This week, I speak with Howard Lindzon, co-founder and CEO of StockTwits, and founder and managing partner at Social Leverage. His podcast is podcast is Panic with Friends. We discuss his outlook for venture capital investing, including what he sees as potentially profitable from human behavior.

Our original recording in April was postponed because Howard accidentally severed a finger completely — he had to have it surgically reattached.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here next week.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube (video), YouTube (audio), and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Joe McLean, Managing Partner at MAI Capital Management, where he leads firm’s Sports & Entertainment division, serving 100s of pro athletes/entertainers across NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA + NASCAR. His path to finance runs directly through the locker room as a 4-year NCAA Division 1 player at U of Arizona. Dubbed the athlete’s “Money Whisperer” by the New York Times, he is known for his non-negotiable 60% savings mandate for clients.

 

 

 

Current Reading/Favorite Books

 

 

 

The post MiB: Howard Lindzon, Social Leverage appeared first on The Big Picture.

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

• I Want to Live Like Costco People: Embracing the Costco lifestyle means accepting the fact that I am, in many ways, becoming my father. This is an old idea, both Freudian and Kierkegaardian—the belief that we are all destined to embody learned characteristics and habits passed down from parent to child. On the strange aspirational pull of bulk warehouse shopping. A rare cultural piece that’s actually fun. Some of us are crying in H Mart; some of us are mourning in Costco. (Taste)

• David Attenborough and the Voice That Revealed a Planet: As Attenborough turns 100, a tribute to the most recognizable voice in nature documentary — and a worldview that hardened from wonder into warning over six decades. (The Ringer) see also At 100, David Attenborough Is Nature’s Most Trusted Voice: A second centennial salute to Attenborough, this one featuring Prince Harry. Two takes on the same milestone — pick your poison. (Time)

• SpaceX is Breaking Capitalism (& Indexing): Once upon a time, companies went public to raise money. You’d go on a road show to pitch your story and drum up interest, you’d float a big pile of stock, and then you’re off to the races to go build your company. Turns out, that’s not really the case anymore. On the index-construction problem when the most valuable companies are private and untouchable. The market-cap weighted world has a SpaceX-shaped blind spot. (ETF.com)

•  Raising Cane’s Grew From an Idea a College Professor Hated: No one believed in Todd Graves’ vision for a restaurant at first. Today, Raising Cane’s is the third-largest chicken chain in the US by sales and growing fast.  Founder Todd Graves built a multibillion-dollar chicken-finger empire from a business-school F. The professor is presumably re-grading. (Businessweek)

• Artemis II Is Competency Porn and We Are Starving For It: (girls will be like i needed this and it’s just four nerds in space). If you have spent the last week inexplicably emotional about a space mission, you are not alone and you are not being dramatic. Something real is happening to you. Something your nervous system recognized before your brain caught up to it, and it is worth understanding why, because the reason is actually about a lot more than space.On the cathartic appeal of an institution that still works. The rocket program is the rare federal effort that actually delivers on its press release. (Airplane Mode)

• Six lessons from history’s greatest financial crises: Robin Wigglesworth distills six recurring patterns. None of them are surprising; all of them keep getting forgotten. (Financial Times)

• Toyota built a $10 billion private utopia—what’s going on in there?: A reported tour of Woven City, the corporate test-bed at the foot of Mount Fuji. The ‘utopia’ framing is doing a lot of work, but the engineering is real. Woven City is a privacy nightmare but could be helpful to an OEM desperate to be more. (Ars Technica) see also Our Cringe Century: On cringe as the dominant cultural register of the 2020s. A cleverer essay than the headline suggests. Since the start of the millennium Britain has found new and exquisite ways to humiliate herself. Here, in order, are the most embarrassing moments. (The Fence)

• There Is No ‘Hard Problem Of Consciousness’ A bracing essay arguing the famous puzzle is a category error. Whether you buy it or not, it’s the best version of the case. Consciousness is not separate from the physical world — our “soul” is of the same nature as our body and any other phenomenon of the world. (NOEMA)

• How college students are learning to socialize without cellphones: Phone-free dorms and screen-free social hours are spreading on campus. The kids may end up correcting this faster than the policymakers. (Washington Post)

• Who’s NBA’s most overrated player? Underrated? Best coach? Anonymous player poll results: How do NBA players feel about which of their peers is most underrated and most overrated? And what do they think when it comes to the league’s head coaches? We asked them those questions, and more, for The Athletic’s 2026 Anonymous NBA Player Poll. (The Athletic)

Video of the day: Billie Eilish | Good Hang with Amy Poehler

 

Be sure to check out our Master’s in Business interview this weekend with Howard Lindzon, known as “The Larry David of Finance.” He is General Partner at the seed fund, Social Leverage, he was one of the first seed investors in Robinhood, which IPOd at $30B in 2021, eToro, Manscaped, and Beehiiv. Previously, he founded Wallstrip, a daily online video show acquired by CBS (2007). He also co-founded Stocktwits, which pioneered the “cashtag.” Recognized by Institutional Investor as a “Super Angel;” his podcast is Panic with Friends.

 

Which Brands Make the Best Cars?

Source: Consumer Reports

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

 

The post 10 Weekend Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

UCLA Med School Illegally Using Race In Admissions: DOJ

A DOJ investigation into the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) found its medial school allegedly used applicants' race to discriminate against white and asian candidates. 

Royce Hall on University of California, Los Angeles, campus is seen in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2024. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

In a seven-page letter released on Wednesday, the agency’s Civil Rights Division wrote that UCLA "continues to intentionally discriminate against applicants based on their race after the Supreme Court’s decision in Harvard by granting and denying admission on the basis of race," citing a 2023 decision - Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard - which barred race-conscious admissions at colleges and universities, but still allowed schools to consider how race affected students if they wrote about their experiences in essays. 

The finding is the latest salvo in the clash between the Trump administration and woke institutions since last year, after federal investigators went after DEI initiatives in higher education.

"Racism in admissions is both illegal and anti-American, and this Department will not allow it to continue," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division.

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA responded - saying its process was "based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant." 

"We are confident in our practices and our mission to maintain access to a high-quality education to all qualified students," a spokesperson told the Epoch Times, which notes further: 

The medical school was reviewing the DOJ’s report and was “committed to providing equal opportunity to all applicants and fully complying with federal and state laws,” the spokesperson said.

The DOJ issued a letter to the university’s medical school on May 6 notifying officials of the school’s failure to comply with federal civil rights law for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 classes.

Federal law authorizes the DOJ to conduct periodic compliance reviews and investigations of practices and policies of institutions, such as UCLA, that receive federal funding.

A student walks near Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles on April 23, 2012. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The DOJ found the medical school’s internal policies, literature, and email correspondence to leadership consistently demonstrated its intent to use race as a factor in admissions despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2023 in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that found race-based admissions programs were unconstitutional.

The medical school allegedly used different academic metrics to discriminate against all racial groups except black and Hispanic applicants to accept more black and Hispanic applicants into its program, according to the DOJ.

If the DOJ determines that the institution can’t voluntarily change its practices to comply with federal law, the DOJ may seek enforcement through the courts, according to the letter.

The school is also facing a class-action lawsuit filed in May 2025 by Do No Harm, a nonprofit organization opposed to “radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideologies” in health care and medical education.

In the lawsuit, the group also claims UCLA’s medical school has ignored federal law by discriminating against applicants based on race.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 19:40

Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Rules DOGE's Terminations Of Humanities Grants Unlawful

Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge ruled on May 7 that the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) termination of hundreds of humanities grants last year was unconstitutional and involved “blatant” discrimination.

In April 2025, the Trump administration axed more than 1,400 grants, amounting to more than $100 million in congressionally appropriated funds awarded to scholars, writers, research institutions, and other humanities organizations.

