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My Retirement Accounts Fail In The World I Actually Live In

2026-05-24T17:19:12.091-07:00

My Retirement Accounts Fail In The World I Actually Live In

Authored by Patrick Brenner via RealClearMarkets,

I remember the first time I logged into my retirement account as a young professional. It felt like a milestone: proof that I had entered the world of adulthood, of long-term thinking, of ownership. I work in the nonprofit sector, so technically it's a 403(b), not a 401(k). The distinction is academic; the promise is the same: contribute consistently, invest wisely, and over time, build financial independence.

The longer I've contributed, the more I've realized something uncomfortable: my retirement plan isn't built for the world I actually live in.

Like many in my generation, I came of age during a period of profound economic change. Companies stay private longer. Technology, infrastructure, and energy companies increasingly raise capital outside public markets. The most dynamic growth in the economy often happens before a company ever reaches a stock exchange. When I look at my retirement options, I'm locked out of that world.

Instead, we see a familiar menu consisting of a handful of mutual funds and some index options that quietly steer me toward a standardized allocation. These are not bad investments, but they represent only a fraction of real economic growth.

For my younger peers just entering the workforce, this gap is even more consequential. The directions are thus: start early, take advantage of compounding, and think long term. If we each had a dollar for every time we got the lecture about the "time value of money," we'd all retire tomorrow. But we are also being funneled into portfolios that exclude entire categories of assets like private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure that have historically delivered higher long-term returns and meaningful diversification.

Brett Arends at Market Watch incorrectly asserts that opening retirement plans to these assets would expose workers to high fees, illiquidity, and complexity. He misses a more important question: compared to what?

There's real asymmetry. Institutional investors regularly allocate 20 to 30 percent of their portfolios to private markets. They do so because these assets offer diversification, illiquidity premiums, and exposure to parts of the economy unavailable in public markets. Ordinary workers are confined to a narrower universe because litigious zealots neutered the system, compelling fiduciaries to avoid risk at all costs.

This narrowing of investment options originates in the legal environment surrounding employer-sponsored retirement plans. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), plan sponsors face an onslaught of litigation. The risk of lawsuits compels employers to increasingly default to the safest legal options rather than to the best outcomes for participants, thereby directly limiting potential returns.

Even if you set aside litigation, the deeper issue is structural. The retirement system hasn't kept pace with the evolution of capital markets.

The proposed rule from the Department of Labor deserves serious attention. At its core, the rule introduces a safe-harbor framework for evaluating "designated investment alternatives" in defined-contribution plans. The definition encompasses everything from traditional mutual funds to more complex vehicles, including those that can incorporate private assets.

The framework is asset-neutral. It outlines how fiduciaries should choose. Plan sponsors are obligated to evaluate investments using a set of common-sense factors: fees, performance, liquidity, valuation, benchmarks, and complexity. If they do so objectively and analytically, they are presumed to meet their fiduciary obligations.

The White House's Council of Economic Advisers suggests that younger participants could benefit from allocating up to 30 percent of their portfolios to private markets. Institutional investors have approached portfolio construction using private markets for decades.

Yet parts of the proposed rule undermine that very goal. A 15 percent cap on private assets, derived from SEC Rule 22e-4, would limit exposure, a particular problem for collective investment trusts, which are regulated differently and historically operated without such constraints.

Angela Antonelli offers helpful insights. Georgetown Univerisity's research from the Center for Retirement Initiatives and other CRI analysis, even relatively modest exposure to private real assets, private credit, and private equity has the potential to boost outcomes by 7% to 8%, not just for the "average" DC participant but also across a range of more real financial savings patterns that DC participants too often find themselves in over the course of their working years.

Large institutions, from university endowments to public pension funds, routinely invest in private markets and reap the benefits of diversification and higher returns. We've created two classes of retirement savers: those with access to the full spectrum of capital markets, and those without.

That divide is the difference between participating in today's economy and being stuck in a version of it that no longer exists. Retirement policy should be about equipping workers to build wealth in the modern world.

Right now, my 403(b) originated on a promise that has become so antiquated it might be unattainable. Instead of "taxing the rich," can't we just be allowed to invest like them?

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/24/2026 - 18:40
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Bubble-Wrapped World: How Safety Culture Has Destroyed Our Sense Of Adventure

2026-05-24T15:19:04.139-07:00

Bubble-Wrapped World: How Safety Culture Has Destroyed Our Sense Of Adventure

Authored by Murray Lytle via The Epoch Times,

Are Canadians less adventurous than they once were? It’s hard to argue otherwise.

Alexander Mackenzie was only 24 when the North West Company named him chief fur trader at Fort Chipewyan, in what is now Alberta. A few years later, in 1789 he travelled north along what is now known as the Mackenzie River to become the first European to reach the Arctic Ocean overland. Four years later he crossed the Rocky Mountains and was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean, beating Americans Merriweather Lewis and William Clark by a full dozen years.

In 1898, Martha Purdy arrived in Dawson City to escape a failed marriage and make her fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush. It was while climbing the notorious Chilkoot Pass that she discovered she was pregnant with her third son. She later remarried and, as Martha Black, was the second woman to be elected to Canada’s Parliament. She was also a successful entrepreneur and a world-renowned expert on wild flowers.

Canadian history is filled with tales such as these. Explorers, soldiers, settlers, and other restless souls who endured great hardships and did great things.

There is a natural sense of awe that arises when retelling such lives filled with adventure. To our modern selves, they appear as fascinating aberrations, gifted men and women with unusual appetites for risky or dangerous undertakings. Their willingness to set out into the unknown strikes us today as thrilling, unnerving, and more than a bit foolhardy. But while their accomplishments may be striking, they lived in more adventurous times.

Today, society shrinks from adventure and the unknown.

Through a combination of practical circumstances, changing social standards, and dramatic shifts in individual risk tolerance and government behaviour, opportunities for adventure have been drastically curtailed.

How can Canadians get that sense of adventurousness back?

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered”, G.K. Chesterton once wrote. “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” There is a case to be made that adventures are simply harder to come by these days.

There are no more blank spaces left on maps, and hence no places for modern-day Mackenzies to discover.

The omnipresence of the internet and GPS similarly makes it almost impossible to get truly lost anymore. And if you do, help is usually close at hand.

Beyond these practical limitations, however, it seems incontestable that society today is less interested in promoting, facilitating, or participating in adventurous life experiences.

No one talks of running away with the circus or joining the French Foreign Legion anymore, even in jest. According to Statistics Canada, twice as many millennials are still living at home as was the case with previous generations. And if any of these young adults do go away, it’s more than likely to be an adventureless “gap year” holiday between graduate degrees recorded in minute detail on Snapchat and Instagram.

The perpetual childhood of today’s younger generations contrasts sharply with the youthful accomplishments of past eras. William Wilberforce, for example, was elected to the British Parliament at age 21 and then proved instrumental in ending the trans-Atlantic slave trade. His friend William Pitt became Prime Minister at 24, and spent his career fighting the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who became a general at 24. Quite a lot can be accomplished when one starts early.

Other factors that limit the availability of adventure in our post-modern era include the suffocating impact of the welfare state. When Mackenzie left his family home at 15 to become an apprentice in the fur industry, it was because he had little choice. He needed to make his way in the world as a teenager. The same urgency applied to Black when she decided to escape a failed marriage by travelling to the Yukon. With no government to hold your hand, adventure follows. Popular culture in earlier eras also did its bit as well by celebrating explorers and adventurers as celebrities in the same manner that we laud singers and athletes today.

Just as adventure was once regarded as a social virtue to be admired, society today aggressively enforces the opposite expectation—that it is our duty to avoid risk at all costs. In their 2021 book “The Coddling of the American Mind,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and lawyer Greg Lukianoff take a close look at the impact of a creeping safety culture on the behaviour of younger generations.

Children, the authors observed, are now deliberately shielded from any sense of risk or uncertainty. How can anyone—young boys most of all—learn about the world around them when school principals announce at the onset of every snowfall that “all snow must stay on the ground.” The ideal of adventure and resilience has been replaced by a debilitating sense of fragility and risk-avoidance.

So is the dream of looking over an untravelled horizon that animated people like Alexander Mackenzie or Martha Black completely dead in the 21st century? Not exactly.

Adventure should properly be considered a spirit, not a place.

It is driven by a powerful mixture of curiosity, necessity, and an openness to experiencing new things. And it can be found wherever uncertainty reigns. Today, that might entail travelling to strange lands, meeting new people, or even engaging in uncomfortable discussions about whether Alberta should remain part of Canada forever.

Wherever the unknown lies, adventure can be found.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/24/2026 - 17:30
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Two Billboards In New York Capture The Conflict Of Our Time

2026-05-24T14:19:44.381-07:00

Two Billboards In New York Capture The Conflict Of Our Time

Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times,

Two billboards went up in New York City recently. This is a city of advertising, where images appear when someone wants the whole world to see them. One billboard is selling artificial intelligence, and the other is warning about it. The juxtaposition between these two advertisers, who most likely wouldn’t have seen the other’s message in advance, captures the conflict of our times and cements the uncertainty about the future within an artificial intelligence world.

The selling billboard is dark, purple, and almost cinematic.

An AI-generated face with artificial perfection stares out. Three words above her say: “Stop Hiring Humans.” The Era of AI Employees Is Here. The company is Artisan. The company says it “is a provocation. It works because it’s uncomfortable.” It is real. It wants your payroll budget, and it is not embarrassed to say so.

The warning billboard is light, purple, and funny in the way that grief sometimes is. A sad stick figure holds a small sign: Will Create 4 Food. Mock chat bubbles float across it like a corporate memo from a future that has already arrived: “Thank you artists for donating your life’s work to our AI. Your generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed. Just uncompensated.”

The organization’s name is Replacement.AI. It is also real, but it is not selling anything. It is run by anonymous artists who spent their own money to tell you the truth. Their website calls itself “the only honest AI company.” Its homepage reads: Humans no longer necessary. Stupid. Smelly. Squishy. It’s time for a machine solution.

The quotes on the site are genuine, such as one from OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman: “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there'll be great companies.” And another from OpenAI’s charter, “To build ‘highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.’”

On the page dedicated to artists, the site reads: “If you’re one of the millions of artists, musicians, writers, journalists, scholars, or other creatives whose work we’ve stolen to train our AI, we want to thank you. We couldn’t have achieved a $100 billion valuation without all of your hard work, just sitting on the internet for us and our other AI company friends to scrape. Unfortunately for you, financial compensation is out of the question. Just because we’re making money from your copyrighted material doesn’t mean you’re legally entitled to any of it.”

It is satire. It is also accurate. In a submission to the House of Lords, OpenAI admitted, “It would be impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.”

The courts are beginning to agree too that something was taken. Well over thirty copyright infringement lawsuits have been filed by creators against AI developers. Visual artists sued Stability AI and Midjourney. Getty Images sued, arguing that over twelve million photographs were scraped without license. The New York Times sued OpenAI. Universal Music filed a $3.1 billion lawsuit against Anthropic in January 2026, alleging its AI was built on a foundation of piracy. None of these cases have reached final verdicts. The legal system is moving at human speed through a problem that was created at machine speed.

What passed through a million years of accumulated human experience—the knowledge handed from mind to mind, generation to generation, the grief and wonder pressed into stories and paintings and films and arguments on the internet at three in the morning—was consumed by hungry algorithms. There was no purchase or licensing. The great ingestion happened in server rooms, while the rest of us were clicking I Agree to ever-lengthening terms and conditions that no one ever bothers to read. And that phase is now over.

Yet predictions for our future keep rolling in, each one confident, and each one contradicting the last. Goldman Sachs estimates AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs. The World Economic Forum projects 92 million jobs displaced by 2030, offset by 170 million new ones created, which is a net gain, on paper at least. Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, warns AI could replace half of all entry-level office jobs within five years. Jensen Huang says greater productivity creates more hiring, not less. In 2025 alone, Amazon eliminated 14,000 corporate roles, Microsoft cut 15,000, and Salesforce reduced its customer support workforce by 4,000. Like the billboards in Time Square, both are right, yet neither agree. What the experts ultimately share is uncertainty.

And the AI models are hungry again. This time, media organizations are making sure they require payment from AI giants for their content. New York Times is partnering with Amazon’s AI, Meta with News Corp, and Google with Reddit. But human-made internet content is finite and cannot keep up with the voracious appetite of AI models that do not need time to sleep or metabolise. So the machines have no choice but to prompt themselves, and generate new content upon previous content, with less and less human origin, leading us down a spiral of infinite iteration with less human touch, less human spirit, and less human soul. The only thing the “experts” seem to agree on is that the business potentials are both exhilarating and terrifying.

Meanwhile, Artisan’s billboard promises relief from the burden of human employees. Lower payroll. No sick days. No long hot showers a person needs to feel like a person again. The face on that billboard doesn’t need to ground herself. She doesn’t need anything. What is being sold is not intelligence, but the absence of need. It is a cold world to advertise, and the advertisers seem not to fear the cold.

Two billboards in New York City, and the same ones are popping up in other major cities across the nation. Between them is the argument that is yet to be resolved: whether what is being built is a tool or a replacement, a future or an ending. The experts cannot agree. The lawyers are still filing. The models are still hungry. And somewhere in Times Square, a sad stick figure is still holding his sign, hoping someone walking past will stop long enough to read it.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/24/2026 - 16:20
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Iran Destroyed 20% Of Pentagon's MQ-9 Reaper Drone Fleet: Report

2026-05-23T16:19:22.574-07:00

Iran Destroyed 20% Of Pentagon's MQ-9 Reaper Drone Fleet: Report

Via Middle East Eye

Iran has destroyed $1bn worth of MQ-9 Reaper Drones, or roughly 20 percent of the US's pre-war inventory of the sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a report by Bloomberg on Friday.

The report said that many of the drones were downed by Iran in flight, but that others had been destroyed on the ground when Iran targeted US military bases in the Gulf.

via AFP

The MQ-9 is both a surveillance drone and capable of carrying a payload, typically Hellfire missiles or Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs.

Bloomberg reported that the US may have lost up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones in the war, a higher number than the 24 that a report released this month by the Congressional Research Service noted.

The $1bn price tag adds to the cost of the war on Iran, which a senior official at the Pentagon told Reuters in May reached up to $29bn. The MQ-9 Reaper drone is being gradually phased out by the US military, although General Atomics continues to produce it for foreign customers.

Iran’s ability to shoot down MQ-9 Reaper Drones is another demonstration of how it has managed to deploy some air defense, despite claims from US President Donald Trump that the country’s defences have been “obliterated”.

A US official told The New York Times this week that Iranian military commanders may have mapped out flight patterns of US fighter jets and bombers over their skies, raising the risks should Trump decide to restart the war on Iran.

Days before the US and Iran reached a fragile ceasefire in April, Iran shot down a F-15E Strike Eagle warplane, sparking a massive US recovery operation for the pilots. If Iran had been able to capture the US pilot alive, it would have put tremendous pressure on Washington, experts say.

The New York Times reported that Russia may have helped Iran map US flight patterns in order to better position their military assets and air defense systems.

Iran and Russia have a long-standing security arrangement. Russia has assisted Iran by providing satellite imagery of US warships and military personnel, according to multiple US media reports.

Various regional media had featured reports of downed Reaper drones through March into April, at the height of the air war over Iran:

🇾🇪 Iranian and regional media outlets, including Iran’s Fars News Agency, are reporting the downing of a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen’s Marib province, the key oil and gas region located in north-central Yemen today.

The claim and the footage has not yet been confirmed by… pic.twitter.com/In3GVmuLJG
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 17, 2026

Iran’s air defence comprises a mix of domestically produced systems along with Russian and Chinese systems.

Middle East Eye was the first to report that China had provided air defence batteries to Iran, following the June 2025 war that culminated in the US bombing three Iranian nuclear sites.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/23/2026 - 18:40
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Ivanka Trump Was Reportedly Targeted For Assassination By IRGC Terrorist

2026-05-23T15:19:29.672-07:00

Ivanka Trump Was Reportedly Targeted For Assassination By IRGC Terrorist

First Daughter Ivanka Trump was allegedly targeted in an assassination plot by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-trained terrorist seeking revenge for the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, reportedly pledged to kill Ivanka Trump and was found with a blueprint of her Florida home after his recent capture, according to an exclusive report from the New York Post.

The alleged plot traces directly to the January 2020 drone strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad.

Al-Saadi, who US authorities describe as a high-ranking operative within Iraq-Iran terror circles, had reportedly idolized the IRGC Quds Force commander as a father figure after his father died in a plane crash in 2006. That personal connection, analysts say, transformed a political grievance into something far more volatile. Ivanka Trump, 44, who converted to Orthodox Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner in 2009, emerged as Al-Saadi's primary target.

Entifadh Qanbar, a former deputy military attaché at the Iraqi embassy in Washington and now head of the Future Foundation, says Al-Saadi began openly vowing revenge after Soleimani's death. "We need to kill Ivanka to burn down the house of Trump the way he burned down our house," Al-Saadi allegedly told associates. "We heard that he had a plan of Ivanka's house in Florida," Qanbar adds, noting that a second source independently confirmed the existence of the plot.

Al-Saadi posted a map image on social media showing the exclusive Florida enclave where Ivanka and Kushner own a $24 million home, paired with a warning in Arabic that "neither your palaces nor the Secret Service will protect you" and that "our revenge is a matter of time." In that same post, he declared that he and his network were "currently in the stage of surveillance and analysis,” framing the operation not as an aspiration but as active preparation.

“Al-Saadi is said to be a high-ranking figure in Iraq-Iran terror circles, arrested in Turkey on May 15 and extradited to the US, where he is charged with 18 attacks and attempted attacks throughout Europe and the United States, per the Department of Justice,” the New York Post reports. “He’s been behind attacks on US and Jewish targets including the firebombing of the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam in March, the stabbing of two Jewish victims in London in April and a shooting at the US consulate building in Toronto, also in March, according to the DoJ.”

Court documents also state that he "planned, coordinated" and claimed responsibility for attacks on Jewish communities, including the bombing of a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, and the arson of a temple in Rotterdam.

What makes the case especially striking is how openly Al-Saadi allegedly operated online.

