05-28-26 victor
savo, especially last paragraph.
maybe dt is really experiencing cognitive decline?
//
Trump threatens to 'blow up' US ally Oman over Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Oman, a longstanding U.S. partner, over its reported talks with Iran to charge fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, Trump dismissed an Iranian state media report that Oman and Iran were in discussions to jointly manage shipping through the waterway, which Iran militarized in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel launching the war on Feb. 28. Control of the Strait of Hormuz, sections of which run through Omani and Iranian territorial waters, has been a key sticking point of talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the three-month-long war. The effective closure of the Strait has skyrocketed energy prices and disrupted the trade of several other commodities around the world. U.S. attempts, including a naval blockade of Iranian ports, have thus far not fully restored commercial shipping through the Strait.
“The Strait is going to be open to everybody,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine.”
Oman, a strategic partner of the U.S. for more than 50 years, has played a key role in efforts to mediate a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran. Earlier in the war, Iran also retaliated against the U.S. and Israel’s attacks by targeting Oman and other Gulf countries that host U.S. military bases.
Some have speculated that Trump misspoke and meant to refer to Iran. Trump appeared to have erred in his speech during earlier comments to press, saying that Venezuela, which the U.S. raided in January, “no longer has a navy, no longer has an air force, and no longer has a lot of people that were leading the country.” The President seems to have been referring to Iran, not Venezuela.
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05-28-26 leopardo
| Equal amount of debt (nominal) |
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05-28-26 leopardo
Me holding 50/50 nominal
Vnz Rep / Pdvsa |
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05-28-26 Merlino
i always eat badly in the US.. something in the food where bread is not bread..
.....................................
There is the old joke of the overweight American asking his doctor for the less painful diet to lose weight
Answer: go three months to Europe |
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05-28-26 carib
| Savo: obviously, I wish you were right on PDVsa debt.. |
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05-28-26 savo
Negligible Capital
@negligible_cap
The Trump Admin is in talks to fund US drone companies.
It just so happens that Don Jr. backs 2 public drone companies, $UMAC and $PUSA (previous a publicly traded golf course company that Don Jr. reverse merged with Powerus, the drone company he backs)
$UMAC is specifically named as one of the companies in talks to receive a government investment. What a coincidence! |
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05-28-26 savo
carib... that they were making a debt audit in june.
I can do the audit in half an hour if they ask me...
All they have to do now is restructure pdvsa debt... it is the only one that matters for the business at hand...
And it should be repaid in full...no haircut... just an extension..Pdvsa can hold 40bn of debt if PBR can hold 80bn.
The rest of the debt imply political options that have to be made by a duly elected government when that happens. |
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05-28-26 savo
victor... ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling
Shaheen did not get the new scrip?
Narco veni was a fabrication... that fabrication is over...
@DELCY2030 |
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05-28-26 victor
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has demanded the administration explain its favorable treatment of Rodríguez, calling her a “central figure in Nicolás Maduro’s repressive regime.”
“Sanctions have been lifted on Ms. Rodríguez without any indication that she has taken concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order,” Sheehan, joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent last week.
Rick de la Torre, a former CIA chief of station in Caracas, said that the decision to shield Rodríguez fits well with the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals in Venezuela.
“She’s a lifelong Marxist and was a senior leader of one of the world’s most corrupt regimes but the U.S. is providing her with breathing space and carrots to lay the foundation for democracy and U.S. investment,” said de la Torre, the CEO of Tower Strategy, which advises companies on Venezuela.
“There’s a shelf life to her utility, however. At some point she will face justice.,” he added.
Rodríguez has been on DEA’s radar since 2018
The DEA had amassed a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez dating to at least 2018, and has received allegations about her ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling, the AP reported earlier this year. One confidential informant told DEA in early 2021 that Rodríguez was using hotels in the Caribbean resort of Isla Margarita “as a front to launder money,” the records show. |
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05-28-26 victor
AP Exclusive: Trump administration tells prosecutors to stand down on Venezuela leader, sources say
MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the oil-rich nation.
