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Pink-Clad Feminist Mob Rallies In Support Of Confessed Child Murderer

Pink-Clad Feminist Mob Rallies In Support Of Confessed Child Murderer

A mob of liberal women decked out in pink is taking to the streets in front of the Plymouth Superior Courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts for a rally in support of Lindsay Clancy during her ongoing murder trial.  The group, which is often accused of being "terminally online", has been invading social media discussions for weeks to inject arguments in defense of Clancy, who confessed to the murder of her three helpless children. 

Now, these women (and a few beta husbands) are going offline and showing up en masse to explain why Lindsay Clancy should go free. 

Hundreds of Lindsay Clancy supporters, many wearing pink with the words "Believe," "She Needed Help" and "Peace For Lindsay," gathered Thursday outside the courthouse.  Several of the women said Clancy's story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women.

Clancy's lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill and suffering from "postpartum psychosis."  

This defense claim is highly strategic.  Contrary to the arguments of leftists, in the past women have often received lighter sentences or escaped prison time by exploiting an insanity plea.  In studies on postpartum in murder cases, around half of women child killers got a "Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity" verdict after claiming postpartum psychosis as the cause. 

Those are good odds.

The message among feminists is clear:  Women are perpetual victims, therefore they cannot be convicted as predators.  In the liberal mythos, women are pure and devoid of masculine evil, and thus, when they commit atrocities it is only because the system forced them to do so, or because the system broke them and drove them insane.  

In other words, there can be no structure of justice for female criminals, because in the minds of feminists, there are no female criminals (except female conservatives). 

The postpartum argument is held up as if it is proof of innocence, but in reality, it suggests that the person is even more dangerous than a typical criminal.  If an otherwise unassuming woman has the ability to appear absolutely normal and insinuate herself into the lives of others, only to become a bloodthirsty murderer of children at the flip of a switch, then she can never be trusted to enter back into society ever again.  She can never be trusted to have children or go near children again.

The punishment should be more severe, not less.  This is why America used to have a large network of mental hospitals, to keep people like this locked away for good.  Instead, liberal ideology has created an environment in which criminals with the right identity are treated with more empathy than their victims.  

If this continues for much longer, it will mean the downfall of western civilization.

The Lindsay Clancy trial has also become another focal point for what many now call a "plague" on the internet:  Amateur Detective Wine-Moms (ADWMs).  

Conspiracy theories on social media, spread by these same women, assert that Lindsay Clancy is actually a "patsy" and that her husband is the killer.  Even though numerous pieces of evidence including surveillance footage and cell phone tracking shows Clancy's husband at a local CVS pharmacy at the time of the murder, these women have read hundreds of true crime novels and think they are better investigators than the authorities involved.

Some commenters note that a similar mob of female detectives has been spreading endless conspiracy theories about Tyler Robinson and the murder of Charlie Kirk, even though it's on record that Robinson confessed to his family, friends and boyfriend that he killed Kirk.  Facts and evidence do not matter to these people. 

The problem has become so pervasive that officials within the legal system are beginning to worry that finding jurors not tainted by online madness will be impossible.  They are calling this problem the "TikTok Jury" and it is growing into a cancer. 

It's not just the high profile cases anymore, it could be any case that happens to catch the attention of this unhinged brood of hens stalking the internet for new distractions from their meaningless lives.    

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 11:05

Intervening Oneself Out Of Quagmire?

Intervening Oneself Out Of Quagmire?

By Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank

Intervening Oneself Out Of Quagmire?

Yesterday’s market moves again showed that jawboning and temporary interventions are rarely enough when the underlying problem is fundamental.

As a “thank you” for Trump’s last-minute intervention to reduce joint US-South Korean military drills – and his claim to have spoken with Kim Jong Un – Pyongyang launched around 10 ballistic missiles on Thursday, according to South Korean news agencies. The message was clear: action versus words. Developments in the Middle East, where Iran has effectively defied US military power, may only have reinforced North Korea’s conviction that its nuclear missile programme gives it an edge even Iran still lacks. The broader ramifications are unsettling.

Markets told a similar story. The benchmark US 10-year Treasury more than gave back the gains made the previous day, while the 30-year long bond retraced over 7bp after Thursday’s 10bp rally, which followed Treasury’s announcement that it would at least double long-dated bond buybacks from 9 September through 4 November.

The price action may matter more than the amounts involved. The additional purchases total only about USD 14bn in the current refunding quarter – a rounding error next to a roughly USD 32trn Treasury market and federal debt now above USD 40trn. Nor is this quantitative easing: Treasury must finance buybacks by issuing other debt. The programme can improve liquidity in off-the-run bonds and temporarily reduce the duration dealers and investors must absorb, but it neither cancels debt nor changes the deficit path.

That distinction explains why Thursday’s long-bond rally should not be extrapolated – and why part of it has already faded.

In the short run, supporting the back end can work. It reduces pressure on term premia, improves dealer balance-sheet capacity and makes outright shorts in long Treasuries riskier. But it also increases reliance on continued bill demand, with no certainty that future stablecoin issuance can offset that exposure for foreign holders. If borrowing needs remain large, Treasury may eventually have to return to greater coupon issuance – or accept higher funding costs.

The medium-term implication is therefore less “lower yields” than “a more managed yield curve”. Call it YCC-light. The Treasury has shown sensitivity not only to poor liquidity, but also to the economic and political consequences of rapidly rising long-term yields. Thirty-year rates above 5% feed into mortgages, corporate financing, equity valuations and, through higher interest costs, the deficit itself. That creates a feedback loop: higher yields worsen the fiscal outlook, which warrants a larger term premium, which raises yields further. Wednesday’s intervention interrupted that loop; it likely did not break it.

The episode also risks blurring the line between debt management and monetary policy. If investors conclude that Treasury will adjust issuance or buybacks whenever long yields rise too quickly, that creates an implicit “Treasury put”. It may suppress volatility for a while, but it could prove self-defeating. Easier financial conditions from lower long yields sit awkwardly alongside above-target inflation, complicating the Fed’s task, as minutes show several policymakers were prepared to raise rates in July. The Treasury may be insuring the market against a tail event just as the Fed tries to keep conditions restrictive.

The dollar’s negative reaction is therefore revealing. Normally, lower Treasury yields weaken the currency through the interest-rate channel. This time, gold and crypto also rallied, suggesting concern about fiscal credibility and the perceived management of borrowing costs. Yesterday’s price action reinforced that message: both the dollar index and gold have extended Thursday’s moves. Could the end-result soon be unchanged long-term yields, but a weaker dollar?

Of course, the dollar still benefits from deep capital markets, strong nominal growth and reserve-currency status. But those advantages are less reassuring if foreign investors believe they are being asked to finance widening deficits while the authorities lean against the resulting rise in term premia.

This week’s geopolitical backdrop sharpens the dilemma. Higher oil prices and uncertainty around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz add an inflation premium; the 5y5y US inflation swap forward is now close to its May peak even though headline inflation has fallen by almost a percentage point since then. This comes just as fiscal supply tests investors’ appetite for duration. The Treasury can address market plumbing, but it cannot buy back geopolitical risk, inflation risk or fiscal arithmetic.

The Friday takeaway is that Wednesday’s announcement matters mainly as a signal. It tells investors the authorities are unwilling to leave the long end entirely to its own devices. That may intermittently cap yields and curve steepening. Yet if every rise in long yields elicits more bills, larger buybacks or smaller long-bond auctions, the adjustment may migrate elsewhere: into front-end funding costs, inflation expectations, gold – or the dollar. The market may have been calmed, but it has learnt where Treasury’s pain threshold lies.

That said – and allowing for possible European bias – investors watch fundamentals not only in absolute terms, but also relative to other regions and asset classes. This week’s widening of the French spread over German Bunds serves as a case in point: a clear warning that markets are focused on the upcoming presidential election and France’s structural challenges.

Finally, the speed of technological change seems to be widening the gap between Europe and the US. The geopolitical overlay is pungent and spicy: for Europe, it smells of rising tensions with major trading partners in the coming months.

China has been warning European trading partners already through several channels that it willing to play hardball to stave off intensification of European trade defense measures. Another example are news reports yesterday suggesting that the US is preparing to force the Netherlands to ban ASML from selling to China entirely. As both Republicans and Democrats seem to be on the same page with potential legislation backing such a move, this raises the risk of coercion.

Perhaps these pressures will push Europe towards next steps, such as integrating capital markets. If so, that would be fundamental change. For now, it remains mostly words in Europe too.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 10:45

Lacy Hunt: Fed's Been "Stealth-Easing" Since December

Lacy Hunt: Fed's Been "Stealth-Easing" Since December

“We’re seeing a major secular shift, that we’re now moving into a period of capital shortage, as well as we’re witnessing the end of the three-decade period of globalization, which led to significant disinflation.”

That prediction comes from Dr. Lacy Hunt, once one of the bond market’s most prominent bulls and secular disinflationists. Well… no longer. He’s now a seller of U.S. long-dated bonds and suggested during last night’s discussion on ZeroHedge that he’s eyeing gold favorably.

Lacy told Thoughtful Money’s Adam Taggart and Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital that inflation is here to stay so get used to it and plan accordingly:

“There will be intermittent episodes when the secular forces will fade, but the big picture is considerably different. We’re going to have higher inflation. We’re going to have greater volatility in inflation. The trend in interest rate is going to be higher. And we’re going to have generally poor economic performance.”

Here were the highlights of Lacy’s tour de force, but we highly recommend the full 75-minute discussion in its entirety:

Net national savings “very close to zero”

Hunt began his case with two forces: a shortage of capital and the reversal of globalization.

“The Federal Reserve cannot solve the capital shortage situation. They can increase the money supply, but to have physical investment you need saving out of income.”

Money printing and rising rates has an increasingly deleterious effect on private investment, which will be vital to keep up with the AI boom. Higher government bond yields means the private sector needs to work harder to compete… why take risk when Uncle Sam guarantees 5% or more?

“We’re financing artificial intelligence. We’re building an expansion of semiconductors. We need to expand the electrical grid… We’ve got a massive federal budget deficit that’s deteriorating.”

Atop that, Hunt said net national saving is “very close to zero.” Net national savings is defined as the total amount of money saved by households, businesses, and the government minus the cost of replacing worn-out capital goods (depreciation).

“So there is going to be this tremendous demand for capital, which suggests that real interest rates will have to rise. And because the overall inflation is going to be going up at the same time, that means that this will reinforce the rise in nominal interest.”

Fed’s been “stealth easing” since December

Since mid-December, the Fed’s balance sheet has expanded by roughly $200 billion. So for all the talk of a hawkish Fed, they’re still a net buyer of Treasuries. Additionally, bank deposits and bank lending are up.

“Bank deposits and bank loans in particular, they’ve surged very dramatically since mid-December… so now you have an uptick in deposit growth and money supply growth, which in my opinion is moving further into the inflationary direction.”

This kind of monetary support, Lacy argued, only creates a longer-term problem by encouraging investment in financial assets rather than productive ones.

“When the Federal Reserve comes in and gives a signal to the market that they’re going to support the stock market... then what that serves to do is it’s a signal to the corporate managers that they should put more investment in financial assets and less investment in real assets.”

“But here’s the rub. It’s the real assets that raise the standard of living, not the financial investments.”

Watch Lacy's full deep dive below or listen on the ZeroHedge Spotify. If one of the longest running bond bulls is throwing in the towel… it might be time to pay attention.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 10:25

They're Getting Revenge, Starting Today...

They're Getting Revenge, Starting Today...

Via the Tom Woods Letter,

I absolutely insist to you: I really am trying to stop writing about this topic. But too much insanity keeps breaking out, and I have no choice but to comment on it.

You know the story: a Cambridge academic, Jason Arday, was found to have plagiarized his dissertation, borrowed heavily from others in his published articles, produced essentially worthless research, called the police on a reporter and on a professor who asked questions about his resume, invented wild tales of athletic and academic achievement as well as philanthropic work, and (of course) accused his critics of “racism.” And then, late last week, he was found dead at his home in an apparent suicide.

That would have been it, but the left - instead of the embarrassment it should feel at having promoted the greatest academic charlatan of the past ten years (and that’s saying something) - is trying to play the victim here: mean right-wingers in the media shouldn’t have pushed so hard on the Arday story.

