Unqualified Secret Service Snipers Protected President, Inspector General Finds

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Secret Service snipers who worked at events involving President Joe Biden in 2024 failed to complete annual requirements showing they can hit targets, an inspector general said in a report published on Aug. 28.

Countersnipers are required to prove annually that they can shoot accurately at night and during the day. While all countersnipers met nighttime requirements in fiscal year 2024, just 17 percent completed the mandated daytime shooting in the first quarter, and none did in the second quarter, according to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report.

The countersnipers who did not meet the requirements worked at 47 events during the 2024 campaign, including events involving Biden. Those were a wake in Dallas, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2024; campaign receptions in New York City on Feb. 7, 2024; and a speech in Manchester, New Hampshire, on March 11, 2024.

Officials who assign countersnipers to events do not always check to make sure they meet qualifications, according to interviews the inspector general’s team conducted. Some said they do check, but still might assign countersnipers who have failed to recertify.

Countersnipers who did not meet the requirements, meanwhile, told the team that they thought nighttime training could serve as a substitute for daytime training.

“It is unclear why the counter snipers believed the substitution was allowed,” the report stated.

“The counter snipers also stated that the firing range was not always available when they needed it and that conflicts with schedules, inclement weather, and a high operational tempo prevented them from going to the firing range and requalifying.”

The inspector general recommended that the Secret Service develop and implement a process that ensures countersnipers meet requirements.

The Secret Service told the team that there is already a process in place and that it has updated the rules to clarify that countersnipers must qualify each quarter in either day or night shooting.

“Secret Service did not address the deficiency we found, namely, counter snipers who did not meet their weapon requalification and were assigned to protective operations,” the inspector general’s office said. It marked the matter open and unresolved.

Staffing Issues

The investigation also showed that the Secret Service’s Counter Sniper Team was not adequately staffed. It was said to have staffing 73 percent “below the level necessary to meet mission requirements.”

The lack of adequate staffing led to countersnipers working 247,887 hours of overtime from 2020 to 2024.

The Secret Service also had to utilize snipers from other Department of Homeland Security divisions during the 2024 campaign and for President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The Secret Service has been hampered by a self-imposed requirement that it only hire from the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division, the watchdog said. And it only accepts officers who have worked for the division for at least two years.

The Secret Service cut that time from two years to 18 months, officials said.

The Secret Service has also boosted recruitment incentives and retention bonuses in recent months.

The agency said it is also developing a new model for staffing that will look at potentially recruiting snipers from law enforcement agencies and military services. That analysis is expected to be completed in August 2026.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 17:40

Dystopian Rollout Of Digital IDs & CBDCs Is Happening

Authored by 'Camus' via X, (emphasis ours)

Whitney Webb breaks down the coordinated global push for a new, dystopian system of control, marrying digital ID with CBDCs...

Whitney Webb breaks down the coordinated global push for a new, dystopian system of control, marrying digital ID with CBDCs. This isn't conspiracy; it's all in their own documentation.

They are building a full-spectrum digital cage, and its two locked doors are Digital Identity… pic.twitter.com/wSaKbKPwUd

— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 1, 2025

This isn't conspiracy; it's all in their own documentation.

They are building a full-spectrum digital cage, and its two locked doors are Digital Identity and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). You cannot have one without the other.

The plan is to replace your government-issued ID with a Digital ID, but it's not just a card in your phone. It is fundamentally built upon your immutable biometrics: your fingerprints, the precise structure of your face, the unique pattern of your iris.

This biometric data is the key.

It is the hard link that ties your physical body directly to your digital identity credential.

Your very body becomes your password. The reason this is so critical for them is the financial system. UN & Bank for International Settlements docs overtly state that Digital ID and CBDCs are designed to be integrated.

The system cannot exist without this biometric digital ID.

Why?

Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols.

For this new digital financial system to function, they must absolutely "know" every single participant. Your digital wallet will be tied to your digital ID, which is mapped to your biometrics. Total financial-biological linkage.

We see the prototypes being rolled out now:

• Sam Altman's WorldCoin lures people to scan their irises for a "unique identifier" and a digital wallet. This is the exact model.

• The UN's "Building Blocks" program forces refugees to scan their iris at checkout to receive food rations. The value is deducted from a wallet tied to that biometric ID.

They justify this total surveillance under the guise of closing the "identity gap," claiming the world's poor need digital IDs to access essential services like banking and healthcare.

The reality?

This is the ultimate onboarding mechanism into a system of programmable control, where your access to society and your own money is permissioned and revocable based on your compliance.

This is the bedrock of the new global financial system.

It is not about convenience. It is about control.

Your body is the new currency, and they are forcing you to hand over the keys.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 17:00

"Plaintiffs Over-Reached": Alphabet Shares Soar After Judge Rules In Antitrust Case

Alphabet, the parent of Google, shares are soaring after hours following a favorable ruling from the federal judge in its anti-trust case.

As a reminder, following a 10-week non-jury trial in 2023, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly with its online search business.

"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Mehta wrote in the ruling at the time.

Today we find out the remedies, and they are definitely in Alphabet's favor.

US District Judge Amit Mehta, in a 230-page ruling on Friday, barred Google from having exclusive contracts for its Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app products as part of his remedy to the more than $2 trillion company's monopoly in search.

But the ruling fell far short of some of the most contentious demands from the US government.

Mehta said Google would not have to divest from Chrome or Android.

"Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints," Mehta wrote in the Tuesday ruling.

Additionally, Mehta ruled that Google must hand over its search results and some of its data to rival companies

In another win for Google, the judge didn’t bar the company from making payments to third parties for default browser placement.

“Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial — in some cases, crippling — downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban,” the judge wrote.

Alphabet shares jumped more than 6% in after-hours trading.

BI reports that in an opening statement during the remedies hearing, a Justice Department lawyer said the court must prevent Google from using its search monopoly to dominate the AI market.

"Unless Google's vast payments are eliminated, Google will likely win each search distribution opportunity, given the tremendous advantages it has accrued from over 10 years of monopoly maintenance," DOJ lawyers wrote in a post-trial May court filing.

Google has vowed to appeal Mehta's original ruling deeming the tech giant a monopolist - and it could be years before there's a final outcome.

Meanwhile, Google still has more antitrust headaches ahead.

A Virginia federal judge ruled in April that the company holds an illegal monopoly in certain online advertising technology markets. A remedies hearing in that case is set to begin in September.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 16:39

Erdogan Slams US For Blocking Palestinian Leaders At UN; Belgium Sanctions Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is fuming after the Trump administration blocked Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders from attending the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York scheduled for later this month.

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is not being issued a visa to enter US soil (along with his delegation), as retribution for his leading the charge in support of a Palestinian state, and for waging a 'lawfare campaign' against Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. Erdogan said this only plays into Israel's hands, which is busy conducting "massacres" and "cruelty" in Gaza.

Source: Xinhua

The move "does not fit the United Nations’ raison d’etre," Erdogan told reporters on a flight after leaving China, where he attended the SCO Tianjin Summit 2025. "The decision needs to be urgently revised. The United Nations General Assembly exists for the issues of the world to be discussed and for solutions to be found," he said.

"The Palestinian delegation not being at the General Assembly would only please Israel," he added. "What is expected from the United States is to say ‘stop’ to Israel’s massacres, cruelty."

Turkey has throughout much of the conflict been hands down the most vocal global critic of Israel, denouncing what Erdogan has called the mass murder of Palestinians and Israel's "genocidal policies". A trade war has also ensued. Many products from Israel have been banned from entering Turkey.

Meanwhile, one of the things that Washington and Tel Aviv fear most is the growing trend of recognition of Palestinian statehood among the West.

Belgium is the latest EU nation to announce it will recognize the State of Palestine at the UNGA. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot announced, "Palestine will be recognized by Belgium at the UN session! And firm sanctions will be imposed against the Israeli government."

The statement said that "Belgium had to take strong decisions to increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists." It added, "This is not about sanctioning the Israeli people but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and taking action to try to change the situation on the ground." It previewed that "firm" sanctions are coming.