It’s unclear whether prosecutors had implicated Rodríguez in any crimes or whether investigators were moving toward an indictment. A Justice Department spokesperson said in an email “there was never an investigation into her to shut down.”
But DEA records obtained by The Associated Press earlier this year show she consistently surfaced on the radar of federal law enforcement dating to at least 2018, though she has never been criminally charged in the U.S. like several other senior Venezuelan officials.
The directive to pause scrutiny into Rodríguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration’s efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, among other reasons, the official said. It was not clear whether the White House, which deferred comment to the Justice Department, was involved in the decision.
“Everybody has been told to stand down,” one of the former officials said.
The former officials, who had been briefed on the development, as well as the current official all spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.
Rodríguez, a U.S. attorney representing her and the Venezuelan Communications Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The move eases pressure on Rodriguez
Removing the threat of potential indictment, even temporarily, eases pressure on Rodríguez as the Trump administration seeks to work with the acting leader to stabilize Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster and open the country to U.S. investment.
President Donald Trump praised Rodríguez as a “terrific person” shortly after the U.S. military took Maduro and his wife to New York to face federal narcotics charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.
In recent months, the U.S. has lifted sanctions against Rodríguez and recognized her as Venezuela’s sole head of state, allowing her to re-establish ties with western banks and more freely work with U.S. investors seeking to tap into the world’s largest petroleum reserves. As ties between the two governments have deepened, some have held out the Venezuelan playbook — characterized by oil blockades, indictments of top leaders, and threats of military intervention — as a model to drive regime change from within as the U.S. pressures other longtime adversaries in Iran and Cuba.
Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Assembly, were hit with U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term for their role in undermining Venezuelan democracy and cementing Maduro’s authoritarian rule.
Rodríguez “is doing a great job,” Trump wrote on social media in early March. “The Oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both Countries is a very nice thing to see!”
In recent months, Rodríguez has hosted ceremonies with a steady stream of American oilmen, some of them partaking in high-profile delegations led by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Election talk deferred amid Trump’s praise
Missing in all the mutual backslapping is any talk of elections, even as Rodríguez last month blew through a 90-day limit set by Venezuela’s high court to fill Maduro’s position on a temporary basis.
“I don’t know,” she responded in English when a visiting U.S. journalist earlier this month shouted out a question about her time frame for holding elections. “Some time.”
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05-28-26 savo
| i always eat badly in the US.. something in the food where bread is not bread.. tomatos are not tomatos... butter is not butter... chikens are not chickens.. or may be the way they cook.. or the oil they use... but after a few days my digestive organs are all screwed |
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05-28-26 savo
true?
Norveçli
@norveclifinance
This looks like the beginning of the end for OpenAI and Anthropic.
The Chinese AI wave did not just cut prices.
It destroyed the entire funding logic behind the American AI bubble.
If developers can move from thousands of dollars per month to a few dollars per week with 80% of the same output, how are these companies going to justify hundreds of billions in future capex?
They won’t.
I believe OpenAI and Anthropic are heading straight into a funding crisis.
Chinese AI just popped the American AI bubble. |
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05-28-26 carib
| ... but, I can eat well in the USA too.. spending twice as much or more.. |
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05-28-26 carib
Victor: then we are saying the same thing, which actually corresponds to my personal experience: there is no lack of food, but abundance of unhealthy food.
I eat much better in southern europe than in the USA.. |
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05-28-26 spal
Because the Kuwaiti Army General Staff Headquarters confirmed a 100% interception rate, Washington is spared the political necessity of responding to mass American or Kuwaiti casualties. However, a strike on a host nation harboring major U.S. logistical footprints (like Camp Arifjan or Ali Al Salem Air Base) crosses a clear red line.
The U.S. will likely avoid a broad land campaign. Instead, expect immediate, highly targeted Tomahawk missile and carrier-based strikes executing the "Asymmetric Counter-Value" protocol.