This is coming from people who call their enemies Nazis 24 hours a day without thinking there might be a problem with that.

Anyway, here’s the latest: the university that employs Nathan Cofnas, the academic who first broke the story about Jason Arday’s plagiarism and worthless “research,” is now being investigated by his own university for breaking the story.

Just when you think academia can’t be a bigger joke, it always finds some way to outdo itself.

Ghent University rector Petra de Sutter, former leader of the Green Party, issued a statement to the effect that while Ghent attaches “great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial,” it wants the world to know that of course it doesn’t really mean that:

“That freedom is not unlimited. It goes hand in hand with responsibility and may be restricted in order to protect the rights of others.

“For this reason, the university takes the recent public statements made by a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University regarding this matter very seriously. Ghent University has decided to take appropriate action within its powers and the applicable framework.”

Well, we just found out what that means.

They just suspended Nathan Cofnas, and he will almost surely be fired.

Cofnas wrote the original report on Jason Arday that forced academia to take notice. What he found was too embarrassing not to elicit a response. And his point is: Arday is not an isolated case. For that he cannot be forgiven.

As Cofnas put it on August 11:

In 2023, the Guardian itself (!) published a breathless article titled “Jason Arday: he learned to talk at 11 and read at 18 – then became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor.”

More than a dozen academic journals gave the imprimatur of “peer review” to Arday’s plagiarized wokebabble.

The prestigious New York publisher Simon & Schuster is still going ahead with his memoirs.

Now the Guardian wants us to think this is just about “one academic and his bosses at Cambridge”?

There are thousands of Jason Ardays in universities all over the Western world. The only thing special about Arday is that he took the plagiarism and lies about his personal life too far, so there was a hook for a news story. But even that wasn’t enough to get him removed from academia. Until last Wednesday Cambridge was still smearing his critics as waging a “vile campaign.” He crossed the line not by being an incompetent fraud, but by claiming prestigious affiliations that he didn’t have, creating conflict between Cambridge and other universities.

“DEI” means achieving representation by doing away with elementary standards for certain people based on race. Just take a look at the content of “peer-reviewed” journals like Whiteness in Education and Educational Philosophy and Theory. The other papers in these journals are just like those written by Arday—someone who is now widely recognized to be mentally disabled.

The people trying to write this off as a fluke or an isolated case of “research misconduct” are at best delusional. The ideology of elite institutions is DEI, and DEI is Jason Arday.

This was the most embarrassing academic episode of my lifetime. Everyone just witnessed a clear-cut case of academic fraud, a man who literally called the police on people who questioned his resume, and the overwhelming response from academia was to scream “racism” and sign a petition in his defense.

After they did that, the really embarrassing stuff came out, and they persisted.

So the mask is off, in case there’s still anyone out there who didn’t know what was behind it. The whole edifice of academia nowadays is held together with Scotch tape and piano wire, and slogans.

The institutions will survive as shells of their former selves, but what was once inside will disappear. Adrian Vermeule, the one sane person at Harvard Law School, just wrote: “The elite universities are of course going to survive. They’ve been around forever and will continue on in some form. What will not survive, however, is a certain idea of the scholarly mission and life. It died of its own weakness, an inability to resist invading barbarians.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 10:05

Services Sector Survey Surge Sparks US Growth Rebound Hopes In August

Services Sector Survey Surge Sparks US Growth Rebound Hopes In August

After a relatively ugly series of disappointing macro data - and a hectic week of interventions - preliminary August data from S&P Global's PMI survey was expected to signal a slowdown in growth for the US economy (but still growth).

But, the respondents had other things on their mind as while Manufacturing slipped, the Services sector of the economy soared

  • Flash US Services PMI Business Activity Index: 56.8 (July: 54.6). 20-month high.

  • Flash US Manufacturing PMI: 53.2 (July: 53.9). 5-month low. 

“US business is booming," says Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, "with firms reporting the fastest output growth for over four years so far in the third quarter as the expansion picked up further momentum in August."

The survey data for the third quarter are currently pointing to annualized growth approaching 3.0%, up solidly from the 1.5% pace seen in the second quarter.

Jobs growth has also shown a welcome revival in August, with employers gaining in confidence as concerns fade over the negative economic impacts of tariffs and the conflict in the Middle East.

However, as Williamson writes, "the latter in particular remains a key area of concern for businesses, especially via the impact on supply lines and energy prices. "

Supply delays were again reported in August to one of the greatest extents seen over the past four years, clearly constraining output in many companies.

Price pressures, while fading, also remain elevated and prone to renewed upward pressures should energy prices rise again.

Growth momentum has meanwhile shifted from manufacturing to services between the second and third quarters.

Williamson concludes: "As reduced safety stock building and supply delays dampen factory production growth, the service sector is now playing a key role in driving a sustained US expansion, underscoring a dependency on consumer spending and financial services growth.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 09:56

China Sentences Evergrande Founder To Life In Prison

China Sentences Evergrande Founder To Life In Prison

Five years after Chinese property development firm Evergrande Group collapsed under the weight of enormous debt, founder Xu Jiayin was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.

Xu Jiayin, also known as Hui Ka Yan, founder of property developer Evergrande, appears for sentencing at the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen, China, on Aug. 20, 2026. Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court /Xinhua via AP

Xu (Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese), 64, pleaded guilty in April to fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, illegally extending loans, bribery, fraudulently issuing security, and misuse of funds. His sentence was handed down in Shenzhen in southern China. The court also confiscated his personal property.

Evergrande was also fined 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.31 billion), and slapped its Hengda real estate subsidiary with a 7 billion yuan (US$1.04 billion) fine. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, Xu has not been seen in public since 2023, but the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court released photographs that show him wearing a blue shirt and flanked by two officers as the sentence was read out.

Crimes Should be 'Severely Punished'

“The criminal acts of Evergrande Group, Hengda Real Estate, ‌and Hui Ka Yan ... involved ⁠particularly huge amounts and egregious circumstances, caused particularly significant economic losses and caused particularly serious social harm, and should be severely punished,” the court said in ‌a statement.

State media Xinhua news agency stated that the court sentenced 56 others to prison sentences of between 22 months and 18 years for their roles in “illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, and illegal use of funds” in relation to the Evergrande case. It did not name any of the individuals.

It was not immediately clear whether Xu had legal representatives who could comment on his behalf.

After a two-day trial in April, Xu “pleaded guilty and expressed remorse,” according to state media outlet Xinhua.

Born into poverty, Xu became Asia’s richest man, partly because of links with senior officials in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

He expanded Evergrande massively during China’s property boom between 1996 and 2019, but the company was burdened with huge debts.

Evergrande, which was China’s biggest developer, ran into financial problems in 2020 amid China’s COVID-19 crisis, and in 2021, it developed liquidity issues.

In March 2024, the company and Xu were penalized after being accused of artificially boosting its revenues by $78 billion in the two years before it defaulted on its debt obligations.

A Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande to be liquidated in 2024, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange delisted it in 2025.

The company has defaulted on most of its $300 billion liabilities. Its problems are emblematic of a prolonged slowdown in China’s real estate sector, which has dragged ​down the world’s second-biggest economy.

The China Evergrande Centre building sign in Hong Kong on Dec. 7, 2021. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

A former steel technician, Xu founded Evergrande in 1996.

As the communist regime gradually opened up its market and eased controls, Xu, like many other Chinese, moved to Guangdong Province, where he worked as a salesperson before founding Evergrande in 1996.

In his first project, Xu borrowed 3 million yuan (about $440,000) from the bank to purchase land, then started selling homes once construction began, according to a 2010 report by People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP.

Within a day, he had sold more than 300 apartments and raked in 80 million yuan (about $11.7 million), allowing him to finance the next project, according to the report.

By the end of 2009, Evergrande had dozens of projects across 25 major Chinese cities, according to the company’s official website.

He Was Once Worth $45 Billion

In 2017, Xu ​had a net worth of $45.3 billion, according to ⁠Forbes.

Xu stepped down as chairman of Hengda in August 2021, two months before the company defaulted on a $148 million loan, the first of many debts it was unable to repay.

The liquidation process has ​moved ‌slowly. Only $255 million worth of assets were sold as of August 2025, compared with creditors’ claims totalling $45 billion.

Evergrande’s liquidators declined to comment on Xu’s sentencing.

The liquidators are trying to freeze Xu’s offshore assets and those of his ex-wife, Ding Yumei, who owns property in London and Vancouver.

Ding flew out of Hong Kong before August 2023, China’s state-controlled Tencent News reported, and her current whereabouts are unknown.

Speaking at the 2018 China Charity Awards, Xu praised the CCP and attributed everything Evergrande and he had to the regime.

Yuan Hongbing, a former professor of law at Peking University who now lives in exile in Australia, told The Epoch Times in 2023 that Xu had used political connections with Zeng Qinghong, a senior CCP official who was vice president from 2003 to 2008.

But Feng Chongyi, an associate professor in China studies at the University of Technology Sydney, told The Epoch Times this week that Xi had spent years weakening forces associated with Jiang Zemin and Zeng, who was his longtime political ally, because they once threatened Xi’s hold on power.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 09:45

Teen Drops Social Media Addiction Claims Against Meta, Google, & Snap, Ahead Of October Trial

Teen Drops Social Media Addiction Claims Against Meta, Google, & Snap, Ahead Of October Trial

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

A 15-year-old New Jersey girl whose lawsuit served as a test case in litigation accusing social media companies of designing platforms to addict young users dropped her remaining claims Thursday against Meta Platforms, Google, and Snap Inc.

The plaintiff, identified in California court records only as P. M-Y., had alleged the owners of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat contributed to her social media addiction, depression, and self-harm.

She dismissed the case without any payment from the three companies, according to a court filing and statements from the defendants. TikTok, also named in the suit, had settled earlier.

Emily Jeffcott, an attorney for P. M-Y., said her client chose to end the remaining claims so she could try to resume her life.

She “initiated this process with the goal of holding social media companies accountable and to push for changes to protect young people like herself,” Jeffcott said.

More than 3,300 personal injury cases filed by individuals have been consolidated in California state court in Los Angeles. P. M-Y.’s lawsuit was selected as one of three “bellwether” or test cases set to go to trial in October. Attorneys use such trials to determine how juries may react to similar claims and to help set values for settlement talks.

Two other teen plaintiffs with similar allegations against the same companies remain scheduled for October trials. TikTok has already settled those cases, as well.

Platforms Defend Safeguards

Meta said in a statement that the plaintiff had a significant mental health condition that pre-dated her use of social media and that many of these cases fit the same pattern. The company added it would vigorously defend against the remaining suits.

Google-owned YouTube said the decision to drop the case affirms “our longstanding position that we provide safe, age-appropriate experiences and strong parental controls for young people and families.”

A Snap spokesperson said the company remains focused on strengthening safeguards, tools and educational resources to support users’ safety, privacy, and well-being.

The broader litigation includes claims by individuals, states, and school districts that features such as infinite scroll, algorithmic recommendations, and autoplay promote compulsive use and contribute to youth mental health problems. The companies have denied the allegations and say they take extensive steps to keep teens safe.

A previous case concluded in July when a Florida teen dropped his claims against Meta after the other defendants settled.

In March, a Los Angeles jury awarded $4.2 million against Meta and $1.8 million against Google in a case brought by a woman who said she became addicted to the platforms at a young age, with TikTok and Snap settling that case before trial.

Related litigation continues on other fronts, with 29 states pursuing a federal trial in Oakland, California, that began this week. They accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, fueling anxiety, depression, and even suicide, and of misleading the public about safety. Meta has rejected those claims, arguing that “social media addiction” is not an established psychiatric condition and that it complied with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for $6 million in damages in the first individual social media addiction trial to reach a verdict. Jurors decided the companies’ platforms contributed to the plaintiff’s psychological harms. Snap and TikTok had settled before that trial began.

