My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:

• Sharpie Found a Way to Make Pens More Cheaply—By Manufacturing Them in the U.S. Newell Brands moved production without cutting employee count or raising prices. (Wall Street Journal)

• Your Wealthiest Friend Has a Private Concierge: The services, which can cost more than $50,000 a year, make impossible dinner reservations and finagle special treatment. In certain circles, they’ve become a common luxury. (New York Times) see also Why You Don’t Feel Rich: Wages have kept pace with inflation but that’s on average. It’s not everyone. The reason wealthy people have been able to spend throughout the tumult of the 2020s is because they own most of the financial assets. If you don’t own any financial assets you’re probably treading water at best. (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• The Chinese robots are coming: China is miles ahead in the race to dominate a technology that could define the 21st century. (Washington Post)

• Retail Prices Were Heading in the Right Direction—Then Tariffs Hit: Price increases, which were moderating before the US government began imposing tariffs, are gaining steam. An analysis of 350,000 products by Alberto Cavallo shows how levies are reaching consumers. (Working Knowledge) see also Hell Hath No Fury Like a Coffee Drinker in 2025: Prices are driving people to expletive-laden rants, but few are quitting caffeine; ‘I cannot function without that coffee. (Wall Street Journal)

• ETFs 2025: Cheap, Fat, Starving for Attention: At FutureProof two weeks ago, I gave a brief summary of the state of the ETF industry. Be careful out there. (ETF.com)

• George Mack: 9 fun ways to increase your agency with zero grinding required. Most people think high agency — happening to life, rather than letting life happen — means grinding 24/7. It doesn’t. You can solve problems, take initiative *and* have fun at the same time. (High Agency)

• What’s Wrong With Las Vegas? As prices skyrocket and international travel declines, the city finds itself caught in a perfect storm. (New York Times)

• Navy SEALs use this mindfulness technique to combat everyday stress: Incorporating the art of conscious breathing into a daily routine can help with emotional regulation, boost mood, and override the fight-or-flight response. (National Geographic) see also This Program Rescued Army Recruiting: The defense secretary cites a “Trump bump.” But the Army’s recruiting surge wouldn’t have been possible without the program started three years ago at Fort Jackson. (New York Times)

• He’s gay. She’s straight. They’re happily married. A new crop of couples are making content about their mixed-orientation marriages, divorced from sexual attraction but not love. (Washington Post)

• The Method to Daniel Day-Lewis’ Madness: Is the three-time Best Actor winner, now back with his first movie in seven years, really our greatest actor? And is it really his process that makes him great? By Isaac Butler. (Slate)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, which manages $16 trillion in for 20 million clients. Timmer, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), is part of Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation (GAA) group, and specializes in asset allocation and global macro strategy.

 

Animal spirits are reigning supreme, with both the tech giants and more speculative elements running in tandem. It’s all AI and crypto these days

Source: Fidelity

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

The post 10 Friday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Where Mental Health Problems Are Most Prevalent

Over the past few years, a lot of progress has been made in accepting and understanding mental health problems.

Having long been seen as a sign of weakness, mental health issues in their many varieties and severities have become much less of a taboo.

The pandemic, which left many people feel isolated, powerless or overwhelmed, accelerated that trend, as it not only caused a spike in symptoms of anxiety or depression, but also led more people to open up about their problems.

As Statista's Felix Richter shows in the chart below, based on data from a Statista survey, more than 4 in 10 U.S. adults reported that they experienced symptoms of mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety or depression in the 12 months preceding the survey, making an open discourse about mental health issues all the more important.

You will find more infographics at Statista

As the chart shows, the prevalence of self-reported mental health problems varies greatly across countries, suggesting that people in some countries, e.g. China or Japan, may be more hesitant to open up about mental health or simply less likely to identify certain problems as mental health issues.

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/10/2025 - 04:30

Chinese A-Shares Retreat As Beijing Tightens Battery Export Curbs & Cracks Down On Nvidia Chips

To end the week, Chinese A-shares retreated, with the SHCOMP down around 1% and the SZCOMP nearly 2% lower, as markets reopened following the Oct. 1–8 "Golden Week" public holiday.

Two notable headlines from China hit the wires overnight: first, Beijing's new export controls targeting parts of the battery supply chain; and second, a crackdown on chip imports aimed at steering domestic firms away from Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips.

Bloomberg added more color on the expanded export controls on lithium-ion batteries in a report, noting that:

Exports of some lithium-ion batteries, along with some cathode and graphite anode materials, will need government permits from Nov. 8, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. Certain related technology and equipment will also be subject to controls, it said, in a move that followed Beijing's announcement of wider restrictions for rare earths.

Beijing's tougher export regime comes ahead of a high-stakes meeting this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in South Korea to hammer out a trade deal. Washington expanded its sanctions last week to target a broader range of companies from its geopolitical rival.

In a note to clients, Citigroup analyst Jack Shang commented on the news:

"We believe the government wants to preserve Chinese technology leadership on the battery supply chain. With the new mechanism, the government will have the means to manage exports should it consider it necessary." 

Bloomberg's graphic shows China dominates the global battery supply chain...

The second headline comes from the Financial Times, citing sources that said China intensified enforcement of chip import controls in an effort to reduce domestic reliance on U.S. chips, particularly Nvidia's AI processors. They noted that customs teams have been deployed at major ports to conduct stringent inspections of chip shipments.

Initially focused on halting Chinese firms from purchasing China-specific H20 and RTX Pro 6000D chips, the crackdown expanded in recent weeks to include all advanced AI chips.

Just a day earlier, China also tightened export controls on rare earths. Beijing has already slowed shipments to the West since last year through new restrictions requiring proof that the materials won't be used for military purposes.

In markets, the Hang Seng Index leads global equities with a 38% year-to-date gain, while the S&P 500 is up 15.9%. On average, global stocks are up around 21.8% this year.

All these developments (read market wrap via Newsquawk) come just weeks ahead of a potential meeting between President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, expected to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju, South Korea. The game for both Trump and Xi is to have leverage and cards to play while negotiating a trade deal.

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/10/2025 - 04:06

Luxembourg Joins Bitcoin Arms Race: Nation's Wealth Fund Buys Crypto For First Time

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Luxembourg is officially joining the ranks of governments investing in Bitcoin. 

The country’s Intergenerational Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSIL) will allocate 1% of its total portfolio — over €7 million — to Bitcoin and other crypto, Finance Minister Gilles Roth announced Wednesday during his 2026 budget presentation in the Chamber of Deputies.

“This is really great news for crypto-assets because this is the first investment of a public fund in bitcoin in Luxembourg,” said CSV lawmaker Laurent Mosar following the announcement.

The move positions Luxembourg as the first Eurozone nation to allocate sovereign wealth into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, marking a significant symbolic step for Europe’s financial landscape.

Bitcoin as a strategic financial allocation

As of June 30, 2025, the FSIL held $887 million in assets, primarily in investment-grade bonds (53%) and index funds (46%), with less than 1% in cash. 

The planned allocation, if implemented at current asset levels, would translate to roughly $9.5 million in Bitcoin exposure through ETFs.

Bob Kieffer, Luxembourg’s Director of the Treasury, confirmed the details in a Wednesday post, explaining that the decision follows the government’s July 2025 approval of a revised investment policy allowing up to 15% of FSIL assets to be placed in “alternative investments,” including private equity, real estate, and cryptocurrencies.

He acknowledged the debate surrounding the move:

“Some might argue that we’re committing too little too late; others will point out the volatility and speculative nature of the investment. Yet, given the FSIL’s particular profile and mission, the fund’s management board concluded that a 1% allocation strikes the right balance, while sending a clear message about bitcoin’s long-term potential.”

Kieffer clarified that the exposure would not involve direct Bitcoin holdings.

“To avoid operational risks, the exposure to bitcoin has been taken through a selection of ETFs,” he said.

Luxembourg as a Bitcoin hub

The decision also aligns with Luxembourg’s broader strategy to cement its status as a fintech and digital assets hub within the European Union. 

The country has increasingly become a base for crypto firms applying for MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) licenses, which allow companies to operate across the EU under unified regulatory standards.

By integrating Bitcoin ETFs into a state investment fund, Luxembourg is signaling that digital assets are entering the financial mainstream — not as speculative gambles, but as long-term strategic holdings.

Following a global Bitcoin trend

Luxembourg’s move follows similar steps by sovereign wealth funds across the world. Norway’s $1.9 trillion fund reportedly holds around 11,400 BTC indirectly through corporate investments, while sovereign funds in Asia and the Middle East have begun exploring limited exposure to crypto markets.

The U.K. and Finland also hold Bitcoin. The Czech central bank recently confirmed that it is studying a potential €7 billion shift of reserves into Bitcoin.

For Luxembourg, however, the motivation appears strategic rather than opportunistic — a controlled experiment in digital diversification that underscores the country’s ambitions to lead within Europe’s evolving financial infrastructure.

“Obviously, what’s right for the FSIL might not be right for other investors,” Kieffer noted. “But this allocation sends a clear message about where we believe the future of finance is headed.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/10/2025 - 03:30

Poland Pushes Back On German Nord Stream Extradition Request, Praises Suspect For 'Harming Russian War Machine'

Poland is revolting against simple enforcement of laws, with the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk this week making clear Warsaw's position that it won't follow the German extradition request for a Ukrainian national wanted by EU authorities for suspected involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions. This is still ultimately pending a Warsaw court decision. 

