acquiring 950 Bitcoin (BTC) for $75.7 million at an average price of $79,670 per coin.

Digital dollars should be allowed to compete

This brought Strategy's holdings to 846,000 BTC, acquired for about $63.8 billion at an average cost of $75,416 per coin. Bitcoin was trading at about $84,523 at the time of publication.

Saylor also wrote in his essay that "protecting existing business models while making it difficult to finance their successors leaves the economy poorly prepared for technological change."

Therefore, digital dollars should be allowed to compete on yield and "move at the speed of light," he said. Banks, financial technology companies and technology platforms should offer digital dollars through the devices and applications people already use.

"Where the law prevents it, the law should change," Saylor added.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 18:25

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