France has meanwhile been leading the way on this, and it's somewhat unprecedented that significant European countries one by one would also be bringing sanctions against Israel. Canada, Australia, and Britain have made similar declarations - ramping up the pressure on Israel. But these sanctions have been limited mostly to products coming from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Belgium’s announcement, urging other nations to also "intensify practical efforts to stop the crimes of genocide, displacement, starvation, and annexation, and to open a real political path to resolve the conflict."

A statement on X said the PA considers Belgium's right actions "to be in line with international law and United Nations resolutions, and protective of the two-state solution and supportive of achieving peace."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 15:25

'Worst-Smelling Man In Congress' Announces His Retirement

Via Headline USA,

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York says he will not run for reelection next year, according to an interview published Monday night by The New York Times.

Nadler told the Times that watching then-President Joe Biden’s truncated reelection campaign last year “really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that.”

He suggested a younger Democratic lawmaker in his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”

Nadler, 78, is serving his 17th term in Congress. He was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023, then served as ranking member on the panel after Republicans won House leadership. He stepped down from that role late last year.

Nadler’s decision to relinquish that spot came a day after fellow Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin announced his bid for the job and quickly amassed support from colleagues.

“I am also proud that, under my leadership, some of our caucus’s most talented rising stars have been given a platform to demonstrate their leadership and their abilities,” Nadler wrote then in a letter to Democrats that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Without naming names, Nadler suggested to the Times that some of his Democratic colleagues should also consider retirement.

“I’m not saying we should change over the entire party,” Nadler said in the interview posted Monday. “But I think a certain amount of change is very helpful.”

In April, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Nadler was dubbed by his colleagues as the “worst-smelling” man in Congress.

Nadler, who stands at 5-foot-4 and underwent weight-loss surgery in 2002, has been the subject of ongoing criticism and mockery. For instance, President Donald Trump once dubbed him “Fat Jerry.” 

Former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., said that Nadler “barrels through everyone” when making his way through the House floor. However, sometimes, he “doesn’t really need to barrel through because his stench kind of clears the way and it equates to his personality, which is nasty and most people want to keep away from.” 

A fellow House Democrat added, “Members of Congress don’t want to sit next to him because of it. Yeah, he smells. I don’t know what he does. Maybe he doesn’t take a bath, I don’t know what it is.” 

A New York congressman echoed these remarks, declaring that Nadler “reeks” before adding: “It’s not just like a guy who didn’t take a shower. I don’t know if it’s surgery or a colostomy bag, but it’s bad.” 

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 15:05

Putin Hits Back At Germany's Merz: 'Stoking Hysteria' With 'Unfounded Nonsense'

President Vladimir Putin while in China vehemently denounced and condemned Western assertions that Russia seeks to expand its special military operation into other European states. He described such statements and assumptions coming out of European officials as either a provocation or a sign of utter incompetence. He said this at a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Beijing on Tuesday.

"They are constantly stoking hysteria that Russia is allegedly nurturing plans to attack Europe. I think that it is clear for same people that this is either a provocation or a sign of utter incompetence," Putin said, as translated in TASS. He appeared to be directly responding to recent words of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Via Associated Press

"Any sane person clearly realizes that Russia has never had, does not have, and will never have any intention to attack anyone," he added.

The Russian leader reiterated that Russia only seeks to protect its legitimate security interests in Ukraine, and that the conflict started with the West and NATO's own behavior. "As for 'Russia's aggressive plans regarding Europe,' I'd like to emphasize once again that this is unfounded nonsense," Putin emphasized.

His words come as hawkish European leaders continue to speak in terms of Cold War-era domino theory, with the assumption that Russia aims to take over European countries one by one.

This is exactly how Chancellor Merz sounded in telling German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday that Ukraine has to be defended, and not compromise, or else Germany could be next to be at risk of Russian invasion. He also said on this basis that the Ukraine war is likely to drag on with no end in sight.

While he described he hasn’t lost hope of a Trump-brokered ceasefire - he said he still "harbors no illusions" and that backing Ukraine's defense remains an "absolute priority".

"We are trying to end it as quickly as possible. But certainly not at the price of Ukraine’s capitulation. You could end the war tomorrow if Ukraine surrendered and lost its independence," Merz said.

"Then the next country would be at risk the day after tomorrow. And the day after that, it would be us. That is not an option," the German chancellor stated.

Putin in Beijing had some further interesting commentary on Ukraine and its security:

In his remarks, Putin said that that Moscow had never opposed Ukraine’s potential membership of the European Union, and dismissed claims that Moscow was somehow planning to attack Europe.

He argued, in comments reported by Reuters, that with Nato expanding eastwards, the alliance wanted to absorb the entire post-Soviet space, and Russia simply had to defend its interests. He also repeated that Ukrainian membership of Nato would have been unacceptable to Russia.

Fico has been receiving severe pushback from other EU countries for attending events in China hosted by President Xi.

Fico tells Putin an ancient Chinese parable.

"As EU and NATO members were talked against coming here. But many in the EU are like the frog in a well. They sit at the bottom, and they cannot see what is happening in the world.

So I would like to say openly - we are interested in… pic.twitter.com/rPG9vUHld9

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) September 2, 2025

The Slovak PM is expected to attend China's big military parade on Wednesday. Putin told him Tuesday that Russia "highly values the independent foreign policy that you and your team, your government, are pursuing."

Meanwhile, on the battlefield Russian forces continue to make gains in the east, with Moscow's Defense Ministry announcing Tuesday the capture of the village of Fedorivka in Donetsk region.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 14:45

Trump Must Finish Off The National Endowment For Democracy

Authored by Roger Kimball via American Greatness,

Writing elsewhere last month, I suggested that Donald Trump end the National Endowment for Democracy once and for all. Like most so-called “non-governmental organizations,” the NED is in fact an all-governmental organization. It depends absolutely on a subsidy from the state department, i.e., from the federal government, i.e., from the taxpayer, i.e., from you.

The NED began life in the Cold War as a way of projecting “soft power” against our Communist adversaries. But as James Piereson noted in February of this year, the NED has undergone a familiar process of mission creep and moral and political entropy.

“With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Piereson wrote, “the NED adjusted its mission to support democratic reforms in countries in non-communist countries with authoritarian governments, many of which were never adversaries of the United States in the first place.”

Over the years, the NED adopted a view of democracy that held that nationalist and populist leaders campaigning for office around the world were, in fact, authoritarians and a threat to democracy. Many foreign leaders were tossed into that bucket—not only Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but also Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki, and others. Many of these leaders were popularly elected but were nevertheless branded by the NED as authoritarians. It surprised no one when NED officials deemed Donald Trump, too, an authoritarian, lumping him together with these leaders.

The bottom line is that for some $315 million of taxpayer pelf, the NED has been busy fomenting a foreign policy that was not just separate from that articulated by the duly elected president of the United States but actively opposed to it.

So it was no surprise when Trump and his cost-cutters at the Department of Government Efficiency took aim at the NED. Earlier this summer, NED’s subsidy had been zeroed out in Congress’s proposed budget.

But no NGO goes gentle into that good night. When politicians get together to haggle over budgets, lobbyists tag along. Members from interest group A whisper in Congressman X’s ear about their pet—and usually lucrative—project. Words like “constituents” and “donations” are bandied about. Often as not, that line item that had been zeroed out is fully restored. The lobbyists go home happy. The Congressman feels reassured. Only the taxpayers suffer. And the voters, too, whose feelings in the matter are usually completely ignored.

So it was with the NED. What had been zero was suddenly restored to $315 million, with provision for additional contracts added in for good measure.

In olden days, that generally would have been it. A president confronted with such recalcitrance, not to say connivance, would simply have moved on. As usual, Trump’s response was something more aggressive. On Friday, the White House said, in effect, I’ll see your rescission and raise you two.

Employing a seldom-deployed, controversial maneuver called a “pocket rescission,” the White House promised to eliminate “woke, weaponized, and wasteful spending.”

Now, for the first time in 50 years, the President is using his authority under the Impoundment Control Act to deploy a pocket rescission, cancelling $5 billion in foreign aid and international organization funding that violates the President’s America First priorities.

CNN was joined by other dyspeptic chihuahuas—Senator Chuck Schumer, chief among them—to wail that “Trump bypasses Congress to cancel nearly $5 billion in foreign aid.”

