"Taiwan Loses Its Strategic Importance In 18 Months," Says Chamath Palihapitiya

Federal Government Backs Supreme Court Challenge To AR-15 Bans Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times, The federal government is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to side with gun owners challenging state and local bans on AR-15-style rifles. In a brief filed Friday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to overturn rulings from the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Seventh Circuits, which upheld AR-15 bans in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois, respectively. "The AR-15 rifle is unquestionably in common use among law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes," the...

HSBC Upgrades Apple To Buy, Sees "AI Boost" Sparking Device-Upgrade Cycle Days after KeyBanc analysts Brandon Nispel and John Vinh downgraded Apple over concerns that soaring memory chip costs and rising iPad, Mac, and iPhone prices could spark a growth slowdown, HSBC analysts took the opposite view, upgrading the stock to a "Buy" rating to end the week. HSBC analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson upgraded Apple to "Buy" from "Hold" on Friday morning and raised his price target to $366 from $260, telling clients that an "AI boost comes at the right moment"...

The Next Oil Rally Could Be Driven By Stockpile Refilling Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com, The Middle East conflict has disrupted more than 1 billion barrels of oil supply, but China's massive strategic crude stockpile helped offset the shock by sharply reducing imports, preventing oil prices from surging even higher. Countries are now racing to build or replenish strategic petroleum reserves, with the IEA planning to refill the 400 million barrels it released during the crisis and major importers like India looking to expand their emergency stockpiles. This wave of reserve rebuilding...