Tuesday Watch

Around X:

• @Business  

• Japan’s authorities stand ready to respond as needed to moves in the currency market around the clock, the finance minister said, in a warning to speculators just hours before the Bank of Japan’s policy decision. 
• Iran is rapidly running out of places to store crude oil, threatening to accelerate production cuts in what was once OPEC’s second-largest producer, according to research firm Kpler. 
• China's race to build the world’s largest biobank gains urgency as the US and EU begin excluding Chinese scientists from accessing sensitive data. 
• South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss, helping its shares extend a blistering rally.
• Get up to speed on what's moving global markets.
• Here’s what you need to know to start your day.  

• @ZeroHedge

• The Moral Malaise: The New York Times Makes The Case For "Microlooting" To Murder.
• *OPENAI MISSED '25 REV TARGET FOR CHATGPT: WSJ. *OPENAI MISSED GOAL OF REACHING 1B WEEKLY USERS BY 2025-END: WSJ.
• *FIRST LNG SHIPMENT SINCE WAR BEGAN APPEARS TO EXIT HORMUZ: DATA.
• Bessent Says IRGC Leaders 'Trapped' Like 'Drowning Rats' By US Blockade, Will Soon Face Uprising Over Coming 'Gasoline Shortages Next'.
• Democrat-Owned Brewery Complains About Failed Trump Assassination Attempt With Twisted Promise To Customers.
• Goldman Goes Code Red On Global Petrochemical Shock.
• A big jump in Bennett's odds, who has caught up with Netanyahu for next Israeli PM. (graph)
• BESSENT: IRAN’S OIL INDUSTRY STARTING TO SHUT AFTER US BLOCKADE.
• The market is closed so... President Trump and his national-security team are skeptical of Iran’s offer of a deal that would see the Strait of Hormuz open and discussions about its nuclear work tabled, U.S. officials said: WSJ.
• "Resurgence Of Electrification": Goldman Says EV Demand Gaining Momentum Amid Fuel Price Shock.
• Bye-Bye Bibi? Israeli Opposition Leaders Join Forces In 'Together' Alliance To Topple Netanyahu.
• Rep. Ilhan Omar: “The last time the Alien Enemies Act was invoked… during World War ELEVEN.” She must have gotten her education in the Quality Learing Center. (video)     
• "The Democrats Have To Cheat To Win": Voter Fraud Is Legion In America.
• Bitcoin Dumped, Bond Yields Jump, But Semis-Slump Spoils 'Perfect Month'.  

• @CNBC 

• Asia-Pacific markets set to open lower as investors assess latest U.S.-Iran signals.
• Tuesday's big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session.
• CNBC's The China Connection newsletter: AI is moving into the physical world — fast.
• Stock futures are little changed after the S&P 500 posts another record, Wall Street awaits earnings: Live updates.
• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: LendingClub, Nucor, Rambus, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.

• @TheTranscript 

• Cadence CEO: "Cadence had a strong start to 2026, delivering a solid Q1 with accelerating AI demand and record backlog, reflecting strong customer commitment to our AI-driven portfolio". $CDNS: +1% AH.
• SK Hynix Management sees reinvestment as the best use of cash, while also considering buybacks and cancellations. “The memory market is facing an unprecedented growth opportunity at the center of the AI era. Given the high return on investment demonstrated by our Q1 results, we believe that reinvesting the cash we generate back into the business is currently the best use of capital.”

• @MarioNawful

• 2 Republican congressmen, Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Max Miller (R-OH), want to give U.S. citizens fighting in the Israeli military the same federal benefits as American veterans. Job protection, mortgage relief, the whole package. Over 12,000 Americans are currently serving in the IDF. That actually explains a lot.