Will the republic survive these cuts? Among the items to flutter to the dustbin of the unfunded are such critical enterprises as efforts to advance “inclusive democracy” in South Africa through the Democracy Works Foundation, which has published articles such as “The Problem with Whiteness” and “The Problem with White People.” That effort was done for $2.7 million, now gone.

Then there was $4 million for the New Alliance for Global Equality to advance “global LGBTQI+ awareness,” $3.9 million to promote “democracy” for LGBTQI+ populations in the Western Balkans, $2 million for “Organizing for Feminist Democratic Principles” in Africa, and $107 million for the International Labor Organization (ILO), “a group that works to unionize foreign workers and punish U.S. corporate interests abroad.” Your tax dollars at work.

Will the NED finally be cancelled if Trump’s “pocket rescission” succeeds?

From what I have read, it is not entirely clear.

Many of the cuts—totaling many hundreds of millions of dollars—are from State Department initiatives that are consanguineous, as it were, with the NED. But I have not seen the NED explicitly named in the cuts.

As I noted last month, what is needed to extinguish the NED is not some magic potion but the concerted attention of Donald Trump. Perhaps, I suggested, the President had thought he had gotten rid of the NED already. I am here to remind him once again that that essential piece of work is yet to be accomplished. It is time to finish the job.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 14:25

Gold Hits New Record High As Dalio Fears Trump Stoking Imminent "Debt-Induced Heart Attack"

The real 'fear' index - of fiscal folly - hit a new record high overnight following its breakout last week...

Finally https://t.co/WYqQNRtc0U pic.twitter.com/oJV68H2DRj

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 29, 2025

...topping $3500 for the first time as hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio warned Donald Trump’s America is drifting into 1930s-style autocratic politics — and told The FT that other investors are too scared of the president to speak up.

The Bridgewater Associates founder told the Financial Times that “gaps in wealth”, “gaps in values” and a collapse in trust were driving “more extreme” policies in the US.

“I think that what is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period,” Dalio said.

State intervention in the private sector, such as Trump’s decision to take a 10 per cent stake in chipmaker Intel, was the sort of “strong autocratic leadership that sprang out of the desire to take control of the financial and economic situation”, Dalio said.

Dalio also warned about the threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence days after Trump launched an unprecedented move to sack one of its governors.

Dalio said a politically weakened central bank, pressed to keep rates low, “would undermine the confidence in the Fed defending the value of money and make holding dollar-denominated debt assets less attractive which would weaken the monetary order as we know it.” 

Dalio said he also believed many years of big deficits and unsustainable debt growth had brought the US economy to the brink of a debt crisis, although he noted “presidents from both parties” had overseen a worsening situation before Trump’s latest fiscal plan.

“The great excesses that are now projected as a result of the new budget will likely cause a debt-induced heart attack in the relatively near future,” he said.

“I’d say three years, give or take a year or two.”

The veteran investor also took aim at a rising impulse towards state control under Trump.

Dalio resisted calling the president’s model authoritarian or socialist, but described the mechanics bluntly:

“Governments increasingly take control of what is done by central banks and businesses.”

Read the full catastrophizing interview here at The FT.

Goldman Sachs notes that there was good re-engagement from Chinese specs overnight as LBMA approaches the all-time-highs.

Western macros appear under-positioned given price has ignored all perceived catalysts (US debt, Trump vs Powell etc) until last Thursday / Friday when we saw re-engagement

We’re still ~5% away from the SHFE gold ATH (which is arguably more important given Chinese volumes).

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 14:05

Large US Companies Are Going Bankrupt At The Fastest Pace Since The Global Financial Crisis

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Is the fact that large companies are filing for bankruptcy at the fastest pace in 15 years a good sign for the economy or a bad sign for the economy? I don’t even have to answer that question because all of you already know the answer. And as you will see below, other types of bankruptcies are soaring as well. We are a nation that is absolutely drowning in debt, and now bubbles are bursting all around us. I hope that you have positioned yourself for what is about to happen, because the months ahead are going to be rough.

According to Newsweek, 446 large companies filed for bankruptcy during the first seven months of this year.  That is the highest total that we have seen since 2010…

The U.S. saw a sharp increase in corporate bankruptcy filings in July, according to a recent report, reaching a post-COVID peak and placing 2025 on track to surpass last year’s total.

S&P Global Market Intelligence, the research and data arm of the credit-rating agency, found that filings by large public and private companies rose to 71 last month from 66 in June, marking the highest monthly tally since July 2020. So far in 2025, meanwhile, the total of 446 bankruptcy filings is the highest for this seven-month stretch since 2010.

In 2010, we were experiencing the tail end of the global financial crisis.

So there was a very good reason for why so many large companies were going bankrupt at that time.

What reason do we have for what we are witnessing right now?

Of course it isn’t just large companies that are going bankrupt in staggering numbers…

Personal and business bankruptcy filings rose 11.5 percent in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2025, compared with the previous year.

According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totaled 542,529 in the year ending June 2025, compared with 486,613 cases in the previous year.

Business filings rose 4.5 percent, from 22,060 to 23,043 in the year ending June 30, 2025. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 11.8 percent to 519,486, compared with 464,553 in the previous year.

Wow.

I had no idea that the bankruptcy numbers were that bad.

An 11.5 percent increase in bankruptcy filings in just one year is a really troubling sign.

And it turns out that the number of farm bankruptcies in the United States has been spiking as well…

Hit with high interest rates and labor shortages, more American farmers are filing for bankruptcy, according to new data from the University of Arkansas.

Researchers found that more than 250 farms filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy between April 2024 and March of this year, marking a sharp increase in financial distress across the agricultural sector.

“We’ve already beat last year in terms of Q1 national filings,” said Ryan Loy, an economist at the university. “Once you see this on a national level, it’s a clear sign that financial pressures that we saw before in the 2018 and ‘19 are kind of reemerging.”

A lot of people out there are in denial about what is really happening to the economy.

We have been on an unprecedented debt binge for many years, and now we are beginning to experience the consequences.

Millions upon millions of Americans are in way over their heads, and there is no easy way out.

At this point, approximately two-thirds of Americans that are carrying debt admit “to minimizing or hiding it from others”…

The study of 1,078 adults by Self Financial exposes a nation drowning not just in debt, but in the shame that comes with it. Of those carrying debt, 66.3% admitted to minimizing or hiding it from others. This breaks down to 28.1% outright lying about their situation, 20.8% downplaying how bad things really are, and 17.4% avoiding the topic entirely.

We may want to hide our financial distress from others, but there is no way to hide it from ourselves.

Americans have become so obsessed with financial troubles that they are thinking about it constantly…

Between bills to pay, tariff news and inflation worries, money is living rent-free in Americans’ minds.

They’re spending nearly four hours a day on average thinking about it, according to new research from Empower, a financial services company.

Needless to say, that isn’t healthy.

Continually worrying about your finances can eat you alive.

But this is what daily life is like for so many people these days.  One recent survey discovered that 53 percent of Americans are feeling financial stress “more acutely than ever”…

At 54%, a little more than half of the 2,206 adults surveyed said they’re thinking about it more than they did last year. In fact, the June survey found 53% of Americans said they’re feeling financial stress “more acutely than ever,” including 62% of Gen Xers and 41% of baby boomers.

One of the biggest reasons why Americans are feeling so much financial stress is because we are spending an average of 42 percent of our incomes on housing costs…

More than half of Americans say they’re paying too much for housing, with the average person spending 42% of their income on housing costs.

Meanwhile, just about everything else that we regularly spend money on has been getting increasingly more expensive.

For example, beef prices just keep hitting brand new record high after brand new record high…

Grocery prices have been climbing and one area where prices have hit a record high is beef, a staple for many households.

Ground beef, usually the inexpensive choice for shoppers, has hit a record high. Shoppers can expect to pay $6.25 per pound, up from $5.49 a year ago and $4.26 five years ago, in July of 2020.

The average price for beef steaks has hit $11.87 a pound as of July. That’s up from $10.85 in July of 2024 and $8.69 in July of 2020.