According to federal investigators, he posted photos with missiles, praised Qasem Soleimani, threatened “the American enemy,” and even shared images tied to alleged terror targets. Authorities also say he used a religious travel agency as cover to connect with terror cells internationally and traveled with an Iraqi government-issued service passport that reduced scrutiny at airports.

Analysts say Al-Saadi had deep ties to Iran-backed militias and maintained connections with both Soleimani and his successor, Esmail Qaani. He is now being held in solitary confinement in Brooklyn while supporters in Baghdad reportedly portray him as a resistance figure.

🇺🇸🇮🇷 An IRGC-linked Iraqi terrorist named Mohammad Baqer Al-Saadi was plotting to assassinate Ivanka Trump as revenge for the U.S. killing of his mentor Qasem Soleimani.

He had a blueprint of Ivanka’s Florida home, posted maps and threats online, and was actively involved in… https://t.co/pubLwRaJj7 pic.twitter.com/PCCto7v8yT
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 23, 2026

“Ivanka Trump was allegedly targeted in an assassination attempt tied to Iranian terror groups. Thankful Ivanka remains safe right now,” House Republicans said in a statement on X. “The failed assassination plot shows Iran’s true colors (and why we must make sure they never have a nuclear weapon). They hate America and they clearly see President Trump as the man standing between them and death to America. That’s why they’re targeting his daughter. It’s sick.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/23/2026 - 16:55
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What 'Compassion' Isn't

2026-05-23T14:19:41.820-07:00

What 'Compassion' Isn't

Authored by Laura Hollis via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

One of the most frustrating aspects of contemporary conversations about politics and public policy is how often the deleterious effects of terrible programs - local, state and federal - are brushed aside with distracting and even deceitful claims that the intentions behind the policies were "compassionate." This is an utterly wrongheaded analysis for many reasons. Laws, public policies, and government programs should be evaluated by their results, not by the state of mind of their advocates or sponsors.

Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash.com

The weaponization of compassion has launched a de facto competition of who can be thought to be the most "compassionate" or, at least, not thought to be uncompassionate. The result of this arms race has been chaos, destruction, and depravity.

It's easy to lose sight of just how often this pernicious dynamic takes place, so it's worthwhile to point out a few of the disastrous policies that were promoted, and in some cases continue to be promoted, as being "compassionate" and to call them out for the societally corrosive lies they are.

1. It wasn't "compassionate" to close our mental hospitals. The impulse was understandable; plenty of those facilities were substandard. But the results were catastrophic. Until fairly recently in this country's history, the "homeless" population consisted largely of small numbers of unattached males who drifted from place to place seeking work. But since the 1980s, the homeless population of the United States has exploded. Nearly three-quarters of a million people are homeless, and the number jumped 18 percent from 2023 to 2024. California has 187,000 of the country's homeless; more than 70,000 are in Los Angeles County alone.

2. It isn't "compassionate," nor is it respect for "individual autonomy" or "dignity," to leave the homeless to live as they do. Homeless encampments are hotbeds of filth, including human urine and feces, crime and diseases like leptospirosis, typhus, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and even plague. Across the country, cities are dealing with the economic impact of shuttered stores and declining downtowns attributable to the presence of ever-growing numbers of homeless.

3. It isn't "compassionate" to hand out needles or create places where addicts can use drugs. Leaving aside what should be an obvious argument that we shouldn't be encouraging, much less facilitating, the use of dangerous drugs, two-thirds of America's homeless have a diagnosed mental health illness. A third have a serious substance abuse problem. Approximately half suffer with both. Open-air drug use exacerbates those problems and creates others.

4. It isn't "compassionate," or "equitable," for that matter, to eliminate teaching math, giving grades, standardized tests, advanced academic programs for gifted students or graduation requirements, or to lower entrance qualifications for college and graduate school. It punishes high-achieving students and sends the message to lower-performing students that they aren't capable of meeting basic standards. That, then, undermines public confidence in the graduates of our high schools, colleges, and professional schools.

5. It wasn't "compassionate" to stop enforcing our immigration laws.

6. It isn't "compassionate" to allow violent criminals back on the streets.

7. It isn't "compassionate" to subject children and teenagers with gender dysphoria, and other emotional disorders, to permanent alteration of their bodies with medical and surgical interventions before they are old enough to understand the implications of those decisions.

None of these decisions have had beneficial impacts on their intended populations. Worse still, they are all deeply destructive to other individuals, groups, and society at large. Everyone affected should be able to protest the consequences of these failed policies without getting smeared with the false accusation that they "lack compassion."

Another reason to eliminate "compassion" as a basis for public policy, which we're seeing daily with painful clarity, is that these policies end up being vehicles for massive fraud. Anyone can set up a 501c3 nonprofit, claim to be working for a charitable purpose, and deceive donors into giving money that does little but line the CEOs' pockets. And when government grants are involved, there is little oversight, take Minnesota, for example, and more incentive for grift, bribery, and payback in the form of pouring money into the campaign coffers of politicians who hold the grants' pursestrings. What we end up with is a situation where neither the nonprofits nor the politicians have an incentive to solve the underlying problems, since they're getting rich from their continued existence.

Why has the United States become a nation where "compassion" trumps all other considerations?

Scholars like Helen Andrews argue that the emphasis on "compassion" over logic and methodical analysis is a function of what she calls "the great feminization." Women, Andrews claims, are hardwired to be maternal, and thus more likely to be persuaded by something that tugs at their empathy than by that which appeals to their reason.

I'm not so sure. First, women have functioning brains, and they are certainly intellectually capable of dispassionate analysis. Second, an awful lot of men seem to be just as hornswoggled by appeals to their "compassion" as are misguided women. And third, I don't understand how it is "feminine" or "maternal" to witness the collapse of huge sections of our cities into third-world slums; or to know that drugs are pouring into the country, children are being trafficked for sex, and young women are being raped and murdered because the borders are unenforced; or to see people stabbed to death on public transportation, pushed in front of trains or run down by crazed lunatics at Christmas parades because criminals aren't incarcerated; or to watch as multiple generations of disadvantaged minorities struggle because of schools with weak disciplinary and academic standards; or to want children and emotionally troubled teens to be chemically castrated or surgically sterilized before they're old enough to drive a car, drink a beer, or understand the concepts of sexual satisfaction, fathering, giving birth to or nursing a child, none of which they will experience if they are "transitioned."

None of this is "compassionate." It's objectively irrational. It's wantonly destructive. It is the deliberate disregard of monumental, systemic, catastrophic failure, the evidence of which is irrefutable. There's something seriously wrong with anyone who continues to defend these policies and programs, and I'm not persuaded that it's a matter of chromosomal biology or evolution.

I don't profess to have a complete solution. But a good start would be to demand meaningful metrics when we discuss proposed and existing policies and programs. What matters isn't "compassion"; it's consequences.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/23/2026 - 16:20
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Iconic American Beer Brand Discontinued After 177 Years

2026-05-22T16:19:39.506-07:00

Iconic American Beer Brand Discontinued After 177 Years

Schlitz Premium, the storied lager once billed as “the beer that made Milwaukee famous,” is heading into retirement. Pabst Brewing Co. confirmed this week it is placing the brand on indefinite hiatus, ending production of the nearly two-century-old beer label founded in Milwaukee in 1849 that grew into one of America’s most iconic brews.

The decision, driven by rising storage and shipping costs amid softening demand for the value-priced brand, marks the latest chapter in a turbulent corporate saga. Wisconsin Brewing Co. in Verona will produce a final 80-barrel batch on May 23, with limited release scheduled for June 27. Pre-orders open this week.

"Unfortunately, we have seen continued increases in our costs to store and ship certain products and have had to make the tough choice to place Schlitz Premium on hiatus," Pabst brand manager Zac Nadile told Milwaukee Magazine. "Any brand or packaging configuration that is put on hiatus is still a cherished part of our history and hopefully our future. We continually look for opportunities to bring back beloved brands, and customer feedback is important in shaping those discussions."

Brewmaster Kirby Nelson of Wisconsin Brewing Co. said the brewery was intent on providing the brand with a proper goodbye.

"We decided that, Schlitz being what Schlitz was, it deserved a proper sendoff. One with dignity and respect," Nelson said.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/22/2026 - 16:40
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The Coup Abides

2026-05-22T14:19:44.753-07:00

The Coup Abides

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

"Leftists can’t name & blame specific individuals for the 2024 loss because they’re an undifferentiated blob who function unconsciously according to enmeshed group think."

- Aimee Therese on X

In all the chatter about the Democratic Party’s 2024 election “autopsy” report you might have missed one little important detail: autopsies are generally performed on the dead. Stephen Colbert’s final week on CBS’s Late Night Show was the funeral. It was like the zombies’ ball. Poster-boy old Bruce Springsteen plugged a self-parody song about “King Trump” that might have been a rare case of career suicide on live TV.

Kings, indeed. These showbiz cretins actually have it better than kings — they have all the money, glitz, and adoration, but none of the onerous duties of real royalty. They amount to a weird court of effete elitists endlessly congratulating each other on their moral superiority, and that’s where it begins and ends: a Cluster-B hall of mirrors.

Of the common good, the know absolutely nothing. Nobody believes their tired buzzwords anymore: “Our democracy” . . . “conspiracy theories” . . . “baseless” this and that. . . their foolish vaccine worship. . . their avatars, the guffawing baboon Kamala Harris, the erstwhile phantom “Joe Biden,” and, most of all, their good sportsmanship trophy, Barack Obama, last seen confabbing with Canada’s Mark Carney, Globalism’s paladin of the last resort.

The Lefty-left’s heroes are on-the-run, but tripping over each other badly as they scatter into the thickets to re-group for the midterm elections — which they are suddenly and seemingly likely to lose now that SCOTUS erased about a dozen race-based congressional districts . . . and then Virginia’s Supreme Court tossed Governor Spanberger’s ballot ploy to make the Old Dominion a one-party state (like back in slavery days).

The corpse of the Democratic Party might be dead, but not a few of its agents, cells, and parasitical organisms are ‘out there’ still twitching and plotting. The decade-long coup abides. The lawfare ninjas — Norm Eisen, Mary McCord, Marc Elias, et al. — still plot tirelessly behind the scenes, rigging up evermore legalistic chicanery disguised as legality, and they are rolling in dough from Soros, the Tides Foundation, Neville Roy Singham, and countless NGOs dedicated to overthrowing the republic.

The coup abides for two reasons:

1) its players are desperate to evade prosecution for their vast and various crimes of the past ten years (and prosecution is coming at them down the track like the old Union Pacific US-4 “Daylight” locomotive); and

2) the Democratic Party is desperate to preserve the revenue flows that support all its racketeering operations. Without its rackets, the money funnel to pay off its countless “oppressed” client-constituent-victims, there is no party. That’s all it was in its final stage of life.

Minnesota, of course, is the case-study for that kind of corruption and now the DOJ is going after the place hard, announcing fifteen new prosecutions this week for $90-million in Medicaid fraud, “just the beginning,” the lead US attorney, Colin McDonald, said. California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and many more states await the same treatment under the president’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division. The Democrats will go into the midterms revealed to be nothing more than a looting operation.

It’s happening in real time. Just yesterday, one particular public benefits entrepreneur, Aimee Bock, was sentenced to forty years in prison for running a Minneapolis scam called Feeding Our Future that made off with $243-million in taxpayer money. At sentencing, Aimee Bock was ordered to pay roughly $243 million in restitution. That’s a hoot, isn’t it? Federal inmates (Bureau of Prisons) are paid from 12-cents to $1.15 per hour wages for assigned work, depending on the type of job. Forty years might not be enough to git’er done.

Many more will be going down in the months ahead for similar shenanigans, and the voting public might notice as it rolls out. But fraudsters such as Aimee Bock are mere lumpen foot-soldiers in the regime. The more spectacular action will be the Democratic Party’s field marshals getting nailed, and that’s hardly begun. Coup Central is the Southern District of Florida where a “grand conspiracy” case, or possibly many cases and sub-cases, are already in the grand jury stage — meaning probable cause has been established en route to indictments. Many political celebrities labored hard since 2017 to overthrow the executive branch of the government. Hair is on fire everywhere you look.

One small fish was reeled in this week: one Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a senior supervisory US attorney, indicted on two felony counts of mishandling evidence from “special prosecutor” Jack Smith’s botched Mar-a-Lago documents case. She labeled the purloined docs in her personal computer as dessert recipes (e.g., “bundt cake”) en route to leaking them. Lineberger has pleaded innocent. Don’t doubt that a negotiated plea deal is in play with her, and that Jack Smith will be sweating the outcome of that as Lineberger flips and talks.

But the odious Jack Smith will only be one of many bigger fish turning up in the Fort Pierce dragnet, probably including the whale, Barack Obama, the president who foolishly tried to destroy his successor-in-office. You may know that the DOJ observes an unwritten custom of not issuing indictments inside sixty days of an election (a custom that Jack Smith violated in 2024 when he issued a superseding indictment against candidate Donald Trump). So, there are 105 days remaining within the current window before the 2026 midterms for formal charges to be lodged against the coupsters.

So, now everyone’s expecting a hairy-scary summer of Democratic Party inspired mayhem, a ratcheted-up “No Kings” orgy of riots, the last remaining gambit to goad Mr. Trump into emergency action so they can holler, “Look: king!”

It’s only a question of what might spark it off. I’ll venture to predict that spark will be the indictment of Barack Obama. If you think the Lefty-left is crazy now, wait until that happens.

At least Stephen Colbert won’t be around to turn it into a song-and-dance act.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/22/2026 - 16:20
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Democrats Move To Block Trump's $1.776 Billion 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund

2026-05-21T14:19:18.160-07:00

Democrats Move To Block Trump's $1.776 Billion 'Anti-Weaponization' Fund

Via American Greatness,

Congressional Democrats are moving to shut down President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, escalating a political fight over compensation for Americans who say they were targeted by politically motivated prosecutions and federal lawfare.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is introducing legislation aimed at preventing any federal money from being used to create or distribute payments through the fund.

According to a copy of the bill shared with Axios, the legislation states that “no Federal funds may be used to create or make payments” tied to the Trump administration’s Anti-Weaponization Fund.

The fund emerged from a settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service after the president sued the agency over the leaking of his confidential tax returns during his first term.

Under the settlement framework, individuals claiming they were victims of politically motivated prosecutions or government abuse would be able to seek compensation.

Potential applicants could include January 6 defendants and others who were unfairly targeted by federal authorities.

Raskin is reportedly considering using a discharge petition to force a House vote if Republican leadership blocks the measure from reaching the floor.

At the same time, some establishment Republicans are also voicing opposition to the fund. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told reporters Wednesday that he would “try to kill” the program.

“We’re going to write a letter to the [attorney general] to start, but we’re considering a legislative option,” Fitzpatrick said.

Supporters of the fund argue it represents a long-overdue effort to compensate Americans harmed by politically driven prosecutions and abuses of government power.

Critics, meanwhile, claim the program would improperly use taxpayer money to compensate individuals tied to controversial investigations, including those connected to the January 6 Capitol protest.

Two law enforcement officers who were present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 have already filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the fund entirely.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/21/2026 - 15:00
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Lowe's CEO Warns Housing Market "Most Difficult" Since Financial Crisis As DIY Project Demand Crumbles

2026-05-20T16:19:14.279-07:00

Lowe's CEO Warns Housing Market "Most Difficult" Since Financial Crisis As DIY Project Demand Crumbles

Home improvement retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe's warned this week that consumers remain reluctant to splurge on big-ticket home improvement items, as elevated mortgage rates, high home prices, energy inflation, weakening sentiment, and broader macroeconomic uncertainty weigh on demand.

Let's begin with Home Depot, which on Wednesday reported mixed first-quarter results. At the same time, management said on the conference call that it is not expecting a "marked improvement in underlying demand."

Bernstein analyst Zhihan Ma pointed out that Home Depot's foot traffic has been negative for five straight quarters, underscoring the persistent downturn in the home improvement space.

Ma maintained a "cautious outlook" and expects a "gradual path to a home improvement market rebound," as high mortgage rates and inflation in material costs do not help the "affordability hurdle for homeowners to engage with big-ticket discretionary projects."

Fast forward to Wednesday morning, and Lowe's reiterated its full-year forecasts but warned that households are dialing back big-ticket do-it-yourself projects.

What caught our attention was Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison, who warned analysts on an earnings call earlier that:

I think overall this has been the most difficult housing market that I've faced in this business since the financial crisis. And as Brandon mentioned, it's almost exclusively or disproportionately on the DIY customer.

That's the majority of where our revenue comes from. And so I look at it from this perspective, you know, we've delivered four quarters of positive comps in an environment where the DIY has faced more economic pressure than I've ever seen before.

DIY softness comes as U.S. housing turnover sits at historic lows because of affordability woes, some of the worst in a generation, and elevated mortgage rates.

Housing affordability for first-time homebuyers remains at a four-decade low.

This, of course, means fewer home sales, which typically translate into fewer move-in renovations, remodels, flooring upgrades, kitchen projects, and other big-ticket home improvement purchases.

At the start of the week, Wayfair CFO Kate Gulliver issued a similar warning at JPMorgan's conference, signaling that demand for big-ticket home items is unlikely to recover this year.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 17:20
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A Troubling Trend: Why More Workers Are Tapping 401(k)s Early And How To Resist

2026-05-20T14:19:42.206-07:00

A Troubling Trend: Why More Workers Are Tapping 401(k)s Early And How To Resist

Authored by Due via The Epoch Times,

What’s the main goal of your 401(k)? Well, my dear Watson, it’s to provide for your retirement. Specifically, it’s a long-term investment that benefits from compound interest. But for a record number of Americans, the “long term” is taking a back seat to immediate financial struggles.

Early 401(k) withdrawals can create costly setbacks for future retirement savings. ShutterstockProfessional/Shutterstock

In 2025, 6 percent of Vanguard 401(k) plan members took hardship withdrawals. That’s a big jump from 4.8 percent in 2024 and much higher than the roughly 2 percent annual rate we saw before the pandemic.

This trend, highlighted by the World Economic Forum and MarketWatch, paints an alarming picture of the American workforce’s financial health. Costs are rising, stress is growing, and well-intentioned regulatory changes are having unintended consequences.

