Iran's Hardliners Push For Nuclear Weapons As U.S. War Drags On

Whirlpool Crashes After Iran Shock Sparks "Recession-Level" Appliance Slump Whirlpool shares crashed as much as 20% in premarket trading after the appliance maker slashed its full-year outlook and posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter results. Management directly blamed the three-month war in the Middle East for triggering a collapse in U.S. appliance demand. Whirlpool began the earnings release with this statement: "War in Iran resulted in a recession-level industry decline in the U.S. as consumer confidence collapsed in late February and March." For the first quarter, the maker of refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, ovens, ranges, cooktops,...

July Rate-Hike Off The Table After Producer Price Inflation Drops Most Since COVID Following yesterday's much cooler than expected, Goldman's Rich Privorotsky notes that today’s PPI print matters more for the core PCE read-through (Fed's favorite inflation indicator), particularly healthcare and financial services. While May's headline PPI print was hot, core was cooler than expected, and June's data release today was expected to show no change in headline producer prices. In fact, like with CPI, headline Producer prices actually saw deflation (-0.3% MoM), equaling the biggest monthly decline since April 2020. The...

Unhappy Ending: Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Over Prostitution Scheme Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A Chinese national has pleaded guilty to laundering more than $2 million from a prostitution enterprise run through spa businesses in New York’s capital region, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced on March 11. The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on Aug. 7, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Xia Ming, 41, of Flushing, New York, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on...