The move was part of a whirlwind cost-cutting drive that tech billionaire Elon Musk was leading at DOGE as a “special government employee”—a role that is term-limited to 130 days. Musk departed that role after completing his term in May 2025.

However, Bill Clinton-appointed District Judge Colleen McMahon, ruling at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said that the administration “engaged in blatant viewpoint discrimination,” ruling in consolidated cases brought by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Authors Guild, and others.

McMahon said the terminations violated the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment, which confers equal protection.

She also ruled that DOGE did not have the legal authority to terminate the grants.

“What mattered to DOGE was not whether a grant lacked scholarly merit, failed to comply with its terms, or fell outside NEH’s [National Endowment for the Humanities] statutory purposes. What mattered was that the grant concerned a ’minority group,'” she ruled.

“DOGE swept in race and ethnicity – including grants concerning Black, Asian, Latino, and Indigenous communities – as well as national origin and immigration status; religion and religious identity (including Jewish, Christian, and Muslim subjects); sex; and sexual orientation, as criteria for grant termination.”

McMahon also said that DOGE staffers using ChatGPT to establish the rationale behind axing some grants would not absolve the government of responsibility for its decisions.

“The government cannot escape liability for DOGE’s work by scapegoating ChatGPT,” she ruled.

Neither DOGE nor the White House has yet responded to the ruling. The Epoch Times has contacted both for comment.

According to DOGE’s website, the department has saved an estimated $215 billion in taxpayers’ money since it was established in January 2025.

That figure amounts to around $1,335.40 per taxpayer, according to DOGE.

The department’s work has been met with other litigation since it began, with the Trump administration in March asking the Supreme Court for a second time to halt lower courts’ attempts to access information about DOGE’s inner workings.

The Supreme Court intervened in the case last year, ruling that lower courts’ orders for the government to turn over information about the department’s activities were overbroad. An appeals court has since asked for less information, but the government told the Supreme Court on March 23 that the requests were still intruding too much on executive branch powers.

“The court of appeals has continued to approve intrusive discovery against a presidential advisory body without adequate consideration for the separation of powers, the FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] statute, and this Court’s previous order,” the government’s filing stated.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued DOGE last year after its FOIA requests were not honored.

The government has argued that DOGE is an advisory arm of the executive branch—not an agency—and is not required to submit to FOIA inquiries. But a district court in Washington ruled differently and ordered DOGE to comply with those inquiries.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the administration’s latest request.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 19:15

Thailand Emerges As Possible Hub In Nvidia Chip-Smuggling Channel To Alibaba

New details have emerged in the alleged AI chip diversion scheme involving the co-founder of Super Micro Computer.

Bloomberg reports that some of the $2.5 billion worth of servers containing advanced AI chips were allegedly routed through a Bangkok-based company before reaching Chinese AI leader Alibaba.

The Bloomberg report noted:

US prosecutors this year outlined a scheme in which Super Micro's co-founder allegedly worked with an unnamed Southeast Asian company and a "rotating cast" of third-party brokers to divert the AI semiconductors in violation of US trade rules.

The Southeast Asian firm the prosecutors didn't name, identified only as Company-1, is Bangkok-based OBON Corp., the people said.

Some of the $2.5 billion worth of servers sold to OBON allegedly went to Chinese AI leader Alibaba, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive legal and geopolitical matter.

It is important to note that OBON is linked to Thailand's AI infrastructure buildout and the creation of Siam AI, Thailand's sovereign cloud champion.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even appeared at a Siam AI event in December 2024, focused on sovereign AI. Siam AI's CEO, Ratanaphon Wongnapachant, said Siam AI was not involved and that he had left OBON when he launched Siam AI.

Washington has restricted exports of advanced Nvidia AI chips to China over national security concerns, leaving Chinese firms to either rent overseas computing resources or obtain chips through smuggling channels.

In mid-March, U.S. federal prosecutors charged three men: senior executive Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw, the co-founder; Ruei-Tsang "Steven" Chang; and Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun, with conspiring to divert $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips to China.

"OBON's purported involvement in the smuggling arrangement could deal a blow to Thailand's fledgling AI ambitions and reignite calls in Washington for restrictions on chip sales to the region," Bloomberg noted.

Shares of Super Micro have since recovered from the mid-March plunge that followed the co-founder's arrest by U.S. authorities.

Today's report outlines how Thailand's sovereign AI push may have served as a channel to smuggle advanced Nvidia chips to China.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 18:50

Traders Puzzled As Physical Oil Prices Tumble Amid Surging Chinese Crude Sales, Plunging Imports

Yesterday when discussing China's unexpected flip-flopping on its decision to order local banks to ignore the latest US sanctions on Chinese, followed days later by a demand that they pause loans to sanctions refiners, we highlighted something remarkable: in the aftermath of the Strait of Hormuz blockade, which throttled the transit of ~10% of global oil and sent physical prices soaring to record highs (especially for Dubai crude), resulting in a windfall for European refiners thanks to soaring gasoline premiums... 

... the reaction in China was a mirror image, as already razor-thin independent refiner (teapot) margins plunged to record negative.

The reason for the margin collapse was China’s domestic fuel policy: it has long been Beijing's policy to soften price hikes to help shield consumers and avoid social unrest; which while beneficial to end consumers is catastrophic to refiners and processors who are prohibited from passing on rising costs. In other words, Chna’s "energy security" was the dominant theme, and if it meant an entire industry has to suffer huge losses if it continues to purchase oil and process it into various product grades.

Ordered to process as much available inventory as possible, that's what the refiners have done, and refining rates in Shandong province, China's hub for smaller refineries known as teapots, ramped up over April to the highest level in almost two years, as processing margins cratered to record negative levels meaning refiners are losing record amounts on every barrel they process. 

“I would not be surprised if the teapots are prioritizing politics over economics with an eye to their long-term survival,” said Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “They may be calculating that if they do their part to help China weather the energy crisis, then maybe they will build up some goodwill in Beijing.”

While Downs is right, and teapots are prioritizing politics, they are also certainly keeping an eye on economics to the extent they can avoid Beijing's wrath, and predictably the logical consequence of this centrally-planned policy to force "independent" refiners (who are not really independent if they have to do whatever Beijing instructs them) to make fuel at record losses to ensure energy security, is for them to slash purchases of Iranian crude.

Sure enough, Chinese crude oil imports have plunged: according to Vortexa, China's April imports plunged to a multi-year low of just 8.2 million barrels a day, down by about a quarter from a prewar level of around 11.7 million. The 3.5-million barrels a day swing almost matches the total consumption of Japan and is double the amount supplied by the United Arab Emirates pipeline that circumvents Hormuz. 

As Bloomberg's Javier Blas writes overnight, "simply put, it’s huge, perhaps the second- or third-largest factor rebalancing the oil market today, behind only Saudi Arabia’s own pipeline bypassing the strait and the use of the strategic petroleum reserves of the US and Japan."

The import drop might make sense if Chinese commercial inventories were falling sharply, or if Beijing had tapped its strategic petroleum reserves. But neither appears to be happening. Instead, commercial stockpiles have continued to increase in recent weeks, according to satellite data (of course, China is well known to manipulate all data and with the bulk of its 1.4 billion in strategic oil reserves located underground, it is impossible to trace flows definitively)

Meanwhile, as imports have collapsed, inventories at sea have piled up: Kpler reports that there are now about 16 million barrels on ships anchored in the Yellow Sea off the Chinese coast, almost 40% higher than the level prior to a US blockade of Iran’s ports in mid-April as oil that was ordered previously remains unused. 

There has been another complication: after the Iran war broke out, Beijing banned exports of refined products, effectively allowing refineries to process less crude to meet domestic demand. But the policy has now been reversed, suggesting the country sees enough fuel availability.