That said, now is the time to investigate why this is happening and to identify the hidden costs. And, most importantly, you need realistic ways to avoid making your retirement nest egg an emergency fund.

The Breakdown: What’s Driving the Surge?

It’s not a coincidence that hardship withdrawals are at an all-time high. This is the result of several powerful economic forces colliding:

A Squeeze of Rising Costs and Financial Stress

It’s not a secret that life has gotten more expensive. Even though some metrics indicate a slowdown in inflation, the cumulative effect of price hikes in groceries, housing, and other essentials over the last few years has significantly reduced consumer purchasing power. As an example, consumer prices are approximately 25 percent higher than they were in January 2020.

As such, a small unexpected expense can trigger a crisis for many families with little to no financial buffer. In fact, according to a Bankrate survey, just 47 percent of Americans have sufficient liquidity or access to funds to cover a $1,000 emergency expense.

The Urgent Nature of the Withdrawals

These withdrawals aren’t for vacations or new cars. According to Vanguard, the median withdrawal amount in 2025 was $1,900. And, among the reasons people tapped their 401(k)s, these were the most common:

Avoiding foreclosure or eviction (36 percent)
Medical expenses (31 percent)
Tuition (13 percent)
Primary residence repairs (11 percent)
Primary residence purchase (5 percent)

Ultimately, withdrawals represent a broader challenge: Americans have relatively few retirement savings at their disposal.

Lowered Hurdles Have a Positive Impact

Ironically, some recent regulatory changes intended to ease the burden may be contributing to the rise. As a result of legislation such as the SECURE Act 2.0 (SECURE refers to Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement.) and legislation from the pandemic era, it’s now significantly easier to access funds in a 401(k). Depending on the situation, the rules now allow withdrawals of up to a defined amount (like $1,000) without penalty for “unforeseeable or immediate financial needs.”

As important as this flexibility is in a real catastrophe, it also lowers the psychological and logistical bar to leveraging these funds. The result, though, is that your retirement account looks more like a savings account, which is a very dangerous mentality.

The True Cost of ‘Easy Money’

When you’re facing eviction or a huge medical bill, $5,000 from your 401(k) can seem like a lifeline. But that lifeline comes at a heavy price, one that is often overlooked in times of crisis, such as the following.

Immediate Tax Consequences

Unlike a 401(k) loan that you repay with after-tax funds, a hardship withdrawal is permanent. Therefore, the withdrawal amount is generally taxable as ordinary income. When you take out $10,000, for example, and are in the 22 percent tax bracket, you’ll immediately owe $2,200 in federal taxes, which reduces your actual relief to $7,800.

Potential Penalties

If you’re under 59 ½ years old, you will likely face an additional 10 percent early withdrawal penalty on top of income tax. That’s another $1,000 gone from your $10,000 withdrawal, bringing the total cost of immediate access to 32 percent.

The Devastating Sacrifice of Compound Growth

Obviously, this is the highest and most invisible cost. Imagine if the $10,000 you withdrew had been left to grow for another 20 years. With an average annual return of 7 percent, that money would have grown to about $38,700. By taking out that money now, you are not only borrowing $10,000 from your future self; you’re erasing almost $39,000 from your retirement account.

This is a magic trick. That’s the power of compound interest. Knowing this sooner will help you realize that 401(k) withdrawals aren’t “easy money”—they’re incredibly expensive loans.

The Irony: A Healthy System With Struggling Participants

An astounding contradiction can be found within the same 2025 data: even though record numbers of people are tapping into their 401(k)s for emergencies, the average 401(k) balance actually grew by 13 percent since 2024.

In addition, more recent analysis from Fidelity shows average 401(k) balances climbed more than 11 percent, indicating that nest eggs have rebounded after recent swings in the markets.

Although this may seem confusing, it indicates a widening gap. While many workers contribute consistently and benefit from employer matches, consistent contributions, and strong market conditions. Their wealth is growing.

Meanwhile, the 6 percent of participants who resort to hardship withdrawals constitute a vulnerable segment of the population. Although the retirement system appears healthy on the surface, they’re suffering the brunt of the affordability crisis. This is a powerful reminder that “average” statistics can mask serious underlying problems.

Realistic Strategies to Keep Your 401(k) Locked

If recent data tells us anything, it’s that relying on your 401(k) as a backup checking account is a high-stakes gamble. To ensure your retirement fund remains dedicated to your future, you need a proactive defense. Here are realistic, actionable options to keep that vault closed.

Re-Evaluate and Automate Your Budget

This is the foundational work that makes everything else possible. If you don’t track your spending, you can’t control it. Before you can build momentum, you have to stop the bleeding by identifying exactly where your cash is going.

Audit your “leaks.” For one month, track every cent. You’ll likely find “ghost” expenses, like unused subscriptions, frequent small convenience purchases, or delivery fees, that are quietly draining your ability to save.
Establish a “needs vs. wants” hierarchy. Be ruthless. Shelter, utilities, groceries, and minimum debt payments are non-negotiable needs. Everything else is a want. If your financial foundation feels shaky, wants must be the first thing to go.
Use the right tools. Modern technology makes this much less painful. Using financial apps, such as WalletHub or Monarch Money, can put you in total control. By linking your accounts, your expenses are automatically categorized, allowing you to see your spending patterns in real-time. These tools also allow you to effortlessly manage and cancel subscriptions in one place, ensuring you aren’t paying for services you no longer use.

Build a ‘Firewall’ Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is the only thing standing between a flat tire and a raided retirement account.

Start with a mini-goal. Don’t let the “six months’ expenses” rule overwhelm you. Start with a small target you can afford, whether it’s $300 or $1,000. That single amount covers the vast majority of common shocks, from a basic car repair to an urgent medical copay.
Make it invisible. Set up a recurring transfer from your checking account to a separate high-yield savings account on the day you get paid. Even $25 or $50 per pay period builds a psychological and financial buffer. If the money never hits your main account, you won’t miss it.

Explore Smarter Alternatives for Fast Cash

Before you touch your 401(k), exhaust every other avenue. Retirement should be the last door you open.

Low-interest personal loans. You can manage debt or major expenses with a low-interest personal loan from a credit union or bank without incurring heavy taxes or losing compounding interest. For well-qualified borrowers, fixed-rate loans offer predictable, manageable monthly payments with rates as low as 10 percent.
0 percent APR balance transfers. If high-interest credit card debt is the primary stressor, a zero percent introductory APR card can give you a 12-to-18-month window to pay down the principal without accruing more interest.
Community and state programs. Local and federal organizations assist with housing and utility crises, such as 2-1-1, HUD, and the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF). Before sacrificing your future security, take advantage of these programs designed to prevent eviction and foreclosure.

A Final Safety Valve: The 401(k) Loan

If you have truly exhausted every other option and are facing an immediate crisis, such as eviction, a 401(k) loan is generally a better choice than a hardship withdrawal.

Why is it better? Essentially, you’re borrowing money from yourself and paying the interest back to yourself. In addition, it does not trigger the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty or immediate income tax.
The critical caveat. You must repay it, typically within five years, via payroll deduction. Be aware that if you leave your job, the remaining balance is often due immediately. If you can’t pay it back, it defaults into a withdrawal—triggering the exact taxes and penalties you were trying to avoid at a time when you may be least able to afford them.

Conclusion: Protecting Your Future, One Day at a Time

Vanguard’s 2025 data is alarming. Americans are increasingly financially vulnerable to the point that their primary tool for future security is being wiped out by today’s pressures. This is not a sustainable path.

The first step is to understand the “why” behind this trend, which is rooted in financial stress, urgent needs, and simplified rules. The second step is to acknowledge the true, exorbitant cost of this immediate relief.

In the end, building a financial infrastructure that can withstand storms is the key to preventing your 401(k) from being a go-to ATM. Start with a real budget and an emergency fund, no matter how small. Even when today’s demands seem overwhelming, you must discipline yourself and put your future first.

Remember, your 401(k) shouldn’t be viewed as a piggy bank but as a tool to ensure you’ll have the lifestyle you want in your golden years. Don’t risk your retirement for a temporary fix. The costs are simply too high.

By John Rampton

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 16:20
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Memorial Day Gas Demand Surge Collides With Hormuz Shock As $5 Demand-Destruction Line Nears

2026-05-19T14:19:19.274-07:00

Memorial Day Gas Demand Surge Collides With Hormuz Shock As $5 Demand-Destruction Line Nears

Drivers heading into Memorial Day weekend are set to face some of the highest regular gasoline prices at the pump in years.

With the U.S. national average sitting at $4.53 per gallon (according to AAA data) and no resolution yet on a U.S.-Iran peace deal or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, pump prices risk rising even higher into the holiday weekend as the summer driving season begins.

Let's start with the chart of the day: AAA retail gas prices in the U.S. on a seasonal basis closely track the 2022 run, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict was in its first several months.

Gas prices in 2022 did not top out until mid-June.

The impending problem, with no near-term Hormuz resolution, as JPMorgan analysts recently warned, is that the world is spiraling toward a catastrophic cliff-edge shortage of crude oil if the maritime chokepoint remains blocked into June.

Former CIA analysts and current RBC commodities head Helima Croft told clients days ago that she is "very skeptical of a June grand reopening or even that maritime traffic will return to February 27 levels for the foreseeable future."

AAA Retail Gas Price Map

For Memorial Day 2026, AAA forecasts around 39.1 million Americans will travel by car, representing 87% of all holiday travelers. That will create a meaningful near-term lift in gas demand, especially from Thursday through Monday.

EIA notes that gas demand typically rises into the summer driving season, while last year's Memorial Day period coincided with the highest weekly implied gas demand of 2025 up to that point.

So, in an already tight gas market, a busy Memorial Day driving weekend can certainly pull more barrels through the system, support pump prices, and may only lead to higher prices if no Hormuz resolution is found in the near term. The demand destruction level sits around $5.

Tyler Durden Tue, 05/19/2026 - 15:40
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The Too-Long Goodbye

2026-05-18T15:19:11.684-07:00

The Too-Long Goodbye

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“. . . we are witnessing mass formation in real time, where the group delusion becomes the only permissible reality.”

- LH Grey on X

Last week, Stephen Colbert celebrated his May 21 departure from late-night TV by French-kissing his fellow late-night soul-mate hosts goodbye, perhaps to honor the French origins of the Woke political ideology that guided his rocket flight to fame — Michel Foucault (1926–1984), who argued that power was all that mattered and that you could talk any absurdity about sex, mental illness, and criminality into mass belief. . . Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), who argued that reality depends on how you feel about it. . . Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), who denounced truth per se in favor of your truth. . . and Gilles Deleuze, father of gender-fluidity.

So, bonne nuit and au revoir, Monsieur Colbert, and don’t let the CBS screen door bump your ass on the way out. Few public figures in our time have done as much damage to the collective mental health of our country than Colbert did in his late-night operations. For instance, the dance routine, broadcast circa April 2021, titled “The Vax-Scene,” when “Joe Biden” and Dr. Fauci rolled out the mRNA products that would eventually maim or kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. Colbert did the shimmy in front of a chorus line costumed as syringes capering to a musical arrangement of the old Latin hit, Tequila (original, by The Champs, 1958). His ignorance about what actually was at stake was surpassed only by his Cheshire Cat caliber smugness. So, what you see in this video is the rectified essence of the demonic idiocy that still animates the Democratic Party. Save it and watch it often to remind yourself what the nation has been battling for so many years.

I was actually a guest on Colbert’s show years ago in its early evening incarnation when the running gag was Colbert pretending to be a right-winger. In the green room before the show, his handlers told me to “not try to be funny because that’s Stephen’s job.” I had just published a novel about what life in America might be like after the collapse of our techno-industrial economy (World Made by Hand). Colbert treated that as a joke, too, of course. He already had the remarkable ability for finding comedy in all the wrong places.

By the time Covid came along, he was no longer a pretend conservative; he was an out-front Democratic Party / Deep State propaganda tool.

It remains to be seen how the party can possibly survive the revelations-to-come of its monumental criminality. Sunday morning, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche turned up on Maria Bartiromo’s public affairs show. Maria was in a testy mood, repeatedly telling Mr. Blanche that America has lost patience bigly over the complete lack of “accountability” for the various seditions and treasons launched against the public since 2016, in particular, the obvious treachery so many witnessed in the 2020 election.

Mr. Blanche replied, “Well, there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That’s not something the DOJ needs to tell you about. There’s been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Georgia — in Fulton County, Georgia. And that’s exactly what we’re looking at.”

Quite so: evidence for many years, by the truckload, and indeed it was only a month or so ago that the FBI turned up at the Fulton County, GA, election records depository building and seized a truckload of ballots and other material related to the Big Switcheroo that the election workers there pulled off overnight on Nov 3, 2020 —because “broken water mains [toilets, that is],” and all. Mr. Blanche might not need to tell the irascible Maria B about that, but eventually he will have to tell the whole country what happened in Fulton County, GA, and Maricopa County, AZ, and Antrim County, MI, and Milwaukee County, WI, and Philadelphia. . . .

It remains to be seen how the stolen 2020 election business might be rolled into the “grand conspiracy” case being pursued in the grand jury convened at Fort Pierce, Florida. It will probably be a major entrée in the smorgasbord of prosecutable turpitudes presently under consideration. Also remains to be seen how half the country that still calls itself “Left” or “Progressive” or “registered Democrat” will greet the news that “Joe Biden” did not win that crooked election, but rather, their bête noire, Donald Trump, won. And not by a slim margin, but by a ton.

And how will all the other authorities across the land, both public and private, deal with the apparent fact that the country suffered under a fake president for a whole four-year term? Congress will have to say something, make some determination. Or the Supreme Court? Or some combo. All the laws passed under “Joe Biden,” and the executive actions taken by him that were not laws strictly speaking, might have to be rescinded, cancelled, including all the many pardons issued under his autopen.

And how will the corrupt, mendacious news media process hard charges of massive and decisive election fraud in 2020? Of course, they never even tried to investigate it, didn’t send a single reporter out to search the thickets, just opened the gas jets to keep the gaslights lit. And they’re still doing it! Only days ago, the disgustingly dishonest New York Times framed their story about the release of Tina Peters in Colorado this way:

Tina Peters, grandmother and Mesa County election clerk, was trying to determine whether a fishy post-election “software update” had wiped the 2020 records out of Mesa County’s Dominion vote-tallying machines. The Colorado authorities, led by Colorado Sec’y of State Jena Griswold, tossed Ms. Peters in jail on a nine-year sentence for examining the machines. Maybe the time is at hand when Jena Griswold gets tossed in jail. Looks like we’ll finally learn the true meaning of the phrase “election denier.”

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Complete Q1 13-F Summary: The Fireworks In Berkshire's Post-Buffett Portfolio, And Everything Else

2026-05-17T18:19:08.494-07:00

Complete Q1 13-F Summary: The Fireworks In Berkshire's Post-Buffett Portfolio, And Everything Else

Friday was the 15th of the month 45 days after quarter end, which means we got a flood of 13F reports indicating what asset managers were long as of March 31. We will do a summary recap below of all the biggest names, but as usual we start with Berkshire due to its traditional lack of turnover and corresponding price impact of the stock of new positions or liquidations. And we should underline "traditional" because in Berkshire's first full quarter under Warren Buffett replacement Greg Abel, who took the reins at Berkshire this year after Buffett stepped down following six decades at the helm, the new CEO took a machete to no less than 14 existing position which he dumped unceremoniously.

But first, let's look at the additions of which there were two: one big one and a much smaller one.

Starting with the former, Berkshire unveiled a new $2.6 billion stake in Delta Airlines, reigniting the conglomerate’s complicated relationship with the airline industry. The Omaha-based hedge fund-cum-conglomerate said it had purchased 39.8 million shares in the airline as of the end of March, according to its latest 13F. The move - which amounted to a 6.1% stake - sent shares of the carrier up more than 3% in late trading.

It's not the first time Berkshire has been involved with the name: Under the recently departed former CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire had a tense relationship with the airline industry over the decades. After a troublesome investment in USAir, Buffett once joked in 2001 that he would call an 800 number to declare he was an “air-o-holic” if he ever got the urge to invest in airlines again. Then in 2016, Berkshire dove into the industry again, amassing stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines. But Buffett reversed course again in 2020, when he exited his airline holdings in Delta, Southwest, American Airlines and United as the sector was grappling with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Fast forward 6 years and the company is once again building up a stake in airlines, only at much higher prices.

Berkshire also revealed it has amassed a small stake in retailer Macy’s. A stronger-than-expected sales outlook had boosted Macy’s stock earlier this year. Shares of the department store operator jumped more than 6% in late trading on Friday in response to the Berkshire filing.

During the quarter, Berkshire also boosted its holding in star AI performer Alphabet, adding 36.4 million shares in Google’s parent company. Berkshire also added modestly to its stake in Lennar.

But while Abel added to Google, it dumped all its holdings of Amazon.com, some 2.276 million shares as of Dec 31, 2025.

There was much more: Berkshire also exited its sizable positions in credit card companies Visa and Mastercard (combined over $5 billion as of Dec 31), and liquidated holdings in UnitedHealth Group, which proved to be a brief flirt for the conglomerate; UnitedHealth had been trying to rebuild confidence with investors after struggling to adapt to changing US government payment policies. The stock dropped roughly 2.5% in post-market trading on Friday. Berkshire also sold out all its holdings in Diageo plc, Pool Corp, Charter Communications, Domino’s Pizza, Heico, Lamar Advertising, Allegion, AON, and Liberty Latin America.

Why the mass dump? According to the WSJ, Abel offloaded all the equity holdings that were previously managed by Todd Combs, Berkshire’s former stock-picker. Combs left Berkshire and joined JPMorgan in December for a broad investing advisory role.

Finally, Berkshire reduced its holdings in Bank of America, Chevron, Davita, Liberty Live Holdings, Nucor and Constellation Brands. The full breakdown of Berkshire's 13F is in the table below.

