Trump Kabuki Theatre in Ukraine: Nothing of Substance Gets Resolved

401(k) Hardship Withdrawals Hit Record High The AI bubble and data center buildout have helped catapult equity markets to new highs (pre-Middle East conflict), minting a record number of 401(k) millionaires. However, beneath the surface, hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans have also climbed to a record, reinforcing the view that the K-shaped economy is becoming more entrenched. Vanguard's How America Saves 2025 report shows that hardship withdrawal activity "increased to a new high" of 6% in 2025, up from 4.8% in 2024 and about 2% before the pandemic. The increase marks the...

The Appearance Of 'Action': Britain's Navy Docked At Gateway To Mediterranean For Hormuz Mission Is Washington's ally the United Kingdom making preparations to 'do more' related to the Iran crisis at the behest of President Trump?  New reporting in The Associated Press suggests so. But the new Monday report also points to the UK possibly just making an appearance of action: "Aboard the RFA Lyme Bay docked off the coast of Gibraltar, hundreds of British sailors are waiting to be deployed for a mine-clearing mission to the Strait of Hormuz that...

Oil Price Shock Drives 140% Surge In China's EV Exports To Record High By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com, Chinese electric vehicle exports soared by 140% to a record high in March as the fuel price shock drove consumers back to EVs. BYD electric vehicles bound for export in China.Source: AFP/Getty Images China exported as many as 349,000 electric vehicles last month, a record high number of any month ever, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association cited by Bloomberg. Drivers in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States started searching for EVs...