Key Events This Week: PPI, Industrial Production, Q1 Earnings, Iran War

The Diamond Crash Accelerates The Diamond Standard Index, tracked on Bloomberg under the ticker DIAMINDX, tumbled to new record lows during the first half of August as a surge in affordable lab-grown stones eroded the scarcity premium underpinning natural diamond prices. "Technological progress in growing diamonds in labs has been amazing. It's no surprise most engagement rings are now using lab diamonds," X user Crémieux said. Technological progress in growing diamonds in labs has been amazing. It's no surprise most engagement rings are now using lab diamonds. https://t.co/MZ4zWVlQNq pic.twitter.com/fH1lFYD3Ih — Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) August 8,...

Why CME Is Really Suing The CFTC Over Perps Authored by David Christopher via Bankless.com, CME wants Kalshi's Bitcoin perp reclassified as a swap, not banned. That distinction reveals what's actually at stake in the CFTC lawsuit. Yesterday, CME, the country's dominant derivatives exchange, sued the CFTC over its recent approval of regulated crypto perpetual futures. The exchange argues Kalshi's  Bitcoin perp should be treated as a swap, not a futures contract, a classification shift that would push the product into a more restrictive, institution-facing rulebook. The CFTC called the suit "frivolous" and said it looks forward to dismissing...

NATO Jets Shoot Down Drone Over Latvia, Which Blames 'Russian Electromagnetic Warfare' NATO jets have shot down another drone which spilled over into Baltic territory from the Ukraine war, Latvia's defense ministry announced Friday. The fresh incident happened over eastern Latvian airspace on Friday. NATO "fighter jets have successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare," the ministry stated on X.  via AFP "The drone was destroyed over the Balvi region by aircraft taking part in NATO’s Baltic Air patrol mission," CNBC wrote based...