As we detailed previously, the suspect - identified only as "Volodymyr Z" - was initially arrested in Poland on Sept. 30 on a German warrant accusing him of participating in the sabotage. A Polish court has ordered his 40-day detention while deciding on extradition.

The man in custody has been described by Reuters as a Ukrainian diver wanted by Germany. It marked the second recent arrest related to the Nord Stream sabotage investigation, as last month another Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy in connection.

Amazingly, Tusk and many in Poland argue that even if the man took part in the attack, his actions should be viewed positively rather than punished. Tusk is directly challenging and flouting European law and basic norms against sabotage and terrorism.

"The problem with North [sic] Stream is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built," declared Tusk, also posting his defiance on X for the world to see.

He had also said Tuesday, "It is certainly not in Poland’s interest, or in the interest of a simple sense of decency and justice, to charge or extradite this citizen to another country," as quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). "The decision will be up to the court, but our [the Polish government’s] position here is clear."

Others within the country's security and law enforcement establishment agree:

Meanwhile, the head of President Karol Nawrocki’s National Security Bureau, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, told Polsat News on Tuesday that he believes Volodymyr Z. "should not have been detained at all" and "the Polish state should refuse to cooperate in this matter".

"Poland should not contribute to any operation to extradite a person who has harmed Russia," he continued. "We need to find a formula in which we will remain within the law, and at the same time we will not hand over to the Germans – or potentially Russians – someone who has harmed the Russian war machine."

Poland's judiciary reportedly has up to one hundred days to decide whether it will comply with the European Arrest Warrant, but given the pressure so obviously coming from the prime minister's office and other government entity's, it will likely refuse the extradition request.

The problem with North Stream 2 is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built.

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) October 7, 2025

The mainstream media narrative on this major event which came early in the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically several times. In the opening months, the MSM was lockstep in collectively assuming Russia must have bombed its own key pipelines, effectively economically sabotaging itself and a (at the time) leading European energy export partner.

Then, as we highlighted, there was in 2024 the "bombshell" WSJ Nord Stream report which was a shift, but yet another attempt by mainstream gatekeepers to put official distance between President Zelensky and his supposedly 'rogue' top general at the time who 'oversaw' the covert op.

The WSJ report with the lengthy title: "A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage: Private businessmen funded the shoestring operation, which was overseen by a top general; President Zelensky approved the plan, then tried unsuccessfully to call it off,"... has for the most part become the official accepted narrative.

But legendary US journalist Seymour Hersh has maintained the whole time that it was the CIA and a special elite diving branch of the US Navy behind it, in "How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline".

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/10/2025 - 02:45

The Netherlands & Belgium Will Play Crucial Roles In Containing Russia

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Britain, France, Germany, and Poland are usually the first countries to come to mind among those who discuss NATO’s containment of Russia, but the Netherlands and Belgium are quickly becoming important too.

Rotterdam Port’s chief executive told the Financial Times in mid-summer that space will be reserved for ships carrying military supplies at NATO’s request and that one or more ships “would be docked at the quay for several weeks, four or five times a year.” This will also be coordinated with Antwerp Port.

Rotterdam and Antwerp are Europe’s two largest ports so this isn’t an insignificant move.

Moreover, the Netherlands is a founding member of the “military Schengen” that was agreed to with Germany and Poland in early 2024 for facilitating the movement of troops and equipment. Therefore, these moves are very clearly meant to facilitate the movement of US troops and equipment to Russia’s borders in the event of a crisis, thus leading to the Netherlands and Belgium playing crucial roles in containing it.

It was assessed in early July that “Peace In Ukraine Won’t End The West’s Hybrid War On Russia”, with one of the three cited reasons being that the earlier mentioned four European countries are carving out spheres of influence along its borders as part of the US’ “Lead From Behind” containment efforts.

Their armed forces, as well as the experience and overall quality thereof, are dwarfed by the US’ though so that’s why they’d still need US aid in the event of a crisis with Russia, let alone a hot conflict with it.

Seeing as how the US won’t hang Europe out to dry and cede the continent to Russia, it accordingly makes sense that plans are now underway for incorporating Rotterdam and Antwerp Ports into the “military Schengen” for facilitating the movement of US troops and equipment in such scenarios.

The aforesaid can only realistically be sent to Europe at scale through naval means, thus explaining why those two ports are so important. The US couldn’t reliably contain and “deter” Russia without them.

In terms of the bigger picture, the associated countries – the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and likely also France – are naturally expected to more closely coordinate their military policies, thus leading to a US-led and fiercely anti-Russian “coalition of the willing” within NATO. Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland are correspondingly predicted to host more of the bloc’s troops and supplies while the rest will play supplementary logistical and financial roles in this containment policy.

The only exception is Turkiye, whose newfound rapid expansion of influence eastward could lead to NATO containing Russia along its entire southern periphery if successful as explained here, but infamously independent Erdogan won’t subordinate his country to the US like the others will. It’s for this reason that the abovementioned collection of countries can be described as US proxies for containing Russia while Turkiye should instead be seen as a semi-equal US partner, not a proxy, in this scheme.

The takeaway from this news about Rotterdam and Antwerp Ports is that the “race of logistics” between Russia and NATO, which is presently unfolding in the context of their proxy war in Ukraine, will continue even after the conflict ends and lead to a more robust US-led containment of Russia. This doesn’t automatically mean that they’ll gain an edge over Russia, just that tensions will persist even after their proxy hostilities cease, and this will in turn keep the European front of the New Cold War active.

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/10/2025 - 02:00

Who Controls the Public Mind?

Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Some of the greatest political literature of the 20th century was written during years of violence, war, and upheaval between 1934 to 1946. During such times, the world of ideas leaves the parlor games and comes to affect the fate of millions. These are moments that divide the serious scholars from the pretenders.

Austrian school economist Friedrich August von Hayek (1899–1992), circa 1950. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

During a crisis, from a career point of view, it is always better to stay silent. To speak out risks everything. It requires more than courage. It requires a willingness to put it all on the line to see one’s ideas realized in the real world. It’s also when intellectuals can have their greatest impact on the world. And yet, few do it. Few stand up when they are most needed.

One of my favorite thinkers from this entire period is F.A. Hayek, a monetary economist at the University of Vienna who left (as many did) to take residence in London at the London School of Economics. There he quickly established himself as the alternative to John Maynard Keynes, whose new theories contradicted the whole of classical economics.

Keynes was riding high as the guru of fascistic experiments the world over, even to the point of writing an introduction to the German edition of his book in 1936 when the Nazis were firmly in power. He celebrated the regime and its potential.

In contrast, Hayek represented old-world liberalism. Before his move to London, Hayek had been hard at work on theoretical problems involving capital structures, interest rate signaling issues, pricing as an information tool, the unworkability of socialism, and other such matters. His work in this area ultimately won him the Nobel Prize in 1974.

In the midst of the Second World War, Hayek was alarmed to see England take the direction of economic central planning, different in degree but not in kind to what was happening in Europe and the United States. The new system that had emerged from the Great Depression combined government and the largest corporate sectors into a single unit managed from the top.

His core critique was that no planners could possess the knowledge necessary to make these systems work in any way that would benefit the whole. The answer to social problems was not to assign the job of planning to intellectuals with resources and power, as was being done all over the world. Their plans would necessarily override the planning of individuals and families.

This drew him into facing matters concerning knowledge problems more generally. In a healthy, functioning, and prosperous society, where does the knowledge of resources, risk patterns, technologies, and awareness of changing conditions reside? Not with statesmen and bureaucrats, he said, but with individuals and communities—drawing from the well of human experience—who are more aware of the unique conditions of time and place.

Until this time, Hayek was mostly known to academic researchers and economists. But in 1944, he came out with a book that became a bestseller all over the world. The title was “The Road to Serfdom.” It was widely distributed in the United States too, thanks to a shortened version that appeared in Reader’s Digest.

Every book has an elevator pitch. The one that accompanied Hayek’s book went like this. If the Western capitalist states keep creating welfare states and expanding them, they will mutate into a kind of socialism that will wreck political democracy and freedom more generally.

Despite this summary, this is not really what the book said, however. Its critique was far more sophisticated. What’s odd about the reputation of the book is how it even contradicts the text. Hayek himself said that a limited and universal welfare provision for society can mitigate against revolutionary impulses and stabilize society.

I don’t happen to agree with that view but it is a point worth discussing.

His real point, if we really want an elevator pitch, is that attacks on economic freedom necessarily and always eat away at political freedoms and civil liberty generally. They might be well-intentioned and the people running the planning systems might be the best and the brightest. By overriding market signaling systems and trampling on property titles, they necessarily elevate some to rule over others. Serfdom might not be the plan but it can be the result.

The book spends considerable time examining the relationship between freedom and the information streams necessary for social evolution. The best knowledge is that which is born of experience from a problem itself. Who knows more about agriculture, the World Health Organization or a farmer? Who is going to design the best building to withstand coastal weather in the Southern United States, a Harvard professor or a local builder?

You get the point Hayek was making. But as he indicated, it seemed at the time that all governments in the world had fallen sway to the view that hyper-intelligent and credentialed experts could always structure a social and economic system better than anyone on the ground. This was his target.