Beksrhire, aside

Senator Investment Group disclosed yesterday its updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New RIOT PFE RKT HAL C V ALKS COP AVGO positions, Added to NU AS holdings, Exited LTH CMCSA SSNC; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: RIOT (1.5 mln shares), PFE (1.25 mln), RKT(1.25 mln), HAL (847K), EEM (570K), C (330K), V(255K), ALKS (235K), COP (219K), AVGO (188K), CVS (175K) , HAS (175K), SATS (103K), AEIS (100K), LHX (90K), KNTK (76K), AMAT (65K) Increased: NU (2.45 mln shares from 2.2 mln shares),AS (1.3 mln from 0.93 mln), NVDA (825K from 505K), DHR (433K from 169K), BA (441K from 28K), AMZN(610K from 430K), SN (554K from 400K), WRBY(500K from 377K), ETHA (243K from 134K), ULS(400K from 300K), VST (197K from 110K), MSFT(268K from 188K), META (134K from 74K), WULF(139K from 85K), VIK (523K from 475K), GOOG (13K from 11K)
Maintained: WBD (3 mln shares), PRM (2.4 mln), APH (200K) Exited: LTH (from 1.3 mln shares), CMCSA (1.2 mln), SSNC (1.04 mln), IMSR (900K), BILL (693K), COF(472K), MEOH (375K), PFSI (287K), UNP (275K), GE(150K), KWEB (103K), LPLA (100K), XLI (61K), FBTC(33K), PLTR (12K), COIN (7K)
Decreased: UAL (1.4 mln shares from 3.1 mln shares), BKD (2.5 mln from 3.4 mln), TECK (0.77 mln from 1.66 mln), JHX (1.1 mln from 1.8 mln), ATRO(22K from 459K), HOOD (141K from 405K), MT (341K from 580K), WWD (227K from 452K), APO (340K from 537K), ATI (145K from 325K), CVNA (185K from 260K), TSM (263K from 325K), HWM (42K from 98K),UNH (35K from 75K), VRT (260K from 274K)

Lansdowne Partners discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New SLB BKR positions, Added to AMZN SW ARM ADI UAL DAL TECK LIN IONQ; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: SLB (2.96 mln), BKR (40K)
Increased: SW (1.9 mln from 257K), ARM (936K from 472K), UAL (1.5 mln from 1.2 mln), TECK (2 mln from 1.8 mln), LIN (449K from 227K), IONQ (796K from 643K), RAL (195K from 100K), B (343K from 266K),DAL (2.5 mln from 2.4 mln), MDT (89K from 31K), AMZN (78K from 47K), ADI (664K from 635K), ETN(130K from 110K), TXN (92K from 78K)
Maintained: TSM (1.3 mln)
Exited: CRH (308K), FTV (48K), FLUT (2K)
Decreased: ROK (14K from 31K)

Meritage Group discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New TOST CSGP AON positions, Exited QSR SGI; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: TOST (3.4 mln shares), CSGP (3.3 mln), AON(680K), SPGI (504K), SPY (52K)
Maintained: PCOR (2.68 mln shares), AMZN (1.86 mln), WDAY (1.62 mln), MSFT (1.27 mln)
Exited: QSR (from 3.2 mln shares), SGI (2.4 mln)
Decreased: TRU (3.6 mln shares from 5.3 mln shares), COF (1.3 mln from 1.8 mln), MSCI (406K from 467K), EFX (154K from 165K)

Baupost Group (Seth Klarman) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New NCLH DNOW TFX PCVX V positions, Added to COLD AMZN FERG GOOG AERO, Exited FIS FISV LBTYA; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: NCLH (3.6 mln shares), DNOW (3.6 mln), TFX(1.6 mln), PCVX (800K), AON (769K), V (701K)
Increased: COLD (7.8 mln shares from 3.5 mln shares), AERO (4.88 mln from 4.86 mln), AMZN (3.1 mln from 2.1 mln), FERG (1.4 mln from 1.1 mln), GOOG (1.18 mln from 1.09 mln), MOH (634K from 625K)
Maintained: HLF (9.3 mln shares), QSR (8.1 mln), GDS (3.0 mln), GPC (1.5 mln), WCC (1.4 mln), ELV(1.3 mln)
Exited: FIS (from 4.5 mln shares), FISV (2.2 mln), LBTYA (2.1 mln), DG (2.06 mln), CRH (1.07 mln), TBN(257K)
Decreased: LBTYK (13.4 mln shares from 20.9 mln shares), WTW (893K from 1.36 mln), EXP (893K from 1.19 mln), UNP (1.5 mln from 1.6 mln)

Softbank discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New LIFE position, maintained INTC SYM WBTN KLAR TEM TSM, Exited LMND, Cut TMUS (18.49); Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: LIFE (3.13 mln shares)
Maintained: XXI (89.11 mln shares), INTC (86.96 mln), INTR (60.51 mln), SYM (39.83 mln), VTEX (38.43 mln), WBTN (31.43 mln), NU (17.84 mln), KLAR (15.4 mln), TEM (5.41 mln),
Exited: LMND (from 0.93 mln shares), CRCL (0.1 mln), UBER (0.02 mln)
Decreased: TMUS (10 mln shares from 28.5 mln shares), NMRA (6.09 mln from 6.43 mln)

Marathon Partners discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New FLEX CRCL positions; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: FLEX (13K), CRCL (3K)
Increased: CNS (115K from 75K), TPB (31K from 18K)
Maintained: XMTR (115K), GOOG (6K)
Decreased: RELY (1270K from 1338K), LION (220K from 275K), HSIC (13K from 48K), SXT (5K from 23K),TKO (73K from 84K), UBER (140K from 150K), FLUT(10K from 17K), ATMU (75K from 80K), META (25K from 28K), ATI (18K from 20K)

TCI Fund (Chris Hohn) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New GOOGL position (and adds to GOOG holding), Boosted V SPGI MCO holdings, Cut MSFT; positions Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: GOOGL (2.46 mln shares)
Increased: V (30.47 mln shares from 27.72 mln shares), SPGI (14.04 mln from 11.79 mln), GOOG(8.85 mln from 7.6 mln), MCO (14.33 mln from 13.31mln)
Maintained: GE (47.51 mln shares), CP (46.52 mln), FER (20.74 mln), CNI (9.85 mln)
Decreased: MSFT (2.73 mln shares from 16.78 mln shares)

Eminence Capital (Ricky Sandler) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New U MTN EL DHR TSM positions, Added to AMZN VVV CPNG SE Z SGI PFGC holdings, Exited PTON GPK DKNG GTLB PINS JEF CF CRM; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: U (725K), MTN (714K), EL (698K), DHR (561K), TSM (422K), MRSH (320K), MNDY (248K), AON(17 9K)
Increased: CPNG (15.5 mln from 12.6 mln), SE (4.1 mln from 2.6 mln), Z (3.5 mln from 2.1 mln), SGI (1.5 mln from 314K), PFGC (3.72 mln from 2.65 mln), DT(5.3 mln from 4.5 mln), MDLN (2.28 mln from 1.5 mln),FLUT (484K from 79K), VVV (4.4 mln from 4.2 mln), AMD (1.2 mln from 968K), SNPS (449K from 249K), THC (790K from 614K), FERG (646K from 500K),FWONK (1.98 mln from 1.9 mln), AMZN (1.54 mln from 1.48 mln), BABA (861K from 826K), ABG (956K from 926K), MDB (163K from 156K)
Exited: PTON (18.2 mln), GPK (12.8 mln), DKNG (8.4 mln), GTLB (7.7 mln), PINS (4.5 mln), JEF (3.8 mln),CF (1.28 mln), CRM (1.0 mln), SYY (897K), ELV(487K), LPLA (442K), UNH (378K), UNP (352K), META (62K)
Decreased: ATMU (1.28 mln shares from 3.83 mln shares), LPX (2.53 mln from 4.05 mln), RRR (0.41 mln from 1.6 mln), WK (2.52 mln from 3.71 mln), MGRC(806K from 950K)

Miller Value Partners (Bill Miller) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New BLMN CRGY positions, Added to CNDT JELD GTN holdings, Exited STLA; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: BLMN (2.0 mln shares), CRGY (2 mln), ABR(604K), PTLO (129K), MBC (105K), FIGR (91K), REZI(70K), ZD (68K), CPNG (63K), PINS (60K), VRM(58K), CTRN (54K), CART (46K), PRDO (40K), CROX(39K), SPY (30K), FOUR (30K), BLDR (19K), A BNB(16K) Increased: CNDT (10.0 mln shares from 5.6 mln shares), JELD (6.6 mln from 4.1 mln), GTN (5.4 mln from 4 mln), CTO (556K from 434K), VTRS (732K from 619K), MRP (181K from 83K), LNC (571K from 505K),ARLP (185K from 132K), UPBD (120K from 70K), UPS (119K from 87K), MSTR (52K from 25K), BBW(104K from 78K), CHRD (69K from 58K)
Maintained: OMF (83K), CALM (62K)
Exited: STLA (0.43 mln shares)
Decreased: TDAY (2 mln shares from 3.4 mln shares),FOSL (2.4 mln from 3.2 mln), DCH (1.4 mln from 1.7mln), QUAD (2.65 mln from 2.74 mln), NBR (444K from 603K), UGI (121K from 262K), BMY (70K from 108K), VZ (168K from 198K), ITRN (204K from 215K), WAL (55K from 64K), BFH (194K from 201K), UNFI(5K from 13K), JXN (81K from 86K), FTI (3K from 8K), TPC (3K from 7K)

Scopia Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New VISN position, Exited BRZE TRU TREX LPX SGI; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: VISN (664K)
Maintained: MNKD (695K)
Exited: BRZE (293K), TRU (236K), TREX (209K), LPX(200K), SGI (107K), CVNA (8K),
Decreased: CC (562K from 1.9 mln), HLIT (644K from 1.9 mln), VSTS (453K from 1.4 mln), VVV (203K from 1.1 mln), PTON (1.8 mln from 2.3 mln), CTVA (148K from 600K), LIVN (186K from 538K), AZTA (236K from 567K), PRMB (466K from 780K), GOOS (391K from 667K), KKR (90K from 277K), RRX (43K from 217K), AER (28K from 199K), BATRK (78K from 239K), ENS(30K from 154K), AMZN (43K from 146K), JBHT (38K from 115K)

Kerrisdale Advisors discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New ADTN DV NOK PAYO SWKS MRVL positions; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: ADTN (552K), DV (398K), NOK (284K), PAYO(163K), LNSR (139K), SWKS (127K), MRVL (114K), C VE (111K), ACVA (91K), CNQ (73K), FTRE (73K),ADEA (71K), FRSH (62K), INTC (61K), LBTYA (61K), FL O (56K), MOS (40K), OI (40K), PYPL (37K), FVRR(36K), SMCI (35K), AMTM (29K), KHC (29K), WHD(28K) , BAC (27K)
Increased: SNAP (283K from 39K), UHAL.B (127K from 55K), SHC (608K from 557K), LGN (106K from 61K), GTLB (69K from 26K), CPNG (150K from 109K), CART (94K from 73K), RICK (27K from 9K), AMZN(59K from 41K), AMRZ (62K from 47K), MSFT (12K from 1K), V (50K from 39K), GFF (17K from 7K), ZM(47K from 38K), APPF (22K from 16K), UNP (20K from 16K), DEO (34K from 31K)
Exited: GTM (348K), RTO (69K), LBRT (64K), VAL(50K), LESL (24K), KNX (23K)
Decreased: TDS (298K from 506K), KVUE (171K from 344K), NE (14K from 148K), SYY (83K from 211K),WMG (9K from 67K), CIB (40K from 91K), ACMR(224K from 263K), FOXF (51K from 83K), PERI (49K from 76K), NXE (30K from 51K)

Public Investment Fund (sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia) discloses updated Q1 2026 portfolio positions in 13F filing: Maintained LCID UBER EA positions, Exited ALUR warrants; Maintained: LCID (177.09 mln shares), UBER (72.84 mln), EA (24.81 mln), CTEV (1.2 mln).

Leon Cooperman discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New COF AMZN positions, Added to OMF PLGO STKL LAD holdings, Exited AMRZ OXY RRX; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: COF (370K), AMZN (170K)
Increased: OMF (2.01 mln shares from 0.7 mln shares), PLGO (7.98 mln from 7.04 mln), STKL (9.3 mln from 9.05 mln), LAD (0.34 mln from 0.32 mln),EWJ (0.02 mln from 0.01 mln)
Maintained: RKT (21.02 mln shares), ET (13.32 mln), VRT (2.16 mln)
Exited: AMRZ (880K), OXY (700K), RRX (690K)
Decreased: AESI (4.08 mln shares from 5.05 mln shares), ELV (0.23 mln from 0.34 mln)

D1 Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New NU CPNG SGI U DASH TMO LYV CVNA CLS GOOGL positions, Added to AMZN NVDA JHX DHR TXN AFRM holdings, Exited CNM ENTG APG SATS GEHC BAC; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: NU (25.89 mln shares), CPNG (11.61 mln), SGI(4.69 mln), U (3.26 mln), DASH (1.44 mln), TMO(725K), LYV (674K), CVNA (668K), CLS (542K), GOOGL (469K), FERG (349K), TSM (329K), M LM(323K), ADI (292K), BLD (213K), ASML (7K)
Increased: JHX (28.3 mln shares from 24.4 mln shares), DHR (2.3 mln from 0.56 mln), TXN (1.75 mln from 0.49 mln), AFRM (1.94 mln from 0.82 mln), KRC(11.28 mln from 10.4 mln), AVGO (0.98 mln from 0.36mln), SE (4.05 mln from 3.49 mln), AMZN (1.81 mln from 1.34 mln), NVDA (1.57 mln from 1.15 mln), RDDT(2.46 mln from 2.12 mln), COF (1.12 mln from 828K),MELI (374K from 224K), DIS (2.36 mln from 2.22 mln)
Maintained: CART (22.56 mln shares), LINE (7.4 mln), USFD (4.28 mln), APO (1.16 mln), APP (0.67 mln)
Exited: CNM (from 2.65 mln shares), ENTG (2.49 mln), APG (2.2 mln), SATS (1.86 mln), GEHC (1.76 mln), BAC (1.25 mln), NI (1.21 mln), ANET (962K), Q (937K), LIN (484K), SNPS (378K), MDLN (377K), META (376K), AEP (344K)
Decreased: KNX (5.49 mln from 7.72 mln), FLS (5.87 mln from 7.66 mln), CLH (1.34 mln from 2.78 mln), SCHW (2.36 mln from 3.15 mln), XPO (1.29 mln from 2.04 mln), SHW (474K from 962K), ADSK (309K from 456K), JCI (1.22 mln from 1.35 mln), SPOT (340K from 396K)

Soros Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New EIKN AMT TXN positions, Added to PUMP ALC, Exited NBIS EWZ AEO GM CZR; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: EIKN (485K), AMT (53K), TXN (25K), AS (21K), GEV (18K), ADI (16K), SKYW (15K)
Increased: PUMP (1.09 mln from 685K), ALC (94K from 76K), CAT (17K from 8K), MSI (14K from 7K), NFLX (31K from 25K), DHR (33K from 27K), FIX (12K from 6K), TJX (19K from 14K), AMZN (35K from 32K), VRSN (21K from 18K), NVDA (12K from 9K), LOW(19K from 17K), IUSB (6K from 5K), CPAY (13K from 12K)
Maintained: PACK (4.63 mln), WULF (713K), CP(69K), NKE (69K)
Exited: NBIS (229K), EWZ (150K), AEO (143K), GM (131K), CZR (100K), ON (90K), GAP (74K), BSX(55K), EWY (53K), CHDN (50K), SEI (44K), TM (23K), TRU (22K)
Decreased: GOOGL (6K from 247K), TSM (5K from 83K), AVGO (7K from 81K), FLUT (3K from 34K), GDDY (16K from 42K), ICE (15K from 34K), BE (38K from 57K), V (22K from 31K), TPR (4K from 9K), SBUX (47K from 51K), EME (6K from 9K), UNP (18K from 21K), HD (13K from 15K)

Engaged Capital (Glenn Welling) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Added to PTLO BL, Exited FRPT, Trimmed VFC CGNX YETI; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

Increased: PTLO (3.4 mln shares from 1.5 mln shares), BL (1.4 mln from 1.1 mln)
Maintained: BRCC (13.94 mln shares), EVH (5.56 mln), GXO (822K)
Exited: FRPT (401K)
Decreased: VFC (4.68 mln shares from 5.31 mln shares), CGNX (484K from 933K), YETI (1784K from 2033K)

Tiger Global discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New EQPT INTC XNDU PAYP RVI LITE MELI positions, Added to CPNG TSM Z NVDA AMAT AVGO META SPOT holdings, Exited GRAB FLUT VEEV HNGE ESTC WDAY CRCL; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: EQPT (4.6 mln shares), INTC (1.6 mln), XNDU(500K), PAYP (400K), RVI (400K), LITE (137K), MELI(135K)
Increased: CPNG (34.6 mln shares from 26.3 mln shares), TSM (5.6 mln from 3.7 mln), Z (7.4 mln from 6.1 mln), NVDA (12.0 mln from 11.0 mln), AMAT (1.7 mln from 0.9 mln), AVGO (3.6 mln from 2.9 mln), META (3.1 mln from 2.8 mln), SPOT (1.6 mln from 1.3 mln)
Maintained: SE (15.4 mln shares), GOOGL (10.6 mln), AMZN (10 mln), LRCX (3.9 mln), NFLX (2.4 mln), CPAY (1.8 mln), GEV (973K)
Exited: GRAB (from 92.9 mln shares), FLUT (4 mln), VEEV (2.4 mln), HNGE (1.8 mln), ESTC (1.69 mln),WDAY (1 mln), CRCL (500K)
Decreased: TTWO (2 mln shares from 5.8 mln shares), CHYM (11.1 mln from 14.2 mln), MSFT (2.5 mln from 5.5 mln), APO (3.3 mln from 6.2 mln), XYZ (4 mln from 6.4 mln), RDDT (2.5 mln from 3.8 mln), CSGP (1.5 mln from 2.3 mln), NOW (1.5 mln from 2.1mln), APP (1 mln from 1.3 mln), UNH (350K from 420K)