And coffee prices have jumped more than 30 percent over the past year…

A more than 30% year-over-year rise in retail prices for coffee is staggering — and consumers are not likely to see relief anytime soon, even as a merger between two beverage giants looks to create an entity that can better manage rising costs.

If we stick our heads in the sand and keep repeating “everything is going to be okay”, will that make things better?

Of course not.

We need to realize what is happening and adjust our plans accordingly if we are going to navigate through this very harsh economic environment.

For one thing, if you have a good job right now please do not give it up unless you absolutely must do so.

Mass layoffs are being conducted all over the nation, and yet another example of this was just in the news…

Nearly 1,000 corporate Kroger employees are losing their jobs after the company previously announced its intentions not to lay off employees.

The layoffs come after the grocer decided to shutter more than 60 underperforming stores by the end of 2026.

Kroger initiated the closures as a way to cut costs following its failed $25 billion merger with Albertsons.

Sadly, I think that a lot more Americans will lose their jobs in the months ahead.

And since most of the population is living paycheck to paycheck these days, those that lose their jobs are at risk of losing everything.

There was no way that we were going to be able to pile up debt indefinitely.

We have now reached the “bubbles are bursting” chapter of our story, and it certainly isn’t going to be pleasant.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 13:45

US Revokes Taiwan Semi's Waiver For China Shipments Of Chip Supplies

Following Trump's decision to take a 10% stake in Intel, many were wondering just how the US government could steer business and order flow to its latest startegic investment. Here's how. 

This morning the US revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's (TSMC) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility.  The revocation will require suppliers to the chipmaker's China facilities to proactively seek US licenses for shipments of goods that are covered by US export controls, including advanced manufacturing gear and spare parts.

Taiwan Semi Nanjing facility.

According to Bloomberg, American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user, or VEU, status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. 

“TSMC has received notification from the U.S. Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing will be revoked effective December 31, 2025,” the company said in a statement. “While we are evaluating the situation and taking appropriate measures, including communicating with the US government, we remain fully committed to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of TSMC Nanjing.”

The Trump admin's latest decision jeopardizes the China operations of some of the most important companies in the semiconductor sector, hailing from two chipmaking powerhouses that are also US allies. While US officials have said they intend to issue licenses needed to keep those facilities operational, the shift from blanket permission to individual approvals introduces uncertainty about wait times to actually secure those permits. Officials are currently working on solutions to ease the bureaucratic burden, particularly given a significant backlog of existing license requests, people familiar with the matter said. 

Compared to Samsung and SK Hynix, which house a sizable share of their production in China, TSMC’s manufacturing footprint in the world’s second-largest economy is relatively small. The company’s Nanjing site began production in 2018 and contributed a small fraction of TSMC’s total revenue last year. The campus houses technology as advanced as 16-nanometer, which first became commercially available more than a decade ago. 

BIS announced its VEU decision for the two South Korean companies last week, saying that the US was closing “export control loopholes” that put American companies “at a competitive disadvantage.”

The agency also formally rescinded Samsung and SK Hynix’s VEU status in the federal register, a public account of US regulations — and they did the same for a VEU designation given to Intel Corp., for a facility in Dalian, China, that SK Hynix has since acquired. That action will require US officials to process an additional 1,000 license requests annually, according to a federal notice.

Because TSMC’s VEU status was never published in the federal register in the first place, there was not a public regulation for BIS to amend in the same way as for the other affected companies. All told, though, the net effect on TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix is the same: When the VEU revocation takes effect, suppliers to the chipmakers’ China facilities will need to proactively seek US licenses for shipments of goods that are covered by US export controls. That includes everything from advanced manufacturing gear to spare parts and chemicals that are consumed in the production process. 

The situation highlights the extent of Washington’s influence in, and control over, the supply chain for electronic components that power everything from microwaves to phones to data centers training artificial intelligence algorithms — even when the plants in question are operated by three non-American companies in a foreign country. 

The US has broadly limited China’s access to American materials and equipment that could be used to make advanced chips, part of a suite of controls designed to limit the Asian nation’s AI prowess. The export curbs affect sales not just to Chinese companies, but any facilities that are physically within the country — including Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC’s plants. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 13:25

Kraft Heinz Board Greenlights Breakup Into Two Public Companies "To Maximize Value"

Kraft Heinz will split into two publicly traded companies, separating its faster-growing condiments and meals brands from the slower grocery products unit. One of the new entities will be called "Global Taste Elevation Co.," with the spinoff expected to close in the second half of 2026.

News of the split - effectively the unwinding of the Kraft Heinz mega-merger orchestrated by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett a decade ago - comes just three and a half months after CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera told investors the company was evaluating potential "strategic transactions" to boost its stock price.

"The separation is designed to maximize Kraft Heinz's capabilities and brands while reducing complexity, allowing both new companies to more effectively deploy resources toward their distinct strategic priorities," Kraft Heinz wrote in a press release, adding, "This focus will enable stronger performance while preserving the scale to compete and win in today's environment." 

Here's an overview of Kraft Heinz's planned split into two public companies:

Global Taste Elevation Co.

• $15.4B in 2024 net sales; $4B in adjusted EBITDA.

• Core brands: Heinz, Philadelphia, Kraft Mac & Cheese.

• 75% of sales from sauces, spreads, and seasonings.

• 20% of sales from emerging markets; 20% from foodservice ("Away From Home").

• Concentrated on driving industry-leading growth across categories and geographies.

North American Grocery Co.

• $10.4B in 2024 net sales; $2.3B in adjusted EBITDA.

• Core brands: Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles, Lunchables.

• 75% of sales from #1 or #2 category brands.

• To be led by current Kraft Heinz CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera.

• Strategy: deliver stable free cash flow via operational efficiency and brand expansion.

Here are more details about the transaction:

• Kraft Heinz's board unanimously approved a tax-free spinoff, creating two independent, publicly traded companies.

• Overall mission: reduce complexity, sharpen strategic focus, and unlock long-term shareholder value.

• Current dividend level expected to be maintained; both firms will target investment-grade capital structures.

Kraft Heinz CEO Abrams-Rivera described the split as a "move that will unleash the power of our brands and unlock the potential of our business." 

The move to unlock shareholder value comes as shares in New York have slumped to Covid lows, down around 37% since peaking in mid-2021. 

How this ultra-processed foods giant - much like PepsiCo - will survive in the era of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reshaping America's toxic processed food supply chain remains to be seen.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 12:45

Markets, AI, & The Great Dumbing

Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold,

With a NASDAQ and S&P 500 (narrowly driven by seven, mega-cap monopoly powers) enjoying a seemingly immortal ride North, all feels eerily normalized in the land of Wall Street Oz.

Surfing the S&P Wave

An entire generation of wide-eyed investors and a string of clueless policy makers have conditioned themselves (and others) to assume there is no dip that the Fed can’t save, valuation be damned.

In such a seductively sunny backdrop, retail investors are increasingly jettisoning risk management (and risk managers) to passively ride this market wave on ETF-indexed surfboards with very little fear of drowning.

Rocks Beneath the Water?

Meanwhile, a minority of market veterans (Grantham, Buffett, Dalio, etc.) bravely (but in vain?) continue to warn of historical market risk greater in scale than the Nikkei of ’89 or the DOW of ’29 as insiders (Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc) quietly dump billions in private shares in a topping market…

So, whose right or wrong in this bear-bull circus of hidden risks and open optimism?

Are the bears just crying perpetual wolf in a world where the centralization of “once-free markets” by central banks of endless liquidity has outlawed the very laws of stock market gravity?

Madness of Crowds?

For years, the risk-focused bears have been shaking their experienced fingers before what we (and Charles Mackay) have called “the madness of crowds.”

And for the most part, the “madness” has prevailed in one profitable dip-buy after the next—from a global shutdown and historical bank failures to a broken carry trade or an embarrassing liberation day.

In short, nothing seems to shake this S&P, which long ago divorced itself from the mean-reversion warnings of Bob Farrell, the valuation signals of Ben Graham or even the stubborn math of red financial statements and broken balance sheets.

The net result is the most optimistic yet paradoxical (and doomed) market I have ever witnessed.

Margin debt, now greater than anything seen in the pre-GFC or dot.com implosions, has surpassed $1T, as AI-consuming stocks like NVDA, with a market cap of $4T, equal more than 13% of US GDP.

