Politics California Approves Two New Taxes: Health Premiums and Software Downloads California’s new budget introduces two new taxes for 2027 — a managed care organization levy that will raise health premiums and an expanded sales tax on downloaded software like Adobe, Slack, and TurboTax.
Markets Americans' Confidence in Capitalism and Democracy Declines Sharply Recent surveys indicate a significant drop in Americans' trust in capitalism and democracy, with potential implications for market stability and investor sentiment.
Macro Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Under 30 Now Live With a Parent: Fed A Federal Reserve survey shows 49% of U.S. adults under 30 lived with a parent last year, up 12 points from 2019. Housing costs, rents, and AI-driven entry-level job cuts are delaying household formation.
Geopolitics US Strikes Iran Railway Bridge Linking to China and Russia US cruise missiles struck the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge in northern Iran, damaging a key overland trade corridor to China and Russia as Hormuz shipping traffic collapses.
Politics Pentagon Running Out of Cash Despite Nearly $1 Trillion Budget The Pentagon is running low on cash despite a near-trillion-dollar budget, with officials asking Congress for $67B more as Iran war costs climb past $130B. Training canceled, jets parked.
Markets Cyclospora Outbreak Tops 1,000 Cases in the US, Dozens Hospitalized A cyclospora outbreak has topped 1,000 US cases with dozens hospitalized. Michigan is the epicenter, and no common food source has been identified yet.
Politics Trump: ‘I would be the greatest communist in history, right up there with Lenin’ Trump told an Epoch Times reporter he would be the greatest communist in history, right up there with Lenin, while calling communism a disaster. Here is the trader angle.
Geopolitics Trump: We can knock down every bridge, power plant in Iran Trump says the US could knock down every bridge and every power plant in Iran in a day if Tehran walks from a deal. Crude, defense names, and shipping back in play.
Geopolitics Trump Says Iran Has Been Defeated as Strikes Resume Trump has declared Iran defeated even as U.S. and Iranian forces trade fresh strikes and the ceasefire wobbles. Energy, defense, and shipping names remain in focus.
AI AI Costs More Than the Workers It Replaced, Forbes Reports Forbes says AI compute now costs companies more than the workers it replaced. Uber burned its 2026 AI budget in four months, and Nvidia execs admit compute exceeds payroll — even as Big Tech capex hits $740B.
Macro Mark Cuban Rips Trickle-Down Economics: ‘It Is A Joke’ Mark Cuban says trickle-down economics is a joke and pitches ‘trickle up’ instead, backing a $20 federal minimum wage and broader asset ownership for workers.
Energy US Revokes Iran Oil Waivers After Strait of Hormuz Tanker Attacks The Trump administration revoked its Iran oil sanctions waiver after three tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz. Crude jumped over 5% on the news.
Markets Earnings, Not Just Valuations, Are Flashing Bubble Warnings: FT Strategists cited by the FT warn the real bubble risk may be in earnings expectations, not just valuations, with 2026 S&P 500 EPS growth pegged near 25% and CAPE above 40.
Geopolitics Trump revives Greenland push, threatens US troop pullout from Europe Trump reopened his Greenland fight at the NATO summit in Ankara, saying the island should be US-controlled and floating a full US troop pullout from Europe. Defense, rare earths, and European risk assets are back on watch.
Macro Central Banks Plan to Cut Dollar Reserves for First Time, OMFIF Says OMFIF's 2026 Global Public Investor survey shows, for the first time, more central banks plan to reduce dollar reserves than grow them over the next decade, with gold moving to the center of reserve strategy.
Macro Europe's Average Wealth Sits at $337,083, Half the U.S. $696,277: UBS UBS's latest Global Wealth Report pegs Europe's average adult wealth at $337,083, less than half the U.S. average of $696,277. Switzerland still tops the global ranking at $910,382.
Macro Central Banks Plan First Dollar Cuts in a Decade, Pivot to Gold and Euro An OMFIF survey shows more central banks plan to cut U.S. dollar holdings than add to them over the next decade for the first time, with gold and the euro picking up the flow.
Markets BofA to Investors: Time to Take Profits as Bear Market Signals Flash Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian told clients to take profits, flagging seven of ten bear-market signposts and a year-end S&P 500 target of 7,100 below current levels.
Politics Trump DOJ Tells ICC: No Jurisdiction Over Americans, No Cooperation The Trump DOJ told the ICC that the US will not cooperate with any investigations and rejects the court's jurisdiction over Americans, citing the Rome Statute and the 2002 Servicemembers' Protection Act.
Macro Trump’s Signature Hits New U.S. Paper Currency for America’s 250th The Treasury and Trump administration unveiled new U.S. paper currency featuring President Trump’s signature for America’s 250th birthday, a first for a sitting president.
Markets Long-Term Unemployment Surges in the U.S. Long-term unemployment in the U.S. is rising, with average weeks unemployed reaching 24.1, the highest since April 2022.
Markets Americans’ Wealth Is More Tied to Stocks Than Ever, a Record High A record share of American household wealth is tied to the stock market, with stock holdings hitting an all-time high of household financial assets. Economists warn the exposure is a red flag.
Politics Trump: My Kids Have ‘Inside Information’ Because of My Presidency Trump told CNBC his children have ‘inside information’ due to his presidency, as new disclosures show $2.2B in 2025 income and more than 21,000 trades tied to the family.
AI AI Layoffs Aren’t Paying Off, Gartner Study Finds A Gartner survey of 350 executives finds AI-driven layoffs aren’t generating the returns companies expected — firms cutting the most posted nearly identical results to those cutting the least.
Macro Gold overtakes US Treasuries as top global reserve asset: ECB The ECB confirmed gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the world's top reserve asset, hitting 27% of global central bank holdings versus 22% for US debt at the end of 2025.