The book is brilliant in many ways but there is one chapter that truly gives me the shivers. It’s on the subject of truth: specifically he warns of the end of truth. He writes that every totalitarian system has to seize control of the public mind. Because it has been made available for the first time online, we should reflect on it.

“To make a totalitarian system function efficiently,” writes Hayek, “it is not enough that everybody should be forced to work for the same ends. It is essential that the people should come to regard them as their own ends.”

This requires several steps. There needs to be an ideology; that is, a manufactured system of belief that defines a new heaven, a possible hell, and a means of reaching one and avoiding the other. There needs to be propaganda surrounding that ideology, pushed out through every possible venue. And there needs to be censorship of competing views.

All three of these are necessary for a consistent totalitarianism that seeks to manage the public mind. Hayek writes that all such attempts necessarily attack truth and morals: “They are destructive of all morals because they undermine one of the foundations of all morals: the sense of and the respect for truth.”

Indeed, the totalitarian system must replace all old or competing truths with one truth as defined by the party in power according to its own ends.

“The word ‘truth’ itself ceases to have its old meaning. It describes no longer something to be found, with the individual conscience as the sole arbiter of whether in any particular instance the evidence (or the standing of those proclaiming it) warrants a belief; it becomes something to be laid down by authority, something which has to be believed in the interest of the unity of the organized effort and which may have to be altered as the exigencies of this organized effort require it.”

He concludes with an observation that any collectivist system “ends by destroying reason because it misconceives the process on which the growth of reason depends.” That is because reason itself is only possible through an individual mind, a single person who is in a position to make an assessment. Turning that over to an agency, a media source, or a government disables the capacity for reason and truth to emerge from the free evolution of voluntary interaction and thought.

Keep in mind that Hayek was writing during a high degree of censorship in all nations. His target was not only the Nazi system and the Soviet system but emergent problems in the UK and the United States. This was his warning: This way put us on the road to serfdom.

As I read Hayek’s fiery chapter, I kept thinking of examples in our own times. There are many that are more obvious now than they would have been even a few years ago.

How many times have you heard that believing in man-made climate change, fixable with deindustrialization, is the one truth and that anyone who doubts it is a crazy and confused dissident? I heard that just this morning on the radio.

There are many such postulates around today, points that you are supposed to believe even though you might have doubts about the evidence. Public health is a good example. The wars over vaccines are no longer about health; they are about compliance and shame for those who have doubts.

The threat of totalitarianism never entirely goes away. We see it in many countries around the world today and sense the threat at home too. Certainly we lived through something close to it in the worst days of the pandemic response.

A mark of the danger always comes with the demand that you must believe such and such in order to be a good citizen and a contributor to the grand project. Hayek’s three elements—ideology, propaganda, and censorship—are the signs that someone is attempting to curate the public mind for totalitarian purposes.

A total state tolerates no dissent. So long as we are free to disagree—and a free people necessarily must exercise that freedom—we have not yet descended into totalitarianism. When it finally does arrive—and we’ve come close—it is too late to stop it.

Hayek was of a generation of rare intellectuals who knew for certain that the battle of ideas is not a mere parlor game. He stood up against the powers that be and made a huge difference, at great personal cost. So must we all.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 23:25

Heart Disease Remains Top Cause Of Death In The US

This infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, shows the leading causes of death in the U.S., based on recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Heart Disease and Cancer Dominate

Heart disease was responsible for 680,981 deaths (22% of the total), making it the leading cause of death.

Cancer followed closely with 613,352 deaths (nearly 20%).

Accidents Rank Third

Unintentional injuries, often tied to traffic accidents, falls, or overdoses, caused 222,698 deaths. This makes them the third-leading cause of death overall, and a major outlier compared to other chronic or age-related conditions. Notably, accidents impact men more heavily, ranking third for them, while they fall to sixth among women.

Aging-Related Diseases on the Rise

Alzheimer’s disease ranked sixth with 114,034 deaths, reflecting the country’s aging population. Meanwhile, other chronic conditions such as diabetes (95,190 deaths) and kidney disease (55,253 deaths) also remain significant. Although COVID-19 caused nearly 50,000 deaths in 2023, it now ranks tenth, far below its peak impact earlier in the pandemic.

Chronic Conditions Among Women

For women, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease rank higher than among men, reflecting longevity differences and aging-related health risks. Stroke is the third-leading cause of death for women at 6.2%, compared to fourth for men at 4.4%. Alzheimer’s also ranks higher among women (5.3%) than men (2.2%), consistent with the fact that women live longer on average.

Mental Health and Other Conditions

Suicide appears in the top 10 for men, making up 2.4% of all male deaths, but it does not appear on the female list. Conversely, hypertension ranks tenth among women (1.5%), while it does not appear in the male rankings.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The U.S. States Leading in Organ Donations on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 23:00

'Bitcoin Jesus' Roger Ver Reaches Tentative Deal With DoJ Over Tax Charges: Report

Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com,

Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver, known to many in the crypto industry as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has reportedly reached a deal with the US Department of Justice that could allow him to avoid prison time.

According to a Thursday New York Times report, Ver’s lawyers reached a tentative agreement with US authorities that would require the Bitcoin advocate to pay $48 million in taxes he owed from his crypto holdings.

The Justice Department charged Ver with mail fraud and tax evasion in April 2024, seeking to extradite him from Spain to stand trial.

The New York Times reported that Ver has ties with figures connected to the administration of US President Donald Trump, including hiring lawyers who previously worked for the president. He also reportedly paid $600,000 to political consultant Roger Stone, a Trump adviser, to lobby for changes to US tax laws.

The reported deal followed a series of regulatory and legal actions under the Trump administration softening on legal cases involving digital assets. At the time of publication, the tentative agreement did not appear on the public docket for Ver’s case in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

The initial indictment alleges that Ver falsely reported on tax forms related to his crypto holdings. He and two of his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar, allegedly held about 131,000 BTC in 2014. The DOJ said he attempted to evade paying taxes on his assets by renouncing his US citizenship and later becoming a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.

“Even though Ver was not then a US citizen, he was still legally required to report to the IRS and pay tax on certain distributions,” said the Justice Department in April 2024.

Spanish authorities arrested Ver after his US indictment in 2024, but he posted bail in a matter of days. Since that time, Ver’s lawyers have been challenging Spanish authorities attempting to extradite him to the US and fighting the charges in federal court.

Seeking a presidential pardon

After Trump won reelection in 2024, many crypto users speculated that the president might issue a pardon for Ver.

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road and one of the first individuals to receive a pardon from Trump, called for leniency in Ver’s case.

“No one should spend the rest of their life in prison over taxes,” said Ulbricht in February.

“Let him pay the tax (if any) and be done with it.”

As of Thursday, Ver’s X profile linked users to a petition for Trump to pardon him. His website also had an open letter asking the US government to end the prosecution, claiming it was a “retaliatory action” for his advocacy of Bitcoin.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 20:55

'Trojan Horse For Partisan Media': Seattle Mayoral Frontrunner Wants To Force Taxpayers To Subsidize Biased News Outlets

With left-leaning news outlets in serious decline thanks to a decade of TDS-fueled propaganda, Seattle Mayoral frontrunner Katie Wilson wants to use taxpayer money to fund vouchers that can be used for "local news outlets" of choice. 

The plan to pass out the $100 vouchers would be funded through "a small property tax levy, a capital gains tax, or a digital ad tax," journalist Jason Rantz reports.

In a recent interview on the Mostly Economics podcast, Wilson framed her proposal as a response to what she calls the “crisis in the journalism industry.” She lamented that “we do not have a sustainable financial model for supporting local news outlets” and suggested that taxpayers pick up the tab through “a small property tax levy, a capital gains tax, or a digital ad tax.” On The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM, she admitted that it’s not necessarily a fully developed plan and that it’s intended to help smaller media outlets, like websites, and possibly radio.

Watch:

As Rantz notes, the scheme would allow the government to 'raid your wallet' to prop up the same biased outlets that demonize conservatives. 

Wilson admits to flaws in even defining what qualifies as Journalism, saying "There’s a real challenge there of how are you defining those eligibility criteria so that you are as much as possible being fair."

Rantz continues:

By creating a government-run subsidy system, she introduces the exact opposite of independent journalism: government control of the press. The minute taxpayer dollars are tied to journalism, politicians and bureaucrats inevitably meddle in defining who gets paid and who gets blacklisted.

Wilson pretends her program sidesteps this by letting “individual residents” decide. But those residents can only choose from a list of “approved” outlets. And who approves the list? The very politicians who stand to gain from friendly coverage.

Any resident could choose to support independent media today if they chose. After years of shoddy coverage, The Stranger fell into hard economic times. They asked for donations and received them. Many local outlets do the same now. Wilson dismissed the idea of just giving tax cuts to Seattle residents who would then choose how to spend that money, which could include donating to a local media outlet or spending it in a local shop, which is just as advantageous to the community.

A Trojan Horse for partisan media?

Wilson revealed her ideological motivation in the podcast, praising “advocacy journalism” outlets like The Urbanist, Publicola, and the South Seattle Emerald. These are activist sites pushing the same progressive policies that wrecked Seattle in the first place.

Under “News Notes,” they would rake in taxpayer cash while dissenting voices are either shut out or vilified as “misinformation.”

