The Consumer Sentiment Disconnect From Economic Reality

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Job Is Impossible Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance Congratulations to Kevin Warsh on officially becoming the next Federal Reserve chair. Unfortunately for him, he may have just accepted the worst job in global finance at the worst possible moment. Warsh was narrowly confirmed this week in the most partisan Fed chair vote in modern history, inheriting a central bank that has spent years under political attack while gliding straight into a macroeconomic minefield. Inflation just accelerated to a three-year high. Oil is higher amid Middle East tensions....

Meta Buys Robot Brain Startup As Zuck Wants Humanoids In Homes After the Oculus and Metaverse bets turned into costly disappointments for Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms, the tech giant's pivot to real-world humanoid robotics appears to be gaining momentum, with news Friday afternoon that it is acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence. Bloomberg reports that Meta has closed the acquisition of the humanoid robotics startup, which develops AI models to help robots understand, predict, and adapt to human behavior in complex environments. What Meta has acquired appears to be a "robot brain" designed...

China Panics, Urges Ceasefire To Reopen Strait Of Hormuz As Beijing Is Addicted To Cheap Iranian Crude Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at Tuesday's regular press briefing in Beijing that all parties in the Iran conflict must ensure the safe transit of commercial shipping through the critical maritime energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz. "China urges all parties to immediately cease military operations, avoid escalating tensions, and safeguard the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," spokeswoman Ning said. We've briefed readers that China is heavily exposed to...