In such current euphoria, boring things like PE ratios, history or even common sense have left the room, and words like “bubble” are literally replaced with the dumbest words of all time, namely: “This time is different.”

Hmmm…

Blindness from Above

Standing upon frothy tops, perhaps it becomes harder to see the lessons of history or the valleys of busted cycles.

Perhaps investors losing oxygen at nose-bleed market levels forget that following the 1929 crisis, markets never sold at 21X earnings again until December of 1997.

Now, such PEs are considered almost “tame.”

Perhaps they also forget that the crashed markets of 1929 did not recover until 1958, just as the crash in 72 only recovered in the mid-90’s or that the great tech bubble of 2000 did not recover its losses until 2011.

And then of course there is the Nikkei of 89, which took over 30 years to regain its lost levels.

But why worry? In the moral-hazard-rich “new normal” of central bank “accommodation” (i.e., currency destruction), every dip is an easy buy, right?

In other words, nothing can stop this new direction in centralized and immortal markets, right?

Wrong.

Will the Fed Save Us?

That classic oxymoron, the Federal Reserve (which is neither “Federal” nor a “reserve”), is no miracle cure.

Regardless of who runs it today or tomorrow, and regardless of its balance sheet and rate tricks, eventually the mechanizations of man can and will bend before the natural laws of supply and demand, debt and currency debasement, and alas, human hubris before karmic implosion.

As for the long list of needles pointing at the US debt and market bubble, any number of foreseeable white swans (spiking rates, a USD out of Fed control, a deep recession) or unforeseeable black swans (wars, assassinations, social unrest, etc.) could bring the madness of these markets and crowds to a sobering and historical uh-oh moment.

The Ignored Needle: AI

But there’s another needle pointing at these mad crowds and madly inflated (and historically unprecedented) markets, which few are willing to see, and it’s currently winning hearts, minds and income statements at equally maddening (and misleading) levels, namely: AI.

The Dumbness of Crowds

Like so many current and past memes of market salvation (from electricity and railroads to dotcoms and mortgage-backed securities), the now omnipresent “AI” wave will eventually (and empirically) drown a large swath of trend-trusters and bubble victims who refuse to see the forest for the trees.

In line with the other oxymorons of late (from the not-so-patriotic Patriot Act to the not-so-genius GENIUS Act), Artificial Intelligence, by its very title, is a comical signal of ignored irony.

To remind: “Artificial” is the antithesis of genuine, and any intelligence that is artificial is inherently the very opposite of intelligence.

Such simplicity, of course, will not dissuade those mega-computing “moderns” (from Sam Altman to Eric Schmidt) who are currently making fortunes on microchips and data-synthesizing “miracle tech” under the banner of “Our Human Future.”

Again with the ironies…

In fact, a deeper dive into the numerous ripple effects of AI suggests there is nothing very “human” behind AI nor anything that “humane” ahead of it.

In other words: When it comes to AI, be careful what you ask for…

First: The Illusion

For anyone glued to their ChatGPT, there’s no denying that AI processes data (both good and bad) incredibly fast. But faster does not mean wiser.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in the 1940s, “Today we can manufacture 10,000 pianos a day, but not any pianists worthy enough to play them.”

In other words, technology often outpaces wisdom, which cannot be augmented by robots or implanted chips.

Wisdom requires time, effort and exposure, not an app.

And once wisdom leaves the room (as we see in nearly every political headline), well… we are all in major trouble.

In a society where actual reading, research and critical thinking (like piano-playing) has already been critically eroded by Google searches and neck-to-iPhone addictions, just imagine the “great dumbing” to come for a newer, faster generation who gets their thinking from ChatGPT rather than, well, actual thinking, research and debate?

Very soon, AI-driven protocols, policies and decisions won’t have to explain themselves at all. Pivotal decisions and “debates” will simply be resolved with: “ChatGPT said so.”

Oh, the horror…the horror…

And no matter how seductive, fast and seemingly dispositive AI-generated conclusions are processed, their outputs are only as good as their inputs.

Diagnostic Robotics, for example, used AI for COVID prognostics, which were impressively fast, but sadly, embarrassingly wrong.

Even DARPA’s Director of AI for detecting IEDs in combat zones confessed that the results were no better than a “coin toss.”

Next: The New, Exciting, Sexy and Life-Altering Bubble

But there’s no denying that AI is new, exciting, sexy and life-altering.

As such, demand for anything touching the AI space (from chips and software to electronic baristas, robotic romance partners and high-school essay cheaters) is skyrocketing.

The $4T market cap at the center of this entirely familiar pattern is, of course, NVDA, whose micro-chip sales are critical to the evolution of this space. Jeremy Grantham describes NVDA as “sellers of shovels in an AI gold rush.”

That is why the other mega-cap tech companies, which keep the S&P precariously afloat alongside NVDA, are buying its microchips to the tune of $200B per year. Once the AI star falls in price, so too will the companies holding the S&P together.

In this race to stay current and ahead of the AI madness, valuation can get cloudy, as names like DeepSeek can arguably do for $6M that which “social visionaries” like Sam Altman will do for $500B.

But hey, why worry about valuation when tomorrow’s prices always seem higher than yesterday’s?

But therein lies the risk.

As in every other prior example of new, exciting, sexy and life-altering bubbles, such as the railroads of the late 19th century or the evolving electricity, automobiles and even internet and dot.com fortunes of the 20th century, there is no denying their extreme impact on our lives.

The AI of the 21st century is undeniably no less of a game-changer than these prior game-changers.

But from a market veteran’s lens, there’s equally no denying that each of these prior game-changing “technologies,” though massively important, were eventually massively over-bought and then, you guessed it: Massively over-sold.

Finally: The Implosion

Over-sold, of course, is just a nicer way of saying, “the market tanked.”

But the real risk behind the current AI hype, bubble and madness (of which the seven stocks leading the S&P are dangerously “all-in”), is not just the pattern recognition of a technology bubble in which fortunes are made before markets are gutted.

In fact, the AI revolution is far more threatening at a broader economic level than just another boom-bust tech cycle.

In the brave new dystopia in which otherwise “speedy and efficient” technology is taking code-writers to Silicon Valley wealth, this unwise yet smart segment of the Orwellian world in which we now live brags about a Starbucks with 100 robots and only 2 employees as “progress.”

The word I’d use is a bit less sexy but a lot more honest: “Deflationary.”

I’ve sat at VC seminars in the US and Europe in which unemployment levels driven by AI alone (from white-collar to blue-collar, Starbucks to UBS) are projected to reach at least 10% within two years.

Here, it’s worth reminding that 5%-6% unemployment rates are traditional tipping points whereby passive investors get clobbered as their index-friendly ETFs turn from friendly to deadly.

10% unemployment would be a true needle to pop the current (mad) market and send 401Ks, as well as the AI-deep “Mag-7” fatally southbound.

And yes, we saw 10% unemployment during the GFC of 2008, and even 15% unemployment during the COVID crisis, which was, of course, supported by trillions in fiscal stimulus, which the US can’t afford today without effectively knee-capping the USD (and sending the gold price further moon-bound).

In other words, AI is more than just another tech bubble cycle; it’s a job-killing technology for which an already debt-driven (rather than GDP-driven) US economy (and S&P) cannot and will not be able to “land softly.”

In summary, if you still think AI is what will save this market and economy, you may wish to think again – or at least ask ChatGPT what it thinks for you…

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 12:25

Massie Calls For Repeal Of Gun-Free School Zones Act Following Minnesota School Attack

Via American Greatness,

Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) has introduced HR 5066 the Safe Students Act which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, putting an end to what he calls “the default federal policy of making schools soft targets.”

Massie’s push for repealing the Gun-Free School Zones Act comes on the heels of a high-profile attack against a Catholic school in Minnesota by a deranged gunman who wrote in his manifesto that he targeted the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, in part, because he believed it  “seems like the kind of school to not arm their teachers.”

My Safe Students Act, HR 5066, would repeal the dangerous Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, ending the default federal policy of making schools soft targets.