Wilson tweeted after Cascade PBS cut its newsroom: “Seattle needs a thriving local news ecosystem. That’s why I’ve proposed ‘News Notes’.” Would she make the same post about Seattle Red or any local conservative outlet? I don’t think so. And it explains what this is all about: she wants to use taxpayer dollars to fund left-wing sources of news that benefit her cause.

Read the rest here...

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Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 20:30

Pro-Paper-Ballot Firm Buys Dominion Voting Systems

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

Dominion Voting Systems has been synonymous with controversy since the 2020 presidential elections.

Accusations of election tampering, lawsuits, and wall-to-wall media spin made the company a lightning rod in American politics.

Yet this week, something remarkable happened.

As of today, Dominion is no more.

The embattled election vendor has new ownership and new branding.

Scott Leiendecker, a Missouri tech entrepreneur and former Republican director of the St. Louis City Board of Elections, bought the company for an undisclosed amount.

Excited yet? You should be.

“As of today, Dominion is gone. Liberty Vote assumes full ownership and operational control,” a press release announcing the sale revealed.

“Leiendecker says he wants to use the renamed company to restore public confidence in the US electoral process. Liberty Now also vows to be bipartisan as it works to reshape Dominion’s image. Dominion’s election products were used by millions of US voters across 27 states last year,” reports CNN. “Dominion’s founder and CEO, John Poulos, confirmed in a one-sentence statement provided to CNN on Thursday that, ‘Liberty Vote has acquired Dominion Voting Systems.’”

Leiendecker added, “Liberty Vote is committed to delivering election technology that prioritizes paper-based transparency, security, and simplicity so that voters can be assured that every ballot is filled-in accurately and fairly counted.” 

Naturally, CNN is hitting the panic button.

The sale of Dominion comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he plans to overhaul America’s election systems, from wanting to move the US to all-paper ballots, require voter identification in all elections, and restrict mail-in voting. The president has promised to carry out those goals through executive orders, something he does not have explicit authority to do, as he seeks to change election laws that he has falsely blamed for his 2020 election loss.

Liberty Vote also plans on ensuring the company is “100% American owned,” including all domestic staffing and software development, the release states. Dominion was founded as a Canadian company with offices in Toronto, Denver, and Dallas. The new company plans to continue to have a presence in Canada, however, a source familiar with the plans said.

You can really get a sense of how worried CNN is about this development.

The article points out that the press release from Liberty Vote “references some buzzwords that have been championed by the pro-Trump ‘election integrity’ community.”

Election integrity! The horror!

Liberty Vote is taking concrete steps to strengthen election security and transparency.

Its push for hand-marked paper ballots builds on President Trump’s long-standing effort to ensure every vote leaves a fully auditable paper trail—a safeguard that reassures voters and bolsters confidence in election outcomes.

The company also commits to compliance with Trump’s executive order on election integrity and emphasizes facilitating third-party audits of its systems, giving states and the public an extra layer of independent verification. While internal audits exist, Liberty Vote’s approach sets a new standard for openness and accountability in U.S. elections.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 20:05

How Trans-Activists Hatched A Plot In The 1980s To Hijack 'Science'

The latest headlines that have thrust transgender violence and left-wing radicalism into the news cycle:

• "I'm Tired Of Being Trans" - Minneapolis Shooter Confesses "I Wish I Never Brain-Washed Myself"

• State Department Severs Ties With Armed Queers-Affiliated NGO; Marxist Group Nukes Socials

• FBI's 'Armed Queers' Probe Just The Start - Lawmakers Urge Treasury To Freeze China-Linked Billionaire's NGO Empire

• Attempted Kavanaugh Assassin Is A Transgender, New Court Filings Show

Hmm. 

• Link Between Transgenderism And Violence In Spotlight

Well, not the legacy media's news cycle (if that's MSNBC, CNN, CBS, NBC, NPR, etc.), they're still fixated on "misinformation" and "disinformation" campaigns in their effort to bring down President Trump and crush the MAGA movement for their globalist friends. But the American people no longer believe their nonsense and have rejected the globalists. 

On Wednesday, the New York Post Editorial Board penned in a title: "How many high-profile trans killers can the media ignore?"

But let’s take a step back several decades to understand how the radical left and its woke trans-activist movement managed to hijack science within gender medicine - to grasp better how we ended up in a world experiencing both a surge of kids identifying as transgender and, as noted above, a rising trend in trans-related violence.

Plus, if you've noticed, the radical left's woke army is comprised of ...   

Mia Hughes, a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and director of the advocacy group Genspect Canada, spoke at a closed-door Genspect event in late September titled "The Bigger Picture Conference" in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In her speech, Hughes described how woke ideology hijacked science within gender medicine by infiltrating psychiatry, endocrinology, and surgery, reshaping modern medicine as we know it. She warned of the dangers of mistaking ideology for evidence (or "science") and urged a return to compassion, scientific clarity, and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths.

Here's what she told the audience: 

Back in the 1980s, a small group of trans activists hatched a plot: to take an absurd, illogical overvalued belief—that being transgender is innate, natural, healthy—and force all of society to live in a fictional world built on it.

Given the sheer audacity of that plot, there must have been people who said it couldn't be done. But if such voices existed, they were ignored. And the activists pressed on until they succeeded in nothing less than reshaping reality itself.

And they didn't just persuade people to politely look the other way.

They rallied good, decent people to march in the streets demanding that teenagers sacrifice their health, their fertility, and their sexual function in the name of this belief.

They convinced governments to write laws based on a non-existent, fictional concept.

They enlisted well-meaning teachers to poison the minds of a generation with absurd lies.

And they drove doctors to amputate healthy organs and call it medicine.

If they could succeed in creating that false reality, then surely we can succeed in restoring truth.

Because our cause is not built on lies but on logic and reason. Not on ideology but on sound ethical principles. Not on harm but on healing.

Never forget how this medical scandal began.

Back in the 1980s, a small group of trans activists hatched a plot: to take an absurd, illogical overvalued belief—that being transgender is innate, natural, healthy—and force all of society to live in a fictional world built on it.… pic.twitter.com/954XKUQeg8

— Mia Hughes (@_CryMiaRiver) October 8, 2025

Watch Hughes' full speech. 

. . . 

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 19:40

We Are The Cure For TDS

Authored by Anthony Constantino via RealClearPolitics.com,

America has a sickness, and it’s not just a horrendously unhealthy food supply. It’s deeper, darker, and more sinister. It goes by three letters: TDS – Trump Derangement Syndrome.

What is TDS?

It is a condition that turns ordinary people into hateful monsters whenever President Trump is mentioned. It drives politicians, journalists, professors, and late-night comedians to hate rather than admit that President Trump is good for America. It divides families, ruins friendships, and convinces people that their fellow Americans are enemies rather than good-natured citizens.

I’ve known about TDS since before it had a name. Back in 2016, I was one of the first people “canceled” for supporting President Trump. I donated $500 and sent a few tweets in support. Within hours, Democrat activists attacked me, my company, and my employees. Tens of thousands of hateful emails flooded in. A small army threatened to destroy my business, and I was viciously defamed. All over $500. That’s TDS.

Since then, I’ve been an astute observer of the phenomenon. I watched hate mobs rage on what was once called Twitter for years at anyone who supported President Trump. The news, even on public airwaves, became anti-Trump hate fests where they spread hoax after hoax that divided our country. Meanwhile Trump supporters were banned, en masse, from social media, and President Trump was banned too. That’s TDS.

Fast forward to the 2024 election, when I put a 100-foot-wide Vote For Trump sign on top of my tallest building in Amsterdam, New York. My lawyers warned me against doing it. “Democrats are vicious,” they told me. They were right. I woke up to a restraining order threatening me with jail. I fought back, won in court, and the sign still stands. But the hate mobs didn’t stop. The mere sight of three words triggered people into madness. Members of my own community demanded I leave and move my business. That’s TDS.

So, the question is: How do we cure TDS? 

The first step is understanding where TDS came from. It’s quite simple: 19 million Americans have government jobs, including 520,000 people who hold elected office. Many profit from politics. Existing organizations always hate when a new boss, who’s planning a turnaround, takes over. None of these people had to collude or conspire to hate Trump. It was in their self-interest to hate him. Government employees, including elected politicians, also have incestuous relationships with the media where their friends, cousins, and spouses work. They all believed Donald Trump was a threat. Previous presidents passed the baton of corruption. Donald Trump, a successful outsider, was going to be different, and they knew it. In unison, they rebelled. 

In 2016, establishment Democrats and Republicans both hated Donald Trump. They were profiting from politics while failing to serve the people. Donald Trump, already a brilliant billionaire, was going to expose them. They feared that if he was elected, he’d awaken millions to what was going on in our government. They spread hoax after hoax and blatant lies, with much of it backed by billions, if not trillions, in marketing spend to poison the minds of our citizens – all to prevent a self-made, well-intentioned man, who couldn’t be bought, from becoming president.

As more of us come to understand that this self-interested rebellion lays the foundation for TDS, it will become easier to cure it.

The second step is to be honest with TDS sufferers. For too long, many of us stayed quiet. We did not want to be berated by those whose minds were poisoned by propaganda. We need to stop pretending it is okay to let our fellow citizens suffer from TDS. It’s not. We can disagree over taxes and health care, but we cannot let people believe Trump is Hitler, his supporters are Nazis, or any of the other nonsensical propaganda.