A New Mexico judge earlier this month ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a child mental health fund after finding the company’s platforms contributed to the state’s youth mental health crisis. Meta faces additional pressure from state attorneys general and school districts in multiple jurisdictions.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 09:25

Broadcom CDS Explodes As It Seeks Up To $100 Billion In Massive Off-Balance Sheet Debt Deal

Broadcom CDS Explodes As It Seeks Up To $100 Billion In Massive Off-Balance Sheet Debt Deal

Amid the growing angst about hyperscaler CapEx (and more specifically, the historic flood of new debt issuance to fund it), attention among the always-bullish equity talking-heads has shifted - and rightfully so - to the bond markets as alarm signals flare up with an increasing frequency. Of course, for ZeroHedge readers, this is not a new topic, it is something we have been warning of for the past year, ever since we explained that debt was the true AI bubble last October:

Then, last week we explained why - as Nomura's Charlie McElligott also joined the credit chorus - the unprecedented flood of AI corporate debt had started to crowd out demand for US government paper, an ominous development as it meant continued massive capex would lead to even higher treasury yields... as well as even more inflation, a toxic mix to the Treasury.

What's worse, the market had finally started to pay attention, as one look at the surge in treasury swaption vol of vol made abundantly clear, which is why last week we warned - correctly - that Bessent was about to get very busy as bearish bets hit levels last seen during previous trasury market crises. 

One week later Bessent did in fact, get busy, and shocked the market with a "cringingly executed" (to quote McElligott) buyback directive announcement, one which lasted all of 23 hours before the entire move was reversed and yields are now trading 4 bps higher than where they were before the Treasury announcement. 

But while Bessent can address the market again any time he wants and threaten Treasury shorts (“By At LeAsT dOuBlE”), the bigger problem facing the Treasury is that the deluge of AI debt is really just starting - recall there is another $6-8 trillion in capex that has to be spent by 2030, most of it in the form of corporate debt, which will lead to relentless pressure higher on US interest rate for the foreseeable future. 

Some AI companies realize that it is only a matter of time before Bessent chills this AI debt diarrhea indefinitely; which explains why Bloomberg reported today that Broadcom is preparing another gargantuan SPV deal, and is in talks with a group of lenders to raise more than $60 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies. 

The financing, which is still being ironed out, may also include a roughly $30 billion junior debt tranche, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Under the proposed plan, Broadcom would guarantee a portion of the senior-secured tranche, which could range from about $60 billion to $70 billion. The numbers under discussion would potentially bring the total to as much as $100 billion, which would make it the largest SPV deal ever funded.

The agreement would add to a rush of deals aimed at financing artificial intelligence infrastructure. AI companies like Anthropic are taking a bigger role in the build-out, aiming to ensure they have enough computing capacity. Broadcom, meanwhile, is looking to sell more chips and other data center equipment, challenging Nvidia in this lucrative market.

Since AI infrastructure SPV require private credit backers, Blackstone and Apollo - the same firms that backstopped Nvidia's recent $500 billion compute collateralized deal - are in talks with Broadcom to participate in the chip financing, following a partnership the three companies struck in June to help finance computing infrastructure. The debt - as one would expect ever since Meta set the standard with its Beignet off-balance sheet deal - would be issued by a special-purpose vehicle, or SPV, most of which won't appear on any balance sheet.

The potential deal would help firms including Anthropic access chips and other key AI infrastructure, according to Bloomberg which broke the news. It could be similar to the $35 billion debt agreement that kicked off the group’s AI XPV partnership, they said. 

In the first deal for the AI XPV platform two months ago, we explained that Broadcom backstopped most of the debt and investors including Apollo and Blackstone financed the purchase of custom AI chips to lease to Anthropic. And in a sleight of brilliant financial engineering where everyone pretends there is no actual debt being issued, this enabled the senior debt tranches to win investment-grade ratings at lower borrowing costs. 

However, that is just the start... of both the debt issuance runway and Bessent's headaches. The partnership, which plans to finance more than 20 gigawatts of computing power, will require hundreds of billions of dollars. That level of capacity would roughly equal the output of 20 nuclear plants. 

The unprecedented scale of the borrowing now under discussion underscores the capital requirements of the AI boom, which has prompted a slew of novel debt deals at a pace and scale that’s simultaneously unnerved some investors. In what was actually a huge nothingburger, Nvidia earlier this month announced that a coalition of major financial firms including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs Group were lining up more than $500 billion to help fund the AI build-out, although the agreement was only an MOU and was at best intended to provide some comfort to credit markets. It failed, since Nvidia CDS is now trading at all time wides. 

Broadcom’s chief executive officer said in March that the company expects AI chip sales to top $100 billion next year. The chipmaker has also struck other partnerships, including an accord with Apple that’s expected to be worth more than $30 billion. Broadcom’s valuation has soared in recent years, propelled by agreements to make custom AI chips for firms like OpenAI.

After briefly declining, Broadcom shares rose as much as 1.1% in late trading after Bloomberg News reported on the discussions. The stock had climbed 5.2% this year through the close. But forget about the stock: these days all the action is in the bond trading and/or Credit Default Swap land, and is why Broadcom’s massive new bond deal illustrates the US Treasury’s uphill task in containing long-bond yields

Broadcom’s debt is interesting because its recent competition for Google’s TPU business has been accompanied by a spike in CDS. And, as Bloomberg notes, the monster debt deal will do little to alleviate that pressure and will likely feed down to the CDS of other chip/hyperscaler credit.

As we noted in our EOD wrap, hyperscaler CDS is already back near the July all-time wides, with names that issue new debt seeing clear spikes in CDS pushing their default risk slowly but surely every higher. 

The problem is that unlike equities, where there apparently is an infinite number of greater fools using other people's money to force daily gamma squeezes, there will come a time - and yield - when the bond market simply refuses to keep funding these endless AI boondoggles, especially when China can now do pretty much everything faster, cheaper and almost as effectively. At that point, the AI bubble will finally burst. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 09:15

Futures Rise On Opex Day As Yields Stabilize; Bitcoin Almost Tags $80,000

Futures Rise On Opex Day As Yields Stabilize; Bitcoin Almost Tags $80,000

US futures rebound from Thursday's slump, and trade at session highs on.  As of 8:15am ET, S&P 500 futures were 0.4% higher with Nasdaq 100 contracts up 0.6%, while Bitcoin headed for its best week in more than three years, rising just shy of $80,000 before reversing. S&P 500 futures jerked higher and yields extended declines as oil edged lower shortly after 7am ET on this headline: *IRAN’S PRESIDENT SAYS BETTER TO END WAR TODAY WITH DIGNITY:ISNA, and while the market erroneously viewed this as a sign of de-escalation, he has made many similar comments in the past. Among Iranian officials, Pezeshkian has long been one of the most vocal proponents of ending the war with the US through diplomacy. In any case, tech is again making headlines, with Broadcom in talks with lenders to raise as much as $100 billion in an off balance sheet SPV financing deal that would benefit Anthropic and other companies. Pre-market, Mag 7 are all higher led by META (+0.9%) and TSLA (+1.1%). Today is the monthly option expiration day so expect low volume volatility around key pin levels. TSY yields are down 1-2bps across the curve although the 10Y remains just around 4.70%. The slide in the greenback is continuing, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index down 0.3% and at a three-month low. Commodities are mixed: base metals ad ags are all lower, while gold is 1.6% higher this morning; oil is unchanged. Overall, the overnight news flow was mostly quite as investors are waiting for today’s Global PMI release. Today's US economic data calendar includes Bloomberg US economic survey for August, and S&P Global US manufacturing, services and composite PMIs. No Fed speakers are scheduled for the session

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are all higher (Tesla +1.3%, Meta +0.7%, Alphabet +0.7%, Amazon +0.6%, Nvidia +0.5%, Apple +0.1%, Microsoft +0.1%)

  • Cryptocurrency-linked stocks are rallying as Bitcoin rises, putting it on track for its best weekly gain in more than two years. Strategy (MSTR) climbs 8%, Coinbase (COIN) rises 5%.
  • Mining stocks are rising as gold is on track for a third weekly gain after the US Treasury’s unexpected ramp-up in buybacks of long-dated government debt underscored concerns about its burden. Newmont (NEM) rises 3%.
  • Flowers Foods (FLO) falls 4% after the maker of Wonder Bread cut its adjusted earnings-per-share forecast for the full year.
  • O-I Glass (OI) rises 5% after Citi upgraded the packaging products company to buy, saying shares appear to be “meaningfully oversold.”
  • OSI Systems (OSIS) falls 13% after the medical device maker’s forecast for fiscal 2027 revenue fell short of the average analyst estimate.
  • Parsons Corp. (PSN) rises 2% after Baird upgraded the IT services company to outperform, saying guidance looks conservatively set.
  • NetEase ADRs (NTES) rise 6% after the company’s core gaming business was seen as resilient and forecast to keep growing steadily.
  • Ross Stores (ROST) climbs 8% after the off-price retailer boosted its earnings per share forecast for the full year.

In other corporate news, Samsung Electronics said it expects to return as much as 110 trillion won ($79 billion) to shareholders this year, joining rival SK Hynix in handing investors a chunk of the windfall generated by the AI rush. Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile are among companies expressing interest in acquiring a swath of 800 MHz-band spectrum held by Grain Management that’s valuable for providing wireless phone services directly from space. Virtu Financial is said to be considering a potential sale of its agency brokerage and technology division to free up capital to invest in its core market making operation.  Nvidia is in early discussions with the Korean AI chip designer Rebellions about possible collaborations. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is seeking to buy two separate banks for a combined price of €34 billion ($40 billion) as it wants to prevent being taken over by rival Intesa Sanpaolo SpA. Broadcom is in talks with a group of lenders to raise as much as $100 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

After days of swings that saw long-dated yields hit their highest levels in decades, Treasuries were little changed on Friday. Brent crude struggled for direction, while gold hit the highest level since May. Investors are now assessing the fallout from a week that saw bond yields spike on worries about inflation and spendthrift governments, a surge that prompted the Treasury to intervene to curb long-dated borrowing costs. They are now awaiting a promised new initiative from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent aimed at fiscal consolidation. “Equity markets are vacillating between concerns about the tech sector and rising bond yields, though today, both seem to have declined,” said Joachim Klement, a strategist at Panmure Liberum. “Fact is that the US Treasury can do little if anything to turn the trend in long-term bond yields for good.”

The surprise decision by the Treasury Department to increase its repurchase program this week “sent the clear message to investors that rising yields matter now,” notes JonesTrading chief strategist Mike O’Rourke. “While the Treasury market has been soft since the election, we do not view it as dire. The Treasury drawing attention to it may turn it into a problem,” O’Rourke adds.

Bitcoin rallied as much as 9.4% and headed for its best weekly advance since 2023. A short squeeze triggered by Bessent’s midweek announcement of bigger buybacks of long-dated bonds remains a major driver of the gains.

In hedge funds, Hamza Lemssouguer’s Arini Capital Management is said to have lost roughly 8% in July on soured credit bets. The drawn out Evergrande saga underscores the inherent perils of short selling, said Andrew Left.

Nearly $29 billion flowed into US equity funds in the week through Aug. 19, the largest inflow in three weeks, according to BofA's Michael Hartnett who said if US intervention in the bond market fails to “drag 30-year yield below 5%,” that would fuel a slump in the dollar and cause asset allocation to shift to short risk, short leverage and short cyclicals into midterms.