In any case, in recent weeks, Blas writes that amid this collapse in Chinese imports, industry executives have noticed something odd: Chinese state-owned oil companies have been reselling some of their oil cargoes to European and Asian rivals. The behavior suggests surpluses, which is "odd" to say the least during a supply shortage. Where is this excess oil coming from (for the answer, see below).

The shift has not only capped benchmark oil prices, but also helped to trigger a collapse in the premia that traders pay above them to secure physical crude. The immediate outcome has been a very beneficial one: physical barrels that in early April went for $30 above benchmark prices are now changing hands at premiums as low as $1. Talk of discounts has even started to emerge.

Underscoring this point, North Sea oil traders don’t appear as desperate for crude for immediate delivery anymore, compared to the panic buying of late March and early April

While the collapse in refining margins is a clear clue to the plunging oil imports, other questions remain: chief among them how is China importing far less crude than before without running down stocks? In the past, the country clearly bought more oil than it needed, building a huge emergency stockpile. Today, China has nearly 1.4 billion barrels in its reserves according to media reports, well above the 400 million of the US and Japan’s 260 million. As we reported in late 2025, China probably bought one million barrels a day more than it needed last year. By simply stopping beefing up the reserve, China can cut imports a lot without affecting its underlying oil needs.

The shift can explain, perhaps, a third of the import cut. But the rest? Here’s where oil traders speculate with different theories. One argument says that Chinese economic activity is weaker than previously thought, and thus oil consumption growth is also lower. What’s the catalyst for that slowdown? Perhaps the impact of the war on several of China’s clients in the region, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand (just don't look for validation in Chinese economic "data" - like everything else, it took is centrally planned and Beijing would never confirm its economy is being hit due to the Iran war as that would mean reduced political leverage).

Separately, the increase of electric vehicles, improved public transportation and the option of working from home have made Chinese households better able to cope with higher oil prices.

Unlike most other nations in the region, China hasn’t announced any emergency action to rein in demand, like adopting a four-day work week for government employees or promoting carpooling.

The IEA estimates that Chinese oil demand slipped into a modest year-on-year contraction in both March and April, down by about 110,000 barrels a day to about 17 million barrels. While the drop is impressive when compared with the exuberant growth of the country’s consumption in the past, it isn’t nearly enough to explain why imports have fallen so much.

It is certainly possible that Chinese oil demand has been contracting far more sharply than currently thought, The key, Blas reckons, is the inscrutable petrochemical industry - the sector that has contributed the majority of oil consumption growth over the last five years. In petrochemicals, China is unique. On top of its traditional industry that uses oil and natural gas as feedstock, it has parallel production that relies on coal.

Since the war started in late February, coal-to-chemicals profit margins have improved markedly. The industry had typically operated with plentiful spare capacity, so there’s room for a significant shift to coal from oil as a chemical feedstock. Hard data is scarce but, anecdotally, petrochemicals plants transforming coal into plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride have been running hard for the last 60 days, in turn reducing consumption of traditional feedstocks such as ethane and naphtha.

So perhaps China has managed to rely far more on coal-to-chemicals than previously thought. Another possible explanation is that it’s running down hard-to-track inventories of semi-finished plastics and other chemicals, making the recent drop in oil consumption in the petrochemical industry an unsustainable one-off unless there is a global recession which collapses end-demand for Chinese plastics exports. 

And then there are the more banal explanations. Although oil traders try to estimate Chinese inventory data with the use of satellite data, it is in fact possible that observers are missing locations and stocks are, in fact, falling. About two months ago, we hinted that Chinese drain of its SPR could more than offset a full Hormuz blockade for a long time. As we said on March 18, "China can avoid any Gulf imports for months and drain its SPR instead." 

One relevant question: what is China's pace of SPR drain if any. Recall for the past year Beijing was adding about 500-700K in daily SPR stockpiles; total is said to be ~1.4 billion barrels. China can avoid any Gulf imports for months and drain its SPR instead.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 18, 2026

Sure enough, Blas writes that the oil market has been full of chatter about China quietly tapping its strategic reserves, starting by using underground caverns that no one can see using satellites. Maybe. Time lags may also be playing a role; Chinese domestic oil production has been increasing, too, perhaps helping to plug any gaps.

But, as Blas concludes, "make no mistake, China is rebalancing the oil market today." The bigger question is for tomorrow when the Strait is (eventually) unblocked: If China can reduce imports so drastically without having to take extreme measures, what does that say about the future of oil consumption there? Nothing positive for oil bulls, that's for sure. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 18:00

US To Revoke Passports Of People Who Owe 'Significant' Child Support

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of State announced on May 7 that it would revoke the U.S. passports of parents who are significantly behind on child support payments.

The department said it would work with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to revoke passports of individuals who owe “significant child support debt,” providing a link to the new guidance.

“Anyone owing child support debt should arrange payment now with the relevant state child support enforcement agency to prevent passport revocation,” the State Department said in a post on X.

“If outside the U.S. when their passport is revoked, individuals with significant debt will be eligible ONLY for a limited validity passport for direct return to the United States.”

In a statement, the department said the enforcement is designed to put “American families first through our passport process.”

Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the government can deny or revoke passports for parents owing more than $2,500 in child support. As the State Department rejects or revokes a passport, it also must send the person a notice and provide the parent with a means to contact a relevant state child support agency, according to the law.

The State Department warned on its website that, under federal regulations, people who owe more than $2,500 in child support payments would be affected by the enforcement effort. Parents who owe more than that amount cannot be issued a new U.S. passport, it added.

Notices of passport revocations to passport holders will soon be sent out via email or to the mailing address associated with their most recent passport application, it said. The State Department did not provide a timetable and did not make mention of the PRWORA in its statements on Thursday.

Those who owe child support should contact the state to pay their debt, and can “be eligible for a new U.S. passport,” the department added. The state will then have to notify HHS to confirm that the individual has paid the debt and remove the person’s name from its records before sending that information to the State Department, a process that can take two to three weeks at minimum.

But the department cautioned that a passport that has already been revoked cannot be used to travel, even if the child support debt was paid off.

A passport holder who is abroad at the time of revocation will need to visit a U.S. embassy or consulate to obtain an emergency travel document that allows them to return to the United States, according to the State Department. They will also have to contact the state where the child support is owed to pay off the debt, it added.

“You are only eligible for a limited-validity passport for direct return to the United States until HHS verifies repayment of the debt,” the website said.

The agency did not say what would happen if the debt isn’t paid or if HHS cannot verify the repayment.

Until this week, only those who applied to renew their passports were subject to the penalty. Under the new policy, HHS will inform the State Department of all past-due payments of more than $2,500, and parents in that group with passports will have their documents revoked, the department said.

The State Department advised parents with child support debt to contact their state with any questions.

“We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar told media outlets on Thursday. “Once these parents resolve their debts, they can once again enjoy the privilege of a U.S. passport.”

The State Department did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 17:40

NJ Transit Cuts World Cup Train Fare After Backlash Over $150 Ticket Price

After getting roasted over its $150 World Cup train fare, NJ Transit is backing off, lowering the roundtrip ticket to $105 for rides between Penn Station and MetLife Stadium, according to Bloomberg.

The agency had defended the original price as necessary to handle massive game-day crowds, with roughly 40,000 extra riders expected per match. That explanation didn’t land well, considering the same trip usually costs about $13.

Bloomberg writes that Mikie Sherrill pushed for a cheaper option and told the agency to look for outside funding, while also arguing that FIFA should help pay for moving its fans around.

The price cut comes as frustration grows over the broader cost of attending the tournament, from match tickets to parking and travel. And despite Gianni Infantino hyping the event as an economic bonanza, hotel bookings in host cities like New York City, Boston, Toronto, and Vancouver are looking weaker than expected.