Discovery Capital (Rob Citrone) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New ON JMIA CAR HUYA WOLF INFQ FPS MDLN SNDK NVDA positions, Added to GENI CX AMX GEO AMZN, Exited AMKR GDS SNAP, Trimmed IREN CLF; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: ON (1.4 mln), IFS (1.1 mln), VLRS (964K), RKT(884K), JMIA (697K), CAR (549K), HUYA (467K), WOLF (425K), INFQ (396K), FP S (275K), MDLN(250K), SNDK (184K), CMPS (180K), ONMD (112K), ARE (100K), VLO (85K), ROST (72K ), LNG (67K), NVDA (57K), TER (52K), CRM (50K), BRRR (48K), ULTA (47K), SOXX (44K), FSLR (42K), I NTU (21K), IYM (12K)
Increased: GENI (7.5 mln shares from 4.2 mln shares), QXO (1.38 mln from 1.35 mln), NU (2.2 mln from 0.4 mln), TV (22.4 mln from 21.8 mln), BBAR (1.0 mln from 448K), JBS (3.4 mln from 3 mln), CX (3.5 mln from 3.1 mln), YPF (538K from 270K), SATS (412K from 173K), GGAL (869K from 641K), MU (276K from 105K), AMX (4.44 mln from 4.29 mln), PINS (773K from 621K), LRCX (298K from 152K), GEO (1.43 mln from 1.31 mln), AMZN (124K from 43K), GLNG (267K from 192K), AGRO (1.27 mln from 1.2 mln), BAP(141K from 83K), FISV (310K from 259K), SHY (57K from 8K), COF (269K from 232K), APP (51K from 37K), IBIT (644K from 7K)
Maintained: METC (5.5 mln shares), PPTA (1.3 mln), PSN (0.5 mln)
Exited: ORBS (from 14.9 mln shares), AMKR (2.6 mln), GDS (1.4 mln), SNAP (1.0 mln), GDLC (423K),COHR (329K), ACMR (296K), EAT (250K), GSIT(184K), DAL (167K), FRO (160K), ES TA (155K), SOLV(147K), TTWO (137K), AMD (131K), AWI (118K), SLM(111K), EWW (105K), UAL (105K), GLXY (100K), AVGO (83K), DDOG (83K), BA (77K), BIDU (76K),KRMN (75K), LOAR (75K), LITE (62K), VIK (50K), BMA (49K), NVT (44K), META (42K), ADBE (38K), MCD (37K), BE (25K), SN (25K), DPZ (24K)
Decreased: IREN (1.8 mln shares from 2.6 mln shares), CLF (1.5 mln from 2 mln), PRMB (1.4 mln from 1.7 mln), VNET (6.0 mln from 6.3 mln), JPM(155K from 227K), CHDN (160K from 169K), AEM(43K from 50K), HDB (183K from 756K)

Impactive Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New GTLB CART LRN ICLR positions, Added to SLM, Exited CLVT ETSY; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: GTLB (3.91 mln shares), CART (1.57 mln), LRN(1.11 mln), ICLR (0.45 mln)
Increased: SLM (7.82 mln shares from 7.23 mln shares), IWM (0.25 mln from 0.08 mln)
Maintained: VAC (4.13 mln shares)
Exited: CLVT (from 36.41 mln shares), ETSY (3.04 mln)
Decreased: WMS (0.86 mln shares from 1.46 mln shares), WEX (1.71 mln from 2.2 mln), ABG (1.07 mln from 1.25 mln)

Stadium Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Trimmed LCII BC GTLB holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

Maintained: SNBR (2.62 mln), BLDR (159K), DKS(35K)
Decreased: LCII (42K from 168K), BC (134K from 233K), GTLB (45K from 85K)

Duquesne (Stanley Druckenmiller) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New NUVB CAI JBS GSG INTC ARGT positions, Added to YPF STM ADMA CLF NTRA TBBB holdings, Exited XLF COGT AEVA DOCU GOOGL; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: NUVB (4.5 mln shares), CAI (1.9 mln), OLMA (987K), JBS (656K), GSG(643K), INTC (411K), ARGT (387K), DBVT (383K), RV MD (316K), XENE(239K), TWST (206K), AVGO (196K), TWLO (182K), HUM (138K), VIST( 135K), LYB (131K), Q (126K), ARM(107K), BLTE (106K), JBL (82K), SOLS(63K), NET (53K), STX (51K), LIN(41K), COHR (40K), SNDK (38K), CLS(33K), MU (23K), WLK (21K)
Increased: YPF (3.2 mln shares from 0.6 mln shares), STM (2.6 mln from 0.77 mln), ADMA (1.55 mln from 0.25 mln), CLF (2.3 mln from 1.75 mln), NTRA (3.1 mln from 2.5 mln), TBBB(3.1 mln from 2.7 mln), U (739K from 410K), ROKU (750K from 583K), SE(1.1 mln from 944K), OPCH (1.87 mln from 1.75 mln), AA (1.49 mln from 1.38 mln)
Maintained: NAMS (3.1 mln shares)
Exited: XLF (from 5.5 mln shares), COGT (2.2 mln), AEVA (1.8 mln), DOCU (1.02 mln), EEM (903K), ENTG(844K), DAL (651K), AAL (640K), ON(536K), CMG (392K), GO OGL (385K), PGNY (295K), Z (193K), WOLF (187K), FLUT (115K), RH (88K), PM (67K), DASH (36K), AGX (30K), GS (28K), NP(20K)
Decreased: CPNG (2.7 mln shares from 6.8 mln shares), TEVA (2.4 mln from 5.9 mln), PCT (1 mln from 2.9 mln), STUB (1.4 mln from 2.3 mln), QSR (454K from 1.2 mln), BE (136K from 741K), LSCC (323K from 926K), FIGR (1.2 mln from 1.5 mln), WWD(211K from 591K), INSM (1.15 mln from 1.48 mln), DAKT (563K from 853K), WAB (95K from 300K), CRH(378K from 475K), UAL (262K from 348K), TSM (495K from 543K), MELI(3K from 47K)

Land & Buildings discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New INVH LAMR DLR positions, Exited NSA AMH CSR; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: INVH (1.97 mln), LAMR (134K),DLR (114K), SBAC (60K)
Increased: CURB (905K from 217K),NHI (587K from 413K), RHP (288K from 204K), CBRE (185K from 128K),SPG (217K from 168K), PLD (169K from 134K)
Exited: NSA (1.31 mln), AMH (1.08 mln), CSR (828K)
Decreased: FUN (642K from 1743K), OUT (854K from 1242K), VTR (367K from 505K), GLPI (445K from 570K),FR (864K from 913K), AHR (1011K from 1053K), SKT (799K from 827K),EQIX (47K from 58K), SUI (276K from 285K), MAR (60K from 64K)

Jana Partners (Barry Rosenstein) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Added to FISV ALKT, Exited FRPT, Trimmed MRCY SPY MKL holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

Increased: FISV (4.44 mln shares from 2.25 mln shares), ALKT (5.43 mln from 4.89 mln)
Maintained: RPD (6.74 mln shares), LW (5.01 mln), FUN (4.12 mln), COO (3.57 mln), EHAB (2.09 mln)
Exited: FRPT (0.56 mln)
Decreased: MRCY (4.11 mln shares from 4.96 mln shares), SPY (0.34 mln from 0.39 mln), MKL (0.08 mln from 0.08 mln)

Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New DAL GOOG M positions, Added to GOOGL NYT LEN holdings, Exited V UNH MA AON DPZ POOL AMZN LAMR CHTR positions, Cut CVX STZ NUE DVA (482.30 -1.36); Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: DAL (39.81 mln shares), GOOG (3.59 mln), M(3.04 mln)
Increased: GOOGL (54.25 mln shares from 17.85 mln shares), NYT (15.15 mln from 5.07 mln), LEN (10.1 mln from 7.05 mln), LEN.B (0.24 mln from 0.18 mln)
Maintained: BAC (513.62 mln shares), KO (400 mln), KHC (325.63 mln), OXY (264.94 mln), AAPL (227.92 mln), AXP (151.61 mln), SIRI (124.81 mln), KR (50 mln), CB (34.25 mln),
Exited: V (8.3 mln), UNH (5.04 mln), MA (3.99 mln), AON (3.6 mln), DPZ (3.35 mln), POOL (3.07 mln),FWONK (3.02 mln), LILA (2.4 mln), AMZN (2.28 mln), HEI.A (1.29 mln), LILAK (1.28 mln), LAMR (1.2 mln), CHTR (1.06 mln), ALLE (780K), DEO (228K), BATRK(115K)
Decreased: CVX (84.38 mln shares from 130.16 mln shares), STZ (0.63 mln from 13 mln), NUE (3.91 mln from 6.41 mln), DVA (30.1 mln from 31.76 mln),LLYVK (10.59 mln from 10.92 mln)

ValueAct (Jeffrey Ubben and Bradley Singer) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New KKR WIX SPOT positions, Added to TOST V holdings, Exited NSIT, Lowered RKT DIS AMZN MDB LYV BLK META holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: KKR (3.28 mln shares), WIX (1.1 mln), SPOT(0.36 mln)
Increased: TOST (12.9 mln shares from 8.02 mln shares), V (2.32 mln from 1.72 mln)
Maintained: CRM (2.99 mln shares)
Exited: NSIT (1.22 mln shares)
Decreased: RKT (28.21 mln shares from 39.38 mln shares), DIS (0.4 mln from 3.08 mln), AMZN (2.88 mln from 3.39 mln), MDB (1.04 mln from 1.41 mln), LYV(0.62 mln from 0.82 mln), BLK (0.55 mln from 0.7 mln), LLYVK (3.56 mln from 3.6 mln) LLYVA (1.78 mln from 1.8 mln), RBLX (5.85 mln from 5.98 mln), META(916K from 1.05 mln), SSD (1.4 mln from 1.47 mln)

Carl Icahn discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Added to CVI position, Exited SWX, Lowered SATS holding; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

Increased: CVI (71.2 mln shares from 70.42 mln shares)
Maintained: IEP (549.4 mln shares) JBLU (33.62 mln), CTRI (14.34 mln), IFF (4.28 mln), UAN (4.16 mln), AEP (1.21 mln)
Exited: SWX (6.03 mln shares)
Decreased: SATS (1.4 mln shares from 3.35 mln shares)

Himalaya Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New TME HRB SPGI MCO MSCI positions; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: TME (6.59 mln), HRB (1.63 mln), SPGI (121K), MCO (118K), MSCI (19K)
Increased: CROX (887K from 628K)
Maintained: PDD (4.61 mln), EWBC (2.78 mln), GOOGL (2.54 mln), GOOG (2.45 mln), OXY (1.47 mln), BRK.B (898K)
Decreased: BAC (2998K from 10431K)

DME / Greenlight Capital (David Einhorn) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New DCH STUB PSKY SLM VTRS REZI TRIP positions, Added to PTON ACHC SHC BKV GPK SLDE VSCO holdings, Exited KD WBD PRKS GPN; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: DCH (6.31 mln shares), STUB (4.23 mln), PSKY(3.93 mln), VSNT (3.03 mln), SLM (2.1 mln), VTRS(1.82 mln), REZI (1.57 mln), TRIP (1.56 mln), CROX(0.67 mln), ZIM (0.35 mln)
Increased: PTON (10.11 mln shares from 0.25 mln shares), SHC (2.07 mln from 0.46 mln), BKV (2.7 mln from 1.29 mln), GPK (9.1 mln from 8.42 mln), SLDE(1.69 mln from 1.15 mln), VSCO (2.26 mln from 1.74 mln), SNX (0.48 mln from 0.06 mln), ACHC (4.52 mln from 4.12 mln), COYA (2.34 mln from 2.03 mln), BHF(2.84 mln from 2.79 mln), DECK (481K from 299K),CPRI (4.93 mln from 4.77 mln), HSIC (599K from 469K), CNC (2.73 mln from 2.64 mln), ROIV (2.15 mln from 2.07 mln)
Maintained: GRBK (9.47 mln shares), PENN (6.04 mln)
Exited: KD (from 3.82 mln shares), WBD (1.53 mln),PRKS (575K), GPN (453K), KWEB (132K), GDX (65K)
Decreased: DHT (5.27 mln shares from 7.37 mln shares), CNH (4.19 mln from 5.77 mln), PCG (6.63 mln from 7.78 mln), FLR (4.75 mln from 5.56 mln), WFRD(0.15 mln from 0.74 mln), CNR (1.86 mln from 2.1mln), AR (0.81 mln from 1.01 mln), TEVA (2.91 mln from 3.06 mln), SPB (0.65 mln from 0.66 mln), LBTYA(4.96 mln from 5 mln), GLD (100K from 171K), CI(88K from 94K)

Long Pond John Koury) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New JAN DOC NCLH JHX AMH KRC positions, Added to JBGS IRT KREF PRKS WH, Exited; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: JAN (3.3 mln shares), DOC (2.5 mln), NCLH (1.7 mln), JHX (1.16 mln), AMH (1.11 mln), KRC (1.04 mln), FUN (750K), SMA (613K), WYNN (529K), TMHC(174K)
Increased: IRT (5.7 mln shares from 1 mln shares),KREF (5.73 mln from 1.56 mln), PRKS (1.68 mln from 0.86 mln), JBGS (4.4 mln from 4.2 mln), PRKS (1681K from 855K), WH (702K from 338K), CPT (401K from 54K), LINE (411K from 184K), CUBE (435K from 347K), H (224K from 203K)
Maintained: INN (9.4 mln shares), TRTX (7.03 mln)
Exited: NSA (from 2.59 mln shares), CZR (1.48 mln), GLPI (994K), SHO (485K), TREX (484K), ARE(479K), PLD (350K), VRE (150K), AVB (140K)
Decreased: COLD (4.5 mln shares from 5.8 mln shares), SAFE (554K from 945K), NXRT (453K from 843K), CSR (190K from 444K), HGV (485K from 732K), MHO (48K from 71K), SLG (130K from 138K)

Altimeter Capital (Brad Gerstner) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New ARM AXON positions, Added to UBER CRWV NVDA TSM META AVGO holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: ARM (1.72 mln shares), AXON(149K)
Increased: UBER (7.97 mln shares from 5.59 mln shares), CRWV (4.5 mln from 3.21 mln), NVDA (9.34 mln from 8.1 mln), TSM (1.37 mln from 1.22 mln), META (1.95 mln from 1.85 mln), AVGO (0.07 mln from 0.03 mln)
Exited: CPNG (from 15.68 mln shares), CFLT (6.93 mln), Z (2.19 mln), SHOP(0.57 mln), GOOGL (0.52 mln), BE(0.26 mln), MELI (0.07 mln)
Decreased: HOOD (0.9 mln shares from 1.29 mln shares), AMZN (2.09 mln from 2.22 mln), SNOW (1.93 mln from 2.03 mln), MSFT (1.18 mln from 1.28 mln)

New: EIKN (485K), AMT (53K), TXN(25K), AS (21K), GEV (18K), ADI(16K), SKYW (15K)
Increased: PUMP (1.09 mln from 685K), ALC (94K from 76K), CAT (17K from 8K), MSI (14K from 7K), NFLX(31K from 25K), DHR (33K from 27K), FIX (12K from 6K), TJX (19K from 14K), AMZN (35K from 32K), VRSN(21K from 18K), NVDA (12K from 9K), LOW (19K from 17K), IUSB (6K from 5K), CPAY (13K from 12K)
Maintained: PACK (4.63 mln), WULF(713K), CP (69K), NKE (69K)
Exited: NBIS (229K), EWZ (150K), AEO (143K), GM (131K), CZR (100K), ON (90K), GAP (74K), BSX (55K), EWY(53K), CHDN (50K), SEI (44K), TM(23K), TRU (22K)
Decreased: GOOGL (6K from 247K), TSM (5K from 83K), AVGO (7K from 81K), FLUT (3K from 34K), GDDY (16K from 42K), ICE (15K from 34K), BE(38K from 57K), V (22K from 31K), TPR(4K from 9K), SBUX (47K from 51K), EME (6K from 9K), UNP (1

Soros Fund (George Soros) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New CX TALK OBDC MFIC SEM AES VRE positions, Exited DBRG INDV JHG ONB CADE TRIP; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: CX (2.99 mln), TALK (2.77 mln), OBDC (2.45 mln), MFIC (1.94 mln), SEM (1.83 mln), AES (1.56 mln), VRE (1.53 mln), HTO (1.23 mln), OTF (1.01 mln), BXSL (868K), NATL (730K), WBS (712K), SUNB(546K), POR (506K), THR (448K), GFS (444K), ING M(400K), STLA (379K), NSA (317K), KWEB (300K), SVAC (295K), SHLS (289K), ARRY (275K), LIN(260K ), HYG (250K), WIX (250K), CG (245K), KKR(245K), VST (244K), JAN (229K), ETSY (215K), PEN(203K), MDA (200K), ARES (196K), COF (180K), BX(173K), TPG (173K), NOW (154K), KO (151K), EQPT(150K), OFRM (150K), MWH (141K), BRK.B (133K),APO (131K), LBRDK (127K), MCD (124K)
Increased: CCO (5.41 mln from 680K), BGC (4.2 mln from 2.11 mln), KVUE (3.16 mln from 1.25 mln), EVGO(6.04 mln from 4.5 mln), WBD (1.09 mln from 150K),OWL (2.02 mln from 1.19 mln), EA (966K from 428K), WEC (513K from 96K), NVDA (1.07 mln from 666K), CORZ (329K from 5K), HON (358K from 71K), SARO(700K from 425K), TEAM (536K from 287K), SEMR (1.48 mln from 1.29 mln), GTLS (470K from 286K), VSEC (157K from 7K), SW (2.52 mln from 2.4 mln),JPM (118K from 2K), FWONK (247K from 140K), AAPL (501K from 416K), LCID (173K from 96K), BHF(847K from 774K), CRBG (2.13 mln from 2.07 mln)
Exited: DBRG (2.4 mln), INDV (1.15 mln), JHG(997K), ONB (856K), CADE (597K), TRIP (520K), FUN (440K), SAIL (425K), LION (401K), ENP H(400K), CSGS (377K), FXI (325K)
Decreased: RUN (20K from 2.23 mln), FIGR (1 mln from 2.1 mln), ALLY (725K from 1.69 mln), EXC (105K from 623K), STUB (125K from 487K), XLF (12K from 312K), MDLN (1.29 mln from 1.58 mln), SRE (109K from 397K), DDOG (101K from 380K), ITT (90K from 329K), GFL (530K from 733K), CNM (232K from 434K), CORZW (874K from 1.06 mln), ULS (395K from 581K), AMRZ (89K from 267K), CRM (361K from 519K), RDNT (438K from 575K), IBKR (645K from 771K), GO (37K from 137K), CODI (25K from 125K), BKU (31K from 130K), AAMI (649K from 737K), GL(60K from 146K), CRH (115K from 200K), WWD (100K from 181K), SMR (70K from 150K), ETR (77K from 156K)