HR 5066 would make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies. pic.twitter.com/K73LMhyEme

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 29, 2025

Massie said his bill would repeal the federal law put in place by president George H.W. Bush and “make it easier for state governments and school boards to unambiguously set their own firearm policies.”

According to Breitbart, Bush’s 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act which banned possession of a firearm in a school zone, inadvertently created numerous unarmed “soft targets in place filled with defenseless children, teachers and school staff.”

Historically, mass shooters have sought out venues where the public is forbidden to be armed in order to maximize their opportunity to create as much carnage as possible with minimal risk of being stopped by their intended victims.

In a post on X last week, Massie wrote: “Deranged shooters choose schools because they know their victims are vulnerable. This one even admitted it. There’s never been a shooting like this in a school that allows staff to carry.”

Massie has introduced a bill to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act in each session of Congress in which he has served, seeking to equip teachers, staff and other law-abiding citizens with the ability to protect themselves and their students from potential threats.

Gun rights organizations like Gun Owners of America and the National Association for Gun Rights are lauding Massie’s bill and are calling for Congress to abandon the failed federal policy of making schools into soft targets.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 11:45

EU Says Von Der Leyen Plane's GPS Was Jammed; Russia Blamed

The GPS of the airplane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was jammed while she was en route to Bulgaria on Sunday, an EU spokesperson said on Monday, adding that Russian involvement is suspected.

“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” the EU spokesperson said.

As Security Affairs' Pierluigi Paganini reports, Von der Leyen’s jet lost GPS near Plovdiv, forcing a manual landing with analogue maps after circling for an hour. Officials blame Russian interference. Bulgarian authorities reported a surge in GPS jamming and spoofing since 2022, which disrupts aircraft and ground system operations.

“A jet carrying von der Leyen to Plovdiv on Sunday afternoon was deprived of electronic navigational aids while on approach to the city’s airport, in what three officials briefed on the incident said was being treated as a Russian interference operation.” reported The Financial Times.

Bulgarian authorities confirmed the plane’s GPS signals were neutralized, and air traffic control provided alternative landing guidance using terrestrial navigation tools to ensure safety.

“The whole airport area GPS went dark,” said one of the officials.

The European Commission said “threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions” and that the incident would reinforce its commitment to “ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine”.

However, as Moon of Alabama reports, skepticism over Van der Leyen's accusations is warranted: 

Here is what Flightradar was seeing at that time:

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 - 17:16 UTC · Sep 1, 2025

We are seeing media reports of GPS interference affecting the plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen to Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Some reports claim that the aircraft was in a holding pattern for 1 hour.

This is what we can deduce from our data.

* The flight was scheduled to take 1 hour and 48 minutes. It took 1 hour and 57 minutes.

* The aircraft's transponder reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing.

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 - 17:50 UTC · Sep 1, 2025

The transponder signal transmitted by the aircraft contains a NIC value.
The NIC value encodes the quality and consistency of navigational data received by the aircraft.
Flightradar24 is using these NIC values to create the GPS jamming map at https://flightradar24.com/data/gps-jamming

The flight with Ursula von der Leyen on board transmitted a good NIC value from take-off to landing.

Āris Cēders @arisceders - 1:14 UTC · Sep 2, 2025

Still, they radioed about the “GPS issue” and requested ILS approach which is significantly less convenient in this particular case.

Flightradar24 @flightradar24 -

"Issue with GPS" can be any technical issue unrelated to GPS jamming. The aircraft was reporting a perfect signal. For sure they were not holding for 1h so the whole story just doesn't make any sense.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the FT that "your information is incorrect."

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 11:25

Trump To Award Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Highest Civilian Honor

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would honor former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Trump announced the award in a Truth Social post, calling Giuliani “the greatest mayor in the history of New York City” and “an equally great American Patriot.”

Details on the time and location of the award ceremony will be announced later, according to the statement.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is typically awarded to individuals who have made meritorious contributions to U.S. security, national interests, world peace, or other significant public or private endeavors.

Giuliani, elected as New York City mayor in 1993, was once hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and killed nearly 3,000 people.

Giuliani also served as Trump’s attorney in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He lost his law license last year after a state court found he made false claims about the election.

Trump’s announcement came as Giuliani was recovering from injuries he sustained in a car crash on Aug. 30.

His security chief, Michael Ragusa, said on X that Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind at high speed while driving on a highway in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire State Police said that before the car accident, Giuliani and his driver, Theodore Goodman, were traveling southbound on Interstate 93.

While on the road, they were flagged down by a woman who said she had been involved in a domestic violence incident. Giuliani called 911, and they remained on the scene until troopers arrived.

Giuliani and Goodman then traveled northbound on Interstate 93 before their vehicle was struck from behind, prompting troopers already at the initial scene to respond immediately. Police said that no charges have been filed so far, and the crash is still being investigated.

“Investigators believe the driver who struck Goodman and Giuliani had no connection to the initial domestic violence incident,” New Hampshire State Police said in a statement. “At this time, all aspects of the crash remain under investigation, including whether distraction or curiosity of the initial scene was a factor.”

Ragusa said that Giuliani was taken to a nearby trauma center, where he was diagnosed with “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg.”

Despite these injuries, Ragusa said the former mayor is in “good spirits and recovering tremendously.” He said that the accident was “not a targeted attack” against the politician.

“We ask everyone to respect Mayor Giuliani’s privacy and recovery, and refrain from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories,” he added.

The Epoch Times reached out to Ragusa for further comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 11:05

US Manufacturing Surveys Surged In August As New Orders Jumped

After tumbling in July, expectations for August's US Manufacturing surveys were optimistic (with both ISM and S&P Global both expected to tick higher, though the former expected to remain in contraction).

• S&P Global's US Manufacturing PMI rose dramatically from 49.8 in July to 53.0 in August (down very marginally from its preliminary print of 53.3) - the strongest in over three years

• ISM's US Manufacturing PMI rose from 48.0 in July to 48.7 in August (below the 49.0 expected)

And both of these increases in 'soft' survey data come as hard data has disappointed...

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood of the ISM data, we see prices falling significantly, nmew orders jumping, but employment remaining significantly weaker (as we suggested will happen)...

Source: Bloomberg

“Purchasing managers reported that the US manufacturing was running hot over the summer," according to Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“The past three months have seen the strongest expansion of production since the first half of 2022, with the upturn gathering pace in August amid rising sales. Hiring also picked up again in August as factories took on more staff to meet an influx of new orders and an accumulation of uncompleted work for waiting customers."

“The manufacturing sector is therefore on course to provide a boost to the US economy in the third quarter.

But inflationary fears loom...

“The upturn is in part being fueled by inventory building, with factories reporting a further jump in warehouse holdings in August due to concerns over future price rises and potential supply constraints. These concerns are being stoked by uncertainty over the impact of tariffs, fears which were underpinned by a further jump in prices paid for inputs by factories, linked overwhelmingly by purchasing managers to these tariffs.

“Cost increases are being passed on to customers via widespread hikes to factory gate prices. The big question is the degree to which these price rises will then feed through to higher consumer price inflation in the coming months.”

So S&P Global sees prices higher and hiring improving while ISM sees prices falling and employment still badly lagging... take your pick!!

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 10:06

Violence Is Back As A Tool Of National Policy

By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank

Flying Blind

News broke yesterday that a jet carrying European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had to land using paper charts after its GPS navigation systems were apparently jammed by Russia. Traveling to Plovdiv in Bulgaria, VDL’s jet apparently circled for an hour before the pilot took the decision to do things the old-fashioned way and consult the map.

Such an incident targeting a head of not-quite-a-state is shocking to say the least, but serves as a neat metaphor for relations between Russia and Europe in recent years (decades?): European liberal internationalists assume old norms apply -> Russia disagrees and demonstrates that it views violence as a legitimate tool of national policy -> Europeans left stunned.

Some will remember the images of German diplomats guffawing at the United Nations in 2018 as Donald Trump admonished Germany for placing itself at the mercy of Russia for its energy supplies. Fast-forward to 2022 and suddenly Trump’s speech wasn’t so funny, and anyone who cares to bring up a chart of German industrial production can see the fruits of the lack of imagination of Germany’s leaders. Germany’s factories are now struggling to replace lost production for civilian applications with new production for military applications. But how to do this without cheap energy?