FIFA maintains it already worked out financial responsibilities with host cities years ago and never agreed to cover transit costs. A bold stance from an organization expecting cities to roll out the red carpet — and apparently pick up the tab for it too.

This year’s tournament will be the biggest World Cup yet, with 48 national teams playing 104 matches across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — the first time the event has returned to North America since the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

MetLife Stadium will host several marquee matches, including the final, putting the New York/New Jersey region squarely in the global spotlight. Which is exciting — assuming fans can actually afford to get there once they’ve paid for tickets, hotels, and a small fortune in stadium beer.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 17:20

Redistricting Battles Heat Up After Supreme Court Ruling

Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling on redistricting has prompted lawmakers in multiple states to reconsider their electoral maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The decision, issued on April 29, focused on a congressional map that Louisiana drew after a lower court stated that a prior map violated the Voting Rights Act. That law prohibits race-based discrimination in election practices. The lower court stated that Louisiana’s initial map discriminated against black people by not including an additional majority-black district.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais stated that the lower court decision, which resulted in Louisiana drawing a new map, erred. A majority of the justices said race could not be a primary consideration when states draw maps for elections.

The ruling has caused states, particularly in the South, to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the midterms.

Since Texas redrew its House districts to favor Republicans last year, eight states have adopted new congressional maps. Republicans believe the changes could net them as many as 13 seats, while Democrats estimate they could gain up to 10. Still, some of the newly drawn districts are expected to be competitive in November, potentially limiting the gains either party hopes to achieve.

Here is the latest on the redistricting battles nationwide.

Louisiana

After the Supreme Court decision, Louisiana politicians said their current map was unconstitutional and therefore shouldn’t be used in upcoming elections. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry quickly suspended the state’s primary for U.S. House elections, set for May 16.

“Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the state,” Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill said in an April 30 statement posted on social media.

Louisiana requested a quicker-than-usual judgment from the Supreme Court, which usually issues a formal judgment after 32 days of releasing its opinion. The state worried that a delay could complicate redrawing a new map before the midterms. After Landry halted the primary election, a group of individual voters and activist groups filed suit to block that decision. Litigation in that case is ongoing.

Alabama

After the Supreme Court’s decision, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the ruling supported his own state’s redistricting efforts.

A federal court had required Alabama, like Louisiana, to include an additional majority-minority district. That ruling conflicted with what the Supreme Court stated in its recent decision, Marshall argued.

He also asked the Supreme Court to intervene, telling it that a quick decision was necessary.

“Expedited consideration is necessary to afford Alabama the same opportunity as other States to use a lawfully enacted congressional map free of an injunction that cannot be reconciled with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act ‘as properly construed,’” he wrote, citing the Callais decision.

Alabama’s legislature has already attempted to implement a new map, passing one on May 6.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called a special legislative session following the Supreme Court’s decision.

“[The] Supreme Court issued a positive decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case, which I said was encouraging for our own pending litigation,” Ivy said.

The Republican-led Alabama House on May 6 passed legislation authorizing special congressional primaries as Republicans pursue the possibility of implementing a new congressional map before the November elections. The bill now heads to the state Senate.

Alabama is seeking to overturn a federal court order that created a second congressional district with a near-majority black population. That court-drawn map led to the 2024 election of Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.), a black Democrat. Republicans instead want to reinstate the 2023 map approved by state lawmakers that they believe would give the GOP a chance to win back Figures’s south Alabama district.

The legislation passed the House along party lines after four hours of heated debate.

The measure depends on either the U.S. Supreme Court or a lower federal court lifting the existing injunction blocking Alabama’s preferred map.

Under current law, Alabama’s congressional primaries are set for May 19. If courts side with the state, the legislation would invalidate those results for congressional races and require the governor to schedule new primaries using revised district boundaries.

Absentee voting is already underway. A new congressional map would be used starting this year.

But Alabama remains under a court order prohibiting the use of new congressional maps until after the 2030 census.

Nonetheless, Ivey called the special session so that Alabama can act immediately if it receives a favorable ruling. If the state gets that, it would revert to the maps drawn by the legislature for congressional districts in 2023 and state senate districts in 2021.

Alabama officials believe that the state could receive a favorable ruling because the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Louisiana case significantly narrowed how courts can use the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to require majority-black districts.

Tennessee

A week after the Supreme Court decision, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a new map ahead of the 2026 midterms. This came on the same day that the GOP-controlled state legislature passed the new lines.

Lee said the goal was to ensure that the districts were “fair, legal, and defensible” following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Louisiana case.

He didn’t specifically cite the Supreme Court’s ruling, but the new session came after pressure from President Donald Trump and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who urged Tennessee Republicans to redraw the map in a way that could eliminate the state’s lone black-majority congressional seat in Memphis.

The new map would be for the 2026 election.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.

It would divide Shelby County, home to Memphis, into three districts instead of the current two. This would consist of redrawing the state’s Ninth Congressional District, the lone Democratic district in the state, and making it lean Republican.

The member of Congress who is in that seat, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), said he will file a lawsuit in response to the new map.

Mississippi

Like Louisiana and Alabama, Mississippi also faced a court ruling accusing it of diluting the voting strength of black residents.

State lawmakers had delayed action pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Callais. Just before that decision, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves called for a legislative session.

He indicated that he was hopeful the Supreme Court would give his state more flexibility.

“It is my sincere hope that, in deciding Callais, the U.S. Supreme Court will reaffirm the animating principle that all Americans are created equal and that when the government classifies its citizens on the basis of race, even as a perceived remedy to right a wrong, it engages in the offensive and demeaning assumption that Americans of a particular race, because of their race, think alike and share the same interests and preferences—a concept that is odious to a free people,” he said on social media.

In his order last month, Reeves scheduled the special session for 21 days after the day of the Supreme Court’s decision.

South Carolina

South Carolina is also looking to change its congressional map following the Supreme Court decision.

The state House on May 6 approved a resolution allowing lawmakers to return after the regular session ends to redraw congressional districts, a move that could eliminate the state’s lone Democratic-held seat. The measure now heads to the Senate, where it requires a two-thirds majority to pass.

Following the vote, Republican House leaders said they intend to unveil a new congressional map on May 7 and convene committee meetings on May 8. During floor debate, however, Republicans didn’t directly answer Democrats’ questions about why they were prepared to halt the June 9 U.S. House primaries after candidate filing had already closed, as well as how much postponing and rescheduling the elections could cost taxpayers.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 17:00

'An Epic Madness Burns In The Minds of Californians...'

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

The California Death Trip

“History records no pity for parties that choose purity over competence, vengeance over vision, pathology over pragmatism. The long night is not coming. It is here. . . . ”

- LHGrey on X

The Pacific Palisades fire ignited on January 7, 2025, in the very last days of the “Joe Biden” fake presidency.

6,837 total buildings destroyed plus about 1,000 damaged.

The Altadena fire across town in Eaton Canyon was arguably worse: 9,418 buildings destroyed.

A Year After the LA Fires

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was in Ghana at the time to attend the inauguration of president John Dramani Mahama, part of a small U.S. presidential delegation sent by the “Biden” administration.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Brian Williams, overseer of the Police and Fire Departments, was on administrative leave at the time due to an alleged bomb threat against City Hall that he reportedly made in September / October 2024. The FBI raided his house that December, and in 2025 he copped a plea deal (guilty) to making threats involving fire and explosives. So, he was out of action during the fires.

There you have the rectified essence of how the Democratic Party operates in America’s biggest state.

Is it not astonishing that Karen Bass is running for reelection? How could she possibly be forgiven?

A large number of people employed in the movie business got burned out of their homes in the fires, and then city and state regulatory nonsense prevented them from rebuilding — on top of insurance company hocus-pocus that left families financially wrecked.

Is it a surprise that the city’s flagship industry is dying now (film production down 32-percent on a five-year average)?

