Another Drug Lord Killed. Is the Drug War Now Over?

Total Internet Blackout In Iran Hits 8 Weeks As Citizens Left In Dark About War's Future The near-total internet blackout in Iran has "now entered its 57th day after 1344 hours," internet watchdog NetBlocks has said. The restrictions followed renewed anti-government protests in early January and intensified after the start of the US-Israel war on Iran at the end of February, and during which time leaders in Washington and Israel have signaled they seek total societal collapse and government overthrow in the Islamic Republic. This has left many of Iran's some...

US Pending Home Sales Collapse To Record Lows In September And the housing market's annus horribilis continues (existing home sales near COVID lows, mortgage rates at three year highs, homebuilder confidence at GFC lows, homebuyer confidence at record lows, housing starts near COVID lows)... After a very small rebound (+0.3% MoM) in August, US Pending Home Sales collapsed (-7.3% MoM vs -3.9% MoM exp) in September. That dragged  “Market conditions weakened in September due to fast-rising mortgage rates,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Although job growth and income gains can support home purchases,...

These Consumer Goods Could Be First To Vanish As "Supply Shock" Disrupts Asian Factories Goldman analysts warned that the petrochemical supply shock sweeping across Asia is now morphing into a full-blown COGS shock, hitting a range of industries with factories across the region. The immediate consequence is that manufacturers - from sofa makers to apparel producers - are being forced to dial back production and, in some cases, idle plants altogether as soaring petrochemical-linked input costs drive up the price of plastics and other key materials. In the note "Petrochemical...