So, yes, violence is back as a tool of national policy. Russia is unapologetic about this. So is Israel. So is the United States if you consider the decisiveness of using B-21 bombers to drop bunker busters on Iranian nuclear facilities. Hamas and the Houthis are certainly unapologetic and China has also been stepping up the frequency and scale of ‘rehearsals’ for the invasion of Taiwan while the Chinese navy and coast guard have had semi-regular clashes with the Philippines over territories that China claims as its own through the ten-dash line. Those Chinese territorial claims are not supported by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but that is really part of the point.

Despite being permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia have never really fully subscribed to the legitimacy of the post-war global architecture. Many Western leaders continue genuflect to the ‘rules-based international order’ as if it was chiselled in stone and handed down from Mount Sinai. In reality, that rules-based order has always been a US-led order, upheld by US force of arms, and has always been viewed by China and Russia as such. Russia has demonstrated that the it is quite willing to flout the ‘rules’ when its national interest demands it. This does not mean that war is inevitable, but it does mean that it is a policy option that other countries need to dissuade revisionist powers from using. As Bismarck reputedly said “do I want war? Of course not! I want victory.”

Both the United States and China are now interested in re-writing the rules of the road to suit their own interests. The US now sees the liberal economic order as a threat to its position as global hegemon while China seeks to push the US out and establish itself as an Asian hegemon. In the view of the United States, a persistently overvalued dollar and unequal trade terms has offshored production from the US into China (and elsewhere) while the US got hooked on the drug of artificially high living standards courtesy of the strong dollar and the subsidized production of consumer goods in China.

As Scott Bessent explained to Fox News last week, the United States got a major wakeup call during Covid when it became apparent that many of the things that the United States needed (pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment etc) were not made in the USA and could not be easily imported while global shipping was snarled up and the countries who DID produce the goods and own the ships were focusing on supplying themselves. Consequently, the US now cares about controlling supply chains for strategic goods, is using state-intervention to guide production and is increasingly autarchic. This is seen as a national security priority in the context of geopolitical competition with China. Everything must be understood through this prism.

A logical corollary of the MAGA program seeking to re-orient the US economy from being characterised by consumption to being characterised more by production (as it was at the end of WWII) is that there will have to be less consuming going on. The question then becomes which segments of society are going to see their consumption power curtailed? Trump and Bessent say the people at the top have had it too good for too long and will have to pay, while the losers from 40 years of globalization (those at the bottom of the income distribution) will see their living standards safeguarded.

China, as the main power of the emerging BRICS bloc, is seeking partners in a new multilateralism aimed at replacing the US-led order with something that better suits the interests and ambitions of China and its partners. The events of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit over the weekend demonstrate that Russia, Iran and Belarus are on board. India and Brazil (not an SCO member) seemingly are too, but there are problems.

Firstly, many of these countries have had territorial skirmishes in the recent past (e.g. the Sino-Soviet war in the 1960s and China-India border skirmishes more recently). Secondly, it is not immediately apparent how these powers could be incorporated into a new economic and financial architecture. The trade flows need to net and somebody needs to play the role of deficit runner if they are going to provide a replacement for the US Dollar as reserve currency. Nobody wants to do this because everybody wants to produce and export.

Additionally, the Chinese conception of world order historically posits the Chinese emperor as the intermediary between earth and heaven. That is to say, China has the ‘mandate of heaven’ that legitimises Chinese hegemony, and delegitimises the claims of anyone else to be on equal footing with China. How does India’s ambition for a multipolar Asia fit into this conception of world order? How does Iran’s conception of itself as a central Asian hegemon fit this view? How does Russia’s view of itself as a top-tier Eurasian power fit? The answer is: they don’t.

The UK Telegraph today claims ‘China unveils plan for new world order’. However, while team BRICS appears united in grievance against the US order, it is not yet clear that they are offering a coherent alternative. Xi Jinping made his pitch to the global south by encouraging them to embrace “free trade” and announcing that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation would establish a new development bank to build influence in Eurasia by providing infrastructure loans for green industry. Establishing development banks extending loans in (presumably) Renminbi has the added benefit of de-risking the emerging bloc of the extraterritorial power of the US Dollar. Xi also said he would open up China’s BeiDou satellite system to SCO members as an alternative to the US GPS system (perhaps Ursula von der Leyen will be tempted?).

While the BRICS bloc coalesces towards a new conception of world order and seeks an economic and financial architecture to support it, Western powers seem unsure about the direction of their own political economy. Europe wants to be green but it also wants to re-arm, and the two are not compatible. Far right parties now hold polling leads in Germany, France and the UK as popular discontent at ‘the way things are going’ continues to rise.

European style anti-immigration protests recently broke out in Australia where a Canada style net inward migration rate of ~1.7% at a time where the country can’t house its own young is testing the social fabric. Recent comments by an Indian Minister suggesting that he was “in deep negotiations with my counterpart in Australia to create 1 million homes” using Indian labour trained in Australia and funding from the UAE is sure to add fuel to the fire. The supposed plan has not been corroborated by Canberra, but could be the most sensational economic chicanery since the Khemlani loans affair if it turned out to be true.

Whether fact or fiction, the plan does highlight an important point: for economies like Australia that have labor markets at ‘full-employment’, there is simply no surplus labour to do important stuff that needs doing. Labor is a factor of production subject to scarcity, and when scarcity strikes governments take on responsibility for directing the factors of production into their most useful employment. The United States is now doing this through ‘state capitalism’ and cherry-picking high value-add industries for its own economy.

This dynamic poses a question. Is Australia best served by having 55% of school leavers attend university to add to the oversupply of law graduates carrying unserviceable student loan debts? Or would it make more sense to direct the youth into trades training to address the undersupply of builders, tilers, plasterers, welders, farm workers etc etc? These are the trade-offs of economic policymaking under real constraints, but the Australian trade minister recently implied that a more active approach to organising production would not be taken when he said that Australia could be an example to the world by abolishing 500 “nuisance” tariffs.

So, the US is taking a more active role in directing economic activity, the BRICS are seeking to reshape the world order in their own image and Europe is searching for a new model of political economy that simultaneously delivers growth, security and social cohesion. Australia, meanwhile, wants to be an example to the rest of the world by evangelising an economic model that others are rejecting as failed. In this fractious new global environment leaving decisions of what gets produced, where, and by who completely in the hands of Mr Market really would be flying blind.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 09:45

Lagarde's Hypocrisy: ECB Vs Fed Autonomy

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

ECB President Christine Lagarde has warned the U.S. Federal Reserve not to lose its independence to politics. A transparent maneuver, considering the ECB has long since merged with Brussels into a political entity.

In an interview with French radio station Classique, Lagarde cautioned that U.S. President Donald Trump is attempting to seize control over the Federal Reserve. She said:

"If US monetary policy were no longer independent and instead dependent on the dictates of this or that person, then I believe that the effect on the balance of the American economy could, as a result of the effects this would have around the world, be very worrying."

Indeed, Trump (this or that person) is exerting massive pressure on the Fed. His attempt to exploit the internal scandal surrounding Fed Governor Lisa Cook to remove her via executive order and replace her with an ally is undisputed.

Cook is accused of providing false information in mortgage dealings, allegedly declaring an Atlanta condominium as her primary residence while previously claiming her Michigan home, raising the specter of mortgage fraud.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Regardless of the outcome, this marks the latest peak in the battle between Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whom Trump accuses of interest rate sabotage. Powell countered the massive inflation surge caused by liquidity injections during the COVID lockdowns with rapid rate hikes and has since kept U.S. rates well above other central banks. Trump, in contrast, calls for drastic rate cuts to free the frozen housing market and ease state interest burdens.

It remains unclear to what extent this public dispute between Trump and Powell follows a political script. Following a "good cop, bad cop" dynamic, both have successfully attracted investment into the U.S. through trade policy and high rates while simultaneously devaluing the dollar against other fiat currencies. Mission accomplished, for now: the deeply negative trade balance is slowly reversing, tariff revenues are rising, and U.S. industry is regaining ground.