Paulson & Co (John Paulson) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New FOLD position, Added to THM THRY holdings, Exited SOLS; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: FOLD (0.03 mln shares)
Increased: THM (99.57 mln shares from 70.24 mln shares), THRY (8.44 mln from 4.35 mln)
Maintained: BHC (73.26 mln shares), PPTA (32.35 mln), NG (27.24 mln), AAMI (7.74 mln), AEM (0.78 mln)
Exited: SOLS (1.4 mln shares)
Decreased: MDGL (1.39 mln shares from 1.71 mln shares)

Trian Fund (Nelson Peltz) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New MICC position, Maintained JHG WEN SOLV GE IVZ FERG holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: MICC (241K)
Maintained: JHG (31.87 mln shares), WEN (30.45 mln), SOLV (8.24 mln), GE (4.03 mln), IVZ (2.97 mln), FERG (1.09 mln)

Third Point (Dan Loeb) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New HUT GOOGL GLD META LRCX AVGO positions, Exited PCG RKT BN CMG KVUE CSGP VST, Cut NVDA UNP LYV SGI SN APG holdings; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: HUT (870K), GOOGL (175K), GLD (95K), META(90K), LRCX (75K), AVGO (50K), SMH (40K), TDG( 25K), ASML (12K), KLAC (11K)
Increased: SPRY (1 mln from 556K)
Maintained: SRTA (5 mln)
Exited: PCG (34.3 mln), RKT (9.52 mln), BN (6.2 mln), CMG (4.73 mln), KVUE (3.25 mln), CSGP (3.17 mln),VST (1.01 mln), MSFT (925K), BABA (825K), LPLA(510K), CSX (500K), CEG (475K), CASY (455K), BHC(350K), WI X (225K), PGR (220K), FIX (105K), SPOT(100K), TMO (50K)
Decreased: NVDA (190K from 2.95 mln), UNP (100K from 1.81 mln), LYV (465K from 1.73 mln), SGI (2.27 mln from 3.4 mln), SN (131K from 1.2 mln), APG (2.03 mln from 3 mln), COF (140K from 1.1 mln), NSC (100K from 975K), CRH (1.9 mln from 2.6 mln), MTZ (320K from 925K), CRS (310K from 785K), AMZN (1.94 mln from 2.17 mln), TSM (275K from 425K), CTEV (44K from 145K), DHR (525K from 600K), TDS (6.6 mln from 6.68 mln)

Lone Pine (Stephen Mandel) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New WULF HUT PFGC USFD GLW TER MTZ positions, Added to NU VST APP TLN CRS holdings, Exited AFRM PM DASH AMZN AVGO WING MSFT; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: WULF (19.92 mln shares), HUT (6.08 mln),PFGC (3.98 mln), USFD (3.8 mln), GLW (3.72 mln), TER (1.87 mln), MTZ (1.53 mln), CIEN (810K), AGX(393K), MCK (392K), GOOGL (188K)
Increased: NU (38.01 mln shares from 29.63 mln shares), VST (6.19 mln from 5.21 mln), APP (1.46 mln from 0.78 mln), TLN (1.82 mln from 1.29 mln), CRS(1.82 mln from 1.31 mln), THC (2.26 mln from 1.79 mln), CLH (1.75 mln from 1.38 mln), V (93K from 15K),SPOT (69K from 18K), ASML (655K from 605K), HLT(89K from 58K), TDG (36K from 19K)
Maintained: MDLN (11.79 mln shares), ENTG (3.12 mln), COF (2.27 mln), LPLA (2.05 mln), CVNA (1.75 mln)
Exited: AFRM (from 3.82 mln shares), PM (2.64 mln), DASH (2.53 mln), AMZN (2.41 mln), AVGO (1.73 mln),WING (1.6 mln), MSFT (1.23 mln)
Decreased: KKR (0.18 mln shares from 5 mln shares),BN (11.21 mln from 15.92 mln), APH (223K from 2.81 mln), TSM (1.39 mln from 3.05 mln), VMC (144K from 1.68 mln), BSX (105K from 202K), MA (57K from 96K),BKNG (2K from 5K)

Starboard Value (Jeffrey Smith) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New KMX LW GPGI positions, Added to TRIP, Exited ADSK CRM; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: KMX (6.2 mln shares), LW (6.1 mln), GPGI (5.0 mln)
Increased: TRIP (10.8 mln shares from 9.6 mln shares), IJH (5.8 mln from 5.3 mln)
Maintained: ACTG (61.1 mln shares), KVUE (27.3 mln), MTCH (11.4 mln), QRVO (7.5 mln), BILL (7.0 mln)
Exited: ADSK (from 1 mln shares), CRM (0.94 mln)
Decreased: AQN (57.2 mln shares from 63.5 mln shares), HR (6.8 mln from 12.6 mln), CWAN (5.46 mln from 9.96 mln), GEN (7.81 mln from 10.59 mln), FLR(2.89 mln from 5.19 mln), NWS (2.59 mln from 4.44mln), ROG (0.58 mln from 1.2 mln), BDX (0.64 mln from 0.93 mln), NWSA (5.6 mln from 5.9 mln)

Elliott Management (Paul Singer) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New RIG NCLH positions, Added to HPE SDRL, Exited ST BILL positions, Cut LUV holding; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: RIG (15.63 mln shares), NCLH (13.19 mln)
Increased: HPE (27.42 mln shares from 18.63 mln shares), SDRL (4.72 mln from 4.56 mln), HDB (797K from 217K)
Maintained: TFPM (133.25 mln shares), UNIT (59.01 mln), SU (52.67 mln), PINS (28 mln), PSX (19.25 mln)
Exited: ST (from 3.25 mln shares), BILL (3 mln), FSK(265K)
Decreased: LUV (30.35 mln shares from 51.13 mln shares)

NVDA; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: COHR (7.79 mln shares), GENB (0.83 mln)
Increased: CRWV (47.21 mln shares from 24.28 mln shares)
Maintained: INTC (214.78 mln shares),NOK (166.39 mln), SNPS (4.82 mln)

Pershing Square (Bill Ackman) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New MSFT position, Added to AMZN holding, Exited HLT; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

New: MSFT (5.65 mln shares)
Increased: AMZN (11.45 mln shares from 9.61 mln shares)
Maintained: HHH (18.85 mln shares)
Exited: HLT (3.03 mln shares)
Decreased: GOOG (312K shares from 6.16 mln shares), BN (59.7 mln from 61.4 mln), GOOGL (32K from 678K), UBER (29.96 mln from 30.21 mln), QSR(22.65 mln from 22.87 mln), META (2.66 mln from 2.67 mln)

Gates Foundation discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Exited MSFT, Trimmed BRK.B WM; Highlights from Q1 2026 filing as compared to Q4 2025 (all amounts are approximate):

Maintained: CNI (51.83 mln shares), WMT (8.39 mln), CAT (6.35 mln), KOF (6.21 mln), ECL (5.22 mln), DE(3.56 mln), FDX (2.38 mln), WCN (2.04 mln)
Exited: MSFT (7.69 mln shares)
Decreased: BRK.B (17.05 mln shares from 19.41 mln shares), WM (27.64 mln from 28.93 mln)

Full 13F breakdown in pdf format available to pro subs

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/17/2026 - 19:15
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"Taiwan Loses Its Strategic Importance In 18 Months," Says Chamath Palihapitiya

2026-05-17T16:19:37.527-07:00

"Taiwan Loses Its Strategic Importance In 18 Months," Says Chamath Palihapitiya

In an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier that aired Friday, President Trump said that he doesn't want "to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war" over Taiwan.

"I'm not looking to have somebody to go independent and, you know, we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war," Trump told Baier. "I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down."

Taiwan has been a major point of friction between Washington and Beijing. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that the issue was not a key topic during Trump's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The initial White House readout of the summit also did not mention Taiwan, home to the world's most advanced semiconductor production.

Taiwan is strategically important for three main reasons:

It is indispensable to global semiconductor production.
It sits at the center of the Western Pacific security architecture.
It remains a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations.

In other words, Taiwan is critically important to the U.S. because it is not only a semiconductor production supernode, but also a geopolitical fortress against China and a potential flashpoint in U.S.-China relations.

However, Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital and part of the All-In podcast, pointed out that Taiwan could be on track to lose one of its most strategic advantages in the next 18 months.

Palihapitiya continued:

We're 18 months from Taiwan not being an important moment of conversation the way it is today.

Why 18 months? Because we are at a point where we're probably 1-2 nanometers away from being able to do what we need Taiwan to strategically do for us.

And so as we scale up our chip fabs, as we get more capacity, and interestingly, there are these orthogonal technologies being developed.

I don't know if you guys saw, but Neuralink was showcasing a machine that is literally operating at the almost nanometer scale to do the brain operations for the implantation, all automatically.

When you have the dexterity and the capability mechanically to make these things, the real reason then is a very different one than what it is today.

Today, it's economic. And if you take that off the table, I think we'll have a very different attitude to Taiwan.

Chamath: Taiwan Loses Its Strategic Importance in 18 Months@chamath:

“ We're 18 months from Taiwan not being an important moment of conversation the way it is today.

Why 18 months? Because we are at a point where we're probably 1-2 nanometers away from being able to do what… pic.twitter.com/XL2UqRIQyi
— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) May 17, 2026

Palihapitiya's take on the rise of U.S. chip fabs, many of which are based in Arizona and could soon turn the state into the new Taiwan, drew backlash on X, notably from geopolitical risk analyst Ian Bremmer, who said, "This is Trump's perspective: the only thing that matters about Taiwan is the chips. Very different from the view of U.S. allies in the region: Japan, South Korea, and Australia."

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Big Pharma RINO Bill Cassidy Smoked By Trump-Endorsed Candidate In Louisiana Senate Primary

2026-05-17T15:19:16.118-07:00

Big Pharma RINO Bill Cassidy Smoked By Trump-Endorsed Candidate In Louisiana Senate Primary

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) came in third in Louisiana's Republican Senate primary on Saturday - marking the first time in nearly 15 years that a sitting US Senator has lost a primary in a regularly scheduled election.

Instead, Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow led with ~45% of the vote, while state Treasurer John Fleming came in second at 28%.

Letlow and Fleming will now face off in a June 27 runoff.

Cassidy was a notable fan of Obamacare, and voted to convict Trump during impeachment over the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He also helped sink Casey Means' nomination for surgeon general, which drew sharp criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and his MAHA movement. He's been labeled a big pharma shill by opponents.

With Bill Cassidy's primary defeat last night, @PeterKolchinsky has one less Big Pharma puppet to play with in Congress. https://t.co/NLmnYVaIXQ
— Jason Poulos (@jasonvpoulos) May 17, 2026

Of note...

Over $1.2 million in career contributions from the pharmaceutical and health products industry, according to OpenSecrets data, with hundreds of thousands received in recent cycles.
Pharma executives showered him with donations shortly after he became the top Republican on the Senate HELP Committee in 2023, including $5,800 from Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, $5,000 from Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, and contributions from other PhRMA board members.
Opposed key drug pricing reforms aimed at lowering prescription costs, while taking substantial industry money during those periods.
Received nearly $330,000 from the pharma/health industry in the 2023-2024 cycle alone, ranking him among the top Senate recipients.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the biggest obstacle to medical freedom and reforming the vaccine cartel got crushed yesterday in the Louisiana GOP primary. Cassidy has stood in the way of every reform proposed by RFKJ, opposed the appointment of anybody who would change the current corrupt… pic.twitter.com/pfJFr22cB0
— Autism Action Network (@AutismActionNet) May 17, 2026

The last time a sitting US Senator lost their seat in a primary was in 2012, when longtime Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) lost his Republican primary to Richard Mourdock.

🚨 HOLY CRAP! RINO Sen. Bill Cassidy just got completely SHUT OUT of his Senate seat — not only getting pummeled by Trump-backed Julia Letlow, but also losing to John Fleming, who got 2nd

This is the first time in nearly 15 YEARS a sitting US Senator lost their primary in a… https://t.co/1zvNKA5K7v pic.twitter.com/OxBTYO6dNq
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 17, 2026

Letlow, meanwhile, is your standard issue conservative. The Louisiana congresswoman has a solidly right-leaning congressional record. She earned Trump’s full backing after Cassidy voted to convict him, and she campaigned on core America First priorities including border security, energy production, and opposition to woke policies.

While critics on the right point to her membership in the more moderate Main Street Caucus, slightly softer Club for Growth scores on spending, and past academic work involving DEI language, these are relatively minor compared to her overall alignment with Republican and MAGA priorities. In the context of Louisiana’s deep-red politics, Letlow represents a clear shift away from Cassidy-style establishment Republicanism toward a more Trump-aligned Senate candidate heading into the June runoff.

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FBI Offers $200,000 Reward To Catch Former US Air Force Specialist In Iran Spying Case

2026-05-16T16:19:33.506-07:00

FBI Offers $200,000 Reward To Catch Former US Air Force Specialist In Iran Spying Case

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

The FBI on Thursday said it is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the capture and prosecution of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran in 2013 and was later charged with revealing classified information to the Iranian regime.

A FBI agent at the Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The bureau said in a statement that Monica Witt served in the military from 1997 to 2008, then worked as a government contractor until 2010. She later defected to Iran in 2013.

In 2019, she was indicted by a grand jury in Washington on espionage charges, including transmitting national defense information to the Iranian regime, the FBI said.

After she defected, according to the indictment, she later provided information to Iran and put “sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and programs” at risk, according to the statement.

The information she provided to the Iranian regime endangered American personnel and their families stationed abroad, the FBI said.

Witt is also accused of performing “research on behalf of the Iranian regime to allow them to target her former colleagues in the U.S. government,” the bureau added.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has launched attacks on U.S. assets in the region and recently attacked commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, has benefited from her defection to Iran, it added.

“Monica Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said in a May 14 statement.

Even though she defected years ago, the special agent added that the FBI has “not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts.”

The FBI's wanted notice offering a reward of up to $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Monica Witt. Courtesy of the FBI

“The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice,” Wierzbicki said.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has said that she defected after being invited to two all-expense-paid conferences in the country that the DOJ says promoted anti-Western propaganda and condemned American moral standards. Before that, Witt had been warned by the FBI about her activities, but she told agents that she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she returned to Iran, prosecutors said.

It wasn’t immediately known why the FBI was bringing attention to Witt’s case on May 14.

The United States and Iran have been at war since Feb. 28. Tehran recently submitted proposals to Washington to end the conflict, which were rejected by the United States. This week, Iran allegedly attacked several ships in the region. A UK maritime agency said a ship was seized near the Strait of Hormuz and moved to Iran on May 14.

The Epaminondas ship during seizure by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, in this image obtained by Reuters on April 24, 2026. Meysam Mirzadeh/Tasnim/WANA via Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump on May 14 said that his patience with Tehran is running out and that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed during talks in Beijing that Iran must move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes on a normal day.

Anyone with information about Witt or her whereabouts is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be submitted to local FBI offices, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, or sent via tips.fbi.gov, according to the law enforcement bureau.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pakistan Uses Diplomacy To Secure LNG Supply from Hormuz

2026-05-16T14:19:22.328-07:00

Pakistan Uses Diplomacy To Secure LNG Supply from Hormuz

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Pakistan has negotiated the passage of vessels laden with Qatari LNG out of the Strait of Hormuz in a diplomatic feat that no other energy buyer has managed so far in the Iran war.

Pakistan, which was the mediator of the U.S.-Iran talks and is passing messages from one to the other, appears to have used well its close ties with both Qatar and Iran to negotiate the successful imports of two tankers with Qatari LNG.

Pakistan has relied on Qatar's term LNG supply for years, but the war in the Middle East has led to the shutdown of Qatari LNG production and exports.

Without Qatar's LNG, Pakistan has been reeling from an intensifying energy crisis with power outages and fuel rationing.

Thanks to a bilateral Pakistan-Iran agreement, two vessels carrying Qatari LNG arrived in Pakistan in recent days after successfully passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The first LNG cargo that successfully cleared the chokepoint earlier this month was bound for Pakistan.

"Qatar-linked LNG movement through Hormuz showed a limited but significant restart," maritime intelligence firm Windward said on Thursday in an analysis on the five weeks of ceasefire.

The Al Kharaitiyat on May 9 became the first Qatar LNG cargo to clear the Strait of Hormuz since Iran closed it on February 28, headed for Pakistan. Another Qatari LNG cargo arrived in Pakistan this week after clearing the chokepoint earlier in the week.

"Pakistan will continue to coordinate closely with Qatar to ensure uninterrupted LNG supplies," Pakistan's Federal Minister for Petroleum, Ali Pervaiz Malik, said on Thursday during a meeting with Qatar's Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali bin Mubarak Al-Khater.

"Pakistan's preference is to secure supplies from friendly brotherly countries through necessary approvals, without risking any loss of life or property," the Pakistani minister said, adding that "efforts are underway to secure additional gas supplies in view of national energy requirements."

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India's Trade Deficit Surges As Energy Import Prices Soar

2026-05-15T15:19:25.191-07:00

India's Trade Deficit Surges As Energy Import Prices Soar

India's trade deficit soared in April by more than analysts expected, as the surge in oil and gas prices hiked the Indian energy import bill.

The trade deficit jumped by $8bn from $20.6bn in March to $28.38bn last month, higher than the $26 billion estimate, on a broad-based increase in imports. At the same time, total exports grew by 13.8% in April from a year earlier to hit $43.56 billion.

Oil imports sequentially rose by around 60% MoM likely driven by higher volumes in April (vs. March lows) and higher oil prices.