Recently, I’ve seen Democrats suggest Trump supporters deserve to die for supporting the Second Amendment. That’s not a debate. That’s derangement. Barack Obama, only days after the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk, said President Trump committed violence by advising pregnant women not to take Tylenol. To claim President Trump’s advice is akin to violence is the exact rhetoric that infects people with TDS and contributed to Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Third, we must stop the hoaxes. TDS thrives on lies repeated so often that people mistake them for truth. Remember the “Fine People” hoax? President Trump condemned neo-Nazis, yet Democrats and their media allies edited his speech to make it sound like he praised them. Joe Biden launched his campaign on that lie, and the entire Democratic Party went along with it. Or consider the lie that Elon Musk made a Nazi salute. In reality, he grabbed his heart while saying, “my heart goes out to you.” This hoax spread so virally that a Pulitzer prizing-winning newspaper editor, Mark Mahoney, screamed on the phone to me “It is real!” before angrily hanging up. These hoaxes cause TDS. It’s easy to stop the hoaxes, but we need good-natured Democrat voters to demand that Democratic leaders stop spreading reckless lies. Supporters must threaten to abandon the Democratic Party if they do not. 

Fourth, we need courage. I’ll be honest: I was once scared to speak up. That changed when President Trump was nearly assassinated. I thought if President Trump could risk his life for America, then I could risk losing some business. Some remain scared to publicly support Trump, but many are finding their voice. 

I put up the Vote For Trump sign and endorsed him to my 5 million customers to encourage others to speak up. Thus far it’s been working. Anecdotally, I’ve seen far more people admitting they support President Trump, demonstrating a hardcore refusal to tolerate the TDS-causing Democratic propaganda any longer. Recently, 77-year-old Vietnam veteran Leonard Amicola bravely fought a cabal of corrupt Democrats who tried to use government power to force him to take down his “Trump is My President” banner. He beat them in court, and I gladly paid the legal bill. 

Fifth, we must replace derangement with results. Envy is what drives the TDS propaganda. Establishment politicians hate successful outsiders because they aren’t them and never will be. President Trump’s real-world skill set is allowing him to accomplish great things for our country. In his first days back in office, he saved hostages, canceled DEI, ended wars, closed the border, negotiated fair trade deals, cut costs, deported criminals, and protected kids from gender mutilation. However, President Trump is just as human as the rest of us. We need to support him, keeping him motivated and inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.

Finally, we must bring new blood into politics. TDS thrives because the political class protects its turf instead of solving problems. The cure is to bring in successful outsiders who are willing to fight, innovate, and do what they believe is best for our country. President Trump inspired me to get involved, and I want to encourage others to do the same. The more smart people who enter politics, the weaker TDS becomes. TDS feeds on the idea that politics belongs to the political class, but it doesn’t. It belongs to all of us.

Curing TDS won’t happen overnight, but it can be done if enough of us take the steps I laid out above. That’s the prescription. That’s how we cure TDS and unite America again.

I don’t just believe this — I’ve lived it. I fought off the mob when they tried to cancel me in 2016. I fought Democrats in court when they tried to jail me over my sign. I fought through death threats, smear campaigns, and online hate mobs. But I’m still here. I’ll keep fighting because someone needs to do it, and, for whatever reason, I find it fun.

Trump Derangement Syndrome is curable. However, the cure won’t come from the establishment, the media, or the politicians. The cure will only come from us – everyday Americans who tell our friends, family members, and neighbors – especially those who don’t want to hear it – the truth.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 19:15

How Vaccine Policies Have Changed Under RFK Jr.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have changed recommendations and policy for multiple vaccines, including shots against COVID-19 and measles.

Here’s what has changed so far.

COVID-19 Vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now call for individuals to speak with a health care provider about risks and benefits before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, a change approved on Oct. 6.

Kennedy wrote on X that the move amounted to “restoring informed consent.”

The CDC in May, under orders from Kennedy, stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. But the agency still had near-universal recommendations in place.

The Food and Drug Administration later revoked emergency authorizations for the vaccines. The agency also approved four shots for narrower populations—those under 65 who have an underlying condition and all people 65 years of age and older.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) then told the CDC to update its recommendations to individual shared decision-making, which emphasizes that vaccinations are “individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian,” Jim O'Neill, the CDC’s acting director and the deputy health secretary, approved the recommendation.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine

President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to take separate vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella. Standalone options, though, are not available as of now in the United States. O'Neill on Oct. 6 backed Trump and called on manufacturers to produce monovalent vaccines against the diseases.

Kennedy told a Senate panel on Sept. 4 that he did not expect a change with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, known as MMR.

The United States in 2025 has recorded the most cases of measles since 1992.

Kennedy has said the vaccine limits the spread of measles and that people should get it, while raising concerns about side effects, which can include seizures and pneumonia.

Officials in Texas, the state that has recorded the bulk of the cases, announced on Aug. 18 that the measles outbreak there is over. New cases have been cropping up in other states, including South Carolina.

A tray of MMR vaccine vials at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, on March 1, 2025. President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to seek separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, although standalone shots are not currently available in the United States. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

Varicella Vaccine and MMRV

The CDC in an October update endorsed standalone varicella vaccination for younger children because they face an elevated risk of febrile seizures if they receive the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) combination vaccine.

The CDC’s immunization schedule lists a first dose against measles and varicella around a child’s first birthday. They are recommended to get a second dose when they are 4, 5, or 6 years of age.

The CDC previously recommended both the MMR and MMRV vaccine options. It still recommends MMRV vaccination for a child’s second dose, because the higher seizure risk has not been apparent for older children.

The update was based on advice from the reformed ACIP—of which all members were chosen by Kennedy after the removal of existing members.

Many pediatricians already promote the MMR plus varicella vaccine option. According to federal data, about 85 percent of children typically receive those vaccines as opposed to the MMRV vaccine for their first measles dose.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

The ACIP had been prepared to vote on advising the CDC to delay the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from shortly after birth to at least one month of age, but advisers ended up tabling the motion. Some indicated they wanted to examine the entire hepatitis B vaccine schedule, while others said they wanted to keep the schedule as it is.

“We need to postpone that because we need to really have the data to address whether or not hepatitis B vaccine should be administered to children at all,” Dr. Robert Malone, one of the advisers, said later.

It’s not clear when the matter will be revisited.

Many other countries start the hepatitis B vaccine regimen at two or three months of age, if they have a regimen at all.

Trump said in remarks about vaccines that he thinks children should not receive the hepatitis B vaccine until they are adolescents, which was recommended in an Independent Women’s Forum report. Some other groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support the current schedule.

Illustration of a baby after his first hexavalent vaccination, with a band-aid placed on his thigh, in a file image. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reviewing the childhood immunization schedule, which has grown from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen today. Riccardo Milani/AFP via Getty Images

Influenza Vaccines

The ACIP recommended that the government keep in place its recommendation that people at least 6 months of age receive an influenza vaccine each year.

Advisers also said officials should stop backing influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, because of concerns over cumulative mercury exposure.

With no CDC director in place, Kennedy over the summer signed off on both recommendations.

“Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility,“ he said in a statement about thimerosal. ”Today, we put safety first.”

RSV Vaccines and Antibodies

Susan Monarez, the director of the CDC at the time, in August approved another recommendation from the advisory committee, to recommend an antibody for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season. The season starts in the fall.

The product, clesrovimab, provides an alternative to Beyfortus, an antibody that is already approved and recommended.

One of the advisers later said the data the panel heard appeared to be manipulated, while Monarez was later fired.

Kennedy over the summer also approved the panel’s advice to expand the recommendation for RSV vaccination from individuals aged 60 to 74 who face an increased risk of severe disease to people aged 50 to 74 who face an increased risk.

The vaccines continue to be recommended for adults 75 years of age and older, regardless of health.

Susan Monarez, nominee for CDC director, testifies during her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on June 25, 2025. In August, Monarez approved an advisory committee recommendation to offer an antibody against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season, which starts in the fall. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

HPV Vaccine

CDC advisers had been scheduled to vote in June on whether to expand the recommendation for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to children ages 9 and 10.

The vaccine is currently recommended for children aged 11 and 12.

The vote was removed from the meeting agenda after Kennedy replaced the panel’s members.

In meetings of the reformed committee, members have neither been presented with information about the HPV vaccine nor voted on altering the recommendation.

Chikungunya Vaccine

The FDA in August suspended one chikungunya vaccine because, regulators said, data indicated that it was no longer safe.

The data included reports of serious adverse events following vaccination.

The events included cardiac problems.

Another vaccine against chikungunya virus is still available in the United States.

A laboratory technician holds a mosquito at the World Mosquito Program factory in Medellín, Colombia, on June 4, 2024. Scientists have long released biologically modified mosquitoes to curb transmission of diseases such as chikungunya. Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images

Polio and DPT Vaccines

No changes have been made with the poliomyelitis, or polio, vaccine.

“I support the polio vaccine,” Kennedy said in his confirmation hearing.

Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine recommendations have also remained the same.

Like the polio vaccine, that shot is on the childhood immunization schedule.

