After contracting in February, U.S. manufacturing held steady at that lower level in March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s monthly business survey.
ECONOMIC UPDATE
The socioeconomic and geopolitical destruction caused by the U.S./Israel war launched against Iran a month ago has rippled across the planet.
ISRAEL PLANS TO STEAL MORE LAND IN LEBANON AMID WAR WITH HEZBOLLAH
Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said last week that Tel Aviv plans to take control of the land south of the Litani River in Lebanon until the security of the residents who live in northern Israel is “assured.”
SPOTLIGHT: IRAN WAR’S ECONOMIC FALLOUT
In our 46 years of trend forecasting, never has there been a war that has affected the entire globe as has the war that Israel and the U.S. launched against Iran on 28 February.
GAZA 2.0: NETANYAHU ORDERS EXPANDED INVASION OF SOUTHERN LEBANON, AS DEFENSE MINISTER CALLS TO DESTROY ALL HOMES NEAR BORDER
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ordered the IDF to “further expand the existing security buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, as his defense minister said the IDF will turn villages near the border into a Gaza 2.0.
THIS WAY, THAT WAY, WHICH WAY TRUMP: WHERE IT GOES NOBODY KNOWS
President Donald Trump’s erratic comments about the war in Iran seem to change by the day, one minute claiming that talks are going well and an end to the war is near, the next threatening Tehran that he will order massive strikes on the country’s energy and desalinization infrastructure.
BULLSHIT TRUMP SAYS U.S. MILITARY IS ‘EXTREMELY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE’ IN IRAN
President Donald Trump continued to tell reporters last week that the U.S. military is “extremely” ahead of schedule in Iran, stating that before the war, it was estimated that it would require four to six weeks to achieve all goals.
Global Economy
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Apollo Global Management is buying Nippon Sheet Glass for about $3.7 billion.
TOP TREND 2023: CLEAN ENERGY SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES
The Iran War has refocused attention on the need to escape dependence on fossil fuels, which cause price spikes and supply shortages when wars break out and energy disruptions escalate.
ARES IS LATEST PRIVATE LENDER TO CURTAIL REDEMPTIONS
Ares Management, a major player in the private lending industry, has been hit with redemption requests to its Ares Strategic Income Fund totaling 11.2 percent of the fund’s assets.
U.S. Economy
FANNIE MAE AGREES TO ACCEPT CRYPTO-BACKED MORTGAGES
The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), a government-sponsored private lender, has agreed to buy mortgage loans in which buyers pledge their cryptocurrency holdings as collateral instead of making a cash down payment.
TRADERS ARE WATCHING TRUMP PLAY THE OIL MARKET
Oil traders have spotted a pattern in Donald Trump’s rhetorical behavior regarding the Iran War, the Financial Times reported.
FERTILIZER PRICES “UNBEARABLE,” U.S. FARMERS COMPLAIN
The price U.S. farmers pay for fertilizer has jumped 40 percent because of the Iran War. A third or more of the world’s supplies of ammonia and urea, key ingredients in fertilizer, transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has shut down.
The Iran War
IRAN INSISTS THAT THERE HAVE NOT BEEN DIRECT TALKS WITH U.S.
Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Monday that there have been no direct talks with Washington, but there have been some exchanges through mediators who expressed the Trump administration’s desire to end the war.
TRUMP PRAISES ‘NEW’ AND MORE ‘REASONABLE’ IRANIAN ‘REGIME’ AS ISRAEL EXPANDS STRIKES ACROSS IRAN
President Donald Trump said the U.S. is negotiating with a more “reasonable regime” in Tehran after killing the previous leadership but warned the country that if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened “immediately,” Tehran would face new strikes on its civilian infrastructure.
G7 ISSUES STATEMENT ON IRAN WAR CALLED A ‘DOCUMENT OF STUDIED EMPTINESS’
The Group of 7 (G7) issued a statement last week on the Iran War that a Chinese newspaper mocked as a document of “studied emptiness.”
Hi-Tech Science
NEW TOOTH WHITENING POWDER COULD REPLACE TOOTHPASTE
The $9-billion tooth-whitening industry could be in for a shake-up.
FIRST, QUANTUM COMPUTERS. NOW THERE COULD BE QUANTUM BATTERIES.
Engineers at Australia’s RMIT University and the University of Melbourne have created the world’s first prototype of a quantum battery.
DIABETIC? TAKE A PILL AND THROW AWAY THE NEEDLES
Researchers have been working for a century to put insulin into a pill so people suffering from diabetes won’t have to keep stabbing themselves with needles, a regimen that’s not only painful and inconvenient but also expensive and consumes vast supplies of needles and syringes.