• @MJTruthUltra

• The vehicle “kill switch” passed in Congress and signed into law by Joe Biden. Don’t just blame democrats… blame republicans as well. Now Trump (or any president) can’t unilaterally “overturn” or repeal this because it’s a federal statute passed by Congress and signed into law. Presidents don’t have the power to repeal laws on their own—that requires new legislation from Congress… Since then, there have been multiple attempts to repeal the Kill Switch 2027 Mandate, and it failed, because Republicans joined with Democrats. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA). Don Bacon (NE). Andrew Garbarino (NY). Nicole Malliotakis (NY). (pic)

• @SusanCrabtree

• SECRET SERVICE EXCLUSIVE: In the wake of another assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night, sources tell me that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles rejected efforts by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to impose more reforms on the Secret Service earlier this year after a string of scandals and failures. The DHS leadership team at the time wanted to install a political, hand-selected chief counsel after Secret Service Director Sean Curran's top attorney resigned after an embarrassing road-rage incident, which RealClearPolitics first reported. Wiles, who directly oversaw the Secret Service and kept Curran in place despite numerous lapses and scandals, resisted efforts to install a hand-selected chief counsel, a former administration official with direct information about it told @RCPolitics. These sources also contend that Wiles undercut another effort to have a DHS deputy chief of staff offer reform recommendations to the Secret Service.

• @WallStEngine

• Oracle said it will now power its Project Jupiter campus in New Mexico with up to 2.45 GW of Bloom Energy $BE fuel cells instead of gas turbines and diesel generators. The switch cuts NOx emissions by about 92% and keeps the AI data center on a single microgrid campus.
• $SEI Q1’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS: Revenue: $196M (Est. $182.66M) ; +9% sequentially. Adj. EPS: $0.44 (Est. $0.33). Adjusted EBITDA: $84M; +22% sequentially. Third Long-Term Power Contract: Signed with affiliate of an investment-grade global technology company for over 600 MW of power capacity; 10-year term with 5-year extension option. Q2 Guide: Adj EBITDA: $83M-$93M, RAISED from prior $76M-$84M. 
• $SANM Q2’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS: Revenue: $4.01B (Est. $3.29B). EPS: $3.16 (Est. $2.40). Q3 Guide: Revenue: $3.2B-$3.5B (Est. $3.52B). EPS: $2.55-$2.85 (Est. $2.53). FY Guide: Revenue: $13.7B-$14.3B (Est. $13.72B). EPS: $10.75-$11.35 (Est. $10.02). 

• @TheInsidePaper

• NEW: Claude-powered AI coding agent deletes entire company database in 9 seconds — backups zapped, after Cursor tool powered by Anthropic's Claude goes rogue — Tom's Hardware.

• @The_JBS

• The 57 Republicans who voted No on the amendment to STOP the government from controlling your car. Mark E. Amodei (NV) Don Bacon (NE) Stephanie Bice (OK) Gus Bilirakis (FL) Mike Bost (IL) Ken Calvert (CA) John R. Carter (TX) Tom Cole (OK) Mario Diaz-Balart (FL) Neal Dunn (FL) Chuck Edwards (NC) Jake Ellzey (TX) Randy Feenstra (IA) Randy Fine (FL) Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) Chuck Fleischmann (TN) Vince Fong (CA) Andrew Garbarino (NY) Carlos A. Gimenez (FL) French Hill (AR) Jeff Hurd (CO) Brian Jack (GA) John James (MI) David Joyce (OH) Thomas Kean Jr. (NJ) Mike Kelly (PA) Jen Kiggans (VA) Kevin Kiley (CA) Young Kim (CA) Kimberlyn King-Hinds (MP – Northern Mariana Islands) Darin LaHood (IL) Nick LaLota (NY) Mike Lawler (NY) Frank Lucas (OK) Nicole Malliotakis (NY) Celeste Maloy (UT) Brian Mast (FL) Dan Meuser (PA) Max Miller (OH) Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA) Tim Moore (NC) Blake Moore (UT) James Moylan (GU – Guam) Greg Murphy (NC) Dan Newhouse (WA) Zach Nunn (IA) Hal Rogers (KY) Maria Elvira Salazar (FL) Mike Simpson (ID) Elise Stefanik (NY) Glenn Thompson (PA) Mike Turner (OH) David Valadao (CA) Derrick Van Orden (WI) Rob Wittman (VA) Steve Womack (AR) Ryan Zinke (MT).