Vaccine Schedule

CDC advisers are studying the childhood immunization schedule, which has risen from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen currently. The work includes looking “at interaction effects, or if it’s best to do one vaccine before another,” ACIP’s chair, Martin Kulldorff, said on Sept. 18.

The CDC says on its website that the immunization schedule “is safe and effective at protecting your baby.”

The recommendations are technically not requirements, but all 50 states and the District of Columbia require many of the recommended vaccines for school attendance, and virtually all cite the schedule.

The CDC is facing a lawsuit over the schedule, with doctors alleging that the agency has not adequately tested it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on May 21, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Vaccines During Pregnancy

A workgroup of the CDC vaccine advisory panel is examining vaccines for pregnant women.

“We always have to be very, very careful and considerate with not just vaccines but with drugs, or anything that we give to a pregnant mother, because of risk of, for example, birth defects,” Kulldorff said in the September meeting.

The CDC has not recommended COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women since May.

No other recommendations for vaccines during pregnancy have been changed.

The CDC recommends whooping cough, influenza, and RSV vaccination for pregnant women.

Martin Kulldorff speaks during a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Chamblee, Ga., on Sept. 18, 2025. The federal vaccine advisory group, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is to make recommendations on who should receive COVID vaccination and whether all babies should get vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Vaccine Injury Court

Kennedy is considering updating the list of vaccine injuries eligible for government compensation to include symptoms of autism, an adviser said on Sept. 25.

The list is used in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which was established by Congress to award money to people who did or likely did suffer vaccine injuries. The law that established the program also granted vaccine manufacturers broad immunity.

Kennedy told CBS that he would like to expand the table of injuries and broaden the definitions for seizures and encephalopathy, conditions from which some autistic people suffer.

Kennedy said the court was intended to be compassionate and sensible but has turned into “a disaster for the families of injured children.”

The program currently has a backlog of thousands of cases, officials say, and just eight special masters adjudicating the cases.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 17:40

How Vaccine Policies Have Changed Under RFK Jr.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have changed recommendations and policy for multiple vaccines, including shots against COVID-19 and measles.

Here’s what has changed so far.

COVID-19 Vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now call for individuals to speak with a health care provider about risks and benefits before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, a change approved on Oct. 6.

Kennedy wrote on X that the move amounted to “restoring informed consent.”

The CDC in May, under orders from Kennedy, stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. But the agency still had near-universal recommendations in place.

The Food and Drug Administration later revoked emergency authorizations for the vaccines. The agency also approved four shots for narrower populations—those under 65 who have an underlying condition and all people 65 years of age and older.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) then told the CDC to update its recommendations to individual shared decision-making, which emphasizes that vaccinations are “individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian,” Jim O'Neill, the CDC’s acting director and the deputy health secretary, approved the recommendation.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine

President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to take separate vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella. Standalone options, though, are not available as of now in the United States. O'Neill on Oct. 6 backed Trump and called on manufacturers to produce monovalent vaccines against the diseases.

Kennedy told a Senate panel on Sept. 4 that he did not expect a change with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, known as MMR.

The United States in 2025 has recorded the most cases of measles since 1992.

Kennedy has said the vaccine limits the spread of measles and that people should get it, while raising concerns about side effects, which can include seizures and pneumonia.

Officials in Texas, the state that has recorded the bulk of the cases, announced on Aug. 18 that the measles outbreak there is over. New cases have been cropping up in other states, including South Carolina.

A tray of MMR vaccine vials at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, on March 1, 2025. President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to seek separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, although standalone shots are not currently available in the United States. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

Varicella Vaccine and MMRV

The CDC in an October update endorsed standalone varicella vaccination for younger children because they face an elevated risk of febrile seizures if they receive the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) combination vaccine.

The CDC’s immunization schedule lists a first dose against measles and varicella around a child’s first birthday. They are recommended to get a second dose when they are 4, 5, or 6 years of age.

The CDC previously recommended both the MMR and MMRV vaccine options. It still recommends MMRV vaccination for a child’s second dose, because the higher seizure risk has not been apparent for older children.

The update was based on advice from the reformed ACIP—of which all members were chosen by Kennedy after the removal of existing members.

Many pediatricians already promote the MMR plus varicella vaccine option. According to federal data, about 85 percent of children typically receive those vaccines as opposed to the MMRV vaccine for their first measles dose.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

The ACIP had been prepared to vote on advising the CDC to delay the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from shortly after birth to at least one month of age, but advisers ended up tabling the motion. Some indicated they wanted to examine the entire hepatitis B vaccine schedule, while others said they wanted to keep the schedule as it is.

“We need to postpone that because we need to really have the data to address whether or not hepatitis B vaccine should be administered to children at all,” Dr. Robert Malone, one of the advisers, said later.

It’s not clear when the matter will be revisited.

Many other countries start the hepatitis B vaccine regimen at two or three months of age, if they have a regimen at all.

Trump said in remarks about vaccines that he thinks children should not receive the hepatitis B vaccine until they are adolescents, which was recommended in an Independent Women’s Forum report. Some other groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support the current schedule.

Illustration of a baby after his first hexavalent vaccination, with a band-aid placed on his thigh, in a file image. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reviewing the childhood immunization schedule, which has grown from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen today. Riccardo Milani/AFP via Getty Images

Influenza Vaccines

The ACIP recommended that the government keep in place its recommendation that people at least 6 months of age receive an influenza vaccine each year.

Advisers also said officials should stop backing influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, because of concerns over cumulative mercury exposure.

With no CDC director in place, Kennedy over the summer signed off on both recommendations.

“Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility,“ he said in a statement about thimerosal. ”Today, we put safety first.”

RSV Vaccines and Antibodies

Susan Monarez, the director of the CDC at the time, in August approved another recommendation from the advisory committee, to recommend an antibody for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season. The season starts in the fall.

The product, clesrovimab, provides an alternative to Beyfortus, an antibody that is already approved and recommended.

One of the advisers later said the data the panel heard appeared to be manipulated, while Monarez was later fired.

Kennedy over the summer also approved the panel’s advice to expand the recommendation for RSV vaccination from individuals aged 60 to 74 who face an increased risk of severe disease to people aged 50 to 74 who face an increased risk.

The vaccines continue to be recommended for adults 75 years of age and older, regardless of health.

Susan Monarez, nominee for CDC director, testifies during her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on June 25, 2025. In August, Monarez approved an advisory committee recommendation to offer an antibody against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season, which starts in the fall. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

HPV Vaccine

CDC advisers had been scheduled to vote in June on whether to expand the recommendation for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to children ages 9 and 10.

The vaccine is currently recommended for children aged 11 and 12.

The vote was removed from the meeting agenda after Kennedy replaced the panel’s members.

In meetings of the reformed committee, members have neither been presented with information about the HPV vaccine nor voted on altering the recommendation.

Chikungunya Vaccine

The FDA in August suspended one chikungunya vaccine because, regulators said, data indicated that it was no longer safe.

The data included reports of serious adverse events following vaccination.

The events included cardiac problems.

Another vaccine against chikungunya virus is still available in the United States.

A laboratory technician holds a mosquito at the World Mosquito Program factory in Medellín, Colombia, on June 4, 2024. Scientists have long released biologically modified mosquitoes to curb transmission of diseases such as chikungunya. Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images

Polio and DPT Vaccines

No changes have been made with the poliomyelitis, or polio, vaccine.

“I support the polio vaccine,” Kennedy said in his confirmation hearing.

Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine recommendations have also remained the same.

Like the polio vaccine, that shot is on the childhood immunization schedule.

Vaccine Schedule

CDC advisers are studying the childhood immunization schedule, which has risen from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen currently. The work includes looking “at interaction effects, or if it’s best to do one vaccine before another,” ACIP’s chair, Martin Kulldorff, said on Sept. 18.

The CDC says on its website that the immunization schedule “is safe and effective at protecting your baby.”

The recommendations are technically not requirements, but all 50 states and the District of Columbia require many of the recommended vaccines for school attendance, and virtually all cite the schedule.

The CDC is facing a lawsuit over the schedule, with doctors alleging that the agency has not adequately tested it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on May 21, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Vaccines During Pregnancy

A workgroup of the CDC vaccine advisory panel is examining vaccines for pregnant women.

“We always have to be very, very careful and considerate with not just vaccines but with drugs, or anything that we give to a pregnant mother, because of risk of, for example, birth defects,” Kulldorff said in the September meeting.

The CDC has not recommended COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women since May.

No other recommendations for vaccines during pregnancy have been changed.

The CDC recommends whooping cough, influenza, and RSV vaccination for pregnant women.

Martin Kulldorff speaks during a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Chamblee, Ga., on Sept. 18, 2025. The federal vaccine advisory group, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is to make recommendations on who should receive COVID vaccination and whether all babies should get vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Vaccine Injury Court

Kennedy is considering updating the list of vaccine injuries eligible for government compensation to include symptoms of autism, an adviser said on Sept. 25.

The list is used in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which was established by Congress to award money to people who did or likely did suffer vaccine injuries. The law that established the program also granted vaccine manufacturers broad immunity.

Kennedy told CBS that he would like to expand the table of injuries and broaden the definitions for seizures and encephalopathy, conditions from which some autistic people suffer.

Kennedy said the court was intended to be compassionate and sensible but has turned into “a disaster for the families of injured children.”