What is LA without Hollywood?

And yet the show-biz celebs are still coming out to pimp for Democratic Party politicians. This is the kind of thing that forces you to conclude that an epic madness burns as hotly through the minds of Californians as the fires that ripped through the canyons in 2025. I know from personal experience as a college theater major that actors can be exceptionally stupid, but that can’t wholly account for what we’re seeing.

Wednesday’s primary debates had these villains on florid display. Because LA’s ranked-choice mayoral primary race styles itself “non-partisan,” candidate Spencer Pratt (a registered Republican) was on-hand for the debate. When the subject of LA’s cataclysmic homelessness came up, drug addicts living (if you can call it that) in wretched, filthy encampments all over the public space of the city, Mayor Bass bragged that she’d significantly reduced the problem, which is obviously and mendaciously untrue. LA City Council member Nithya Raman, who labels herself “progressive,” bragged on putting the homeless into shelters (i.e., motel rooms at $100-K per person per year.)

Spencer Pratt attempted to inject a little reality into the discussion about putting the homeless into homes: “No matter how many beds you give these people, they are on super meth, they are on fentanyl. The DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] statistic says 93-percent of this is a drug addiction problem. These people do not want a bed — they want fentanyl or super meth.”

Pratt is currently running third in the polls. In ranked-choice voting, the top two winners in the primary will face off in the November election. Currently Bass is polling in the lead and Nithya Raman is running second. If the numbers stay that way, the winner in November could finish Los Angeles off. Blade Runner, here we come.

But there’s still a chance that Spencer Pratt might place well in the June 2 primary just as Golden Tempo shot from dead last to win the Kentucky Derby last week.

The seductions of the Marxist race hustle have worn a little thin, even for Angelenos. Karen Bass looks increasingly ridiculous grinning about her abject failures, which Mr. Pratt lays out relentlessly in plain talk. His reality-testing seems to be getting some minds right, gaining real traction. Nithya Raman has the charisma of a mung bean.

The gubernatorial debate was equally edifying, especially the spectacle of Democratic Candidates Katie Porter’s and billionaire Tom Steyer’s rousing lack of self-awareness. Ms. Porter, renowned for dumping a pot of steaming mashed potatoes over her ex-husband’s head, and for her crotchety way with the (friendly) news media and her own staff, made the astounding statement that “the public servants we have are focused on doing their job, which is not cooperating with the federal immigration authorities.” That’s their job? Hmmmm. Mr. Steyer went further and said he would arrest ICE agents going about their business. You think . . .? (I would think that a Governor Steyer would find himself arrested by the feds for attempting such a stunt.)

The governor’s race is also a rank-choice contest. So, Republican Steve Hilton was on-hand to break the reality-optional spell that shrouded the stage like a poisonous miasma. After several Democrats made a show of deploring the grotesque homeless druggie encampments from Nob Hill to MacArthur Park, Mr. Hilton said “[They] talk as if we’re in some parallel universe where Democrats haven’t been running the state for the last sixteen years.” He shares the lead in the polls in the large field at 18-percent with Xavier Becerra, who was “Joe Biden’s” Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning, he presided over the vaxx mandates and lockdowns of the Covid operation.

California is ground zero for the death dance of the Democratic Party. Symptoms are popping up all over the country, of course. Just this week, the FBI raided the headquarters of Virginia State Senator pro tempore L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) — and also raided the marijuana shop she co-owns next door to her HQ. The SCOTUS decision on Congressional redistricting has thrown many states’ Democratic Party outposts into a fugue of terror as they stand to lose as many as a dozen seats in Congress. DOJ prosecutions are underway against prominent Democrats in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Many of their heroes could go to prison. Panic has set in. The Democratic Party as we know it these days is not long for this world.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 16:20

Toyota And Honda See Sharp Declines In Profit Amidst Iran War Pressures, Spiking EV Costs

Toyota expects a sharp decline in profit as rising material and shipping costs tied to the Iran conflict pressure its business, according to Bloomberg. 

The automaker projected operating income of ¥3 trillion for the fiscal year ending March 2027, well below both analyst expectations of ¥4.6 trillion and last year’s ¥3.8 trillion.

The company said supply chain disruptions are driving up costs for aluminum, resins, and other materials, while logistics issues remain unpredictable. Toyota estimates the regional conflict could reduce earnings by about ¥670 billion.

After the forecast was released, shares dropped as much as 3.5%. Analysts noted Toyota may be giving conservative guidance, but future performance will depend heavily on how long the conflict continues.

Julie Boote, an analyst at London-based research firm Pelham Smithers Associates Ltd told Bloomberg: “Toyota did not only miss consensus estimates, but also its own forecast, as auto unit sales came in much weaker than predicted by the automaker. It is still likely that Toyota is once again lowballing its guidance, with earnings upgrades possible during the fiscal year; much depends also on the development of the Iran war.”

Toyota expects vehicle sales to dip slightly this year, though hybrid sales are projected to surpass 5 million units for the first time. The company is also focusing more on after-sales services, which it sees as a major future profit driver.

Despite record annual revenue of ¥50.7 trillion, quarterly operating profit fell 49% due to tariffs and higher shipping expenses.

Meanwhile, Honda just posted an operating loss of 400 billion yen -- its first in the company's history, according to Nikkei. The loss was primarily driven by problems tied to its electric vehicle business and marks the company’s first operating loss since going public in 1957.

This is a major decline from the 1.2 trillion yen operating profit it reported the previous fiscal year. It would also be the second-largest operating loss ever reported by a Japanese automaker, behind Toyota Motor Corporation’s 461 billion yen loss during the 2009 global financial crisis, although accounting differences make direct comparisons imperfect, Nikkei writes.

In March, Honda said it expected an operating loss between 270 billion and 570 billion yen and announced it was canceling three planned EV launches in North America.

The company also projected up to 2.5 trillion yen in EV-related costs over fiscal years 2025–2027, including asset impairment charges and supplier compensation.

Despite these losses, Honda plans to return to operating profitability in the current fiscal year, supported by strong motorcycle sales in Asia, a weaker yen, and a broader turnaround strategy for its North American and Chinese businesses.

Nissan had also trimmed production due to the Iran war earlier in the year. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 15:50

Trump Gets Diplomatic Win In Ukraine War, 3-Day Ceasefire Declared For Russia's V-Day

President Trump announced Friday that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a three-day ceasefire and a major prisoner swap. He hailed in a Truth Social post that this could be the "beginning of the end" of the long war between them.

He specified that the ceasefire would run Saturday through Monday - with Saturday being Victory Day celebrations in Russia. The Kremlin has been increasingly concerned that the major national holiday which commemorates its victory over Nazi Germany 81 years ago in World War II could be marred by drone attacks from Ukraine. There's no doubt that President Putin is welcoming of such a ceasefire declaration, and backing by Washington.

"I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine," Trump wrote. "The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II."

This is to include a suspension of all kinetic activity and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners by each country, the US president also said. While direct talks between the warring countries have not been happening, these kinds of prisoner exchanges have actually been somewhat of a constant throughout the over 4-year long war.

The timing is interesting, given that the White House is clearly consumed with the Iran war, the Hormuz Strait crisis, and the expanding economic fallout globally and at home. 

Moscow has meanwhile been threatening to attack Kiev with an unprecedented bombing campaign should V-Day events be disrupted by drone fire out of Ukraine this weekend.

Putin it seems is seeking the opportunity to soften Washington's stance toward Moscow's perspective of the Ukraine war. Also, at the moment Trump needs a diplomatic 'win' that he can tout to the world, given the Iran situation is sliding into a bit of a quagmire which could have dire consequences for Republicans going into the midterms.

Despite that Iran remains a key regional ally of Russia's, it remains that Moscow has benefited from both the easing of sanctions on its oil exports at sea, and rising global oil prices - both the result of the Iran war.