Stronger-than-expected manufacturing data helped pushed the the Stoxx 600 up 0.1% and snapped a seven-day losing streak for European equities, the longest in a decade. Still, the Stoxx 600 is less than 2% below its record high, and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan remain among the most optimistic about the region’s prospects, a Bloomberg survey showed. “Europe has done much better than almost everybody would have expected at the outset of this year,” said Sharon Bell, senior European equity  strategist at Goldman Sachs. “There’s been so much attention on a handful of companies in the US and Asia that I just don’t feel Europe has had its proper due.” Here are the biggest movers Friday:

  • Nibe shares gained as much as 10%, the most since May, after the Swedish heating and climate solutions group posted strong earnings, that SB1 Markets predicted could trigger single-digit upgrades to consensus estimates
  • Siegfried shares rose as much as 9.3%, briefly hitting their highest level since February, after the maker of active pharmaceutical ingredients delivered results ahead of expectations in the first half
  • Bavarian Nordic shares rose as much as 9.1%, the most since July 2025, after the Danish vaccine maker boosted its Ebitda margin forecast for the full year and announced a new share buyback program
  • Domino’s Pizza Group shares rose as much as 4% after Shore Capital upgraded its recommendation on the UK franchise of the world’s biggest pizza company to buy from hold.
  • Hunting Plc shares fell as much as 20%, the most in four years, after the energy services provider cut its full-year profit guidance by 7%
  • Straumann shares fell 3.5% after being downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank, which says increasing risks and the CEO transition “cloud the outlook” for the Swiss dental implant maker
  • CTS Eventim shares slid as much as 9.5% after reporting results for the second quarter

Asian stocks advanced as heavyweight Samsung Electronics’ plan to return some of its windfall AI profits to shareholders lifted the technology sector. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 1%, with chipmakers among the biggest contributors. Samsung plans to return up to 110 trillion won ($79 billion), in what would be one of the company’s most significant capital-return initiatives. Benchmarks advanced in South Korea, Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan. Samsung’s payout plan follows SK Hynix’s announcement of a $29 billion buyback. Hopes for more AI-fueled shareholder returns have been a bright spot amid mounting concerns over rising bond yields and fading prospects for a US-Iran peace deal. The MSCI Asia index is down 0.3% for the week, poised to snap four-straight weeks of gains.

In FX, the dollar headed for its worst week this month before US manufacturing PMI data that may give investors more insight into the health of the world’s biggest economy.  A Bloomberg gauge tracking the dollar against peers fell 0.3% to its lowest level since May 12 as it continued to face a backlash from investors after Wednesday’s announcement that the US Treasury would boost purchases of longer-dated government bonds.  USD/JPY drops 0.4% to 158.36; Japan’s consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 1.8% in July from a year earlier, accelerating for a second month. EUR/USD on course for a third daily advance and a fourth weekly gain, for the first time since April 2025. GBP/USD rises as much as 0.3% to 1.3676; Britain’s private sector expanded at the fastest pace in four months, as sunny weather and a strong service sector prompted households and businesses to turn on the spending taps. Japan’s benchmark Topix pared an earlier loss to flip to gains, finding support from bank stocks and the marine transportation sector. “If you look at the sectors, money is still flowing into areas such as resources and domestically-oriented stocks,” said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory. 

In rates, treasuries opened higher in a belly-led move; 30-year USTs underperformed with yields about 1bp lower at 5.24%. Wings of the curve are lagging ahead of US services and manufacturing reports. Choppy trading session overnight with oil prices lower and UK gilts and European front-ends outperform Treasuries. US yields higher by less than 0.5bps across belly, with the 2-year yield slightly lower and 30-year unchanged. 2/10’s and 2/30s are flatter by around 0.5bps vs. Thursday close. US 10-year yields trade around 4.70%, richer by 1bp on the day with bunds slightly and gilts up 1 bp in the sector. Market pricing for Federal Reserve rate hikes was steady ahead of US PMI data, September OIS around 9bps of a rate hike priced.  IG dollar issuance slate is quiet. On Thursday three companies raised a combined $3.25 billion in the US investment-grade bond market. Next week is expected to be light for issuance, before the seasonal rush begins after Labor Day 

“As the buyback announcement effect fades, we expect yields to resume their upward drift and the curve to maintain a steepening bias,” fixed-income strategists at Societe Generale SA wrote in a Thursday note

In commodities, WTI futures lower by around 1.1%, and have been trading below Thursday’s close during the overnight session. Brent crude futures are down 0.5% but on track for a roughly 5% rise this week as the ongoing Middle East conflict drives prices higher. The dollar’s loss is supporting gold, up 1.5% and briefly trading on a $4,600/oz handle for the first time since mid-May. The rally in Bitcoin has garnered further momentum, up over 7% and closing in on the $80k mark. 

Today's US economic data calendar includes Bloomberg US economic survey for August, and S&P Global US manufacturing, services and composite PMIs. No Fed speakers are scheduled for the session. Next week’s key events include Nvidia earnings and the Jackson Hole symposium. Investors will also be focusing on a heavy slate of results in Asia, including the first report from newly public chipmaker CXMT.

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

  • Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s bid to prop up the US bond market has been dismissed by investors as a “band-aid on a bullet hole”, as concerns mount over Washington’s $40tn debt burden and smoldering inflation. FT
  • The market is treating the Treasury’s buyback announcement as a pure dollar negative, and Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech next week at Jackson Hole could be the catalyst for another round of greenback weakness: BBG
  • Broadcom Inc. is in talks with a group of lenders to raise as much as $100 billion in SPV debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies. BBG
  • Surging healthcare costs are walloping U.S. workers, and they will only worsen next year. For 2027, employers may be facing the biggest health-insurance increase in at least two decades. WSJ
  • China will roll out additional fiscal policy measures in response to economic developments, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said on Friday, as growth slows in the world's second-biggest economy. China will maintain the continuity ‌and stability of macroeconomic policies and plan and allocate fiscal resources over a longer time horizon, Liao told a press conference. RTRS
  • Ever since President Trump’s return to office, America’s allies have been fretting about Washington’s intentions. Now, after the inconclusive war against Iran has eroded U.S. weapons stockpiles and laid bare the limits of American hard power, they also worry about American capabilities. WSJ
  • Japan’s consumer inflation picked up last month as the energy shock caused by the Middle East conflict rippled out across goods, firming expectations that the next interest-rate hike is around the corner. WSJ
  • Samsung Electronics expects to return as much as $80 billion to shareholders this year, joining rival SK Hynix in sharing the AI windfall and fueling optimism across the tech sector. Nasdaq futures led gains. BBG
  • Unprecedented shareholder-return plans by South Korea’s two chipmaking giants are emerging as a key swing factor for the won, potentially extending its recent rally if the firms tap local currency markets to fund the payouts: BBG
  • Eurozone flash PMIs were solid in Aug, with manufacturing coming in at 52.8 (vs. the Street 51.8) and services at 51.7 (vs. the Street 51.5), as the economy demonstrated healthy growth and easing inflation pressure. S&P
  • Britain posted a surprise budget deficit in July, underscoring the fragile state of the public finances as Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey begins to draw up his crucial autumn budget: BBG
  • Bitcoin topped $78,000, on track for its best week in more than three years. BBG
  • September and October in midterm election years is when volatility picks up and S&P returns fade ... and that’s usually followed by a post-event bounce: Goldman

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks were mixed as the region attempted to shrug off the broadly negative handover from Wall Street, where risk sentiment was dampened amid a rebound in yields and Walmart's weak sales growth. ASX 200 traded with mild losses amid another deluge of earnings and mostly softer flash PMI data. Nikkei 225 retreated at the open but is well off today's worst levels, with participants digesting the latest inflation data from Japan, which mostly matched estimates and remained below the 2% price target, but accelerated from the previous and could support the case for further BoJ rate hikes. KOSPI clawed back early losses with price action driven by the tech heavyweights, with SK Hynix considering building a memory chip plant in Japan's Miyagi prefecture and with Samsung Electronics expected to announce a KRW 100tln shareholder return plan today. In addition, the comments from BoK's newly appointed Senior Deputy Governor Kwon were less hawkish than his predecessor, in which he stated that cautious and flexible policy decisions are needed. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were somewhat mixed, with the Hong Kong benchmark in the green and its biggest movers driven by recent earnings releases, while the mainland struggled for direction despite China's Vice Finance Minister flagging incremental policies and the PBoC resuming 7-day reverse repo operations for the first time in more than a week.

Top Asian News

  • China's Vice Finance Minister Liao said they will roll out additional fiscal policy measures in response to economic developments. Liao added that a greater share of fiscal spending will be directed towards households and consumption.
  • PBoC reportedly to "survey" some mutual funds regarding long-dated bonds, sources suggested.
  • Japan's Finance Ministry is considering setting an assumed interest rate at 3.8% for calculating debt servicing costs in the FY27/28 budget request, Nikkei reported.
  • Japanese PM Takaichi said an economy that is growing will experience a certain level of inflation. Japan has the lowest inflation among G7 nations due in part to the effect of government steps.
  • Japan's LDP cabinet reshuffle is likely to occur in the latter half of September, Kyodo reported citing sources. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara is expected to retain their position

European bourses begin the final trading session of the week with broad gains, with the blue chip EuroStoxx 50 set to break its 5-day losing streak. Volumes remain light as the Summer season. On the data front, despite mixed French and German PMIs, the EZ figure printed stronger-than-expected across the board, with clear strength in the manufacturing sector. Commentary by S&P highlighted the effect of the heatwave on the services sector. For the ECB, S&P stated that the hawkish bias should remain giving the solid Q3 GDP growth, renewed hiring and elevated inflation. Sectors highlight the positive bias. Basic Resources is the clear outperformer, given the resurgence of precious metals (spot gold +1.5%). Construction and Autos round out the outperformers. To the downside is Health Care, with Media and Financial Services completing the sector laggards.

Top European News

  • ECB Consumer Expectations Survey (Jul): 1-year inflation expectation: 2.9% (prev. 3%), 3-year inflation expectation: 2.7% (prev. 2.8%), 5-year inflation expectation: 2.4% (prev. 2.4%).
  • European Negotiated Wage Growth (Q2) 2.44% (Q/Q Rev. 2.56%, Prev. 2.48%).
  • Germany's VDMA said German Machinery exports fell 0.8% Y/Y in H1'26. Geopolitical crises, tariffs, and weak demand in certain countries are collectively weighing on foreign trade in the machinery sector.
  • UK Chancellor Healey has been warned by investors and analysts to limit budget borrowing and not to relent in efforts to reduce the UK's fiscal deficit amid bond sell-off, according to FT.

FX

  • G10s are entirely firmer against the Buck with Antipodeans the clear outperformers after China signalled further fiscal measures; CAD and NOK helped by oil prices which eke gains.
  • DXY sits at the lower end of its 98.56-98.84 range, with the recent move lower coinciding with the gradual downside seen in global bond yields. In the prior session, Buck saw some modest weakness after Bessent hinted at further measures to temper yields, action which was reversed through the US afternoon, but an area which DXY has returned to this morning.
  • As expected, July's UK Retail metrics were weak, echoing the BRC monitor for the same period. And despite the 3M commentary around the weather, the ongoing heatwave and end of the World Cup appear to have hit activity. For the BoE, the print does not change the narrative, and instead we look to Flash PMIs later today. Cable saw around 8 pips of downside after the data, action which was swiftly pared in choppy trade. Flash PMIs failed to spur a reaction, despite broadly printing further into expansionary territory. With GBP/USD breaching the resistance at 1.3654, chartists will be focused on the next resistance high at 1.3712.
  • EZ flash PMIs supported the bullish EUR bias today as figures indicating solid third quarter GDP growth, a return to hiring by companies for the first time this year, and inflation remaining elevated by historical standards. EUR/USD looks to Thursday's 1.1710 high, thereafter, resistance around 1.1750.
  • Antipodeans outperform after China’s Vice Finance Minister pledged to roll out additional fiscal policy measures, remarks which follow similar rhetoric from July’s Politburo meeting. Attention will be on further measures to be released in the coming days, which could continue to help the Antipodes. AUD and NZD each firmer by 0.6% against the Buck, with Aussie looking to 0.72, Kiwi eyeing 0.5980, thereafter 0.60.

Fixed Income

  • Global fixed benchmarks are mixed this morning, but with price action tentative and trading on either side of the unchanged mark. Earlier action was muted, though US30yr has been gradually falling as the morning progressed. The US 30yr resides at 5.23% vs yesterday’s peak at 5.26% and off near-term highs at 5.33%.
  • USTs (+3 ticks) hold within a very narrow 108-14 to 108-17+ range. The lack of news flow and the ongoing summer lull have led to thin ranges, but later markets will have US PMI metrics to digest, as well as an appearance from President Trump. Elsewhere, the US10yr (4.68%) also moves lower this morning, lacking a clear catalyst. A factor which has led to a decline in the USD, whilst spot gold and Bitcoin have moved to highs.
  • Bunds (+2 ticks) are also trading steady this session. The European benchmark has had regional and EZ-wide PMI metrics to digest this morning, whereby the French and German releases were subject to poor Services components, whilst Manufacturing topped expectations.
  • Elsewhere in Europe, the EZ Negotiated Wage Growth (Q2) figure fell from the prior, which will be welcomed by policymakers at the ECB – but unlikely to push away calls for a September hike. On the inflation front, the latest ECB SCE saw 1- and 3-year expectations fall from the prior.
  • Gilt (-4 ticks) price action essentially echoes the above. UK Retail Sales were weak, whilst the PMIs mildly topped expectations. The accompanying report, “the data suggest the Bank of England looks likely to keep a hawkish bias but will stay cautious, holding off any rate hikes until the growth and inflation trajectories become clearer”. The release saw downticks of c. 7 ticks, but this proved fleeting.