Rather than hit generic IRGC command centers, the U.S. is highly likely to target Iran's economic arteries—specifically the Kharg Island oil export terminal or the remaining naval assets of the IRGC near Bandar Abbas—proving that any threat to Gulf state infrastructure will cost Tehran its remaining GDP liquidity. |
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05-28-26 spal
or is he simply trying to avoid $150+ oil?
===
As time goes on $150 oil ... outside of manias and manic spikes is less and less likely regardless of the supply that theoretically passes through the strait ... regardless of what you will read or hear from the intelligentsia (who are mostly butt hurt globalists ... and globalism is now over). |
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05-28-26 spal
| Iran launches ballistic missile and drone attack on Kuwait, with air raid sirens active, per Kuwaiti Army GHQ. |
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05-28-26 victor
spal, so why doesn't dt attack iran? what is he waiting for?
or is he simply trying to avoid $150+ oil? |
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05-28-26 spal
| Fat lady has not sung yet |
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05-28-26 victor
spal
Oil prices gained roughly 2 percent during early trading on Thursday morning following reports of new US air strikes on an Iranian military site. |
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05-28-26 spal
| Treasury sanctioned Persian Gulf Strait Authority. |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, maybe genetics in tonga.
but free trade is a main driver in obesity, i think.
whether it's tonga, mexico, etc.
//
Tonga’s obesity epidemic is causing big trouble in paradise
...
The impact of globalisation
Globalisation has been a major factor in feeding the obesity crisis.
The result has been an even greater reliance on food imports of relatively cheap fatty meats, refined carbohydrates and other packaged foods with high sugar and salt content.
In essence, many families have abandoned a traditional healthy diet of fish, fruit and vegetables for imported junk food.
“In the olden days people used to hunt. They would go fishing and bring the fish from the sea. But nowadays there’s a shop there. What’s available is not always the healthiest choice.”
https://www.equaltimes.org/tonga-s-obesity-epidemic-is?lang=en
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05-27-26 victor
carib, technically, in the usa you don't starve. you mentioned the term but it's not accurate.
the article uses the term "food insecure", not starving.
in the usa, there is always somebody who will feed you.
if you cannot afford groceries in san francisco, an expensive city, you can get in touch with a food bank or food pantry.
some even deliver free meals to those in need.
you are not starving. however, you are food-insecure. |
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05-27-26 carib
C’est un Français, ex-proche de l’ancien président Hugo Chavez et patron de presse (Radio Nova, Les Inrockuptibles…), qui décroche le gros lot au Venezuela. Matthieu Pigasse, patron depuis 2020 du bureau parisien de la banque d’affaires américaine Centerview Partners, a été choisi pour remettre à plat la dette de Caracas.
Ce banquier de 58 ans, qui fut PDG de Lazard Frères, est un fin connaisseur du Venezuela. « Nous avons gagné ce mandat car nous avons une compréhension unique du pays. Personne n’en a la même connaissance ni la même pratique que nous sur le plan économique, assure Matthieu Pigasse au Figaro. J’ai commencé à y travailler au début des années 2010 avec Hugo Chavez puis avec Nicolas Maduro. Je connais et travaille avec l’actuelle présidente Delcy Rodriguez depuis quinze ans », détaille le financier spécialisé dans le conseil aux gouvernements. |
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05-27-26 carib
Victor: you fail to see the point of my comment: bad eating habits are a worst problem than starvation, in the USA, in my opinion.
(Tonga might be genetic) |
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05-27-26 victor
merlino, right.. it boils down to lifestyle choices, not poor/rich country.
tonga has a v high obesity rate, vietnam a v low one.
both countries are considered poor. |
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05-27-26 Merlino
"obesity prevalence in adults in the poorest regions of Mexico is similar to that of high-income areas. "
...................................
Excess of carbohydrates and O6 cheap vegetable oils either bcz of poverty or (sugar) metabolic addiction, besides other factors (large exposure to blue light, man made electromagnetic frequencies. etc.) |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, why does vietnam have such a low obesity rate in spite of being a poor country?
lifestyle choices. |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, reminds me of buffet publicly saying he drinks 5 cans of coke per day.
i would guess he drinks more than 5 but doesn't want to admit it in public. |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, they are mostly not eating properly.
