Friday Watch

Around X:

• @ZeroHedge

• *BESSENT SUMMONED WALL STREET CEOS TO DISCUSS ANTHROPIC’S MYTHOS. 
• A massive fire has been reported at the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco, Mexico, with workers saying a tower at the coking plant is involved and heavy smoke rising. (video)
• BREAKING: Iranian state media denies an Iranian delegation has arrived in Islamabad for Saturday's talks, rejecting a Wall Street Journal report of their arrival and restating Iran has "no plans to attend peace talks with the American side until a ceasefire is established in Lebanon," per Fars News Agency.
• 'World's First' Humanoid Robot For Real Household Chores Launched With 16-Hour Battery.
• Pentagon Seeks Stunning 243x Budget Surge For Drone Warfare Unit As Eurasian Wars Reshape Combat.
• For the Trump administration to understand: The Strait of Hormuz is NOT OPEN. The UAE does not and will NEVER accept the Islamic regime in Iran imposing CONDITIONS on access. The UAE is not Britain or the EU. It does not accept any terrorist actor restricting freedom of navigation. As for Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia negotiating to keep the regime afloat, understand this: no state has a legitimate right to decide who may pass and under what terms. That is international law, not a bargaining chip. Shame on United Kingdom, NATO, European Union, and anyone who tolerates this regime’s terrorism and piracy.   
• Trump vs. the AyaTOLLah. 
• The sad thing is that Ro is the guy preaching for socialism while he is the most active insider trader in Congress. He is a terrible representative of Silicon Valley. 
• *SENATE BANKING PANEL PLANS TO DELAY WARSH HEARING: PUNCHBOWL.
• Massachusetts Governor Uses Donut Holes To Explain The State Energy Crisis She Caused.
• The Economic Destruction Of Trump's War Goes Far Beyond High Gas Prices.
• Hormuz Hope Sparks Stocks Longest Win Streak In 6 Months; Bonds, Bullion, & Bitcoin Bid.

• @CNBC

• Asia-Pacific markets set to open mixed as renewed tensions test a fragile Iran-U.S. ceasefire.
• Friday's big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session.
• Stock futures are little changed as traders monitor fragile ceasefire between U.S. and Iran: Live updates. 

• @EmeraldRobinson

• My sources tell me: RFK Jr.'s team at HHS has been removed/sidelined by White House. HHS is now run by Big Pharma lobbyists. And now: RFK Jr. suddenly has time to "launch a podcast" with all his free time. It's all over for MAHA. (video)
• When leftwing crap-rag @politico is publishing puff pieces on Harmeet, that's when you know: she's no threat to the uniparty at all. 
• Just called a White House source. How much was stolen? "Trillions." Where did the money go? "China." (video)

• @MarioNawful

• The number that should terrify you is 7.8 billion barrels. Global oil inventories started this crisis around 8.2 billion barrels. Six weeks of Hormuz disruption have drawn them down to roughly 8.0 billion. The draws are accelerating, running at 10+ million barrels per day in some weeks despite strategic reserve releases. Energy analysts are now circulating a threshold: 7.8 billion barrels. Below that, the system tips from "high prices" to "actual shortages." Refineries can't run on empty. Floating storage takes time to access. Regional imbalances mean Asia runs dry before anyone else. One estimate called 18 days "generous" before we cross that line.

• @ShadowofEzra

• Finance Minister of Israel Bezalel Smotrich announces that Israel will begin expanding its borders into Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, in alignment with the Greater Israel Project. He says this is the only viable solution to ensure Israel is well protected. He adds that many more settlements will be established in the near future. "There will be a lot of work for all of us after the war."

• @BullTheoryio

• BREAKING: Someone placed a $950 million bet on oil prices falling just hours before Trump announced the Iran ceasefire, Reuters reports. 8,600 lots of Brent and US crude futures were sold in a single block at 1945 GMT. Trump announced the ceasefire at 2230 GMT andOil dropped 15% immediately after. Large trades like this are almost never done in single blocks. Traders specifically avoid this to prevent moving the market. Someone did it anyway, right before one of the most market moving announcements of the year. This is the third major suspicious trade tied to a Trump's recent announcements.

• @DailyCaller

• OPINION: Xi Jinping wants Korea. He doesn’t have to work too hard to get it, though, because Korea’s current leader, Lee Jae-myung, has left the door open to Chinese infiltration. The Democratic Party of Korea, known as Minjoo, and their allies are now grabbing more power after Lee won the presidency last June. Minjoo also holds a large majority in the National Assembly, the country’s single-chamber legislature. As a result, Lee, Minjoo and their allies are now in a position to get whatever they want.

• @BreitbartNews

• Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) is madder than a wet hen because Americans realize her "Dignity Act" (its actual title is DIGNITAD, in Spanish) would amnesty millions of illegal immigrants and import many more legalized migrants. She just got busted by Community Notes...

