US Students Still Behind Much Of The World In Math And Reading: Global Assessment

Remember: In A Crisis, Everyone Will Consider Themselves 'The Good Guys' Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via substack, The state has two monopolies it must protect whatever the cost: the monopoly on decreeing what is legal tender and on force. We’re entering an era in which push comes to shove will lead to immovable objects encountering irresistible forces. All sorts of verities and vanities will be bulldozed as kicking the can down the road descends into desperation to stave off collapse, a desperation that unleashes second order effects the desperate did not anticipate. The only responses at this...

Ferrari's Hybrid Hangover: Collectors Stampede Into Legacy V8s And V12s Exotic-car collectors continue to shun hybrid Ferraris (Read May's sportscar report) in favor of legacy V8 and V12 petrol-powered models, pushing used-car values sharply higher. One possible driver is concern over long-term ownership costs: hybrid and fully electric supercars combine complex electronics, high-voltage battery packs, and sophisticated thermal-management systems, creating the risk of astronomical repair bills as these vehicles age. Goldman Sachs analyst Christian Frenes, the bank's equity analyst covering European automakers including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Renault, Aston Martin, and Porsche...

Gold Jumps, Curve Flattens On Report Treasury To Tap Trillion-Dollar TGA To Fund Bond Buybacks Having seen yields rebound from their initial decline following the upping of Treasury (long-end) buybacks to 'at least $4BN' per operation (and increased its total planned operations), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent jawboned late last week about his 'bigger toolkit' and 'asymmetric information' in an attempt to further strengthen the 'Treasury Put'. Unfortunately for him, the market (vigilant as ever), decided to test him with yields ending the week at the highs. So this morning, two senior Treasury officials...