Monday Watch

Around X:

• @Business   

• Bond traders are looking to the latest consumer-price inflation figures and a planned appearance by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh for insight into how quickly the central bank will continue raising interest rates. 
• Aaron Sorkin’s second Facebook film 'The Social Reckoning' was a disappointment at the box office, taking in just $5.5 million in its opening weekend. The International Energy Agency urged members to speed up pledged diesel releases and consider supplying more as global markets tighten.
• Apple is finally ready to close the biggest hole in its ecosystem — the home. 
• Amazon is in negotiations to acquire Decart AI, an artificial intelligence startup, in a deal that could be valued at around $7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. 
• As AI costs surge, finance executives are trying to rein in spending, setting budgets and increasingly managing them centrally. 
• Here’s the latest news and analysis on the oil market. 
• Get up to speed on what's moving global markets.
• Here’s what you need to know to start your day: Morning Briefing Asia. 

• @Zerohedge  

• Welfare State Meets Mr. Bond Market: Rising Yields Put Socialism's Promises On Borrowed Time. 
• Peak Muse? Growth Slows Just As Morgan Stanley Tallies What Meta's "Free" Agent Really Costs. 
• Oil Rises After MidEast Attacks Spread And Escalate, Stoking Supply Fears. 
• Pump And Dump: Goldman Finds Gas Prices Steering The Midterms As Markets Price A 65% Democratic Sweep... Which History Says Is Too High. 
• James Talarico 'Disappeared' To A Mental Health Facility: Report. 
• Dramatic Videos Show Several Tankers On Fire In Strait Of Hormuz This Weekend. 
• "Full-On Truman Show": Former State Dept. Official Exposes USAID's Censorship Machine In Brazil. 
• Trump Declares Ukraine Energy Ceasefire; Zelensky Says "News To Me" As Russia Attacks Powerplant.
  *US LOBBYING UKRAINE TO END ATTACKS ON RUSSIA OIL REFINERIES: FT. *US THREATENS TO BLOCK ARMS FOR UKRAINE OVER REFINERY ATTACK: FT. 
• Bond Selloff May Mean Fewer Rate Hikes From Global Central Banks: BBG. Which is ironic if bond are still selling off on concerns about Warsh’s commitment to contain rates, or because AI remains completely rate-insensitive (thanks SPVs). 
• More School Cafeterias Are Getting A MAHA Makeover. 
• Bluesky Exodus? Nikita Bier Says Users "Coming Back To X In Droves" And "Very Angry". 
• Riyadh Airport Struck Again, A Day After Houthi Attack Killed 12, Including An American. 
• Diesel And Yields. 
• Trump Declares Ukraine Energy Ceasefire; Zelensky Says "News To Me" As Russia Attacks Powerplant. 
• US Seizes 7 Domains Used By China-Linked Hackers To Target Critical Infrastructure.           
• AI Vs Everything Else Hits A Record 10-Point Gap In Five Weeks; Goldman Says Start Buying The Losers.
• Saudis Vow Retaliation After Deadly Airport Strike As Houthi Threat Puts Gulf On Edge.
• Poland Holds Emergency Security Meeting Over Suspected Plot To Assassinate PM Tusk.
• Who Is Hitting Syria's Gas Lines As The Energy Corridors Take Shape?
• "We Did Not Follow Your Insane Migration Policies": Slovak MEP Crushes Brussels Bureaucrats Over Mass Crime, Riots.
• Complete breakdown in correlations.
• High School Wrestler Asks Supreme Court To Allow Her To Avoid Competing With Boys.       
• Chinese Workers Return From Holiday To Find Factories Emptied, Owners Gone.
• *TRUMP SAYS PUTIN TOLD HIM HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A SETTLEMENT.
• Ukraine's Drones Reach Russia's Arctic "Gas Capital"; Is Nornickel's Palladium Next?   

• @CNBC 

• CNBC Daily Open: Will America open another front in the Middle East? Trump is considering. 
• Stock futures are little changed with big banks set to kick off earnings season: Live updates. 
• AI is automating coding. So why are software developer job postings on the rise?
• JPMorgan Chase, Goldman and other big banks report earnings this week. What to expect. 
• After France, is Italy next? Goldman Sachs flags bond risks as Rome's deficit widens. 