Commodities

  • WTI and Brent futures trade on a softer footing amid a pullback from yesterday’s surge, and as geopolitical headlines quieten down, for now, heading into the weekend. Major updates have been light this morning. Reports via the Jerusalem Post suggested security officials see a lower near-term risk of an expanded war with Iran, with Trump’s new economic sanctions intended to buy time until after the US midterms. Meanwhile, the report added that Israel is increasing military preparedness in case strikes resume. Near-term catalysts remain dependent on US-Iran developments, with the next inflection points likely coming from any surprise weekend military action, Iran’s response to US economic pressure, or any updates on diplomacy.
  • WTI Oct currently resides around session lows in a USD 85.95-86.94/bbl range, after printing USD 85.23-87.69/bbl range yesterday. Brent Oct sits in a USD 92.97-94.00/bbl range after printing a USD 91.47-94.71/bbl range yesterday. Dutch TTF, conversely, keeps rising, with European storage replenishment also on traders’ minds. Dutch TTF has risen to a current high above EUR 66.50/MWh from levels under EUR 65/MWh earlier this morning.
  • Metals are higher across the board and are cheering continued weakness in the USD, with woes for the Buck this week compounded by the mid-week US Treasury buyback announcement. Spot gold found support at its 200 DMA (USD 4,514/oz) and currently trades towards the top of a USD 4,509-4,602/oz range, with the next upside level the psychological USD 4,600/oz. Spot silver topped its 100 DMA (USD 68.50/oz) and eyes USD 70/oz to the upside in a USD 67.91-69.92/oz range. Base metals are similarly firmer across the board, with 3M LME copper towards the upper end of a USD 14,050.90-14,194.08/t.
  • Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have reportedly declined, Reuters reported.

Central Banks

  • ECB's Kazaks said he sees wage growth gradually slowing and that the ECB is well placed to act, if needed.
  • BoK's new senior deputy governor Kwon said growth is improving more than expected, inflation is exceeding target and financial stability risks remain, while he added that cautious and flexible policy decisions are needed due to FX volatility and geopolitical risks. Kwon stated he doesn't want to define himself as a hawk or dove, and will make decisions based on circumstances and data.

Geopolitics: Iran

  • Security officials reportedly see a lower near-term risk of an expanded war with Iran, with Trump’s new economic sanctions intended to buy time until after the US midterms, Jerusalem Post reported. The report added that Israel is increasing military preparedness in case strikes resume.
  • US President Trump said on Michael Cohen's podcast that the US is essentially and soon controlling the strait, while he said Iran has some missiles and drones, but low capacity to build.
  • US VP Vance responded that their main focus is not really on that, when asked how long Iran could withstand economic pressure, while he added that Iran is under a lot of pressure, which helps achieve our goal of making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.
  • Iranian Parliament speaker Ghalibaf said Iran must draw up plans to overcome unjust sanctions in order to defeat them.
  • Yemen's Houthis said they targeted a Saudi airport and an Aramco facility.
  • Yemeni Armed Forces announce the targeting Houthi heavy equipment and fortifications, according to Al Arabiya.

Geopolitics: Ukraine/Other

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Russia's Perm and a military base in Marinovka.
  • North Korea reportedly fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles in its third missile launch this month, hours after rejecting US President Trump's overtures.
  • Japan, US and South Korea held a phone call regarding North Korea missile launch.
  • China and Indonesia will expand joint-military exercises and will work together to accelerate the modernisation of their respective armed forces, according to Indonesia’s Defence Minister.

US Event Calendar

  • 9:45 am: Aug P S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI, est. 53.9, prior 53.9
  • 9:45 am: Aug P S&P Global US Services PMI, est. 54, prior 54.6
  • 9:45 am: Aug P S&P Global US Composite PMI, est. 53.95, prior 54.5

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

The past 24 hours saw renewed pressure in bond markets as the rally following the US Treasury's announcement on Wednesday that it would expand its buyback operations faded. That meant 10yr Treasury yields rose by +5.8bps to 4.71%. The sell-off in rates was reinforced by the continued rise in energy prices, with Brent crude (+2.36%) advancing for a fifth consecutive session to $93.78/bbl, amid continuing concerns over US-Iran tensions. The backdrop of higher yields and oil prices led the S&P 500 (-0.87%) to post its biggest decline of August so far. Market sentiment has stabilised somewhat overnight, though yields are mostly drifting higher in Asia while the US dollar is trading near three-month lows.

Yesterday’s rise in yields came despite US Treasury Secretary Bessent’s attempts to ameliorate the market situation in an interview on CNBC. Bessent said that the buybacks previously announced could be bigger than the $4bn per issue, and that Treasury had a “big toolkit” for the treasuries market. Intriguingly, he also said that the administration would be announcing an increased focus on fiscal consolidation, “probably at the end of this week, beginning of next week”, although he provided little other detail. Long-end yields did stabilise as the session went on, but 10yr yields still fully reversed Wednesday’s rally (+5.8bps after -5.7bps Wednesday), while 30yr yields (+5.7bps and -9.2bps) reversed most of theirs.

So for now investors are viewing the Treasury’s steps more as a band-aid than a structural solution to rising yields. Indeed, as we argued in our note dedicated to the 250-year anniversary of the US (see here on the DB Research Institute), while financial repression could play some role in managing the US debt burden, it needs to be combined with genuine fiscal consolidation to have a sustained impact.

Meanwhile, the stagnant situation in the Middle East also added pressure on rates yesterday, as markets digested Trump’s threat from Wednesday night that Iran would face the “most crushing economic operation ever”. In his CNBC interview yesterday, Bessent also said that oil markets were “misinterpreting” what this economic pressure means, and that he would hold a press conference on Monday to discuss the next steps. With lingering questions of whether the US could target countries economically supporting Iran, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said “sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue”. As prospects of resolution remained distant, Brent crude crossed $93/bbl to its highest level since late July. Brent is a marginal -0.32% lower this morning.

With oil prices moving higher against the uncertainty, that put renewed pressure on inflation expectations, with the US 1yr inflation swap rising +16.0bps, its largest daily move since March. 5yr inflation swaps (+6.4bps) also posted a decent gain to its highest level since June at 2.51%. In turn, expectations of Fed hikes edged higher with pricing of a September hike up from 32% to 36% and 23bps of hikes being priced by year-end (+1.6bps on the day). Staying on the Fed, St. Louis Fed President Musalem reiterated his view that inflation remained too high due to shocks and persistent demand. Musalem had supported a hike in July, although he is a non-voter this year.

Yesterday’s US data also did nothing to push back against the move higher in yields, with the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook for August rising to its highest level since April 2021 (47.4 vs 41.4 prev., 24.8 exp.). Even more impressively, the capex expectations reading within the survey saw its highest reading since the 1970s. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for the period ending in August 15 were a little lower than expected (206K vs 210k exp.), signalling that the labour market remains stable.

The bond sell off has spread to Asia overnight, with yields on 10yr Japan (+3.3bps) and Australia (+5.1bps) bonds moving higher, while 10yr Treasuries are stable. For JGBs, the move comes as Japan’s flash August composite PMI rose to a 6-month high of 53.4 (from 52.7) with both manufacturing and services activity accelerating. Meanwhile, Japan’s July national CPI rose from 1.6% to 1.9%, in line with expectations, with core-core (ex. fresh food and energy) inflation rising from 1.7% to 1.9%. The data has underlined market expectations of a September BoJ hike, with its pricing rising from 79% to 82% this morning.

We’ll also get flash PMIs across the Eurozone, UK and US today, which will give us a further sense of whether the economic resilience seen so far this summer has continued. In a sign of positive momentum continuing, the UK’s GfK consumer confidence reading (-14 vs -18 expected) released overnight unexpectedly rose to its highest level in two years.

Equities struggled yesterday in response to the unwinding of fixed income gains, with the S&P 500 (-0.87%) posting its biggest decline of August so far. The Nasdaq (-1.00%) and the Mag-7 (-1.11%) saw larger losses, even as the Philly Semiconductor index (+0.53%) reversed some of its losses from earlier this week. Sentiment also wasn’t helped by earnings from Walmart (-9.15%), whose shares slumped after the company saw its slowest US sales growth since 2020 at +2.6% yoy. So that renewed questions about the health of the US consumer amid the backdrop of high energy prices, rising interest rates and a low saving rate.

The equity mood has improved a bit overnight, with both the S&P 500 (+0.06%) and NASDAQ (+0.20%) edging higher, while Asian markets are mixed. The Nikkei (-0.30%) is underperforming, but the Hang Seng (+0.72%) and CSI 300 (+0.52%) are advancing. Korea’s KOSPI is also up +0.89% following on a +5.89% surge yesterday. That’s been helped by a +2.10% gain for Samsung Electronics as Bloomberg reported that the company plans to announce a new package of dividends and buyback of up to 110trn won ($79bn).

Over in Europe, sovereign bonds also mostly lost ground yesterday. While 10yr bunds (-0.2bps) were little changed, the 10yr OAT yield (+1.5bps) reached a new post-2008 high of 4.12%, with BTP (+1.4bps) yields also higher. Meanwhile, 10yr gilts (+2.3bps) underperformed, in part following a better-than-expected August CBI Trends survey. That said, the relatively modest bond moves came despite European gas prices (+3.36%) rising to their highest level since January 2023 at €65.50/MWh, as worries of an energy shock continued to permeate markets. Indeed, the Euro 1yr inflation swap rate also rose +3.4bps to its highest level since late July. In the equity space, Europe’s Stoxx 600 (-0.12%), DAX (-0.42%) and CAC 40 (-0.57%) declined, whilst the FTSE 100 (+0.04%) inched up.

Turning to FX, with yields rebounding, the dollar index (+0.06%) stabilised yesterday after Wednesday's decline but is -0.14% lower overnight. Gold (+0.02%) was also little changed at $4,517/oz after having its best day since February on Wednesday. Conversely, Bitcoin (+5.25%) rose for a 4th consecutive session to its highest level since late May. It is another +2.64% higher, nearing the $75k level this morning, though that still leaves the cryptocurrency down about -15% this year.

Finally, Sweden’s Riksbank left its policy rate unchanged at 1.75% as expected. In the comments, the bank said that the probability of a rate hike later this year still holds. Money markets are now pricing 23bps of Riksbank hikes by December, down from 28bps the day before.

Turning to the day ahead, the data highlight will be the flash August PMIs across France, Germany, Eurozone, UK and US. Other data include July retail sales in the UK, France August business confidence, the ECB’s July consumer expectations survey, Eurozone August consumer confidence and Canada June retail sales.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 08:34

British Protesters Jailed For Longer Than Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Girl

British Protesters Jailed For Longer Than Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Girl

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

British men who protested outside an Essex asylum hotel have been locked up for far longer than the migrant whose sexual assaults on a 14-year-old girl and a woman triggered the demonstrations.

Charlie Land, 24, and Jonathan Glover, 48, received 32 months and 30 months respectively at Chelmsford Crown Court for violent disorder during the July 2025 clashes at The Bell Hotel in Epping. The Ethiopian national at the centre of it all, Hadush Kebatu, got just 12 months.

This is the latest chapter in a pattern that has already seen multiple local men handed heavier sentences than the man whose crimes set off the backlash.

Kebatu arrived in Britain on a small boat and was housed at the Bell Hotel. Within days he approached a 14-year-old girl on a bench in Epping, tried to kiss her, made sexually explicit comments, placed his hand on her thigh and later assaulted a woman who had offered help.

He was convicted of multiple sexual offences, including two counts of sexual assault, and sentenced to 12 months in September 2025. A judge described him as manipulative with a "poor regard for women" and said he posed a significant risk of reoffending.