Return to Private Money

Away from the Fed dispute, a small monetary revolution is unfolding in the U.S.: the partial return to a private banking money system. With the GENIUS Act and the rise of U.S. dollar stablecoins, the Trump administration has established the legal framework for private money creation.

Private banks will be able to issue their own stablecoins, each backed by collateral such as U.S. Treasury bonds, gold, or Bitcoin. The U.S. is moving toward a more stable, competitive monetary system that reduces leverage risk and strengthens the banking sector compared to its European counterpart.

Lagarde is not entirely wrong that Fed power may be constrained going forward. But unlike the state-centered Eurozone system, the U.S. banking sector stands to gain significant influence at the Fed’s expense.

Lagarde Has Humor

It is almost tragicomic that the ECB president warns of a loss of Fed autonomy. Since the sovereign debt crisis a decade and a half ago, the ECB has been fully merged with Brussels. Autonomy in Eurozone monetary policy is nonexistent.

During the debt crisis, the ECB intervened massively. Nominal interest rates dropped from over 4% in 2008 to as low as -0.5%, remaining in negative territory for years. Bond purchases and long-term refinancing operations ballooned to around €3 trillion – liquidity that partially displaced private credit. This is one reason the Eurozone economy has relied on credit-financed government demand to stay afloat.

With its anti-fragmentation tools, the ECB secured peripheral bonds regardless of fiscal discipline.

Crisis Never Resolved

The results of this market manipulation are evident: the Euro Club continually expanded national deficits. The disciplining effect of interest rate penalties vanished – the ECB became a state money-printing machine, political control supplanting market discipline.

The rescue operation peaked with Mario Draghi’s legendary "Whatever it takes," signaling that the ECB would guarantee the solvency of heavily indebted member states.

Since then, the ECB has functioned as a backstop, a lender of last resort for all Eurozone countries, many of which have abandoned fiscal responsibility. Draghi’s decision stripped the bond market of its teeth, undermining its role as a control mechanism.

Nonsense “Made by ECB”

Brussels turned the ECB into a money pump for its ideological campaign against free markets and national sovereignty. From financing absurd climate projects to building a European war economy, the ECB monetizes growing debt, with the EU Commission contributing: the upcoming Brussels budget totals roughly €2 trillion, much to be financed through eurobond issuance, relying on the ECB to step in if the market hesitates.

The ECB is far from independent. Few central banks have subordinated themselves to politics as completely. The legacy of the conservative, stability-focused German Bundesbank is gone.

Smoke Screens and Media Spin

European monetary politicization has enabled Brussels’ socialist ecologism to entrench itself despite economic fallout. Manipulated interest rates and state guarantees have produced the largest zombie economy in the world, excepting China’s real estate sector. Scarce resources are diverted to unproductive projects, freezing the Eurozone in stagnation.

Lagarde’s Fed warnings are mere distractions. Europe faces rising sovereign debt pressures, with France on the brink of crisis. ECB tools must be ready, as no one knows when the market will issue the red card.

While the U.S. continues monetary reform, deregulates the economy, and lowers taxes, Europe remains in regulatory paralysis. The ECB perpetuates the socialist debt spiral with ever-new liquidity injections. We are witnessing a slow-motion crash as European policymakers fail to escape their self-imposed ideological trap.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, a graduate economist, has worked for over 25 years as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 05:45

Novo Shares Gain As Wegovy Shows Big Edge Over Lilly's Tirzepatide In Heart Study  

Novo Nordisk shares rose in Copenhagen trading on Monday after the pharmaceutical giant reported on Sunday that its weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death by 57% compared with tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound.

The new findings come from a STEER real-world study, which collected evidence from patient experiences at the European Society of Cardiology in Madrid, Spain. The study investigated the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events with Wegovy compared with tirzepatide treatment in people with overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease. 

"Compared with tirzepatide, Wegovy showed a significant 57% greater risk reduction for heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular-related death or death from any cause, in people with overweight or obesity and CVD, who did not have any gaps in their treatment lasting more than 30 days," Novo wrote in a press release. 

UBS analyst Tricia Wright commented on the results: 

While this was not a randomized controlled trial, Novo said the study adds to growing evidence suggesting that the heart-protective benefits seen with Wegovy are specific to its key ingredient semaglutide and therefore cannot be extended to other GLP-1 drugs, such as tirzepatide. These findings could give a lift to Novo, which has been losing US market share to Zepbound.

These findings could give a lift to Novo, which has been losing U.S. market share to Zepbound.

Novo bulls have been searching - especially Goldman analysts - for a positive news cycle for the pharma giant after shares have tumbled 70% since peaking in June 2024.

Compounding GLP-1 headwind has been a headache for the industry:

• Novo Shares Crash Most On Record After Forecast Slashed On Compounded GLP-1 Headwinds

However, Novo shares have rebounded 26% since bottoming in early August. There has been some positive news flow:

• Novo Shares Gain As Wegovy Wins FDA Approval For Liver Disease

As we've previously mentioned:

For Novo shares to rebound meaningfully, the company must address compounded GLP-1 knockoffs that have flooded the U.S. market, undermining demand and slowing Wegovy's expansion. Novo noted in its earnings release earlier this month that it is "pursuing multiple strategies, including litigation, to protect patients from knockoff 'semaglutide' drugs." Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for HIMS.

Novo's decline must have been a rough ride for Goldman clients after listening to superbull analyst James Quigley. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 04:15

Mohammed Becomes Most Common Name Among Welfare Benefit Recipients In Germany

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

New figures released by Germany’s federal government have reshaped the rankings of citizen’s allowance recipients in the country, placing Mohammed and its many spelling variants at the top of the list.

A recent government response to an Alternative for Germany (AfD) inquiry originally suggested that Michael, Andreas, Thomas, and Daniel were the most frequent first names among those receiving the allowance, known locally as Bürgergeld. However, the government’s list had separated different spellings of the same name, resulting in distortions.

AfD lawmaker René Springer requested additional data that consolidated all variations of the same name.

The government’s updated response, obtained by Bild, shows that Mohammed — counted across 19 different spellings and variants such as Mohamed, Muhammad, and Mahamadou — now ranks first with 39,280 entries.

By comparison, Michael (including Michel, Mischa, and Maik) comes second with 24,660 entries, followed by Ahmad (20,660), Andreas (18,420), and Thomas (17,920). Names with fewer spelling variations, such as Andreas and Thomas, lost ground, while Ahmad, which has multiple common versions including Achmet and Amed, rose to third place.

The federal government stressed that first names cannot be used to directly determine nationality, though they undeniably serve as an indicator of native Germans and those of a migration background.

Three Islamic names, Mohammed, Ahmad, and Ali, were included in the top 10 first names of recipients.

At the end of 2024, a total of 5.42 million people in Germany received a citizen’s allowance, including 2.82 million Germans (52 percent) and 2.6 million foreigners (48 percent).

Critics argue that these numbers understate the role of foreign-born individuals, since many migrants are now naturalized German citizens and therefore counted as “German” in the statistics. Bild also reported that nearly half of Germany’s €17.68 billion housing support budget for 2024 went to foreigners.

The debate comes as the Federal Employment Agency continues to advertise welfare benefits to migrants, with parts of its website dedicated to “people from abroad,” promising financial support to cover living expenses.

Germany’s governing CDU/CSU bloc is finally calling for stricter limits on migrant reliance on welfare. Deputy parliamentary leader Mathias Middelberg argued earlier this week that job centers need to do more to integrate Afghans and Syrians into work. “Just 100,000 more people in work instead of relying on the citizen’s allowance could, depending on wage levels, relieve the federal budget in the low single-digit billion range every year,” Middelberg said.

Government figures show that 52.8 percent of Syrians and 46.7 percent of Afghans in Germany receive a citizen’s allowance, while fewer than 40 percent in both groups are in jobs subject to social security contributions.

“We cannot accept that hundreds of thousands of young asylum seekers here in Germany are unemployed for decades,” Middelberg added.

Earlier this month, two Social Democratic Party district administrators in Thuringia also broke with their party’s national leadership by demanding that non-EU migrants, including asylum seekers and recognized refugees, should receive social benefits only as interest-free loans, repayable once they find employment.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/02/2025 - 03:30