Previously, Kremlin leaders have offered a deal where Iran could keep its enriched uranium but hold it on Russian territory, to ensure the continuation of its nuclear energy. This, Moscow has reasoned, could serve as a basis for a grand deal with the US.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 15:30

Minnesota Democrats Unanimously Vote To Protect Rep. Ilhan Omar... And Dead Voters

Authored by Eric Utter via AmericanThinker.com,

Minnesota Senate Democrats recently voted - unaminously - against removing deceased persons from the state’s voter rolls.

This tracks with the fact that almost 100% of dead people vote for Democrats, making them Democrats’ most loyal voting bloc, even surpassing that of serial killers.

(This may explain why, historically, Democrat gerrymandering seems designed to encompass as many cemeteries as possible. O.K., that is just an unfounded assertion, but it seems likely, does it not?)

The dead — and serial killers — are groups that vote heavily for Democrats? Talk about a symbiotic relationship! The latter provide the former! Genius! Kismet!

This after they also voted — unanimously -- against an oversight committee effort to compel Rep. Ilhan Omar to testify after she missed a deadline to provide documents to the committee investigating the Somali fraud rampant in the North Star State.

So the multi-millionaire or poverty-stricken representative (take your pick) from Somalia escapes a subpoena, at least for now.

It is obvious that Democrats in Minnesota are as wedded to fraud as Ilhan once was to her brother. And for the same reason: they will do whatever it takes to attain and retain power, so help them Allah.

They share the same goals as well, at least for now: to fleece law-abiding taxpayers out of as much money as possible, so as to line their own pockets -- and the pockets of those who help them attain and retain power.

In a sane country, at a sane moment in time, this would be considered an unethical, unacceptable, unconstitutional, illegal, and treasonous misuse of power, one that spits in the face of a representative democracy. Here today? Meh. Not good, but let’s not fly off the handle like our founders did. Tolerance and empathy, you see.

Democrats want as many illegals in the country as possible, because they vote for Democrats in droves. Why wouldn’t it be the same for dead folks? The more dead people, the more votes Democrats get. And, if the dead are erstwhile denizens of red states and rural areas, so much the better. Presto chango, a Republican has been converted into a Democrat! Remarkable!

This could explain Democrats’ love of abortion, medical assistance in dying, and violent criminals.

Our forefathers would have done whatever it took to counter this orgy of criminality.

Past mafia godfathers would be proud of it.

Today? Democrats like Tim Walz, Gavin Newsom, and J.B. Pritzker might accurately be called “fraudfathers.”

 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 15:10

Another Wall Street Giant Is Plotting Its Escape From Mamdani's New York City: Report

It looks like Citadel isn’t the only Wall Street giant looking for the exits as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) continues his commie Robinhood thing on the city’s richest.

Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino reported Wednesday that the Manhattan-headquartered private equity giant Apollo is preparing to establish what insiders describe as a “second headquarters” in either Florida or Texas. A formal announcement on the location is expected within weeks.

The move would build on Apollo’s earlier internal memo to employees signaling plans for significant future growth outside its longtime New York base, amid a broader migration of financial firms toward business-friendly states in the South.

Gasparino reports:

The new outpost could eventually become home to as many as 1,000 employees over time – in line with Apollo’s current headcount in New York, the sources said. The buyout firm currently employs more than 6,000 worldwide.

Apollo paid a whopping $1.276 billion in income taxes in 2025, up from $1.062 billion the year before. While filings don’t break down how much of that went to the Big Apple, the city stands to lose a hefty revenue stream as the firm looks to expand elsewhere.

Apollo – headed by billionaire CEO Marc Rowan – is currently scouting out space in Miami and in Palm Beach, where Apollo already has a small presence, according to the sources. In Texas, office space in Austin is also under consideration, the insiders said.

News of Apollo’s plans come after billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Mamdani’s push for higher taxes on second homes has reinforced his firm's commitment to Miami - and even led the firm to scale up its planned headquarters there.

During a Tuesday interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Griffin confirmed that Citadel decided to enlarge its Miami office project after Mamdani publicly referenced his $238 million Central Park South penthouse while promoting a new pied-à-terre tax proposal.

“We went to Miami and revised our building plan to make it a bigger office building,” the high-profile investor said. “What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners, and principally my New York partners, is that we need to double down on our bet in Miami.”

Griffin also said he watched Mamdani’s video three times, branding it “creepy and weird.”

The Citadel boss added that the situation brought back memories of his departure from Chicago, where he previously criticized local leadership before moving Citadel and Citadel Securities to Florida.

“Looking at what Mamdani did to me and more broadly is doing to the city of New York is triggering the trauma I went through in Chicago,” he explained.

Griffin’s announcement is part of “a troubling pattern taking shape” in the Big Apple, according to Steve Fulop, who leads the pro-business lobby organization. Partnership for New York City.

“The solution is that the administration needs to have a real pro-business agenda that has support of the broader business corporate community,” Fulop told Gasparino. “We haven’t seen this yet and there is a sense of urgency to getting this going. It is a competitive landscape and without a strategy companies will look to more friendly places.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 14:55

Taiwan Semiconductor April Sales Grow At Slowest Pace In 6 Months

Taiwan Semiconductor, world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, posted its slowest pace of monthly revenue expansion since October, highlighting the challenges of sustaining torrid AI-fueled pace of growth.

Sales in April rose 17.5% to NT$410.7 billion ($13.1 billion), their smallest rise in about six months. While the rise reflects just 30 days of business and its revenue can fluctuate month-to-month, the drop was notable; analysts expect the company’s June-quarter revenue to grow almost twice as fast, or at about 35% which means that May and June sales will have to be gangbusters to compensate for April's slowness. 

Taiwan’s largest company has become an essential player in the global AI industry by making cutting-edge semiconductors for the likes of Nvidia and AMD. That’s as Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta and Microsoft said they are setting aside $725 billion for AI this year, significantly more than previously anticipated. The question of where all this money will come from will be the next big hurdle for the market (we discussed it here ""Banks Are Choking": The AI Debt Bubble Has Started To Burst".)

Offsetting the huge AI orderbook are plateauing smartphone and consumer electronics sales, where soaring memory chip costs are forcing brands to hike prices leading to a big drop in demand. Economic uncertainty is also dampening consumer demand in many parts of the world.

For its part, TSMC has remained bullish on global AI chip demand. In April, the company raised its full-year sales guidance and said its own capital spending should trend toward the upper end of an existing forecast range of as much as $56 billion, conveying confidence in the year’s economic outlook. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 14:40

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings Increase 42%

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

There were 644 commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in April 2026, a 42 percent yearly increase, according to a May 6 statement from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy seeks to reorganize a company’s debts, with the aim of keeping the business operational and, eventually, becoming solvent. This is the most common type of bankruptcy filing made by businesses.

Within the 644 commercial Chapter 11 filings last month, 301 were made by small businesses, up 46 percent year over year, ABI said.

Overall commercial filings, including Chapter 11 and other types of bankruptcies, rose 21 percent during this period to 3,060 filings this April.

Chapter 12 filings, which concern family farms and fisheries, surged 130 percent to 62 in April 2026, the highest monthly total since February 2020, according to the institute.

“Rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and geopolitical uncertainty are intensifying the financial strain on families and businesses,” ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss said.

ABI “appreciates the momentum building in Congress to permanently expand access” for distressed small businesses looking to file bankruptcies for restructuring under Chapter 11, she said, referring to the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026.

The Act, introduced in March, seeks to permanently raise the small-business Chapter 11 bankruptcy debt threshold to $7.5 million, according to a March 5 statement from Rep. Ben Cline’s (R-Va.) office. The threshold is the maximum debt limit a small business owner can have while applying for such bankruptcy.

