Independent thinking for complex markets and current events
Africa’s trade finance gap has climbed above $74 billion, according to an African Development Bank assessment of trade financing conditions and commercial bank retreat. The key shift is not just the size of the gap. It is the behavior behind it. Private banks are reducing exposure to trade finance in higher risk regions and tightening …
Iran Military News ☫ @IranMilitaryEN Strategic Assessment: The intensification of blind US attacks, which in some cases target civilian infrastructure such as airplanes or wheat silos in remote cities and have also damaged Iran’s industrial infrastructure, along with successive covert messages to start diplomacy with Iran, all of which have been met with Iranian indifference, …
The Trump administration will draw down 700 law enforcement officers from Minnesota on Wednesday, border czar Tom Homan said. After that approximately 25% withdrawal, around 2,000 federal agents will remain in the state, he said. Homan announced the pullback after touting “unprecedented cooperation” between the federal government and state and local entities. The Trump administration …
NOW – Trump on Minnesota ICE operations: "We're gonna de-escalate a little bit." pic.twitter.com/g13vcV2Ow1 — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 27, 2026 The administration retreated Monday from the position it staked out over the weekend. Politico Playbook framed Kristi Noem’s sidelining as “nothing short of a public humiliation.” Greg Bovino — whose military-style coat and combative press …
Contrary to headlines suggesting the EU has “backed away” from Chat Control, the negotiating mandate endorsed today by EU ambassadors in a close split vote paves the way for a permanent infrastructure of mass surveillance. Patrick Breyer, digital freedom fighter and expert on the file, warns journalists and the public not to be deceived by …
Democrat Rep. Norma Torres: "This must stop. The president must call back these ICE agents. They must retreat. That's what we're demanding right now." pic.twitter.com/A8jURWcY55 — TheBlaze (@theblaze) June 10, 2025 LA MAYOR BASS: WILL TRY TO CALL TRUMP ON TUESDAY || SAYS WILL TELL TRUMP TO STOP THE RAIDS — First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) June …
“For decades, the Japanese and Chinese produced more than they consumed and saved the difference. A part of those savings got invested in US treasuries, which meant the US govt could spend more than it earned and borrow the difference. The more Asian savings grew, the more US borrowing surged. Western economists understood this mechanism, …
With foreign central bank appetite for US Treasuries in retreat, what will replace the current system? I don't think anyone knows. The chart below suggests we go back to substantial central bank gold holdings. Maybe. IMHO, fragmentation and a broad erosion of trust is a likely… pic.twitter.com/GoT59qsevI — Axel Merk (@AxelMerk) April 27, 2025
When several dozen Democratic political operatives and elected officials gathered at a tony resort off the Potomac River last month, frustration boiled over at the left wing of their party. Democrats had become too obsessed with “ideological purity tests” and should push back “against far-left staffers and groups that exert a disproportionate influence on policy …
Police forces have stopped using Elon Musk’s X social media platform amid concerns about misinformation. X, formerly named Twitter before Musk’s takeover in 2022, was used to spread false information that sparked riots across Britain this summer. The app has also reinstated British based accounts that were previously banned for extremist content. Musk’s comment in …
Sebastian Gorka, a right-wing commentator and author who worked in the Trump administration, is selling his Baker, WV, vacation home. The three-bedroom, two-bath log cabin is listed for $575,000 and comes with more than 33 acres in the woods. This getaway was “built by a prepper for a prepper,” the listing notes. It features all …
Earlier this week, Xi spent nearly two hours on the phone with President Joe Biden, striking a markedly friendlier tone than before. This comes after November’s San Francisco summit, in which Xi promised all sorts of goodies to the US and left analysts wondering what on earth China got in return. Things aren’t happy at …
Without American help, we will have to retreat, Zelensky admitted Vladimir Zelensky, in an interview with American media, admitted that if Kyiv does not receive the promised assistance from the United States, blocked in Congress, its forces will be forced to gradually begin to… pic.twitter.com/0w7lAY71Ae — Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) March 30, 2024
WASHINGTON – House Republicans are scheduled to depart for their annual retreat on Wednesday. But this year, a number of lawmakers are opting to skip it, harboring frustration and exhaustion at the infighting that has locked down the party’s ability to govern. “Everybody’s tired. I know I’m tired,” one House Republican, who spoke on the …