He was later mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford due to an administrative blunder, triggering a multi-force manhunt before he was finally deported to Ethiopia.

The protests that followed were initially peaceful. They escalated on 17 July 2025 when counter-demonstrators arrived and disorder broke out.

Hundreds gathered. Police vehicles were attacked. Officers were shoved, punched and kicked. Essex Police said the overall policing operation cost more than £1.5 million.

Land was captured on drone and bodycam footage repeatedly damaging police vehicles, punching windows, kicking off wing mirrors, letting air out of tyres and climbing onto one vehicle to kick the windscreen while wearing a banned face covering. Judge Mills called him a "full and enthusiastic participant in the violent disorder" who showed "no regard" for officers' safety. The mask, the judge said, "contributed to an atmosphere of intimidation."

Glover was filmed shouting at officers and impeding police carriers. He claimed to be a journalist. The judge rejected that outright: "Genuine journalists record events - they do not manufacture them. You were not a reporter being picked on by the police; you were not the victim of so-called two-tier justice - you were the antagonist. Far from seeking to calm tensions, you repeatedly inflamed them."

These are not the first such sentences. In October 2025 Stuart Williams received 28 months, Martin Peagram 26 months and Dean Smith 22 months. In June 2026 Lee Gower, a local father and youth football coach, was jailed for 33 months. Shaun Thompson received 31 months. Phillip Curson later got 27 months. Combined custodial terms for those convicted already exceed 17 years.

Chief Inspector Terry Fisher of Essex Police said the disorder left the community "scared and anxious," disrupted daily life and damaged local businesses. "Whilst many people who wanted their voices to be heard on an important issue did that safely, a number chose to behave well beyond that and these convictions and sentences show that behaviour is and was entirely unacceptable."

The contrast is stark. A foreign national who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl days after arriving by small boat served 12 months (and was released early by mistake). British men who turned up to protest the housing of such offenders in their town are serving two to nearly three years. The courts have repeatedly stressed that peaceful protest is not the issue - the violence is. Yet the disparity in outcomes has fuelled widespread anger over two-tier justice.

Meanwhile the Labour government continues to free space in overcrowded prisons by releasing thousands of criminals early. Prisons are operating near capacity. Successive schemes have already seen tens of thousands leave early. Further releases are planned under the Sentencing Act, with adjustments after public backlash to exclude some of the most serious sex offenders, yet thousands of other prisoners will still walk free ahead of schedule to ease the crisis.

British towns are told to accept mass arrivals. When one of those arrivals attacks local children and women, residents who object too vigorously find themselves behind bars for longer than the perpetrator.

The system prioritises capacity management and narrative control over equal application of the law.

Secure borders, swift deportation of foreign offenders and consistent justice for British citizens are not radical demands. They are the baseline of a country that still claims to protect its own people.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 08:15

HSBC Warns Global Zinc Market Is Flashing Signs Of Tightness

HSBC Warns Global Zinc Market Is Flashing Signs Of Tightness

HSBC's Global Commodity Team warned Thursday that the zinc market is flashing warning signs of extreme tightness:

Global zinc mine supply remains tight: HSBC's Global Commodity Team expects global mine supply to fall 2.1% y-o-y to 12.5mt in 2026, driven mainly by lower production in Latin America.

The zinc market is expected to be slightly tight in 2026e, driven by a modest recovery in demand in Europe and North America amid supply disruptions at smelters and mines.

Overall, concentrate supply remains tight, and there have been smelter disruptions as well. Zinc demand has held up.

Here's where the physical tightness is emerging: Zinc for immediate delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at a premium of as much as $132.37 a ton over three-month futures Thursday, the widest backwardation this year.

The spread signals intensifying competition for readily available metal in warehouses. Benchmark zinc rose 1.1% to $3,802 a ton earlier today, putting it on course for a fifth weekly gain and its highest close in four years.

Analysts from Chinese brokerage Jinrui Futures Co. wrote in a note, "There are still concerns about overseas supply disruptions in zinc," adding, "So the driving forces for the relative strength of the LME price continue to exist, together with heightened volatility around macroeconomic sentiment."

Beyond zinc, veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie wrote in a series of X posts Thursday that the convergence of tight physical markets, currency debasement and policy intervention represents the hallmark of a structural commodity bull cycle.

Quantix Commodity Index

Currie told his followers to "Get long and buckle up: the next leg of the ride will see more vol with higher highs across more markets."

Read the report here.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 08:00

Samsung Unleashes $80 Billion Shareholder Return After SK Hynix's "Buyback Bazooka" To Revive Memory Trade

Samsung Unleashes $80 Billion Shareholder Return After SK Hynix's "Buyback Bazooka" To Revive Memory Trade

Days after SK Hynix unveiled a staggering 40 trillion won, or $28.6 billion, "buyback bazooka" aimed at putting a floor under its shares following a sharp six-week selloff, Samsung Electronics joined the capital-return push.

The world's largest memory-chip maker said Friday that it plans to return as much as 110 trillion won, or $80 billion, to investors this year. The twin announcements suggest the world's top memory companies are trying to support higher valuations and reward shareholders after memory stocks surrendered some of their blistering first-half gains.

Bloomberg reports that Samsung intends to distribute roughly half of its free cash flow, including 30 trillion won in third-quarter dividends and about 15 trillion won in share repurchases for employee compensation.

Macquarie analyst Daniel Kim summarized Samsung's capital-return announcement:

What's new

  • Samsung Electronics (SEC) updated its much-anticipated shareholder return program today after the market close. There was no change in the committed return of 50% of cumulative FCF from 2024-26.
  • Its BoD is meeting in October to confirm the earlier distribution of promised FCF. So, the 3Q26 quarterly cash dividend payment should amount to Won30tr, including the regular quarterly cash dividend of Won2.45tr.
  • In late January 2027, the company should determine the remaining capital return amount, which SEC estimates at Won60-80tr, and the method of distribution.
  • SEC remains on our Marquee buy list.

Why it matters

  • Still formulating capital return policy. Excluding the cash dividend of Won20.9tr already paid out and the executed share buyback/cancellation of Won8.4tr, the company estimates the remaining capital to be returned to shareholders at Won90-110tr, which includes the 3Q26 Won30tr payout. This is 20-35% lower than our forecast.
  • Announced only the common-share repurchase of Won15tr for employee bonuses. Separately, SEC plans to repurchase 53.3mn common shares, or 0.9% of outstanding shares, which would cost Won15tr based on today's closing price, from 24 Aug. to 21 Nov. The repurchased shares won't be cancelled and will be paid to employees as bonuses, so they won't count as part of the shareholder return. Samsung preferred shareholders might be disappointed.
  • Ample free cash flow to support a more progressive capital return policy. Our projection shows that its net cash position should amount to Won718tr, or 40% of its market capitalization, by year-end 2027 and Won1,358tr by year-end 2028. We expect it to generate total FCF of Won1,434tr for 2026-28E, so its balance sheet should have ample cash unless the company returns far more cash to shareholders.
  • More cash dividends than share buybacks. While SK Hynix's capital return is more skewed toward share buybacks/cancellations, we expect Samsung's capital return to consist more of cash dividends than share buybacks. This is partly because Samsung Life (032830KS, not rated) and Samsung F&M (000810KS, not rated) are forced to trim their stakes in SEC under local regulations in the event of significant share retirements by SEC.

What now

  • Memory market outlook remains bright. Samsung's significant cash position could hurt its ROE; accordingly, we see significant upside in its capital returns over the next two years. We believe that its capital return policy should improve steadily over time. The stock is trading at 2x ex-cash 2027E EPS. Outperform.

Shares fell as much as 2.6% in post-market trading after the announcement due to a lack of clarity on how much stock Samsung would repurchase and cancel. Some analysts had anticipated total returns of around 150 trillion won.

Kim Minji, a portfolio manager at Must Asset Management, explained that "some investors have recently expected up to 150 trillion won of shareholder returns, which explains the post-market share action."

Kang DaeKwun, chief executive officer at Life Asset Management, held views similar to those of Must Asset Management's Kim, saying the announcement underwhelmed expectations:

  • After a local media report that the size of the shareholder return would be up to 150 trillion won, the announcement of up to 110 trillion won is triggering a selloff.
  • The announcement met market expectations because Samsung kept its promise to return 50% of free cash flow to shareholders.
  • While the market's attention is on the size of the shareholder return, what is more important is the supply of shares.
  • While US Big Tech companies are issuing new shares, South Korea is seeing a lower supply of shares thanks to large-scale shareholder return programs.

Announcements from SK Hynix and Samsung this week show that the management teams of the world's top memory-chip companies are concerned that momentum in the space has completely evaporated.

"The smart money is moving on," said Alec Young, chief investment strategist at MoneyFlows, a quant-research firm. "The fact that they have given up a lot of their recent bounce in just a couple days shows that there are a lot of weak hands."

SanDisk and Western Digital have fallen more than 30% from their peaks, while Micron and Seagate are down roughly 20%, signaling that momentum investors are rotating into other trades, such as the materials and energy stocks we pointed out earlier in the week (read here).

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 07:15

Pennies Have Been Abandoned, Now What Will Be Done With Nickels?

Pennies Have Been Abandoned, Now What Will Be Done With Nickels?

Authored by Adam Dick via RPI

The United States government minted its final penny in November of 2025. This came after fiat money inflation succeeded in depriving pennies of nearly all their value. Pennies are still circulating, but it is increasingly common for stores to round cost totals to avoid giving pennies in change.

Also, people seeing that the metal content of their pennies is worth more than the face value are deciding that it is better to store pennies in a jar than to spend them.

file image via APMEX

The same issues that caused the US government to give up on pennies may soon encourage it to make a major change in regard to nickels.

In an August of 2025 article, I noted that each nickel valued at five cents was costing almost 14 cents to produce. What would the government do in regard to nickels? I suggested two likely options:

The writing seems to be on the wall for nickels. As their metallic value and production costs further and further exceed their face value, there will be more pressure to make changes in nickels’ composition to significantly reduce their cost of production.

Alternatively, the government may, as is being done with the penny, just stop making new nickels.

With penny production ended, it looks like nickel production may soon have a shakeup as well, though one that could buy nickels some time.

Two different versions of the Common Cents Act passed this summer, one in the United States House of Representatives (HR 3074) and the other in the Senate (S 1525).

Both legislative bodies will need to agree on the same bill before it can be sent on to the president for consideration.

Something the two bills have in common is permitting changing the composition of nickels from 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel to portions to be determined of zinc inside and nickel outside.

The bills specify the composition change must reduce the cost of production of the coins and, "to the greatest extent practicable" have "a minimal adverse impact on machines designed to accept coins."

Such a change for nickels would mirror what happened in the early 1980s with pennies, when newly minted pennies started being 97.5 percent zinc instead of the prior 95 percent copper. The resulting cost savings helped keep penny production going for over forty more years.

Will the US government keep minting nickels for another 40-plus years, or will inflation be so strong that the government much sooner sends the nickel off to the same fate the penny met last year?

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 06:30

Medieval Diseases Have Returned To Los Angeles

Medieval Diseases Have Returned To Los Angeles

In what can only be described as a stunning failure of state and local policy and leadership, Los Angeles County recorded its highest tally of flea-borne typhus cases in 2025, confirming 220 diagnoses, up from 187 the year before, according to the county's Department of Public Health. Almost nine in ten of those patients ended up hospitalized. Fleas that feed on infected rats, opossums, and other small mammals carry the bacteria behind the disease to humans, and Los Angeles has watched the case count climb for years. The 2025 total marks the sharpest jump yet.

Dr. Dean Winslow has practiced infectious disease medicine for fifty years. He taught at Stanford, ran COVID-19 testing programs for the federal government, and served as President Trump's 2017 nominee for assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Asked whether a typhus outbreak in one of the wealthiest counties in America points to a broader failure in public health and sanitation, Winslow gave a one-word answer. "Absolutely," he told the Daily Signal.

"It's largely an issue of ... people living in just horrible conditions in close proximity to rats," Winslow said, naming rodents as the primary vector for the infection's spread.