The higher limit will allow more small businesses to access a “faster, more cost-effective bankruptcy process” while they negotiate with creditors.

“The Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act will give small businesses the certainty they need to reorganize, restructure, and keep operating when challenges arise,” Cline said.

“By permanently raising the eligibility threshold, we’re ensuring more job creators can access a streamlined and affordable bankruptcy process that helps them stay open, protect paychecks, and meet their obligations. Just as importantly, this bipartisan bill maintains the integrity of our bankruptcy system by keeping it self-supporting and fair for all who rely on it.”

Economic Indicators

While bankruptcy numbers are increasing, other economic indicators, such as employment and business sector activity, are giving mixed to positive signals.

For instance, the initial unemployment weekly claims for the week ending May 2 stood at 200,000. While this was an increase of 10,000 claims compared to the previous week, the four-week moving average of the claims fell by 4,500 during this period.

In a May 7 statement, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said that its April jobs report indicates “softening” in the employment market.

The organization’s Small Business Employment Index declined for the second straight month in April. However, “even in a month with a weaker Employment Index, over half of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire,” NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg said.

Regarding business activity in the United States, five of seven sectors tracked by S&P Global registered higher activity in April than the previous month, according to a May 5 statement from the company.

In April, the health care, consumer goods, industrials, basic materials, and consumer services sectors grew month over month, while technology and financial sectors posted declines. Health care and consumer goods were the two top-performing sectors.

“The latest increase in Consumer Goods production was the steepest since April 2022,” S&P said. “This partly reflected advanced purchasing and customer stock building in response to expected price hikes, as the rate of new order growth surged to its highest since August 2021.”

As for the country’s overall economic growth, the first quarter 2026 U.S. GDP growth was 2 percent, up from 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an April 30 estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In late April, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that U.S. growth was “really solid” across the economy.

“Some of that is that consumer spending is hanging in pretty well; the most recent data are good. And some of it is just the apparently insatiable demand for data centers all over the United States,” Powell said.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 14:20

Maryland Blames Data Centers For $1.6 Billion Power Bill Shock, Omits Green Energy Mess

Maryland's Office of People's Counsel released a new report warning that homeowners in the state could face $1.6 billion in additional power bill costs over the next decade to subsidize transmission line upgrades, largely due to data center demand outside Maryland, more specifically from data centers in Northern Virginia.

OPC filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) arguing that PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator, is forcing Maryland power customers to shoulder costs for grid expansion projects that feed into Northern Virginia. The complaint was titled "OPC complaint challenges PJM cost rules for unfairly assigning $2 billion in data center-driven transmission costs to Marylanders."

People's Counsel David Lapp said Maryland residents neither caused the need for the transmission line projects nor will they meaningfully benefit from them:

"Without FERC action, Maryland customers face paying billions for transmission infrastructure that PJM is advancing to benefit data centers. PJM's cost allocation rules are broken. Maryland customers have neither caused the need for these billions in new transmission projects nor will they meaningfully benefit from them."

The complaint comes as the Mid-Atlantic region, specifically Maryland, is locked in a power bill crisis, with a confluence of bad "green" energy policies colliding with the AI data center boom.

Not mentioned by the OPC or the one-party-ruled state of Democratic Party kings and queens is that Maryland is structurally dependent on imported power through PJM. It does not produce enough electricity inside the state to cover its own load, which makes power customers more exposed to regional grid costs, transmission upgrades, electricity price spikes, and data-center-driven demand growth outside of Maryland.

How did Maryland get to the point where it has to import roughly 24 million megawatt-hours of electricity a year, using 2024 EIA data, or about 40% of in-state electricity demand?

It is due to poor state-level management by politicians and their 'green' energy policies, which led to the early retirements of coal power plants and to a failure to prioritize new, reliable power to increase baseload.

Local outlet Fox Baltimore recently quoted Ed Hale, the Republican candidate for governor, who blamed the state's green energy policies and the early retirement of fossil-fuel power plants for the power bil mess. 

"We have a lot of fossil fuels here that burn a lot easier and cleaner than in the old days," Hale said earlier this year. "I'm thinking that we have to do better, and we have to reopen the plants that have been not torn down, and just get them open again and reenergize them."

Beyond Maryland, but still in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, there is a hidden cost to the AI buildout: surging carbon prices are pushing up CO2 costs across the region past California levels, raising the prospect of higher energy costs for consumers, according to Bloomberg.

The price to emit a so-called short ton of CO2 into the atmosphere under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market covering 10 states, including New York, jumped 12% on Monday to $53.50, adding to a 31% gain last week. Traders are betting that Virginia's planned return to the market in July will boost demand for permits, as the state is the world's largest hub for data centers.

Whether through misguided green policies at the state level, such as charging companies for CO2 emissions, the prior 'everything green' framework has miserably failed consumers.

If the U.S. wants to win the AI race, progressive states like Maryland must build out new power generation and consider reactivating coal plants, while recognizing that becoming 'greener' could result in becoming poorer - Europe is finding that out (read here).

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 14:00

Ancient Settlement Older Than The Pyramids Discovered; Rewrites North American History

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

An ancient Indigenous settlement unearthed near Sturgeon Lake in Saskatchewan is challenging long-held views about early human presence in North America.

Dating to around 11,000 years ago and predating Egypt’s Great Pyramid by more than 6,000 years, according to the official timeline, the site provides evidence of long-term habitation rather than temporary camps.

Archaeologists working with Sturgeon Lake First Nation uncovered stone tools, fire pits, toolmaking materials, and remains of the extinct Bison antiquus. Charcoal layers point to controlled fire management, aligning with oral traditions. The findings suggest a sophisticated society with advanced hunting strategies, including buffalo jumps.

Experts found a Native American settlement older than the pyramids…

North America’s earliest inhabitants formed stable communities far earlier than previously believed.

Archaeologists working near Sturgeon Lake in Saskatchewan have unearthed evidence of a sophisticated… pic.twitter.com/8kh38Cklrf

— Shining Science (@ShiningScience) May 7, 2026

The site, known as Âsowanânihk (“a place to cross” in Cree), lies about five kilometres north of Prince Albert along the North Saskatchewan River. It was first spotted by avocational archaeologist Dave Rondeau through riverbank erosion exposing artifacts.

Rondeau said: “The moment I saw the layers of history peeking through the soil, I felt the weight of generations staring back at me. Now that the evidence has proven my first instincts, this site is shaking up everything we thought we knew and could change the narrative of early Indigenous civilizations in North America.”

Dr. Glenn Stuart of the University of Saskatchewan added: “This discovery challenges the outdated idea that early Indigenous peoples were solely nomadic. The evidence of long-term settlement and land stewardship suggests a deep-rooted presence. It also raises questions about the Bering Strait Theory, supporting oral histories that Indigenous communities have lived here for countless generations.”

Prehistoric settlement discovery in North America older than Egypt's Great Pyramid rewrites human history https://t.co/PVQjzCRF63

— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) May 7, 2026

Excavations indicate the location served as a hub for organized activity shortly after the last Ice Age. Researchers compare its importance to iconic global sites like the Great Pyramids, Stonehenge, and Göbekli Tepe.

The discovery includes evidence of bison pounds and kill sites, with hunters targeting massive Bison antiquus weighing up to 4,400 pounds. This points to coordinated community efforts and deep environmental knowledge.

Chief Christine Longjohn of Sturgeon Lake First Nation stated: “This discovery is a powerful reminder that our ancestors were here, building, thriving and shaping the land long before history books acknowledged us. For too long, our voices have been silenced, but this site speaks for us, proving that our roots run deep and unbroken. It carries the footsteps of our ancestors, their struggles, their triumphs, and their wisdom. Every stone, every artifact is a testament to their strength. We are not just reclaiming history, we are reclaiming our rightful place in it.”