//
yes, but this is also applicable if they were making more $$.
lifestyle choices like never walking, driving everywhere, etc. |
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05-27-26 carib
Victor: the initial point was the allegation many americans are starving.
My comment is that they are mostly not eating properly. |
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05-27-26 carib
| (Exxon y ConocoPhillips buscan garantías y resolver deudas para volver a Venezuela) https://www.bloomberglinea.com/latinoamerica/venezuela/exxon-y-conocophillips-buscan-garantias-y-resolver-deudas-para-volver-a-venezuela/ |
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05-27-26 victor
| carib, i just noticed that hawaii is also 25-30%.. lifestyle choice. |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, obesity in the usa is quite similar to mexico though.
most states in the 30-35% and 35-40%..
with only a few states in the 25-30% for obvious reasons..
fl, ny, nj, co, ca is where the weight-conscious adults live.
it's more a lifestyle choice than anything else.
but the "flyover states" ~ mexico.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data-and-statistics/adult-obesity-prevalence-maps.html |
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05-27-26 carib
| Savo: I was referring to the regime's announcement that they were making a debt audit in june.. |
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05-27-26 carib
| Victor: interesting, but the USA is supposed to be much wealthier than.. Mexico.. |
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05-27-26 victor
carib, mexico 2018, and it's massive: 36·1% of adults had obesity
"obesity prevalence in adults in the poorest regions of Mexico is similar to that of high-income areas. "
//
During this period, adult obesity increased 42·2%, after adjusting for population change.1 In the latest national survey (2018), 36·1% of adults had obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2), with a substantially higher prevalence in women than in men (40·2% vs 30·5%).1 Results also showed only 23·5% of the adult population had a healthy weight (BMI ≤25 kg/m2), with even less adults in the 40–49 age group (15·4%). Furthermore, central obesity (≥94 cm in men or ≥80 cm in women) was present in 81·6% of all adults (>90% for adults aged 50–70 years) and morbid obesity increased by 96·5% from 2000 to 2018 (1·8% to 3·6%).1 Currently, obesity prevalence in adults in the poorest regions of Mexico is similar to that of high-income areas.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30269-2/fulltext
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05-27-26 victor
| carib, right but obesity is also one of mexico's main problems. |
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05-27-26 savo
carib... good actual news next month
in the normal world of normal people and normal financial assets... news come out every now and then...
pdvsa, emerging market bonds... standard stocks... are not memory chips...AI bubble.. cryto bubble... megadata bubble...real estate bubble... dotcom... all those are narratives fabricated by wall street.. amplified by CNBC and other social media to enrich the few and impoverish the many...
in pdvsa... as long as the story remains good... bonds will slowly climb ...
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05-27-26 carib
IMHO main US problem in this matter.. is unhealthy food.
I think the USA is the top large country for number of "poor" people who are overweight. |
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05-27-26 victor
New Fed report warns of ‘remarkable’ increase in households skipping meals due to food costs
There’s been a “remarkable” increase over the past few years in Americans struggling to put food on the table, and that’s likely contributing to record-low consumer sentiment readings, new Federal Reserve Bank of New York research showed Wednesday.
The New York Fed updated a 2020 analysis on the disproportionate financial effects of the pandemic with newly collected data from its closely watched Survey of Consumer Expectations.
Researchers found that a greater share of Americans have become more “food insecure” than they were in May and June of 2020 and are dipping into savings to cover expenses, struggling to access food, have kids who missed meals, or are receiving food donations or federal nutrition assistance.
“We find a remarkable increase in food insecurity, particularly among lower-educated and lower-income households and households with young children,” New York Fed researchers wrote Wednesday.
Those same groups also reported increases in pessimism regarding their financial well-being.
While not necessarily causal, the association between rising food insecurity and increased pessimism points to a potential explanation as to why US consumer sentiment has been in the dumps despite economic data remaining fairly resilient, if not quite strong, researchers noted.