The conditions track with the county's homelessness numbers. Homelessness in LA County rose 3.3% over the past year, and in the city of Los Angeles itself the figure climbed 7.9%, according to data from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Winslow said encampments put residents at heightened risk given their proximity to rats, though he cautioned the problem extends beyond encampments alone.

Asked what he would tell city officials, Winslow said the priority should be to "get a handle again on rat control issues."

That task has gotten harder since 2020, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1788 into law, restricting the use of four rodenticides over concerns about their effects on mountain lions and other wildlife. Winslow pointed to the restrictions as one likely culprit behind the county's swelling rat population, since pest-control operators have shifted toward traps and less potent methods in response. "Those may be two reasons why ... the rat population is out of control [in LA]," he said.

The county's own public health guidance seems to put the burden of prevention on residents, telling them to keep pets on flea-control products, avoid stray animals, clear yard debris, secure trash in tightly lidded containers, and report rodents or opossums to animal control. Mayor Karen Bass's office did not respond to the Daily Signal's request for comment.

Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, examined the county's internal records for City Journal. His team filed public records requests and received a thousand pages of documents from the county health department. What those documents showed is a public health system bracing for outbreaks it had fallen behind on.

"This is about plague rats that have returned," Rufo told Hugh Hewitt on the Salem News Channel. "So we did a story, we did FOIA, we got 1,000 pages of documents from the County Health Department in Los Angeles. And the picture that these documents painted was quite grim. You have a return of typhus, you have outbreaks of hantavirus, you have really a plethora of medieval diseases that are on the rise in LA."

Rufo laid out two forces behind the outbreak. "And there are a couple of causes for this. The first is that the homeless encampments that are scattered, not just in Skid Row, but throughout the city, are the perfect breeding ground for rats. And so now there are millions of rats breeding under the streets of Los Angeles. And the County Health Department admits in these internal documents that they're not ready for these outbreaks," he continued. "And at the same time, you have California Governor Gavin Newsom in two separate pieces of legislation in recent years banning all of the most effective rodenticides, so rat poisons that can keep that population at bay. And when you put those ingredients together, you get something that experts predicted in LA seems powerless to stop, which is typhus, including three deaths from typhus in recent years."

Three deaths and 220 hospitalization cases in a single year mark a policy failure in a county that absolutely has the resources to prevent it. Encampments stayed in place. Rodenticides came off the shelf. The health department knew what was coming and clearly could not (or would not) stop it. State and local officials built, permitted, and, in some cases, legislated the conditions that allowed the rat population to multiply beneath the streets of one of the wealthiest cities in America.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 05:45

US To Send Hospital Ship Next Year To Peru To Help With Impact Of El Nino

US To Send Hospital Ship Next Year To Peru To Help With Impact Of El Nino

Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times,

The United States will send a military hospital ship to Peru’s Pacific coast next year to help the country cope with the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Plans to send the hospital ship USNS Comfort to the northern Pacific coast of Peru in February 2027 were confirmed by U.S. Ambassador to Peru Bernie Navarro on Aug. 19 during a press conference at Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami, Florida.

Appearing alongside Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Espá, Navarro told reporters that “one of the biggest things the United States is doing is bringing the military vessel Comfort, which we are going to bring in February.”

The ambassador said that February is when they believe the problem with El Niño will peak.

Espá told reporters that officials were already starting to develop a road map.

“We are concerned, but we’re not just concerned; we’re taking action,” Espá said.

“That’s why we’re so grateful to the ambassador, because thanks to him, the day before yesterday we met at Southern Command with all the U.S. agencies that will be assisting us, along with civil society and the business sector, to develop our roadmap.”

Following the press conference, Navarro said in a post on X:

“The United States will stand with Peru in facing El Niño. With a strategy focused on prevention rather than reaction, we will set an example for regional cooperation.”

El Niño is a warming of the Pacific Ocean near the equator that affects global weather patterns. According to meteorologists, it could soon equal or surpass the 1997 phenomenon, which caused damage from heat waves, heavy rains, floods, and forest fires.

Peru, which lies on the western coast of South America, has been subject to flooding this year as a result of the weather phenomenon.

Aid to South America

The planned deployment of USNS Comfort, which was already in Peru in 2018 and 2019, was announced in an earlier statement from the U.S. Embassy in Peru on Aug. 17 following the summit at SOUTHCOM.

The summit on disaster preparedness for El Niño was attended by the U.S. ambassador, Espá, SOUTHCOM, representatives from the U.S. and Peruvian governments, and individuals from academia and civil society.

The U.S. Embassy in Peru said in a statement that during the summit, Navarro highlighted that the United States has demonstrated its support for the South American country through its aid and assistance.

This includes the construction of 18 Regional Emergency Operations Centers; the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration training provided to its officials in emergency response and risk management; and scientific and medical cooperation, such as the upcoming arrival of the hospital ship.

The United States has also been sending increased humanitarian aid for earthquakes in Colombia and Venezuela.

SOUTHCOM said in an Aug. 17 post on X that U.S. assistance to Colombia for earthquake relief is ongoing.

“Today, a [U.S. Air Force] C-17 Globemaster III delivered more life-saving assistance and supplies from the [State Department’s] disaster response warehouse in Miami to Medellín for distribution to hard-hit communities in Colombia,” the command said.

“SOUTHCOM is actively supporting the [State Department-led] humanitarian response following the Aug. 10 earthquake in western Colombia. The United States stands in solidarity with the Colombian people during this crisis.”

Heavy Rain in Peru

Heavy rains attributed to El Niño caused flooding in Peru on Aug. 19, resulting in flooded homes, collapsed sewage services, and school closures in the capital, Lima.

Authorities also closed the main route to Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca citadel, due to the overflow of waterways.

There were also road closures from landslides in the southern regions ​of Arequipa and Moquegua.

Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, who took office on July 28, said that tackling the impact of the weather phenomenon is a priority.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 05:00

Ukraine Corruption Scandal Deepens: 'Operation Forrest Gump' Shocks Zelensky Government With More Searches

Ukraine Corruption Scandal Deepens: 'Operation Forrest Gump' Shocks Zelensky Government With More Searches

Authored by Remix News Staff via Remix News,

Ukrainian anti-corruption services launched searches under codename "Operation Forrest Gump," targeting, among others, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The move expands the ongoing anti-corruption investigation which has seen a number of top officials in Zelensky's cabinet flee to Israel shortly before police could raid their homes.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced they were conducting a special operation involving a criminal organization led by a current and former member of parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials from the Office of the President of Ukraine.

"NABU and SAPO are conducting a special operation aimed at exposing a criminal organization that operated under the leadership of a current and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials of the Office of the President of Ukraine and other individuals. Details - coming soon," announced the anti-corruption services on Telegram.

The operation is codenamed "Forrest Gump," also referred to as Forest Gump. Ukrayinska Pravda sources and other media reported that NABU and SAPO are conducting searches as part of this special operation at premises belonging to MP Vadym Stolar, who was elected to parliament on behalf of the currently banned Opposition Platform - For Life party.

In addition, Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, is also targeted in the raids.

Stolar has confirmed the investigative actions at his home and stated he is fully cooperating without obstruction.

Additional figures linked by media and law-enforcement sources include former MP Maksym Mykytas, officials from the Ministry of Justice, and senior management of the state-owned Sense Bank including the chair of the board and supervisory board. Searches were also reported at the bank premises.

NABU has released excerpts of intercepted conversations.

Fragments reference "bags of money," discussions of registering assets or proceeds in the names of children, including high tuition costs, the "Forrest Gump" name itself in a context of concealing theft, and mentions of the Office of the President.

As EuroMaidan writes, "The operation carries a mocking name, Forest Gump, drawn from the suspects' own words. In a 47-second recording of intercepted conversations, one man ties the label to how the group allegedly hid money."

The suspect mocks that one of the co-conspirators used his children's own name to register the stolen money.

"We've got Saving Private Ryan, right? But only an idiot would register the theft of money - and their tuition on top of it - on their own children. That's why, Forest Gump," he said.

Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators reportedly chose the name "Forrest Gump" to mock these statements from their own criminal targets.

Other parts of the conversation reference cash and the presidential administration directly. "Well, there are four bags of money there," one voice says on the tape.

Another chimed in, saying: "If we do this, you can drive to the Office of the President yourselves. Believe me. I can see it."

Investigators allege the group gained effective control over Sense Bank around early June 2026.According to NABU/SAPO details released as part of the operation, the group organized money laundering of $3.5 million in cash (UAH 150 million).

The funds were introduced into legal circulation through accounts of shell companies and Sense Bank to post bail for one of the defendants in the earlier "Midas" case, which was linked to former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Cash was reportedly delivered in tranches, processed via controlled entities, and partially directed toward the High Anti-Corruption Court bail account. Allegations include that Mudra was expected to help arrange the raising of these funds and that unidentified individuals from the President's Office tasked her with efforts related to bringing Sense Bank under greater control.

Investigators also seized a document described as an anti-crisis communications playbook outlining steps and messaging to shape public opinion around a Verkhovna Rada temporary investigative commission, framing it as an "audit, not attack" while shielding President Zelensky and his cabinet.

The probe has also documented alleged attempts to place controlled individuals in NABU and other law-enforcement bodies.

Incredibly, NABU has already posted these documents directly to Telegram.

Who is involved in the broader corruption scandal in Ukraine?

One of the main suspects in the related investigation is businessman Tymur Mindich. He is the co-owner of the Kwartal 95 production studio, which was founded and headed in the past by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Fearing arrest in the Energoatom affair (Operation Midas), Mindich fled to Israel. The Midas case centers on alleged large-scale kickbacks, approximately 10-15 percent of contract values, at the state nuclear company Energoatom, involving roughly $100 million in illicit funds, with the group using code names and cash deliveries.

During searches of Mindich's premises in November 2025, investigators found large quantities of cash and a golden toilet, along with a golden bidet, in one of the bathrooms of his opulent Kyiv apartment - details that became a public symbol of excess and were widely referred to as the "golden toilet scandal," which Remix News reported extensively on.

Mindich was not the only key figure to flee to Israel. His close associate, Oleksandr Tsukerman, also fled. The country does not extradite its citizens but Ukraine later imposed sanctions and issued international arrest warrants.

Among the suspects in the Midas scandal was the former head of Volodymyr Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak. The former head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office has been charged under the Criminal Code of Ukraine with laundering property obtained as a result of a crime. The alleged laundering of UAH 460 million, about $10.5 million, allegedly occurred during the construction of the Dynastia luxury housing complex in Kozyn near Kyiv.

According to investigators, some of the funds used for the construction may have come from corruption activities at Energoatom. The court then issued an arrest warrant for Yermak.

It stipulated that he would be able to be released if he paid bail of 140 million hryvnias. In mid-May, Andriy Yermak was released from custody after posting bail.

The Forrest Gump operation is now being presented as connected to the wider Midas network of allegations involving high-level influence over strategic state enterprises, money laundering, and related luxury projects. Developments remain ongoing, with NABU indicating further details would be released.

Polish state media outlet TVP reported: "The latest operation could further intensify scrutiny of the political establishment as President Volodymyr Zelensky's government faces pressure to demonstrate progress in tackling corruption while Ukraine continues its war with Russia. It also poses a fresh headache for Zelenskyy after ousted defense chief Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell statement late on Tuesday."

The question now remains: Is the noose tightening around Zelensky himself, or will he emerge from this massive corruption scandal of close associates squeaky clean?

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 02:00

Pennsylvania Dangles Permitting Carrot For Data Centers That Bring Their Own Power

Pennsylvania Dangles Permitting Carrot For Data Centers That Bring Their Own Power

Submitted by Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

Pennsylvania will give data center projects preferential permitting treatment if they commit to a set of power supply, environmental and cost-responsibility requirements under an executive order issued Tuesday by Gov. Josh Shapiro, D.

The state Department of Environmental Protection will develop the new review process. To receive a faster state permitting review, data center projects in Pennsylvania must source their electricity from new power supplies, including from growing amounts of firm clean power, according to the order, which affects proposals for projects with a peak demand of more than 25 MW.

