Iran, Oman Hold Talks on Strait of Hormuz

Existing US Home Sales Plunged In March, Despite Falling Mortgage Rates Affordability-aiding lower mortgage rates battled a sentiment-sapping surge in geopolitical panic in March, with analysts expecting the latter to outweigh the former with a modest 0.7% MoM decline (after January's plunged - weather? - and February's modest rebound). The analysts under-estimated the fear from war-mongering as existing home sales plunged 3.6% MoM (down bigly from an upwardly revised 2.7% MoM jump in Feb). That is the second biggest drop in existing home sales since Nov 2022... Source: Bloomberg That dragged Existing Home...

White House Reaches Tentative Crypto Regulatory Agreement: Report Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com, Key senators and the White House have reached a tentative agreement on cryptocurrency legislation aimed at resolving a dispute between banks and digital asset firms over stablecoin yields, according to Politico reporting. The move could clear the way for a landmark crypto regulatory bill stalled in the Senate Banking Committee since January. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said Friday they have an “agreement in principle” on language intended to balance innovation with financial stability. The legislation...

US Military Races To Harden Strategic Nuclear Bases With Counter-Drone AI Shield Defense company AeroVironment has won an $80.5 million order from the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 for its Titan MS counter-drone system, expanding the Department of War's efforts to secure critical defense infrastructure and other homeland sites from AI drone swarm attacks. The award falls under a previously announced $500 million sole-source IDIQ contract and will support the Air Force Global Strike Command's layered defenses against suicide drones attempting to breach airspace over strategic nuclear bases. "This investment provides...