Futures Slide As Oil Jumps, Bond Selloff Resumes After Trump Spurns Iran Offer

Goldman's State Of U.S. Consumer Outlook Gets More Grim Goldman consumer analysts Kate McShane and Bonnie Herzog cut their 2026 discretionary cash-inflow growth forecast for the second time this year, citing a worsening squeeze on U.S. households as slower disposable income growth collides with higher fuel prices at the pump. The revision points to a softening among cash-strapped consumers as the US-Iran conflict enters its third month. McShane and Herzog cut their 2026 U.S. discretionary cash inflow growth to 3.7% from the previous forecast of 4.2% in early April, as...

US Median Rent Hits 4-Year Low, 30th Straight Month of Decline Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Renters across the United States may be able to save a bit more on apartment leases this month, as rents nationwide hit a four-year low last month, marking the 30th consecutive month of declines. A sign is posted in front of an apartment building with available rentals in San Francisco on June 9, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images In its February Rental Report issued on March 17, Realtor.com recorded that the national median...

In "Watershed Moment" China Orders Companies To Defy US Sanctions China ordered companies in the country not to comply with US sanctions on five domestic refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade, deploying for the first time a blocking measure introduced in 2021 that was aimed at protecting its firms from foreign laws it deemed unjustified.  Refiners - including Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery which was sanctioned last month and several other privately-owned processors - had been facing asset freezes and transaction bans. Hengli was the most ambitious target to date in China’s refining sector, and...