Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Wednesday Watch

Around X:

  • @ElonMusk
  • @ZeroHedge
  • @MarioNawful
  • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: “PORNHUB WASN’T A WEBSITE — IT WAS A CRIME SCENE”. @LailaMickelwait spent 5 years investigating Pornhub. What she discovered was beyond shocking, A story of a 15-year-old girl, missing for a year, reportedly found in 58 rape videos on the website. A 12-year-old boy, reportedly drugged and abused, with claims that his abuse was monetized and uploaded repeatedly. The reported case of Serena Flaites, who alleges she was 13 when her coerced videos went viral, claiming Pornhub required her to prove she was underage before considering removal. 91% of Pornhub’s content was removed.
  • CHAIR MIRAN: THIS IS THE BIGGEST CONSUMER CONFIDENCE JUMP SINCE MARCH 2021. Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, Steve Miran: “You know, the consumer confidence data this morning were really great. There’s no other way to put it. It was the biggest jump since March of 2021. Very substantial improvement in consumer confidence. 
  • ELON: STARSHIP MADE IT TO THE SCHEDULED SHIP ENGINE CUTOFF WITH LOTS OF GOOD DATA. “Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review. Launch cadence for next 3 flights will be faster, at approximately 1 every 3 to 4 weeks.” 
  • DAVID SACKS: THE ROBOTS ARE COMING. "The robots are coming. We’re seeing prototypes from a number of companies. Tesla’s Optimus can already fold laundry. Within five years, it’s possible everyone could own a robot. This is a technology that’s definitely coming." (video)
  • AI HUNGER GROWS: CALIFORNIA’S POWER GRID IS GETTING ABSOLUTELY COOKED. PG&E, California's largest electric utility, says data center requests for electricity jumped 40%, and these aren’t your grandma’s server farms. Last year, companies wanted 50 to 100 megawatts per site. Now they’re asking for 500 to 1,000 megawatts. That’s like powering a whole city just to teach ChatGPT how to write better essays than you. New AI megacenters are ditching Silicon Valley and heading inland to cheaper spots like Fresno, because apparently the robots don’t care about beachfront views. PG&E’s problem? Everyone wants to plug in right now, and there aren’t enough parts or patience to go around. 
  • TRUMP: ALASKA CAN BE OUR ECONOMIC MIRACLE… IF LEADERS STEP UP. “Nobody has done more for Alaska than your favorite president, Donald J. Trump. However, the Biden-Harris administration terminated much of our good, job-producing product. I am working very hard to gain it all back (and actually, much more), but need the support of your political leaders to make this happen. Without their commitment, it won’t happen. With it, Alaska will become the economic and job-producing miracle of our country!”
  • @TheTranscript
  • Box CEO: "We achieved robust first-quarter results.." $BOX: +11% AH.
  • Okta CEO: "Okta had a solid start to FY26 highlighted by record operating profit and another quarter of robust free cash flow" $OKTA: -11% AH.
Night Trading 
  • Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.25% on average. 
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 78.5 -1.75 basis points. 
  • China Sovereign CDS 51.0 -1.0 basis point.
  • China Iron Ore Spot 96.3 USD/Metric Tonne +.2%.
  • Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.69 -.02%.
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 37.0 -.11%.
  • Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 68.8 +.05%.
  • US 10-Year Yield 4.46% +2.0 basis points.
  • Volatility Index(VIX) futures 19.7 +.05%.
  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.02%. 
  • S&P 500 futures +.01%. 
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.
Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

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