Goldman's Global Affairs Chief Warns Of Middle East Spillover Threats

Companies Report Raging Inflation, Except In Wages & Rents Authored by Wolf Richter via Wolf Street, Manufacturers reported that the costs of health insurance for employees shot up by 14.2% on average; service firms reported an average increase of 12.9%, according to a report by the New York Fed based on a survey of companies in the New York-Northern New Jersey region. These are averages, but “some firms reported increases of between 25% and 50% when they renewed their coverage,” the report said. Manufacturers and service firms both reported that the costs...

Trump-Netanyahu "Differences": A Good Cop-Bad Cop Routine By Michael Every of Rabobank As You Were... But As Who Was?  Yesterday nearly saw a full restart of the Israel-Iran war, apparently pulled back from the brink by intervention from President Trump. After yet another Middle East rollercoaster for markets it’s now ‘as you were’, with oil --so everything else-- little changed. The larger issue behind that pricing, however, is the key question - ‘As who was?’ Iran set up its proxy network, centered on terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, to protect itself: if...

US Has No Plan To Renew Iranian, Russian Oil Waivers, Bessent Says Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 24 that the United States will not renew the sanctions waivers that enabled buyers to take delivery of Iranian and Russian crude already loaded on tankers at sea. Bessent said a one-time license covering Iranian oil on the water would not be extended, calling it “totally off the table.” The parallel waiver for Russian oil and petroleum products will also be allowed to end,...