The program currently has a backlog of thousands of cases, officials say, and just eight special masters adjudicating the cases.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 17:40

The Student Mule Economy: A Billion-Dollar Problem Hiding In Plain Sight

Authored by Charles Davis via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a report in August that made me cringe. It detailed how Chinese money laundering networks (CMLNs) have quietly embedded themselves in the U.S. financial system.

People walk beneath a sign for foreign currency exchange in Hong Kong on March 2, 2016. China and Hong Kong are emerging as a global hub for money laundering. Kin Cheung/AP Photo

The numbers were hard to ignore: more than 137,000 suspicious activity reports tied to CMLNs between 2020 and 2024, covering more than $312 billion in suspect flows. What caught me completely by surprise was the volume of student-linked accounts—ordinary checking accounts held by Chinese nationals studying in the United States—used as high-speed conduits for laundering cartel funds and sidestepping China’s currency restrictions.

The Mirror Trick

The opportunity is driven by the interplay between supply and demand. Mexican cartels are sitting on piles of U.S. dollars from drug sales. But Mexico doesn’t want those dollars in its banks, and China won’t let its citizens convert more than $50,000 worth of yuan into foreign currency each year. That’s where the arbitrage begins. Chinese buyers want dollars, and cartels want to offload them without a huge hit on the profits. CMLNs broker the swap, and the activities occur below the radar.

They use a method called a mirror flow. It’s not a wire transfer, and the transaction doesn’t require physically moving the money. Instead, for example, a cartel operative hands off cash in Los Angeles and a Chinese buyer pays the equivalent amount in yuan to a broker in Guangzhou. The dollars stay in the United States. The yuan stays in China. But the value moves—mirrored across two jurisdictions, excluding any formal banking trail that would connect the dots.

Echoes of Hawala

If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s a next-generation hawala system. For centuries, hawala networks have moved money across South Asia and the Middle East without touching a bank.

For example, a worker in Dubai gives cash to a hawaladar. That broker calls his counterpart in Kabul, who releases the equivalent amount to the worker’s family. No wires, no paperwork—just a ledger entry and an exchange.

After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, hawala became Afghanistan’s financial backbone—used for everything from humanitarian aid to opium proceeds.

CMLNs operate on the same principle, but instead of phone calls, they use encrypted apps. Instead of dusty notebooks, they use nested merchant accounts and long-established consumer-facing payment systems such as debit cards, mobile apps, and small-dollar transfers. These rails are built for convenience, not scrutiny. That’s what allows them to operate in the open.

The Student Who Didn’t Ask Questions

Picture Lily. She’s 22, studying economics at a university in Boston. Her parents wired her tuition, but she’s short on rent. A friend offers her $500 to “help move money.” She’s told it’s legal. She agrees.

Over the next week, Lily’s account lights up. Dozens of deposits—$200 here, $150 there—from strangers. She forwards the money to other accounts, some via Zelle and some via cashier’s checks. Meanwhile, in Guangzhou, a broker receives yuan from a buyer who wants to purchase U.S. dollars. Lily never meets the buyer. The cartel never sees the yuan. But the value moves. Her account becomes a hop in a mirror flow. The system sees a student splitting Uber or dinner, and the network sees the mule.

From the bank’s perspective, Lily appears to be any other student—making modest deposits and frequent transfers, which allows a college kid to live from check to check. Nothing criminal until you zoom out, and the pattern emerges: hundreds of accounts just like hers, all showing sudden spikes, shared device IDs, and synchronized activity. These are the red flags FinCEN wants banks to catch.

The Network Beneath the Surface

This isn’t fringe behavior; it’s the cornerstone of infrastructure. FinCEN’s advisory highlights accounts opened by students, retirees, and homemakers—profiles that pass Know Your Customer (KYC) checks easily, but later show six-figure turnover and proximity to cash pickup sites or money service businesses (MSBs).

Federal prosecutors have spent exhausting hours outlining how Chinese underground bankers in the United States partner with Mexico-based cartels to move drug dollars using informal value transfer. Student accounts are ideal: clean KYC, low scrutiny, high throughput.

Foreign media have helped confirm the demand side. Chinese nationals seeking dollars outside the foreign exchange cap fuel an underground banking system that pairs yuan payers in China with dollar sellers in the United States, using diaspora accounts to keep liquidity moving.

What’s the Impact

Every dollar laundered through a student mule keeps the fentanyl pipeline alive. Every mirror transaction undermines the banking system. And every misuse of retail rails erodes trust in the platforms millions rely on daily. The process also puts immigrant communities and universities under suspicion, chilling legitimate financial activity and complicating cross-border support. Laborers sending money home to Mexico, Honduras, or Colombia are not in the mix with illicit actions that use similar pathways.

The fix isn’t blanket bans or profiling. Government and banking institutions need to use precision. Banks need better telemetry—device data, velocity rules, and merchant codes that flag suspicious activity, such as money laundering. Regulators need to harmonize KYC across sectors, especially where student-linked funds touch real estate or shell vendors. Law enforcement needs access to interbank patterns that reveal the network, not just the node.

What’s needed now isn’t just better software or more training. We need a shift in how we see the problem. Student accounts don’t start out suspicious—they become suspicious through pattern, velocity, and context. That means smarter onboarding along with real-time coordination between banks, law enforcement, and intel fusion centers. The system needs to recognize when ordinary accounts start behaving like financial switchboards.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 17:00

Grand Jury Indicts NY AG Letitia James On Criminal Bank Fraud, CNN Reports

A federal grand jury in Eastern Virginia has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of bank fraud, multiple outlets are reporting. 

US Attorney Lindsey Halligan presented the case to the grand jury on Thursday, according to sources, one month after she was installed in her role. 

CNN: We have just learned that Letitia James has just been indicted by the DOJ pic.twitter.com/8oTmU1vAVm

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2025

As noted in August, a criminal referral was filed against James, alleging that she had "falsified records" to get home loans for a Virginia property that she claimed was her "principal residence" in 2023 - while she was serving as a New York state prosecutor.

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent the missive to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, claiming that in late August 2023 - weeks before she launched her civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization for inflating the values of its properties.

In 2021, James also purchased a 5-family Brooklyn property, but has "consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications," the letter noted.

Loans secured for this property could have reduced her mortgage interest rate by as much as 1% - leaving James with lower monthly payments under the federal Home Assistance Modification Program (HAMP) since it was listed as containing just four units, according to Pulte.

No one is above the law.

— Tish James (@TishJames) May 30, 2024

Fox News' Elizabeth MacDonald opines;

Serious bank fraud indictment against NYS AG Letitia James from a federal grand jury in Virginia. Watch for her to say they have to prove intent. Here’s the road map: Allegations are that James “falsified records” to get a cheaper mortgage for a property in Virginia that she claimed was her “principal residence” in 2023 when she was still serving as a New York state prosecutor to save money via more favorable loan terms—lower rates, more favorable qualification standards, potential tax breaks or eligibility for programs she wouldn’t otherwise qualify for.

Primary residence mortgages usually come with lower interest rates compared to second homes or investment properties. Lenders often allow smaller down payments for primary residences. Claiming a property as a primary residence can make mortgage interest and property taxes eligible for deduction. If she was not actually residing there, this could constitute a false statement to the lender.

She was accused of listing a five-unit building as a four-unit dwelling on official and financial documents. Some mortgage programs, especially FHA and other government-backed loans, are only available for 1–4 unit properties. These programs typically offer lower interest rates, reduced mortgage insurance premiums, and less stringent credit requirements.

A five-unit property is considered commercial real estate, which would require different, often more expensive, financing.

On mortgages from 1983 and 2000, James and her father were listed as “husband and wife.” Listing as spouses may allow for combined income to qualify for a larger mortgage. Lenders may offer simpler terms or fewer questions if applicants appear to be a married couple. If the false representation was made knowingly to obtain better terms, it could be considered fraud.

And remember...

No one is above the law.

— Tish James (@TishJames) May 30, 2024

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Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 16:40

Gold's Acceleration Reveals Vanishing Calm, Coming Change

Authored by Peter C. Earle via TheDailyEconomy.org,

Gold has crossed $4,000 per ounce just 200 days after it passed $3,000. What began as a slow march from crisis to crisis has transformed into an accelerated sprint that is reshaping how savers, investors, and policymakers worldwide view the world’s oldest monetary metal.

Beyond the simple symbolism of a round number, the current moment captures the increasingly uneasy intersection of macroeconomic stress, geopolitical instability, and feedback loops of momentum.

Several overlapping and reinforcing forces are driving gold’s surge:

1. Volatile trade policies, central bank division, and persistent fiscal dysfunction have fueled demand for safe assets. The US government’s repeated shutdown standoffs and spiraling debt dynamics make gold particularly attractive as “insurance;” particularly in the current shutdown, which seems likely to endure.

2. There is a tiresome critique that gold pays no dividend and has no yield, but that becomes an advantage when real (inflation-adjusted) rates turn negative. As the Federal Reserve has embarked upon an easing campaign, the opportunity cost of holding gold declines, giving the metal a fresh tailwind.

3. With the US dollar sliding, gold becomes cheaper for overseas buyers and more desirable as a reserve diversifier.

4. From Beijing to Brazil, central banks have been steadily adding to gold reserves. These moves are partly about diversifying away from the dollar and partly about hedging against sanctions or geopolitical shocks.

5. Exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold are attracting fresh capital. Some of this is retail money, but a large portion is institutional flows — allocations made with the intention of sticking through volatility.

6. Unlike oil or grain, gold production cannot be scaled quickly. Mines face capital shortages, political risk, and geological limits. Recycling adds some supply, but nowhere near enough to offset surging demand.

7. Rising public debt, unconventional fiscal policies, and questions about central bank independence are corroding faith in fiat currency. Each new episode of political dysfunction adds to the case for holding tangible assets.

8. For some investors, gold is not just an investment but a hedge against extreme scenarios: war, defaults, or sudden inflation spikes. These convex, “lottery ticket” flows add depth to the rally.

The result is a perfect storm of forces reinforcing one another. Gold is not rising for one reason; It is rising for many.

The temptation is usually to dwell on the neatness of round numbers: $4,000 per ounce is a record high: higher (obviously) than $3,000 per ounce with eyes already focused on $5,000 per ounce. 

But a more revealing story emerges when we consider how quickly gold has moved between these thresholds. Gold first crossed $1,000 per ounce in 2008, during the financial crisis. It would take until August 2020 — nearly 12 years, or roughly 4,400 days — before gold finally broke through the $2,000 per ounce level. The journey from $2,000 in 2020 to $3,000 per ounce in March 2025 took about five years, or roughly 1,700 days. The latest leap has been the most astonishing. Gold cleared $3,000 per ounce in March 2025 and crossed $4,000 per ounce by October 2025. That’s a span of only about seven months (roughly 200 days).

This contraction in “days per new-thousand-dollar-ounces” is dramatic: from twelve years, to five, to less than one. It suggests a regime shift: either an accelerating loss of confidence in financial systems, or an extraordinary momentum cycle that could itself become self-reinforcing. The speed of these price leaps offers a richer narrative than psychological milestones alone. In practical terms, it raises questions: if the time to each new level is shrinking, are we watching a bubble — or are we witnessing a structural repricing of gold’s role in the financial system?

Quantifying the intervals provides an investigative framework: one can map “days per new-thousand-dollar-ounces” against macro factors such as real yields, central bank reserves, or debt-to-GDP ratios. If gold’s acceleration lines up with deteriorating fundamentals, it’s possible that the price move reflects more than momentum; it signals a profound market reassessment.

Gold at $4,000 per ounce is more than a headline. It is the sum of overlapping uncertainties: inflation, currency instability, debt, central bank policy, and geopolitical turbulence.

But it is also a story told in numbers.

The shrinking intervals between each successive $1,000 price gain speak both of, and to, a world that is changing faster than before.

One where safe havens are sought not gradually, but urgently. It’s now quite clear that gold can reach $5,000 per ounce. The outstanding issue is how quickly it will take to do so, and what that speed tells us — if anything — about the evolving state of the global economy.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 16:20

"Blow Up Risk Is A Real Possibility": 'Volmageddon' Fears Reignite As Melt-Up Wipes Out Levered Short ETF

Have we learned nothing?

February 2018 saw the markets suffer what came to be known as 'Volmageddon' as a sudden surge in volatility triggered massive losses in short-volatility exchange-traded products (ETPs), such as the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV), losing over 90% of their value in a single day.

The S&P 500 dropped approximately 4%, and billions of dollars in investor capital evaporated as these leveraged products, designed to profit from low volatility, collapsed under the pressure of the unexpected volatility spike.

The event was driven by a combination of market concentration and the mechanics of hedge and leverage rebalancing.

A month ago we highlighted a note from BofA which warned "'Volmageddon'-Triggering ETPs Are On The Rise Again".

And this week, we may be seeing the first canary in the coalmine for next market structure crisis as GraniteShares was forced to shutter its 3x Short AMD exchange-traded product on Monday after shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. surged as much as 38%, wiping out its value.

The ETP - listed in London and Italy - aimed to offer three times the inverse return of AMD’s shares and had gathered about $3 million in assets before its closure, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

As Bloomberg's ETF guru Eric Balchunas noted in a post on X:

"We got our first termination event. The GraniteShares -3x AMD ETP in Europe is no longer.  Forced termination, XIV-style..."

A notice on the GraniteShares website announced that “as the NAV is now zero, no redemption payments will be made. Trading in the affected ETP has been suspended and the securities will be delisted in due course in accordance with exchange procedures.” Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares, declined to comment.

Bloomberg reports that the product’s implosion comes days after GraniteShares - and a handful of other issuers, including Defiance ETFs, ProShares and Direxion - applied with the SEC for leveraged products designed to deliver three times the daily return of some of the market’s hottest trades.

Though such products already exist in Europe, they largely don’t trade in the US given volatility rules set by the regulator that cap how much leverage a fund can offer.

“I think this proves that blow-up risk is a real possibility for a 3x stock ETF,” said Bloomberg Intelligence’s Athanasios Psarofagis.

“But I doubt even such an event will deter investors.”

The filings come after 2x funds proved wildly popular with American investors.

“Single-stock blowups are practically inevitable, especially in today’s fast-paced environment,” said Todd Sohn, senior ETF analyst at Strategas Securities.

“The question is: when does it arrive in the US, a much larger market?”

While the scale of the GraniteShares ETF termination event is considerably smaller than that of XIV's 2018 collapse, we suspect - given the level of levered retail participation in markets - that this will be the first of many (both long and short) levered ETF blowups to come.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 15:45

US Bailout Of Argentina Begins: Bessent Purchases Pesos, Finalizes $20BN Currency Swap

With the Argentine Peso imploding in recent weeks - but not as fast as it would have had the Milei government not backstopped it with relentless central bank interventions which quickly drained the country's dollar reserves - and the country's bond market in freefall, the Latin American country was facing a full-blown market collapse if it didn't get quick and generous access to a source of USD funding. It did just that moments ago when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had "finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank" adding that the U.S. Treasury "is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets." That much was expected, and was already discssed previously. More importantly, Bessent noted that today the US "directly purchased Argentine pesos" which will likely spark outrage among those wondering how bailing out Argentina is part of the "America First" agenda, especially when Argentina had been quietly exporting soybeans to China while US farmers are stuck nursing huge losses, now that China is no longer a key customer, and is instead purchasing from such countries rescued by the US as... Argentina. 

This is what Bessent wrote moments ago on X:

The @USTreasury has concluded 4 days of intensive meetings with Minister @LuisCaputoAR and his team in DC. We discussed Argentina’s strong economic fundamentals, including structural changes already underway that will generate significant dollar-denominated exports and foreign exchange reserves.

Argentina faces a moment of acute illiquidity. The international community – including @IMFNews  – is unified behind Argentina and its prudent fiscal strategy, but only the United States can act swiftly.  And act we will.

To that end, today we directly purchased Argentine pesos.

Additionally, we have finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank. The U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets.

I emphasized to Minister Caputo that @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s America First economic leadership is committed to strengthening our allies who welcome fair trade and American investment.

I continue to hear from American business leaders who, thanks to President Milei’s leadership, are eager to tie the American and Argentine economies more closely together. The Trump administration is resolute in our support for allies of the United States, and to that end we also discussed Argentina’s investment incentives, and U.S. tools to powerfully support investment in our strategic partners.

Minister Caputo informed me of his close coordination with the IMF on Argentina’s commitments under its program. Argentina’s policies, when anchored on fiscal discipline, are sound. Its exchange rate band remains fit for purpose.

We reviewed the broad political consensus in Argentina for the second half of President @JMilei’s term. I was encouraged by their focus on achieving fiscally sound economic freedom for the people of Argentina via lower taxes, higher investment, private sector job creation, and partnering with allies. As Argentina lifts the dead weight of the state and stops spending into inflation, great things are possible.

The success of Argentina’s reform agenda is of systemic importance, and a strong, stable Argentina which helps anchor a prosperous Western Hemisphere is in the strategic interest of the United States. Their success should be a bipartisan priority.

I look forward to the meeting between President Trump and President Milei on October 14, and to seeing Minister Caputo again on the margins of the IMF Annual Meetings.

In kneejerk response, Argentine dollar bonds extended earlier gains on Thursday, with notes rising more than 4 cents across the curve. Sovereign bonds due in 2035 rose gained 4.3 cents on the dollar to trade above 60 cents, the highest levels in two weeks.

Of course, Argentina was delighted with the outcome and minister Caputo promptly thanked Bessent for his "unwavering support."

While Trump's decision to bailout Argentina makes geopolitical sense - the country is the last bastion of Anti-Chinese sentiment in Latin America, a continent which is now almost entirely pro-Beijing - Trump is about to get an earful from both sides of the aisle why he is bailing out Argentine farmers (who are exporting soybeans to China) while neglecting to do the same with US farmers. 

As a reminder, with silos full and exports drying up, Beijing - fromerly the biggest buyer of US soybeans - has not purchased any this season, diverting orders to Brazil and Argentina instead. In retaliation for Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, China imposed a 25% levy on American soybeans in April, further eroding their price competitiveness.

Beyond Beijing, top importers of US soybeans include Mexico, the European Union, Japan and Indonesia. Yet Trump’s team is pushing into untested markets such as India, already burdened by tariffs, as American farmers hunt for buyers from Vietnam to Nigeria.

Tyler Durden Thu, 10/09/2025 - 15:31