The value of imports soared as international oil and gas prices jumped amid the Middle East conflict that forced India and every other major crude oil importer to source more expensive supply from producers not dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed to most tanker traffic two and a half months after the Iran war began. Meanwhile, petroleum product exports rose by around 48% mom s.a. likely driven by higher exports to Singapore. Gold imports rose sequentially likely driven by higher volume imports of semi-processed gold for refining and higher prices. However, gold imports (in volume terms) may likely decline in May following the government's import duty hike to 15% from 6%.

Overall non-oil exports remained strong, led by stronger electronics exports. Exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE recovered in April from its March lows, but remained well below the last year's levels, while exports to the US increased both sequentially and in year-over-year (yoy) terms. Services trade surplus remained strong at around $21bn, supported by robust services exports.

The widening trade deficit and the soaring energy import bill are pressuring the government's current account and finances, as the oil supply crisis is already seeping through India's economy. In the past week, India imposed draconian tariffs on gold imports to defend the currency which has plunged to a record low against the dollar.

Since the war began and cut off over 40% of India's crude oil flows, those that passed through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the highest-flying economies in Asia has seen its oil import bill soar, investors fleeing the capital market, and the local currency plunging to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar.

Analysts have started to raise inflation estimates and reduce forecasts of this year's economic growth in India, which is beginning to feel the oil supply shock well beyond the actual disruption of deliveries of oil, LNG, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the primary cooking fuel in the world's most populous country.

The oil shock that the war has created will weigh on India's economic growth in the current fiscal year to March 2027. BMI, part of Fitch, expects India's GDP growth to slow to 6.7% in the 2026/2027 fiscal year, down from 7.7% in 2025/2026, largely due to the oil price shock.

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Re-Arranging The Global Game-Board 'Bigly'...

2026-05-15T14:19:17.307-07:00

Re-Arranging The Global Game-Board 'Bigly'...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Resource Scramble

“Trump has done so much damage to libtardery that the Democrats will need a decade of uninterrupted power to undo it, which they're not going to get.”

- Matt Forney on X

If you learned anything from this week’s extravaganza in Beijing, it is that Donald Trump is aggressively re-aligning world relations so that the USA does not end up one of the losers in the global resource scramble that lurks darkly behind all current events.

China does not intend to be an eventual loser, either, though it has lost a lot of traction lately.

The Eurolands are certainly the main losers, embracing loserdom as the old and sick long for death.

India and some of the BRICs countries, are looking a little loser-ish just now.

The primary resource all nations scramble for is oil. Without lavish supplies of oil, you can’t have an advanced techno-industrial economy and, as the feckless Eurolanders learned the hard way, there really isn’t an adequate substitute for oil. The flow of oil depends on economically producible reserves of oil country-by-country, but also on geographic advantage, as we are learning just now in the Hormuz crisis.

“Europe’s crude oil production started its permanent decline in 2001. Asia-Pacific’s production hit a maximum in 2010, and it has been declining since. Africa’s peak oil production took place in 2008, and it has been mostly declining since.”

- Gail Tverberg, OurFiniteWorld.com

Also, turns out, the peak oil story is still real, despite fifteen years of shale oil miracles.

The Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia are probably past peak. American shale oil is in the peaking zone, too — the Permian Basin in Texas is running short of sweet spots. The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (AMWR) is open for leasing, but it is expensive to drill and produce in the harsh arctic region and the US Geological Survey estimates recoverable reserves there between 7.7 – 10 billion barrels — America consumes roughly 7.5 billion barrels-a-year, so. . . .

There’s Canada, of course, and its tar sands, but the Great White North these days leans rather hostilely towards its neighbor to the south (us). Otherwise, North America is pretty fully explored oil-wise. There can’t be a whole lot of hidden, un-tapped “elephant” fields out there. On the plus side, America enjoys its geographic advantage, comfortably cushioned between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, far from the madding crowd of Eurasia.

We have lately trumpeted our supposed acquisition of Venezuela, but projected production of US companies there looking ahead several years would be under a million barrels-a-day while the US uses 20.5-million barrels a day. As for Venezuela’s jungle-bound oil sands, well, for now, fuggeddabowdit.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources puts its commercially recoverable oil resources (with current technology and prices) at around 80-billion barrels, which is a lot, and leaves Russia in a theoretically favorable place for the short term, anyway. China uses about 17-million barrels-a-day and imports about 70-percent of that. Its imports of Iranian oil are substantial but obscured in official statistics due to the evasion of US sanctions. The Hormuz blockade has put a hurt on China.

Here’s how the global resource scramble translates into geopolitical behavior: As has been evident for some time, US interests are increasingly alienated from Euroland’s interests, and better aligned with Russia’s interests. Europe is demonstrably insane these days, roiling with loose talk as it whirls around the drain. Russia, under V. Putin, looks more like the adult in the room. Even Russia’s military operation in Ukraine looks rational if you consider how the EU and the CIA started the damn thing in the first place circa 2014 for the very purpose of provoking Russia.

Mr. Trump has yearned to normalize relations with Russia since he stepped on-stage in 2016, to the great consternation of America’s neocons, CIA shadow-meisters, and the born-again communists running the Democratic Party (who seem to resent Russia ditching Marxism-Leninism thirty-five years ago). This week, the US and China have mutually proposed becoming “partners” rather than rivals on the world scene. We will surely remain mutually wary, but apparently things have changed.

Most urgently, China would like its oil imports from the Persian Gulf restored, and the obvious way to make that happen would be for them to lean on Iran to stop screwing around and come to terms with the US — give up the enriched uranium and stop laying jihad on everybody near and far. We’ll know soon enough if China will do that for us, and we have some goodies promised for them, Nvidia chips, soybeans, and more.

Mr. Trump is rearranging the global game-board bigly, and the net result will be the sorting-out of winners and losers.

Iran is the poster boy for that. It could go either way for them, soon, and rather sharply.

If Iran’s jihad-happy leaders just quit FAFOing, they have the chance to re-enter the global community as an advanced modern economy with a comfortable standard of living.

Or, the US could just blow up what’s left there.

China will probably deliver that message forcefully in the days ahead.

There remains, however, the dirty business of America’s domestic enemies, of whom we learn more and more each week.

This week, it was the testimony of “whistleblower” CIA agent James Erdman that the CIA worked sedulously to conceal the true origins of Covid-19. It looks pretty much like what half of America has suspected all along: that Covid was a trip laid on the nation by its own Deep State (mainly the CIA), in concert with the rogue Democratic Party, for the express purpose of queering the 2020 election.

Related seditious operations apparently continue to this very hour. Former CIA Director John Brennan told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace this week: “There’s still a legion of professionals in the law enforcement environment, the Department of Justice, as well as the CIA and other places — the ones who are refusing to follow politically motivated prosecutions, those who are refusing to support any type of political activities on the part of the Trump administration. . . .” Did he just admit that the conspiracy he kicked off in 2016 is still ongoing? And that he is an active party to it? I think so. Do you think Joe DiGenova noticed that down in the DOJ’s Southern District of Florida?

Just as astoundingly, this week former FBI Director James Comey told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that he “still speaks regularly” to current FBI employees. Say, what. . . ? He palavers with the very agency that is investigating him for serious felonies, such as threatening the life of the US president? Sounds a little out-of-order, ya think? Does he long to spend the rest of his life as captain of the ping-pong team at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary?

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

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Minnesota 'Culture Of Fraud' Enabled More Than $9 Billion In Misused Taxpayer Funds, Panel Says

2026-05-14T15:19:08.458-07:00

Minnesota 'Culture Of Fraud' Enabled More Than $9 Billion In Misused Taxpayer Funds, Panel Says

Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A “culture of fraud” infected Minnesota state agencies, resulting in more than $9 billion in taxpayers’ money squandered, a new legislative report says.

State Rep. Pam Altendorf listens as fellow Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz discusses a report released at a meeting of a fraud prevention committee in the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on May 13, 2026. Livestream from the Minnesota House of Representatives/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“We finally pulled the curtain back—and the public is grateful,” state Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, said May 13 during a session that summarized 16 months of investigative work.

Many fraudsters “came to believe that fraud was tolerated and paid in a big way,” according to a report that Robbins released at the meeting. The report summarizes the committee’s attempts to dissect how state agencies became so mired in fraud.

Testimony from dozens of witnesses, including state employees and whistleblowers, demonstrated that Gov. Tim Walz’s administration neglected “basic due diligence” to protect taxpayers’ money, and instead “prioritized getting as much money out the door as possible” via government-benefits programs, the report says.

The administration also allegedly punished whistleblowers and “ignored and consciously downplayed shocking levels of fraud” in more than a dozen Medicaid-funded programs, such as autism services, medical transportation, and adult day care, according to the document.

“All of these failures have created opportunities for serial fraudsters to steal billions from Minnesota taxpayers across multiple programs for years,” the report says, estimating $300 million in federal meals fraud and $9 billion in Medicaid fraud. Those numbers exclude “potential hundreds of millions more in fraud in child care” and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the report notes.

The governor’s office did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.

Walz has repeatedly defended his track record on tackling fraud, including in a May 6 news release, stating: “We’ve made significant progress to strengthen programs and root out fraud. Today, we’re building on our success by putting an even stronger structure in place; adding leadership, improving oversight, and ensuring these programs are managed with the discipline and accountability Minnesotans expect.”

Robbins said accountability is lacking because no one in state government has been fired for failures, nor even for falsifying records—a finding that the Office of Legislative Auditor, a state watchdog, released early this year.

The new report from Robbins’s committee was released May 13, the same day that Vice President JD Vance, who heads a new anti-fraud task force, announced that the federal government was withholding $1.4 billion from home health and hospice operations suspected of fraud across the nation. So far this year, fraud concerns prompted federal officials to withhold $350 million from Minnesota’s Medicaid program.

Five Republicans including Robbins prepared the report. The committee’s trio of Democrats were invited to prepare their own version, mirroring a practice used in Congress.

Two Democratic committee members at the meeting, Reps. Dave Pinto and Emma Greenman, did not say whether they would take that step. Both disputed what they called “partisan” characterizations in the report; Pinto and Greenman abstained from voting on the GOP-authored report. All four Republicans who were present voted to accept it.

State Rep. Emma Greenman speaks during a meeting of the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee in the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on May 13, 2026. Livestream from the Minnesota House of Representatives/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz noted that despite allegations of partisanship, he sees signs of cooperation between the two parties. Just two weeks ago, the legislature approved “four great fraud-prevention bills on a bipartisan basis that were supported by members of this committee,” Schultz said, adding that one such bill called for “stopping grants going to convicted fraudsters.”

Remedies Proposed

The 84-page report contains numerous recommended changes in agency procedures and culture, and highlights broken internal processes.

For example, a law requires the Department of Human Services to annually review whether Medicaid beneficiaries are indeed eligible. The agency regularly skipped those verifications, and had conducted none since 2020, the report says, possibly costing “tens of millions of dollars.”

Under pressure from the committee and the public, the department conducted a review on March 20. It found “31,529 ineligible Minnesotans were receiving benefits,” who were then removed from the rolls, the report says.

Agency bureaucrats, who “viewed their role as supportive consultants rather than providing actual oversight” as they doled out taxpayers’ money, must instead use their authority to withhold payments and take other action, the report says.

The report also calls for agencies to log whistleblower complaints and hotline reports, then report those, along with actions taken, to lawmakers.

Fraud concerns and suspicious billing trends need to be tracked and reported too, the report says.

Another major recommended change: “Require electronic attendance records for child care, adult day care, sober homes, autism centers ... and other billable services ... before payments can be made.”

Committee’s Value Debated

The committee—the first of its kind in state history—began working in January 2025, nearly a year before Minnesota’s massive fraud scandals gained widespread national attention and sparked multiple federal probes.

As Robbins opened what could be the committee’s final meeting, she encouraged state lawmakers to re-establish the committee when the legislature reconvenes next year.

“The work we’ve done has hopefully carved a path for the next legislature in the next biennium to continue this important work,” she said, calling it “historic.”

State Rep. Kristin Robbins speaks at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on May 13, 2026. Livestream from the Minnesota House of Representatives/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The Republican lawmaker withdrew her bid for the governorship May 1, saying she would fight for improvements “from the outside” after her current term as a state representative expires in January 2027.

“It’s going to take many years, unfortunately, to undo the damage that has been done to taxpayers and vulnerable residents,” Robbins said. “But we must continue to expose the fraud, to strengthen internal controls and to make sure that fraudsters and agency officials are held accountable.”

Democrats Pinto and Greenman said the committee should have proposed legislation that could spark meaningful changes.

“Fighting fraud is urgent. Solutions were needed now,” Pinto said.

Robbins and other Republicans responded that the committee’s role was investigative, not legislative, and that the committee’s findings did inspire proposed laws.

Greenman said the document contains “misleading” information, and “no Democratic leader [is] left undisparaged” in the report. She defended the work of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in prosecuting fraud cases, and said the report fails to give him due credit.

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Japan's Refinery Utilization Hits 73% As Strategic Oil Stocks Flow In

2026-05-13T16:19:22.303-07:00

Japan's Refinery Utilization Hits 73% As Strategic Oil Stocks Flow In

With global refineries working overtime to convert oil into much needed product, Japan's refinery utilization rates also surged in May, as releases from petroleum reserves and increased supply of non-Middle East crude are easing the crude supply crunch seen in March and most of April, OilPrice reported.

For the first time since March, refiners in Japan have boosted their average utilization rate to above 70% in the past two weeks, data from the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) showed on Wednesday.

Utilization rate of the designed capacity was 73.3% in the week to May 9, following 77.3% utilization rate the week prior to May 2, the data showed. These run rates compare to utilization rates in the 60% range in April, according to the weekly statistics data released by the PAJ.

Resource-poor Japan is one of the biggest energy importers globally and relied on the Middle East for as much as 95% of its oil imports before the war. Most of the oil comes from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Of these Middle Eastern supplies, about 70% typically arrived in Japan on tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

As the war choked supply from the Middle East, Japan began releasing oil stocks from national reserves at the end of March, as part of the IEA-coordinated record-high release of 400 million barrels of oil and fuel. Japan is releasing a total of 80 million barrels of oil stocks, including 54 million barrels of crude and 26 million barrels of oil products as part of the IEA's 400-million-barrel release.

The ongoing stocks release, which is Japan's biggest, is helping refiners increase throughput. So is alternative supply from producers outside the Middle East, including rare cargoes from Azerbaijan and Latin America.

Some of the largest refiners in Japan, including Cosmo Energy Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan, aim for average utilization rates of more than 90% in the current fiscal year ending March 2027.

Cosmo Energy's outlook for the fiscal year include assumptions that crude oil production in the Middle East would normalize in August, and crude procurement "from September onward."

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CIA, Mexico Criticize CNN Report Claiming US Directly Participated In Bombing Of Cartels In Mexico

2026-05-13T14:19:14.174-07:00

CIA, Mexico Criticize CNN Report Claiming US Directly Participated In Bombing Of Cartels In Mexico

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Central Intelligence Agency and Mexico are criticizing CNN for spreading false information after the news outlet published a report - citing anonymous sources - claiming that CIA operatives had directly participated in targeted killings as part of the U.S. intelligence agency’s alleged “secret war” against cartel members in Mexico.

A man walks across the CIA seal in the lobby of the agency headquarters in Langley, Va., on Aug. 14, 2008. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The report, published on May 12, alleged that CIA Ground Branch officers had been present at or involved in targeted assassinations on mostly mid-level cartel members over the past year, including a March 28 vehicle explosion on a congested highway in Tecámac, in the State of Mexico just outside Mexico City, that killed Francisco Beltrán—known as “El Payín”—an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member, and his driver.

“This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk,” CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons said in a statement on X.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch also rejected the report.

“The Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify or suggest the existence of lethal, covert or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory,” he wrote on X. “Any international cooperation is limited to the exchange of information, institutional coordination and formal mechanisms established by the Government of Mexico.”

CNN and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment.

The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office has also issued a statement that “firmly rejects” any of its members telling journalists that an explosive device had been planted inside Beltrán’s vehicle, contradicting CNN’s reporting.

“An explosive device had been hidden inside the vehicle, the State of Mexico’s Attorney General told CNN,” the contested report reads.

The office said its inquiry into the two deaths remains active and that investigators had yet to establish a cause.

Tuesday’s dispute follows weeks of compounding friction between Washington and Mexico City over efforts in Mexico to address cartel crimes.

On April 19, two U.S. Embassy employees died in a car crash in Chihuahua state, along with two Mexican state officials. Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno said the four officials were on their way back from an operation targeting drug laboratories in the municipality of Morelos when the incident occurred.

The two U.S. Embassy employees were later reported by The Associated Press to be CIA agents collaborating with Chihuahua officials—claims the White House did not deny.

The White House on April 22 said that U.S. President Donald Trump was dissatisfied with Mexico’s official response to the incident. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had said that no agents from any U.S. government institution may operate in Mexico without approval from Mexico’s federal government, implying that the operation with local officials in Chihuahua state had not been given the green light by Mexico City.

Also in April, the Department of Justice indicted Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and nine current and former Sinaloa officials on drug trafficking and weapons charges, a development that has further strained the relationship between Washington and Mexico City.

The U.S. Treasury Department separately imposed sanctions on an international narcotics distribution network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/13/2026 - 16:20
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Trump Ready To Raise "Core Of China's Core Interests" In Xi Summit: Daily Schedule & What To Expect

2026-05-12T16:19:29.065-07:00

Trump Ready To Raise "Core Of China's Core Interests" In Xi Summit: Daily Schedule & What To Expect

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to raise the issue of increasingly costly US arms transfers to Taiwan during their bilateral summit at the end of this week, spanning Thursday through Friday. Taiwan of course remains the "core of China's core interests" - as Beijing has in the recent past characterized the issue. While Trump officials have previewed that it will be focused on trade and investment, the White House too is reportedly placing Taiwan and regional geopolitical hot button issues on the agenda.

"I'm going to have that discussion with President Xi," Trump told reporters at the White House, specifically on the question of weapons sales. "President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion. That's one of the many things I’ll be talking about."

via Reuters

Also there's the looming question of the future of the Iran war and blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Currently there's a stalemated situation and supposed ceasefire which is barely holding. By many accounts, Trump was hopeful that the Iran 'excursion' would be wrapped up by now, but it now seems to be sliding into protracted quagmire - critics point out.

