Report: US Preparing for Sustained, Weeks-Long War Against Iran If Trump Orders Attack

"Resilient" US Manufacturing Sector Surges In Face Of War, Prices Paid Up Amid the fog of war and fading 'hard' data, the final March S&P Global Manufacturing PMI printed 52.3 (a small drop from the flash 52.4 print), higher than the 51.8 print for February. “Faster growth of output in March points to encouraging resilience for US manufacturing in the face of the outbreak of war in the Middle East," according to Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. The ISM Manufacturing PMI also rose from 52.4 to 52.7 -...

Fed Independence Is Sacred... Or So We've Been Told Authored by Richard Roberts via RealClearMarkets.com, For the better part of a year, many had become convinced that the Federal Reserve's independence was in its final days. The narrative rested on two prongs. First, an FOMC browbeaten by relentless public attacks, threats of removal, and a Justice Department criminal probe into Chair Jerome Powell. The pressure, many argued, had grown so intense that Fed decisions would no longer be trusted to reflect economics rather than politics. Second, a new chair expected to arrive in May...