Friday Watch

Around X:

• @ElonMusk

• For the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents. A month ahead of schedule. Next month, first self-delivery from factory to customer.

• @ZeroHedge

• Libya At Risk Of Declaring Force Majeure On Oil Production After Militia Attacks.
• Peak Escalation. 
• 16 States File Lawsuit Against National Science Foundation For Ending DEI Support.
• Senate Ag Chair Balks At "Controversial" Mystery Meat Country-Of-Origin Labeling.
• How Lies And Hubris Caused An Awakening.
• California Grid Operator Increasingly Curtailing Solar And Wind-Powered Electricity Generation.
• Democrats And Their DEI Albatrosses.
• US Warns UN: 'Deal On Offer Now Is Russia's Best Possible Outcome'.
• Business Insider Cuts 21% Of Staff After "Going All-In On AI".
• Senator Chuck Grassley Declassifies FBI Files On Nellie Ohr, Including Lies Told To Congress.
• Ignore The Court Challenge: When It Comes To Trump's Trade War, Here's The One Thing That Really Matters.
  
• Bonds & Bullion Bid As Tech, Tariffs, & Troubling-Data Spark Pump'n'Dump In Stocks & The Dollar.
  

• @MarioNawful

• NVIDIA + DELL + TRUMP = NEXT-LEVEL SUPERCOMPUTER. The government just hit “build” on a mega AI brain. Nvidia and Dell are teaming up with Trump’s crew to launch “Doudna.” This monster supercomputer is dropping in 2026. It’s basically Iron Man’s lab, but real, and at Berkeley Lab. It’s 10x faster than anything before, and it’s built to crack fusion energy, invent new meds, and mess with quantum stuff most people pretend to understand. Trump’s calling it a power move. Nvidia says it’s a "science time machine." Either way, it’s America going full nerd... on purpose. 
• TAP, PAUSE, GOOGLE IT: YOUTUBE’S NEW POWER MOVE. YouTube’s adding Google Lens to Shorts, which means you can now pause a video and search anything you see—without leaving the app. Watching a clip in Paris and wondering what that fancy tower is? Tap it. Like someone’s shoes? Highlight them. Lens will give you instant answers right on top of the video. No ads (yet), and it won’t work on paid promos or shopping links—but everything else? Fair game. Basically, YouTube just made being nosey way easier. TikTok and Instagram? Still catching up. 
• TRADE CZAR NAVARRO: “MAIN STREET GETS IT, WALL STREET DOESN’T”. "The emergency is $1.3 trillion a year going abroad, $18 trillion of American wealth so far transferred into foreign hands. Millions of jobs lost, hundreds of thousands of factories gone. That’s the emergency. Main Street understands this, Wall Street is in denial.". (video) 
• PRESS SEC LEAVITT: “ACTIVIST JUDGES ARE SABOTAGING THE U.S.”. "Last night, the Trump administration faced another example of judicial overreach. 3 judges brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of Trump. The president’s rationale for imposing these powerful tariffs was legally sound and grounded in common sense." (video)
• QUANTUM COMPUTING: THE NEXT TECH GOLD RUSH. Quantum computing (QC) is about to blow up the tech world. Think of it as AI on steroids—but here’s the kicker: the entire U.S. quantum sector is worth less than Dogecoin. Imagine buying Bitcoin at $500. That’s where QC is today. Regular computers process in 1s and 0s. QCs use qubits, which can be 1, 0, or both at the same time (superposition). Translation? They solve ridiculously complex problems insanely fast. 
• AI COULD OUT-ENERGY BITCOIN BY YEAR’S END. Artificial intelligence isn’t just hungry for data; it’s power-thirsty too. New estimates say AI could burn more electricity than Bitcoin mining by the end of 2025, potentially guzzling as much energy as the UK. And that’s with efficiency gains, they are offset by increased usage (Jevons paradox). Why? Because big tech keeps chasing bigger models, bigger bragging rights, and building data centers that light up like small cities. Researchers are calling it the next energy crisis no one’s measuring. And AI isn’t cooling off: it’s just getting started.
  