The site, on Treaty 6 territory home to the Plains Cree, faces potential threats from logging and industrial activity. The Âsowanânihk Council, involving Elders, youth, educators, and archaeologists from the University of Saskatchewan and University of Calgary, is leading protection and further study efforts. Plans include a cultural interpretive centre.

Carbon dating of charcoal from a hearth places activity at about 10,700 years ago, roughly 1,000 years earlier than prior estimates for organized settlement in the region.

This find adds physical evidence to oral histories describing the area as a cultural and trade center, highlighting sophisticated land stewardship in post-glacial North America.

The discovery underscores ongoing collaboration between Indigenous communities and researchers to preserve and understand this chapter of human history. Further excavations and funding could yield more insights into early societal organization on the continent.

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Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 13:45

Intel Jumps To Record High On Deal To Make Chips For Apple, Following White House Pressure

Already looking like something right out of the dot com bubble, Intel stock soared even more moments ago, surging almost 20% and hitting a new all time high over $130 (it was trading at $80 a few days ago), after the WSJ reported that the White House-backed chipmaker has reached a preliminary agreement to manufacture some of the chips that power Apple devices. Which is ironic as just 6 short years ago Apple surprised the market when it announced it was parting ways with Intel, replacing the company's chips with its own, a move which was dubbed a huge success. Now, following intense White House pressure, it has decided to reverse this decision. 

While it is well known that talks between the two companies have been ongoing for more than a year - which has been one of the reasons for Intel's recent meteoric advance - they hammered out a formal deal in recent months. 

It’s still unclear which Apple products Intel would make chips for, if any, or if today's PR was just to plant the seeds for the US to sell its Intel stake after Trump was boasting recently how much money he made for US taxpayers since getting a big stake in the company last summer when it was trading below $20. 

Intel has two main business lines: designing chips and manufacturing them - both its own designs and external customers’ - in its Intel Foundry unit. Both businesses had been underperforming for years before Lip-Bu Tan took over as chief executive last spring vowing to revitalize them.  

Following our advice from August 7, 2025...

The Pentagon took a stake in US rare earth miner MP Materials... when will it do the same with Intel

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 7, 2025

... one week later, on August 14, the Trump administration struck a deal to convert nearly $9 billion in federal grants into Intel stock, giving the U.S. government a 10% stake in the chip-maker.

And the key bit from the WSJ report: the White House "played a key role in bringing Apple to the table."

According to the report, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has met repeatedly over the last year with high-ranking Apple officials, including CEO Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX chief Elon Musk and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, to try to convince them to get into business with Intel, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

And with the Apple deal, Intel has now signed partnerships with all three. Now it remains to be seen if any of the three will actually use Intel's chips for more than just press release bullet points. 

Over the last decade, Intel fell badly behind rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics after a series of technical missteps, leadership changes and failed attempts at consolidation led outside foundry customers to pull or curb their business.

When Intel hired Tan in March 2025 to replace ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger, Trump raised concerns that Tan’s close ties with China would compromise him and called for his ouster.  But Tan won Trump over with a charm offensive, and the government announced its 10% investment in Intel shortly after. Following the investment, Intel’s share price rose sharply. On Friday morning it rose 7.5% to an all-time high of nearly $118 per share. 

Tan has been reshaping Intel’s top leadership ranks in recent months as well, including hiring former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing executive Wei-Jen Lo, a move that prompted a lawsuit from TSMC. 

The Intel CEO also ousted his head of product and hired new executives to lead the company’s data center processor and client computing units, as well as a newly formed custom silicon business. He has also invested heavily in Intel’s most-advanced manufacturing process, known as 14A.  

President Trump personally advocated for Intel to Cook in a meeting at the White House, according to people familiar with the matter.

“I like Intel,” President Trump said in January. He said the government had made “tens of billions of dollars” from the Intel deal, and that the government’s backing of the company had attracted important partners to Intel. 

“As soon as we went in, Apple went in, Nvidia went in, a lot of smart people went in,” President Trump said. 

Nvidia invested $5 billion in Intel in September and the two companies announced a partnership under which Intel would build custom data center CPUs for Nvidia. And last month, Elon Musk and Intel announced an ambitious plan to build a chip manufacturing plant in Texas as part of Musk’s  Terafab project to produce chips for Tesla, xAI and SpaceX. 

Apple relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to make the chips it designs for iPhones, iPads, Macs and other devices, and is under pressure to find additional chip suppliers. On Apple’s last two earnings conference calls, Cook has blamed a lack of availability of advanced chips for Apple’s inability to meet customer demand for iPhones.

The constraints are expected to continue into the current quarter, affecting several Mac models, Cook said. “We think, looking forward, that the Mac Mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance,” Cook said. Last Friday, the day after the earnings call, Apple raised the Mac Mini’s starting price.

TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities far surpass those of Samsung and Intel. Makers of other kinds of chips, for memory and storage for example, are more competitive with one another, giving Apple multiple sources of supply.

Apple has long been TSMC’s top customer, but skyrocketing demand for its manufacturing capacity from Nvidia and other designers of AI chips means Apple no longer has as much leverage to secure the supplies it needs. Starting in 2006, Apple used Intel-designed CPUs as the main processors for its personal computers, but switched to its own custom CPUs, based on a design architecture from Arm Holding, in 2020.

As for Intel stock, while we have enjoyed the recent meltup, the reversal - when it comes - will be painful.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 13:26

Vaccine Trade Returns? Moderna Working On Hantavirus Shot Sends Shares Higher

Moderna is out with timely news that it is working on early-stage research on vaccines targeting hantaviruses. The news comes as a Spanish woman has been hospitalized for a suspected infection, while a hantavirus cluster has ravaged a Dutch-flagged cruise ship, with five confirmed and three suspected cases of hantavirus. Three deaths have been reported so far.

Bloomberg reports that Moderna is collaborating with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases on hantavirus vaccine research and is also working with Korea University College of Medicine's Vaccine Innovation Center on a potential vaccine.

"These efforts are early-stage and ongoing and reflect Moderna's broader responsibility to develop countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases," Moderna said.

Moderna said its work on hantavirus vaccines began before the cruise ship Hondius reported an outbreak while anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, on the west coast of Africa, last week.

Anais Legand, a technical officer at the World Health Organization (WHO), provided an update earlier today stating that all remaining passengers on the Hondius have left the ship without symptoms.

"They will be asked to take their temperature every single day for 42 days. They will be asked to check every day for other symptoms like feeling unwell or a headache," Legand said, adding, "They will be provided with someone to contact. If they're not feeling well, it's up to the national authorities where people will go next."

WHO Emergencies Communications Lead Nyka Alexander stated in a livestreamed update earlier that "the risk to the public remains low."

Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that naturally infect rodents and can occasionally spread to people.

Here’s what you need to know about #hantavirus: What they are, how they spread, the symptoms, and how to prevent infection pic.twitter.com/pduUjlwl2j

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 8, 2026

Nevertheless, the news sent Moderna shares higher around noon. Shares had already been rising after the company reported that its mRNA flu vaccine outperformed in a late-stage study, likely driving early market activity. Shares are up 18%.

President Trump told an ABC News reporter on Thursday that "It's very much, we hope, under control." 

HANTAVIRUS UPDATE: President Trump is monitoring the hantavirus outbreak linked to the cruise ship that has already resulted in three deaths.

Spain is preparing for the vessel’s arrival as officials track about 40 people, including Americans, who left the ship before the… pic.twitter.com/pPoppLn8N8

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 8, 2026

Polymarket:

//--> //--> Hantavirus pandemic in 2026?
Yes 9% · No 91%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

It is only a matter of time before other struggling biotech companies announce that they, too, are developing vaccines to prevent the next potential pandemic. This follows the Covid playbook.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/08/2026 - 13:05