Japan's Refinery Utilization Hits 73% As Strategic Oil Stocks Flow In

"Green-Dot Sunday" Is Non-Negotiable: Oil Up, Stocks Down As War Begins 2nd Month As last week wore on, it felt increasingly like the market was transitioning from pricing inflation risk (from a 'brief' energy supply shock) to weighing a demand-shock-driven growth scare (from a longer lasting disruption) as bonds rallied in the face of higher oil and lower stocks (stagflation). Last week saw three attempts at unilateral de-escalation (5-day delay, 'ceasefire' proposal, 10-day delay) met with even more supply as the apparent 'Trump Put' or 'TACO' trade is losing its power. Simply put,...

Beijing Bans Four New Zealand MPs For "Crossing Red Line" With Taiwan Visit In a first, China has banned four New Zealand Members of Parliament for a year over their visit to Taiwan, New Zealand's foreign ministry says. The MPs learned of the ban - which the Chinese Embassy said could be reduced or waived with an apology - when they returned from the trip in May, local media reported on Thursday. On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “Recently, certain New Zealand members of parliament, disregarding China’s serious concerns...

Israeli officials continue to maintain that their war in Lebanon will continue irrespective of peace deals reached related to it. Underscoring that, the Israeli military issued a new map detailing the extent to which they are occupying southern Lebanon. The map shows a ‘security zone’ that spans the entire Israel-Lebanon border, includes the southernmost Mediterranean […]