• @LauraLoomer 

• NIH won't renew 'cruel' drug experiments on beagle puppies. “Taxpayer watchdog @WhiteCoatWaste⁩ unearthed the contract via a FOIA request, with documents showing up to 300 beagles — as well as rats and mice — were being tested per week”.
• @MoodysRatings just downgraded the U.S. credit rating under President @realDonaldTrump. They refused to do it under Joe Biden, even when inflation was soaring, banks were collapsing, and the economy was in a massive freefall. As I exposed this week, Moody’s CEO Robert Faube is a DEI-obsessed Trump-hater who backs ESG and criticized President Trump on January 6. This is financial warfare by politically biased Wall Street elites. These aren't credit ratings. They're political hit jobs in disguise.
• EXCLUSIVE. Spouse of Judge Who Issued Ruling Against Trump Tariffs Has International Corporate Ties That Benefit From Ruling, Raising Concerns Over Judicial Corruption and Conflicts of Interest. In a controversial ruling yesterday, Judge Timothy Reif of the U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT) was one of the three judges on a panel who struck down tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, igniting a firestorm of criticism over judicial overreach. However, the most damning aspect of the ruling went completely unnoticed by the media.
  

• @TheTranscript 

• $MRVL CEO: "Marvell delivered record revenue in the first quarter of $1.9B, a 63% Y/Y increase, and we are forecasting continued strong growth into the second quarter. This momentum is being fueled by strong AI demand in the data center end market, where our revenue is benefiting from the rapid scaling of our custom silicon programs and robust shipments of our electro-optics products". (graph)
• ZScaler double beat. CEO: "We delivered outstanding Q3 results...The proliferation of AI in all aspects of business is increasing the need for our AI security." $ZS: +4.5% AH.
• Dell COO: "We achieved first-quarter record servers and networking revenue of $6.3B, and we’re experiencing unprecedented demand for our AI-optimized server." $DELL: +5% AH. 

• @RodDMartin

• MASSIVE SHAKE-UP AT NIH - Fauci's Inner Circle REMOVED. Behind the scenes. Fauci's closest allies - INCLUDING HIS WIFE - are being STRIPPED of power.

• @AGPambondi

• The American Bar Association has lost its way, and we do not believe it serves as a fair arbiter of judicial nominees. @TheJusticeDept will no longer give the ABA the access they’ve taken for granted.

• @DerrickEvans4WV

• Mike Benz says American Taxpayers paid $50 billion dollars for the Black Lives Matter protests & were orchestrated with money laundered to NGOs. (video)

• @WallStreetApes

• A Federal court blocked Trump’s tariffs. Judicial coup is trending again and of course the GOP does absolutely nothing. America has been SO RIGGED by Democrats. “There are nearly 700 federal district court judges across the country. Barack Obama and Joe Biden held the White House for 12 of the last 16 years. They appointed 72% of the federal district court judges. Those are left wing federal district court judges. — Those left wing robed radicals are routinely using nationwide restraining orders against the Executive Office of the United States. (video)

• @SecScottBessent

• America’s voters gave @POTUS a clear mandate to confront the national security threat posed by massive trade deficits. Unelected judges have no right to block the Executive Branch from using its lawful powers to protect our country. (video)

• @KobeissiLetter 

• BREAKING: US Treasury Secretary Bessent says trade talks with China have “stalled.” Bessent says he believes more talks will happen over the next few weeks. This explains recent escalations with China.Quote 

• @matt_vanswol

• WAIT WAIT WAIT. If Elon Musk donated $288 MILLION to Republicans in 2024... ...and not a single one of them has voted on the DOGE cuts. How much money are the GOP actually making from waste, fraud, and abuse in the government?

• @catturd2

• 95% of Republicans in Congress are silent about the judicial coup. Tells you everything you need to know.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -1.25% to -.25% on average. 
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 77.75 +.25 basis point. 
• China Sovereign CDS 51.0 +.25 basis point.
• China Iron Ore Spot 96.0 USD/Metric Tonne -.92%.
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.73 -.04%.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 37.07 -.16%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 68.5 -1.0%.
• US 10-Year Yield 4.42% unch.
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.2 +1.0%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.15%. 
• S&P 500 futures -.27%. 
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.37%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by consumer discretionary and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to maintain losses into the afternoon.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.