Income and wealth inequality have long persisted in the US, but Americans’ economic experiences and outcomes have become increasingly uneven in recent years.
This dynamic, frequently referred to as a “K-shaped” economy, is defined by a widening inequality in how lower- and higher-income Americans spend, earn and build wealth.
Those in the top half of the K have seen their household finances and wealth enriched by soaring stock prices, equity in their home and a refinancing boom that lowered mortgage payments and padded their piggy banks.
Meanwhile, those on the bottom end of the K have experienced significantly greater levels of financial stress because of the higher cost of living, the post-pandemic inflation burst and five-plus years of prices rising faster than they typically do.
“The greater financial strain due to the high cost of living, combined with the expiration of pandemic-era aid (such as expanded [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits), have led to renewed concerns about food insecurity among those at the bottom of the K-shape,” New York Fed researchers wrote.
In February 2026, 10% of households surveyed said they didn’t have enough food, an increase from 4% in June 2020, according to the data released Wednesday. Shares of people receiving food donations increased (to 15.8% from 10.6%) as well as SNAP (17.9% versus 10.6%), and more than one-third of respondents used their savings to cover expenses (36.8% versus 21.8%).
The New York Fed survey data was gathered before the US-Israeli strikes in the Middle East that subsequently resulted in an oil supply crunch that caused a spike in gas prices and further heightened affordability concerns.
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05-27-26 pillz
Seoul’s surge
The breathtaking rally in South Korean stocks hit a couple of key milestones overnight.
The benchmark Kospi index at one point in the session was up 100% for 2026, rivaling the Nasdaq 100 Index’s 102% surge in 1999 — right before the bubble burst.
The market value of memory-chip maker SK Hynix surged above $1 trillion for the first time as investors bet the AI boom will lead to a sustained revaluation of the industry. |
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05-27-26 Merlino
. i think this reports are created to push prices down...
...............
I agree fwiw.....I second Carib in my hope of waiting for (preliminary) actual good news soon |
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05-27-26 carib
| Savo: hope we get some good actual news next month to revive PDVsa prices.. |
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05-27-26 savo
Hann... FWIW.. i think this reports are created to push prices down...
wall street fabricates narrative... the news outlets amplifies them...(now memory chips.. last year cryptos...before whatever)..people FearOfMissingOut...they all pile in... the bubble explodes... those that sold make the bundle... the majority left holding the bag loses it all... and the next narrative comes in...
they are doing a negative narrative in veni...years to restructure... the most difficult restructuring in the history of the universe..etc... bla bla
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05-27-26 hann
Years to restructure??
-----
From BBG
Venezuela’s effort to restructure its sovereign debt and liabilities tied to state oil company PDVSA is expected to take years, though analysts say progress toward an agreement could still improve confidence in the country’s oil industry and help attract investment before the process is completed, S&P Global Energy CERA reported.
Experts said financial markets may develop interim solutions within the next year to lower perceptions of risk and support renewed activity in the energy sector even as negotiations continue. Venezuela announced on May 13 that it would begin a broad restructuring of its external public debt and PDVSA obligations as part of a push to stabilise the economy and restore investor confidence.
Although Venezuela remains one of the riskiest jurisdictions for oil and gas investment, analysts expect its position to improve over the next five years as sanctions, fiscal conditions and regulatory policies become more favourable. Authorities are also revising production participation contracts under a new hydrocarbons law in an effort to boost crude output.
---
Pana
Miami prices vs SFO
I confess I've never been to Miami. I gather New York fund industry is moving there.
I still like SFO. There's a certain dynamism despite empty financial district, restos closing quite early (9pm), homeless - though much less recently. Every person there talks like they are part of a world changing endeavor. It's slightly tiresome but also part of the charm. |
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05-27-26 carib
Leo: good to know.
So do I
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05-27-26 leopardo
I own Samsung there’s more room to go Pillz
Kospi will continue higher |
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05-27-26 pillz
| I am totally out now in EWY ... |
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05-27-26 pillz
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