• @TheSCIF

• Dominion Voting Systems sharing office building with George Soros linked NGO group, and Dominion ties to the Clintons. There are no coincidences... The writing is on the wall, this is election engineering operations, with the Clinton Foundation's own reports confirming Dominion donating up to $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation. (video)

• @WarClandestine

• Pretty wild how Zelensky just confirmed everything I have been preaching about Ukraine for years now. Even many on the Right accused me of being compromised by Russia, simply because I accurately recognized Ukraine is a Deep State proxy, in bed with the Democrats, waging war on the United States and her People. I’m not “pro-Russia”, I’m pro-America, and Zelensky just so happens to be an enemy of the United States, and he has been this entire time. Ukraine has been a CIA proxy since 2014, and was the site of many offshore money laundering and racketeering operations, to include black site bioweapon development by the Obama administration. What I’m really trying to say is, I told ya so.

• @steve_hanke

• German prosecutors identify former Ukrainian Special Forces soldier Serhii Kuznetsov as the one who led the 2022 Nord Stream sabotage crew. Ukraine destroyed Germany's lifeline of cheap gas. Now, Germany is financing Ukraine's war on Russia. WELCOME TO THE WACKY WORLD WE LIVE IN.

• @MichelleMaxwell 

• She is an embarrassment to the state of Virginia. BREAKING: Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger admitted Friday that she may have reinstated voting rights for an unknown number of dead people, according to the Washington Examiner. Spanberger recently restored voting rights for more than 65,000 felons. In reviewing the list, her office says it “appears” several of those individuals were already deceased.

• @C_3C_3

• Reid Hoffman is James Talarico's top donor. $11 million spent. Yes, this Reid Hoffman.

• @KellerWomack

• By 8 am on a Sunday morning, Florida's skies are already flooded by private planes. going in circles. Is the antigeoengineering law being enforced at all? It looks like citizens will have to put pressure on local airport authorities to pose limits on the number of flight schools leased space and perhaps curfews such as those established in Naples. Also, pressure the AG to enforce the airport reporting on suspected sprayers. (pic)

• @GlobalMktObserv

• There is widespread US equity market DESTRUCTION beneath the surface: A MASSIVE 85% of S&P 500 stocks are down at least -10% from their all-time highs. At the same time, 59% are down at least -20%, putting them in a BEAR market, while 41% are down at least -30%. Notably, 17%, or roughly 1 in 6 stocks, are down at least -50%. Meanwhile, since August 3rd, the Magnificent Seven is up +7.7%, while the S&P 500 has gained +2.6% and the equal-weighted S&P 500 is down -3.0%. The majority of S&P 500 stocks are now in bear market territory. This is absolutely INSANE. (graph)

• @DeepLeaksHQ

• BREAKING: This is the police report from the mysterious drowning of Barack Obama's chef and alleged lover outside his Martha's Vineyard estate that CONFIRMS there have been 42 PREVIOUS POLICE incidents at Barack Obama's home. I told you so. It looks like the Obamas have some serious explaining to do... But wait, they have strangely been keeping out of the public eye and Michelle has been out of the country hiding with her buddies Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. We will continue to break the details of this case that the mainstream media won't as we learn them. Why were the police called to the Obamas' residence FORTY-TWO times? JUSTICE FOR TAFARI CAMPBELL! (pic)
• THIS IS HUGE ! Naomi Wolf nails it: The biggest shocker in the Pfizer docs isn’t the side effects we’ve been aware of, it’s that the vaccine is designed to target human reproduction, not the respiratory system, and they’re obsessed with it, 360 degrees of it, as revealed in a stunning revelation. She explains how the lipid nanoparticles are engineered to penetrate every membrane, including the placenta. This causes calcifications that stop babies from getting nutrients and oxygen. The outcome? Midwives say placentas are falling apart, leading to premature births, horrific maternal hemorrhaging, and a 40% spike in maternal mortality in the West. Pfizer knew the nanoparticles would invade the testes of baby boys in utero, degrading the Leydig cells that produce masculinity and fertility. Even if never vaccinated themselves, they may never develop normally... (video)

Night Trading

• Asian indices are -.5% to +.5% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 70.25 -.75 basis point.
• China Sovereign CDS 36.25 unch.
• China Iron Ore Spot 91.40 USD/Metric Tonne +.9%.
• Crude Oil 90.50/bbl. -1.5%
• Gold 4,2825.90 USD/t oz. +.2% 
• Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.07 -.04%. 
  
• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 33.64 +.01%.
• Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 136.50 -.1%.
• US 10-Year Yield 5.24% n/a. 
• Japan 30-Year Yield 4.07% n/a. 
• Volatility Index(VIX) futures 17.8 -.29%. 
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures +.58%.
• S&P 500 futures +.24%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.19%.

Morning Preview Links

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by metals & mining and automaker 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 week.