”— Aldous Huxley Maybe we were always crazy.
“Assembled in a crowd, people lose their powers of reasoning and their capacity for moral choice.”— Aldous Huxley
Maybe we were always crazy. In 1969 a year with 6 #1 hits by the Beatles, the release of ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, ‘Sweet Caroline’, and ‘Everyday People’, the number one hit for the year was * ‘Sugar Sugar’* by the Archies
Hudson River Tunnel project to run out of funds next week unless Trump lifts freeze
(Daily News)Iran is back on the front burner with new threats this morning on Truth Social, following similar words about Iraq yesterday. Large US naval presence in the region moves the risk/reward shift way towards action; were this just an intimidation tactic, could have done it with much less. And the latest Witkoff demands are built to fail; they ask Iran to give up all nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which is obviously untenable and probably regime-ending for Irani Government
From Gemini: A central goal of the “Mar-a-Lago Accord”—an economic framework proposed by advisors within the Trump administration—is to deliberately weaken the U.S. dollar. Work revisiting with all that is going on in FX
Lots going on in FX, and underlying it is this tectonic fork in the road regarding global reserve currency: will it remain the US, even with massive deficits and an uncertain political/economic landscape? Will it shift, as Bessent and others have vocally pointed to, to a Stablecoin-based system ( with USD-pegged stablecoins helping the US maintain a central role) or will it shift to a gold-anchored system ( seen as China-positive), which explains major CB buying of gold over the last few years?
Tether Is Shaking Up the Gold Market With Massive Metal Hoard
(bbrg)Tether Holdings SA has become one of the biggest players in the global gold market, with a hoard of around 140 tons of gold worth approximately $24 billion.
In my opinion, playing the Gold/Stablecoin ‘battle royale’ for future of global currrency brilliantly. Large holder of TSYs and Gold.
‘Debasement Trade Is a Real Worry for Scott Bessent: Shuli Ren’
(bbrg)‘Global central banks have more investments in gold than in US Treasuries at current prices, with many governments having purchased gold since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.’
‘Stablecoin Market Growth Is Petering Out: Bloomberg Crypto’
‘Gamma Wall Slows S&P 500’s Path Through 7,000: Equity Insight’
So think its a coincidence that ‘China intelligence taping of UK politicians’ story comes out as he heads to China?
“Kalshi Fed Forecasts Are as Good as Wall Street’s, Study Says”
(bbrg)“The Delhi Pivot: The Mechanism, Timing, and Arbitrage of the Post-American Order”
(Perera)More cockroaches “Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Sells $9b Loan Portfolio” (bbrg). Likely need to cut divvy
the bifurcation between consumer sentiment and continued strong retail inflows remains confusing
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