China Preps For War: Spy Balloon Belies Much Larger Economic Warning Signs

US-Sanctioned Tanker Signaling Chinese Ownerships Test Trump Blockade With Hormuz Crossing Following news that two tankers, one of which indicated China as its destination, had turned around earlier in the day after the Trump blockade of the Straits of Hormuz had kicked in, one of them - a tanker linked to China - is making its way through the Strait of Hormuz, testing President Trump’s naval blockade, Bloomberg reported. Rich Starry, a 188-meter medium-range tanker earlier known as Full Star, was blacklisted by Washington in 2023 for helping Tehran evade energy...

TACO Vs TAW: Fade This (Equity) Rally Authored by Peter Tchir via Academy Securities, Ceasefire? The U.S., via Pakistan, and apparently consistent with negotiations being carried out by Witkoff and Kushner, has delivered a 15 point agreement for a ceasefire. Markets responded with oil down (Brent futures, at 5:30 am are back down below $100, from a high of $105 on Tuesday). Stock futures and treasuries are rebounding as well (even the 2-year, after the drubbing it took after yesterday’s auction noticeable for an absence of “direct” bids). Many of the Polymarket Strait of Hormuz “prediction”...

How Much Of The Gulf's Water Comes From Desalination Plants? Authored by Mohamed A. Hussein, The United States-Israeli war on Iran has exposed the vulnerability of critical water infrastructure in a region that is among the most water-scarce in the world. Last week, Iran’s foreign minister accused the US of striking a desalination plant on Qeshm Island off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. The strike reportedly cut off the water supply to 30 villages. Just 24 hours later, Bahrain said an Iranian drone had caused material damage to one of its desalination...