The order “should further close the door” to the idea that independent power producers like Talen Energy, Vistra and PSEG Power will be able to sell power from their existing generating assets under long-term contracts to data centers in Pennsylvania, Jefferies equity analysts said in a note on Wednesday. However, Talen’s legacy deal to sell power from its majority-owned Susquehanna nuclear power plant to an Amazon data center appears safe, according to the note.

Shapiro’s executive order comes amid a wave of action by state and local governments aimed at setting limits on data center development. At least 81 cities and counties have moratoria on data center development, according to a National League of Cities database unveiled Wednesday.

Under the permitting framework set by the executive order, data center developers that sign a consent order and agreement requiring them to abide by the state’s infrastructure development standards unveiled in February will receive preferential treatment compared to those that don’t.

Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission Chairman Steve DeFrank speaks Aug. 18, 2026, at a data center-related executive order signing ceremony. Courtesy of Pennsylvania governor’s office

For example, applicants that execute a consent order and agreement will have their projects reviewed by DEP on a rolling basis, whereas for developers that don’t sign, the state won’t consider their applications until they have all local permits in hand as well as any needed water withdrawal or wastewater discharge authorizations.

“We have so much speculation in Pennsylvania — like, gold rush speculation on these data centers,” Katie Blume, political and legislative director for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, told Utility Dive in an interview. “A lot of this [order] is going to be weeding out those bad actors because they’re not going to want to spend five years in the permitting process.”

But Dan Diorio, executive vice president for state policy and government affairs for the Data Center Coalition, sounded a note of caution in an emailed statement.

“It’s important that rules are not changed midstream impacting ongoing investment in verified and responsible data center projects,” Diorio said. “Data centers take compliance and accountability seriously, building only where they are authorized to do so under local, state, and federal rules and regulations.”

The infrastructure development standards include requiring data centers to pay for “all costs caused in whole or in part by the interconnection, service, or load of a [data center] project, including any costs associated with energy and ancillary services, transmission, distribution, network upgrades.”

Besides requiring data centers to be supplied by new generating resources from the same local PJM Interconnection zone where the facilities are built, they must be supplied from growing amounts of firm clean energy such as solar, advanced nuclear and battery storage, Shapiro said when he signed the executive order.

The firm clean energy requirements ramp up from 10% on Jan. 1 to 14.5% three years later and 32% by Jan. 1, 2035.

The executive order directs the Pennsylvania DEP to expedite permitting for clean energy and storage facilities on brownfield sites. The DEP must also facilitate the use of advanced reconductoring and other advanced transmission technologies on existing transmission rights-of-way.

In prepared remarks, Shapiro pointed to the speed of data center development in the state, which he said has “seen an unacceptable number of speculative proposals ... many of them led by developers who have no regard for local communities.”

PPL Electric has about 20.7 GW of potential data center load with electric service agreements in Pennsylvania, according to an Aug. 7 investor presentation. FirstEnergy utilities in Pennsylvania have data center contracts totaling nearly 1 GW, the company said in a July 28 presentation.

It is unclear how those data center projects will be affected by the executive order, but slowing data center development could affect utility transmission spending in the state, the Jefferies analysts noted.

Exelon, FirstEnergy and PPL are “materially increasing their transmission investment with data center demand a key driver,” the analysts said. “If the pace of data center growth slows, we see downside pressure to the pace of transmission investments.”

Currently, data center-driven transmission costs are being shared with residential and other utility customers, they noted.

Shapiro’s executive order directed the state Office of Transformation and Opportunity to remove any existing data center project from the PA Permit Fast Track Program, established in 2024, and rescinded their eligibility for the program. It also barred state agencies from entering into confidential agreements with data center developers.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/20/2026 - 23:25

"Let's Downsize": Antifa Uses Instagram To Put 'Luigi-Style' Hit On Flock Camera CEO

"Let's Downsize": Antifa Uses Instagram To Put 'Luigi-Style' Hit On Flock Camera CEO

Karlyn Borysenko, who describes herself as an anti-communist analyst and observer of the far-left, posted a screenshot of an Instagram post from an account called "3chordpolitics." The post could be interpreted as a targeted, implicitly violent communication directed at Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety.

With high confidence, the 3chordpolitics post deliberately invokes violence against CEOs. As Borysenko wrote on X, "Antifa on Instagram is issuing death threats to CEOs, referencing bullets and Luigi Mangione, and essentially using the platform to call for more CEO assassinations."

Here are the threat indicators present in the post:

  • CEO Garrett Langley is individually named and pictured.
  • A black bar obscures his eyes, creating a targeting effect.
  • Three bullets appear alongside a Luigi character, likely a coded reference to Luigi Mangione and the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
  • The slogan "No CEO Left Behind" appears to imply hostility toward Langley and CEOs as a class.
  • The caption "Let's downsize" functions as a double entendre, suggesting the physical elimination of a CEO.

The account's prior posts suggest it is aligned with the far-left, given its apparent sympathy for Luigi Mangione, calls to dox ICE agents, advocacy for work stoppages, and encouragement of rioting. These positions broadly reflect elements of both reformist socialism and far-left revolution.

Borysenko recently published a five-tiered "rainbow cake" depicting her view of the American left, ranging from establishment Democrats who favor incremental reform within capitalism to revolutionary socialists who seek to abolish the existing system and destroy the nation from within.

As a reminder, the DSA cult sits on the far-left.  

As of Thursday morning, Instagram had yet to remove the post. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/20/2026 - 23:00

The All-Seeing Eye

The All-Seeing Eye

Authored by Todd Hayen via OffGuardian,

What was once the paranoid whisper of conspiracy has become the marketed convenience of 'life logging' - yet beneath the promise of perfect memory lies the total erasure of privacy, turning every shrew into a unwitting performer on the surveillance stage.

(If you haven't read enough of my work to know what a "shrew" is, read this: Sheep and Shrew)

During a recent three-hour ramble with my sister - one of those wide-ranging, idea-sparking talkathons we've shared for years - the little recording device I had just bought, attached to my phone, quietly drank it all in. Every tangent on culture, politics, family, and the state of the world was captured, summarized, and later served back as a tidy slideshow of "highlights." It auto-suggested calendar entries, pulled up past chats on demand, and generally made itself indispensable.

For a moment, I felt the rush: This is the future. No more forgotten details, no more scrambling for notes. Pure magic.

I will disclose immediately that I have purchased several of these odd devices mostly out of curiosity, but also out of an attempt to record various "having fun moments" of my life (like a recent dog adventure to a local pond, and our three-day trip to New York City to see Swan Lake). I won't go into my personal experience (with the intentions just stated) out of fear it will bore you; ask in the comments if you would like to know.

Here I will make my general comments on what I feel the impact such devices will have on our human culture. What masquerades as personal empowerment is a profound archetypal shift toward total surveillance, eroding privacy, authenticity, and human freedom - normalizing the sheeple's willing submission while shrews must stay vigilant.

Woo-hoo, what else is new?

During my conversation with my sister, the shrew in me stirred almost immediately. That ancient archetype of the All-Seeing Eye - once reserved for gods, tyrants, or paranoid fantasies - had slipped into the room wearing the friendly face of convenience. What felt like an innocent companion was, in truth, a silent recorder turning private exchange into permanent data. And I had invited it in.

This is how the trap springs. Not with jackboots and cameras in every corner (though those exist too), but with sleek little devices marketed as extensions of ourselves. Wearable AI pins, smart glasses, neck discs - they promise perfect memory while quietly building the most intimate profile imaginable: where we go, what we say, who we say it to, and how we feel about it all. Street cameras and smartphone sensors already blanket the public square; these wearables drag the surveillance indoors, into our conversations, our homes, our unguarded moments with loved ones. The panopticon goes portable.

We've seen this pattern before. Remember when "just a phone" became a pocket tracker? Or how contact-tracing apps during the scamdemic morphed from "temporary emergency tools" into permanent fixtures in the biosecurity state? The same sleight of hand is at work here. Tech companies dangle the carrot - Never forget a name! Relive every precious moment! Let AI organize your chaos! - and the sheeple flock to it, bleating about how "empowering" it all feels. The sheep, yes, and at least one sheep-like shrew. Me.

Meanwhile, the other shrews (you) feel the water getting warmer. You are more aware than me that every logged conversation is fodder for training models, targeted ads, behavioural predictions, or worse - subpoenas, hacks, or authoritarian overreach. Deepfakes already erode trust in video evidence; add always-on personal recording, and alibis become meaningless, private truths become contestable, and authentic human connection withers under the gaze of the machine.

My sister and I laughed about it at first. Then the unease settled in. What if one of those "helpful" summaries gets shared without consent? What if the data shapes how others (or algorithms) perceive us? The archetype of the all-seeing eye doesn't just watch - it consumes. It flattens the rich, contradictory mess of human life into clean, marketable data points.

From a Jungian perspective, this is no mere gadget problem. It is the externalization of the Self's shadow - the watcher within projected onto silicon. Privacy is not just a legal right; it is the sacred space where the psyche breathes, where shadow integrates, where anima and animus dance unseen. Strip that away, and we become performers, constantly curating our words for an invisible audience. The sheepsters may not notice - they've grown accustomed to the slowly boiling pot. But the shrew feels the contraction of soul.

This is the latest chapter in the long war on autonomy waged primarily by the advocates of transhumanism and technoculture. Digital passports, social credit systems, vaccine mandates - each promised safety or convenience while tightening the noose. AI wearables complete the circle: they don't just monitor the body or the public square; they ingest the mind itself, turning inner dialogue into training data for the next generation of control.

We are not far from the logical endpoint - stylish glasses with always-on cameras, or worse, neural implants that record thoughts before they become words. The marketers will call it "seamless augmentation." The shrew calls it the end of anything resembling private life. But here we go.

Woo-hoo again, what fun!

Obviously, we have known about all this techno-joy for quite some time: science fiction novels, 50's SciFi movies, superhero comic books, Star Trek, Outer Limits and Battlestar Galactica TV series, among many other media enticements. All techno gadgets presented in these resources have been emblazoned into our feeble brains (not you, of course!), always looking for the next exciting and fun thing to engage with.

Why do we have to move back into the techno-less past in our effort to survive? Why can't we take this fun ride into a more convenient, more joyous, more exciting future with interesting "things" to fiddle with? Primarily because there is likely an evil intention behind it all. We can never forget the agenda, and one of the prime tools of manipulation the agenda thrives on is private information.

So, what do we do? Do we stop participating in this new science-fiction-turned-reality world? Do we just get the hell off the grid, and live in some backward fourth-world country drinking milk out of a coconut? That's one way to do it; another is to simply become more aware and conscious.

Awareness itself is resistance. Turn the All-Seeing Eye inward. Use these tools sparingly, consciously, and never without remembering what they truly cost. Talk with your pack. Document the unease. Keep the conversations that matter offline when you can.

The water is heating, my dear shrew. But we still have legs to jump - and voices to warn the others before the lid clamps shut for good.

Todd Hayen PhD is a registered psychotherapist practicing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He holds a PhD in depth psychotherapy and an MA in Consciousness Studies. He specializes in Jungian, archetypal, psychology. Todd also writes for his own substack, which you can read here.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/20/2026 - 22:35

Cost Of Living Remains Biggest Challenge Facing Americans

Cost Of Living Remains Biggest Challenge Facing Americans

The war in Iran marked a significant setback in Americans' year-long battle with high prices.

While inflation has come down a long way from its 2021/2022 highs, when it peaked at 9 percent, it remains elevated at 3.4 percent.

More importantly though, as Statista's Felix Richter reports, people are still struggling to cope with the lasting effects of the inflation crisis.

According to a Statista Consumer Insights survey conducted between January and July 2026, 53 percent of U.S. adults said that the high cost of living was one of the biggest challenges they currently face – making it by far the most common answer ahead of mental and physical health at 26 percent each.

Cost of Living Is the Biggest Challenge Americans Face | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

It is a common misconception that prices come down when inflation cools, when in reality a period of high inflation leaves a legacy of high prices.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. consumer prices have increased 26.7 percent since January 2021, with some categories seeing even steeper price increases than that.

Food prices are up 27.2 percent, rents have increased more than 30 percent and transportation prices are up 35 percent.

And yet, nominal wages have only grown 25.7 percent since January 2021, leaving many people worse off than they were five years ago.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/20/2026 - 22:10

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