The WSJ says that Beijing is feeling confident as it prepares to receive Trump and what's looking to be a rather large entourage:

But behind the scenes, Beijing feels more emboldened, and more insistent on defending areas it regards as vital to its long-term strategic interests.

These include resisting U.S. pressure to relax its grip over global supply chains and fundamentally rebalance trade between the two countries. They also include urging Washington to look the other way as it pressures Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own, and as it projects military power across Asia.

“They feel very well about how last year played out,” said Jonathan Czin, a fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution and a former U.S. intelligence officer focused on China. “They showed they could weather the storm and the administration had to climb down from the tariffs and spend most of the past year trying to mollify China.”

As for more implications of the Iran war dragging on as Trump goes to Beijing, CNBC writes:

Iran’s ambassador to China Reza Rahmani Fazli in a Tuesday post on X pressed Tehran's case with Beijing, saying that the relationship between the two is too strong for the U.S. to overcome.

The bottom line is that higher energy prices are baked in for the foreseeable future. The price of crude oil makes up about half of the cost of a gallon of gas, according to the Energy Information Administration.

And U.S. elections are less than six months away. The 2026 midterm elections will be a crucial referendum on Trump and the Republican Party as they seek to retain a lock on both chambers in Congress.

Trump early Tuesday put out the following message on Truth Social, teasing that the next regime change operations could be unleashed on China's small island-nation ally in America's immediate backyard...

For some further big picture analysis on how the Iran gambit has raised the stakes, and made the Beijing summit more unpredictable, the below is some fresh Rabobank commentary outlining related developments to watch:

In a case of curious timing, the US just imposed fresh sanctions on individuals and firms involved in facilitating Iranian oil sales to China, and Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao yesterday released a new 30-year shipbuilding plan. That plan anticipates the acquisition of 11 nuclear-powered Trump class battleships, new underwater drones, and an ongoing review to the Ford class aircraft carrier design to increase lethality and reliability while reducing unit costs and production lead times. The planned expansion of the US fleet and shipbuilding industrial base is undoubtedly a reaction to China’s growing naval strength and substantial advantage in production capacity. The message to Xi is an unsubtle one.

The FT’s Gideon Rachman characterises Trump as arriving at Xi’s court in a state of supplication, having effectively lost the trade war vs China and the shooting war vs Iran. This perhaps overstates the weakness of Trump’s position by ignoring the fact that the US has tightened its grip on global energy supply chains and has shown that is has the power to put its foot on the hosepipe of Chinese energy imports whenever it likes. In the flurry of commentary over China’s bumper trade surplus in April, it seems to have been missed that import volumes for crude oil were down sharply, but values were higher. Yesterday’s April PPI figures for China also underscored the uncomfortable effects that the Iran war is having on the Chinese industrial economy.

Xi will be acutely aware of this, and he will also be aware that the US holds similar power to disrupt Chinese food imports if it was of a mind to do so. Seapower IS power, as the shipbuilding plan should remind us all. In this respect, Trump holds better cards than the FT is giving him credit for. Perhaps it is no coincidence that China bought more soybeans in April than it had done for months.

Some more of Trump's latest commentary amid his hope for a 'good' Xi meeting:

Trump: If you have the right president, I don't think Taiwan invasion will happen. I have a very good relationship with President Xi.

We're 9,500 miles away. He's 67 miles away. But there’s a lot of support for Taiwan from Japan and countries in that area. 2X pic.twitter.com/8ipHIKy4pM
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) May 12, 2026

Below is a preview of the day-by-day schedule and what to expect, via Newsquawk.

* * *

PREVIEW: Trump-Xi Summit to take place in Beijing on May 14th-15th

US President Trump and Chinese President Xi are set to meet in Beijing for the first time since October 2025. The public tone is expected to be warm and friendly, while the substance of the meeting will cover a range of topics.
No breakthrough is expected in US-China relations, with attention instead focused on implications for Iran and Taiwan.The situation in Iran will likely be one of the core topics, with some fearing an Iran-for-Taiwan bargain.

SCHEDULE

Trump is expected to arrive in Beijing on the evening of Wednesday, 13th May.
The main Trump-Xi talks are expected across Thursday, 14th May and Friday, 15th May.

THURSDAY

The White House said Trump will meet Xi on Thursday at 10:15 Beijing time / 03:15BST / 22:15EDT.
Thursday is expected to be the main ceremonial and diplomatic day, including a welcome ceremony, Temple of Heaven visit, formal bilateral meeting and state banquet.
The banquet is scheduled for Thursday at 18:00 Beijing time / 11:00BST / 06:00EDT.

FRIDAY

Discussions are expected to continue on Friday, including extended talks and a working lunch before Trump’s departure later in the day.

AGENDA

Iran: A primary focus will be the war in Iran, with the US pressing China to use its influence over Tehran to support de-escalation, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and curb oil-funded escalation.
Taiwan: Taiwan is expected to be one of the most sensitive issues, with concern focused on whether Xi pushes Trump for softer US language on Taiwan independence or restraint on arms sales.
Russia: The US is expected to raise China’s economic ties with Russia, including revenue flows, dual-use goods, components, parts and potential weapons-related support.
Strategic guardrails: The leaders are expected to discuss a possible formal AI communication channel to manage military and cyber risks, alongside nuclear arms-control issues, although Beijing remains cautious on nuclear arsenal transparency.
Commercial: The summit could produce major “big win” announcements, including Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft, agricultural products such as soybeans and beef, and energy.
Board of Trade/Investment: Proposals are on the table for a bilateral Board of Trade and Board of Investment, designed to manage trade and investment flows through formal channels rather than relying mainly on tariff escalation.

DETAILS

Iran/Strait of Hormuz

Primary summit focus: The war in Iran, which began after US and Israeli strikes on 28th February, is expected to be one of the dominant geopolitical issues at the meeting.
US pressure on Beijing: Washington is said to be pressing China to use its influence over Tehran, given China’s role as a major buyer of Iranian oil, to push Iran towards a deal and support efforts to end the conflict.
Strait of Hormuz: The US is expected to press China to help secure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
China’s position: Beijing has so far avoided joining a US-led pressure campaign against Tehran, while continuing to call for de-escalation and a diplomatic resolution.
China’s exposure: China’s dependence on Gulf energy flows gives it a direct interest in ending the Hormuz disruption.
Sanctions: Days before the summit, on May 11th, the US issued new sanctions against three individuals and nine companies accused of facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China.

Taiwan

Arms sales: Trump said he will discuss US arms sales to Taiwan with Xi, alongside other sensitive issues, including Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai. The Trump admin announced a more than USD 11bln weapons package for Taiwan in December, the largest-ever US weapons package for Taiwan.
No policy change: US officials have said the Trump-Xi summit signals no change in longstanding US policy toward Taiwan.
China’s position: China said its stance against US arms sales to Taiwan is “consistent and clear.” Beijing continues to frame Taiwan as a core issue and a red line in US-China relations.
Semiconductor angle: Taiwan’s strategic importance is also tied to the US technology supply chain, particularly semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.
South China Sea: Regional security is likely to come up alongside Taiwan, military communication and wider US-China strategic competition. The South China Sea remains a persistent flashpoint, with US concerns around Chinese military activity and Chinese objections to US regional deployments and alliances in the region, such as the AUKUS security pact.

Iran-for-Taiwan Risk

Linkage: There has been reporting and speculation that Beijing could seek to trade help on Iran or the Strait of Hormuz for US restraint on Taiwan, including softer language on Taiwan independence or reduced pressure around arms sales.
Concerns: The concern is that Beijing may offer help on Iran or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in return for softer US language on Taiwan or restraint on arms sales. Politico reported that diplomats from Asian and European countries are worried Trump could make an off-script statement that appears to shift US policy on Taiwan. Taiwanese officials have expressed concern about being “on the menu” during the Trump-Xi talks.
Shift in Language: The key wording risk is a shift from the current US formulation of “we do not support Taiwan independence” to Beijing’s preferred wording of “we oppose Taiwan independence.” Desks suggest that a shift would be significant as Beijing could use it to challenge routine US-Taiwan engagement, including arms sales, lawmaker visits and other political contacts.
US Position: Despite the speculation, US officials have publicly stated that US policy toward Taiwan will not change at the summit.

China's Backing of Iran and Russia

Direct confrontation: Trump is expected to press Xi over China’s economic and material support for Iran and Russia.
Iranian oil: China remains a major buyer of Iranian oil, and Washington views those flows as helping Tehran withstand US pressure and finance military activity.
Russia links: The US is also expected to raise China’s economic ties with Russia, including whether Chinese trade is helping Moscow sustain its war effort.
Dual-use goods: Officials cited concerns around Chinese dual-use goods, components, parts and potential weapons exports to Iran and Russia.
Iran weapons sanctions: On 8th May, the US imposed sanctions on individuals and companies, including China- and Hong Kong-based entities, accused of helping Iran obtain materials for Shahed drones and ballistic missiles.
Iran oil sanctions: On 11 May, the US imposed separate sanctions on three individuals and nine companies accused of facilitating Iranian oil shipments to China.
50% tariff threat: Trump previously threatened 50% tariffs on imports from countries supplying military weapons to Iran, with no exemptions.

Trade

Trump tariff stance: Trump commented that the US needs more tariffs, keeping tariff risk firmly on the table.
Trade-truce extension: The two sides are expected to discuss whether to extend the existing trade-war truce.
Unclear timing: A US official said it is not yet clear whether the agreement will be extended this week, but expressed confidence that it will eventually be extended.
October meeting: Trump and Xi's last meeting in October in South Korea resulted in a pause to a trade war that had seen the US impose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing threaten rare earth restrictions.
Tariff Legality: Trump has vowed to reimpose some tariffs through alternative legal avenues after the Supreme Court said in February.
Investments
Trade and investment forums: Reports suggested that the US and China are expected to agree on forums to facilitate mutual trade and investment.
Board of Trade / Board of Investment: A Board of Trade and Board of Investment may be formally announced, although officials said these mechanisms may require further work before implementation.
Chinese purchase announcements: China is expected to announce purchases related to Boeing (BA) aircraft, US agriculture and energy.
Sectors to watch: The main areas to watch are aircraft, agriculture, energy, trade flows, investment access, market-opening commitments, payments access, technology restrictions and regulatory approvals.
Delegation: Executives from Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), Boeing (BA), GE Aerospace (GE), Meta Platforms (META), BlackRock (BLK), Blackstone (BX), Micron (MU), Mastercard (MA), Qualcomm (QCOM), Visa (V), Cargill, Coherent (COHR) and Illumina (ILMN) are part of, or linked to, the US business delegation. Cisco (CSCO) was invited but its CEO is not attending due to earnings, while NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang is not attending.

AI channel: Trump and Xi are expected to discuss creating a formal US-China communication channel on AI-related security risks.
US concern: US officials are increasingly concerned about advanced Chinese AI models and their potential military, cyber and intelligence uses.
Military risk: Talks are expected to cover AI risks in autonomous weapons, cyber operations and military decision-making.
Nuclear guardrails: AI may also be discussed alongside nuclear stability, including keeping AI out of nuclear launch decisions.
Export controls: Any AI dialogue will sit against the backdrop of US chip controls and wider tech restrictions on China.
Nuclear arms-control
US stance: Washington has long sought nuclear arms-control talks with Beijing.
China's stance: China has privately told the US it has no current interest in sitting down for nuclear arms-control discussions.
No breakthrough: Expectations for a breakthrough on nuclear arms control remain low, but even agreement to continue dialogue would be net constructive.

Fentanyl

US stance: The US is expected to press China on precursor chemicals and enforcement against supply chains linked to the opioid crisis.

Tyler Durden Tue, 05/12/2026 - 15:00
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Chief Justice Roberts Has No Spine

2026-05-11T14:19:05.976-07:00

Chief Justice Roberts Has No Spine

Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker,

He’s a judicial pimp who pragmatically defends the Establishment’s bottom line.

I do not like Chief Justice John Roberts. I think his loyalties lie more with defending the entrenched powers of the political Establishment than with defending the Constitution of the United States. I find his jurisprudence squishy. Although his decisions could be described as advancing, more often than not, conservative viewpoints, Roberts does not seem to have a consistent philosophy guiding his opinions.

Roberts is a pragmatist. He surveys the mood of the country and considers how the rest of the members of the Court will vote on any case, and he chooses a position that he feels will best preserve the institutional longevity of the Judicial Branch. Roberts is, in other words, more interested in maintaining the power of the branch that he embodies than in making tough, but correct, decisions.

None of Roberts’ rulings better exemplifies this pragmatic, amoral approach to jurisprudence than his 2012 decision to save Obamacare by redefining the individual insurance mandate as a tax, rather than as a penalty. During oral arguments, the Obama administration barely addressed the possibility that the mandate could be seen as a tax. Democrats did not want to admit that nationalizing health insurance would increase costs for Americans, and the word “tax” certainly implies that prices will rise (which they did).

President Obama had been haranguing the Court for over a year that should it strike down his signature welfare legislation putting the federal government in control of American medicine, the decision would be disastrous for the American people and render the Court illegitimate. Roberts lives in the D.C. bubble. All his friends live in the D.C. bubble. The Democrat-controlled corporate news media reflect the prevailing opinions of those who live within the D.C. bubble. So Chief Justice Roberts chose to avoid leftist backlash (and to protect the Establishment’s sizable financial investments in government-controlled, socialized medicine) by aligning himself with Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

Obama celebrated Roberts’ valuable assist: “The highest court in the land has now spoken,” the president gloated. It is worth noting that similarly squishy jurist Justice Anthony Kennedy (a man whom Democrats succeeded in elevating to the Court after scuttling President Reagan’s original nomination of Robert Bork and then his replacement nomination of Douglas Ginsburg) actually joined the conservative members of the Court in a dissent that would have invalidated Obamacare in its entirety. Because Roberts joined the four leftist members of the Court in protecting Obama’s government takeover of the medical profession, healthcare is substantially more expensive and provides substantially worse treatment today.

Roberts’ constitutionally illiterate and philosophically unsound Obamacare opinion permitted a nefarious government-corporate power axis to take hold that has killed private practices across the country, made every medical doctor a de facto government employee, replaced medical science with government-regulated treatments, and inserted a government bureaucrat inside every examination room. But Roberts did preserve his standing in the D.C. bubble, maximize the profits of large insurance companies, bankrupt rural hospitals, increase the investment portfolio-generated wealth of insider-trading members of Congress, eliminate small practices that prioritized patient care, and let labor unions off the hook for healthcare obligations that they owed to their members. Furthermore, an entire generation of young leftists — too ignorant to know that President Obama and his fellow Democrats are responsible for the horrible state of healthcare in the United States today — openly celebrate the assassination of health insurance company executives walking down the street.

When the issue of Obamacare’s unconstitutionality came before the Roberts Court, the chief justice could have saved the country from all the harm that has come from forcing another illegitimate government power grab upon the American people. But that would have taken guts, wisdom, and principle. Roberts has none of those virtues. He’s a judicial pimp who pragmatically defends the Establishment’s bottom line. The medical profession in America is worse off and American patients are poorer and less healthy because of Roberts’ cowardice.

What I find particularly galling about the chief justice, however, is that he demands to be respected as some kind of impartial and inherently righteous judicial priest. If he could admit that he lacks a jurisprudential backbone and primarily represents the interests of the Establishment Blob in D.C., I would grant him some small measure of respect for being self-aware enough to understand that he is little more than a swampy, Leviathan-controlled, gelatinous judge whose opinions can be molded into whatever D.C.’s “elites” need. But Roberts is not honest enough to do that. Instead, he pretends to be above venal politics and struts around in his priestly robes as if he represents a branch of government too holy to be tainted by the inherently corrupting influence of power.

Although Roberts never said anything when Obama and his Democrat goons were threatening the Court before its damaging Obamacare decision, the chief justice jumped into action in 2018 to reprimand President Trump during his first term. Trump had publicly excoriated a 9th Circuit judge for usurping constitutional powers vested to the president of the United States. In doing so, Trump called the judicial tyrant “an Obama judge.” Well, that rather anodyne remark threw Chief Justice Roberts into a “Why, I never” tizzy, and the Judicial Branch’s limp caretaker found his way to a member of the Democrat-controlled press in order to correct the president’s errant thinking: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

Uhhh…sure, Chief Justice Gumby. Why would a grown man feel compelled to tell such a blatant lie? The whole country knows that judges come with certain ideological proclivities that influence their decisions on the bench. While Republican presidents have repeatedly stumbled into nominating raging leftists (among them, Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice David Souter) to the Supreme Court, nobody has any doubt that federal judges are chosen for their perceived philosophical bent.

This problem exists only because federal judges have proved incapable of performing their jobs with self-restraint. In the past, Roberts has correctly defined the Judiciary’s obligations: “Our role is very clear. We are to interpret the Constitution and laws of the United States and ensure that the political branches act within them.” But that’s not how most judges act! Instead of interpreting the Constitution, federal judges rewrite the Constitution. Instead of interpreting laws written by Congress, federal judges rewrite those laws into laws of their own. For Roberts to pretend that federal judges have not spent the last century imposing their will upon the American people makes him richly deserving of Queen Gertrude’s quip: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Eight years later, Lady Roberts is still protesting! In a speech last week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the chief justice claimed that judges are not “political actors.” (Tell that to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose opinions sound as if they were written by teenaged Marxists with dog-eared copies of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals!) Roberts lamented how too many Americans “think we’re making policy decisions.” (Perhaps that’s because too many judges are, in fact, making policy decisions!) The chief justice also insisted that it is “not appropriate” for Americans to criticize individual judges.

Well, perhaps Chief Justice Roberts should convince his federal judges to stop behaving as partisan hacks! Rather than permitting, through his silence, individual judges to usurp the powers of the president of the United States, perhaps Roberts should call those tyrannical judges out by name. If he wants the Judicial Branch to be perceived as “independent” and “nonpartisan,” then he should insist that judges exercise constitutional self-restraint!

But he won’t do that. Because Roberts has opinions but no spine.

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

Tyler Durden Mon, 05/11/2026 - 15:40
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