• @danksterintel

• BREAKING: Trump just mass-attacked Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and Alex Jones in a single post. Called them "Low IQ," "LOSERS," and "not MAGA." Their crime? Opposing his Iran policy. Now ask yourself one question. Who benefits from silencing every major voice that questions unlimited support for a foreign government's military objectives? We've been showing you the receipts for months...

• @rawsalerts

• #BREAKING: A Ninth scientist linked to secret US space and nuclear programs dies with no cause of death listed. (video)

• @theHFDF

• BREAKING: 70% of Americans OPPOSE Trump’s pesticide liability shield. This would be a severe betrayal of MAHA. Republicans are on the verge of handing Bayer-Monsanto total immunity to mass poison Americans with glyphosate in the 2026 Farm Bill. And Trump supports it. Not only that, but Trump’s DOJ is also pushing for the Supreme Court to hand pesticide companies a liability shield in a case later this month, regardless of whether Congress passes it in the Farm Bill. Americans overwhelmingly oppose this. MAHA voted to remove the liability shield for vaccines, not to expand it to yet another poison industry. (video)

• @ElectionWiz

• One crazy thing about Rep. Maria Salazar is that she isn’t in some swing district where she was forced to support amnesty to survive. FL-27 is a Republican seat. This was a completely unforced, unnecessary betrayal of America First voters.

• @Cernovich

• As sick as it was, the amnesty bill by Mike Lawler, Salazar, and other neocons was timed with Trump’s planned strike on Iran. Their plan was to vote on it while the country was distracted with a massive and escalating war. This is treachery beyond comprehension.

• @BreannaMorello

• Mike Lawler was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Lawler is for amnesty.

• @BBMagaMom

• BILL GATES-LINKED mRNA ATTACK ON YOUR FOOD? A new company backed by $50M is rolling out “biologically modified” crops sprayed with viral RNA, turning soybeans, tomatoes, corn and more into silent genetic reprogramming machines. No GMO labels. No CHOICE! (video)

• @JoshHall2024

• BREAKING: Former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly orchestrating a "RINO coup" of Never Trump establishment Republicans who are on a mission to do a hostile take back of the Republican Party from President Trump and the MAGA movement. They are said to be funding opposition research on Trump-backed MAGA candidates in the midterms, financially backing their primary opponents and even strategically placing Trump haters in disguise as supporters of the President in key positions within the Trump administration in order to sabotage and undermine the President. Pam Bondi and Susie Wiles are two confirmed RINO infiltrators who were placed in their positions by Pence and his ilk. The RINO coup allegedly includes DOZENS of "Old Guard" Republicans including the Bush family, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney and the family of late Senator John McCain among others.

• @HQNewsNow

• Trump's followers on Truth Social are extremely upset about his attacks on Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones, and Tucker Carlson. (pic)

• @RyanAFournier

• Sam Altman has admitted he is on a waitlist for a procedure that would digitize his brain. The procedure would kill him. He considers this an acceptable trade for digital immortality. This is the person making decisions about the future of artificial intelligence for hundreds of millions of users. A man who views ending his own biological life as a reasonable step toward uploading his consciousness to the cloud. These are not the priorities of a stable leader.

• @Holden_Culotta

• Catherine Austin-Fitts just sounded the alarm. A pesticide liability shield will cause an “extinction-level event.” Why? It will absolutely destroy fertility. And she says this is no accident. It’s intentional. “Depopulation” is exactly what the elites want. “They’ve enjoyed so much success depopulating by giving vaccines corporate liability shields that you have Bayer, who bought Monsanto, coming around and trying to get both the feds and the states to give pesticide liability shields.” “If you look at the extraordinary amount of money and support that’s coming [from] the mega rich to support this, it’s no accident.” “There’s no way, given the science on this, that they don’t know.” “There’s no way it’s anything other than intentional.” (video)

• @Liz_Churchill10

• No. Damn. Way. THE FBI CAUGHT STAGING J6 A Secret 2020 War Game shows 274 UNDERCOVER AGENTS rehearsed mass prosecutions of patriots MONTHS before it happened. This was a Deep State Setup to frame Americans to bury the stolen election. THIS IS TREASON. (video)

• @The_Real_Fly

• Trump blackmail leaked as soon as he stops attacking Iran. (video)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.25% on average. 
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 76.5 +.5 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 45.0 unch.
• China Iron Ore Spot 103.1 USD/Metric Tonne +.04%. 
• Crude Oil 98.70/bbl. +.8% 
• Gold 4,788.0 USD/t oz. -.66%. 
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.64 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 35.7 -.07%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 108.9 +.5%
• US 10-Year Yield 4.29% +1.0 basis point.
• Japan 30-Year Yield 3.63% unch. 
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 21.3 +.4%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.50%. 
• S&P 500 futures -.02%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.03%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are modestly higher, boosted by technology and consumer discretionary shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.