Mediators Say Talks 'Difficult But Not Dead' After Iran Rejects US Proposed Ceasefire, Counters With 5 Conditions

Saudis Bypass Hormuz As Oil Exports From Yanbu Surge Toward 5 Million Target One week ago, when fears that the Strait of Hormuz blockade would mean a permanent collapse in oil supply (we have since seen that Iran is allowing "friendly" ships to cross the strait, especially if they grease the toll-keeper with $2 million per crossing) hit a fever pitch and pushed the price of Brent to $120, we said that "Saudi Arabia Has Already Revived More Than Half Its Oil Exports Via Hormuz Bypass."   With Iran blocking Saudi ships from...

Fed Watchdog Finds No Crimes In $2.4 Billion Renovation, Just Everything Else After more than a year of drama, subpoenas, surprise site visits, hard-hat photo ops and one very public fight over beehives, the Fed's internal watchdog has finally weighed in on the central bank's headquarters renovation. The verdict: nobody committed a crime, but almost nobody was minding the budget either. According to a report released Wednesday by the Fed's Office of Inspector General, there were no "reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred," and...

That Don't Repress Me Much By Benjamin Picton, Senior Market Strategist at Rabobank US equity indices gained yesterday as oil prices pulled back from recent highs and bond yields followed suit. The S&P 500 closed 0.46% higher while the Dow Jones was up 0.56% and the NASDAQ Composite Index lifted 0.45%. The Bank of Canada kept rates at a low, low 2.25% yesterday for a seventh-consecutive meeting. Governor Tiff Macklem struck a more hawkish tone, but RaboResearch’s Christian Lawrence and Molly Schwartz write that they wouldn’t be surprised to see the...