• @songpinganq

• Central Bank Digital Currency will take away your privacy and freedom. In China, once you are Blacklisted by Social Credit System, the digital wallet WeChat immediately flags you as untrustworthy, and stops you from spending your own digital money to buy food. (video)

• @RealDrJaneRuby

• WORLDWIDE ALERT. The cat is out of the bag. U.S. Weather modification technology, via radar, frequency and energy weapons, conducted by the military on Americans and the rest of the world must be internationally banned and destroyed as they have been used to commit crimes against humanity. (video)

• @LaurenLee

• “WE’RE DONE PRETENDING THIS IS NORMAL” Vani Hari Just Slammed Trump on Behalf of MAHA, Says the Administration is Protecting Bayer/Monsanto: “You cannot tell Americans to eat “real food” while protecting the cancer-causing chemicals sprayed on it. You cannot stand with families and side with one of the most evil corporations in the world. Let's be honest. We wouldn't be here right now if President Trump didn't sign that executive order. We wouldn't be here right now if they weren't inside this building arguing on Monsanto's behalf. We wouldn't be here right now if they didn't submit that amicus brief and that recommendation to the Supreme Court to look at this case when they've lost all over this country. You cannot stand with families and do that.” (video)

• @WallStreetMav

• Anyone with any assets will be leaving California. It won't remain only focused on billionaires. They will gradually target everyone. Over $1 trillion in wealth has already moved out of California to avoid this. $25 billion in tax revenue moved away, before it even passed. (pic)

• @TheLizVariant

• Why does my Ring camera have IMAX footage of a raccoon demolishing last night’s pizza out of my trash… but a White House event looks like it was filmed on a cracked flip phone from 2007? We pay taxes for this? (video)

• @JackDangerLIVE

• OMG!!! FORD JUST PATENTED THE END OF YOUR FREEDOM TO DRIVE YOUR OWN TRUCK. They didn’t just add “safety features.” They filed a STACK of patents for cameras, sensors, biometrics, and AI that: (list)

• @WimdenOudsten

• I PRESENT TO YOU, YOUR H.A.A.R.P. CLIMATE DISRUPTION! The high-frequency HAARP transmitter is used to generate extremely/very low-frequency waves by means of modulated heating of the ionosphere/magnetosphere. The University of Maranhão in Brazil has concluded that this can cause earthquakes, cyclones, and intense localized heating. (pic)

• @illuminatibot

• Justine Stenger: "Geoengineering is not science fiction... You're being sprayed & so am I." "Geoengineering Is not climate protection, it’s biological warfare." (video)

• @allenanalysis

• Bayer is a German chemical company. They make Roundup. Roundup gives people non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bayer has paid over $11 billion in cancer lawsuits. This week, Congress is going to vote on a bill that gives Bayer permanent immunity from being sued by Americans who get cancer from their product. Here is how it happened. (thread)

• @JamesJonesik8

• WOW! The Republican Party is protecting Ilhan Omar from accountability. Rep Nancy Mace “I tried to subpoena her immigration records, her brother husband's immigration records, and IT WAS REPUBLICANS that killed my motion”. It’s a Uniparty. One Big Club. (video)

• @alfa_kurt

• All life, Soil, Water, Living beings are BEING POISONED. Aluminum, Barium, Strontium... Saying Our Time is Running Out Would Not Be an Exaggeration... (video)

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.5% on average. 
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 74.75 unch. 
• China Sovereign CDS 44.0 -.75 basis point.
• China Iron Ore Spot 105.6 USD/Metric Tonne -1.3%. 
• Crude Oil 97.51/bbl. +1.2% 
• Gold 4,691.7 USD/t oz. -.04%. 
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.68 -.08%.
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 35.60 -.03%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 116.4 -.2%
• US 10-Year Yield 4.35% +1.0 basis point.
• Japan 30-Year Yield 3.69% -1.0 basis point. 
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 20.0 -.5%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.31%. 
• S&P 500 futures +.07%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures -.04%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by financial 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.